The Roman Empire in the Light of Prophecy / The Rise, Progress, and End of the Fourth World-empire

by W.E. Vine

Chapter VI.

THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM.

We have now to consider the dealings of the two beasts, the final Roman emperor and his false prophet, with

The Jews.

With the Romans the Jews joined in the death of Christ, and with the rulers of this fourth empire they will be in agreement for a time at the close of their long course of apostasy. This was especially made known to Daniel in the prophecy of

The Seventy Weeks

(Dan. 9). These weeks (lit., hebdomads, or periods of seven, i.e., seven years each) had been divinely decreed (or "cut off," i.e., from the period of "the times of the Gentiles") upon his people and his city. From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Anointed One (the Messiah), the Prince, would be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks. After this the Anointed One would be cut off, and would have nothing (Dan. 9. 24-26). This period is 69 times 7, or 483 years, and to the very day this was the period commencing with the command of Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of Persia, for the restoration of Jerusalem (Neh. 2. 1-9), and ending with the triumphal entry of Christ into the city (Matt. 21. 1-11).[B] Four days later He was crucified, "the Anointed One was cut off and had nothing," i.e., He did not enter then upon His Messianic kingdom. The prophecy predicted that the people of the prince (lit., "a prince") that would come would destroy the city and the sanctuary. That took place in A.D. 70, under Titus Vespasianus. But Titus is not "the prince that shall come." This, apart from other considerations, is clear from what follows: "And his (the prince's) end shall be with a flood (or rather, 'in the overflowing,' i.e., of the wrath of God)," a prediction at once inapplicable to Titus. The mention of

The Last "Week"

is deferred, indicating an interval between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth. Now the events predicted for the seventieth had no historical fulfilment immediately after the sixty-ninth. The one, therefore, did not follow the other consecutively. At the commencement of the intervening period the Jews were scattered from their land. At the seventieth they will have been restored, and the events of that week concern "the prince that shall come," the last world-emperor, and his dealings with them. "He shall make a firm covenant with many (lit., 'the many,' i.e., the great majority of the nation) for one week" (v. 27). This covenant is described in Isaiah's prophecies as a "covenant with death" and an "agreement with Hell." The covenant, he says, "shall be disannulled," and the agreement "shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it" (Isa. 28. 18). That this refers to a time yet future and not to past Israelitic history may be gathered from verse 22, where the theme and the language are similar to those of the passage in Daniel now under consideration. Daniel tells us the mode of the disannulling. "In the midst of the week (R.V., margin) he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease." Accordingly after three and a half years the Antichrist, manifesting his real character, will prove himself a traitor and break the covenant, and thus Isaiah's prediction will be fulfilled.

[B] See "The Coming Prince," by Sir Robert Anderson. Price, 5/.

Apparently at the very time when he thus breaks his league with the Jews the Antichrist will determine upon his public deification and the establishment of his worship in the Temple. For he it is who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (2 Thess. 2. 4). This, with the setting up of his image, will doubtless be the fulfilment of the prophecies recorded by Daniel, that "upon the wing (or pinnacle) of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate" (Dan. 9. 27, cp. 11. 31 and 12. 11), and "they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate" (11. 31, cp. 12. 11); a fulfilment also of the Lord's prediction that "the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet," will "stand in the holy place" (Matt. 24. 15). In the establishment of this blasphemous worship of the emperor, the false prophet will play a prominent part, as we have seen from the latter part of Revelation 13.

The many references to the desolator and the desolations are indicative of the

Fierce Persecution

which will follow. This will be at first directed against "the remnant," the large numbers of Jews who will repudiate allegiance to the beast and to the false prophet, many doubtless having been converted to their coming Messiah through the testimony of two witnesses who will be sent from God to the nation. "They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth" (Rev. 11. 3-13). The success of their ministry will apparently arouse the bitter antagonism of Satan and his human instruments. The breaking of the covenant with the people as a whole indicates that an effort will also be made to crush the entire nation. Thus the latter half of the seventieth week will be the time of "Jacob's trouble," "a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time" (Dan. 12. 1), though the unprecedented tribulation will not be confined to the Jews only.

Armageddon and After.

The bitter antagonism of the man of sin, and his colleague, the false prophet, against God and His people will culminate in the gathering together of all the forces of the Empire in Palestine in final conflict for the complete domination of the world. This tremendous event is thus indicated by the apostle John: "And I saw coming 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 unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are the spirits of devils (correctly, "demons"), working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty" (Rev. 16. 13, 14).

In reality the issue at stake will be the supremacy of Christ or of Satan in the earth. The objective will be neither territorial conquest nor naval supremacy, nor commercial predominance. The war of the beast and the ten kings under him is against the Lamb (Rev. 17. 14). This the second Psalm had foretold: "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." The issue is not uncertain: "He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."

The Scene of the Conflict

is Har-Magedon, commonly known as Armageddon (Rev. 16. 16). The name, which is associated with Megiddo, a locality famed in Old Testament history for its decisive battles (Judges 5. 19; 2 Kings 23), doubtless stands here for a wider area, stretching, as we shall see, from the north to the south of the land.

The combatants, the conflict and its conclusion, are described by John in vivid language of terrible grandeur in Revelation 19. 11-21: "And I saw the Heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He that sat thereon, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and He hath a name written, which no one knoweth but He Himself. And He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of 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 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and 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 upon the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image: they twain were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh" (Rev. 19. 11-21). Ezekiel similarly describes the scene in his prophecy in chapter 30. 17-21.

Thus it is that the climax of the world's rebellion against God is to meet its doom. This is the manner of the overthrow of the ten-kingdomed empire, the fourth of Daniel's visions. Accordingly, what we have now read from Revelation 19 is identical with (1) the falling of the stone upon the feet of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, the annihilation of all Gentile government (Dan. 2. 45); (2) the consuming of the dominion of the fourth beast in Daniel's subsequent vision (Dan. 7. 26); (3) the pouring out of God's wrath upon the Antichrist, the desolator (Dan. 9. 27); and (4) the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24. 30). The great emperor, the man of sin, is to be crushed by the Lord Jesus, "with the breath of His mouth," and brought to nought "by the manifestation of His coming" (2 Thess. 2. 8).

Now this "manifestation of His coming" is, to transliterate the Greek words,

The Epiphany of His Parousia.

An epiphany is, literally, the 'shining forth' of that which has been hidden; and the word Parousia is, literally, 'presence' (see margin of R.V. and Phil. 2. 12). This latter word is used of the coming of Christ to the air for His saints, 'to receive them unto Himself,' and of their consequent presence with Him (1 Thess. 2. 19). They are thus to be "ever with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4. 17), and with Him they will come when He descends at His revelation "from Heaven with the angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thess. 1. 7, 8). The sudden bursting forth of His glory thus "to execute judgment" (Jude 15) will be the 'Epiphany, or shining forth, of His Parousia,' and by it the Man of Sin is to be brought to nought and his empire demolished. He and his false prophet will be "cast alive into the lake of fire," and his armies will perish (Rev. 19. 20, 21).

This is to be the issue of the world's attempts to establish a millennium of its own by schemes of federation and amalgamation. This is the upshot of its fancied progress and improvement without God and His Christ.

We must now see what other Scriptures have to say concerning this scene. The instrument which the Lord uses for the destruction of His foes is a sword which proceeds out of His mouth; the destruction is described as the treading of the winepress.

The Voice of the Lord.

First, as to the instrument. The sword is symbolic of the utterance of the Lord's voice. No material instrument is needed, a word is enough. This is clear from many passages. In the second Psalm the overthrow of the foe is thus described: "Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure" (v. 5). Joel prophesies of the same event: "The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining: and the Lord uttereth His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for He is strong that executeth His word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" (Joel 2. 10, 11; and see 3. 16. With this compare Isa. 11. 4 and 30. 30-33.) The same voice of judgment is implied in Paul's prediction of the doom of the lawless one, that "the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth" (2 Thess. 2. 8). In the same connection we are doubtless to read Psalm 29, the Psalm which describes the terrible majesty and effect of the voice of the Lord.

We must presently dwell more fully upon this Psalm in order to observe its application to the circumstances under consideration, and its connection with the passages which describe the judgment of the foe as

The Treading of the Winepress.

These passages are Isaiah 63. 1-6; Joel 9. 16; Revelation 14. 17-20, and the one already quoted in Revelation 19. It is observable, too, that in the first of these the voice of the Lord is mentioned again, for the Deliverer describes Himself as "I that speak in righteousness."

We shall first refer to Revelation 14. 17-20. Two angels appear coming forth, the one from the temple in Heaven with a sickle in his hand, the other from the altar. The latter calls to the one with the sickle to gather "the clusters of the vine of the earth," symbolic of the Man of Sin and his gathered armies. The angel then casts his sickle into the earth, gathers the vintage, and casts it into the winepress of the wrath of God. The winepress is "trodden without the city," and "there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs" (i.e., 200 miles). The great emperor and his prophet, and their vast forces, will thus be gathered in dense battle array throughout the length of Palestine, Jerusalem being their objective. Joel calls the scene of the battle "the Valley of Decision." "Come, tread ye," says the prophet, "for the winepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3. 13, 14). The multitudes are the forces of the Man of Sin.

The first six verses of Isaiah 63 narrate in the form of a dialogue

The Overthrow of the Man of Sin

and his forces. The dialogue is between Messiah the Deliverer and the Jews. Having just overthrown the foe in the treading of the winepress, and the armies of the Empire being destroyed throughout the battle line from the north of the land to the south, the Messiah, in the fruits of His victory, reveals Himself to His astonished earthly people. In wondering admiration they exclaim: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious, marching in the greatness of His strength?" To this their Deliverer answers, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." The significance of this is at once apparent to the reader who calls to mind the various passages mentioned above in reference to the voice of the Lord. "I that speak in righteousness"—this is the voice uttered before His army (Joel 2. 10), "the sword that proceedeth out of His mouth" (Rev. 19. 15); the "breath of His mouth," by which the Man of Sin is crushed (2 Thess. 2. 8), and the "voice" of Psalm 29.

The people, struck by the appearance of the Victor, next ask: "Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?" The language is doubtless symbolic. Messiah explains in reply how the threatening foes have been crushed: "I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yea, I trod them in Mine anger, and trampled them in My fury; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me; and My fury, it upheld Me. And I trod down the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My fury, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth" (vv. 3-6). The words of a previous prophecy express the joyful recognition of the delivered nation: "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isa. 25. 9).

Turning now to Psalm 29 we find

The Scene of Judgment

strikingly depicted; the very length of the battle line is indicated, in agreement with the later and clearer description in Revelation 20. 14. Indeed, the passages which foretell the events of this coming terrible day afford a remarkable illustration of the progressive character of the revelations of Scripture. The Psalm is divided into three parts: (1) The first three verses are a call to the saints in Heaven, the "sons of the mighty," to worship the Lord in view of the judgment He is just about to execute for the deliverance of His people the Jews, their land and their city. (2) The second part, verses 3-9, describes the actual judgment by means of "the voice of the Lord." The psalmist was doubtless thinking of a thunderstorm. The Spirit of God was giving prophetic utterance concerning a more terrible scene, and the geographical limitations of the Psalm are of prophetic import. The first place mentioned is Lebanon, in the north, with its mountain-spur Sirion (vv. 5, 6). The last place is the wilderness of Kadesh, in the south, the centre of which is Bozrah, in Edom (v. 8), a point of connection with Isaiah 63. 1. Now the distance from Sirion to Bozrah, in the wilderness of Kadesh, is 200 miles, and this is the 1600 furlongs of Revelation 14.20. Here, then, in one fell stroke of divine wrath the Man of Sin and his forces are overthrown, and the Jews are delivered. The later revelations of Scripture thus enable us to pass from the natural and physical setting of the Psalm to the veiled reality. Thus this portion of the Psalm is to be read in connection with the passage from Revelation 19 quoted above. (3) The last two verses describe the results of the conquest.

The Jews in their Extremity

were threatened with annihilation. But man's extremity is God's opportunity. The people now see their Deliverer in person, they "look on Him whom they pierced." They realise that their enemies were destroyed because "the Lord sat as King at the flood." And now "the Lord sitteth as King for ever." He whose right it is to reign has come to Zion. Hence the psalmist can next say: "The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." Armageddon is over, the winepress of God's wrath has been trodden, and the war against the Lamb is ended. Psalm 30 follows on with the people's song of praise for deliverance.

The judgments of God in the earth will be accompanied by

Seismic Disturbances,

including "a great earthquake such as was not since there were men upon the earth," the overthrow of the cities of the nations, and the displacement of islands and mountains (Rev. 16. 18-21). Then doubtless will be fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, that in the day when the Lord goes forth to fight against the nations that are gathered against Jerusalem, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, and the mountain will be divided, leaving a very great valley east of the city (Zech. 14. 1-5).

The Everlasting Kingdom.

In this tremendous intervention in the affairs of the world for the termination of Gentile dominion the Son of God will be accompanied by all His saints. He will come "to be glorified in His saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed" (2 Thess. 1. 10). So from earliest times Enoch had prophesied: "Behold, the Lord came with His holy myriads, to execute judgment upon all" (Jude 14, 15, margin). And Zechariah: "The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee" (14. 5). They are to take an active part in the inauguration of His Kingdom, and in its government. For "the saints of the Most High shall receive the Kingdom, and possess the Kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan. 7. 18). "The Kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the Kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (v. 27).

Then shall the Lord "be King over all the earth" (Zech. 14. 9). God's claims will be vindicated. His Christ will reign as King of Righteousness, and King of Peace, the centre of His government being the very place where once He was despised and rejected, and men cast Him out and crucified Him. Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this (Isa. 9. 7). His saints "shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20. 6). Then will be fulfilled the words of the Lord, "I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain" (Zech. 8. 3). The days of Israel's mourning will be ended, the nation will be a "crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of her God," and Jerusalem will be a praise in the earth (Isa. 60. 30; 62. 3, 7). "The Heavens shall rejoice and the earth be glad," and "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Psa. 96. 11; Isa. 11. 9). According to God's Eternal Counsel the despised Nazarene will yet be manifested and acknowledged by all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

"To Him be glory for ever and ever,
Amen."

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