William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth, in the early 1800s,
grasped well the significance of the whole book of Revelation.

To a man who suffered bouts of loneliness and heartache
due to the death of both of his parents
by the time he was 13 years old
and his separation from his brothers and sisters, this book was

“a manual of comfort to the Church in her pilgrimage
through this world to the Heavenly Canaan of her rest.
It cheers with the comforting assurance,
that Christ is mightier than His enemies;
that they who die for Him, live;
that they who suffer for Him, reign;
that the course of the Church upon earth
is like the course of Christ Himself;
that she is here a Witness of the Truth;
that her office is to teach the world;
that she will be fed by the Divine Hand,
like the ancient Church, with manna in the wilderness;
that she will be borne on eagles’ wings in her missionary career;
and yet, that she must expect to suffer injuries
from enemies and from friends;
that she, too, must look to have her Gethsemane and her Calvary,
but that she will also have her Olivet;
that through the pains of agony and suffering,
and through the darkness of the grave,
she will rise to the glories of a triumphant ascension,
and to the everlasting joys of the New Jerusalem;
that she who has been for a time
‘the Woman wandering in the Wilderness,’
will be, forever and ever, the Bride glorified in heaven.”