| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye peoples: let the earth hear, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all things that come forth from 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 Jehovah hath indignation against all the nations, and wrath against all their host: he hath utterly destroyed them, and 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 the stench of their dead bodies shall come up; 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 fade away, as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf 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 hath drunk its fill in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Edom, 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 Jehovah is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. |
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 wild-oxen shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be drunken with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. |
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| 8 For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause 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 of Edom 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 pelican and the porcupine shall possess it; and the owl and the raven shall dwell therein: and he will stretch over it the line of confusion, and the plummet of emptiness. |
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| 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. |
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| 13 And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. |
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| 14 And the wild beasts of the desert shall meet with the wolves, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; yes, the night-monster shall settle there, and shall find her a place of rest. |
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| 15 There shall the dart-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; yes, there shall the kites be gathered, every one with her mate. |
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| 16 Seek ye out of the book of Jehovah, and read: no one of these shall be missing, 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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