Alan Dale Gross
Active Member
“PROGRESSIVE TEACHING CONCERNING FINAL JUDGMENT”
Chapter IV
The Interpretation of Prophecy in the Book of Revelation,
in MORE THAN CONQUERORS, by William Hendriksen.
Chapter IV
The Interpretation of Prophecy in the Book of Revelation,
in MORE THAN CONQUERORS, by William Hendriksen.
“THE book of Revelation reveals an inner, organic unity.
“It acquaints us with the Principles of Human Conduct and Divine Moral Government. These principles are always and everywhere in evidence.
This Book is as fully up to date today as it was in AD 1000. Fifty or a hundred years from now it will still be up to date.
It is applicable to conditions in the churches of Europe, of America, of Asia, of every continent.
“Wherever there is a church, it is a lampstand or light-bearer so that we see the light of Christ shining in the midst of the darkness (chapters 1-3).
Wherever this happens, the world hates the Church; the darkness refuses to be conquered by the light.
“Persecution follows; also trials of every description (chapters 4-7).
“These trials, however, are overruled for the good of the Church. The throne is always in heaven, not on earth. Believers are always victorious.
They come out of the tribulation, the great one. Wherever and whenever the Church is persecuted, the Lord hears and answers the prayers of His persecuted children. He sees the blood of the martyred saints, and trumpets of judgment warn the wicked (chapters 8-11).
“This struggle on the surface—between Church and world— always indicates a deeper struggle between Christ and the dragon (chapters 12-14).
“For the impenitent, Bowls of Final Wrath always follow Trumpets of Judgment (chapters 15, 16).
“That is true today; it was true yesterday; it will be true to morrow, whether you live in Africa, Europe, or America.
Satan and all his helpers always seem to be victorious, but in reality are always defeated (chapters 17-19; also 20-22).
“Thus interpreted—and we are convinced that this is the only tenable explanation—the Apocalypse is really very simple. It is simple and yet most profound.
It gives us the real philosophy of history.
It shows us the Principles of Human and Satanic Conduct and of Divine Moral Government as they are constantly revealing themselves.
It indicates how we should interpret the news contained in our newspapers and the events which we study in history books.
We have seen that throughout the history of the world Bowls of Final Wrath always follow trumpets of judgment whenever the latter are unheeded.
The order is never reversed. 1 Trumpets Warn. Bowls are Poured Out.
“In the Final Judgment, moreover, these Bowls of Wrath will be completely emptied upon impenitent, hardened sinners.
Similarly, ‘Babylon’ falls whenever the kingdoms of the world—whether Babylonia, Assyria or Rome — collapse.
The Great and Final Fall of Babylon occurs in connection with the Second Coming of our Lord to Judge the World.
Thus conceived, we notice that the Final Sections of the Apocalypse, though synchronous with the other sections
and applicable to the entire course of history, describe especially what will happen in connection with the Final Judgment.
So, although all the Sections of the Apocalypse Run Parallel and Span the Period between the First and Second Comings of Christ
and are rooted in the soil of the Old dispensation, yet there is also a Degree of Progress.
“The closer we approach the end of the Book, the more our attention is directed to the Final Judgment and that which lies beyond it.
The Seven Sections are Arranged, as it were, in an Ascending, Climactic order. The Book Reveals a Gradual Progress in Eschatological Emphasis.
“A careful examination of the Apocalypse will make this clear. In the First Series
—Christ in the Midst of the Seven Golden Lampstands
—we have no more than a mere Announcement of Christ’s Coming unto Judgment (i: 7).
“There is no description of the Judgment. In the Second Section (chapters 4-7), the Final Judgment is not merely Announced but definitely Introduced;
“we catch a glimpse of the horror which fills the wicked when they see the Judge Coming to them (6: 12 ff. ). But that is all. There is no Description.
A few verses are devoted to a description of the Church Triumphant after the Final Judgment (7: 9 ff. ).
“The next Vision, similarly (chapters 8-11), introduces the Final Judgment and the joy of the redeemed (11: 15 ff. ).
“In these Three Sections which comprise the First Main Division of the Book (chapters 1-11),
we do not come across anything more than a mere Announcement of or Introduction to the Final Judgment.
“But as soon as we enter the Second Main Division of the Book there is a change.
In the very First Section of this Main Division we have a real description of the Final Judgment (14:14 ff.).
“It is, however, a Symbolic Representation. Under the Symbolism of a Double Harvest the Final Judgment is pictured to us.
“The Next Vision (chapters 15, 16) describes the Pouring Out of God’s Final Wrath, so that this section, though synchronous with the others,
is in a special sense descriptive of the Final Judgment.
“In the Next Minor Division, the Fall of Babylon (chapters 17-19), this emphasis upon Christ’s Second Coming in Judgment and its meaning for the World
and for the Church, both Militant and Triumphant, is even greater. (See especially 19: 11, 12. )
“The Seventh or Final Section (chapters 20-22) not only describes the Final Judgment, but in this description drops much of the Symbolism of the Earlier Visions. Nothing is vague or indefinite and little is clothed with Symbolism (20: 12 ff. ).
The joy of the redeemed in the New Heaven and Earth is described much more circumstantially than, for example, in 7: 9 ff.
“The Book has reached its Glorious Climax."
“Proposition IV”,
of The Interpretation of Prophecy in the Book of Revelation
in MORE THAN CONQUERORS, by William Hendriksen.
“The Seven Sections of the Apocalypse are Arranged in an Ascending, Climactic Order.
There is Progress in Eschatological Emphasis.
The Final Judgment is First Announced, then Introduced, and Finally Described.
Similarly, the New Heaven and Earth are Described
more fully in the Final Section than in those which precede it.
To this conception of the book, we give the name ‘Progressive Parallelism’.
in MORE THAN CONQUERORS, by William Hendriksen.
“The Seven Sections of the Apocalypse are Arranged in an Ascending, Climactic Order.
There is Progress in Eschatological Emphasis.
The Final Judgment is First Announced, then Introduced, and Finally Described.
Similarly, the New Heaven and Earth are Described
more fully in the Final Section than in those which precede it.
To this conception of the book, we give the name ‘Progressive Parallelism’.
See: "More Than Conquerers", in pdf, by William Hendriksen
