The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

This second trumpet portrays what we believe to be the overthrow of a great kingdom or
empire. The symbolism, which is that of a burning mountain being cast into the sea, is a
very familiar one to students of prophecy. Bible students are generally agreed that a
mountain when used symbolically nearly always refers to a kingdom. The Kingdom of
Christ is frequently represented by a mountain: "And the stone which smote the image [of
earthly empires] became a great mountain [kingdom], and filled the whole earth." This is
explained by the Prophet, "In the days of these kings [kingdoms] shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand
forever."--Dan. 2:35,44.
The Psalmist David when speaking of his kingdom makes use of this symbol: "Lord thou
hast made my mountain to stand strong" (Psa. 30:7), evidently referring to the stability of
his kingdom.
Empires and kingdoms being destroyed by revolutionary troubles, or other disturbing
causes, are, in prophetic symbology, represented by mountains being carried into the sea.
In one of the prophetic Psalms which portrays in symbolic language the terrible scenes
that occur in connection with the close of this Age, we have these words: "Therefore will
not we [God's saints] fear, though the earth [organized society] be removed, and though
the mountains [kingdoms] be carried into the midst of the sea." (Psa. 46:2.) In one of the
closing visions of the Revelation, that of the "seventh vial," we read that the "mountains
were not found," meaning in this case that the kingdoms of earth were overthrown
(symbolically burnt up) to make room for the Kingdom of Christ.--Rev. 16:20.
Careful examination and comparison of all the facts of history, we believe, reveal to us that
the symbolic vision of this second trumpet had its fulfillment about a century and a half
after the Pagan religion had ceased to be in a national sense the religion of the Roman
Empire. The symbolism is that of a burning mountain being cast into the sea.
In our endeavor to uncover the meaning of these symbolic visions of Revelation, we are
keeping in mind the exhortation of St. Peter: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
Scripture is of any private interpretation; for the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Pet.
1:20,21.) To our understanding the meaning of these words is not that God is necessarily
going to choose some special individual and miraculously make known to him the
meaning of Scriptural prophecy, but rather that we are to study their meaning, comparing
Scripture with Scripture, carefully noting other prophecies in which the same symbols are
employed that have had their fulfillment. Thus their meaning having been made evident,
we should make use of this knowledge in the interpretation of prophecies not yet fulfilled.
One has said:
"No single prophecy must be read alone, as if it stood apart from the rest, but in
connection with the whole plan of it in the Word. It is comparatively easy to find some
plausible application of a single passage; it is quite another thing to make this fit with a