the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded: and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river: and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt." This judgment will be a retribution for "the blood of the saints."

Verses 8-11: "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and sores, and repented not of their deeds." The scorching of fire in the midst of their trouble, will be terrible in the ex

treme.

Ex. x. 21-23, will illustrate the fifth vial: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days but all the children of Israel had

light in their dwellings." What a terrible scene! with all their grievous sores, blood to drink,--stagnant blood,--and putrid fish filling the waters, scorched with burning heat; and then, to crown the whole, the whole kingdom of Anti-Christ is to be full of darkness. O, what a picture of wo! Reader, make haste to escape it. Watch ye, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things, and to stand before the Son of man."

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Verses 12-16: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." The sixth vial is to prepare the way for the battle of that great day of God Almighty. three unclean spirits like frogs, go forth from the beast, popery; the dragon, Mahomedism, (for the Mahomedans now possess the imperial power of the east ;) and the false prophet, infidelity. These all are the spirits of devils, working_miracles, or prodigies, like the magicians of Egypt, by which Pharaoh was deceived and fought against God and his hosts, even to the last. So

The

the world of the ungodly will be deceived, and gathered against him that sitteth on the horse and his army, with the vain hope of triumph. They will go to gather the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to the battle of that great day of GOD ALMIGHTY. The great river Euphrates will be as literally dried up, to make a highway for the nations to come to that battle, as the Red Sea was for the Israelites to pass over dry-shod.

That the kings of the earth and of the whole world will be gathered together to battle against Christ when he shall appear in his glory, appears to many to be exceedingly incredible; because they must know, it is said, that they cannot prevail. So might Pharaoh have known that he could not conquer Israel, after all the manifestations of God's power which he had witnessed; but yet he rushed madly on, with his eyes open, time after time, into ruin. Why did he do it? I answer, "the spirits of devils," in his magicians, deceived him. "The magicians did so with their enchantments." So "the spirits of devils," with their miracles and prodigies, will deceive the kings of the earth and of the whole world, not to pursue the saints into the Red Sea, but to go up to battle with the great KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS, HIMSELF.

The Lord has declared this gathering of the nations by the mouth of his prophets. Joel iii. 1, 2: "For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered

among the nations, and parted my land." Also, verses 9-16, of the same chapter: "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near let them come up: beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears, let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." The same great event is likewise predicted by Zephaniah, iii. 8: "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indig nation, even all my fierce anger for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

From these, and many other passages which might be quoted, it is clear that God will gather all the nations of the earth together to the battle of the great day. The kings of the earth and their

armies, will be "gathered together, to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army." Rev. xix. 19.

"The great river Euphrates" will be as liter ally dried up to make way for the kings of the eastern world to come up to Jerusalem and Palestine to that battle, as the same river was dried up before Cyrus, when he entered and took the city of Babylon; or as the Red Sea and river Jordan were dried up to make a highway for Israel through their bed. The effects of the sixth vial will be, first, to dry up the waters of the river, to make a highway; and, secondly, to send forth the spirits of devils to deceive, by miracles, the kings of the whole earth, and their armies, and gather them. Being gathered by the sixth vial, under the seventh vial the battle will be fought.

Verses 17-21: "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."