1:17. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.—“So great was the splendor that St. John fell as dead, just as Daniel did in the presence of the mighty One whom he saw, and just as Saul of Tarsus did before the majesty presented to him. (Dan. 10:4‐11; Acts 9:3‐9.) So it is symbolically with the Christian, when once he gets a glimpse of the glories of the Divine Character. When once we get a true view of Him with whom we have to do, as the great Heart‐searcher and Caretaker of His Church, we fall before Him, humbled to the dust, realizing that we are imperfect, that we cannot stand before our Master, that we are unworthy of His blessing.”—Z. ’16‐344; Ezek. 1:28. And He laid His right hand upon me.—“As our Lord touched St. John gently, raising him up, so He has spoken to us comfort, peace and love, assuring us that we have a High Priest that can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, One who is able to sympathize and mercifully to assist.”—Z. ’16‐345. Saying [unto me, Fear not]; I am the First and the Last.—“We must recognize that our Lord is the One who was the beginning of the creation of God and the end of it, the One by whom are all things, next to the Father in everything pertaining to the affairs of the Universe.—Col. 1:15; Rev. 3:14; John 1:1‐3; 1 Cor. 8:6.”—Z. ’16‐345; Rev. 1:11; 2:8. 1:18. I am He that liveth, and was dead.—“The Lord now liveth, and in order to appreciate this we understand that He was dead for parts of three days—not merely apparently dead, but actually _dead_—His soul poured out unto death, made an offering for sin.—Isa. 53:10‐12.” (Z. ’01‐189.) “It was because Christ’s soul (being) was dead that the Apostles could declare that unless His soul, being, were made alive again by a resurrection there could be no hope in Him as a Savior and a Life‐giver.”—Z. ’01‐122. And behold, I am alive for evermore, [Amen].—“Death has no more dominion over Him. (Rom. 6:9.) Neither sacrifices of the Mass nor death in any sense or form ever will be needed. His work is perfect. ‘It is finished!’ ”—Z. ’16‐345; John 19:30. And have the keys of [hell] DEATH.—“He has the key, the power over death, in order that those who have not yet gone into the tomb, but who are under the death sentence, may all be ultimately delivered into the full liberty of the sons of God—righteousness and life everlasting.—Rom. 8:21.”—Z. ’16‐345. And of [death] HELL.—“These words imply that the Lord’s people go to _Hades_, and that the hope when going down to _Hades_, to oblivion, is that in due time our great Redeemer shall unlock this figurative prisonhouse of death and bring forth the captives. This is the significance of the statement that He has the keys—He can open; all power is given into His hand. In preaching at His First Advent, He declared this to be the Gospel. (Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18.) How full of meaning are these Scriptures when viewed from the proper standpoint; how confusing and absurd when viewed from any other!”—E. 397, 378.