| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Ah, the land of the rustling of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia; |
Woe – Ho (Young's translation). R3404:3
To the land – By many, supposed to refer to the United States of America. R3404:3
Shadowing with wings – Sheltered by divine providence as an asylum for the liberty lovers and truth lovers of the world. R3404:3, R3405:1
Which is beyond – A fitting description of the location of the United States. R3405:2
Rivers of Ethiopia – Beyond the waters of the ends of the earth. R3405:2
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| 2 that sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide! |
Sendeth ambassadors – God's messages of Present Truth. R3405:2
Vessels of bulrushes – Papyrus, paper. R3405:2
Ye swift messengers – God's message going forth in literature, the Millennial Dawn books, tracts, etc. R3405:4
To a nation scattered – "A Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood." (1 Pet. 2:9) R3405:4
Also the Jewish nation, in stumbling over Christ. R1962:6
And peeled – Polished. R3405:4
A people terrible – In their experiences hitherto. R3405:4
A nation meted out – Whose course and experiences in life the Lord has measured out for them, for their own highest welfare. R3405:4
And trodden down – As a part of their necessary experiences. R3405:4
The rivers – Either of death or as in Psa. 46:4. R3405:5
Have spoiled – Divided. The river of death separates this Holy Nation from its inheritance on the other side of Jordan. R3405:5
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| 3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and ye dwellers on the earth, when an ensign is lifted up on the mountains, see ye; and when the trumpet is blown, hear ye. |
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| 4 For thus hath Jehovah said unto me, I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling-place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. |
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| 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becometh a ripening grape, he will cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and the spreading branches will he take away and cut down. |
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| 6 They shall be left together unto the ravenous birds of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth; and the ravenous birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. |
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| 7 In that time shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people terrible from their beginning onward, a nation that meteth out and treadeth down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the mount Zion. |
In that time – The time when the message of the swift messengers goes forth. R3405:5
Shall the present – The Holy Nation, brought as a present to Jehovah. R3405:5
The mount Zion – The heavenly Kingdom. R3405:5
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