possessions with us, great or small-nothing must be left behind to be a treasure in Babylon and to attract our hearts thither again. All things must be brought with us so that not our own lives and talents only, but our influence upon others, must all be made to count." (Z.'01231.) "As to missionary activities (Matt. 23:15), what advantage can accrue to the heathen from giving them the false doctrines of the Adversary? The few who may be reached will have the more to unlearn when the Times of Restitution begin.”—F641.

My people. "We would not be understood as including all Christians as 'Babylonians.' Quite to the contrary. As the Lord recognizes some in Babylon as true to Him and addresses them now, 'saying, 'Come out of her, My people' (Rev. 18:4), so do we; and we rejoice to believe that there are today thousands who have not bowed the knee to the Baal of our day-Mammon, Pride and Ambition. Those who will not come out until Babylon falls and they come through the 'great tribulation' (Rev. 7:9-14) shall not be accounted worthy to share the Kingdom. Compare Rev. 2:26; 3:21; Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:34, 35; Luke 14:26, 27.” (See Micah 2:10; Jer. 12:7-11; 23:33-40; Jer. 11:14, 15; Prov. 19:27; Matt. 14:28, 29; Hos. 4:6; Isa. 27:12.) "The begetting of spiritual children of God, through the Word of His grace, and their being to some extent cherished, nourished and brought forward by these human sectarian tare systems, is well illustrated by certain insects, the young of which are injected into the backs of their enemies, and there warmed, nourished and developed, up to the time of their complete birth and deliverance, which means, usually, the death of the insect which temporarily carried them about." (F656.) Now the point of deliverance has been reached.

That ye be not partakers of her sins. "If you fail to obey the Lord through fear of earthly loss, it will prove that these things are more precious to you than His favor, and He will treat you as He treats the hypocrites; you will have a share in their experiences." (Z.'14-180.) "We do not know but that they may go to the extreme in our day -to kill socially, to kill ecclesiastically, perhaps to kill physically. Nearly all the persecutions that have come to God's people have come from professed Christians, fellowbelievers. 'Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My Name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.' (Isaiah 66:5.)"-Z.'14-181; Num. 16:26.

And that ye receive not of her plagues.-See Rev. 16:1-21.

18:5. For her sins [have reached] CLEAVED TOGETHER unto Heaven.-Ezekiel has touched on this!Jer. 51:9; Gen. 11:3, 4; Luke 10:11.

And God hath remembered her iniquities.-By seven plagues; the seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures. -Rev. 16:1-21. See also bottom of this page.

18:6. Reward her even as she rewarded [you].-A diligent attempt has been made in this direction. Anything overlooked will be inserted in the next edition.-Psa. 137:8; Jer. 50:15, 29; 51:24.

[And] double unto her double according to her works.— Make a double exposition (explaining Revelation and Ezekiel) that will show her up just as she is.

In [the] HER cup which she hath filled.-The Scriptures which she has twisted, distorted and misapplied. "The cup which she has used as a means of seduction shall now be changed into the instrument of her punishment."Cook.

Fill to her double.-Greek, "the double." (Isa. 61:7.) Give her enough light on Ezekiel and Revelation to show her the exit.-Isa. 21:7-10.

18:7. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously. And to what lengths has not Papacy gone in this direction, with the Protestant sects doing their best to keep the pace!

So much torment and sorrow.-Mourning for the dead, Greek.-Amos. 8:10.

Give her. "I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened His armoury [Ezekiel and Revelation] and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation: for this is the work of the Lord God of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans the vengeance

of the Lord our God, the vengeance of His Temple. Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her."-Jer. 50:24-29.

For she saith in her heart.-Babylon really believes her prosperity will continue forever. They "shall believe the lie."-2 Thes. 2:11.

I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sor. row. See Isa. 47:8, 9; D43; Zeph. 2:15.

18:8. Therefore. "Because she will violently struggle for life and power."-D39.

Shall her plagues.—Death, mourning, famine and fire. Come in one day. The year of 1918. See Rev. 3:14; 11:11. Death. "By the hand of her enemies."

And mourning. For the loss of her people.-Rev. 18:7.

And famine.-Literal and symbolic (Amos. 8:11). "As we call to mind the long train of evils by which Babylon has oppressed and worn out the saints of the most High (the true Zion), and how it is written that God will avenge His own Elect, and that speedily; that, according to their deeds, He will repay recompense to His enemies; that He will render unto Babylon a recompense (Luke 18:7, 8; Isa. 59:18; Jer. 51:6), we begin to realize that some fearful calamity awaits her. The horrible decrees of Papacy,the reproach and reward of which Protestantism also is incurring by her present compromising association with her, for the burning, butchering, banishing, imprisoning and torturing of the saints in every conceivable way, executed with such fiendish cruelty in the days of her power by the arm of the State, whose power she demanded and received, await full measure of just retribution."-D39.

And she shall be utterly burned with fire.-Completely destroyed in the anarchy to follow.-Rev. 17:16; Gen. 38:24; Ezek. 16:41; Lev. 20:14; 21:9.

For strong is GOD the Lord [God] who [judgeth] JUDGED her.-"Compare Rev. 17:17, where the event is expressly declared to have been overruled by God." (Cook.) "And I will punish Bel in Babylon [the God of Babylon,the Pope]; and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up [he shall repudiate in his extremity the 'great swelling words' and blasphemous titles which he has long appropriated to himself—that he is the infallible vicar,' 'vice-gerent of Christ,' 'another God on earth,' etc.], and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him. Yea, the wall of Babylon [the civil power that once defended it, and that in a measure does so still] shall fall. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire [shall be destroyed]; and the people shall labor in vain, and the folk in the fire [to prop and save the walls of Babylon], and they shall be weary. Jer. 51:44, 58."-D40. The people are already getting weary of supporting murderous governments.

18:9. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication [and lived deliciously] with her.-In the illicit unions of Church and State the advantage, from a worldly viewpoint, has been on the side of the Church. She has compelled the State to cleanse her filthy linen while she proceeded to pollute another lot. Far from living deliciously, the horns have really hated the harlot for her impudent, shameless conduct.

Shall [bewail her], WAIL and lament for her.-Not be cause they loved her, but because she was useful to them

in keeping the people in ignorance and subjection.-Jer. 50:46; Ezek. 26:15 to 27:36.

When they shall see the smoke of her burning.-When they witness her confusion and signs of imminent destruction as portrayed in the seventh plague-"the handwriting on the wall."-Dan. 5:1-9; Rev. 18:18; 19:3.

18:10. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.-Realizing that this is a question of interpretation of the Scriptures and not wishing to get entangled in it any more than absolutely necessary.-Jer. 51:30-33.

Saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city. Alas, that great religious system that was always eager to affiliate with us and give a religious coloring to even wholesale murder by enticing its young men to enlist under our banners!

For in one hour is thy judgment come. In the one year 1917-1918.-Rev. 17:12.

18:11. And the merchants of the earth.-Salesmen of religious goods-Popes, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and smaller fry.-Ezek. 27:36; Isa. 23:8; 47:15; Rev. 18:3, 15, 23.

Shall weep and mourn over her.-Saying, in substance, "What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed."Luke 16:3.

For no man buyeth their merchandise any more."And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols [all sectarian denominations] out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets [the clergy] and the unclean spirit [their false doctrines] to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass that when any [former clergyman] shall yet prophesy [try to still further mislead the people into giving him reverence and coin], then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth [so enraged will they be when they realize how they have been deceived respecting fears of hel or assurances of Heaven for themselves and other descendants of monkeys, which the preachers have taught them they are]. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets [clergy] shall be ashamed every one of his vision [of the creeds], when he hath prophesied [preached]; neither shall they wear a rough garment [distinctive clothingcollars fastened on backwards, in harmony with their conceptions of religious things, ard ties and clothing in

mourning to suit] to deceive: But he shall say I am no prophet [no preacher of the gospel at all], I am an husbandman [à farmer]; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. [Ezekiel 34:1-31 shows how poorly they kept the cattle]. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds [marks of rough usage] in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends [by my parishioners]."-Zech. 13:2-6.

18:12. The merchandise of gold.—Truths respecting the Divine nature. There was a time when the nominal church had the custody of these truths, but that privilege passed in 1878.

And of silver.-Truths respecting the Great Company. And precious stones.-Truths respecting the Lord's jewels.-Mal. 3:17.

And of pearls.-Truths respecting the things purchased by the Lord's death.-Matt. 13:45, 46.

And fine linen.-Truths respecting the righteous the Lord's saints.-Rev. 19:8; Rom. 8:4; 2 Pet. 1:9.

And purple.-Truths respecting the Church's expectation of coming royalty.-Rev. 5:10; 20:4; Luke 12:32; 22:29, 30; James 2:5; Mark 10:23; 1 Cor. 4:8; Rev. 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26, 27; Psa. 2:8-12; 49:14; Rom. 8:19; 16:20. And silk.-Truths respecting the most beautiful of all the fabrics of the loom-grand, beautiful characters made so by the wisdom and mercy of God out of men and women that to start with were only poor worms of earth. And scarlet.-Truths respecting the Ransom-sacrifice of our Lord. (1 Tim. 2:6; Rom. 14:9; Rom. 5:18, 19; John 1:29; 1 John 2:2.) All these truths have passed away from Babylon, but the errors must go, too.

And all thyine wood.-Errors respecting man's inherent immortality. Thyine wood is a sweet-smelling wood; wood is a symbol of human traditions. The sweetest of all human theories is the declaration that when a man dies he is not dead at all. (1 Cor. 3:12.) Very shortly men will begin to come back from the dead, "the last first" (Matt. 19:30; 20:16); and stories that they have been in some fabulous hell or in Heaven will be at a considerable discount.

And all manner vessels of ivory.-Stories of death-bed repentance and dreams, used to decorate unscriptural doc trines. Ivory was and is used in the harness of horses. It was also used to decorate beds. (Amos 6:4.) Horses symbolize teachings, and beds symbolize creed-beds. The application fits, whichever way the symbol is applied.-Jer. 23:28.