The Apocalypse is a continuous prophecy extending from is own time, to the consummation of all things.—Importance of historical knowledge, in order to its correct interpretation.—It is a prophecy concerning the experiences of the Christian church, in the world, and not concerning those of the Jewish nation.
The volume now presented to the Christian public, consists as will be observed, of four parts: the first is commended to the candid consideration of those who have not yet received the truth of the premillennial advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the second and third take that truth as proved and granted, and address themselves especially to those who, holding premillennial views, are still looking for the manifestation of Antichrist, prior to the visible advent of Christ, those who adopt a literal interpretation of the Apocalyptic prophecies, including their chronological features—in other words, to the futurist school of prophetic interpreters.
Ours is pre-eminently the age of great secret societies; and these societies are of three classes, corresponding in character, as they do in number, to the “three frogs” which were seen to go forth on their mission when the sixth vial was poured out. Among these societies that of the Jesuits holds a first place. Instituted about a quarter of a century after the Reformation, with the view of checking (hindering) the progress of the gospel, its numbers have prodigiously increased, and now they swarm in all the countries of Europe. Wider still, there is not a land on earth where they are not busy, intriguing, and conspiring.
The symbols of the Apocalypse are not arbitrary signs, as are the letters of the alphabet and the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian tablets. There must be a law that governs symbolic representation; and the knowledge of that law is essential to the right interpretation of the Apocalypse.
