THE HOPE OF ISRAEL - The Preterist Archive

248 The Hope of Israel: What Is It?
sword of my mouth,' a figure that occurs several
times, means the truth of Christ (2:16. cf. 19:
15, 21)
. 'Hidden manna' and white stone' stands
for salvation or spiritual fellowship with Christ
(2:17) .... 'Key of David' means the power
of David; and 'David' here is not David, but
David's Son, that is, the Son of God (3 :17)
. 'Pillar
in the temple of my God' means place of influence
in the kingdom (3:12). Neither a literal
(or material) pillar or temple is to be thought of.
'Door' does not mean do6r, but something spiritual
analogous thereto The robes of the
saints are said to be made 'white in the blood of
the Lamb' (7:14); but actual blood does not
make garments white, and 'robes' here does not
mean robes but souls, hearts, lives. . . . Some
are to be 'tormented five months' (9:5, 10);
but certainly 'five months' does not mean that
measure of time." And so on, giving several
more pages of illustrations, without exhausting
the instances contained in the Book.
Applying what is to be learned from these examples
of the figurative use of words to the statement
that the lake of fire is the second death, Dr. Stafford
says:
"Of course he (John) does not mean that the
lake of fire is itself the second death, but that
being cast into it is, or signifies, the second
death. We have here a valuable key, and we
have the right to use it for all it is worth. What
now is the second death? It is the eternal punishment
to which the wicked and the unbelieving
are doomed. John says so (20:10).