The Blue-print Of History

We are familiar with the way Nebuchadnezzar's image (Daniel 2) described the history of the world in advance. The interpretation, provided in the chapter itself, is a continuous historic sequence depicting the rise and fall of human kingdoms. The vision of the beasts in Daniel's prophecy follows the same pattern and thus sets a valuable precedent for the understanding of the book of Revelation - especially in view of the close similarity in the symbology.

The traditional Christadelphian interpretation of the Apocalypse carries this same sequential construction - the epochs follow on from each other. The seals in chapter six are not all opened at once, but one after the other. Some have suggested that these seals run concurrently, but to say so is not being faithful to the text. First one seal is opened and the contents described, then the next, and so on through the seven. In fact the idea that these seals are in any way simultaneous is really forbidden by the very imagery used: this is a scroll which one unrolls after breaking a seal, breaks the next seal and unrolls further - and so on through the seven seals of the scroll. The epochs that are here represented as seals are quite definitely set out in a consecutive order and are even numbered one to seven.

The connection between seals and trumpets can be seen easily from Chapter 8:1,2. The trumpets form part of the seventh seal and follow one another in a consecutive pattern throughout chapters 8 and 9. The last trumpet itself is first mentioned in Chapter 10:7. The whole idea presented to our minds is one of various epochs following one another in succession.

This of course involves the construction of the book of Revelation, but if we simply accept the picture presented in the word (we are always asked to do that!), it is not difficult to see that a succession of epochs continue from the first seal to the last vial.

These epochs in the book of Revelation describe Christ's work in preparing the world for Divine rule and can be outlined in the following four parts:

The Seals: The removal of the Pagan system and the establishment of the Bible in European or Gentile civilization.

Trumpets: Judgments poured out on Apostate Christendom; the Testimony of Jesus Christ is carried before the nations.

Vials: The break-up of the dominion of the Apostasy in preparation for Christ's rule.

New Heavens: Visions of Heaven's Kingdom established on earth are given at various points in the prophecy, and at the end.

Some details, and the date of each epoch, are given in Brother Thomas's chart. [entitled: The Seven-Sealed Scroll]

The Times Understood

One of the most convincing features in the Eureka interpretation is the amazing 'historical fit' - a point that most readily concede. But that this 'fit' is not just something which has been engineered after the passing of history is seen in the fact that early Bible students foresaw the fulfilment. Many understood the Apocalyptic epoch with which they were contemporary and because of the sequential development of the prophecy, students were allowed to foresee events. A few examples will perhaps demonstrate the strength of this.

Irenaeus, a contemporary of the apostle John, has left on record his understanding of the apocalyptic number of the beast which, he said, referred to The Latin Kingdom. But the expectation of the rise of an apostate "Christian" system in Rome is well documented. Bro. Alan Eyre refers to the writings of Tertullian (A.D. 162-240) on page 13 of The Protestors:

". . . he (Tertullian) makes quite a remarkable prediction stating that on the basis of Scripture he expected an apostate church with temporal power to grow up in Rome, rising from the fragmented ruins of Imperial Rome. Hippolytus (died 236) wrote similarly of a revived Roman Empire under a new guise and governing by Roman law."

This expectation came to pass with the rise of Constantine (A.D. 312) and signalled the completion of the six seals of the book of Revelation.

Both Pagan and Papal Rome waged war against the witnesses of the Truth and consequently few written testimonies have survived the devouring flames of Antichrist's censorship. History conceals much until the day of Christ. However, we do know that some understood the structure of the Apocalypse and that they could accurately identify their own time. Among these was Thomas Newton who wrote in 1754. If the reader will study Brother Thomas's chart reproduced on page 20, he will see from that that Thomas Newton lived just before the termination of the sixth trumpet period in 1789, he wrote:

"These seven last plagues must necessarily fall under the seventh and last trumpet, or the third and last woe-trumpet; so that as the seventh seal contained the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet comprehends the seven vials . . .

If then these seven last plagues synchronize with the seventh and last trumpet, they are all yet to come; for the sixth trumpet is not yet past, nor the woe of the Turkish or Ottoman empire yet ended." 'Dissertations On The Prophecies' pages 630-631

Another writer, living in a different epoch - George Stanley Faber, writing in 1806 (see Brother Thomas's chart, the 4th vial) says in his A Dissertation On The Prophecies, Volume 2, page 408:

"At present we are living under the fourth vial..."

This demonstrates a remarkable awareness of the times, and shows that the 'historical fit' which Brother Thomas explains is of ancient origin. Brother Thomas himself refers to the instance of Peter Juricue who recognized the fulfilment of prophecy in the political death of the witnesses in France (1572); and correctly forecast the resurrection of the witnesses in the French Revolution approximately 105 years later. In Herald Of The Future Age for 1848, page 23, Brother Thomas wrote:

"Peter Juricue, a Huguenot Minister, whose works were translated from the French into English in 1687, in commenting upon Rev. XI: 12, 13, says, more than a hundred years before the prediction was fulfilled, 'The Tenth part of the City which here fell, will, at some future time, appear to be the Kingdom of France, where a Revolution will take place about the year 1785, and a separation from the Papacy follow . . ."

Recognizing contemporary events and times is remarkable enough, but when the writer outlines important events beforehand we must surely take some notice. Take another example. The following quotation is from Robert Fleming's 'The Rise and Fall of Rome Papal' first published in 1701:

"There is no need to give you any conjectures about the conclusion of the sixth vial, or the beginning of the last; only you may observe, that the first of these will probably take up most of the time between the year 1848, and the year 2000 . . .

Supposing then, that the Turkish monarchy should be totally destroyed between 1848 and 1900, we may justly assign seventy or eighty years longer to the end of the sixth vial, and but twenty or thirty, at most, to the last."

This is truly remarkable for a prediction made over 200 years beforehand, and based on the continuous historical interpretation of Revelation. The Turkish power may be said to have finally fallen in 1917 as one of the results of the First World War (Fleming was just 17 years out). He says that the sixth vial will continue some 70 or 80 years more - which would bring us to the period 1987-1997 if Fleming is right.

Are we to say that such predictions as are referred to above were mere chance?

The writers that we have quoted were all witnesses of the Gentile class; they were of the Wild olive tree and consequently of the outer court (Rev. 11), but they were given sufficient knowledge to make testimony against the beast. Other witnesses also existed, but we do not have their writings on prophecy. However, in our own age we can observe the accurate exposition of Brother John Thomas. Criticism of his writings in recent years have been unbalanced - attention has been focused upon mistakes (with difficulty sometimes), whilst many correct results have been brushed aside. Perhaps more than anything else, it is Brother Thomas's chronology ("dates") that have been used to facilitate attack.

We should be aware that the majority of Brother Thomas's dates were not wrong. Many important expectations were justified. But regards his widely publicised "mistakes" we can best quote from his own pen. In his last work, The Book Unsealed, he wrote:

"That this will be the ORDER in which the events of these latter days will develop, we are justified in saying, because it is the order of all God's past relations with Israel. All His purposes and
schemes with them have been gradual in development. God is never in a hurry. He has plenty of time at His disposal. He is not bound to do things according to your speculation or mine as to how long He ought to take."

What Brother Thomas only saw written on the prophetic page we have seen written in history books. Let us acknowledge the fact then, that as a servant of Jesus Christ he was shown those things that were coming to pass.

Go to: Conclusion