Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 7: The Finished Mystery

by C. T. Russell

And fire came down from God out of Heaven, and devoured them.—They will be instantaneously and mercifully electrocuted, not tormented.

20:10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.—“He is to be destroyed, together with all his angels—his messengers, all who follow his leading and his course.—Matt. 25:41; Heb. 2:14.”—F. 619.

Where the beast and WHERE the false prophet are.—Papacy and the Protestant Church Federation will have been in destruction a thousand years at the time this Scripture is fulfilled.—Rev. 13:11, 13, 14, 15; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2, 13; 19:20; 20:10; Matt. 24:24.

And shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.—The Seven Volumes of Scripture Studies are the instruments the Lord is using to bring these iniquitous systems to their end; and so long as these books remain, the torment of these systems will be in evidence. The systems will cease, but the “Seven Plagues” will continue forever.—Rev. 14:11; 19:3.

20:11. And I saw a great white Throne.—“The whiteness of the Throne indicates the purity of the justice and judgment which will be meted out.”—B. S. M.

And Him that sat on it.—“The Throne is Messiah's; it represents His Mediatorial Dominion of earth for a thousand years.”—B. S. M.

From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.—“The heavens and earth which will flee from the presence of the great Immanuel will not be the Heavens of God's Throne, nor the earth which he has given to the children of men. The heavens and earth which will flee away, and for which no place will be found, are, of course, the symbolical ones. The symbolic heavens represent spiritual influences—Ecclesiasticism, Churchianity. Thus interpreted, our text declares that when Messiah assumes control of the world, the result will be that the social system of to-day, as well as present-day ecclesiasticism, will pass out of existence—no place will be found for them.” (B. S. M.) “ ‘Heaven and earth’: To our Lord's contemporaries the religious and social system under which they lived seemed almost as fixed and as eternal as the earth and sky. Indeed, ‘heaven and earth’ appears to have been a name which they gave to the then-existing order of things in recognition of what they deemed its permanence and fixity.”—Weym.; Rev. 21:1; Dan. 2:35.

20:12. And I saw the dead, [small and] BOTH great AND SMALL stand before [God] THE THRONE.—What a grand [pg 312] privilege is that which awaits “Him whom man despiseth, Him whom the nation abhorreth, a servant of rulers,” “That thou mayest say to the prisoners [the twenty billions in the prison-house of death], Go forth; to them that are in [the] darkness [of the tomb], Show yourselves.” (Isa. 49:7, 9; Rev. 11:18; 19:5). (The dead are standing while they are dead. See Rev. 20:5 comments.)

And the books were opened.—“The books of the Bible will then all be opened—understood. All will then see that the Golden Rules laid down by inspiration through Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and His Apostles, are the very ones which God will require of men in the future and which Messiah will then enable the willing and obedient to comply with by assisting them up out of their sin and degradation.” (B. S. M.) The entire Word of God will not be opened until after the Church is beyond the veil. Much of it (perhaps nearly all) will be opened by the Great Company class during the Time of Trouble, but some of it may wait for the Prophets themselves. Meantime, all that is necessary for salvation and service has been provided.—Dan. 7:10.

And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.—“In the great Day of the world's trial or Judgment another Book of Life will be opened. A record will be made of all who, by obedience, show themselves worthy of everlasting life on the human plane.” (B. S. M.) “The First Book of life is called the Lamb's Book of Life, containing the names of the elect Church, His Bride. This other Book of Life will be the book, or record, of those who shall pass the restitutional trial or judgment satisfactorily.”—Z. '00-239.