1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

strata of the air— ecclesiasticism. They bite andannoy both worldly people and the Lord'speople, as did the plague of flies in Egypt, andare specially persistent in the humid condition ofa rain— a downpour of Truth.These, like all clergy-approved workers, arelooked up to, worshipped by the people ofChristendom. Other creeping things that flysignify degrading or forbidden beliefs andpractices, attractive, garbed in the cloak ofreligion, under church auspices, as typed by theirflying in the air, ecclesiastical powers; but theyare displeasing to God and tending toward death.Ezekiel 8:11.And there stood before them seventy men ofthe ancients of the house of Israel, and in themidst of them stood Jaazaniah the son ofShaphan, with every man his censer in hishand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.—Worshipping the pictured images were theelders, or ancients, appointed by andrepresenting all the people of Jerusalem.Jaazaniah was a Levite, typical of a believer inChrist. The word Shaphan means "sly", andsuggests the slyness of the adherents of wrongbeliefs. Jaazaniah means "God is listening," andsignifies the fact that whatever "Christian"sinners may say, God is actually payingattention. The censer was used to carry the fire inwhichFM413incense was burned. (Rev. 8:3.) It types thebearing of the fiery trials signified by the fire.The devotees of error suffer in its behalf, asTruth people suffer for the Truth. Incense typesthe heart's best endeavors, here wrongly directedby many professing Christians in the service ofSatan, as were Saul's in persecuting Christians.(Acts 22:3, 4.) Tares are often more devoted totheir errors than are the Lord's people to theTruth. "The children of this world are wiser intheir generation than the children of light." (Luke16:8.) It was unlawful for a Hebrew to burnincense, except as in the regular temple service.