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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. |
Ye nations, to hear – This dashing to pieces as a potter's vessel will prove a valuable lesson to them when they come forth to an individual judgment under the Millennial reign. D20[D20:2]
Let the earth – The present organization of society. C229[C229:1]; A323[A322:1]; D46[D45:2]
And all things – All selfish and evil things. D20[D20:2]
Come forth of it – Of the spirit of the world. D20[D20:2]
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| 2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. |
For the indignation – The time of trouble. D13
Is upon all nations – The judgment of nations, now instituted, is a judgment of men in their collective (civil and religious) capacities. D12[D12:1]
Including heathendom also, because they have preferred darkness to light. D70[D70:1]
He hath utterly – Taking the future standpoint. D20[D20:2]
Hath delivered them – Judging them unworthy of a continued lease of power. D70[D70:2]
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| 3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. |
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| 4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. |
The host of heaven – The nominal church, ecclesiastical systems. D552[D551:3]; R1947:6[R1947:29], R1705:5[R1705:4], R1488:2[R1488:3]; HG316:5
Shall be dissolved – A symbolic representation of the way in which the change of dispensation will be effected. R1814:2[R1814:2]
Together as a scroll – Catholicism and Protestantism, the two ends. D258, D552,; R4343:3, R3531:4, R1355:6, R1474:1, R1766:2
Not in one great roll, but in two separate parts, really in opposition. R1705:5[R1705:6], R2061:6[R2061:28]
A concentration to one center--but in two great divisions. R1474:1
Coming closer together as their power decreases. R1355
Rolling together for mutual protection, sympathy and co-operation. R5349:4, R1488:2, R3533:1
We see in Germany what seems to be the start of this rolling together. The Emperor has been obliged to conciliate the Catholic element of his empire more and more. R3532:1
The two sides clearly divided; as the book of Revelation clearly distinguishes between the "Image" and the original "Beast," Papacy; while showing that they will be considerably in fellowship. (Rev. 13:15-17) R2047:1, R2046:3
Illustrated by the appointments of ritualists as bishops in the Church of England, and the elevation of a Roman Cardinal to the House of Lords as a Lord Bishop. R2309:1; D551
Shall fall down --Fall off, drop out; not all at once, but gradually, yet rapidly. D552
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| 5 For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. |
To judgment – Verses 2 to 5 are a symbolic representation of the way in which the change of dispensation will be effected. R1814:2
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| 6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
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The blood of lambs – Of the tribulation saints. D17
And goats – The "tare" class. D17
Sacrifice in Bozrah – The name Bozrah signifies "sheep fold," and the city is even yet noted for its goats. D17
Ecclesiasticism, the chief citadel of Christendom. D17
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| 7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. |
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| 8 For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. |
The LORD'S vengeance – The time of trouble. D11; D20; OV345:6
A day of rectifying the wrongs of the people. R3841:5
The controversy – The strife and contention in nominal Zion. D19
Of Zion – The saints, the true Church. OV345:6
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| 9 And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. |
Into brimstone – Destruction. A318
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| 10 It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. |
The smoke thereof – The remembrance of the destruction of the present systems of deception and error. R2609:6
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| 11 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. |
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| 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. |
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| 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. |
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| 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. |
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| 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. |
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| 16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. |
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| 17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein. |
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