The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

wickedness. Repay to her what she has given; and redouble it in accordance with her
doings. The cup which she has poisoned, poison it double for her.'"
First vial poured on the land
We now come to consider the symbolic portrayal of the plagues which gradually but
rapidly consume and finally produce the complete destruction of the great false systems,
commonly called Christendom.
"And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and
grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which
worshiped his image."--Rev. 16:2.
We will not be surprised when we examine the interpretation and application of this
symbolic vial, as given by expositors in general, to find that they apply it to a period much
earlier than the harvest. Indeed, we find that there has been a general disposition to apply
this first vial judgment to the outbreaking of infidelity, beginning just before the French
Revolution and Reign of Terror. This outbreaking of infidelity, according to these
expositors, was caused through the circulation of the infidel literature of Voltaire and
others of those times. This had the effect of exposing the false doctrines and worship of the
Roman Catholic Church, thus weakening its power and influence. It was not until later
years that the fall from favor of Protestantism began to be seen. It was the thought of these
expositors that these vial judgments would affect only the Roman Catholic system. They
understood that the image of the beast described a particular aspect or phase of
Romanism. The larger number of these lived and wrote before the formation of the
Evangelical Alliance, which we understand to have been the beginning of the image of the
beast.
Those who keep before their mind the progressive character connected with the
understanding of these visions, as history has unfolded them, will recognize that it was
impossible for these expositors to understand the full significance of prophetic visions. In
the light of the events of history since the Evangelical Alliance was formed in 1846, the
various aspects of the anti-Christian apostasy, as represented in these symbols of the
"beast," "mark of the beast," "image of the beast," and "worshipers of the image" are more
clearly seen. In this fuller light, as we have already shown, we could not look for the first
vial judgment to begin until after the "image of the beast"--organized sectarian
Protestantism--had come into existence.
In considering the interpretation of these seven vial symbols, it will be of advantage to
keep in mind the following basic principle, already noted, namely "that one plague or evil
goes on increasingly, after a second and third, etc., are added, until in the end the entire
seven forms of evil will be operating simultaneously."
It was the thought of this writer that all except the seventh of these plagues had begun in a
small measure to meet fulfillment at the time he wrote these words. With this introductory
word we submit the interpretation offered by Mr. Russell as being most reasonable: