“One of the Seven Messengers to the Church”
(The following was taken from, “The New Albany Notes on Revelation”)
Preparatory Information:
In Revelation we (or John, representing us), are addressed in a number of ways.
(a) Directly by Jesus (Rev. 1:17-20)
(b) By a voice from heaven (Rev. 4:1; Rev. 14:13)
(c) By an elder (Rev. 5:5)
(d) By an angel (Rev. 10:9)
(e) By a voice from the throne (Rev. 19:5, 9, 10) and
(f) (the point of this appendix) By ONE of the seven angels which had the seven vials (Rev. 17:1)
This last named angel is of special importance. He first appears to John in this friendly, personal form in Rev. 17:1. He STAYS with John to the end of the book of Revelation, taking him aside and explaining things to him.
This angel is CHARLES T. RUSSELL, the seventh messenger to the Church. It is the point of this study to confirm that thesis.
The Evidences:
The fact that this angel first speaks with John in the Harvest period is in itself an evidence. John does not have the help of this angel UNTIL the Harvest period, and he (we) CONTINUE to have his help to the end —showing the continuing value of the message which God has provided for Laodicea.
If we trace the account to see what John (the Church) learns from this angel, we will see that ALL of these things are things the Church has learned through the ministry of Brother Russell:
1. He shows us the judgment of the great harlot (Rev. 17:1). Brother Russell was not unique in RECOGNIZING the apostate church. THAT happened by many before him. He was, however, unique in explaining the prophecies concerning the casting off, decline, and end of the Babylon.
2. He carries us back to study the wilderness condition of the Church —the 1260 years. (Rev. 17:3) In his explanations of the development of the great Man of Sin, Brother Russell carefully explained the chronology of Daniel which showed the Time, Times, and Half a Time during which the true Church would have to live apart from the apostate doctrine and practice in a self-imposed wilderness, fleeing from the hatred of the harlot.
3. This angel shows us our wonder and explains the symbols of prophecy. (Rev. 17:6, 7) Brother Russell realized the hunger of the John class to understand what had happened in Church history. He virtually said in his ministry, "Have you wondered about this? Let me tell you what it means."
4. This angel shows us the art of interpreting symbols and, by using these interpreted symbols, tells us things to come. (Rev. 17:15-18) Again, Brother Russell (through the enlightenment of the Scriptures) taught us that waters consistently represent either peoples or truths, etc., etc. He then, through the art of topical study, showed us how to take these consistent symbols and apply them to prophetic passages in order to make sense of them.
5. He explained the bride class —the body of Christ which would bless all the families of the earth. Thus, we knew the purpose of our calling. (Rev. 21:9)
6. He told of the new government of earth to be led by Jesus with that bride. (Rev. 21:10) Indeed, how often he "carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain!" THAT, like Jesus' preaching, was the thrust of his message.
7. The angel explicitly detailed the SIZE of that new government. (Rev. 21:15). He told us that it would consist of 144,000 individuals with Jesus (Rev. 14:1-5.) He was perhaps the first messenger since the early Church to recognize that the New Jerusalem HAS a size (a specific size or number)—it was not to be just some great number of people who made it into heaven!
8. The angel is IMPLIED to be a MAN! (Rev. 21:17) (Rev. 22:9) (KJV) Take a close look at Rev 21:17 it specifically states that the angel (the messenger) was a man.
9. He brought to light (after centuries of its being hidden) the facts of the doctrine of RESTITUTION, (Rev. 22:1, 2) Again, no messenger since the early Church had seen so clearly the doctrine which sets apart the TWO SALVATIONS. (Acts 3:20, 21)
10. This angel CLAIMS TO HAVE PRESENTED THE TRUTH. (Rev. 22:6) Stop to think about this. An angelic messenger would not need to make this claim (although Jesus does in Rev. 21:5). But this angel does what Brother Russell did, he said, "here is THE TRUTH."
11. This angel detailed the chronology. (Rev. 22:10) Brother Russell even used the words of this verse for his masterpiece volume on chronology, THE TIME IS AT HAND.
12. He foresaw our tendency to receive messengers as too important in themselves and corrected us of this error. (Rev. 22:8, 9; and Rev. 19:10)
13. He explained the doctrine of the Great Multitude (or Great Company, the “foolish virgins”, the “scape goat class”, which had not been seen since the days of the Apostles) (Rev. 19:9)
14. This angel directs our worship to the ONLY TRUE AUTHORITY. (Rev. 22:9) The spirit of the Reformation has always been that the Bible is the only true authority for the worship of God. The followers of reformers strayed from this advice to form denominations. Brother Russell did all in his power, and his writings still do the same, to INSIST that all faith structure be based ONLY on the Holy Word. All who take his writings for proof do violence to his ministry.
Conclusions:
The power of this particular ONE OF THE SEVEN ANGELS is inspiring. The John class could not walk well in the narrow way without the instructive friendship of this particular angel. The Lord knew this and thus introduces him to John in Chapter 17. We are grateful to the Lord for the provision and want to use it appropriately. Understanding the place of the Laodicean messenger is an invaluable asset to all Christians at this end of the age. Worshiping him is a pitfall.
There is an extra benefit from understanding the identity of this angel. By understanding who ONE of the angels is who has one of the seven vials, we are forced to the conclusion that the other six with the other six vials must be the remaining six messengers to the Church. Of course, all of them are now glorified beyond the veil with our Master. But this takes the guess-work out of discerning who the seven angels are who have the seven vials. They all blew trumpets; but the trumpets only did so much good (mostly because like their Master before they were accused of being false prophets, hated and despised by the professing church for declaring its errors). Now however, equipped beyond the veil with great powers, they can pour out the seven plagues to destroy the great system of error which they hated.
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