Discourse, 8 April 1843, as Reported by William Clayton–B
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those things the Lord has told you to preach about, baptism repentance and baptism for the remission of sins.
(He here read Rev. ch 13 v 2 1 to 8) The spiritualizers say the beast that received the wound was Nebuchadnezzar, but we will look at what John saw in relation to this beast. The translators have used the term “dragon” for “devil”. Now it was a beast that John saw in heaven, and he was then speaking of “things that were shortly to come to pass”. The <And> consequently the beast John saw could not be Nebuchadnezzar The beast John saw <as spoken of in the 13th chapter> was an actual beast to whom power was to be given. An actual intelligent being in heaven and this beast was to have power given him. John saw “one of the heads of the beast as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast,” Nebuchadnezzar and Constantine the great not excepted; it must have been a wonderful beast that all man human beings wondered after it, and I will venture to say that, when God gives power to the beast to destroy the inhabitants of the earth, all will wonder. Verse 4 reads “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast saying, who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?[”] Some say it means the kingdoms of the world. One thing is sure, it dont mean the kingdom of the saints. Suppose we admit that it means the kingdoms of the world, what propriety would there be in saying, who is able to make war with myself. If these spiritualizing <spiritualizers> interpretations are true, the book contradicts itself in almost every verse, but they are not true. There is a mistranslation of the word dragon in the second verse. The original hebrew word signifies the devil not <and> not dragon as translated. Read ch 12 v 9 it there reads “that old serpent called the devil,[”] and it ought to be translated devil in this case and not dragon. [p. 5]