{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14485/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14485","id":"gutenberg_14485","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14485","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Revelation -- Commentaries","Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"NOTES\n\nON\n\nTHE APOCALYPSE;\n\nWITH\n\nAn Appendix\n\nCONTAINING DISSERTATIONS ON SOME OF THE APOCALYPTIC SYMBOLS,\n\nTOGETHER WITH\n\nANIMADVERSIONS ON THE INTERPRETATIONS OF SEVERAL AMONG THE MOST LEARNED\nAND APPROVED EXPOSITORS OF BRITAIN AND AMERICA.\n\nBY DAVID STEELE, Sr.,\n\nPastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation, Philadelphia.\n\n\nPHILADELPHIA: YOUNG & FERGUSON, No. 14 SOUTH SEVENTH ST. 1870.\n\n\n\nTO THE\n\nREV. JOHN CUNNINGHAM, LL.D.,\n\n_Missionary from the Reformed Presbyterian Church to the Jews in London,\nEngland._\n\n\nREV. AND VERY DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER:--\n\nAlthough we are \"separated upon the wall, one far from the other,\" we\nare not altogether precluded from mutual salutation. Placed by our\nMaster on two hemispheres, between which the electric current bears\nfrequent tidings, our respective positions are advantageous for noting\nthe events of providence. These constitute the signs of the times, and\nare the counterpart of prophecy. Prophecy and providence reflect light\nupon each other, and both are helpful to the interpretation of each; but\nHe alone who is the \"Wonderful Counsellor,\" can cause us to understand\neither.\n\nIn submitting the following work to the public, I venture to do so under\nyour auspices, if not under the sanction of your name. And I embrace the\npresent occasion, Rev. Sir, to bear willing testimony to your\nacknowledged scholarship,--your profound erudition, especially in\nNatural Science and Philology. I do also cheerfully and joyfully\nrecognise you as a public witness; and at the present time of general\ndefection, as an official and _consistent_ witness in the British Isles\nfor the integrity of our Covenanted Reformation,--that reformation which\nin its fuller development is destined to secure the rights of God and\nman in reorganized society. Such, I believe to be one of the cheering\nlessons which may be learned by Christ's witnesses from searching the\nApocalypse.\n\nThat you, Dear Sir, may be long preserved, sustained and comforted by\nthe providence and grace of the Most High, amid all your self-sacrifice,\nprivation and reproach which you endure for the truth's Bake, is the\nprayer of\n\nYour brother in covenant bonds,\n\nDAVID STEELE.\n\nPHILADELPHIA, _February 1st, 1870_.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe Apocalypse is one of the most sublime and wonderful dramatic\nexhibitions presented for human contemplation. Internal evidence concurs\nwith authentic history, in demonstrating to the devout and intelligent\nreader, its divine origin. God, angels and men, are the principal\nactors. Men's natural curiosity may find entertainment in this book; and\nfrom no higher principle, many have doubtless been prompted to attempt a\ndiscovery of its mysterious contents. What is true, however, of\nsupernatural revelation in general, is equally true of this book:--\"The\nnatural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can\nhe know them, because they are spiritually discerned.\"\n\nTo the right understanding of the Apocalypse, so far as the prophetical\nparts of it are contemplated, the following prerequisites would seem to\nbe indispensable:--\n\n1. A competent knowledge of what may be termed the fundamental doctrines\nof the gospel: such as the unity of the Divine Nature; the distinction\nof persons in the Godhead; the atonement and intercession of Christ; the\ntotal depravity and renovation of human nature; the resurrection and\nfinal retribution, etc.\n\n2. Acquaintance with symbolical language, as the only language common to\nall men since the confusion of tongues.\n\n3. Familiarity with the typical dispensation, from which most of the\nsymbols are taken. 4. Freedom from all political bias.\n\nNo expositor of the Apocalypse appears to have possessed all these\nqualifications, however few and simple. The most learned and judicious\ninterpreters of this book have been divines of Britain and of the United\nStates.\n\nAfter so many laborers employed in this harvest, the reader may\nask,--What remains to be gleaned? To this inquiry, it may be sufficient\nto remind the devout Christian, that as the Apocalypse is the end of the\nBible, so \"the harvest is the end of the world;\" and during the\nintermediate time \"the Lord of the harvest is sending forth laborers.\"\nProphecy has engaged the attention and occupied the thoughts of the\nwriter, more or less, for the last thirty years. He has consulted the\nviews of most of the distinguished and approved interpreters of the book\nof Revelation; among whom the following are named, viz.: _Mede, Sir\nIsaac_ and _Bishop Newton, Durham, Fleming, Gill, Whitaker, Kett,\nGalloway, Faber, Scott, Mason, McLeod_; and many others: from all whose\nlabors, he has derived much instruction; and from all of whom he has\nbeen obliged in important points to dissent.\n\nThe immediate occasion of this undertaking, was the urgent request of\nthe people of his charge, that the substance of a course of lectures\ndelivered in ordinary Sabbath ministrations, might be put into a more\npermanent form, for their future edification.\n\nIn the early centuries of the Christian era, so wild, enthusiastic and\ncorrupt were the sentiments of some Millenarians, that this book ceased\nin great measure to be read or studied; and even its divine authority\ncame to be questioned by many learned and pious men. As the \"Dark Ages\"\nof Popery resulted from neglect of the sacred Scriptures in general, so\neven among the first reformers the Apocalypse was viewed with suspicion\nas to its claim to inspiration. It is probable that many of the\nunlearned will hear with wonder, and doubt the assertion, that even the\ngreat reformer Luther rejected the Apocalypse, as being no part of the\nsacred canon! The same judgment he formed of the epistle by James! With\ncharacteristic boldness, he wrote as follows:--\"The epistle of James\nhath nothing evangelical in it. I do not consider it the writing of an\napostle at all.... It ascribes justification to works, in direct\ncontradiction to Paul and all the other sacred writers.... With respect\nto the Revelation of John, I state what I feel. For more than one\nreason, I cannot deem this book either apostolic or prophetical, ... and\nit is sufficient reason for me not to esteem it highly, that Christ is\nneither taught nor known in it.\"[1] Such was the estimation in which\nthat distinguished reformer held _two_ inspired books of the New\nTestament at the dawn of the Reformation. How great the increase of\nscriptural light since his day!\n\nThe grand design of this book, as declared by its divine Author, is, \"to\nshow unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass,\" ... \"to\ntestify these things in the churches:\"--to make known beforehand, to\nthose styled his \"witnesses,\" the certainty of a great apostacy,--the\nrise, reign and overthrow of the Antichrist, that \"when it came to pass,\nthey might believe,\" and exemplify before the world \"the patience and\nthe faith of the saints.\" During that protracted period, the witnesses\ncould neither know their duty nor sustain their allotted trials without\nthese necessary instructions.\n\nFrom the position of the witnessing church--\"in the wilderness\" during\nthe whole time of Antichrist's reign, which is also the position of the\napostle John when viewing in vision the \"woman upon the beast;\" (ch.\nxvii. 3,) _that_ appears to be the _only advantageous position_ from\nwhich to view the actors in this wonderful scene. And since few have\nvoluntarily \"gone forth to Christ without the camp, bearing his\nreproach,\" or submitted to wear the mourning garments of \"sackcloth,\" it\nis not at all surprising that the Apocalypse--emphatically a\n_Revelation_--should continue to be, to many, a \"sealed book.\" But on\nthe other hand, \"blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the\nwords of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written\ntherein.\"\n\nAs this work is intended for the instruction and edification of the\nunlearned, rather than for the entertainment of the learned, words of\nforeign extract are used as seldom as possible. Practical remarks and\nreflections are rarely introduced; the principal aim being simply to\nascertain and present to the reader the mind of the Holy Spirit. How far\nthis object has been accomplished, is of course left to the judgment of\nthe honest inquirer. The reader, however, in forming his judgment of the\nvalue of these Notes, may be reminded of that inspired rule in searching\nthe Scriptures,--\"Comparing spiritual things with spiritual.\" To assist\nhim in the application of this divine rule, many chapters and verses are\nquoted from other parts of the Bible, but especially within the\nApocalypse itself; that by concentrating the various rays upon\nparticular texts or symbols, their intrinsic light may be rendered more\nluminous. Thus the interpretation given, if correct, may be confirmed\nand illustrated.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES ON THE APOCALYPSE.\n\n\nThe heavens and the earth did not make themselves. The material universe\nfurnishes to the intelligent creature a visible demonstration of the\n\"eternal power and godhead of its Author.\" Besides, a _sense of Deity_\nis essential to humanity; and a supernatural revelation is not necessary\nto convince rational beings that there is a God. Man is a dependent\nbeing in common with all other creatures, and all creatures depend upon\na first cause. That cause is God. Dependent as a creature, man may know\nsomething of the natural perfections of his Maker; and possessing a\nconscience, which implies accountability to a superior, he may know,--he\n_must_ know, something of the moral attributes of God.\n\nIn view of these positions, we may account for the fact, too often\noverlooked by the reader of the Bible, that the Holy Spirit directed the\nfirst of all historians to begin his narrative _so abruptly_. Assuming\nthat the reader is already assured of _God's being,_ Moses proceeds at\nonce to account for the origination of the material universe. In simple\nnarrative he writes,--\"In the beginning God created the heaven and the\nearth.\" Thus God's being, and the eternity of his being are assumed as\nknown by the first inspired penman; a fact or principle not to be\ndisputed. True, the being of God has been questioned, but only by\n\"fools\"--\"brutish people;\" who, by their atheistical suggestions have\nproclaimed to their fellows their \"brutish folly.\" (Ps. xiv. 6, xciv. 8,\n9.)\n\nAs the Bible takes for granted that mankind have had a previous\nrevelation in their own physical and moral constitution,--in the visible\nheavens and earth; the same is true of the last book of the Bible, the\nApocalypse. It assumes that the reader has some competent knowledge of\nthe preceding books of the sacred Scriptures. The reader is supposed to\nbe acquainted with the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations of the\nCovenant of Grace. Moreover, the moral law, as inculcated in the Old\nTestament; the Levitical priesthood and ministry, as being \"shadows of\ngood things to come;\" the \"doctrine according to godliness,\" taught in\nthe gospels and epistles of the New Testament,--are all taken for\ngranted and supposed to be received with a divine faith by all who would\nprofit by this last book of the sacred canon.\n\nIt is further assumed in the Apocalypse, that the humble inquirer into\nthe mind of the Holy Spirit has a knowledge of ancient history, of the\ncharacter and destiny of Egypt, Babylon, etc. And finally, it is\nrequisite that the successful inquirer into the mind of God be\nacquainted with the language of symbols; and, above all, that he be\nresolved, with the inspired writer John, to take a position with the\nmystic woman _in the wilderness_.\n\nWith these few preliminaries, we proceed:\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\n1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto\nhis servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and\nsignified it by his angel unto his servant John:\n\n2. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus\nChrist, and of all things that he saw.\n\n3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this\nprophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time\nis at hand.\n\nVerses 1-3.--Here, our divine Mediator appears in the continued exercise\nof his prophetical office \"in his estate of exaltation.\" While present\nwith his disciples on earth, he told them he had many things to say to\nthem, but they could not hear them then. (John xvi. 12) Upon his\nascension he fulfilled his own and his Father's promise in sending the\nHoly Spirit to guide them into all truth--bring all things to their\nremembrance, and show them _things to come_. (v. 13.) The fulfilment of\nthis promise we have in the whole of the New Testament,--doctrines,\nfacts and predictions.\n\nJesus said,--\"Of mine own-self I can do nothing.\" (v. 30.) The same is\ntrue of his teachings as of his works:--\"The words that I speak unto\nyou, I speak not of myself, (xiv. 10.) In all that \"Jesus began both to\ndo and to teach,\" (Acts i. 1,) he was instructed by his Father. These\nthings are all plainly implied in the first verse. Indeed, the official\nactings of the three Persons in the Godhead had been frequently taught\nby Christ during the time of his personal ministry; and they are more\nfully and frequently recorded by the beloved disciple than by any other\nevangelist, in that gospel which still bears this apostle's name. Thus,\nit appears that although this book is called a \"Revelation of Jesus\nChrist,\" he is not the ultimate author. It is a revelation \"which God\ngave unto him.\" By God here, we are to understand the person of the\nFather. The reader is thus conducted to the divine origin of all\nsupernatural revelation,--the eternal purpose of God. (Heb. i. 1, 2.)\nThe object of the whole Bible, in the evolvement of the divine economy\nof man's redemption, appears to be the unfolding of the ineffable\nmystery of the Trinity, and displaying the perfections of the Godhead,\nto his own glory as the highest and last end.\n\nThe channel through which the divine will comes to the church, is\nexhibited in the beginning of this book. Originating with God the\nFather, passing to the Mediator, communicated to a holy angel; by his\nministry it is made known to John, who reveals it to the church! How\nbeautiful the order here! How wonderful and condescending on the part of\nGod!\n\nAlthough we commonly and justly designate the whole Bible by the name\n\"Revelation;\" yet we are to consider that this book is so called by way\nof eminence. Doubtless it is so styled by its divine Author because it\nreveals events which were then future, and which could not be discovered\nby human sagacity. But this holds equally true of other parts of the\nScriptures, especially those parts which are prophetical. It may be that\nthis book is called \"Apocalypse\" because of the opposition which it was\nto encounter from Antichrist, as also because of its singular and\nintended use to a peculiar portion of professing Christians. As on the\none hand the Romish church, and too many who protest against her\nencroachments, prohibit or discourage the disciples of Christ from\nreading this book; so, on the other hand, it has been of singular use to\nothers in strengthening their faith and ministering to their comfort.\n\nJohn \"bare record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus\nChrist and of all things that he saw.\" A question arises here,--What is\nthe difference, if any, between the \"word of God\" and the \"testimony of\nJesus Christ?\" Or is there any distinction intended by the Holy Spirit?\nMost readers as well as expositors view these expressions as identical.\nWe shall meet with them, or their equivalent, frequently hereafter; and\nit may be proper at the outset to inquire a little into this familiar\nphraseology. (See chapters i. 9; vi. 9; xii. 11, 17; xx. 4, etc.)\n\nRecognising the inspired rule of interpretation,--\"comparing spiritual\nthings with spiritual,\" we refer to Psalm lxxviii. 5, where \"testimony\nand law\" are obviously distinguished. The same distinction will be found\nin Isa. viii. 16, 20. The prophet refers the reader to _two tests_ of\ndoctrine and practice: first the \"law.\" But as the spouse of Christ is\nunable, in her perplexity, to apply the law to the present case in a\nmanner satisfactory to herself, she is directed by her Lord, (Song i.\n8,) to \"go forth by the footsteps of the flock.\" That is, search and\nascertain how the disciples applied the law in similar circumstances,\nand imitate their approved example. This is a rule recognised and often\ninculcated in the New Testament. (Heb. vi. 12.)\n\nThe inspired penman in Psalm lxxviii. 5, refers to the covenant\ntransaction at Mount Sinai, where the \"law\" was exhibited as an appendix\nto the covenant of grace--\"added to the promise.\" (Gal. iii. 19.) The\nreader will find this whole matter set before him, perhaps to his\nsurprise and delight in Exod. xx. 1-17. The Lord (Jehovah) is the God\n(Elohim) of his people. How shall they know that he is _their_ God? By\nthe law?--No, for that is a rule to all men. They know by the\n_testimony_ as distinct from the law. Testimony consists of _facts_.\nGod's people knew that he was their God, because he \"brought them out of\nthe land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.\" This was \"the doing of\nthe Lord,\"--\"the testimony of Jesus Christ.\" And so it is an important\nand precious truth to us at the present day.--\"The preface to the Ten\nCommandments teacheth us, that God is the Lord (Jehovah) and _our\nGod_.\"--This great historical fact is the controlling motive to\nacceptable obedience to the moral law. To this, among other truths of\nthe gospel, every faithful minister will \"bear witness\" with the apostle\nJohn.\n\nJohn also bore witness to \"all things that he saw,\" as presented to him\nin a succession of visions to the end of this book, in view of some of\nwhich, he \"wondered with great admiration.\" (xvii. 6.)\n\nIn the third verse there is a \"blessing\" pronounced on all such as\n\"hear, read and keep those things which are written in the words of this\nprophecy.\" A mere reading and hearing of the Apocalypse will not secure\nthe blessing. It is suspended on the _keeping_. \"Blessed is he that\n_keepeth_ the sayings of the prophecy of this book.\" (Ch. xxii. 7.) The\ndivine and compassionate Author of this prophecy, who \"knoweth the end\nfrom the beginning,\" foresaw the violent and ignorant opposition even to\nthe _reading_ of it, which would be encountered by those for whose\nspecial direction and comfort it was given. While the \"man of sin\" would\nattempt to deprive the church of the light of the Bible in general, the\ngreat \"Antichrist\" would join him in special hostility to this book. The\njudgment of the former is, that the Bible in the hands of the people\nwill generate _heresies_; of the latter,--the Apocalypse is so \"hard to\nbe understood\" as to be unintelligible. A revelation, and yet\nunintelligible! This is very nearly a contradiction. Such sentiments\nbetray rebellion against the authority, and a reflection upon the wisdom\nand beneficence of God. All Christians acknowledge, as Peter says of the\nwritings of Paul, that in this book are \"some things dark and hard to be\nunderstood:\" but there have been always and now are, some disciples who\ndo not subscribe to the teaching of most expositors of this book,--that\ntheir actual fulfilment, alone, will interpret these\npredictions.--Doubtless it was in view of such discouragements that our\nLord prefixed and repeated the special blessing. And this promised\nblessing of the Master himself is sufficient to countervail all the\ndiscouragements and hostility of the adversaries, thrown in the way of\nthe reader and expositor. Moses \"endured as having respect unto the\nrecompense of the reward.\" Let us copy his example. \"He is faithful that\npromised.\" Let the pious reader, therefore, disregard the counsel to\n\"omit the reading, of this book in family worship,\" as we have sometimes\nheard; whether it be tendered by Papist, Prelate or Presbyterian,\nbecause it is directly contrary to the express command of Christ, (John\nv. 39,) and because by following such counsel, he would forfeit the\nspecial blessing here promised.\n\n\n4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and\npeace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from\nthe seven Spirits which are before his throne;\n\n5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the\nFirst-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.\nUnto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,\n\n6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to whom\nbe glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.\n\nVs. 4-6.--Here we have the customary salutation, addressed to the\nchurches of Asia Minor. Many other churches had been organized in other\nparts of the earth at this date; (A.D. 96:) but the special reason why\nJohn saluted these seven, and addressed an epistle to each, would seem\nto be his vicinity to them in the place of his present sojourning, and\nprobably his personal acquaintance with them in the exercise of his\nministry among them, (v. 11.) His prayer for these churches is\nsubstantially the same as that prefixed to most of Paul's epistles.\nGrace and peace are inseparable in the divine arrangement. \"There is no\npeace, saith my God, to the wicked.\" (Isa. lvii. 21.)\n\nThe solitary pilgrim in his place of banishment, contemplating the\nAbrahamic covenant, and realizing that grace and that peace in which he\ndesires his fellow disciples to share, sets before us the threefold\nsource whence these divine influences flow. First, \"from him which is,\nand which was, and which is to come;\" a description of God the Father,\nwhose personal subsistence has priority in the Godhead, and who occupies\nthe like priority in voluntary relationship and economic standing. From\nthe Father personally, as the representative of Trinity, we have seen\n(in verse 1,) this book emanated; and now from the same we are taught\nthat \"grace and peace\" come to fallen man. Second, John's prayer here,\ndiffers from Paul's usual form in the beginning of his epistles; for\nPaul omits the Holy Spirit, commonly saying,--\"Grace be to you, and\npeace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,\" (as in Gal.\ni. 3.) In this last book of Scripture we have the co-equal Three\nintroduced as co-operating in the work of man's redemption. Thus our\nattention is directed to the \"seven Spirits which are before the\nthrone;\" by which we are to understand the Holy Ghost, in his essential\nequality with God the Father, but in the place of official\nsubordination. The Holy Spirit is _one_ personally, but _seven_ in his\nmanifold gifts and graces, with special reference to the \"seven\nchurches.\" And whereas the divine Spirit, in the order of his personal\nsubsistence and operation is _third,_ here he occupies the _second_\nplace in the order of revelation. Third, The special reason for\nreserving the notice of our Saviour to the last place, is doubtless that\nthe \"beloved disciple\" may take occasion to leave on record an\nexpression of his admiration of the Mediator's person, one of whose\nnames is \"Wonderful,\" (Isa. ix. 6;) and that he might exemplify the\nruling principle of his own heart,--\"We love him, because he first loved\nus.\" (1 John iv. 19.) The apostle dwells upon the personal glory of\nImmanuel, contemplating him in his threefold office of prophet, priest\nand king.--He is \"the faithful witness\" in his prophetical office. \"The\nonly begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared\nhim.\" (John i. 18;) \"who, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good\nconfession.\" (John xviii. 37.) He is \"the first-begotten of the dead.\"\nHe \"died unto sin once,\" as an expiatory sacrifice to atone for the\nguilt of an elect world. Being a \"priest for ever after the order of\nMelchizedek,\" \"he ever liveth to make intercession,\"--\"death hath no\nmore dominion over him,\" as it had over Lazarus and many others who\n\"came out of the graves after his resurrection.\" (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.)\n_Among all_, he has the preeminence. (Col. i. 18.) He is \"the Prince of\nthe kings of the earth.\" There is not in the sacred volume a title of\nour Redeemer more full or expressive than this, on his headship or royal\noffice. A _prince_ is of royal parentage. Such is the understanding of\nmankind in all civilized nations. Joseph in Egypt typified, in part, the\nkingly office of Christ; and Solomon on the throne of Israel partially\ntypified him in his dominion: but as Balaam foretold that he should be\n\"higher than Agag,\" (Num. xxiv. 7,) so we may say he is higher than\nJoseph,--\"A greater than Solomon is here.\" \"Pharaoh said unto Joseph,\nThou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my\npeople be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.\" When\nthe Father says to the Son, \"Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,\"\n(Ps. xlv. 6,) this is consistent with \"excepting him that did put all\nthings under him.\" (1 Cor. xv. 27.) Although we are not warranted to say\nwith some, \"The Father is the fountain of the Godhead, we may\nwarrantably and boldly say, the Father is the _fountain_ of _authority_.\n(John vi. 38.) The dominion of the Mediator is universal, reaching \"from\nthe roofless heaven to the bottomless hell.\" It is comfortable to the\ndisciples to know this in anticipation of the rise and reign of\nAntichrist. He is, by the appointment of the Father \"head over all\nthings,\" (Eph. i. 22,)--\"able to save to the uttermost all that come\nunto God by him,\" to \"consume with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy\nwith the brightness of his coming, that Wicked, the Man of Sin.\" (2\nThess. ii. 8.)\n\nIn view of the personal dignity and mediatorial dominion of Christ, the\napostle gives expression to his admiration and wonder at the amazing\nlove and condescension displayed by him on behalf of himself and all\nothers, on whom that love was fixed from everlasting, and whose guilt\nand pollution were taken away by the atoning and cleansing blood of the\nLamb. To these saving benefits is to be added the honour to which the\nredeemed are advanced as \"kings and priests,--a royal priesthood.\" The\nliving Head is \"a priest upon his throne,\" (Zech. vi. 13,) and all the\nmembers are assimilated to him. (1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.)\n\n\n7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they\nalso which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because\nof him. Even so, Amen.\n\nVerse 7.--How animated the language, sublime the conception, and\nawe-inspiring the sentiment here! Time is annihilated! The end is seen\nfrom the beginning, and all eyes are directed to the sovereign Judge of\nthe world, as he comes in majesty to fix the final destiny of all the\nchildren of Adam! These have constituted only two classes sincere world\nbegan. \"Every eye shall see him,\" but the eye will affect the heart very\ndifferently. The hearts of some, with holy Job, will be filled with joy\nunspeakable, (Job xix. 26, 27;) but others, with mercenary Balaam, will\nbe inspired with terror and dismay. (Num. xxiv. 17.) Of \"them that\npierced him,\" who shall be able to abide his indignation? Judas,\nCaiaphas, Herod and his men of war; Pontius Pilate, and all who have\nconsented to the counsel and deed of them, \"must appear before his\njudgment seat.\" \"All kindreds of the earth,\" covering all the\ncombinations of \"Antichrist\" during the definite period of twelve\nhundred and sixty years, \"shall wail because of him,\" (Rev. xiv. 10,\n11.) Assured of the equity of Messiah's judgment, the apostle, in the\nexercise of \"like precious faith with all them that believe,\" subjoins\nhis hearty assent,--\"Even so, Amen:\" \"So let all thine enemies perish, O\nLord.\" Doubtless the design of the Holy Spirit in this verse is to\nfurnish ground of encouragement to those who were to be engaged in the\nprotracted conflict with the powers of darkness foreshadowed in the\nprophecy of this book.\n\n\n8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,\nwhich is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.\n\nVer. 8.--The same divine person, to whom the apostle directs the\ndoxology in the 6th verse, is introduced in the 8th: that is, the Lord\nChrist. He claims eternity and omnipotence. He describes himself here in\nthe _very words_ which in the 4th verse are descriptive of the eternal\nsubsistence of the person of the Father. \"Alpha and Omega,\" the first\nand last letters of the Greek alphabet, are explained in the\nwords,--\"the beginning and the ending.\" This language is not to be\nunderstood as expressing or defining the duration of the Godhead only;\nbut it points also to the divine purpose and providence. To the same\npurpose speaks our Redeemer under the name of Wisdom:--\"The Lord (the\nFather) possessed me in the beginning (head, purpose) of his way, before\nhis works of old.\" (Prov. viii. 22.) In joint counsel with the Father,\nere the wheels of time began to move, and being \"almighty\" to execute\nthe purposes of God, he is perfectly qualified to act as the final Judge\nof the world. And in the great and last day \"every tongue must confess\nthat he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\" (Phil. ii. 11.) \"For\nto this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be\nLord both of the dead and living.\" (Rom. xiv. 9.)--\"God is judge\nhimself.\" (Ps. 1. 6.)\n\n\n9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and\nin the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is\ncalled Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus\nChrist.\n\nVer. 9.--Again, the inspired writer addresses the Christians in Asia,\nacquainting them very briefly and simply with his present local\nsituation; not so much to move their sympathy with him, as to express\nhis unabated affection for them:--\"I am your brother, and companion in\ntribulation.\" Although the \"like afflictions were accomplished in his\nbrethren,\" the Devil was permitted to \"cast\" only \"some of them into\nprison.\" But it is remarkable that John utters not a word, much less\nmanifests any resentment, against the persecutor. He was \"in the isle\nthat is called Patmos:\"--but he does not say who sent him there.\nHistorians tell us that he was banished by Domitian, the Roman emperor;\nothers say, by Nero; but the former is more probable. This island is\nproverbially barren. It is situated among a number of islands in the\nAegean sea, a point of the Mediterranean running northward between\nEurope and Asia, and not very remote from most of the churches here\naddressed.\n\nThe ground of controversy between John and his persecutors was \"the word\nof God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ.\" Of these he \"bare record.\"\n(v, 2.) \"This,\" say most expositors, \"was the cause of John's\nbanishment.\" This unguarded language confounds the difference between a\n_cause_ and an _occasion_. John had given no cause of banishment to his\nenemies. The true cause of their hostility was their hatred of the \"word\nof God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.\" For these John contended\nearnestly, as Jude enjoined; (ver. 3:) just as Paul and others were\n\"bold in their God to speak the gospel of God with much contention.\" (1\nThes. ii. 2.) We have here the standing ground of strife between the\nbeliever and the infidel; between Christ and Belial, between the church\nand the world. There is a divine hand interposed all along in this\nwarfare, and the conflict will terminate only in the extermination of\none of the parties. (Gen. iii. 15; Rev. xx. 10.)\n\n\n10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great\nvoice, as of a trumpet,\n\nVer. 10.--The beloved disciple had often \"tasted the good word of God,\"\nwhile the bosom-companion of Christ in the time of his ministry on\nearth: His \"heart burned within him.\" (Luke xxiv. 32.) Especially had\nthis been his happy experience on the holy Sabbath. Now that his\ncondition is solitary, being by violence \"driven out from the\ninheritance of the Lord,\" (1 Sam. xxvi. 19,) his gracious Master favours\nhim with a special visit. Did he not say to his disciples while he was\nyet with them,--\"I will not leave you comfortless? I will come to you.\"\n(John xiv. 18.) The Comforter was promised to supply the want of the\nSaviour's bodily presence, (v. 16,) and now John is \"in the Spirit,\" and\nit is \"the Lord's day,\"--the Christian Sabbath. We may well suppose this\ndisciple never was happier, no, not when he was \"leaning on Jesus'\nbosom.\" He would not now envy the emperor or any of his persecutors in\nall their outward peace and prosperity. He was in an ecstasy,--\"whether\nin the body or out of the body he could not tell:\" but his soul was\nsusceptible of the impressions of Christ's love, and of the intimations\nof his sovereign will. \"Shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do?\"\n(Gen. xviii. 17.) \"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth\nhis secret unto his servants the prophets.\" (Amos iii. 7.) John does not\nboast as Balaam,--\"falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:\" yet\nhe heard and saw as distinctly and clearly as if his perceptions had\ncome through the medium of his bodily ears and eyes. \"He heard behind\nhim a great voice as of a trumpet,\" not to alarm, but to engage\nattention.\n\n\n11. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega; the first and the last: and, What thou\nseest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in\nAsia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto\nThyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.\n\nV. 11.--Christ speaks, asserting his eternity, and consequently his\nequality with the Father. This book being written in the Greek language,\nour Saviour names and appropriates to himself the first and last letters\nof the alphabet in that language, and gives the interpretation,--\"the\nfirst and the last,\" as in v. 8. John is directed to write and send to\nthe seven churches all that is contained in this last book of the Bible.\nThe churches are named here, and in the second and third chapters they\nare addressed severally in a letter to each. It may be noted that\nbesides the general commission to preach the gospel to every creature,\napostles had a special call to _write_; and sometimes a\nprohibition,--\"write not,\" (ch. x. 4.) Many of the most learned and\ngodly divines whom we would consider best qualified, have never left any\nwritings for the instruction of posterity; whilst others less qualified,\neither in respect of literature or piety, or not at all qualified, have\nfilled the world with books without a special call from Christ. (John\nxx. 30, 31; xxi. 25.)\n\n\n12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And, being turned,\nI saw seven golden candlesticks;\n\n13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of\nman, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps\nwith a golden girdle.\n\n14. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and\nhis eyes were as a flame of fire;\n\n15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace;\nand his voice as the sound of many waters.\n\n16. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went\na sharp two-edged sword; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in\nhis strength.\n\nVs. 12-16.--His attention being arrested, the apostle \"turned to see the\nvoice,\"--that is, the person from whom the voice came. A glorious vision\nwas presented to his view,--\"seven golden candlesticks\" or lamp-bearers,\nin allusion to the golden candlestick with the seven lamps as placed in\nthe tabernacle. (Exod. xxv. 31-40.) \"In the midst of the candlesticks\nappeared one like unto the Son of man,\" the Mediator, clothed in\nsacerdotal garments, supplying oil for the light, after the example of\nAaron and his sons. (Exod. xxvii. 20, 21.) The \"garment\" may signify his\nmediatorial righteousness,--the \"golden girdle\" the preciousness of his\nlove,--\"his head and his hairs white like wool,\" his purity and\neternity,--\"his eyes as a flame of fire,\" his omniscience, by which he\nsearches the reins and hearts, and sees the end from the beginning; \"his\nfeet like unto fine brass,\" the stability of his appointments and the\nexcellency of his providential dispensations,--\"his voice,\" the\nirresistible energy of his word to quicken, terrify or destroy at his\npleasure. (John v. 25, Heb. xii. 26.) \"The sharp two-edged sword\" will\nrepresent his awful justice against the impenitent who resist his\nrighteous authority. \"With the breath of his lips shall he slay the\nwicked.\" (Is. xi. 4; Luke xix. 27.) \"His countenance as the sun shining\nin his strength,\" disclosed to the beloved disciple such splendor as to\noverwhelm him. The like display of divine majesty was insupportable to\nSaul of Tarsus when on his way to Damascus. (Acts xxvi. 13.) To the\nworkers of iniquity, \"our God is a consuming fire.\" (Heb. xii. 29.) It\nis a certain truth,--\"The vengeance of the gospel is weighter than the\nvengeance of the law.\" (Heb. x. 28, 31.) \"Let us therefore fear.\"\n\n\n17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his\nright hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the\nlast:\n\n18. I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for\nevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.\n\n19. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and\nthe things which shall be hereafter;\n\n20. The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand,\nand the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the\nseven churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the\nseven churches.\n\nVs. 17-20.--We have the effect of the vision upon the beloved disciple.\nHe who had leaned on Christ's bosom at supper, and who had seen his\nMaster transfigured on the holy mount, was now utterly overwhelmed with\nthe effulgence of his glory. John \"fell at his feet as dead.\" So it was\nwith Daniel, \"a man greatly beloved.\" (Daniel x. 4-8.) But the\ncompassionate Saviour dispelled his fears, as in all similar cases;\nmaking known to his astonished servant his supreme deity and real\nhumanity, as \"the first and the last,\" who died for the sins, and was\nraised again for the justification of his people. (Rom. iv. 25.) He is\n\"alive for evermore,\"--become \"the first fruits of them that slept.\" (1\nCor. xv. 20.) He \"dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over him.\"\n(Rom. vi. 9.) And so complete is his victory over the king of terrors,\nthe last enemy of the believer, that he hath \"the keys of hell and of\ndeath.\" He has the \"key of the bottomless pit,\" (xx. 1;) having\ntriumphed over principalities and powers, making a show of them openly.\n(Col. ii. 15.) Whether Christ used the word, \"amen,\" to ratify the truth\nof his immortality; or whether this is an expression by John of his\njoyful acquiescence in that truth, is not material: we know on\nsatisfactory evidence, that our Lord is a prophet and king, as well as a\npriest, \"after the power of an endless life.\" (Heb. vii. 16; Rom. xiv.\n9.)\n\nJohn is next commanded to write,--_First_, \"the things which he had\nseen;\" that is, the description of the foregoing vision:--_Second_, \"the\nthings which are;\" that is, the actual condition of the church, as\ndelineated in the diverse characters of the seven churches addressed, as\nin the next two chapters:--_Third_, \"the things which shall be\nhereafter:\" that is, the prophetical part of the book, from the\nbeginning of the fourth chapter to the close, as containing the\nprospective history of the church and of the nations, as she was to be\naffected by them, or they by her, till the consummation of all things.\nThis is the division of the book made by the divine Author himself, and\nit is a natural and intelligible one. All attempts of learned and pious\nmen by other divisions to render this mysterious part of the Bible more\nclear to the unlearned reader, tend only to display the ingenuity of the\nwriters,--not to say their temerity, while they \"darken counsel by words\nwithout knowledge.\" Such artificial divisions are as unfounded, in the\napprehension of sober expositors, as the attempts of impious Arians and\nothers, to turn the historical narrative of the creation and fall of man\ninto an allegory!\n\nThe meaning of the \"seven stars and seven candlesticks\" is then\nexplained to John. The word, \"are,\" is used in a figurative sense, and\nnot to be taken literally. It means here, _symbolize, represent_ or\n_signify_. It is to be interpreted in the same sense as in the following\nplaces of sacred Scripture:--\"It _is_ the Lord's passover.\" (Exod. xii.\n11.) \"That rock _was_ Christ.\" (1 Cor. x. 4.) \"This _is_ my body.\"\n(Matt. xxvi. 26.) None but a Papist will have any difficulty here, or\nperhaps,--a Lutheran!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nSome commentators, among whom may be mentioned the learned Dr. Gill, a\nleading Antipedobaptist minister of England, have imagined, that the\nseven epistles addressed to the Asiatic churches, contain a mystical\nprophecy of the church general, covering the whole period of her history\nfrom the apostolic age till the end of the world. According to this\nfancy,--for it is nothing more than a fancy; the church in Smyrna, will\nrepresent the church's condition in the second stage of her history,\nwhen Arianism prevailed! And the Laodicean must represent her last, and\nso her worst condition! How will this harmonize with the 20th chapter,\nwhere she appears in triumph over all her antichristian foes? This is\ngiven as a specimen of the unbridled fancy and licentious imagination\nwith which even good men may be tempted to approach the reading and\ninterpreting of this important and instructive part of God's word. But\nPeter informs us that some persons in his time, \"wrested\" those parts of\nPaul's writings which were \"dark and hard to be understood:\" and this\nwas not the worst of their conduct, for they treated \"the other\nscriptures also\" in the same reckless and irreverent manner, which were\nneither dark nor hard to be understood. (2 Pet. iii. 16.) These epistles\nare no more mystical or prophetical than those of the apostle Paul. They\nare simply and properly descriptive, although like all other epistles,\nthey are applicable to the church general in all ages, and equally\nsuited to the case of individuals, as is clear in the close of\neach:--\"If _any man_ have an ear, let _him_ hear.\"\n\n\n1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he\nthat holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst\nof the seven golden candlesticks;\n\n2. I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou\ncanst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say\nthey are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:\n\n3. And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast\nlaboured, and hast not fainted.\n\n4. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left\nthy first love.\n\n5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do\nthe first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove\nthy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.\n\n6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,\nwhich I also hate.\n\n7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life,\nwhich is in the midst of the paradise of God.\n\nVerses 1-7.--This first epistle, addressed to the church in Ephesus,\ncomes from the Lord Jesus, who holds the stars in his right hand; who\ngives commission to the ministry, gives them authority as his\nambassadors to negotiate with mankind, communicates to them the light\nwhich they diffuse in the world, sustains them in their respective\nspheres, and controls them as they move in their orbits. He walks in the\nmidst of the candlesticks, as the sun in the system of nature, trimming\nand snuffing the lamps that they may burn more clearly.\n\nThis is the second epistle sent from Christ to the church of Ephesus.\nPaul, who is thought to have planted this church, (Acts xviii. 19,) had\nwritten to those Christians some thirty years before, while he was a\nprisoner in Rome. (Eph. i. 4; vi. 20.) Paul and John were nothing more\nthan Christ's amanuenses,--\"the pen of a ready writer.\" (Ps. xlv. 1; 1\nCor. iii. 7.)--\"The angel of the church\" is at once a symbolic and\ncollective name, including also the idea of representation:--not a pope\nor any other prelatic personage. No doubt in our Saviour's estimation\nthe saints take precedence here of the \"bishops (overseers.) and\ndeacons,\" as they do in Phil. i. 1; Eph. iv. 8-12. All ecclesiastical\nofficers are Christ's gift to the church; but the object or recipient of\nthe gift is more valued than the gift. And just here is the point where\nprelates \"do greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures.\" They have\narrogated to themselves the honourary title of \"clergy;\" and for the\nsake of distinction, and to give plausibility to their ambitious\npretensions, call the membership of the church the \"laity,\"--contrary to\nthe express decision of the unerring Spirit. Peter cautions the\n\"elders\" that they be not as \"lords over God's _heritage,\"_--_lot,\nclergy;_ where it is obvious that the body of the people, as\ndistinguished from their rulers, are denominated the _clergy._ Moreover,\nit is evident to any unbiased reader, that the membership, and not a\nbishop only, are addressed by our Lord in these epistles; as when he\nsays,--\"some of you.\" (v. 10.) Hence it may be inferred that there is no\nproof in these epistles on which to erect the antichristian hierarchy of\ndiocesan prelacy; and consequently that ecclesiastical government is by\ndivine right, lodged in the hands of a plurality of presbyters.\n\nChrist notices what is commendable, before he administers reproof. \"I\nknow thy works.\"--There seems to be an incompatibility between the\n\"patience\" commended, and not being able to \"bear them which were evil.\"\nBut patience under persecution or any other providential dispensation,\nis perfectly consistent with an enlightened zeal against error and\nimmorality. Indeed, the two graces,--patience and zeal, are inseparable\nin themselves, and as connected with all the other graces of the Holy\nSpirit.--There were such in the primitive church, who claimed to be\napostles, and who, upon trial, were discovered to be impostors. Paul, in\nthe exercise of the miraculous gift of \"discerning of spirits,\" could,\nwithout presbyterial examination of witnesses, personally detect \"false\napostles, deceitful workers\" in Corinth. (2 Cor. xi. 13.) But John was\nnot at Ephesus, and therefore the ordinary rulers are approved by Christ\nfor the faithful exercise of discipline. Persons who falsify the\ndoctrines and corrupt the order and ordinances of divine appointment,\nare the worst of liars, and having been by competent authority \"found\"\nto be such; they may be so called without breach of charity. When\ndiscipline is neglected or relaxed, error and tyranny soon enter, with\n\"confusion and every evil work.\" But when false teachers have gained\nfollowers and influence in the church, the friends of truth and order\nwill be in danger of yielding to the pressure. They are liable to become\n\"weary and faint in their minds,\" (Heb. xii. 3;) but zeal for their\nMaster's honor will animate them to contend for the faith so as to\nsecure his approbation. It is remarkable that so much labor, patience,\nzeal etc., should be found in this church while chargeable with having\n\"fallen from first love.\" Habits contracted in the fervor of early\naffection to Christ, may continue to influence an individual or a\nchurch, when the fervency of affection is sensibly abated. This state of\nfeeling the exercised Christian will confess and lament. Nothing but\nrepentance and reformation in such a case will procure the approbation\nand restore the favor of Christ. Continued impenitence is threatened\nwith removing \"the candlestick,\" the gospel, ministry and ordinances.\n\nThe Nicolaitans were a sect of corrupt professors of Christianity of\nwhose doctrines and deeds little or nothing is certainly known. It is\nmost generally supposed that they were a sort of Antinomians, who turned\nthe grace of God into lasciviousness; and there is a tradition, not well\nsustained, that their heresy was derived from Nicolas, a proselyte of\nAntioch, one of the seven deacons of whom we read, Acts vi. 5. The\nsimilarity of name seems to have suggested this fancy; for there is no\nhistorical evidence that one who was \"of honest report, full of the Holy\nGhost and wisdom,\" was permitted thus to fall away. Their deeds,\nhowever, were hateful to Christ, and therefore hateful to his real\ndisciples: for one of the infallible marks of a state of grace is to\nhate what,--yes and whom,--our Lord hates. (Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22.) All who\nread or hear these things are interested in them, whether they will\nhear, or whether they will forbear. What Christ saith in each of these\nepistles, the Spirit saith; and what is said to each church is said to\nall the seven; that is, to the whole visible church. \"To him that\novercometh\" false apostles, the deeds of the Nicolaitans, any doctrines\nor practices in opposition to the truth of Christ, or militating against\nthe honor of Christ; to such he \"will give to eat of the tree of life,\"\nfrom which Adam was excluded upon the breach of the first covenant.\n(Genesis iii. 22-24.) What the first Adam lost by the fall, the last\nAdam will restore with interest, (1 Cor. ii. 9.) The felicity of the\nsaints in glory can be represented only by sensible things; and even\nthen but very imperfectly. (1 Cor. xiii. 12; 1 John iii. 2.)\n\n\n8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith\nthe first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;\n\n9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich,)\nand I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not,\nbut are the synagogue of Satan.\n\n10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil\nshall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall\nhave tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give\nthee a crown of life.\n\n11. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.\n\nVs. 8-11.--Smyrna is the second in order of the seven churches addressed\nthrough the ministry as the official representatives. Our Saviour here\nassumes those titles mentioned in ch. i. 17, 18, which bespeak his\ndivine personal dignity and voluntary humiliation, his eternal Godhead\nand true manhood,--\"God manifest in the flesh,\" having by death\ntriumphed over death, to deliver them who through fear of death were all\ntheir life-time subject to bondage. (Heb. ii. 15.) This church was\nsubjected to \"tribulation,\"--persecution in name, substance and person.\nThe members were either of the poorer sort of the citizens of Smyrna, or\nrendered poor by fines,--\"the spoiling of their goods.\"--\"But thou art\nrich,\" rich in faith, in good works, in the gifts and graces of the\nSpirit, the earnest of the heavenly inheritance.--In this place a colony\nof Jews had gained such social influence as to move the populace, and\neven the local magistrates, to offer violence to the servants of God. It\ndoes not appear that these Jews were professing Christians of any creed,\nbut just such as Paul often encountered in Judea and elsewhere. (Acts\nxvi. 19-22.) The devil instigated the Jews, and they the Gentiles; and\nboth, the magistrates, to silence the testimony of Christ's witnesses,\nby which all were tormented. The design of the devil, who was a murderer\nfrom the beginning, was to _destroy_ that church; but Christ's design\nwas to _try_ her members. Only _some_ were to be imprisoned, and the\ntime of trial would be limited to \"ten days,\"--a definite for an\nindefinite, but short time. Those who resist the truth contradict its\nadvocates, and blaspheme the holy name of God, though professing to be\neither Jews or Christians, area \"synagogue of Satan.\" \"A crown of life\"\nis promised to such as proved \"faithful unto death.\" They shall not be\n\"hurt of the second death;\" that is, eternal death. (Ch. xx. 14, 15.)\n\n\n12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith\nhe which hath the sharp sword with two edges;\n\n13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat\nis: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in\nthose days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among\nyou, where Satan dwelleth.\n\n14. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them\nthat hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a\nstumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed\nunto idols, and to commit fornication.\n\n15. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,\nwhich thing I hate.\n\n16. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight\nagainst them with the sword of my mouth.\n\n17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna,\nand will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,\nwhich no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.\n\nVs. 12-17.--To the church in Pergamos reproofs and threatenings are\naddressed by him who has the \"sharp sword.\" Satan had his throne in this\nplace, whence he assailed the true doctrine and disciples of Christ by\nheresy and persecution. In such a great fight of afflictions there was\none distinguished, like Stephen, for boldness and fortitude, who\n\"resisted unto blood, striving against sin.\" And wherever there is a\n\"faithful martyr\" for Christ, who \"holds fast his name, and will not\ndeny his faith\" at the risk of his life, his divine Lord will condescend\nto register his name among that noble company who \"by faith have\nobtained a good report.\" (Heb. Xv. 2.) The \"doctrine of Balaam\" and that\nof the Nicolaitans led to gross immoralities in apostolic times as of\nold in the days of Moses. (Num. xxxi. 16.) And thus it appears, that old\nheresies, which have been condemned, are afterwards revived under new\nnames, and patronized by new leaders. In such a case, we have the\nauthority of Christ for calling them by the same names of those whose\nprinciples they adopt, and whose example they emulate. It was no breach\nof charity, therefore, by our forefathers to designate those who\n\"delated\" them to the cruel persecutors in Scotland by the name of\n\"Ziphites,\" or to call the archtraitor Sharp,--\"a Judas.\" The Lord Jesus\n\"hates the doctrine\" as well as \"deeds of Nicolaitans,\" which are\nsubversive of truth and godliness. Those who oppose the doctrines of\nBalaam and the Nicolaitans in any age when these are popular, must\nexpect persecution. But when \"troubles abound for Christ's sake,\nconsolations much more abound by Christ.\" This is to \"eat of the hidden\nmanna.\" Also, the \"white stone\" or pebble,--the token of\njustification,--will be given to the conqueror in the Christian\nconflict. The allusion here is to the mode of procedure in courts of\njudgment among the ancient Greeks. White stones were cast for acquittal;\nblack for condemnation. The manna is _hidden_, and so is the _white_\nstone, both signifying the sustaining and consoling evidence of the\nComforter,--the Holy \"Spirit witnessing with the spirit\" of the\npersecuted believer, that he is a \"child of God.\" It is the same thing\nas the \"hundred-fold in this life,\" promised by Christ. (Matt. xix. 29.)\n\nIt is worthy of notice, in the condition of this church, that while\namong a minority may be found an \"Antipas,--faithful martyr\" for the\ncause of Christ, against those who hold the doctrine of Balaam and the\nNicolaitans: the majority are called upon to \"repent,\"--evidently for\nconniving at the destructive errors and immoralities of those seducers.\nAnd unless the discipline of the church was employed to \"purge out these\nrebels;\" the Master would take the work into his own hand, and \"fight\nagainst them with the sword of his mouth:\" and then such as screened or\nspared these sinners might expect to partake of their just punishment.\nRulers in the church \"must give account for those over whom they watch.\"\n\n\n18. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things\nsaith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and\nhis feet are like fine brass;\n\n19. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy\npatience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.\n\n20. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou\nsufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to\nteach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things\nsacrificed unto idols.\n\n21. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented\nnot.\n\n22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery\nwith her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.\n\n23. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall\nknow that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give\nunto every one of you according to your works.\n\n24. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, (as many as have\nnot this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they\nspeak;) I will put upon you none other burden:\n\n25. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come.\n\n26. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him\nwill I give power over the nations:\n\n27. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a\npotter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father.\n\n28. And I will give him the morning-star.\n\n29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches.\n\nVs. 18-29.--The most lengthy epistle is sent to the church in Thyatira.\nHe who is the \"Son of God,\" a divine person, possessing the essential\nattributes of omniscience and immutability, has more to say to this\nchurch than to any of the rest. Commending, as usual, whatever was\ncommendable,--their \"works, charity, service,\" etc.; \"and the last to be\nmore than the first:\" he has, nevertheless, \"a few things against\nthem,\"--especially \"suffering that woman Jezebel to teach.\" Is this\n\"woman Jezebel\" to be taken in a literal or figurative sense? Analogy\nseems to require a metaphorical sense. If, in the preceding epistle,\n\"Balaam\" is not to be understood literally and personally, but\nfiguratively and representatively, so Jezebel represents an individual,\nor rather as that other woman, (ch. xvii. 4.) a faction or sect, who\npropagated destructive heresy. Jezebel was daughter of Ethbaal, King of\nthe Zidonians, whom Ahab married contrary to the express law of God. (1\nKings xvi. 31; Deut. vii. 3.) She was a violent persecutor of the Lord's\npeople, because she was given to idolatry; and she was an instigator of\nall the cruelty perpetrated by that wicked king, \"whom Jezebel his wife\nstirred up.\" As Ahab suffered his wife to control his policy, \"giving\nhim the vineyard of Naboth,\" etc., so it appears, the rulers in this\nchurch are blamed for permitting \"a woman to teach,\" contrary to the law\nof Christ.\" (1 Tim. ii. 12.) She \"called herself a prophetess,\"--why not\nthen require her to show her credentials? Permitted to usurp the\nfunctions of a public teacher, she \"seduced Christ's servants\" to join\nin the abominable rites of the heathen. Spiritual fornication,\nespecially when conducted by female agency, has always issued in that\nwhich is literal. This may be verified from the time of Noah and Balaam\ntill the erection of nunneries under the sanction of the \"man of sin.\"\nThe distinction here between \"committing fornication\" and \"eating things\nsacrificed unto idols,\" intimates that the \"adultery\" is to be taken in\na literal sense. Time was allowed for repentance, \"and she repented\nnot.\" All this time the rulers were culpable: therefore the Lord\nhimself, as before, will interpose to rectify such gross sin and\nscandal. This he would do by visiting these impenitent transgressors\nwith some incurable disease which would issue in certain death. So he\ndid in the church of Corinth. (1 Cor. xi. 30.) By this example he would\nteach \"all the churches, that it is he who searcheth the reins and\nhearts,\"--demonstrating his divine omniscience.--\"But unto you I say.\"\nWhere now is to be discovered, in this address of the Saviour, that\n\"presiding minister,\" or diocesan bishop, whom the anti-christian\nprelates affirm our Lord addresses in all these epistles? \"And unto the\nrest in Thyatira,\"--still no prelate addressed; but those laborious and\npatient ones previously commended, who \"had not known the depths of\nSatan.\" Those deceivers pretended to instruct their deluded followers in\nthe \"deep things of God;\" but Christ calls them \"depths of Satan.\" It is\nusual with the devil's factors to delude credulous persons with\npretending to teach them deep mysteries,--\"curious arts. (Acts xix. 18,\n19.)\n\nTo such as withstood the adversary and his allies, Christ would give no\nadditional injunctions to those which they had received. And to animate\nthem to continued fidelity and fortitude in future conflicts with these\nenemies of all righteousness, he holds forth an ample reward. He shall\nshare in the honor of his Master, conferred on him by his Father.\nWhatever may be comprehended in this promise, it can be made good to the\nvictorious Christian only by Him who is divine. None else has \"power\nover the nations,\" but he to whom \"all power is given in heaven and in\nearth.\" (Matt, xxviii. 18.) \"The morning star\" may signify Christ\nhimself, (ch. xxii, 16,) or the \"first fruits of the Spirit,\" (Rom.\nviii. 23,) or the full assurance of grace. (2 Peter i. 19.)\n\nAs before, what \"Christ saith, the Spirit saith;\" and the instruction,\nwarning and threatening sent to the church in Thyatira, was addressed to\nall churches and to every human being endowed with an \"ear to hear.\" It\nis assumed in the beginning of the Apocalypse, that only some will have\nsufficient education to \"read the words of the prophecy of this book;\"\nand such is the condescension of our gracious Master, that those who, by\nreason of invincible ignorance, cannot _read_, yet may share in the\nreward promised to such as \"hear and keep\" the sayings of this book. And\nno doubt thousands have received this reward since the begun decline of\nPopery, who were privileged to hear and to \"know the joyful sound\" of\nthe gospel proclaimed by the heralds of the Reformation. In the times of\nLuther, Calvin, Knox, and others, who were their compeers and\nsuccessors, many were called from darkness to light, in continental and\ninsular Europe, who could not read.\n\nAll are commanded to \"search the Scriptures.\" Now to be able to obey\nthis reasonable command, either all must be instructed in the knowledge\nof Hebrew and Greek,--the two languages in which the Bible was\noriginally written, or the Bible must be translated into the languages\nof all nations. But the former supposition is impracticable, and\ntherefore the latter is dutiful. And after all that has been done, and\nis yet to be accomplished, in translating the sacred writings into the\nlanguages of the nations of the earth, the \"angels of the churches\" will\nbe employed by the chief Shepherd in feeding his flock.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\n1. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith\nhe that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy\nworks, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.\n\n2. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready\nto die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.\n\n3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast,\nand repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a\nthief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.\n\n4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their\ngarments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.\n\n5. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I\nwill not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess\nhis name before my Father, and before his angels.\n\n6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches.\n\nVs. 1-6.--As hitherto in these epistles we do not discover a \"presiding\nminister\" above an elder, so neither do we in this one find any hint of\na \"bishop and pastors.\" All Christ's bishops are elders, and \"all are\nbrethren.\" (Acts xx. 17, 28.) Prelacy,--that is, preferring one pastor\nbefore another in office, is expressly prohibited by the church's only\nLawgiver. (Matt. xx. 25, 26.) The attempts to annul this law of Christ\nhas caused more sin and suffering to his disciples than any one external\nagency of the devil. The whole history of the church furnishes the\nevidence of this.\n\nThe church in Sardis is addressed by him who \"hath the seven spirits of\nGod and the seven stars,\" who has authority by office to give the\nquickening influences of the Spirit to the dead, and his reviving\ninfluences to the dormant; for revival presupposes life. Their \"works\nwere not perfect before God,\" however they might appear to men. The\nmajority were in a languishing condition, had \"given themselves over to\na detestable neutrality\" in the Lord's cause. And as the whole body is\njustly characterized by the major part; this church is described as\n\"dead.\" \"Be watchful,--remember,--repent.\" These duties point out the\nprevailing sins, namely, slothfulness, forgetfulness and security. Where\nthese predominate, \"things that remain are ready to die.\" And there is\nno other remedy but that of applying to the \"Seven Spirits of God,\"\nwhich Christ is ready to shed abundantly on all who make believing\napplication.\n\nChrist threatens to \"come as a thief\" upon those who do not \"watch.\" In\nsimilitudes, we are not to indulge a licentious fancy in our attempts to\ninterpret them. The objects of the thief's visit and that of Christ are\nnot the point of resemblance; for \"the thief cometh not but for to\nsteal, and to kill, and to destroy.\" The point, and the only point of\nresemblance, is the suddenness of the visit. Ignorance or neglect of\nthis rule of interpretation has been a fruitful source of error,\nespecially in expounding Revelation.\n\nIn this epistle, the order hitherto observed by the Saviour is reversed.\nWhat was praiseworthy in other churches was first noticed. Here the\ncommendation follows the reproof. \"Thou hast a few names,\" etc. A\nvirtuous minority are \"undefiled in the way.\" They have nobly withstood\nthe prevailing contamination, and therefore Christ will admit them to\nfellowship and honor. The victor shall be \"clothed in white\nraiment,\"--grace shall be perfected in glory; and their names, which\nwere inscribed in the book of life,--the register of the church of the\nfirst-born, shall be confessed by Christ \"before his Father and before\nhis angels,\" as having \"followed the Lamb,\" when others went back like\nOrpah. (Ruth i. 15.) Let those who, having \"put their hand to the\nplough,\" are tempted to \"look back,\" consider \"what the Spirit saith\" to\nthe church in Sardis.\n\n\n7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things\nsaith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David,\nhe that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;\n\n8. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no\nman can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word,\nand has not denied my name.\n\n9. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they\nare Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and\nworship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.\n\n10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep\nthee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,\nto try them that dwell upon the earth.\n\n11. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man\ntake thy crown.\n\n12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,\nand he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my\nGod, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which\ncometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new\nname.\n\n13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches.\n\nVs. 7-13.--This church, like the one in Smyrna, is \"without rebuke,\" in\nthe midst of similar trials.--Christ's message is prefaced, as usual, by\nsome description of himself, implying his supreme deity and authority.\n\"He that is holy, he that is true,\" is more than a creature. As \"there\nis none _good_ but one, that is God;\" so, \"there is none _holy_ as the\nLord,\" (Jehovah,) (1 Sam. ii. 2.) Here is another, among many plain\nproofs, of our Saviour's proper divinity. His divine authority is held\nforth in his \"having the key of David,\" etc. A key is the symbol of\nauthority, (Matt. xvi. 19,) and the reference is to that prophecy, (Isa.\nxxii. 20-24,) in which the mediatorial dominion of Christ is set forth,\nby calling Eliakim to the place of authority in the room of Shebna. \"The\nkey of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder.\" It is in virtue\nof this extensive grant of power from the Father, that the Lord Christ\nhas a right, _as Mediator_, to send his ambassadors into all nations, to\ncall sinners (rebels) back to their rightful allegiance; and also to\nexecute deserved punishment upon all who do harm to his servants. (Ps.\ncv, 15.) In the exercise of his rightful authority, he has set before\nthis church an \"open door\" of liberty, of opportunity, of activity; that\nshe may put forth her \"little strength\" in keeping Christ's word and\nconfessing his name amidst opposition, reproach and violence; for it is\nobvious, that when impostors fail to reach their objects by deceit, they\nwill resort to forcible measures. Because this church was unable to\npurge herself by corrective discipline,--having but \"a little strength,\"\ntherefore Christ declares his purpose to strip these lying Jews of their\ncloak of hypocrisy, and exhibit them in their true character a\n\"synagogue (church) of Satan.\" (James ii. 2.) Seeing that in apostolic\ntimes there were apostles, ministers, churches of the devil, is it to be\nsupposed that we violate the law of charity, if in our own degenerate\nage, when heresies abound, when ecclesiastical order is trampled upon,\nwe venture to apply the language of the Holy Spirit to unholy and\nprofane amalgamations? No, it is part of the special business of\nChrist's witnesses to unmask specious hypocrites and warn of danger from\nfalse teachers, (2 Cor. xi. 13-15; Gal. i. 6, 7,) that \"their folly may\nbe made manifest to all men.\" (2 Tim. iii. 8, 9; 2 Peter ii. 1, 3.)--The\ncruel enemy, who in the day of prosperity boasts of his success, in the\nday of adversity becomes the most arrant coward and cringing\nsuppliant,--whether it be Saul or Shimei. (1 Sam. xv. 30; 2 Sam. xix.\n18.) Haughty persecutors have been changed to humble suitors for an\ninterest in the prayers of their victims,--\"to worship before their\nfeet.\" \"The word of Christ's patience\" may signify any truth or doctrine\nof the Bible which is of supernatural revelation. The same idea is\nsuggested by the phrase, \"the present truth,\"--any divine truth which\nmay come to be opposed or denied, especially as it may bear upon the\npersonal glory of our Redeemer. Love to Christ is often tested by an\nenlightened and firm adherence to the \"truth as it is in Jesus,\" when\n\"false apostles will sell it for a mess of pottage.\" (Prov. xxiii. 23; 2\nCor. xiii. 8.) The first promise here is of a temporal kind, of\nprotection in time of general danger. The \"temptation\" thus predicted\nmay refer to some of those \"ten persecutions\" waged by the Roman\nemperors against the Christians, as that of Trajan in particular; but\ndoubtless, like many other predictions, it was to have more than one\nfulfilment. The expression, \"all the world\" does indeed sometimes mean\nthe Roman empire, (Luke ii. 1;) but perhaps it would be rash to affirm,\nthat it is to be always thus limited. Like \"the kingdom of heaven,--the\nkingdom of God,\"--phrases which have unquestionably a two-fold\nsignification, so it will be safer to consider this expression as of a\nsimilar kind. All other churches would be exposed to trial, from which\nthis one would be exempted. The trial might consist of persecution, or\nthe spreading of heretical principles and wicked practices, followed by\napostacies. At such a time of trial, a firm adherence to the \"doctrines\nwhich are after godliness,\" would be imperative duty, and the only way\nto secure the victor's crown. The gracious reward of fidelity here\npromised is a permanent and honorable place in the heavenly temple,--the\ntemple of Christ's Father, whose name the citizen of the New Jerusalem\nshould bear for ever, and should be known and recognised as\n\"fellow-citizen with the saints.\" These names may be safely interpreted\nas importing, \"son, daughter of the Lord Almighty, citizen of Zion,\nChristian.\" As \"the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch,\"\nso their gracious Master will \"confess their names before his Father and\nthe holy angels.\" (Acts xi. 26; Rev. iii. 5.)\n\n\n14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These\nthings saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of\nthe creation of God;\n\n15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou\nwert cold or hot.\n\n16. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will\nspue thee out of my mouth.\n\n17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have\nneed of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,\nand poor, and blind, and naked.\n\n18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest\nbe rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the\nshame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with\neye-salve, that thou mayest see.\n\n19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and\nrepent.\n\n20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: If any man hear my voice, and\nopen the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with\nme.\n\n21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,\neven as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.\n\n22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the\nchurches.\n\nVs. 14-22.--It appears that in Paul's time a Christian church had been\nplanted in Laodicea. (Col. ii. 1; iv. 16.) This church had the benefit\nof his ministry as well as that of Ephesus: and as both these churches\nwere comparatively near to all the other five, we may suppose that a man\nof his zealous, active and persevering character and habits, would\n\"impart unto them some spiritual gift.\" (Rom. i. 11.)\n\nIt is evident that this church had degenerated more than all the others.\nIn her there is nothing to commend. Her officers and members are\ndescribed in their real character by him who is the \"Amen, the faithful\nand true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.\" Each of these\ntitles speaks the divine dignity of Christ. They are all to be\nunderstood in an absolute, not in a comparative sense. As \"there is none\n_good_ (absolutely so,) but one; that is, God,\" Matt. xix. 17; so Christ\nonly is the \"Amen\" in such sense that he \"cannot lie\" as a \"witness.'\"\nHe \"speaks that which he has seen with his Father.\" (John viii. 38.)\nJesus is, moreover, the \"Beginning;\" the author, owner and sovereign\nruler of \"the creation of God.\" This is clearly taught in Col. i. 15-18,\nwhere the same person, who (in v. 18) is called \"the beginning,\" as\nhere; is (in v. 17,) said to \"be before all things;\" by whom (v. 16,)\n\"were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in\nearth.\"--Creation is a work proper to God only. But our Redeemer has\n\"created all things.\" Now, according to Heb. iii. 4, \"he that built all\nthings is God;\" therefore he of whom these things are spoken is \"the\nMost High God.\" And so said the inspired prophet long ago, \"For thy\nMaker is thine husband.\" (Isa. liv. 5.) In the language of Jeremiah, (x.\n11,)--thus do we say to Arians, Socinians, and other self-styled\nUnitarians,--\"The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth,\neven they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens:\"\nand their blinded votaries, \"except they repent, shall all likewise\nperish.\"--However far the body of this church had declined, it does not\nappear that they had yet, as a community, gone the length of \"denying\nthe Lord that bought them.\"\n\nSpiritual pride, self-sufficiency, seems to have been the prevailing sin\namong these degenerate professors. Like the Pharisee, they would boast\nof their riches, the spiritual gifts which they possessed, by which they\nflattered themselves that \"they were not as other men.\" Possibly they\nmight excel in knowledge, that \"knowledge which puffeth up;\" in\nutterance,--\"great swelling words of vanity,\" by which they gained both\n\"filthy lucre\" and the admiration of an ignorant and carnal multitude.\nSuch is too often the actual condition of ministers and people, when\nthey are all the while under the power of sin, and wholly \"blind\" to\ntheir spiritual destitution. Self-deception is fatal; and it would be\njust in the Lord Jesus to give such persons up to their own hearts'\nlusts. So he threatens,--\"I will spue thee out of my mouth,\" as a man's\nstomach loathes that which is nauseating. The like figure is used by\nIsaiah, (lxv. 5,) personating his Lord when describing similar\ncharacters:--\"These are a smoke in my nose,\"--intolerably offensive.--To\nus the case of this church would appear hopeless. It is not so, however:\non the contrary, he assures them that these sharp rebukes proceed from\nlove. \"As many as I love, I rebuke, and chasten.\" (Heb. xii. 6-8.) And\nfrom the \"counsel\" which he gives, as farther evidence of his love, we\nlearn wherein this church was lacking,--in grace, justifying\nrighteousness, and the saving self searching illumination of the Holy\nSpirit. As this church had not the promise of exemption from the coming\n\"temptation,\" (v. 10,) the \"gold tried in the fire\" of persecution will\nbe indispensable to preserve any from apostacy, whereby their cloak of\nhypocrisy would be removed, and they be exposed to \"shame.\"--Christ\n\"stands and knocks.\"--If the church refuses him admittance, yet if but\none will \"hear his voice and open the door,\" he will certainly\ncommunicate such consolations,--the \"joy of his salvation,\" that it may\nbe said they sup together. (Song v. 1.)\n\nThis, as before, is the \"hundred-fold,\" promised in this life, as a\nforetaste and pledge of heavenly felicity.--There is added, a\nparticipation in his honor and authority; for those who suffer with him\nshall also reign with him. (2 Tim. ii. 12.) Whilst \"this honour is to\nall his saints,\" it is to be conferred upon them by Christ. This\nassertion may seem to contradict what Christ said to the mother of\nZebedee's sons, (Matt. xx. 23,)--\"to sit on my right hand, and on my\nleft, is not mine to give.\"--No, it is not his to give,--\"but, except to\nthem for whom it is prepared of his Father.\" Then it is his to\ngive,--his right. Of the honor and felicity promised to such as \"fight\nthe good fight of faith,\" none can have an adequate conception without\nactual experience. (1 John iii. 2.)\n\n\nGENERAL OBSERVATIONS.\n\nAlthough the fundamental doctrine of the _Trinity in Unity_ be not\nexpressly taught or asserted in these epistles, it is nevertheless often\nand plainly presupposed. Each epistle begins and closes with express\nmention of two divine persons as equally the author. What Christ says,\nthe Spirit says to these churches. But there is a _third_ divine person\noften mentioned who is called \"God,\" and \"Father.\" (Ch. ii. 7, 18, 27,\netc.;) and in the first verse of chapter third, one speaks who has the\nseven Spirits of God,\" where the _Trinity_ is included. Thus, while in\nthese epistles this important doctrine of the adorable Trinity,--a\ndoctrine which lies at the very foundation of a sinner's hope, is\nobscurely revealed, as being clearly discovered in the preceding parts\nof the Holy Scriptures; the subsequent part of this book of Revelation\nis intended, among other objects, to demonstrate _the distinct\nsubsistence and economical actings_ of the co-equal and eternal Three,\nin the protection and salvation of the church, and in the control and\nmoral government of the universe.\n\nAgain, on the groundless and chimerical assumption of those expositors\nwho view these epistles as prophetical of seven successive periods of\nthe destiny of the church general, the last estate would be worse than\nthe first,--Laodicea being the worst of all. But this is obviously\ncontrary to the description contained in ch. xx. 1-10, where the saints\nare represented as in possession and exercise of all their purchased and\nsocial rights. Neither does authentic history prove that the church of\nChrist was more prosperous under the \"ten persecutions\" by the heathen\nRoman emperors than in the apostolic age, as the superior condition of\nthe church in Smyrna to that of Ephesus would require. The very contrary\nis true; and hence the groundlessness of such interpretation, however\nrespectable the names of its authors. The object of our Saviour in all\nthe instructions, counsels, warnings, rebukes and threatenings addressed\nto these several churches is doubtless the real benefit of his people in\nafter generations;--just as his dealings with the church in Old\nTestament times, \"were written for our admonition and learning.\" (Rom.\nxv. 4; 1 Cor. x. 11.) Moreover, some persons have inferred from our\nLord's treatment of these churches, a _divine warrant_ for the\nexistence, and an imperative Christian duty for the charitable\nrecognition, of all the conflicting and antagonistic organizations of\nour time, popularly styled Christian churches. But as the designation,\n\"Christian churches,\" is in the apprehension of some too general, the\nterm \"evangelical\" is used by them as restrictive of the term\n\"Christian.\" Still the question will present itself,--What constitutes a\nchurch \"evangelical?\" And this question is still without any definite\nanswer. Perhaps no two persons would include in one category the same\ndenominations of professing Christians. For example,--Is a community to\nbe considered a Christian church in which the \"doctrine of Balaam\" is\ntaught? Does the law of charity require the recognition of an\norganization as a Christian church, in which a \"Jezebel would be\nsuffered to teach, and to seduce the servants of Christ?\" Is that a\nChristian church which denies the supreme deity of Christ, and rejects\nthe seals of the covenant of grace,--the only charter of the Christian\nchurch's existence, on earth? Or is that combination to be viewed as a\nChristian church which has no regular ministry, but expressly rejects\nthe \"pastors and teachers\" of Christ's appointment and the morality of\nthe sabbath? These, and many other questions of similar or analogous\nimport, will suggest negative answers to all who fear God, respect his\nauthority, and are free from the bewildering effects of popular error.\n\nIt ought to be considered that all these _seven_ churches were _one\nchurch_, as originally constituted, having the same,--that, is, a\ndivine, scriptural organization. And although in the divine forbearance,\nthey were still owned by Christ, notwithstanding the errors, heresies\nand immoralities which had crept into them; yet it is manifest that he\nthreatens some of them with divorce, total extinction in case of\nimpenitence. He has indeed fulfilled his awful threats in making them a\ndesolation. Is it reasonable to suppose that he would reorganize these,\nor recognise others which incorporate the same or the like corruptions\nin doctrine and practice for tolerating which he has \"removed their\ncandlestick,\" or \"spued them out of his mouth?\" (_Absit blasphemia_.) To\nsay so, or write so, does not manifest the \"charity which rejoiceth not\nin iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.\" Alas! the present condition of\nthe church general contains frequent evidences, that our Saviour's\naffectionate counsels, solemn warnings, and awful threatenings, are\nneither duly pondered nor dutifully regarded.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nWith this chapter the prophetical part of the Apocalypse begins. This is\nthe place where the third division of the book commences, of which\nintimation had been given to John.--\"Write ... the things which shall be\nhereafter.\" (Ch. i. 19.) The third is therefore much the largest part of\nthe whole book, comprising all from the 4th to the 22d ch. It is also to\nbe noticed that the fourth and fifth chapters are properly of the nature\nof an introduction to what follows, presenting to view, as it were, a\ngrand theatre on which are to be exhibited the dramatic characters and\nevents which constitute the outline of history in the church and the\nworld from the apostle's time till the consummation of all things.\n\nExpositors commonly frame and lay down some rules by which they suppose\nsymbolic language in general, and the symbols of this book in\nparticular, may be interpreted. On examination, however, it will be\ndiscovered that the learned are not agreed either in the nature or\nnumber of such rules, and sometimes an expositor who has exerted his\ningenuity most in devising canons of interpretation, forgets to apply\nthem.\n\nAll languages, whether spoken or written, are more or less metaphorical,\ninterspersed with what are called figures of speech. It is customary to\nrepresent nations and tribes, whose language abounds in symbols, as but\nlittle advanced in civilization; and to view oriental nations as more\ndisposed to indulge in tropes and figures than those of the west; but\nperhaps this relative estimate of the modes of speech in the eastern and\nwestern hemispheres will admit of some modification, when we consider\nthe gesticulations and similes by which the aborigines of America\nattempt to give expression to their ideas. The word _hieroglyphics_,\nsignifying sacred sculpture, derived from the ancient mode of writing by\nthe priests of Egypt, has received conventional currency among the\nlearned, as descriptive of any writing which is obscure, \"hard to be\nunderstood.\" And all who read this book will find some of it \"dark\"\nindeed. The divine Author intended that it should be so, (ch. xiii. 18;)\nyet he calls it emphatically, a \"Revelation.\"\n\nWe have already noticed, that the symbols in this book are taken from\nthe ceremonial law in part, and part are taken from the works of\ncreation. The heavens and the earth present to our senses a variety of\nmaterial objects; some more, some less calculated to arrest our\nattention. Among these, the sun, moon and stars,--earth and sea,\nmountains and rivers, occupy prominent places. To facilitate our\nknowledge of these, and prompt reference to any part of them, we\ngeneralize or throw them into groups. Thus we speak familiarly of the\n\"solar system,\" the \"animal, vegetable or mineral kingdom.\" Now, just\ntransfer these systematized objects from the material and physical, to\nthe moral and spiritual world. Then consider what relation any one\nobject bears to the system, and what influence it has upon the other\nobjects of which it is a part, and its import may be generally,\nsatisfactorily and certainly ascertained. Thus the same canons or rules\nwhich we apply in the interpretation of other writings, will be equally\navailable in \"searching the Scriptures,\"--never, never forgetting that\nit is the Spirit of Christ that \"guides into all truth,\" or his own\nall-comprehensive rule of interpretation, \"comparing spiritual things\nwith spiritual.\" (1 Cor. ii. 13.)\n\nIn order to the right observance of the divinely prescribed rule,\n\"comparing spiritual things with spiritual,\" we must often refer to the\nprophecies of the Old Testament,--to the second and seventh chapters of\nDaniel in particular, because that prophet, while the church was captive\nunder the power of literal Babylon, was favoured with a discovery of the\npurpose of God, that a succession of imperial powers should afterwards\narise to \"try the patience and the faith of the saints.\" As in the case\nof Pharaoh, so in the whole history of the rise, reign and overthrow of\nsucceeding persecuting powers, Jehovah's design was precisely the\nsame,--\"to make his power known, and that his name might be declared\nthroughout all the earth.\" (Ex. ix. 16; Rom. ix. 17.) In connexion with\nthis, he would \"glorify the riches of his grace on the vessels of mercy,\nwhich he had afore prepared unto glory,\" by sustaining them in the\nfurnace of trial.\n\n\n1. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and\nthe first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with\nme; which said. Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must\nbe hereafter.\n\n2. And immediately I was in the Spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in\nheaven, and one sat on the throne.\n\n3. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone:\nand there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an\nemerald.\n\nVerses 1-3.--\"After these things,\" contained in the three preceding\nchapters, the glorious vision of the mediatorial person, and the writing\nand sending of the seven epistles; there seems to have intervened a\npause. While John was in expectation of farther discoveries of \"things\nwhich were to be thereafter,\" \"behold, a door was opened in heaven,\" the\nplace of Jehovah's special residence. But as this \"heaven\" is sometimes\nthe theatre of _war_, (ch. xii. 7,) of course it is not to be taken\nliterally. As a symbol it generally signifies organized society, over\nwhich the Most High presides. The \"door opened\" afforded the means to\nJohn of seeing the objects within. The \"voice as of a trumpet,\" which\narrested his attention, was that of Christ,--the \"voice of the Lord,\nfull of majesty.\" (Ps. xxix. 4; ch. i. 10, 11.) John was in his own\napprehension, like Paul, \"caught up into the third heaven,\" that he\nmight behold in glorious succession \"things which must be hereafter.\"\nWhy _must_ they be? Simply because such was the \"purpose of Him who\nworketh all things after the counsel of his own will; who is wonderful\nin counsel and excellent in working; whose counsel stands, and who doeth\nall his pleasure.\" (Eph. i. 11.) Can a rational creature work without a\nplan? And shall mortal man be more rational than his Maker? The objects\nwhich were presented to John are not to be understood as _material_\nobjects. It was requisite that he should be \"in the Spirit,\" before he\ncould see them. The exercise of his bodily senses, the organs of\nsensation, must be suspended, that he might have a perception of the\nobjects presented in vision. As the \"spirits of just men made perfect\"\nin glory, in a disembodied state, are still conscious and active; so are\nwe warranted to conceive of souls yet in the body as being in a state\nanalagous,--falling into a trance. (Acts x. 10.) The first object seen\nby John was a \"throne set in heaven,\" the emblem of sovereignty. \"One\nsat on the throne,\" who cannot be described, only in an obscure manner\nby comparison, being \"the invisible God, whom no eye hath seen, nor can\nsee.\" Yet we know with certainty it is the person of the Father, because\nhe is in the next chapter plainly distinguished from \"the Lamb.\" Seated\non the throne,--and \"in the throne he is greater than the Mediator.\" A\nrelation between these divine persons was shadowed forth in Egypt\nbetween Pharaoh and Joseph. (Gen. xli. 40.) Occupying the throne of the\nuniverse, the Father sustains the majesty of the Godhead, and represents\nthe persons of the adorable Trinity; for the idea is equally\nunscriptural and absurd, that either person appears or acts (_ad extra_)\nin absolute or essential character. (Is. xlii. 1; John x. 18; xiv. 31.)\nHe that \"sat, was ... like a jasper and a sardine stone,\"--not like any\nhuman form, but in allusion, perhaps, to the Shekinah or visible glory\nabove the mercy-seat in the most holy place, he appeared in the\nessential purity or holiness of his nature and awful justice,--one \"who\nwill by no means clear the guilty.\" The rainbow is the familiar emblem\nor \"token of the covenant.\" Its being \"round about the throne\" teaches\nus, that God \"in wrath remembers mercy.\" As \"green\" is the color most\npleasing to the natural eye, so is the rainbow of covenant mercy most\ngrateful to the penitent sinner, contemplated by the eye of faith. God\nis \"ever mindful of his covenant.\" (Ps. cxi. 5.)\n\nEver since the revelation of mercy to fallen man, God deals with\nmankind, not in essential or absolute character, but by covenant in\neconomical standing. All along since that epoch in the history of this\nworld, \"the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto\nthe Son.\" As yet, however, the Son is not brought upon the stage in the\napostle's present view. The Son has his appropriate place in the vision,\nwhere he will appear as Mediator. In the conflict to be carried on for\ntwelve hundred and sixty years by the combined powers of earth and hell\n\"against the Lord and his Anointed,\" we have the agencies exhibited in\nthese two chapters _only on heaven's side_. The opposing hosts will\nafterwards appear.\n\n\n4. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats; and upon the\nseats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment;\nand they had on their heads crowns of gold.\n\n5. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and\nvoices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,\nwhich are the seven spirits of God.\n\nVerses 4, 5.--To John's view, the \"throne\" seen from one side would\nappear to be surrounded by a segment of a circle, within which were\n\"four and twenty seats,\" (thrones,) occupied by an equal number of\n\"elders.\" In society divinely organized \"elders\" have always been the\nlegal representatives of God's covenant society in civil and\necclesiastical relations. (Exod. iii. 16; Acts xx. 17.) These \"four and\ntwenty elders\" represent the collective body of God's people under the\nOld and New Testaments,--the \"twelve tribes of Israel\" and the \"twelve\napostles.\" (ch. vii. 4; xxi. 12-14.) Their \"white raiment\" and \"crowns\nof gold\" indicate their legal state and moral purity,--their\njustification and sanctification, as also their promotion to honour, to\n\"reign as kings.\" (ch, i. 6; v. 10.) [\"_reign on the earth_,\" ch, xx.\n4.] Allusion is had to the terrific scene at Sinai by the \"lightnings,\"\netc., when \"Moses did exceedingly fear and quake,\" importing that God,\n\"our God, is a consuming fire\" to all his impenitent, especially\nantichristian, enemies, even under the milder economy of the New\nTestament. (Heb. x. 28-31; ch. xx. 10.) The \"seven lamps of fire\" are\nexplained to mean \"the seven spirits of God,\" in allusion to the golden\ncandlestick in the temple, (Exod. xxxvii. 23; Zech. iv. 2,) and\nsignifying the gifts and graces of those who are \"baptized with the Holy\nGhost and \"with fire.\"\n\n\n6. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; and\nin the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts\nfull of eyes before and behind.\n\n7. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a\ncalf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was\nlike a flying eagle.\n\n8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they\nwere full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy,\nholy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.\n\n9. And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks, to him that\nsat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,\n\n10. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the\nthrone, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their\ncrowns before the throne, saying,\n\n11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power;\nfor thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were\ncreated.\n\nVs. 6-11.--The \"sea of glass before the throne\" is a symbol taken from\nthe \"brazen sea\" in the temple, in which priests and victims were to be\nwashed. (Exod. xxx. 18; 1 Kings vii. 23.) This sea represents the same\nthing as the \"fountain opened,\" (Zech. xiii. 1,) which denotes the\natoning and cleansing blood of Christ. (Ch. vii. 14.) All who offer\n\"spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God,\" must first be washed; for the\n\"Lord had respect to Abel\" _first_, and then to his \"offering,\" (Gen.\niv. 4.)--Next, John saw \"four beasts.\" The translation here is faulty,\nas noticed by many expositors. Different words in the original\nGreek,--not only different, but in some respects opposite in\nsignification, ought not to be rendered by the same English word; for\nthis tends to mislead the unlearned leader. He is thus bewildered\ninstead of being enlightened. There are several beasts besides these,\nintroduced as instructive symbols in this book. Two are mentioned in ch.\nxiii. 1, 11, altogether different from these,--so different as to be\nantagonistic. Instead of \"beasts,\" they should have been called\n\"animals\" or \"living beings;\" for even the phrase \"living _creatures_\"\nhardly covers or conveys the whole import of the Greek word. The\nposition of these \"four animals\" is worthy of special notice:--\"in the\nmidst of the throne, and round about the throne.\" How can this be? Well,\nif the \"seats\" and the \"elders\" occupying them are \"round about the\nthrone,\" in a segment of a circle, as viewed by John, then it will be\nreadily perceived that the \"animals\" seen from the same quarter would\nappear to him as occupying a space forming a smaller segment of a circle\nbetween the elders and the throne. Thus we have the relative positions,\n(_a_) the throne, (_b_) the \"four animals\" next to the throne, and\nlastly, (_c_) the \"four and twenty elders.\" The places occupied by these\nseveral parties are pregnant with scriptural instruction, as may appear\nwhen we come to the latter part of ch. 6.\n\nIn the mean time, what do these \"four animals\" represent? Not the\nadorable Trinity, as some learned men have imagined; nor holy angels, as\nmore learned men have supposed and laboured to prove. These \"animals\"\nare worshippers; (v. 8,) therefore they are not the Object of worship.\nThey are culpably blind who mistake the creature for the Creator. (Rom.\ni. 25.) Other expositors have attempted, with greater plausibility, but\nno better success, to prove these animals to be symbolical of angels.\nFor this purpose, reference has been made to Isaiah's vision of the\n_seraphims_, (ch. vi. 2,) and also to the \"four living creatures\" which\nappeared in vision to Ezekiel, (i. 5-10.) The identity of John's\n\"animals\" and Ezekiel's \"living creatures\" is argued especially from\ntheir number, \"four,\" and their \"faces\" being the same. To the\nthoughtful and unbiased reader it is sufficient to reply,--that John's\n\"animals\" acknowledge themselves to have been _redeemed_ by the blood of\nthe Lamb, (ch. v. 8, 9,) an expression which is inapplicable to angels.\nAs the \"four and twenty elders\" and the \"four animals\" comprise the\nwhole company of the _redeemed_, as distinguished from the higher and\nlower orders of God's worshippers, (ch. v. 8-14,) and as the \"elders\"\nrepresent the whole church, it would seem to be reasonable to suppose,\nthat these \"animals\" are the symbols of the gospel ministry. And to this\nagree their functions as exercised in the farther developments of this\nbook, as we shall see.\n\nOne plausible objection to this interpretation is grounded on the fact\nthat their \"faces\" are the same as those of Ezekiel's angels,--\"of an\nox, or young calf, of a lion, of a man, and of an eagle.\" But each of\nthe \"cherubims\" had \"four faces\" whereas these \"animals\" have but _one_\nface each. Nor ought it to be thought incongruous that faithful\nministers are represented as possessing some of the properties of holy\nangels, when we find them called by the same name: (ch. i. 20;) and\nalso, when we find the Master directing them to imitate and emulate holy\nangels in their services. (Matt. vi. 10; Ps. ciii. 20, 21.) These\n\"animals,\" emblematical of the gospel ministry, are in number \"four,\"\nanswerable to the universality of their mission into the four quarters\nof the earth,--\"all the world.\" (Matt, xxviii. 19; Mark, xvi. 15.) So\nthe \"four winds,\" (ch. vii. 1,) mean all winds. As the \"lion, which is\nthe strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any,\" is\ndistinguished for courage and magnanimity; so, as a symbol, it\nrepresents a ministry of courageous and heroic spirit. Luther in\ncontinental, and Knox in insular Europe, may be named as displaying this\nprominent feature of ministerial character. The \"calf\" or young ox,\nsymbolizes \"patient continuance in well-doing\" amidst trials, such as\n\"cruel mockings,\" etc. The \"face as a man\" indicates sagacity,\n\"Christian prudence,\" together with active sympathy. The \"flying eagle\"\nis emblematical of penetration and discrimination,--ability to teach\nothers,\" from a spiritual insight into the divine character and\npurposes,--an experimental acquaintance with \"the God of glory.\" All\nthese properties are not to be supposed ordinarily in any one minister,\nbut as distributed among the ministry at large,--\"according to the\nmeasure of the gift of Christ,\"--the Holy Spirit \"dividing to every man\nseverally as he will.\" (Eph. iv. 7; 1 Cor. xii. 11.) It may be remarked,\nthat in some cases all these properties may be discerned in great\nmeasure in the same individual. In the gifts and grace of the apostle\nPaul, may be discovered the _boldness_ of the _lion_, the _patience_ of\nthe _ox_, the _compassion_ of the _man_, and the _soaring flight_ of the\n_eagle_. Our covenant God endows his servants for the service to which\nhe calls them, always making good the promise,--\"As thy days, so shall\nthy strength be.\" The \"six wings,\" of course, are expressive of the\nactivity of the ministry,--\"in season, out of season,\" emulating the\nheavenly seraphims in serving the same Lord. They were \"full of eyes\nbefore, behind, within.\" They are to \"take heed to themselves, and to\nthe ministry which they have received in the Lord, that they fulfil it.\"\n(Col. iv. 17; 1 Tim. iv. 16.) They are to regard the operation of God's\nhand in providence, so as to \"have understanding of the times, and know\nwhat Israel ought to do.\" (1 Chron. xii. 32.) They are to \"try the\nspirits whether they are of God;\" and \"after the first and second\nadmonition, to reject heretics.\" (Tit. iii. 10.) They are to \"oversee\nthe flock,\" (Acts xx. 28;) and to \"watch for souls, as they that must\ngive account\" to the Master. (Heb. xiii. 17.) And we may say with\nPaul,--\"Who is sufficient for these things?\" Modern prelates, who\narrogate to themselves the exclusive use of the Scriptural official name\n\"BISHOP,\" generally manifest that they are _only bishops_, (_two-eyed_)\nand not the _many-eyed_ servants of Christ, symbolized by the \"four\nanimals\" of our text, or the \"overseeing _elders_\" charged at Miletus by\nthe apostle Paul. (Acts xx. 17.) \"While these men slept, the enemy sowed\ntares.\"--In direct acts of worship, these \"animals,\"--the ministers,\ntake the lead, answerable to another official name,--\"guides, in things\npertaining to God.\" (Heb. xiii. 7; [Greek] v. 1.) They are, as well\nexpressed by another phrase, the \"sworn expounders of God's word,\" and\nauthoritative rulers in his house. Destitute of legislative power, which\nin ecclesiastical affairs pertains to Christ alone; they are the\nauthorized administrators of all the laws by which his household is to\nbe governed. (Heb. xiii. 7, 17.)--The language of adoration here is the\nsame uttered by the seraphim. (Isa. vi. 3) The \"holiness\" of God is that\nadorable character which is most attractive to holy angels and redeemed\nsinners, being the principal feature of the divine image reflected by\nthemselves. (Matt. xxv. 31; Jude 14; 1 John iii. 2.) The glorious Being\nseen by John, as sitting on a throne, is the same who was seen by\nIsaiah, (vi. 1;) and precisely in the same attitude; but called by\ndifferent names. By Isaiah he is denominated \"the Lord of Hosts,\"--by\nJohn, \"the Lord God Almighty.\" The context proves,--especially ch. v. 1;\nthat John in vision contemplated God in the _person_ of the _Father_;\nwhereas we are assured, in John xii. 41, that Isaiah saw him in the\n_person_ of the _Son_. Thus we may understand our Lord's words addressed\nto Philip, (John xiv. 9.) \"He that hath seen me hath seen the father.\"\n(See Heb. i. 8; Col. i. 15.)\n\nLed by the \"four animals,\"--the ministry of reconciliation; the \"four\nand twenty elders,\" representing all the redeemed of mankind, \"fall down\nbefore him that sat on the throne\" in prostrate adoration of that\nglorious Being whose \"eternal power and Godhead\" are demonstrated in the\nvolume of creation. We are thus taught that motives to acceptable\nworship of God are _primarily_ to be found in the _perfections_ of his\n_nature_ as our beneficent Creator,--perfections possessed by him in\nessential character, independently of all his works of creation and\nredemption. His \"worthiness\" of worship is inherent in himself, but\noutwardly manifested to intelligent creatures by the work of creation,\nof which he is the first Cause and the last End,--the efficient and\nfinal Cause. This doctrine, understood by the intellect and unbraced in\nthe heart, would greatly tend to \"hide pride from man.\" (Job xxxiii.\n17.) Aside from the doctrine of the \"cross,\" which is still counted\n\"foolishness\" by our modern self-styled \"philosophers, psychologists and\nfreethinkers;\" there is enough here revealed of this eternal One to\nhumble the \"proud looks and haughty hearts\" of these \"enemies of the\nKing.\" Without repentance, \"he that made them will not have mercy on\nthem; and he that formed them will show them no favour;\" for\nnotwithstanding their pride of superior intellect, he whose judgment is\naccording to truth, has pronounced them a \"people of no understanding.\"\n(Isa. xxvii. 11.) It is no disparagement to those in places of highest\nearthly dignity, as David; nor to the wisest of all men, as Solomon: to\n\"cast their crowns before the throne\" of this only universal Monarch;\nsaying, \"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power;\nfor thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were\ncreated;\" \"and let the whole earth be filled with his glory.\" (Ps.\nlxxii. 19.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\n1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book\nwritten within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.\n\nVerse 1.--The dividing of the books of Scripture into chapters and\nverses is not by inspiration. Fallible men have used their discretion in\nthis respect, as they still do, by parceling chapters into sections,\nparagraphs, &c. And so, although we have passed to another chapter, the\nvision is the same. The inspired penman had looked upon the great King\nsurrounded by part of his retinue. In earnest expectation of farther\ndiscoveries, he beheld \"in the right hand of him that sat on the throne\na book written within and on the back side,\" (or _outside,_ as in some\ncopies.) The book was \"sealed with seven seals.\" This volume was in the\nform of a _roll,_ as the word _volume_ signifies. The form of a book is\ndetermined by the kind of material on which one writes. This has\nconsisted of great variety in the successive ages of the world. The\nfirst of which we have any notice in history is _stone._ When Job, in\nhis affliction, was sustained by faith in the promised Redeemer; and\nwhen he would emphasize and transmit an expression of that faith to\nfuture generations; he thought of the nearest expedient familiar to his\nmind:--\"Oh that my words were now written.... that they were graven with\nan iron pen.... in the rock forever,\" (Job xix. 23, 24.) On the same\nmaterial the law was written at Horeb, (Exod. xxiv. 12.) No doubt this\nwas the usual method of recording events in Egypt in the time of Joseph,\nas the word \"hieroglyphics\" or _sacred sculpture,_ appears to imply.\nNext, it appears that the inside bark of trees was used for this\npurpose, as of birch, which has a natural tendency to _curl_ or _roll_\ntogether when dry. Hence the word _library,_ and volume, or _rolled\nbark._ The royal archives, or \"house of the rolls,\" is thus explained,\n(Ezra. vi. 1.) \"Vellum,\" or dressed skins of beasts, appears to have\nbeen next used; then linen and cotton; and as now put through a chemical\nprocess, these are the material in most common use at the present day.\nThus contemplating the symbol in the text, we may trace in our thoughts\nthe gradual advancement of this department of science and the mechanic\narts. The second stage of progress had been reached in John's time, from\nstone to the bark of timber. The \"book\" appears to have been of\ncylindrical form, but whether in one piece or in seven separate pieces,\nrevolving on a common axis, it is not easy nor perhaps important to\ndetermine. It is of much greater importance to know that the \"book\" is\nemblematical of the decrees of God. This will appear by comparing Psalm\nxl. 7, where we find the same symbol employed to represent the record of\ncovenant agreement or stipulation between the Father and the Son, and to\nwhich our Saviour appeals as evidence in his case. (Heb. x. 7.) While\nthe symbol may be safely considered as involving all the purposes of\nGod; it signifies here more especially the following part of the\nApocalypse, containing, as it were, a transcript from the great\noriginal.--\"Seals\" are for security and secrecy. Both may be included in\nthe case. And indeed their being \"seven\" in number--a number of\nperfection, would seem to confirm this two-fold meaning. The sealed\nbook, symbolical of the decrees of God, comprehending all events of all\ntime, teaches us the doctrine expressed in plain words thus:--\"Known\nunto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,\" (Acts xv.\n18.) The complex symbol also teaches more forcibly than in words,--\"My\ncounsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure,\" (Is, xlvi. 10.)\nSome have suggested a little change in the punctuation. Instead of\nplacing the comma, after the word \"side,\" place it after the word\n\"within,\" the meaning would then be, that the \"book was written only on\n_one_ side, namely on the side _within_.\" We do not accept the\nsuggestion. The reason is sufficient for its rejection, that the\nmaterial in the time of the apostle, was too costly to leave one-half of\nit _blank_; and here our divine Lord \"speaks to us of heavenly things\"\nthrough the medium of earthly things with which we are familiar.\n\n\n2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy\nto open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?\n\n3. And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able\nto open the book, neither to look thereon.\n\nVs. 2-3.--Proclamation is made by a \"strong angel,\" the Almighty\nMonarch's herald to the universe, challenging all creatures to the task\nof opening the seals. His \"loud voice\" reverberates throughout\nillimitable space, that all concerned might hear. The challenge is not,\n\"who is _able_?\" but, \"who is _worthy_?\"--Who is \"worthy,\" by personal\ndignity, or distinguished and meritorious services, \"to open the book\nand to loose the seals thereof?\" No response comes from any quarter to\nbreak the solemn silence. The whole creation is mute. \"Who hath known\nthe mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?\" \"O the depth of\nthe riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are\nhis judgments and his ways past finding out!\" (Rom. xi. 33, 34.)--\"And\nno man in heaven,\" &c. The word \"man\" is in this place, as in many\nothers, an imperfect and inadequate supplement. In some places it is\ncalculated to mislead the \"unlearned and unstable,\" as John x. 28, 29,\n(in some copies,) Heb. ii. 9. The former text, as supplemented by the\nword \"man,\" contradicts the apostle, Rom. viii. 39. The meaning here is\nobviously that no _creature_,--angel or man, was worthy or \"able\" to\n\"open the book.\" To holy angels, devils, and the dead \"under the earth,\"\nthe purposes of God are as inscrutable as they are to us, until they are\nrevealed. (Eph. iii. 10; 1 Pet. i. 12.)\n\n\n4. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read\nthe book, neither to look thereon.\n\nV. 4.--John understood by the symbol which he saw, that its contents\nwere of deep significance. A sanctified curiosity and anxiety, more\npowerful than that of the Ethiopian eunuch, (Acts viii. 34,) occupied\nhis soul. But the book is sealed and there is no visible interpreter!\n(Is. xxix. 11.) The \"beloved disciple\" is much affected. He has more\nthan once or twice \"beheld the glory of God,\" and cannot but earnestly\ndesire to know more of his mind. \"Hope deferred maketh his heart sick.\"\nHe \"wept much.\" His covenant God \"has seen his tears.\" He \"will heal\nhim,\" (2 Kings xx. 5.)\n\n\n5. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of\nthe tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,\nand to loose the seven seals thereof.\n\nV. 5.--From a quite unexpected quarter comes a hint! How could John\nanticipate relief from such a source? \"One of the elders\" is made the\nmessenger of joyful tidings. As Aquila and Priscilla took to them the\neloquent Apollos, and \"expounded unto him the way of God more\nperfectly,\" (Acts xviii. 26,) so one of the elders--one of the humble\ndisciples was the instrument of comfortable instruction to the aged\napostle! The prophet Daniel was similarly affected by a partial\nexhibition of the same important events; but his anxiety to know the\nmeaning of the vision, though allayed, was not fully gratified, as that\nof John. (Dan. xii. 8, 9,) \"Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed\nup and sealed.\" The desire of the best of God's people to know his\npurposes may be sometimes excessive, as exemplified by the disciples of\nChrist, (Acts i. 7.) \"It is not for them to know the times and the\nseasons which the Father hath put in his own power.\" So much, however,\nis revealed as may be necessary to their present support and comfort;\nand the rest they \"shall know hereafter,\" (John xiii. 7.) But as the\nevents involved in the secret purpose of God, were concealed from\nDaniel; because not to be evolved till near \"the time of the end:\" so in\nJohn's time, when as in Abraham's case, \"the time of the promise drew\nnigh\"--the time was approaching when the interests of God's people would\nbe greatly affected by these events; it became needful that the book\nshould be unsealed and its contents made known. \"The time was at hand.\"\nAccordingly, John is exhorted by the elder to dry up his tears, for to\nthe unspeakable joy of himself and of the whole creation, the\nannouncement is made,--\"Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root\nof David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals\nthereof.\" Here our attention is called away back to the famous prophecy\nof dying Jacob, (Gen. xlix. 9, 10,) and also to the subsequent and\nconcurrent declaration of the evangelical prophet, (Isa. xi. 1, 10.)\nChrist is the \"Lion of the tribe of Judah\" in reference to his human\nnature; \"for it is evident,\" from the inspired tables of his genealogy,\n\"that our Lord sprang out of Judah,\" (Heb. vii. 14;) and it is no less\nevident that he is the Root of David, in respect to his divine nature,\n(John i. 1, 3; Isa. ix. 6; 1 Cor. xv. 47.) The \"one Mediator between God\nand men,\" partaking of the nature of each party, is \"worthy\"--alone\nworthy, by reason of personal dignity, to \"open the book.\" It is also to\nbe noticed that _worthiness_ is not his only qualification. In view of\nthe challenge published,--\"who is worthy?\" the answer is, this champion\n\"hath _prevailed_!\"--Isaiah saw him in vision, victorious over\nenemies--\"travelling in the greatness of his strength,\" (Isa. lxiii. 1.)\nTo his _personal_ worthiness is to be added the unrivalled merit of his\nachievements in conflict with hostile powers, (Gen. iii. 15; Isa. liii.\n12; Col. ii. 15.)\n\n\n6. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four\nbeasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been\nslain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of\nGod sent forth into all the earth.\n\nV. 6.--In this verse we have the Lord Jesus Christ introduced to the\nview of John and the intelligent universe in his sacerdotal or priestly\noffice, \"a lamb, as it had been slain.\" In the order of nature and of\nmerit, his priestly office precedes his prophetical and kingly offices.\nThis is evident from the position which he occupies in relation to the\nthrone and royal retinue. He stands in the attitude of a priest \"in the\nmidst of the throne and of the four animals,\" etc. As seen here, our\nSaviour does not _sit on the throne_. He appeared in a standing posture.\nHis position was obviously _before_ the throne. As the priestly function\nrequired, he stood nearest to the object of worship, between the\nministers and the throne,--in the inmost circle. There he exhibited the\nscars received in war; the wounds made by the sword of divine justice;\n(Zech. xiii. 7;) the holes in his hands and side by the nails and\nsoldier's spear. (John xix. 34; xx. 23.) This \"Lamb slain,\"--typified by\nall the spotless lambs offered in sacrifice by divine appointment from\nthe time of Abel, had been marvellously restored to life, as no other\nvictim had ever been. (John x. 18; ch. i. 18.) The \"seven horns and\nseven eyes,\" symbolize the power and wisdom of the Mediator. \"It pleased\nthe Father that in him should all fulness dwell.\" (Col. i. 19.) He\n\"giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.\" (John iii. 34; Heb. i. 9.)\nChrist was privy to all the purposes of his Father, (John v. 20,) and\nthe extent of his knowledge is limited in him _as Mediator_, only by the\nauthority and will of the Father. \"Of that day and that hour ... knoweth\nno man ... neither the Son.\" (Mark xiii. 32.) The same interesting and\nimportant truth is taught by the Father's holding the book in his hand,\nas also in plain words, (ch. i. 1,)--\"the Revelation of Jesus Christ\nwhich God gave unto him.\" \"No man knoweth the Father but the Son.\"\n(Matt. xi. 27.) In office-capacity the Lord Christ is qualified to\nunfold and execute the decree of God. (Ps. ii. 7,) as more fully appears\nin the following part of the book.\n\n\n7. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat\nupon the throne.\n\nV. 7.--The Lord Jesus approaches his Father's throne to receive the\nroll. And with the prophet we may ask,--\"Who is this that engaged his\nheart to approach?\" (Jer. xxx. 21.)--With all who are honored to\nsurround the throne, we may joyfully answer in the words of the\nPsalmist,--It is the \"Lord, strong and mighty in battle.\" (Ps. xxiv. 8.)\n\"He took the book.\"--This action symbolically signified the\nauthoritative commission given by the Father and received by the\nMediator to proceed in the execution of the divine decree, and in\ndischarge of his threefold office as prophet, priest and\nking,--especially and more formally his prophetical and kingly offices.\n\n\n8. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty\nelders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and\ngolden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.\n\nV. 8.--No sooner does the \"Lamb take the book,\" than all spectators are\napprized of the act, and instantly give expression to their confidence\nand joy. Among all the worshippers before the throne, the \"four animals\"\ntake precedence, and lead by their own example as before, (ch. iv. 9.)\nThey gave \"glory\" etc., to God creator, as in the person of the Father;\nand now in the presence of the Father's manifested glory, they prostrate\nthemselves before the \"Lamb,\" in obedience to the Father's command,\n\"That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.\"\n(John v. 23.)--The \"four and twenty elders,\"--the representatives of all\nthe children of God, cordially join the ministry in these acts of solemn\nworship. Some of the furniture employed in the temple worship, is here\nintroduced, to harmonize with the rest of the symbolic scenery. \"Harps\nand golden vials\" signify praise and prayer. Our modern advocates for\ninstrumental music in God's worship, to be consistent, must associate\nwith the \"harps,\" the \"incense-cups\" and the \"golden altar:\" for all\nbelonged alike to the service of the temple. Even in the time when such\n\"vessels of the ministry\" were in use with divine approbation, the\nPsalmist had greater clearness,--more evangelical conceptions of the\ntemporary use of those \"beggarly elements whereunto many desire again to\nbe in bondage\" than they seem to have. (Gal. iv. 9.) He knew, even then,\nthat \"incense and the evening sacrifice\" represented spiritual worship.\n(Ps. cxli. 2.) Others there are, who question whether Christ as Mediator\nbe the _formal_ object of worship? While they acknowledge his supreme\ndeity as God equal with the Father, they are in doubt on his assuming\nhuman nature, whether, \"as such, he is the object of worship!\" Such\ndoubts are groundless, as unanswerably shown in this place, and in many\nothers, such as John xx. 28: xxi. 17; Ps. xlv. 11; xcvii. 7; Heb. i. 6.\nAll these worshippers appear to know that the nature of the _altar_ at\nwhich they worship determines the kind of oblations to be offered:\nnamely,--\"spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.\" (1\nPet. ii. 5.)\n\n\n9. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,\nand to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us\nto God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and\nnation;\n\n10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign\non the earth.\n\nVs. 9, 10.--\"They sung a new song.\" They all agreed in the matter, as\nwell as in the divine object of worship. \"Now will I sing to my well\nbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.\" (Isa. v. 1.) Agreed\nas to the object and matter of the song none is silent in Immanuel's\npraise,--no _select choir_, not one who _worships by proxy_. Such belong\nto a different fellowship. This is the \"song of the Lamb,\" which joined\nto the \"song of Moses,\" constitutes the whole of the \"high praises of\nthe Lord,\" leaving no place for the vapid, empty, bombastic, amorous and\nheretical effusions, of uninspired men, whether of sound or \"corrupt\nminds.\"--The burden of the song is the same as the \"Song of Songs\" and\nthe forty-fifth Psalm,--\"Christ crucified,\"--Christ glorified, \"the\npraises of him who hath called them from darkness into his marvellous\nlight.\" The key-note among them all is the work of redemption. \"Thou\nhast redeemed us to God by thy blood,\"--_us_, and not others in the same\ncondition. Others may talk of a ransom that does not redeem: but these\ndwell with emphasis upon the price and power that brought them \"out of\nevery kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.\" This happy and\njoyful company never conceived the idea that, in order at once to\nvindicate Jehovah's moral government and give the most impressive\ndemonstration of his opposition to sin, he subjected his beloved Son to\nuntold sufferings, which should be equally available by all his enemies,\nbut _specially intended for none in particular_! They never imagined\nthat their adorable Creator was under a natural necessity of \"seeking\nthe greatest good of the greatest number,\" that he might thereby escape\nthe just imputation of _partiality_. Such impious conceptions imply\ndistributive injustice on the part of God, when he \"spared not the\nangels that sinned, but cast them down to hell.\" (2 Pet. ii. 4.) Neither\nman's chief end nor God's is the happiness of creatures,--no, neither in\ncreation nor redemption, as is clear to unsophisticated reason, and\nplainly determined by the Spirit of God. (See ch. iv. 11; Isa. xliii. 7,\n21; Eph. i. 12.) The manifestation of his own perfections,--his own\nglory, is the highest and ultimate end of Jehovah in all his purposes\nand works. \"The Lord hath made all things for himself.\" (Prov. xvi. 4;\nRom. xi. 36.) Now, if the Lamb has redeemed the whole human family, as\nsome affirm; then it will follow that all must be saved, or Christ died\nin vain, in reference to them that are lost: and besides, the \"Judge of\nall the earth\" would be chargeable with exercising distributive\ninjustice, in exacting double payment, first from the Surety, and then\nfrom the sinner! \"That be far from God.\" \"He is just and having\nsalvation,\"--\"a just God and a Saviour.\" (Zech. ix. 9; Isa. xlv. 21.) As\nthere can be no liberty without law, so there can be no mercy without\njustice, though there may be \"justice without mercy.\" (James i. 25; ii.\n13.) This worshipping company, the representatives of the universal\nchurch, ascribe their redemption to the blood of Christ. It is their\ndeclared faith that pardon is grounded on atonement, that \"without\nshedding of blood is no remission.\" (Heb. ix. 22; Lev. xvii. 11; ch. i.\n5.) They believe, moreover, that as the obedience of Christ unto death,\nhis doing and dying, is an adequate satisfaction to law and justice; so\nby compact between the Father and the Son, his penal sufferings avail\nthe believing sinner for pardon. Thus it is, that \"if we confess our\nsins, he (God the Father,) is faithful and _just_ to forgive us our\nsins.\" (1 John i. 9.) This doctrine the apostle, as the mouth of the\nwhole church, had already avowed: (ch. i. 5, 6;) and now again we have\nit repeated and incorporated in the song of praise. Thus, while \"Christ\ncrucified is to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks\nfoolishness;\" to them who are saved this humbling doctrine is \"the power\nof God and the wisdom of God.\" (1 Cor. i. 24, 25.) God's glory and the\nsaints' honor and felicity equally spring from the slaying of the Lamb.\nThese good things the blood of Abel's sacrifice spake in type soon after\nthe fall: and here we have the same things proclaimed as the faith of\nall believers. (Heb. xi. 1.)\n\nBy this blood they are consecrated a \"royal priesthood\" to offer up\nspiritual sacrifices; and there is a period in the world's eventful\nhistory, when they shall \"reign on the earth.\" Of the nature of this\n_reign_ there are two views entertained. That of the Millenarians, under\nthe supposed corporeal presence of Christ, which is _too gross,_ after\nthe manner of carnal Jews: the other _too refined_ and remote, after the\nmanner of carnal Christians, who \"will not have this man to reign over\nthem,\"--_except in the church._ Such Christians come very near the views\nand sentiment of those who exclaimed,--\"Not this man, but Barabbas.\"\n(John xviii. 40.) Of the nature of Christ's royal dominion we will have\noccasion to treat in other parts of the Apocalypse; but we take occasion\nto remark, that his kingly office is formally and meritoriously founded\non the efficacy of his sacrifice: \"Thou art worthy, for thou wast\nslain.\"--That the saints shall \"reign in glory\" in company with their\nSaviour is a precious scripture truth; but it is not the truth taught in\nthe words,--\"we shall reign _on the earth.\"_ This is not the place to\nenter on a full discussion of the doctrine here avowed; yet the\nfollowing may be adduced as part of the warrant of this doctrine. (Dan.\nvii. 27; Rev. xx. 4.)\n\n\n11. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the\nthrone, and the beasts, and the elders: and the number of them was ten\nthousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;\n\n12. Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to\nreceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and\nglory, and blessing.\n\nVs. 11, 12.--Here we have the concurrence of holy angels, as seen by\nJohn in vision, with all the redeemed in acts of solemn worship offered\ndirectly to the Lamb.--\"Many angels,\" how many? Some divines have\nactually attempted, by arithmetical rules, to compute the number! Such\nemployment may amuse, but it cannot edify. The definite here mentioned\nfor indefinite numbers, may be easily computed; (as in Dan. vii. 10; Ps.\nlxviii. 17;) but still we would labor in vain \"to find out the account;\"\nfor we are expressly told that they are \"innumerable.\" (Heb. xii. 22.)\nLike the ransomed children of Adam, they are \"a great multitude which no\nman can number.\" (ch. vii. 9.) Why then attempt that which the Holy\nSpirit has pronounced impossible? \"Vain man would be wise.\" It is of\nmuch more consequence for us to contemplate their position, relations\nand employments. Their _position_ is \"round about the throne,\" beholding\nthe \"Lamb as it had been slain.\" The law of their creation could not\nreveal to them this object of adoration. That they may know their duty\nto the Mediatorial Person as their moral Head, it is requisite that they\nbe directed by a new revelation. Accordingly, we find a \"new\ncommandment\" issued from God the Father expressly to them. (Ps. xcvii.\n7; Heb. i. 6.) \"Worship him, all ye gods;\" that is, \"Let all the angels\nof God worship him.\" By the development of the eternal counsels of God\nin his dealings with the church, these \"principalities and powers in\nheavenly places,\" discover with adoring wonder more and more of the\n\"manifold wisdom of God.\" They _stoop down_, as it were, \"to look into\nthis\" mysterious economy, (Eph. iii. 10, 11; 1 Pet. i. 12.) They are\nhumbly but intensely desirous to discover still more of \"the hidden\nwisdom which God ordained before the world unto the glory\" of their\nfellow worshippers. (1 Cor. ii. 7.) Such is their position.--They are\nrelated to the Lamb as his subjects by the Father's grant and command.\n\"He (Jesus) is gone into heaven ... angels ... being made subject unto\nhim.\" (1 Pet. iii. 22.) They are also related to the \"elder\" and\n\"animals,\" the members and ministers of the church. Said one of them to\nJohn,--\"I am thy fellow-servant.\" (ch. xix. 10.) Angels are not ashamed\nto call them \"fellow-servants,\" whom the Lord Jesus \"is not ashamed to\ncall his brethren.\" (Heb. ii. 11.) As the \"four animals\" are nearer the\nthrone than the \"elders,\" so are the \"elders\" nearer the throne than the\nangels. These are ranged, in John's view, in the outside segment of the\ncircle. All the redeemed, ministry and membership, are \"nearer of kin\"\nto the Lamb than angels are. \"He took not on him the nature of angels,\nbut he took on him the seed of Abraham.\" (Heb. ii. 16.) All believers\nare \"members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones.\" (Eph. v. 30.)\nHe has highly advanced human nature, by taking it into real and\nindissoluble union with his divine person. This is the special ground of\nnearness and intimacy between Christ and his brethren. And O, how ought\nwe to emulate holy angels in adoring this precious Redeemer! \"He loved\nthe church and gave himself for it,\" (Eph. v. 25,) and he loved and gave\nhimself for every member of the church. (Gal. ii. 20.)\n\nThe employments of this innumerable company of angels, besides\n\"ministering for them who shall be heirs of salvation,\" (Heb. i. 14;)\nconsist much in admiring contemplations of the glory of the \"Lamb slain,\nand in ascriptions of praise to him who is \"worthy to receive power,\"\netc. In this they cordially harmonize with the redeemed, whose\ndelightful exercise is \"to show forth the praises of him who hath called\nthem out of darkness into his marvellous light:\" (1 Pet. ii. 9:) and all\nthe honor, thus ascribed to the Mediator by both classes of worshippers,\nis intended to terminate ultimately on the person of God the Father.\n(Phil. ii. 9-11.) The Father \"hath committed all judgment unto the Son,\nthat all men,\" yes, and all angels, \"should honor the Son, even as they\nhonor the Father.\" (John v. 22, 23.)\n\n\n13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under\nthe earth, and such are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I\nsaying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that\nsitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever,\n\n14. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell\ndown and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.\n\nVs. 13,14.--In addition to angels and men, we have here enumerated\n\"every creature\" in the whole vast universe, co-operating in the worship\nof the two divine Persons as associated in concerting and executing the\nplan of redemption. Thus the \"host of heaven\" and all inferior creatures\naccording to their several capacities unite in ascribing \"blessing, and\nhonor, and glory, and power, unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and\nunto the Lamb for ever and ever.\" And we may say with Nehemiah,--They\nare both \"exalted above all blessing and praise.\" (Neh. ix. 5.) Fallen\nangels and reprobate men are excluded, from the nature of the case, and\nby the unalterable laws of the moral government of the Most High, from\nany participation in this service. (Ps. cx. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25; Luke\nxix. 27.)--Can any one who denies the supreme deity of the Lord Jesus,\nor who refuses to worship him, ever join the society of these\nworshippers? Or, supposing the possibility of their admission, could\nthey be otherwise than miserable? O the \"blasphemy of them who say they\nare Jews!\"--This is one of the sublime doxologies framed by the Holy\nSpirit, for the use of all creatures on special occasions, but not to be\nabused by \"vain repetitions\" as by Papists and Prelates. The like\nspecimens of the \"high praises of the Lord\" we have in Ps. lxix. 34.--As\nthe three ranks of worshippers here presented in vision to John,\nbeautifully harmonize in holy exercises, each in its appropriate sphere;\nso the \"animals and elders,\"--the rulers and ruled of the church, take\nprecedence of all others in acts of solemn worship, and also close the\nsolemn service, saying,--\"Amen.\"\n\nThe \"sealed book\" being delivered by the Father into the possession of\nthe Mediator, the whole creation awaits with confidence and joy the\ndevelopment of the counsels of God, as they may affect the destinies of\nhis redeemed people. The \"Lamb has prevailed to open the book,\" and his\nestablished character is sufficient guarantee for success in\naccomplishing the responsible work assigned him by his Father. This\nfeeling of confidence is expressed by the worshippers, not only by the\nmatter of their praise, but also by the closing word, \"amen;\" which word\nis expressive of their \"desires and assurance to be heard.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\n1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard, as it\nwere the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.\n\n2. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a\nbow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and\nto conquer.\n\nVs. 1, 2.--The apostle \"saw when the Lamb\" proceeded to disclose the\ncontents of the book by breaking the seals in regular succession. It is\nnot requisite to suppose that each of the seals covers an exactly equal\npart of the roll. These parts may be quite different in quantity or\nlength. It is obvious, however, that upon the breaking of any one seal,\nthat part of the roll which the seal was intended to cover, would be\ndisclosed to a spectator's view,--the whole of such part and no more. We\nshall find as we advance that the several parts of this book are in fact\nvery different in extent. When the seventh and last seal is opened, the\nwhole contents of the book must of course be disclosed: and it will\nappear that the last of the seals contained a much greater part of the\nroll than any of the others. To a superficial reader this may be\napparent from the circumstance that within the compass of this short\nchapter, six of the seals exhibit their contents.\n\nBy the most learned and sober divines the first six seals are considered\nas disclosing the events which transpired from the time of the apostle\nJohn till the overthrow of pagan idolatry in the Roman empire and the\naccession of Constantine.\n\nLet us consider the contents of these seals in order: Upon the opening\n\"of one of the seals,\" the first of course, \"one of the four animals\"\nwith a voice like \"thunder, said, Come and see.\" This was the animal\nlike a \"lion,\" emblematical of those bold and dauntless servants of\nChrist who took their life in their hand and \"went every where preaching\nthe word,\" (Acts viii. 4.) Many expositors, of secular notions and\naffinities, imagine that some one of the Roman emperors is to be\nunderstood as represented by him who rides on the white\nhorse,--Vespasian, Titus, or Trajan. To name such figments is enough to\nconfute them in the mind of such as have spiritual discernment. \"White\"\nis not the divinely chosen symbol of bloody warriors or persecutors. It\nis most frequently the emblem of purity, legal or moral. (Matt. xvii. 2;\nRev. iii. 4, 5.) \"White horse\" may represent the gospel, the Covenant of\nGrace or the church. In this \"chariot,\" (Song iii. 9,) or upon this\nhorse, as it were, Christ, \"the captain of salvation\" in apostolic\ntimes, \"went forth conquering, and to conquer.\" Much opposition from\nJews and Gentiles was raised against his gospel, especially upon his\nexaltation to his mediatorial throne: but the opening of this seal\ndiscloses the Father's purpose to bear out his Son in extending his\nrightful conquests. (Isa. xlii. 4.) \"The Lord gave the word; great was\nthe company of those that published it.\" (Ps. lxviii. 11.) The \"bow and\nthe crown\" as symbols, combine the military and regal character of\nChrist, indicating his victories and succeeding exaltation. He shall\nwound the heads over the large earth; therefore shall he lift up the\nhead. (Ps. cx. 6.) He is the \"Prince of peace,\" and the primary object\nof his mission by the Father is, to establish \"truth and meekness and\nrighteousness\" in the earth. Yet he is a \"Lamb,\" but a Lamb that makes\nwar; and \"in righteousness he doth judge and make war.\" (ch. xix. 11.)\nIn this last cited text we have an irrefragable proof of the correctness\nof our interpretation of the symbols under the first seal. The rider's\nname is, \"The Word of God,\" (v. 13.)\n\n\n3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say,\nCome and see.\n\n4. And there went out another horse that was red; and power was given to\nhim that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should\nkill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.\n\nV. 3,4.--The opening of the \"second seal\" furnishes occasion for the\n\"second animal\" to cry, \"Come and see.\" It is the customary business of\nfaithful ministers to invite the disciples of Christ to a contemplation\nof his providential procedure. \"Come, behold the works of the Lord.\"\n(Ps. xlvi. 8.) This is the call of the ministry represented by the\nsymbol of a \"calf or young ox.\" \"Patient continuance in well doing\" is\nthe special duty of Christ's servants in times of suffering. And such\nseems to be the import of the emblem, the \"red horse.\" By the horse,\nsingly considered, we are to understand a _dispensation_ of\n_providence_. So we are to view it as a symbol in Zech. i. 8; vi. 1-8.\nThe prophet said, \"O, my Lord, what are these?... And the man\nanswered,--These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro\nthrough the earth.\" We speak familiarly of a \"dispensation of the\ngospel,\"--the \"white horse.\" Our attention is now called to a \"red\nhorse,\"--_fiery_, as the word imports. The character of the dispensation\nis thus indicated as bloody. Wars should prevail so as to \"take peace\nfrom the earth.\" \"They should kill one another.\" The instrument of\nslaughter is seen,--\"a great sword.\" _Mutual_ slaughter does not seem to\nharmonize with the idea of persecution, by which the saints only \"are\nkilled all the day long.\" History records that insurrections, battles,\nmassacres and devastations of an extraordinary kind took place in the\nfirst half of the second century, by which more than half a million of\nthe Jews perished by the hand of the pagans; and a still greater number\non the opposite side were slain by the Jews. Thus the two parties who\nrivalled each other in opposing the gospel and the progress of Christ's\nkingdom, were made by him the instruments of their mutual destruction.\nFor he it is who directs the movements and course of providence, the\n\"red horse.\" \"Behold what desolations he hath made in the earth!\" \"In\nthis text,\" says an eminent expositor, \"earth signifies the Roman\nempire.\" ... \"Daniel, ... whose sealed prophecy is explained by the\nopening of the Apocalyptical seals, denominates the Roman empire, 'the\nfourth kingdom upon earth.'\" We humbly suggest, that this does not\nrender the Roman empire _synonymous_ with _earth_, any more than the\nChaldean, Persian, or Grecian. And indeed the monarchs of those empires\nput forth as extensive claims to universal empire as ever the Cesars\ndid. The word _earth_ is to be interpreted always by the context. Like\nthe term _world_, it may sometimes signify the Roman empire, as Luke ii.\n1. But in other cases even within the compass of the Apocalypse, it is\nnot to be so understood without manifest confusion, as in ch. xvi. 1, 2.\nThe contents of _all_ the vials are there said to be poured out upon the\nearth; but _earth_ is afterwards the special _object_ of the _first\nonly_. It follows that this term cannot be uniformly and safely in this\nbook interpreted as identical with and limited by the Roman empire. The\nimportance of accuracy here may become more apparent in our future\nprogress.\n\n\n5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say,\nCome and see. And I beheld, and, lo, a black horse; and he that sat on\nhim had a pair of balances in his hand.\n\n6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of\nwheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see\nthou hurt not the oil and the wine.\n\nVs. 4-6.--The third of the four \"animals\" calls attention to the\ndisclosures made by breaking the \"third seal.\" Hie \"had a face as a\nman,\" (ch. iv. 7,) indicating, as already said, active sympathy,\naffectionate counsel and seasonable exhortation in calamitous times.\nChristian ministers need \"the tongue of the learned to speak a word in\nseason to him that is weary,\" when the judgments of God are abroad in\nthe earth; for some of these press, most sensibly, on the poor. Such is\nthe character of the dispensation symbolized by the \"black horse.\"\nScarcity of bread is the judgment represented here by the combined\nsymbols. \"Our skin was black like an oven, because of the terrible\nfamine.\" (Lam. v. 10; Zech. vi. 2.)--The rider \"had a pair of balances\nin his hand.\" The word translated \"balances,\" literally rendered,\nsignifies a _yoke_,--_pair_,--_couple_.--In popular use, it came to\nsignify an instrument for weighing commodities, from the counterpoising\n(double) scales. This symbol indicated famine,--that people should \"eat\nbread by weight and with care;\" (Ezek. iv. 16;) and this is confirmed by\nthe \"voice in the midst of the four animals:\"--\"A measure of wheat for a\npenny,\" etc. The quantity of food, and the price, as here announced,\nwould seem to the English reader to express plenty and cheapness. But\nwhen it is understood that the \"measure of wheat\" was the ordinary\nallowance for a laboring man, and \"a penny\" the usual wages for _one\nday_; a little more than a _quart_, for about _fifteen cents_: it may be\nasked, How could the laboring man procure food and clothing for himself,\nhis wife and children? It is said that three times the quantity of\n\"barley\" could be had for the same money; but being a coarser and less\nnutritious grain, it would reach but little farther in sustaining a\nfamily. Famine usually falls heaviest on the middle and lower classes of\nsociety. Even in such times the \"rich fare sumptuously every day.\"\nAccordingly, \"the oil and the wine,\"--some of the staple productions of\nCanaan,--are exempted from the providential blight sent upon the\nnecessaries of life. (Gen. xliii. 11.)\n\nAccording to history, from the year 138, till near the end of the second\ncentury, a general scarcity of provisions was felt, notwithstanding all\nthe care and foresight of emperors and their ministers to anticipate the\nscourge. The Pharaohs on the throne had no Joseph to lay up in store in\nthe \"years of plenty.\" But when our New Testament Joseph would thus\nfight against the persecutors of his saints by the judgment of famine;\nhe gave previous intimation here to his disciples of the approaching\ncalamity, as his manner is to his own. (Luke xxi. 20-22.)\n\n\n7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the\nfourth beast say, Come and see.\n\n8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him\nwas death, and hell followed with him: and power was given unto them\nover the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger,\nand with death, and with the beasts of the earth.\n\nVs. 7, 8.--\"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to\nthe house of feasting,\" according to the judgment of the wisest of mere\nmen; (Eccl. vii. 2,) and so we are invited here by a spiritually-minded\nministry,--\"like a flying eagle.\" A scene of lamentation, mourning and\nwoe, is disclosed at the opening of the \"fourth seal.\"--All the symbols\nbetoken augmented severity in the judgments. There is \"pestilence\" added\nto the sword and famine. \"The pale horse,\" or _livid green_, is the\nemblem of pestilence. The Mediator conducts the destroying angel to\nfulfil the will of God. \"Before Him went the pestilence;\" and by a\ncombination of awful symbols, the king of terrors,--\"death,\" is\nrepresented as slaying his victims, and \"hell followed with him,\"\nsatiated with his prey. \"Sword, hunger, death and beasts of the earth,\"\nwere commissioned to lay waste the fourth part of the then known world.\n\nIf we are to interpret the \"beasts of the earth\" literally, then we may\neasily perceive how the depopulation produced by the other calamities\nwould make way for their increase and destructive ravages. But if we\nunderstand these \"beasts\" as symbolizing the persecuting powers; then\nadding these to all the other destructive agencies,--especially to the\n\"pale horse,\" the chief symbol in the group; we may readily perceive the\nforce of the combined emblems, a concentrating, as it were, of all\ndestroying agencies. Historians inform us, that \"a pestilence arising\nfrom Ethiopia, went through all the provinces of Rome, and wasted them\nfor fifteen years.\" This, added to the sword of war and persecution,\nwhich lasted sixty years, according to some interpreters, or from 211 to\n270, would seem to exhaust the events symbolized by the series of the\nseals, except the seventh, so far at least as the sufferings of the\nchurch are concerned. For under the fifth and sixth seals, as will\nappear, nothing of a calamitous nature befalls the righteous.\n\n\n9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the\nsouls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony\nwhich they held:\n\n10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and\ntrue, dost them not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the\nearth?\n\n11. And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said\nunto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their\nfellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they\nwere, should be fulfilled.\n\nVs. 9-11.--At the opening of the fifth seal, none of the \"four animals\"\ncalls attention to its contents. This fact may indicate that no new\ndevelopment of providence is intended, but rather the effects of the\npreceding three, produced upon the church and saints of God; as the\nsixth discloses the penalty inflicted on his and their enemies.\n\nJohn saw the \"souls of them that were slain.\"--Souls are visible only in\nvision, (ch. xx. 4.) These souls were not slain, but they were the souls\nof them, the persons, that were slain. (Matt. x. 28.) The enemy could\nkill the body only, an essential part of the human person, although the\nchief aim was to kill the soul. The ground of their suffering was the\nsame, as that of John, (ch. i. 9.) And from the first of this honoured\nclass,--Abel, mentioned in the Bible, to the last,--Antipas; the cause\nis the same, and the distinguished name is the same. They are \"martyrs\nfor the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.\" And however\ntenaciously a person may hold other principles, even though he should\ndie for them, he is not a martyr. The aphorism is true,--It is not\nsuffering for religion, but \"the _cause_ that makes the\nmartyr,\"--suffering unto death from love to \"the truth as it is in\nJesus.\"\n\nThese souls were \"under the altar,\" in allusion still to the outward\nmeans of grace under the Old Testament economy. It is not very material,\nperhaps, whether we understand the altar for sacrifice or that for\nincense, the comfortable doctrines, often taught in the Scriptures, are\nhere illustrated. _First_, That the redemption of the sinner is by the\natoning sacrifice of Christ. _Second_, That after death,--especially by\nmartyrdom, the soul is safe \"under the altar,\"--in fellowship with the\nSaviour. _Third_, That the soul, \"made perfect in holiness,\" retains a\ndeep conviction, that \"vengeance belongs to God,\" (ch. xviii. 20; xix.\n1-3.) _Fourth_, That \"the spirits of just men made perfect,\" both desire\nand need instruction relative to the future evolution of the divine\npurposes. Adoring the infinite perfections of God, acknowledging his\nholiness and acquiescing in his faithfulness; they cannot but desire a\nfarther display of his vindictive and distributive justice, as\nindispensable to the manifestation of the divine glory, the vindication\nof the claims of the divine government, the asserting of their injured\nrights, and the completing of their eternal felicity. Accordingly, we\nfind their earnest plea admitted. \"It was said unto them, that they\nshould rest.\"--Their repose can never be disturbed. The \"white robes\" in\nwhich they are arrayed, are not spun out of their own bowels, like the\nspider's web, either by their services or sufferings; but they are the\nwell known emblems of the imputed righteousness of their Redeemer,--fine\nlinen clean and white, the only righteousness of saints, (ch. xix. 8).\nPersecution did not terminate under the preceding seals. Others, their\n\"fellow-servants and brethren, should be killed as they were.\" The\nhonorable roll of martyrs was not yet completed. The \"little season\" is\na very indefinite period in our mode of computation. But \"with the Lord,\none day is as a thousand years,\"--(2 Pet. iii. 8.) This \"season\" seems\nto comprehend the whole period of persecution. Now, as we shall see, the\nRoman empire, whether pagan or Christian, is still a ravenous\nbeast,--\"devouring Jacob.\"\n\nThe policy of Rome pagan was to dictate the state religion. The idol\ngods of the conquered provinces were generally adopted and enrolled\namong those of the Pantheon. There was a niche for any and every god but\n\"Jacob's God.\" As he would permit no rival, (Exod. xx. 2, 23; Is. xlii.\n8;) so the populace \"would have none of Him,\" (Acts xvi. 19-21.) Such we\nwill find to be the policy of Rome Christian. There is no \"communion\nbetween light and darkness.\"\n\n\n12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a\ngreat earthquake: and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the\nmoon became as blood;\n\n13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree\ncasteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind:\n\n14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and\nevery mountain and island were moved out of their places;\n\n15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and\nthe chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every\nfree-man, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains:\n\n16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from\nthe face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the\nLamb:\n\n17. For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to\nstand?\n\nVs. 12-17.--The sixth seal is opened, like the rest, by the hand of the\nMediator, and here \"his right hand teacheth terrible things.\" \"By\nterrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our\nsalvation.\" (Ps. lxv. 5.) The awful scene disclosed would seem to be a\nbeginning of answer to the importunate cry of the \"souls under the\naltar,\" as in the foregoing vision.\n\nMany expositors since the time of Cyprian in the third century, have\nunderstood this seal as disclosing the scene of the last judgment. No\ndoubt the symbols here employed are suited to that event; but the series\nof seals, trumpets and vials, not to speak of events still more remote,\nwholly precludes such an interpretation. All the symbols under the sixth\nseal betoken revolution. Such is their established and well known import\nin other parts of Scripture.\n\nThe \"earthquake\" is more than a shaking of the earth. It is a\n_concussion_ of the heavens also. As Haggai is interpreted by Paul, we\nlearn the civil and ecclesiastical change of the Jewish polity by the\n\"shaking of the heavens and the earth.\" (Hag. ii. 6; Heb. xii. 26, 27.)\nThe day of final judgment is so often referred to as certain, that no\nspecial prediction was needed to assure us of that event. Indeed, the\ndescription of the day of judgment is commonly employed by the prophets\nto represent revolutions among the nations. So it is in reference to the\noverthrow of Babylon, (Is. xiii. 13.)--of Egypt, (Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8,) of\nJerusalem, (Matt. xxiv. 7, 29.) The \"sun, moon and stars\" are emblems of\ncivil officers, supreme and subordinate, as well as of military\ncommanders. Their consternation and despair, now that they are cast down\nfrom their exalted position, as heavenly luminaries darkened and hurled\nfrom their orbits, betray their apprehension of deserved and inevitable\nwrath. Indeed we may view the last three verses of this chapter, as\nexegetical or explanatory of the preceding three. The whole frame of\nimperial power underwent a change which is commonly called a revolution.\nAnd the grandeur of the complex symbols, borrowed from the closing scene\nof time, was never more appropriately employed by the Spirit of\nprophecy, than in the present instance, to portray the total overthrow\nof pagan power, idolatry and tyranny. The most conspicuous instrument in\nthe Mediator's hand by which this great revolution was effected, is well\nknown in history as \"Constantine the Great.\" The great lights of the\nheathen world, the powers civil and ecclesiastical, were not eclipsed,\nbut extinguished, heathen priests and augurs were extirpated and\nidolatrous temples were closed. Christianity was professed by the\nemperor himself, and his authority exerted for its recognition and\ndiffusion throughout his dominions. Thus did the God of Israel \"avenge\nhis own elect, who cried to him night and day from under the altar;\" and\nthus did he afford unto them a \"season of rest.\"\n\nConstantine, however, was more of a politician than divine. To the\nstudent of history he will appear in many respects a striking prototype\nof William Prince of Orange, who on a less extended scale answers as an\nantitype in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Neither of them\nexemplified in their lives the \"power of godliness\". Like Charles the\nSecond, they did not consider primitive apostolic Christianity \"a\nreligion for a gentleman.\" Constantine combined in his character the\nproperties of the lion and the fox. He was crafty and ambitious.\nUsurping the prerogatives of Zion's King, he assumed a blasphemous\nsupremacy over the church, and proceeded to model her external polity\nafter the example of the empire. Among the Christian ministry, he found\nmercenary spirits who pandered to his ambition,--\"having his person in\nadmiration because of advantage.\" Advancing these to positions of\nopulence and splendor, he could certainly rely upon them to support him\nin his schemes of aggrandizement. Thus the mystery of iniquity, whose\nworking Paul discovered in his time, was nurtured to its full\ndevelopment in Heaven's appointed time. (2 Thess. ii. 7, etc.) If on\nsuch occasions mighty kings and valiant generals are stricken with\ndismay, what shall be the terror of all the impenitent enemies of the\nLord and his Anointed when the heavens and the earth shall pass away and\nleave them without these imaginary hiding places from \"the wrath of the\nLamb!\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nThe scenes portrayed by varied symbols in this chapter, are by some\nconsidered as a continuation of the sixth seal. We think they may with\nmore propriety be viewed as relating to the events under the four which\nprecede; while they are obviously preparatory to the opening of the last\nseal in the next chapter.\n\n\n1. And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners\nof the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should\nnot blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.\n\nV. 1. The \"four angels\" represent the instruments of providence. The\n\"four corners of the earth\" intend all nations of the world, as then\nknown in geography. (Ch. xx. 8, 9.) The \"holding of the winds\" is\nemblematical of the tranquillity consequent upon the accession of\nConstantine to the imperial throne,--the temporary cessation of\ndesolating wars and persecutions,--the \"rest\" for which the martyrs\nprayed. \"Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee.\" (Ps. lxxxi.\n7.)\n\n\n2. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of\nthe living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to\nwhom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea.\n\n3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we\nhave sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.\n\nVs. 2, 3.--\"Another angel ... having the seal of the living God,\" can be\nnone other but the Lord Christ. His people are \"sealed unto the day of\nredemption with that Holy Spirit of promise,\" or promised Holy Spirit.\n(2 Cor. i. 22; Eph. i. 13). He came from the east. There the Son of\nrighteousness arose upon a dark world, and his beams enlightened the\nkingdoms of Europe, in which multitudes were effectually called during\nthis tranquil period, (ch. xiv. 1). This angel, as having sovereign\nauthority over \"earth and sea,\" and from whom the \"four angels\" had\ntheir commission, now commands them not to \"hurt the earth and the sea,\"\ntill He and the ministers,--the instruments of his grace,--had \"sealed\nthe servants of God.\" This \"sealing,\" while symbolizing baptism,\nsignifies especially the saving work of the eternal Spirit, by which its\nsubjects are to be, and actually are, preserved from apostacy in future\nand trying times. We shall meet with them again, (ch. xiv. 1.)\n\nThe favour shown by Constantine to Christian ministers and converts,\ninduced multitudes to make a profession of Christianity, and of course\nfilled the church with hypocrites. The flattery of those in power has\noften proved as detrimental to the church's spiritual prosperity as\ntheir frowns. (Dan. xi. 32.) Still, the special design of this sealing\nseems to be the preservation of a chosen remnant,--the witnesses, during\nthe period of the trumpets, when Antichrist should be fully organized.\n\n\n4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were\nsealed a hundred and forty and four thousand, of all the tribes of the\nchildren of Israel.\n\n5. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of\nReuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed\ntwelve thousand.\n\n6. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of\nNephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were\nsealed twelve thousand.\n\n7. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of\nLevi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed\ntwelve thousand.\n\n8. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of\nJoseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed\ntwelve thousand.\n\nVs. 4-8.--The number sealed was \"a hundred forty and four thousand;\" of\n\"each tribe twelve thousand.\" These numbers are not to be taken\nliterally, but comparatively, as contradistinguished from another\ncompany, (v. 9.) Neither do we suppose, with many expositors, that Jews\nby nation are here exclusively intended. At the time referred to, in the\nfifth century, the \"middle wall of partition\" had been long removed.\n(Eph. ii. 14.) Jews and Gentiles were \"all one in Christ Jesus.\" (Gal.\niii. 28.) There is no ground to suppose that exactly the same number\nwould be sealed of every tribe. Besides, all the original tribes are not\nnamed. Dan is not among them, and Judah is first in order in Reuben's\nplace. The gates of the heavenly Jerusalem are inscribed with the names\nof the twelve tribes of Israel, (ch. xxii. 12.) In a word, this sealed\ncompany is composed of Jews and Gentiles, representing the whole number\nof true believers, who were enabled by grace to hold fast their\nprofession in trying times, and who experienced more special protection\nin perilous times. (Ezek. ix. 4-6.)\n\n\n9. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could\nnumber, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood\nbefore the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and\npalms in their hands;\n\n10. And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which\nsitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.\n\n11. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the\nelders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces,\nand worshipped God,\n\n12. Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and\nhonour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.\n\nVs. 9-12.--The \"great multitude, which no man could number,\" are\nevidently distinguished from the number sealed. They are collected from\nall the nations known at that time. They \"stood before the throne and\nbefore the Lamb,\" as accepted worshippers; ascribing \"salvation,\" not to\ntheir own merit, but to the free grace of God the Father, and the\noblation and intercession of the Lamb. They are now in a triumphant\nstate, as indicated by the \"palms in their hands,\" the usual emblems of\nvictory. \"White robes\" bespeak their justification. \"All the angels\" in\nheaven, signify their hearty assent to the praises of the redeemed by\nsaying, \"Amen.\" Then in an attitude of profoundest reverence, they\ncelebrate the praises of God in strains proper, though not peculiar to\nthemselves. As in ch. v. 11, the angels in this place are disposed and\narranged in the outer circle of all the intelligent worshippers.\nRedeemed sinners stand nearest to the throne, in virtue of their union\nto Christ, while holy angels, without envy, contemplate, with rapturous\nemotions, the displays of the \"manifold wisdom of God\" in his dealings\nwith the church. (Eph. iii. 10.) Thus we may learn to do the will of God\non earth, as it is done by the angels in heaven.\n\n\n13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which\nare arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?\n\n14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are\nthey which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes,\nand made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\n\n15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and\nnight in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among\nthem.\n\n16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall\nthe sun light on them, nor any heat.\n\n17. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them,\nand shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe\naway all tears from their eyes.\n\nVs. 13-17.--\"One of the elders\" asks John,--not for information, but to\nengage his attention,--\"What are these, ... and whence came they?\"\nMinisters may often receive instruction from the members of the church.\nThis elder answers his own questions as the angel did to the prophet,\n(Zech. iv. 5, 6.) These are the \"great multitude,\"--probably the same\nwhose \"souls\" John saw at the opening of the fifth seal, but now\nappearing in a new aspect: for it is evident that they had been engaged\nin war. This appears by the \"palms\" of victory. They had been in \"great\ntribulation\" prior to the peaceful reign of Constantine, by Satan's\ntemptations, the spoiling of their goods, imprisonment of their persons,\nand the sacrifice of their lives,--\"not loving their lives unto the\ndeath.\" All these tribulations, however, could not separate them from\nthe love of God. (Rom. viii. 37-39.) They had \"washed their robes,\"--not\nin penitential tears, their own martyr-blood, their doing or suffering\nin the cause of Christ; but their robes were \"made white in the blood of\nthe Lamb,\" who was \"made of God unto them ... justification and\nsanctification.\" (1 Cor. i. 30.) Could the human mind conceive the idea\nof rendering linen garments _white_ by washing them in _blood_? Never,\nunless as suggested by the doctrine of Christ crucified, whose \"blood\ncleanseth from all sin.\" (1 John i. 7.) \"Therefore are they before the\nthrone of God,--without fault before his throne,\" (ch. xiv. 5.)\nDelivered from the tempestuous storms of war, and the scorching heat of\npersecution; they are safe in the haven of eternal rest.\n\nNot only are they for ever freed from the sensation of \"hunger or\nthirst;\" but they shall drink of the \"living fountains of waters,\nproceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb,\" (ch. xxii. 1). \"In\nthy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures\nfor evermore.\" (Ps. xvi. 11.) While this company, brought out of great\ntribulation, to which they had been subjected in the centuries before\nthe time of Constantine, are represented as in possession of eternal\nblessedness, the other company of the \"sealed\" ones, are by this mark\nfurnished with the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, to enter the\nlists with the Dragon in a much more trying and prolonged contest. The\nlatter company, although _preceding_ the other, in the order of symbolic\nrevelation; do really in the order of time, succeed them in continuation\nof the struggle with the powers of darkness. And here we make the\ngeneral remark, That nearly throughout the Apocalypse the two parties\nwhom we may call the powers of darkness and the children of light, often\nchange their relative positions, and assume different aspects. And in\nthis, there is nothing new, as appears, 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15; vi. 8, 9.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nHitherto our observations have been brief, because interpreters are very\ngenerally agreed in their views of the first series, the seals, in this\ninteresting book of prophecy. The first six seals, covering the time of\nheathen Rome's opposition to Christianity, and before the Devil\nsucceeded in enlisting the nominal church of Christ in his interest, do\nnot therefore furnish occasion for much controversy among expositors.\nBesides, the seventh seal covers much more time than all the others. The\nfirst six refer to pagan Rome, and constitute the first period, properly\nstyled the PERIOD OF THE SEALS. The seventh seal, introducing the\ntrumpets, is the second period, called the PERIOD OF THE TRUMPETS. In\nattempting to unfold their mystical import, greater amplification will\nbe indispensable.\n\n\n1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven\nabout the space of half an hour.\n\nV. 1.--\"Heaven\" is the ordinary symbol of organized society, whether\ncivil or ecclesiastical or both. \"Silence in heaven for half an hour,\"\nindicates public tranquillity, together with anxious and mute\nexpectation of coming and alarming events. \"Half an hour,\" a definite\nfor an indefinite duration, as usual, imports that the repose hitherto\nenjoyed, shall shortly terminate. The respite which the saints enjoyed\nduring the period succeeding the revolution indicated by the opening of\nthe sixth seal, soon came to an end.\n\n\n2. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were\ngiven seven trumpets.\n\n3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden\ncenser; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer\nit with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before\nthe throne.\n\n4. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the\nsaints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.\n\nVs. 2-4.--\"Seven angels\" appear to John as ministers \"standing before\nGod,\" ready to execute his commands. To them were given \"seven\ntrumpets.\" Here, as all along hitherto, there is allusion to the former\ndispensation. Under the Old Testament, trumpets were constructed by\ndivine direction and to be used for diverse purposes. Of the manifold\nuses of this instrument, that which is here chiefly intended is, to\n\"sound an alarm.\" (Joel ii. 1; 1 Cor. xiv. 8). Whilst all is suspense,\nand before the silence is broken by the sounding of the first trumpet,\nthe worship of God is exemplified after the usual manner. An angel, by\nhis official place and work easily distinguished from those having the\ntrumpets, holds in his hand a \"golden censer\" that with \"much incense\"\nhe might render acceptable \"the prayers of all saints.\" As the angel who\nhad the \"seal of the living God,\" is distinguished from those that \"held\nthe winds,\" (ch. vii. 1;) so is he here, from those that had the\ntrumpets. Here he appears as the Great High Priest over the house of\nGod; and as \"the whole multitude of the people were praying without, at\nthe time of incense;\" (Luke i. 10;) so the service of God is thus\nemblematically represented as conducted according to divine appointment.\nThis Angel therefore is Christ himself. \"No man cometh unto the Father\nbut by him.\" He is the only Advocate with the Father; and through him\n\"we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.\" (Eph. ii. 18.)\n\nMay we not inquire, without presumption, a little into the nature or\npurport of the \"prayers of all saints\" at this time of ominous silence?\nAnd what could so likely be the burden of their petitions as that of the\ncry of the souls under the altar, namely, the destruction of the Roman\nempire? Surely this has been the prayer of God's persecuted servants in\nall ages:--\"Pour out thy fury upon the heathen,\" etc. (Jer. x. 25; Ps.\nlxxix. 6). However inconsistent with Christian charity superficial\nChristians may deem the law of retaliation; we shall find it often urged\non our attention as exemplified in this book. It is absolutely essential\nto the divine government.\n\n\n5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar,\nand cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings and\nlightnings and an earthquake.\n\nV. 5--The Lord Jesus, in carrying out the designs of the divine mind,\nand executing the commission which he received from the Father as\nMediator, appears in various characters. Whilst as a priest he\nintercedes for his people, and by the incense from the golden censer\nrenders their prayers acceptable before God; as a king he answers their\nprayers by terrible things in righteousness. (Ps. lxv. 5). This work of\nvengeance is vividly signified by scattering coals of fire on the earth.\n\nFrom the very same altar, whence the glorious Angel of the Covenant had\nreceived fire to consume the incense, he next takes coals, the symbol of\nhis wrath, and scatters them into the earth. These \"burning coals of\njuniper\" produce \"voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an\nearthquake.\" \"O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places.\" (Ps.\nlxviii. 35; lxxvi. 12). \"The Lord our God is a jealous God.\" Our\nmerciful Saviour once put a strange and startling question to his\ndisciples:--\"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell\nyou, Nay.\"--For ends worthy of himself, the only wise God has\nunchangeably decreed that \"offences must needs come,\" (Matt, xviii. 7;)\nand \"there must be also heresies\" among professing Christians. (1 Cor.\nxi. 19.). However, in the administration of providence, judgment without\nmercy awaits every nation to which the gospel is sent in vain. The\nvoices, thunderings, etc., consequent upon the scattering of the coals,\nportended the calamities which would be inflicted upon men for their\nopposition to the gospel and cruel treatment of the saints, in answer to\ntheir prayers through the intercession of Christ.\n\n\n6. And the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared\nthemselves to sound.\n\nV. 6.--The \"seven angels now prepare themselves to sound.\" The first\nalarm, of course, will put an end to the \"silence.\" It should be noted\nthat while each seal, when broken, disclosed so much of the roll of the\nbook as was concealed by it; the seventh leaves no part unrevealed. The\nwhole contents are laid open. It is otherwise with the trumpets. The\nreverberations of one may not have ceased when the next begins to sound.\nThus, several may be partly cotemporary. Again, it may be questioned\nwhether mankind are to be considered in civil or ecclesiastical\norganization as the formal object of the judgments indicated by the\ntrumpets. Some expositors view the one, and some the other, as the\nobject, and the contention has been sharp among them. We humbly suggest\nthat neither is the formal object without the other, simply because the\n_same individuals_ constitute the complex _moral person_. The\ncorrectness of this view is largely illustrated and abundantly confirmed\nin the subsequent part of the Apocalypse. Provinces, nations, empires,\nare no farther worthy of notice in prophecy than as they affect the\ndestiny of the church and illustrate the immutable principles of the\nmoral government of God. He is known by the judgments which he\nexecuteth, and nations must be taught that \"the heavens do rule.\" (Dan.\niv. 26.) Although the church and the state are, by divine institution,\ndistinct, not united; they are nevertheless co-ordinate, and always\nexert a reciprocal influence for good or for evil. It has been the\npolicy of Satan to confound this distinction; and alas! with too much\nsuccess in the apprehension of many. There are not wanting divines who\nboldly assert, that even among the Jews, under the Old Testament,--\"the\nchurch was the state, and the state was the church!\" We may have\noccasion to notice hereafter, that this gross error and antichristian\ndogma, is yet entertained in relation to divinely organized society\nunder the present New Testament economy!\n\nThe \"voices, thunderings and earthquakes\" resulting from the scattering\nof the coals,--are the harbingers and precursors of coming calamities\nupon Christendom at the sounding of the trumpets. And these may be\nemblematical of the contentions, strife and divisions which accompanied\nthe rise and prevalence of the heresy of Arius and the apostacy of the\nemperor Julian, during the time of comparative public tranquillity from\nConstantine to Theodosius. The church and the state, as one complex\nsystem, we have considered as the object of the judgments to be\ninflicted under the trumpets. These had, in fact, become incorporated,\nif not identified, under the reign of Constantine and his imperial\nsuccessors. But assuming the correctness of the phraseology of secular\nhistorians and Christian expositors, when in a _popular sense_ they\nspeak of the Roman empire as the object of penal inflictions; we by no\nmeans agree with the latter class of writers, when they _limit_ the\nempire to the geographical boundaries as it existed at the time of this\nprediction. This mistake, if not detected here, will materially affect\nand control our views of the whole subsequent part of the Apocalypse.\nWho would not discover the impropriety and absurdity of treating of\nevents now transpiring within the empire of the United States, as if\nfalling out within the limits of the original thirteen as they existed\nin 1776? But the Roman empire yet exists, and we have sufficient\nevidence that it will continue till the time of the sounding of the\nseventh trumpet, (ch. xi. 15.) _Political bias_ has prevailed with one\nclass of expositors to exempt the British empire from the stroke of\nGod's wrath, symbolized by both the trumpets and vials. Others, from\nsimilar predilections, would exempt the United States and British\nProvinces from these plagues. Whilst a third class, giving fall scope to\nthe hallucinations of mere imagination, aver their conviction that\nrepublican America is the special and doomed object of all these\nplagues!--Hence, the necessity of caution, sobriety, reverence for\ndivine authority, reliance on the teaching of the Holy Spirit, whom the\nSaviour has promised to his humble disciples to \"guide them into all\ntruth, and to show them things to come.\" (John xvi. 13.) That the\nstudent of prophecy,--especially of the Apocalypse, may realize the\nfulfilment of this promise, it is indispensably necessary that he be\nabsolutely untrammeled by all antichristian politics. Such cases are\nvery rare, (ch. xiii. 3.)\n\nDuring the reign of Constantine, that monarch had transferred the\ncapital of the empire from the \"city of seven hills\" to another locality\nand founded another metropolis, which as the future seat of imperial\nrule, and to immortalize himself, he called after his own name,\nConstantinople. This ambitious enterprise itself virtually divided the\nempire, preparing the way for its total dismemberment by the trumpets.\nAnd now the \"seven angels prepared themselves to sound,\" for all things\nare ready. The interceding Angel at the \"golden altar\" has prevailed to\nobtain a period of tranquillity whilst preparatory steps are in progress\ntowards the next series of events; but that time shall be no longer, or\nrespite from impending judgments, is significantly intimated by the\nsymbolical Angel casting his \"golden censer\" from his hand, and hurling\nit into the earth. Then without farther delay,\n\n\n7. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled\nwith blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of\ntrees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.\n\nV. 7.--\"The first angel sounded.\" The object of this judgment is the\n_earth_, the population of the empire in general. The judgment itself\nis, \"hail and fire mingled with blood,\"--desolating wars, like\nsuccessive storms of hail mingled with lightning, \"hailstones and coals\nof fire.\" (Ps. xviii. 12.) The effect is, a consumption of a third part\nof the \"trees and grass,\" people in high and low degrees. Green trees\nand grass are the ornaments and products, of a land: and when the earth\nis an emblem of nations and dominions, trees and grass may represent\npersons of higher and lower rank.\n\nThe careful student of the Apocalypse will discover a striking analogy\nbetween the effects of the trumpets and vials as the latter are\npresented in the sixteenth chapter. This first trumpet therefore\nproduces an effect upon the social order of Christendom, which will\ncontinue till the pouring out of the first vial. As the Roman empire in\nits twofold division is the general object of all the trumpets; so the\nfirst four are directed towards the western, and the next two against\nthe eastern member.\n\nThe infidel historian Gibbon has unwittingly recorded the fulfilment of\nthese predictions, as Josephus has done those of our Lord respecting the\ndestruction of Jerusalem. Unconscious that he was bearing testimony to\nthe truth of prophecy, Gibbon used with his classic pen the very\nallegorical language of the inspired apostle. Respecting the incursion\nof the barbarous Goths, as led by Alaric their chief into the fertile\nplains of southern Europe, he describes their alarming descent as a\n_\"dark cloud_, which having collected along the coasts of the Baltic,\nburst in _thunder_ upon the banks of the upper Danube.\" He who directed\nBalaam and Caiaphas to utter predictions, doubtless could direct\nJosephus and Gibbon to attest the truth of prophecy; and this may be one\nof the many ways in which \"he makes the wrath of man to praise\nhim.\"--The Goths, the Scythians and Huns, first under Alaric and\nafterwards under Attila, those savage warriors from the northern\nregions, invaded the provinces of the Roman empire in both sections,\ncarrying all before them like an irresistible tornado,--with fire and\nsword utterly destroying cities, temples, princes, priests, old and\nyoung, male and female,--thus \"burning up trees, and green grass.\"\n\n\n8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning\nwith fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became\nblood:\n\n9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had\nlife, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.\n\nVs. 8, 9.--\"The second angel sounded.\" The object of this judgment, is\nthe _sea_. As a great collection of waters, this symbol is explained,\n(ch. xvii. 15.) \"Peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues,\"\nindicate the population in an agitated and disorganized or revolutionary\ncondition. The judgment is a \"burning mountain,\" a tremendous\nobject,--consuming and being itself consumed. The mountain is a symbol\nof earthly power civil or military, and sometimes ecclesiastical.--\"Who\nart thou, O great mountain?\" (Zech. iv. 7.) The Almighty says to the\nking of Babylon,--\"Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain ...\nI will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt\nmountain.\" (Jer. li. 25; Ps. xlviii. 2.)\n\nThe consequence of this judgment is, the third part of the sea became\nblood, the fish perished, and the shipping was destroyed. Similar\nlanguage, illustrating these figurative expressions, had been used by\nthe prophets to represent divine judgments denounced against Egyptian\npower. (Ezek. xxix. 3, etc.) In the eighth verse is contained the\nexplanation of the symbolic language,--\"Behold I will bring a sword upon\nthee, and cut off man and beast from thee.\"\n\nHistory verifies this part of the Apocalyptic prediction. Only two years\nafter the death of that northern \"scourge of God,\" Attila, who boasted\nthat \"the grass never grew where his horse had trod;\" Genseric set sail\nfrom the burning shores of Africa; and, like a burning mountain launched\ninto the sea, accompanied by a vast army of barbarous Vandals, suddenly\nlanded his fleet at the mouth of the river Tiber. Disregarding the\ndistinctions of rank, age or sex, these licentious and brutal plunderers\nsubjected their helpless victims to every species of indignity and\ncruelty. Hence the hostility to arts and science, the tokens of refined\ncivilization,--indiscriminate devastation of life and property\nperpetrated by the savage warriors, has given rise to the word\n\"Vandalism.\"\n\n\n10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from\nheaven, burning as it were a Lamp, and it fell upon the third part of\nthe rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;\n\n11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of\nthe waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because\nthey were made bitter.\n\nVs. 10, 11.--The object of the third trumpet is the waters as\nbefore,--the population of the empire, but not in collective form as a\n_sea_; rather in a state of separation or disconnected, as \"rivers and\nfountains.\" Some apply this symbol of a \"falling star\" to Genseric, but\nthis is incongruous. On the contrary, he was a victorious prince,--a\n_rising_ star. It is more consonant to the truth of history and the\nchronological series of prophecy, to apply this symbol to the downfall\nof Momyllus the last of the Roman emperors, who was deposed by Odoacer\nking of the Heruli, called in derision Augustulus,--the diminutive\nAugustus. Doubtless the allusion here is to the king of Babylon:--\"How\nart thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, (day-star,) son of the morning!\nHow art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!\"\n(Isa. xiv. 12.) A star may indeed signify either a civil or\necclesiastical officer, but the scope and context determine all these\njudgments to the enemies of the church, and those of her illustrious\nHead. It is the \"vengeance of his temple.\" We have already found a star\nthe emblem of a gospel minister, and we shall hereafter find it employed\nin that sense; but it does not seem to refer in the present connexion to\nany apostate. The name of this star,--\"Wormwood,\" embittering the\nwaters, is a lively emblem of the miseries experienced by the people, in\nthe use of the remaining temporal comforts which the preceding\ncalamities had left.\n\n\n12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was\nsmitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the\nstars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not\nfor a third part of it, and the night likewise.\n\nV. 12.--The design of all the trumpets is to point out the utter\ndestruction of the Roman empire,--Daniel's \"kingdom of iron.\" (Dan. ii.\n40.) For although from the time of Constantine it assumed the Christian\nname, it nevertheless continued to be a beast. Of this we shall have\ncumulative evidence as we progress. The first trumpet began to demolish\nthe fabric of antichristian power; and by the fourth the western\ndivision was overthrown. For although the northern barbarians under the\nfirst, the southern Vandals under the second, and the successors of\nboth, prevailed to bring down the last of the Caesars, yet the ancient\nframe of government still subsisted. The political heaven, though\nshaken, was not yet wholly removed, while the Senate, Consuls and other\nofficial dignitaries continued to shine as political luminaries in the\nfirmament of power. But as the last of the Caesars fell from power in\nthe year 476, so the last vestige of imperial dominion in the west was\nremoved in 566, when Rome, the queen of the nations, was by the emperor\nof the east reduced to the humble condition of a tributary dukedom. Most\nof the saints had their residence at this time in the nations of western\nEurope and northern Africa, where they were grievously afflicted by the\nArian, Pelagian and other heresies; as also exposed to persecution by\nthe civil powers, whom those heresiarchs moved to oppress the orthodox:\nconsequently, the righteous judgments of God fall first upon that member\nof the empire. The eastern section, however, is destined to become the\nspecial object of the judgments indicated by the succeeding trumpets.\nHowever interpreters differ in details when explaining the effects\nproduced by the sounding of the first four trumpets, they very generally\nharmonize in the application of them to the western section of the Roman\nempire. The luminaries of heaven are darkened, or fall, or are\nextinguished, while the earth, the sea and the rivers are\ncorrespondently affected. Now, these are the well known allegorical\nrepresentations of divine judicial visitations of guilty communities, as\nwe find in the prophetic writings. See, for example, the case of\nBabylon, \"the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency\" (Isa. xiii. 1, 10;)\nalso Egypt,--(Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8.)\n\n\n13. And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven,\nsaying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the\nearth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,\nwhich are yet to sound!\n\nV. 13.--Before the fifth angel sounds, a note of warning is given by the\nministry, of another angel distinct from the seven with the trumpets. He\npronounces a \"woe\" thrice repeated, upon the inhabitants of the earth,\nindicating that heavier judgments and of longer duration are about to be\ninflicted. This announcement was intended to excite attention and awful\nexpectation. This angel's message of \"heavy tidings\" may be viewed in\nquite interesting contract with that of a subsequent angel,--\"flying\nthrough the midst of heaven,\" (ch. xiv. 6.) How different, yet\nharmonious, is the ministry of those heavenly messengers!\n\nThe first four trumpets, as we have seen, demolished the western\ndivision of the Roman empire. About the middle of the sixth century this\nwork was brought to completion. Here, for greater clearness, we may be\nallowed to anticipate by digressing a little. Assuming now, what shall\nafterwards appear to be correct, that the Roman empire is Daniel's\nfourth universal monarchy, and Paul's \"let,\" or hinderance, to the\nrevealing of the \"Man of Sin;\" since the first four trumpets have\ndismembered that great power, revealing the \"ten toes,--ten horns,\" or\nkingdoms; we would expect now to hear of the destruction of that \"Son of\nperdition.\" But it is not so. That is to be effected by the vials, (ch.\nxvi.) As the general and grand design of the Apocalypse is to illustrate\nthe divine government, exhibiting the moral world as affecting, or\naffected by the Christian religion, it seemed good to the Divine Author\nthat the destinies of the eastern section of the Roman empire yet\nstanding, where many of his saints reside, shall come under review.\nEcclesiastical history treats familiarly of a _Greek,_ as well as a\n_Latin_ church and empire. As the trumpets cover the whole time from the\nopening of the sixth seal till the final overthrow of the whole fourth\nmonarchy; (Dan. vii. 26; Rev. xi. 15,) it follows that the eastern\nsection must be the object of a part of them. Accordingly, the remaining\npart of the second period,--the _Period of the Trumpets,_ includes the\nfirst two of the three, emphatically and significantly styled\n\"woe-trumpets.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\n1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto\nthe earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.\n\n2. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a a smoke out of\nthe pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were\ndarkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.\n\n3. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them\nwas given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.\n\n4. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the\nearth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men\nwhich have not the seal of God in their foreheads.\n\n5. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that\nthey should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the\ntorment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.\n\n6. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and\nshall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.\n\n7. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto\nbattle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their\nfaces were us the faces of men.\n\n8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the\nteeth of lions.\n\n9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the\nsound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running\nto battle.\n\n10. And they had tails like unto scorpions; and there were stings in\ntheir tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.\n\n11. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless\npit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue\nhath his name Apollyon.\n\nVs. 1-11.--The scene of the events announced by the sounding of the\nfirst \"woe-trumpet,\" is the eastern Roman empire. A variety of symbols\nis here employed to represent the judgment to be inflicted. The\nprincipal agents and events are,--a \"star, locusts, Apollyon their king,\ntheir depredations, the time of their continuance.\"\n\nNeither Boniface III. nor Mahomet answers to the symbol \"falling star.\"\nAllowing that a star, as a symbol, may represent a person in either\ncivil or ecclesiastical office, no successful aspirants to places of\npower, as both of these were, can be here understood. Obviously\ndegradation and not elevation is intended. Either dethronement of a\nprince or apostacy of a theological dignitary must be intended.\n\nNo character in history at the time referred to, so well agrees to the\nsymbol of a fallen star as the monk Sergius, who is known to have been\nthe coadjutor of Mahomet. He had been a monk of the Christian sect\ncalled Nestorians from Nestorius their leader. This monk Sergius had\nbeen excommunicated for heresy and immorality. He was glad to serve the\ndevil as dictator to Mahomet in composing the Koran, which bears\ninternal evidence of having been written by one who was acquainted with\nthe Sacred Scriptures. When this degraded man had finished his task, he\nwas put to death by his master, lest he should betray the imposture.\n\nHe opened the bottomless pit, from which issued a smoke darkening the\nwhole face of the heavens. The pit is hell, whence came the smoke,--the\ndiabolical system of delusion. From the same place comes the character\nafterwards to appear under the aspect of a beast, (ch. xi. 7.) Locusts\nconstituted one of the plagues of Egypt, and they are the emblem of a\ndestroying army. (Exod. x. 14-19; Joel i. 4-6.) And this is their import\nhere. They represent the deluded and destructive followers of Mahomet,\nwho in vast multitudes laid waste the nations of western Asia, southern\nEurope, and northern Africa. The Saracens, originating in Arabia, the\nnational locality of the literal locusts, in great multitudes like\nclouds, laid waste the fairest and most populous portions of the earth\nfor a succession of ages.\n\nThese symbolic locusts have also the property of scorpions, a poisonous\nreptile, resembling in some degree a lizard combined with a lobster,\narmed with a sting in the end of its tail. Wicked and impenitent men are\ncompared to scorpions. (Ezek. ii. 6.) But these locusts are under\nrestraint. They are permitted to hurt only \"those men which have not the\nseal of God in their foreheads.\" The time of their continuance is \"five\nmonths,\" of thirty days each, making 150 years,--\"a day for a year.\"\n(Ezek. iv. 6.) In the year 606, Mahomet began his imposture by retiring\nto the cave of Hera. In 612 he appeared publicly as the apostle of his\nnew religion at the head of his deluded followers. Between 612 and 762,\nhe and the warlike chiefs who succeeded him, overran with terrible\ndestruction, Syria, Persia, India, Egypt and Spain. Although the\nSaracenic empire continued for a longer time, yet from this time it lost\nthe disorderly _Locust_ character and because a more settled\ncommonwealth. In the year 762, the city of Bagdad was built by one of\nthe caliphs, who called it \"the city of peace.\" This put a stop to the\ndevastations of the locusts, when the empire began to decline. It was\nforetold, however, that during the time of successful war by these cruel\ninvaders, they would inflict such miseries upon their wretched victims,\nthat they would earnestly but vainly desire death to put an end to their\nexquisite torments. It is farther said that these locusts resembled\nhorses, as indeed they do, especially in their heads. The Arabians\nexcelled in horsemanship, and their chief force lay in cavalry. The\n\"crowns upon their heads\" may refer to the turbans worn by the Arabians\nas part of their national costume; or to the kingdoms which they\nsubdued. Flowing hair is also characteristic of these people. Their\n\"teeth\" like those of lions indicated their strength and fury to\ndestroy. \"Breast-plates of iron,\"--defensive armour, indicates\nself-protection by the most effectual public measures. The sound of\ntheir wings may denote the fury of their assaults, and the rapidity of\ntheir conquests. But the deadly stings in their tails were their most\nfatal instruments of torture, symbolizing the poison of their abominable\nand ruinous religion.\n\nTheir king is \"Abaddon or Apollyon,\" the destroyer: for so is his name\nby interpretation, both in Hebrew and Greek. He is from the \"bottomless\npit,\"--from hell, the vicegerent of the devil. Mahomet in person, and in\nthe person of his official successors, will alone answer to this\n_duplicate_ symbol. This is, without a rational shadow of ground for\ncontroversy, the _Great Eastern Antichrist_, sufficiently distinguished\nfrom the _Western_. The western combination against real Christianity\nnever attained to power by successful conquest of the nations; but on\nthe contrary by chicanery, insidious policy, flattery of princes and\npriestcraft. This enemy is described with sufficient accuracy and\npeculiar precision in the subsequent part of the Apocalypse. Prophecy\nhas a determinate meaning; and we are not at liberty to give loose reins\nto our imagination: otherwise we shall bewilder, rather than satisfy the\ndevout and earnest inquirer.\n\n\n12. One woe is past: and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.\n\nV. 12.--Before the time of the sixth trumpet, intimation is given that\nsome pause shall intervene prior to the judgments which are to\nfollow:--\"One woe is past.\"--The object of the first woe is the\nnominally Christian Roman empire, which still stands in its Eastern\nsection; and is to be totally demolished by the second woe-trumpet: for\nthe Western section, recovering from the effects of the first four\ntrumpets, is the object of the third and last woe. The \"man of\nSin,\"--the \"little horn\" of Daniel, is actuating the \"ten horns\" to\n\"scatter Judah,\" etc., during the time of the Mahometan conquests in the\nEast; by which the whole Roman empire is ripening for the harvest of the\nvials of wrath.\n\n\n13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns\nof the golden altar which is before God,\n\n14. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four\nangels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.\n\n15. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour,\nand a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.\n\n16. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand\nthousand; and I heard the number of them.\n\n17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them,\nhaving breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the\nheads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths\nissued fire, and smoke, and brimstone.\n\n18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by\nthe smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.\n\n19. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their\ntails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do\nhurt.\n\nVs. 13-19.--At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, a \"voice comes from\nthe four horns of the golden altar,\" the immediate presence of the\nAlmighty. This indicates punishment to be inflicted upon men for\ncorrupting the gospel, similar to the judgment of fire from the \"golden\ncenser,\" (ch. viii. 5.) The effects of the first woe may be supposed to\nreach from the early part of the seventh century to the latter part of\nthe thirteenth,--the period of Arabian locusts. During the latter part\nof this time, the Turks were held in check by the Crusaders, who strove\nto wrest the Holy Land from the infidels. The \"four angels\" are the four\nTurkish Sultanies. The river Euphrates is to be taken in this place\nliterally, as designating the geographical locality of these combined\npowers, which were the instruments employed by the enthroned Mediator,\nto demolish the remaining part of the Roman empire,--\"the third part of\nmen.\" The time occupied in this barbarous work of slaughter is \"an hour,\na day, a month and a year,\" about equal to 391 years; or from the year\n1281 to 1672. The Western empire had been overthrown by the first four\ntrumpets, the Eastern nearly ruined under the fifth; and under the sixth\nit was finally subverted. The numbers which the Turks brought into the\nfield are here said to be \"two hundred thousand thousand,\"--a definite\nfor an indefinite number as usual, a vast army. And historians tell us\nthat they were, in fact, from four to seven hundred thousand, and a\nlarge proportion of them cavalry.\n\nFrom the year 1672, one of their own historians dates the \"Decay of the\nOthman empire!\" Since that date, the Turkish power is well known to have\nbeen straitened by the Russian empire.\n\nThese eastern warriors and their horses are described by their military\ncostume and their arms. Fire is _red_, jacinth _blue_, and brimstone\n_yellow_,--the chosen colors of the Ottoman warriors, their military\nuniform. The heads of their horses \"as the heads of lions,\" denote\nstrength, fierceness and cruelty. \"Fire, smoke and brimstone issuing out\nof their mouths,\" may be supposed to indicate the employment of\ngunpowder, first invented about that time, as an element of destruction.\nThe commander at the siege of Constantinople is said to have employed\ncannon, some of which were of such caliber as to send stones of three\nhundred pounds weight! Thus their power was in their \"mouth:\" but like\nthe locusts, \"they had in their tails power to do hurt,\"--the deadly\npoison of the Koran. The Turks left behind them wherever they went, as\nthe Saracens had done before, the poisonous and ruinous religion of\nMahomet, more durable and injurious to men than all their bloody\nconquests. By this abominable system of delusion, the remains of the\nGreek church in the Eastern division of the Roman empire, were almost\nextirpated; Christianity was nearly extinguished in that part of the\nworld where the gospel had shone brightly, and there Mahometanism\ncontinues till the present day. Such has been the desolating effect of\nthe sixth,--the second woe trumpet. Thus the Judge of all the earth\npunishes impenitent communities. Besides the positive effects of the\nsecond wo, we have intimation of some that are negative in the close of\nthis chapter.\n\n\n20. And the rest of the men, which were not killed by these plagues, yet\nrepented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship\ndevils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of\nwood; which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:\n\n21. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor\nof their fornication, nor of their thefts.\n\nVs. 20, 21.--The \"rest of the men that were not killed by these\nplagues,\" or morally destroyed by becoming Mahometans, by the foregoing\ncalamities, were not brought to repentance of their evil deeds. The\npopulation of the Western Latin empire and nominal Christian church,\nstill persisted in their idolatries and immoralities. Both individually\nand as associated, they openly violated both tables of the moral law. It\nis evident from these two verses, that the sins enumerated in them were\nthe procuring causes of the divine judgments symbolized by the\ntrumpets,--the two woe-trumpets, all the trumpets,--yes, including the\nseventh and the last. Professing Christians both in the Greek and Latin\nchurches, after all the plagues inflicted by the angels of the past six\ntrumpets, continue to this day in the practice of worshipping demons,\nangels and saints, for which they can produce no better arguments than\ntheir Pagan predecessors whom the Lord charges with \"worshipping devils\"\nhere and elsewhere. (1 Cor. x. 20; Ps. cvi. 37.) In their stupid worship\nof senseless images, consecration of places, etc., who cannot perceive\nthe identity of modern Papists and prelates with those portrayed by the\npen of inspiration in the passage before us? The horrible \"murders,\"\nmassacres and bloody persecutions of the saints, are verified in\nauthentic history. Papal bulls, imperial and royal edicts, issued\nagainst _heretics_, answer to the second part of this awful picture.\nThen follow \"sorceries,\" plainly pointing out pretended revelations,\nfalse miracles, etc. To these are to be added \"fornications,\" corporeal\nand spiritual, in a mass of superstitions added to, or supplanting\ndivine ordinances; together with vows of celibacy, monkeries and\nnunneries,--followed by public license of brothels. And\nfinally,--\"thefts.\" By these are to be understood the illegal exactions\nand oppressive impositions, by which the nations of Christendom have\nbeen plundered of their revenues to enrich the lordly hierarchy of\napostate Christendom. This state of things still continuing after the\nsixth angel sounds his trumpet, and no evidence of repentance; who can\ndoubt that the same community is yet to be visited with the \"third woe?\"\nSurely the Lord may justly still say,--\"For three transgressions, and\nfor four, (of Antichrist,) I will not turn away the punishment thereof.\"\nThe eastern church, in which the first corruptions prevailed, was\npunished by the _first woe_ of the Saracens; and this not producing\nrepentance, her ruin was completed by the _second wo_ of the Ottomans.\nSo, when God judges, he will overcome; therefore the western church,\nstill persisting in her abominations, without repentance, shall be\ndestroyed by the _third woe_. Let not the pious reader suppose that by\nthese penal inflictions on churches, the church of Christ is to perish.\nNo, no. But, on the contrary, their overthrow is subservient to her\npreservation. This also will appear with increasing evidence as we\nproceed with our meditations on this instructive book.\n\nIn the mean time it may be well to remark here, at the close of those\n_woes_ which developed the rise and progress of Mahometanism, that the\ncreed of this religious sect is substantially the same as that of those\nChristians called Socinians. Both presumptuously and arrogantly claim to\nbe the worshippers of _the one God_,--commonly called _Unitarians_. This\nis one of the \"depths of Satan.\" All who worship, as well as believe in,\nthree co-equal Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, believe in,\nand worship _one God_, and in this sense are Unitarians.--_the only\nscriptural Unitarians_. \"Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not\nthe Father.\" (John ii. 23.) And the same is true of such who \"have not\nso much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.\" (Acts xix. 2.) \"He is\nAntichrist that denieth the Father and the Son,\"--a deceiver and an\nAntichrist. It is doubtless in view of these soul-ruining heresies, that\nthe beloved disciple tendered the caution,--\"Little children, keep\nyourselves from idols.\" (1 John v. 21.)\n\nWe would expect the tenth chapter to begin with the sounding of the\nseventh trumpet; but we find it is not so. Indeed, we shall not find any\ndirect intimation of the work of the seventh angel till we come to the\nfourteenth verse of the eleventh chapter. The sixth trumpet continues to\nreverberate throughout Christendom for centuries; and during the\nintermediate time, our attention is called to another scene, which the\nLord Jesus deemed necessary as preparatory.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nThis chapter and the greater part of the next, from the first to the\nfourteenth verse inclusive, is of the nature of a parenthesis; for the\nfifteenth verse of the 11th chapter evidently connects the narrative or\nseries of events with the ninth chapter. The ninth chapter closes with\nan intimation of impenitence on the part of those who had been punished\nby the plagues of the preceding trumpets. Then it follows, as we have\nseen, that they are to be still farther visited by the infliction of the\nclosing judgment symbolized by the seventh trumpet. The immediate\ndesign, therefore, of interrupting the natural order of the narrative is\nto place before us the actual condition of society when the seventh\ntrumpet sounds.\n\n\n1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a\ncloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face as it were the sun,\nand his feet as pillars of fire:\n\n2. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot\nupon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,\n\n3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had\ncried, seven thunders uttered their voices.\n\nVs. 1-3.--The majestic description of this Angel agrees to no creature.\nIt is proper to God-man only. It is partly the same display of the\nMediator's glory which we had in ch, i. 15. Especially is this the case\nas to his _face_, his _feet_ and his _voice_. The \"rainbow\" is still the\nsign of the everlasting covenant. \"In wrath he remembers mercy.\"\n\nThis \"book\" differs from the _sealed_ book as a part from the whole, or\na codicil from the will to which it is appended. Also, it is\ndistinguished from the former as being _little_ and _open_. They do\ntherefore greatly err here, who would make this little book comprehend\nall the remaining part of the Apocalypse, which would make it larger\nthan the sealed book. The little book is _open_, because it is part of\nthe large one, from which the last seal had been removed by the\nMediator. But another reason why the little book is represented as being\nopen, is the fact that the most of the events to which it refers, had\ntranspired prior to the sounding of the seventh trumpet. That trumpet\nhad been without its appropriate object, as presented in any preceding\npart of the prophecy. To present that object is the special design of\nthe little book. All the events predicted in this book of Revelation are\nnot successive in the order of time, but some are coincident; and the\ninspired writer of the Apocalypse, on several occasions goes back, as we\nshall see, in order to explain at greater length, what had been but\nbriefly and obscurely narrated.\n\nThe angel set his feet upon the world, as his footstool; by which\nposition is emblematically signified his sovereign dominion over sea and\nearth. And this is agreeable to his own plain teaching in the days of\nhis public ministry:--\"All power is given unto me in heaven and in\nearth.\" (Matt. xxviii. 18.) He trod upon the billows of the ocean\nliterally in the state of his humiliation, giving thereby evidence of\nhis power over the mystical waters,--\"the tumults of the people.\" During\nthe popular commotions signified by the trumpets, he said to the raging\npassions of men and their towering ambition, as to the waves of the\nsea,--\" Hitherto shall ye come, and no further; and here shall your\nproud waves be stayed.\" \"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves\nthereof are still;\" and whether the nations of Christendom are at war or\nin peaceful tranquillity, he reigns over them as their rightful\nsovereign;--\"his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth.\" In\npossession of universal dominion, he speaks with authority, \"as when a\nlion roareth.\" Although a lamb slain, the victim for our sins; he is\nalso the Lion of the tribe of Judah, ruling over his own people,\nrestraining and conquering his own and their enemies.\n\nThe \"seven thunders,\" etc., give a _premonition_ of tremendous\njudgments, the import of which is to be \"sealed up\" until it be\ndemonstrated to all the world by the seventh trumpet and vial.\n\n\n4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to\nwrite: and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Seal up those\nthings which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.\n\n5. And the angel, which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth,\nlifted up his hand to heaven,\n\n6. And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven,\nand the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are\ntherein, that there should be time no longer.\n\n7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall\nbegin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath\ndeclared to his servants the prophets.\n\nVs. 4-7.--The attitude assumed by the Angel of the covenant is very\nimpressive, instructive and exemplary:--\"his hand lifted up to heaven.\"\nThis is the external attitude of solemnity most becoming the jurant when\nperforming the act of religious worship, the oath. Abraham, in the\npresence of the king of Sodom, used the same form, appealing to the\n\"Lord, the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.\" (Gen. xiv.\n22.) \"Kissing the book\" has no example in all the Bible; hence it is\nunquestionably of heathen, and so of idolatrous origin and tendency. No\nChristian can thus symbolize with heathens, without so far \"having\nfellowship with devils\" as really as in eating in their temples. (1 Cor.\nx. 21.)\n\nThe matter of the Angel's oath is,--\"that there should be time no\nlonger.\" Here it is humbly suggested that our excellent translators are\nfaulty as in ch. iv. 6, already noticed. Neither the original Greek\ntext, nor the coherence of the symbolic narrative, will sustain or\njustify the version. John, like all pious people, when he heard the\nlion's voice, followed by the \"seven thunders,\" was filled with solemn\nawe, anticipating the coming dissolution of all things. It was not the\nonly instance of his weakness and misapprehension, (ch. xix. 10;) nor is\nthis infirmity peculiar to the apostle John; for we find other disciples\nmistaking \"the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his\nown power.\" (2 Thess. ii. 1-3.) These Thessalonians had misapprehended\nthe language of Paul in his first epistle to them, when speaking of the\nend of the world. (1 Thess. iv. 15-17.) To relieve the anxieties of the\nThessalonians, relative to the apprehended and sudden coming of the\nLord, Paul wrote again to correct their mistake; so it may be supposed\nthat the Angel interposed this solemn assurance to his servant John, for\nthe like purpose, of allaying his forebodings. The words in the\noriginal, literally translated, stand thus: \"That the time shall not be\nyet.\" That is, the \"time of the end,\" as we read in Daniel xii. 9, shall\nnot be, till the seventh trumpet begins to sound. The phrase,--\"time of\nthe end,\" may signify either the final overthrow of antichristian power,\nor the end of the world, because of the resemblance between the two\nevents. The plain and certain meaning, then, of the Angel's oath is,\nthat the \"mystery of God shall be finished\" only by the work of the\nseventh angel. What this mystery is, we will discover in the following\nchapters. Indeed, it had been long before \"declared to the prophets,\"\nbut still accompanied with comparative obscurity suitable to their time;\nfor the word \"declared,\" is expressive of glad tidings, being the same\nin origin and significance as that which we translate,--_gospel_, good\nnews. Accordingly, our Saviour directs his disciples, in view of his\nappearing either to overthrow the Roman power, or to judge the world, in\nthe following words of cheer: \"And when these things begin to come to\npass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth\nnigh.\" (Luke xxi. 28.) To the prophet Daniel the same event was attested\nwith like solemnity. (Dan. xii. 7.) This is the period to which the\nsuffering saints of God have been long looking forward with believing\nand joyful hope. As Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day of appearing in\nour nature, and by faith saw and it and was glad; so the covenanted seed\nof the father of the faithful, in the light of prophecy, and by like\nprecious faith, are favored with a view of the certain downfall of\nmystical Babylon.\n\n\n8. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and\nsaid, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel\nwhich standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.\n\n9. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little\nbook. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy\nbelly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.\n\n10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up;\nand it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my\nbelly was bitter.\n\n11. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples,\nand nations, and tongues, and kings.\n\nVs. 8-11.--John is next directed by a voice from heaven, or by divine\nauthority,--to take and eat the open book. There is obvious allusion to\na similar transaction in Ezekiel iii, 1-3. The prophet was a captive by\nthe river of Chebar in Babylon, under the dominion of the _first_ beast\nof Daniel, as John was in Patmos under that of the _fourth_; and both\nwere favoured and employed by the glorious Head of the church in an\neminent part of their ministry. \"The word is not bound\" when ministers\nare in confinement.\n\nThe \"eating of the book\" represents the intellectual apprehension of the\nthings which it contained.\n\n\"Thy words were found and I did eat them,\"(Jer. xv. 16.) A speculative\nknowledge of the word of God, and especially of those parts that are\nprophetical, will afford pleasure to the human intellect, even though\nthe mind be unsanctified. (Matt. xiii. 20, 21.) But when the prophet\ngets a farther insight into the contents as containing \"lamentations,\nand mourning and woe,\" like Ezekiel's roll;--the pleasure is converted\ninto pain. A foresight of the sorrows and sufferings of Christ's\nwitnesses causes grief to the Christian's sensitive heart. He \"weeps\nwith them that weep,\" by the spontaneous sympathies of a common and\nrenewed nature. \"Sweet in the mouth as honey, but in the belly bitter as\nwormwood and gall.\"\n\nUpon the apostle's digesting the little book, the Angel interprets the\nsymbolic action by the plain and extensive commission,--\"Thou must\nprophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and\nkings.\" This commission did not terminate with the ministry of the\napostle, although he may be truly said to prophesy by the Apocalypse to\nall nations till the end of the world. This is equally true, however, of\nall the inspired penmen of the Holy Scriptures. (Psalm xlv. 17.) But\nJohn is to be considered here as the official representative of a living\nand faithful ministry, on whom devolves the indispensable obligation to\nopen and apply these sacred predictions to the commonwealth of nations,\nhowever constituted authorities may be affected by them. And, indeed,\nthese messages will prove unwelcome to the immoral powers of the earth,\nas in the days of old. (1 Kings xviii. 17.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nThe narrative of prophetic events was broken off at the end of the ninth\nchapter. The tenth chapter and the greater part of this, from the\nbeginning to the thirteenth verse inclusive, present appearances and\nactions quite foreign to the events which follow the sounding of the\ntrumpets. Why is this, the thoughtful student of the Apocalypse will\nnaturally ask? Why is the regular series of the trumpets suspended? When\nthe sixth trumpet,--the \"second woe,\"--has effected its objects, we\nnaturally expect the seventh trumpet to sound; yet we are held in\nsuspense till we come to the fourteenth verse of this chapter. Hitherto\nwe have met with no similar interruption. Let us take a retrospective\nview:--The seven epistles to the churches followed each other in regular\nsuccession. The seals, in like manner, followed successively; and this\nis true of the vials, (ch. xvi.)\n\nWe have seen that the object of the trumpets was the Roman empire, the\nfourth beast of Daniel's prophecy. The same is the object of the\njudgments symbolized by the vials. The final subversion and utter\ndestruction of that beastly power, was plainly revealed in the\nBabylonian monarch's dream. (Dan. ii. 44.) And the same event was\nafterwards exhibited in vision to Daniel, (ch. vii. 11, 26.) Now the\nfirst four trumpets had demolished imperial power in the western or\nLatin section; and the next two, by the Saracenic locusts and the\nEuphratean horsemen had subverted the eastern or Greek section. Rome and\nConstantinople were the capitals of the respective sections or members\nof the _one_ empire. Under the first four trumpets, by the Northern\nbarbarians; and under the first two woes, by the Mahometans, both\nsections of the empire were overthrown. The question now presses upon\nour attention, Where shall we find an object for the tremendous judgment\nto be inflicted by the third and last woe? This question requires a\nsolution. It demands it; and he who succeeds in the application of\nhistory to solve this apparent enigma in the Apocalypse, will be able to\nattain to a satisfactory, a certain, understanding of much that is yet\nto most readers as if the \"sealed book\" were to this day in the \"right\nhand of Him that sitteth on the throne.\" Let us humbly attempt to solve\nthis difficulty.\n\nDaniel's fourth beast, the Roman empire, is to be contemplated in\n_diverse aspects_, as the varied symbols obviously require. All know\nthat Nebuchadnezzar's \"image\" is the same as Daniel's \"four beasts;\"\ntherefore the same thing is presented in different forms or aspects. Of\ncourse we are to view that object as presented. We have seen that under\nthe sixth seal, (ch. vi. 12-17,) the Roman empire underwent a\nrevolution; that is, it was destroyed as to its Pagan form. The empire\nbecame Christian under Constantine. History proves that Christianity\ndegenerated under the reign of that monarch and his successors. Heresy,\nidolatry and persecutions characterize the subsequent history of the\nempire. Then follow the judgments of the trumpets to vindicate the\ndivine government, and alleviate from time to time the sufferings of\ntrue Christians. While the two woe-trumpets are demolishing the fabric\nof idolatry and despotism in the east, the \"deadly wound is healed\" in\nthe west, which had been inflicted by the first four trumpets. Ten horns\nare developed upon the beast's head, and another \"little horn,\" by all\nof which the saints suffer, as had been predicted by Daniel, (ch. vii.\n24,) and of which we had intimation after the judgment of the second woe\nor sixth trumpet, (ch. ix. 20, 21.) All the \"plagues,\" which had been\ninflicted upon the people of Christendom under this trumpet left them\nstill impenitent,--\"worshipping devils,\" etc. Surely we may now see\nwhere the object of the third woe is to be found,--namely in the same\nRoman empire, now become antichristian more than ever before. To\ndescribe this antichristian combination and present the unholy\nconfederacy against the Lord and his Anointed, and so to justify the\nways of God; it was necessary to digress from the narrative of the\ntrumpets. We now proceed with our observations on the eleventh chapter.\n\n\n1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood,\nsaying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them\nthat worship therein.\n\n2. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it\nnot; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they\ntread under foot forty and two months.\n\nVs. 1, 2.--This chapter, (vs. 1-13,) gives the contents of the \"little\nbook\" delivered to the apostle; as in the tenth chapter. It contains a\nbrief description and prospective history of the true church of Christ\nfor a period of 1260 years. Her conflicts with Daniel's fourth beast are\nhere epitomized. As the scene is laid in the temple and ministry all\nalong in the Apocalypse, so there is probably a special allusion here to\nEzekiel's vision, (ch. xl. 5.) At all times the Christian church is to\nbe organized, and all her ordinances to be administered by divine rule.\nAccordingly we have here presented the actual condition of Christendom\nduring the whole time mentioned above. The command to John from the\nAngel, is to be understood as from the Lord Jesus, Zion's only king to\nthe gospel ministry. Long before the time of the transactions here\npredicted, the apostle John had gone the way of all the earth. The work\nhere enjoined was to be performed by his legitimate successors.\n\nThe reed is the symbol of the word of God. It is of the same import as\nZechariah's \"measuring line.\" (ch. ii. 1,) and to be used for the same\npurpose--\"to measure Jerusalem,\" the temple; for both are emblematical\nof the church of God. The \"temple, altar and worshippers,\" are emblems\nof the church, her doctrines, worship and membership, tried by the\nScriptures--the \"reed.\" There are Gentiles who worship in the outer\ncourt, treading under foot both it and the city. These are formal,\nimmoral, idolatrous professors of Christianity. They are rejected by God\nas reprobate, and by his command to be \"cast out\" from the fellowship of\nhis people,--authoritatively excommunicated by those to whom Jesus\nChrist has given the key of discipline.\n\nHere then, at the disclosing of the contents of the little open book, it\nis manifest that John goes back from the sixth trumpet in the\nseventeenth century, when the Eastern section of the Roman empire was\nsubverted, by the Othmans, and gives us another view of society in\nChristendom cotemporaneously with the trumpets. It follows necessarily\nthat the little book does not rank, as some imagine, under any one\ntrumpet; much less does it comprehend all the remaining chapters of the\nApocalypse, as others vainly suppose. This matter will receive\nincreasing confirmation as we advance.\n\nThose who worship within the temple and those who worship without, are\nevidently distinguished from each other. They differ in character tested\nby the word of God, in fellowship, as authoritatively separated\naccording to the rule of the same word: for whereas the gentile\nworshippers are so numerous as to crowd both the outer court and the\ncity, the measured worshippers are all included within the confines of\nthe temple, (Song iv. 12.) _Measuring_ is equivalent to the _sealing_ of\nthe servants of God in the seventh chapter; and imports that they are\nsecured from the sins and plagues of their time. The period of the\napostacy from God is fixed to \"forty and two months.\" According to\nJewish mode of reckoning, a day for a year, (Num. xiv. 34; Dan. ix. 24,)\nthe whole period is 1260 years. Each month has thirty days. Multiply\nforty-two by thirty, and we have 1260. The _same_ period of time,--not\nmerely an equal period, is otherwise expressed by the prophet Daniel\nthus: \"time, times, and a half.\" (ch. xii. 7.) That is, 360, the number\nof days in the Jewish year: times, or 720, the days in two years; and\nhalf a time, or 180, the days in half a year. Now, add these three\nnumbers, 360, 720, 180; and the sum is 1260. Now see Daniel iv. 25,\nwhere the word \"times\" means _years_, and then a child may calculate\nthese mystical numbers.\n\n\n3. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy\na thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.\n\nV. 3.--While the nominal church, \"the outer court and the holy city,\"\nwould be \"trodden under foot,\" and the most eminent places would be\nfilled with idolaters, infidels, hypocrites, and mercenary spirits, and\ntrue Christians grievously oppressed, the Lord would preserve a faithful\nfew from defiling themselves with the prevailing abominations. These he\nclaims and owns as his \"peculiar treasure,\"--\"my witnesses.\" These have\nfound that it was \"good for them to draw near to God,\" when the\nmultitude treacherously departed from him. The Lord Christ promises to\nsustain them in the midst of all their tribulations. The duration of\ntheir special work is the very same as that of the treading of the holy\ncity, \"a thousand two hundred and three score days,\"--1260 years. In\nattempting to fix the beginning of this period, Daniel and John must be\ncompared; both treat of the same events and dates, and this gives\ndefiniteness to the interpretation. Daniel fixes these events to the\nfourth monarchy _after_ it had been _broken in pieces_, and the ten\nhorns had arisen: (ch. vii. 23-25;) so that we have both the geography\nand chronology determined by the prophets themselves. Hence it follows\nthat we must date the beginning of the 1260 years after the first four\ntrumpets; for by these the western Roman empire was dismembered or\nbroken, that the ten horns might appear. Then the \"little horn\" of\nDaniel arose after and among them, (ch. vii. 20, 24.) All reliable\nexpositors agree that the \"little horn\" is the papacy or the Romish\nchurch. This little horn is the special enemy of the \"saints of the Most\nHigh,\" and they are to be \"given into his hand.\" (Dan. vii. 25.) The\nfirst four trumpets subverted the Roman empire in the west in the latter\npart of the sixth century. This event made way for the bishop of Rome,\nin process of time, to acquire a great accession of ecclesiastical\npower. The civil and ecclesiastical rulers, equally unscrupulous and\naspiring, were at this period on terms of comparative intimacy, and\noccasionally disposed to reciprocate good offices. Phocas, having waded\nthrough the blood of the citizens to supreme civil power, in order to\nsecure his position, declared Boniface III., bishop of Rome, head of the\nuniversal church. This impious public act took place in the year 606.\nThe pope became also a temporal prince in 756. Now we cannot know _with\ncertainty_ which of these events, nor indeed whether _either_ of them,\nmarks the period in time when the 1260 years _began_. Hence we must\nremain at uncertainty as to the exact time when this most interesting\nperiod will end. Of all transactions recorded in history, however, that\nbetween Phocas and Boniface appears most like \"giving the saints into\nthe hand of the little horn.\" At this juncture in particular, church and\nstate conspire, as never before, to resist the authority of Jesus Christ\nthe Mediator. Paul's \"man of sin\" has been \"revealed in his time.\" (2\nThess. ii. 6.) Paganism has been abolished by formal edict throughout\nthe Roman empire, and Christianity established as the recognised\nreligion of the commonwealth. That which \"letted,\"--hindered, that is,\nthe pagan idolatry of the civil state, is \"taken out of the way;\" and\nnominal Christianity takes its place. This combination or alliance\nbetween church and state will be more clearly made known in the\nsucceeding chapters of this book. Mean while it is the immediate design\nof the \"little open book,\" to give an epitome or outline of this unholy\nconfederacy in the first thirteen verses of this chapter. The treading\nunder foot of the holy city by the \"Gentiles,\" furnishes occasion for\nthe witnesses to appear publicly against them. These pretended\nChristians, but real hypocrites, as will appear with increasing evidence\nas we proceed, have usurped the rights of Messiah's crown, and\ngrievously oppressed his real disciples. Against these outrages on the\nprerogatives of Christ and the rights of man, these witnesses lift their\nsolemn protest. Their distinctive name, \"witnesses,\" is familiar to\nevery one who searches the Scriptures. (Isa. xliii. 10; Acts i. 8.) But\nwitnesses who love not their lives unto the death are distinguished by\nthe name of _martyrs_. (Rev. ii. 13; Acts xxii. 20.)\n\nGod has had his witnesses in all ages since the fall of Adam, in defence\nof truth and holiness against error and ungodliness; but the specific\nwork _these_ witnesses is to oppose the corruption of his two ordinances\nof church and state during the specified period of 1260 years. The\nexistence of this complex system of civil and ecclesiastical tyranny and\nheresy, in the holy purpose and sovereign providence of God, calls for\nthe public and uncompromising opposition of the two witnesses. We shall\ndiscover the two parties in more visible conflict hereafter; and tracing\nthe struggle to its issue, we shall find, that like the more general and\nlasting warfare between the seed of the woman and that of the serpent,\n(Gen. iii. 15,) it is a \"war of extermination.\"\n\nThese witnesses are distinguished as a part from the whole. All\nwitnesses are not _martyrs_, but these are such, (v. 7, ch. xx. 4.) And\nhere we are constrained to dissent from the opinion of some expositors,\nfor whose sentiments we entertain profound respect. These \"two\nwitnesses\" are supposed by these eminent interpreters to \"differ as much\nfrom the 144,000 sealed ones, (ch. vii. 4,) as Elijah differed from the\n7000 in Israel in his time;\" whereas, we think the 144,000 and the\n_two_, are the same identical company. (See chapters vii. 4-8: xiv. 1;\nxx. 4.) It is evident that they are the same party,--and the _whole_ of\nthe party, who are honored to \"reign with Christ a thousand years,\" (ch.\nxx. 4.)\n\nThey are _two_ in number, because one witness is not sufficient in law,\nto establish any matter in controversy. (Num. xxxv. 30; 2 Cor. xiii. 1.)\nThey are a small number compared with their opponents, (ch. xiii. 3.)\nAgain, they are few, but sufficient to confront and confute their two\nopponents, (ch. xiii. 1, 11.) And, finally, they are _two_, that they\nmay be assimilated to their predecessors.\n\n\n4. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing\nbefore the God of the earth.\n\n5. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth,\nand devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in\nthis manner be killed.\n\n6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of\ntheir prophecy; and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to\nsmite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.\n\nVs. 4-6.--\"These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks,\"\nanswerable to Joshua and Zerubbabel, the representatives of a gospel\nministry and a scriptural magistracy in their day, as seen by the\nprophet Zechariah, (ch. iv. 14.) The official administrators of the\ndivine ordinances of church and state, require the oil of divine grace\nto qualify them for the discharge of their responsible duties to God and\nman. (1 Tim. i. 2; Titus i. 4; Ps. lxxii. 1.) Thus were those public\nservants of God and of his people qualified who \"stood before the God of\nthe earth,\" as Moses and Aaron in Egypt, Elijah and Elisha in Israel, to\nwhom there is obvious allusion in the special work of these witnesses.\n(2 Kings i. 10; 1 Kings xvii. 1; Exod. vii. 17.) \"Fire proceedeth out of\ntheir mouth,\" when from the scriptures they denounce just judgments upon\nthe impenitent enemies of him whom they represent. They \"smite the earth\nwith all plagues,\" when, in answer to their prayers, vengeance comes\nupon antichristian communities. (Luke xviii. 7, 8.) They \"turn waters\ninto blood,\" when through their effective agency, the votaries of\nAntichrist are made the instruments of mutual destruction. And all this\nis made more clear in the symbolic \"vials,\" (ch. 16.) These witnesses\n\"prophesy,\" not as being inspired, but because they,--and _they only_,\napply existing predictions to their appropriate objects, so far as they\nreceive light from Him who is \"the light of the world.\"\n\nThey are \"clothed in sack-cloth,\" because they sigh and cry for all the\nabominations of their time,--subjected to oppression, and excluded from\n\"kings' palaces,\"--places of worldly honor, power and emolument.\n\nBut the question is of great importance, and, to themselves in\nparticular, of absorbing interest,--How shall these witnesses be\nidentified among mankind? For however few, humble, despised and\npersecuted, even unto death; strange as it may seem, there are not\nwanting many to put forth a claim to be identified with them! Assuming\nthat these mystic witnesses are individual persons, the Papists say,\nthey are Enoch and Elijah, hereafter to appear on earth! By Protestants,\nJohn Huss and Jerome.--Luther and Calvin, have been selected. Others\nsuppose the Old and New Testaments, with many other vague and groundless\nconjectures. The witnesses die; but the two prophets named \"were\ntranslated that they should not see death:\" and the thought is\npreposterous that they should be brought again from their glorious state\nof immortality and subjected to an ignominious death. John Huss and\nJerome of Prague did not prophesy 1260 years, nor have we the shadow of\na ground to believe that any of the human race shall ever prolong their\ndays on earth to the age of Methuselah. The two Testaments cannot die,\nfor \"the word of God liveth and abideth for ever.\" (1 Pet. i. 23.) But\nit would be tedious and unprofitable to confute the various chimeras\nwhich on this question have been entertained in the minds equally of the\nlearned and the illiterate. The like fanciful and diversified opinions\nhave been, and still are, prevalent in relation to what constitutes \"the\nAntichrist.\" (1 John ii. 22.) Now, it is evident, even on a cursory\nperusal of the Apocalypse; that the witnesses and their opponents are\nthe principal parties symbolized in the whole series of the seals,\ntrumpets and vials. How then can any one attain to a rational\nunderstanding of the manifold details, who remains \"willingly ignorant\"\nof the principal characters in this grandest of all tragico-dramas,\npresented to man's view on the stage of Jehovah's moral empire, to be\ncontemplated for the whole period of 1260 years? The prevailing\nignorance, bewilderment and error, in the minds of most spectators of\nthese moving scenes, we are warranted to expect. (Dan. xii. 10.) For the\npresent we define the witnesses and Antichrist concisely thus:--_The\nWitnesses are a competent number of Christians, who for 1260 years,\ninsist upon the application of God's word to church and state; and who\ntestify against all communities who rebel against the Lord Christ._ Such\ncommunities, in visible organization, constitute THE ANTICHRIST, as will\nmore fully appear in the thirteenth and seventeenth chapters, where the\ntwo prominent parties are more formally presented.\n\nLet us never lose sight of the fact, that these witnesses cease not to\nprophesy,--to apply the scriptures, especially the prophetical parts of\nthem, during the _whole_ period of 1260 years; that is, _while they\nlive_. Authentic history supplies abundant evidence that such has been\ntheir special work all along since the rise of the antichristian enemy.\nThat enemy is but obscurely mentioned,--_not described_ in the \"little\nbook,\" the contents of which we have, as already said, in this chapter,\n(vs. 1-13.) The character and achievements of the witnesses may be found\nin the familiar histories of the Culdees and Lollards of Britain, the\nWaldenses of Piedmont, the Bohemian Brethren; together with the more\nrecent and successful reformers on the continent of Europe and in the\nBritish Isles. Is it unnecessary to mention the names of those men of\nrenown,--Zwingle, Luther, Calvin, Knox, Henderson, etc.,--men \"mighty in\nwords and in deeds,\" whose influence on the great \"family of nations,\"\ntheir very enemies have reluctantly attested? The testimony of an enemy\nhas ever been deemed weighty. The following is appropriate and decisive\nfrom the polished pen of the historian of the \"Decline and Fall of the\nRoman Empire:\" \"The visible assemblies of the Paulicians, or Albigeois,\nwere extirpated by fire and sword; and the bleeding remnant escaped by\nflight, concealment, or catholic conformity. But the invincible spirit\nwhich they had kindled still lived and breathed in the western\nworld.--In the state, in the church, and even in the cloister, a latent\nsuccession was preserved of the disciples of St. Paul, who protested\nagainst the tyranny of Rome, embraced the Bible as the rule of faith,\nand purified their creed from all the visions of the Gnostic theology.\nThe struggles of Wickliff in England, and of Huss in Bohemia, were\npremature and ineffectual: but the names of Zuinglius, Luther and\nCalvin, are pronounced with gratitude as the deliverers of nations.\"[2]\n\nEver since the time of those eminent witnesses, the same testimony has\nbeen maintained. It is not yet finished, the witnesses are yet alive,\nand the term of 1260 years is not expired.\n\n\n7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that\nascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war against them, and\nshall overcome them, and kill them.\n\n8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,\nwhich spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was\ncrucified.\n\n9. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall\nsee their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their\ndead bodies to be put in graves.\n\n10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make\nmerry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets\ntormented them that dwelt on the earth.\n\nVs. 7-10.--In these verses we have described the death of the witnesses,\nas also the agent mentioned, by whom the fatal stroke is given. As\nfuture occasion will occur for identifying this bloody tyrant,\nascertaining with precision his diabolical origin, here only hinted, his\ncrimes and his awful doom, it is premature to amplify in this place.\n\nIf the witnesses cannot be identified, neither can the time of their\ndeath be ascertained. We find indeed among expositors as many vague\nnotions relative to the _time_ and the _nature_ of their death as in\nrelation to their identity. These notions are unworthy of notice; for\nhowever they might amuse, they cannot edify.\n\nFour questions are suggested by these verses.--By whom; in what manner,\nwhen, and where are the witnesses slain?\n\nThe first question is explicitly answered in the sacred text. The\n\"beast,\" of hellish origin, kills them. But it will afterwards appear\nthat the beast is instigated to this relentless cruelty by another agent\nof the devil. Again, as to the kind of death, we may in good measure\nlearn this from the kind of life. Now it is obvious that to give\ntestimony, or \"prophesy\" during the allotted time, constitutes their\nlife. They live, that they may prophesy. Hence it is usual to speak of\n_silencing_, as equivalent to _slaying_ these witnesses. But this is not\nstrictly correct. Why? Because they have been hitherto \"killed all the\nday long.\" (Ps. xliv. 22; Rom. viii. 36.) Doubtless defection and\napostacy do always accompany persecution; and thus the testimony of such\nis silenced. But the enemy in this case is \"drunken with the blood\" of\nthese witnesses; and this phrase must be understood literally. Moreover,\nthe enemy gets \"blood to drink,\" because of \"shedding blood.\" (ch. xvi.\n6; xvii. 6.) The death of the witnesses is therefore a literal death, of\ncourse it will be also moral,--they will cease to prophesy.\n\nSome have supposed the \"three years, or days and a half,\" during which\nthe witnesses lie dead are the same as the 1260 days or years; because\nif these three and a half days be considered as prophetical, and reduced\nto literal days, they will amount exactly to 1260. Such an\ninterpretation, however, is preposterous; simply because according to\nthis hypothesis, they _never lived at all_!--The absurdity is evident.\n\nHaving ascertained the nature of the death to which the witnesses are\nappointed by the Lord of life, we now inquire as to the time of this\nmournful event. The text informs us that their death is connected with\nthe \"finishing of their testimony.\" However the original may be\ntranslated,--when they _shall have finished_,--when they _shall be\nfinishing_,--or about to finish, affects not the question as to time.\nWhile they live, their work is to prophesy, and their testimony is not\ncompleted. Like their Master, to whose example they are conformed, their\nlife and testimony are finished together. These facts, briefly and\nobscurely hinted here, will be more satisfactorily presented in the\nnext, but especially in the twentieth chapter, (vs. 1-4.) But inasmuch\nas many, if not most interpreters, have expressed the opinion that the\nwitnesses are already slain, the following arguments in the negative are\nsubmitted to the reader.\n\nThe 1260 years are not yet terminated, during which,--the whole of which\ntime,--the witnesses are to \"prophesy,\" (v. 3.) Their testimony is yet\ncontinued, and sensibly felt by the wicked. They still more or less\n\"torment them that dwell on the earth,\" (v. 10.) Beyond the usual\nreproach attached to their names and their work, there has been no\ngeneral reviling and deriding of them throughout Christendom, to render\ntheir memory infamous, (v. 9.)--No opprobrious epithets such as, \"These\ndeceivers said, while they were yet alive,\" (Matt, xxvii. 63,) that so\nthey might be conformed to their Lord in his death. Nor, lastly, have\n\"they that dwell upon the earth\" exulted as yet over these hated\nindividuals, as no longer \"hurtful to kings and provinces,\"--although\nthere have been, often, partial but premature rejoicings by a part of\nthe enemy. But although from time to time, \"some of them, have fallen,\nto try them, and to purge, and to make them white\" as predicted, (Dan.\nxi. 35;) yet the time of \"making merry, sending gifts,\"--is not yet\ncome.\n\nWhile we believe, on the grounds adduced,--and much more might have been\ncited from the context,--that the death of the witnesses is to be\nunderstood literally, we do not suppose that every individual will be\npersonally put to death. No, but as in the time of Elijah's banishment,\nor of our Saviour's lying in the grave, there will be no public body or\nindividual standard-bearer, to bear testimony against the enemies of\nJesus Christ, or boldly to assert and press his royal claims upon church\nand state. In prospect of this dark time,--darker than the \"dark ages,\"\nwe may ask with Joshua,--\"What wilt thou do unto thy great name?\" But\nthough the witnesses die, the Faithful Witness lives, (ch. i. 18.)\n\nThe _place_, where the witnesses lie dead is pointed out by three places\nwell known in sacred history, Egypt, Sodom and Jerusalem. But these are\nto be understood mystically. The place resembles Egypt for idolatry and\ncruelty to the people of God; it is like Sodom for literal and spiritual\npollution; and Jerusalem, where our Lord was crucified afresh and put to\nopen shame in the persons of his slain witnesses. It follows of\ncourse,--that place is to be utterly destroyed; having committed the\ncrimes and contracted the guilt of all those unpardonable criminals.\n(Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14; Ezek. xxxi. 18; Isa. xiii. 19; Luke xxi. 20.) For\nsimilar reasons, Babylon is afterwards mentioned repeatedly as the place\nof this tragic event, this unpardonable crime,--the slaying of the\nwitnesses, (ch. xviii. 24.) It is to be specially noted here, that in\nascertaining the place of the death of these distinguished servants of\nChrist, our attention is directed by the Holy Spirit to a \"street\" of\nthe city. At present it is assumed that _streets_ of the city and\n_horns_ of the beast substantially harmonize as symbols. Now look over\nthe streets of the great city: contemplate the horns of the beast:\nascertain which is most guilty of persecution. In estimating the\nrelative degree of guilt, the degree of heavenly light against which the\ncriminal has rebelled is to be taken into the account. (John xv. 22;\nMatt. xi. 24.) In view of these scriptural principles, and the actual\ncondition of Christendom as portrayed in authentic history, would the\nconjecture seem presumptuous, should we venture to designate--Great\nBritain? There, for centuries, the witnesses have been most numerous,\nactive, and pointed, in testifying against encroachments on the\ncrown-rights of Messiah. There also, lordly prelates, in close alliance\nwith a blasphemous horn of the beast, have often vied with the sworn\nvassals of the \"man of sin,\" in murdering the saints of God. \"Therefore\nit is no great thing\" if, throwing off the mask of Protestantism,\nEnglish prelacy, combining with Romish Jesuitism, should make common\ncause with undisguised infidelity, in slaying the witnesses against\ntheir heaven-daring rebellion. The signs of the present time, (1870,)\nrender our conjecture not improbable. We give it only as a _conjecture_;\nfor in reference to events yet future,--as we believe that of the death\nof the witnesses to be,--we may not presume to _prophesy_.--\"Three days\nand a half\" is the limited period of their degradation; and this is\nthree natural years and a half: for the word \"days\" must be taken in the\nsame sense as in v. 3; otherwise we fall into an inextricable labyrinth\nof endless confusion. From all which it appears that \"the triumphing of\nthe wicked is short.\" If \"while the wicked is in power, and we wait upon\nGod.\" we are called to \"join trembling with our mirth;\" the pleasing\nprospect of the speedy and joyful resurrection of \"these slain,\" may\ninspire us with \"a lively hope,\" and warrant us to join mirth with our\ntrembling.\n\n\n11. And after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered\ninto them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them\nwhich saw them.\n\n12. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up\nhither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies\nbeheld them.\n\nVs. 11, 12.--In these two verses, as in the preceding, the thoughtful\nreader will discern a beautiful allusion in the history of these\nwitnesses, to the death and life of our blessed Master. \"For if they\nhave been planted together in the likeness of his death, they shall be\nalso in the likeness of his resurrection.\" Yes, they have communion with\nhim in death and life,--in grace and glory. \"Nothing can separate them\nfrom the love of God which is in Christ Jesus their Lord.\"\n\n\"The Spirit of life from God entered into them.\" That is, God will\nspeedily raise up successors, who, maintaining the very same principles,\nwill be gloriously successful in putting down all rule and authority and\npower,\" that had been in hostility to their Lord. (1 Cor. xv. 24, 25.\nSee Ezek. xxxvii. 11-14.) \"This is the first resurrection,\" to be\nexplained by the inspired penman more fully hereafter, (ch. xx. 5.)--As\nSaul feared David, and Herod John Baptist, because they were \"just men\nand holy;\" so were the wicked afraid when these witnesses arose; and,\nlike Shimei, they justly dread the \"due reward of their deeds.\" At the\ntime referred to, \"the haters of the Lord will feign submission.\"--The\n\"great voice from heaven\" inviting the witnesses to ascend, and their\nactual ascent, is another allusion to Christ's exaltation. As when \"he\nwas taken up, a cloud received him;\" so here, \"they ascended up to\nheaven in a cloud.\"\n\nIt has often been the cry of the antichristian multitude,--\"The voice of\nthe people is the voice of God.\" This cry has been iterated and\nreiterated, in centuries past, like that of the Ephesian worshippers of\nDiana; that thereby the testimony of the witnesses might be counteracted\nand silenced. It has been only too often successful. But where did\nflattering demagogues and haughty despots find the sentiment? They found\nit engraved on the moral constitution of man by our beneficent Creator.\nThey found it also transcribed on the pages of objective\nrevelation,--the Bible. But, like other moral and scriptural principles,\nit has been perverted and misapplied by the perverse ingenuity of wicked\nmen.--This \"voice from heaven\" is indeed the _people's_ voice: and it is\nlegitimate, as coming from the people, because it is first the voice of\nGod. The \"heaven\" here mentioned is the seat of civil power,--\"the\nordinance of man.\" (1 Pet. ii. 13.) In the times here\ncontemplated,--millennial times,--the rights of men will be respected,\npredicated upon the rights of God, and flowing from them as inseparable.\nIn settling the point of title to civil sovereignty, or the eligibility\nof any candidate for civil office, the principle enunciated by Hushai\nthe Archite will be found to be alone reliable:--\"Whom the Lord and this\npeople choose.\" (2 Sam. xvi. 18.) Only let the Lord have the first\nchoice of candidates for office in both church and state, and society\nwill be prosperous and happy. (Acts i. 23, 24; vi. 5.) The \"great voice\"\nof the 12th verse, comes from \"heaven,\" as the \"great voices\" of the\n15th verse, announcing the millennium.\n\n\n13. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part\nof the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven\nthousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of\nheaven.\n\nV. 13.--\"The same hour\" that the witnesses mark by their\nresurrection,--contemporaneously with that joyful event, is \"a great\nearthquake,\"--a revolution, (ch. vi. 12.) \"The tenth part of the city\nfell.\" The city,--\"Sodom.\" \"Tenth part of the city,\"--a \"street,\"\nequivalent to \"horn.\" Some one of the \"ten kingdoms\" will secede from\nthe antichristian confederacy, or imperial dominion; \"and the\nremnant,\"--the other nine, dreading the Mediator's vengeance, will\nreluctantly but speedily submit. (See ch. vi. 16, 17.)--In the\n\"earthquake were slain of men (names, titles,) seven thousand.\" By\n\"names of men\" to be slain,--that is, abolished in reorganized society,\nwe are to understand those \"names of blasphemy\" mentioned, (ch. xiii.\n1,) hereafter to be explained.\n\nWe have now taken a very cursory view of the contents of the \"little\nopen book.\" Its place is between the termination of the fourth, and the\nsounding of the seventh trumpet. In other words, it gives an outline of\nthe contest between the witnesses and Antichrist during 1260\nyears,--events running parallel in time, at least in part, with the\nfirst two woe-trumpets; for it obviously anticipates also, the effects\nof the third and last woe.\n\nThis may be as suitable a place as any other, before proceeding to a\nconsideration of the seventh trumpet, to direct attention to the method\nwhich Infinite Wisdom has chosen, by which to reveal to mankind the\npurposes of God in prophecy. He who alone \"knows the end from the\nbeginning,\"--who \"from ancient times has declared the things that are\nnot yet done,\" has told us plainly,--\"I have multiplied visions, and\nused similitudes, by the ministry (_hand_,) of the prophets.\" (Hosea\nxii. 10.) Now since God has _multiplied_ visions, we ought not to think\nit strange if the same important events in providence be predicted by\nseveral, or by many of the prophets; or that one and the same important\nevent be foretold \"at sundry times and in diverse manners\" by the same\nprophet. How often, and by how many prophets was the dispersion of the\nJews foretold!--the downfall of ancient cities, Babylon, Nineveh,\nTyre!--Need we refer to the language of our Lord, addressed to his\ndisciples on the way to Emmaus?--\"And beginning at Moses, and all the\nprophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things\nconcerning himself.\" (Luke xxiv. 27.) We may be sure that the things\nconcerning Christ and the interests of his kingdom in this world, are\nthe theme of inspired prophets in the New Testament as well as in the\nold. Agreeably to these views, we find Nebuchadnezzar's dream and\nDaniel's visions relate to the same objects and events. What was more\nobscurely revealed in the monarch's dream, is rendered more intelligible\nby various symbols in Daniel's first vision. (Dan. ii. 36-45; vii.\n17-27.) But in the next, the eighth chapter, Daniel is favored with\nstill clearer information relative to what he had already seen in\nvision; and in the eleventh chapter, his attention is called to the most\nobscure, but most interesting parts of his former visions; and, after\nall, the \"vision is sealed,\" so that he sees not \"the end of these\nthings.\" (ch. xii. 8, 9.) \"I heard, but I understood not,\" (1 Pet. i.\n10, 11.)\n\nIn this book, styled Apocalypse, or Revelation, we are told in the first\nverse, that the Lord Christ \"signified,\"--made known _by signs_, to his\nservant John the things that were to come to pass. We have thus far seen\nthat the customary method has been pursued in using signs, symbols or\nemblems. Henceforth we will find \"multiplied visions\" employed, more\nclearly to illustrate events which have already passed under review, but\nof which we could see little more than a _profile_:--\"men, as trees\nwalking.\"\n\n\n14. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.\n\n15. And the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in\nheaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of\nour Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.\n\nVs. 14, 15.--\"The third wo cometh quickly,\"--the time elapsing since the\nend of the second, is not to be so long as that intervening between the\nfirst two woes.--The first wo is thought to have begun about the year\n612, and continuing by the Saracenic conquests about 150 years, to have\nterminated in 762. The second woe-trumpet, it is alleged, sounded about\n1281, and continuing for 391 years,--the period of the ravages by the\nEuphratean horsemen, ended about 1672. The destructive influence,\nhowever, of these two judgments, may be considered as reaching to the\ntime of the third woe, the one which is to demolish the whole\nantichristian fabric.\n\nMany eminent expositors,[3] in the early part of the present century,\nwhile the first Napoleon was waging successful war with the other powers\nof Europe, expressed their belief with much confidence, that the seventh\nangel had begun to sound. They were evidently mistaken. Christendom will\nnot fail to hear the voice of the third woe. It may be so that an\nindividual may \"not be conscious of having an interest inconsistent with\nfidelity to the Scriptures,\" while political \"bias\" may in fact so\ninfluence \"sentiments, as to render conviction less dependent upon\n_evidence_ than upon his _wishes_.\" And we doubt not that\nmisapprehensions and misinterpretation of \"the other scriptures,\" are to\nbe attributed to this cause, insensibly influencing the minds and hearts\nof learned and godly men, as well as in their expositions of the\nApocalypse. Indeed the misapplying of God's word, precept and prophecy,\nto political and ecclesiastical organizations, has been the principal\nmeans of combining and continuing the antichristian apostacy. Thus it is\nprecisely, that the great adversary has been successful, as \"an angel of\nlight.\"\n\n\"The little book\" has been shown to contain such extensive and important\nevents as to justify the solemnity accompanying its delivery to the\napostle.--He now resumes the subject which had been interrupted at the\nclose of the ninth chapter.--The \"great voices in heaven\" represent the\nexpressions of joy by the saints on hearing the voice of the last of the\ntrumpets, as assuring them of the happy change in the moral condition of\nthe world, which they had been warranted to expect by God's \"servants\nthe prophets\" from the days of old, (ch. x. 7.) The great, the universal\nchange consists in this:--\"The kingdoms of this world are become _the\nkingdoms_ of our Lord and of his Christ.\" The English supplement,--\"the\nkingdoms,\" is justified and required, equally by the sense and the laws\nof syntax: and he is a deceiver, if a scholar, who insists upon any\nother, to supply the ellipsis. Indeed, the omission of similar\nsupplements, has occasioned needless obscurity to the unlearned in other\nparts of this book. (See chs. xix. 10; xxii. 9.) The greatest of all\nrevolutions consists in restoring church and state to their scriptural\nfoundation,--transferring both from allegiance to \"the god of this\nworld,\" (Matt. iv. 8; Luke iv. 5, 6;) to their rightful owner,--\"the\nLord and his Anointed.\" (Ps. ii. 2, 8.) When this desirable epoch\narrives, for which the persecuted witnesses have long and fervently\nprayed, (ch. vi. 10,) gospel ministers and Christian magistrates will\nseek to do the will, and aim at the glory of God.--It is painful and\npitiable to hear learned and pious men often pray,--\"That the kingdoms\nof this world may soon become the _kingdom_ of our Lord and Saviour\nJesus Christ.\" This is to \"ask amiss,\"--to miss the promise; for no such\npromise is on record. The groundless conception confounds the revealed\ndistinctions in the Godhead,--the Father with the Mediator; and it would\nsubvert Jehovah's moral empire, annihilating the eternal principle of\nrepresentative identification! But those good men \"mean not so, neither\ndo their hearts think so.\" They ought, however, to be more careful and\ndiligent in \"searching the Scriptures.\"--If the scriptural significance\nof this joyful announcement \"in heaven\" were better understood by gospel\nministers generally, a chief barrier would be removed, which now\nobstructs the advent of the millennium. Would they but cease, their\nhearers might more readily cease, to \"wonder after the beast.\" But we\nmay not anticipate.\n\n\"He, (Christ,) shall reign for ever and ever.\" When the seventh trumpet,\nthe third woe, shall have accomplished its object, in the utter\ndestruction of immoral power, and the 1260 years shall have come to an\nend, no other successful combination shall ever again be permitted to\nassail and harass the city of the Lord:--\"of his government there shall\nbe no end.\" (Dan. vii. 27.) \"All dominions shall serve and obey him.\"\nThe final enterprise of Gog and Magog shall not succeed, (ch, xx. 7-9.)\n\n\n16. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God, on their\nseats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,\n\n17. Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and\nwast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power,\nand hast reigned.\n\n18. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of\nthe dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward\nunto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear\nthy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the\nearth.\n\nVs. 16-18.--These verses give us a glimpse of the times following the\nlast woe till the end of the world. The \"elders,\" the\nrepresentatives,--not of the ministry, as prelates dream, but of the\ncollective body of God's people, now that they are emancipated from a\nlonger and more cruel bondage than that of their fathers in the literal\nEgypt, \"give thanks to God\" for the display of his \"great power\" in\ntheir deliverance. Many times had he made bare his holy arm in past ages\non behalf of his people: but this is in their eyes the most signal\ndisplay of his power. \"Thou hast taken to thee thy great power.\"--He now\nexercises his power over the nations, which was his before; their\n\"anger\" in the time of their rebellion is now repressed,--Messiah's\n\"wrath is come,\" heavier wrath than that which fell upon Rome pagan:\n(ch. vi. 16, 17.) Then follows an intimation of the final judgment, and\nsuitable \"rewards.\" Our curiosity is excited here, but not gratified;\nbut while left in suspense, we may, with Daniel and the virgin\nMary,--\"keep these things in our heart.\" (Dan. vii. 28; Luke ii. 19.)\nFarther light will be given, (ch. xx. 11-13.)\n\n19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in\nhis temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and\nvoices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.\n\nV. 19.--The inspired books of the Bible were divided into chapters,\nverses and other parts, for the convenience of reference. But those who\nperformed this useful service were imperfect like ourselves, and\ntherefore we are at liberty to differ from them in our arrangement. Now\nit seems evident that the 18th verse closes this chapter with a concise\naccount of the ending of the last woe. But the last woe reaches to the\nfinal consummation of all things as we have already seen: it follows\nthat the nineteenth verse _must_ introduce a new subject. Similar\nmistakes may be seen in numerous instances elsewhere in our Bibles.\n\nBut although a new vision is presented in the twelfth chapter, the two\nprincipal parties delineated in the eleventh, engage the apostle's\nattention. And as preparatory to future scenes, \"the temple of God was\nopened in heaven.\" \"Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath\nshined.\" Before the following scene of warfare, John is favored with a\nview of the \"ark of the testament,\"--a symbol of the covenant of grace,\nwhich shall continue to be administered in the worst of times; and the\nopposition to which, in its external dispensation, is emblematically set\nforth by \"lightnings,\"--as well as the tokens of Jehovah's presence and\navenging judgments: for these awful symbols, taken from fearful\nconvulsions in nature, are usually indicative of the tremendous\njudgments of God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\n1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the\nsun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve\nstars;\n\n2. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to\nbe delivered.\n\nVs. 1, 2.--The Apocalypse, besides the _three_ parts into which it is\ndivided by its divine Author, (noticed in ch. i. 19,) is also\nsusceptible of division into _two_ parts. With the eleventh chapter\nterminates the _abridged_ prospective history of the church and of the\nworld, emblematically represented under the seals and trumpets. The\nseventh seal, when opened, disclosed all the contents of the sealed\nbook, and also introduced the seven trumpets. But we have followed the\nseries of the trumpets in order, to the end of the world,--interrupted\nonly by the isolated history of the \"little book; which, treating of\nevents which were matter of history under the first two woe-trumpets,\n_could not be sealed_. Now at the twelfth chapter, without regard to the\nseventh, or any other of the trumpets in particular, we are furnished\nwith a second and enlarged edition, as it were, of the most important\nparts of the first edition. We have observed before, that this is the\nmanner of the prophets on a large scale, especially in predicting \"the\nsufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.\" So it is with\nJohn and Paul. What the latter only hints at, when writing to Timothy,\n(1 Tim. iv. 1-3,) he enlarges upon in addressing the Thessalonians. (2\nThess. ii. 3-12.) The theme is the same as treated by these two\napostles; and this coincidence will in due time be more manifest. Next\nto Christ personal, the prophets have been interested in the destiny of\nChrist mystical.\n\nThree different views of this twelfth chapter have been taken by the\nmore sober and learned expositors. One considers it as referring to the\nRoman empire in its heathen state, prior to the time of Constantine.\nAnother understands the first part of this chapter,--(vs. 1-6,)--as\nrelating to Rome pagan, and the rest of the chapter to antichristian\nRome. A third conceives that the whole of it applies to apostate\nimperial Rome _only_. The last is doubtless the correct view.\n\nAs the \"sealed book\" and the \"little open book,\" must be supposed to\ncontain all the prophetical part of the Apocalypse; and as the whole of\nthe little book is comprised in the eleventh chapter, (vs. 1--13,) this\ntwelfth chapter must belong to the sealed book. Being a continuance of\nthe history under the seventh seal, although it may agree in time with\nsome of the trumpets, it cannot go back to a period prior to the seventh\nseal. But under the sixth seal, paganism was abolished in the Roman\nempire; therefore this chapter refers to the antichristian empire.\nMoreover, as the little book was introductory to the seventh trumpet,\ndesignating the object of the third woe, so this chapter and the next\ntwo, are wholly occupied in describing the object of the vials, (ch.\n16.)\n\nWe ought to bear in mind continually, that the seals, trumpets and\nvials, are introduced as symbols, to delineate one character, the\nimpenitent enemy of God and of his saints. But this enemy \"beguiles\nthrough his subtlety,\" changing his aspects and instruments, the more\nsuccessfully to assail the city of the Lord. It is therefore the design\nof the Holy Spirit in these three chapters to present the foe in his\nmost prominent features, that the two witnesses may be able to identify\nthe enemy, be apprized of their danger, and intelligently choose their\ncommander,--\"the Captain of salvation.\"\n\n\"There appeared a great wonder in heaven.\" The word \"wonder\" in this\nverse, and also in verse third, simply means a _sign_ or symbol; and the\nwhole structure of the book requires that it be so translated.--\"Woman\"\nis here the true church of God. Here most expositors fail to explain the\nsymbol \"heaven.\" Others say \"heaven\" symbolizes the church. Then we have\n_two churches_,--a church within a church! This is unquestionably the\nonly correct view of the matter. During most, if not the whole period of\nthe 1260 years, the witnesses are so blended with, or overshadowed by\nthe church catholic or general, that few are able, and fewer still\ndisposed, to distinguish the one from the other. All through the Bible\nthe church is spoken of as a female. She is the \"daughter of Zion,--the\nbride, the Lamb's wife.\" Any body politic is spoken of in the sacred\nwritings in the same style. \"The daughter of Babylon, of Tyre, or even\nof Egypt,\"--These are familiar figures.\n\nThis woman is \"clothed with the sun.\" She has \"put on the Lord Jesus\nChrist.\" (Rom. xiii. 14.) He is \"the Lord her righteousness.\" (Jer.\nxxiii. 6.) The \"moon under her feet,\" may represent the \"beggarly\nelements\" of the Mosaic ritual, sublunary things, or the ordinances\nwhich derive all their light from the \"Sun of righteousness.\" The\n\"twelve stars\" are the doctrine of the apostles, or rather the apostles'\nlegitimate successors; their _legitimacy_ tested by their doctrine and\norder in opposition to the _imaginary historical line_ of papistical and\nprelatic succession. A faithful gospel ministry are ever her stars and\nher crown, (ch. i. 20.) The true apostolic church, thus scripturally\nconstituted, (ch. xi. 1,) becomes the joyful mother of a holy seed. (Ps.\ncxiii. 9; Gal. iv. 26, 27.)\n\n\n3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and, behold, a great red\ndragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his\nheads.\n\n4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast\nthem to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready\nto be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.\n\n5. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a\nrod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.\n\n6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place\nprepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred\nand threescore days.\n\nVs. 3-6.--The next \"sign in heaven,\" exciting the apostle's admiration,\nwas \"a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,\"--The dragon\nis fully described, v. 9, leaving no place, or even _pretence_ for\nconjecture. He is known from the day that he \"beguiled Eve\" in the\ngarden of Eden. \"That old serpent\" still intrudes among the saints, in\nthe garden of the Lord. (Job i. 6; John vi. 70; xiii. 27.) As the devil\npossessed the serpent to deceive the mother of mankind, so, with the\nsame malevolent design, he possessed himself of the whole political and\necclesiastical power of the Roman empire, thereby to deceive and destroy\nthe \"seed of the woman,\" all true believers. His color is _red_,\ndenoting his character as cruel and blood-thirsty. Sir Isaac Newton\nconsiders the dragon as symbolical of the Greek Christian empire of\nConstantinople. Scott thinks this symbol represents the pagan Roman\nempire; while others suppose the British government to answer the\nsymbol, because of the scarlet costume of her officers and soldiers!\nThus, inspired symbols may mean any thing suggested to the imaginations\nof men, not by the text or context, but by their respective and\nconflicting political prejudices. Surely, if the red color signify any\nthing besides _cruelty_, it may be discerned with equal clearness in the\nscarlet cloaks of _Pope_ and _Cardinals_. As \"heaven\" is to be taken in\nan ecclesiastical sense, so are the \"stars,\" (ch. i. 20,--) \"the angels\nof the churches,\" ministers of the gospel.--As the Saracenic locusts and\nthe Euphratean horses had stings and hurtful power in their tails, (ch.\nix. 10, 19;) so it is with this dragon. The destructive influence of\nMahometan delusion and papal idolatry, operated as a fatal poison in the\nsouls of men. The judgments of the past woes left many still in a state\nof impenitence, (ch. ix. 20, 21.) \"The leaders of this people caused\nthem to err,\" by inculcating submission to existing corrupt civil power.\nThe \"little horn\" of Daniel, as first rendered visible in the person of\nthe brutal Phocas, began to be addressed in language of most fulsome and\ndegrading flattery, which seems to be copied till the present time. That\nwe may see how mercenary and aspiring ecclesiastics paid court to civil\ndespots from the commencement of the famous 1260 years, let the\nfollowing instance serve for a sample. Addressing the monster Phocas,\nPope Gregory, as the mouth of the clergy and laity,[4] uses this\nlanguage: \"We rejoice that the benignity of _your piety_(!) has reached\nthe pinnacle of imperial power. Let the heavens he glad and the earth\nrejoice.\"--Now let us hear the character of Phocas from the pen of an\ninfidel:--\"Ignorant of letters, of laws, and even of arms, he indulged\nin the supreme rank a more ample privilege of lust and drunkenness.--The\npunishment of the victims of his tyranny was imbittered by the\nrefinements of cruelty: their eyes were pierced, their tongues were torn\nfrom the root, their hands and feet were amputated: some expired under\nthe lash, others in the flames, others again were transfixed with\narrows: and a simple speedy death was mercy which they could rarely\nobtain.\"[5] Thus the dragon's power was in his mouth, issuing bloody\nedicts to \"slay the innocent;\" while \"his tail drew the third part of\nthe stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.\" They prostituted\ntheir ministry to sustain the policy of the beast. \"The ancient and\nhonorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the\ntail.\" (Is. ix. 15.) Thus it is that pastors, fond of show and ambitious\nof worldly distinction, attach themselves to the train of earthly\nthrones and dignities, and so constitute and perpetuate the\nantichristian confederacy against the \"woman\"--the true church. During\nthe first six hundred years of the Christian era the woman had been\n\"travailing\" to bring forth a holy progeny. All this time the dragon's\n\"eyes are privily set against the poor.\" (Ps. x. 8.) The allusion is\nhere to the cruel edict of Pharaoh (Exod. i. 16; Acts vii. 19.) The\ngreat city where the witnesses are slain is \"spiritually called Egypt.\"\n(ch. xi. 8.) By a like form of speech, Pharaoh is called \"the great\ndragon,\" (Ezek. xxix. 3; Is. li. 9.) It should be noted, that the Roman\nempire, the beast, in all its heads and horns is actuated by the\ndevil,--before as well as after its dismemberment, from the time of\nRomulus its founder, till its overthrow by the third woe. At the time\nreferred to in the text, when the empire has \"assumed the livery of\nheaven,\"--professedly in the interest of Christ, then it is that the\ndevil bestirs himself. Like his prototype, he dreads the growth and\npower of the woman's offspring. Under pagan Rome's persecutions, \"the\nmore God's people were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew.\"\nNow the adversary shapes his policy accordingly.--\"Come on, let us deal\nwisely with them, lest they multiply.\"--His avowed object is, to \"devour\nthe child as soon as it is born,\"--by persecution to prevent ministers\nfrom laboring to convert sinners to God; and to destroy all who \"as\nnew-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.\"--The woman had\nstill \"strength to bring forth.\"--\"She brought forth a man child, who\nwas to rule all nations with a rod of iron.\"--With united voice papists\nand prelates declare, this child can be no other than Constantine the\nfirst Christian emperor. The very fact that this interpretation comes\nfrom such a source, may well suggest suspicion as to its correctness.\nTwo considerations demonstrate the error of this prelatic\ninterpretation, besides the fact that it is _prelatic_. Constantine had\ngone the way of all the earth some hundreds of years before the birth of\nthis child. And again, the eternal Father never made the promise to\nConstantine or any other earthly monarch, to which the apostle John here\nrefers. (Ps. ii. 8, 9.) This promise is obviously made to the Lord\nChrist. But it is objected by those learned expositors,--much like the\nPharisees, (John vii. 52,)--\"Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth\nno prophet.\" So reason these men. They haughtily and confidently object\nthus:--\"Christ is the son of the _Jewish_ church, but this child is the\nson of the _Christian_ church.\" This argument destroys the unity of the\nchurch of God, which is one under all changes of dispensation of his\ngracious covenant. (Rom. xi. 16-24; Eph. ii. 20.) The Messiah is here\nrepresented as in the beginning of the war with the same enemy;--the\n_seed_ of the _woman_ shall bruise the serpent's head. Still may the\nchurch of God joyfully declare,--\"Unto us a _Child_ is born, unto us a\n_Son_ is given.\" (Is. ix. 6.) This _masculine_ son, however, is not to\nbe understood of Christ _personal_, but of Christ mystical,--of those\nwho are with him \"called, and chosen, and faithful;\" whom \"he is not\nashamed to call his brethren.\" (ch. xvii. 14; Heb. ii. 11.) The \"sealed\"\ncompany, (ch. vii. 4,) the \"two witnesses;\" (xi. 3), the \"144 thousand,\"\n(xiv. 1,) are the \"manchild.\" As many rulers constitute but one \"angel,\"\n(chs. ii. and iii.,) so the two witnesses are one _manly Son_. The Lord\nJesus was _alone_ in the work of redemption; but he allows his faithful\ndisciples to share in the honor of his victories, (ch. ii. 26, 27; Ps.\ncxlix. 9.) From the devouring jaws of the dragon, as it were, the \"child\nis caught up unto God, and to his throne.\" The leaders in church and\nstate supposed that they had \"made sure\" of the Saviour, when they had\n\"sealed the stone and set a watch.\" So thought the enemies of the\nwitnesses while their dead bodies lay unburied.--\"He that sitteth in the\nheavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.\" The Anointed\nof the Father, the Head of the church, and Prince of the kings of the\nearth, as the representative of his people, in defiance of the serpent,\nis caught up to the throne of God, (Eph. ii. 6;) while the church flies\nto her appointed place in the wilderness during the 1260 years. At the\nbeginning of that gloomy period the woman fled. This flight is not\nmentioned \"by anticipation,\" as some suppose; for the wilderness\ncondition of the woman, and the sackcloth of the witnesses, are\nemblematical of the same depressed state of the church, and during the\nsame time. The witnesses prophesy during the whole period of the 1260\nyears; and the woman is fed in the wilderness during the _same_ time.\nHer flight, sojourn in the wilderness, and feeding there, are allusions\nto the history of Elijah as before, (ch. xi. 6.) when he fled for his\nlife from the wrath of Jezebel. (1 Kings xix. 1-4.) Jezebel has been\nalready introduced as an enemy to the church, (ch. ii. 20.) There may be\nallusion also to the miraculous subsistence of the church in the\nwilderness, till the \"cup of the Amorites should be full.\" During the\ntime of the conflict, to be described in the rest of this chapter, the\nwoman is in a place of safety. In the worst of times there are places of\nsafety provided for God's children. (Isa. xxvi. 20.)\n\n\n7. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against\nthe dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels.\n\n8. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven,\n\n9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the\nDevil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into\nthe earth, and his angels were cast out with him.\n\n10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation,\nand strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ;\nfor the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before\nour God day and night.\n\n11. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of\ntheir testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.\n\nVs. 7-11.--In this part of the chapter we have three attacks of the\ndragon upon the friends of true religion. The first is the war in\nheaven, (vs. 7-12.) The second persecution on the earth, (vs. 12-16.)\nThe third is mentioned in verse 17th: and these three contests cover the\nwhole period of the 1260 years.\n\nThe first war is waged in heaven. The allusion is obviously to the\nrebellion of angels, for which they were cast down from heaven, (2 Pet.\nii. 4.) The contest is the same in principle as the first war; but it is\nconducted in a different form and place. Heaven here, is the church\ngeneral, and the serpent acts by the authority of the empire. The woman\nhaving fled into the wilderness, the dragon's power becomes so great in\nthe symbolical heaven, that he aims at the entire destruction of true\nreligion in the world. The advocates of the true religion at this time\nwere the Waldenses, called by their adversaries in derision _Leonists_\nand _Cathari_,--citizens of Lyons in France; and Puritans, a term of\nreproach heaped upon their successors till the present day. These people\nwere deemed the most dangerous enemies to the church of Rome. Yet the\nreasons for their condemnation by the inquisitors, are their full\nvindication in the judgment of impartial men. They are three,--\"This is\nthe oldest sect; for some say it hath endured,--from the time of the\napostles. It is more general; for there is no country in which this sect\nis not. Because when all other sects beget horror in the hearers, this\nof the Leonists hath a great show of piety: they live justly before men,\nand believe all things rightly concerning God; only they blaspheme the\nchurch of Rome and the clergy.\" While the beast by its horns, instigated\nby an apostate church, and both by the dragon, was \"making havoc of the\nchurch,\" represented by the Puritans: there were some even in the Romish\ncloisters whose hearts God had touched, and who occasionally espoused\nthe cause of a virtuous minority at the hazard of life. This war _in\nheaven_, conducted with various success by Bernard, Peter Waldo, John\nWickliffe and others on the European continent and in Britain, may be\npronounced by Gibbon \"premature and ineffectual;\" but the Captain of\nsalvation and his heroic followers, will give a different verdict. These\nnoble confessors and martyrs, under the conduct of Michael our prince,\nbegan the struggle with the dragon, although the war did not come to its\nheight till the early part of the 16th century. Then it was that\n\"Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought\nand his angels.\" Both parties became more visible in the symbolic heaven\nbefore the eyes of all Christendom. Michael, (_who is like God_?) is the\nwell known description of Jesus Christ. (Phil. ii. 6; Heb. i. 3.) To\nDaniel, while contemplating this same contest, he was made known as the\n\"great Prince, that standeth for the children of God's people,\" and long\nbefore Daniel's time, had \"contended with the devil.\" (Jude v. 9.)\n\"Christ and Belial\" are therefore the two opposing leaders of the\narmies. In other words, Christ mystical and the devil incarnate are the\nbelligerents; and we know that \"greater is he that is in the saints,\nthan he that is in the world.\" (1 John iv. 4.) The result of the war is\nnot doubtful. The whole power of Rome, civil and\necclesiastical,--emperors, kings, princes, pope, cardinals and prelates,\nwere baffled; and this too, whether in the use of the sword of the\nSpirit,--polemic _theses_,--or of the material sword, in literal\nwarfare. When the Lord Jesus \"mustered the hosts to the battle,\" he\nfurnished them \"with the whole armour of God to stand in the evil way.\"\nWhen Zuingle, Luther, Calvin, Knox, their compeers and successors, were\nobliged to wrestle with the hosts of Antichrist,--\"against\nprincipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of\nthis world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,\" (_wicked\nspirits in heavenly places_,) they found it both lawful and\nnecessary,--\"having no sword, to buy one.\" (Luke xxii. 36.)\n\nThe dragon and his angels were defeated and routed,--\"They prevailed\nnot,--he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with\nhim.\" The thunders of the Vatican thenceforth lost their wonted power to\nterrify. Ever since, they are but _brutum fulmen,--vox, et praeterea\nnihel_,--harmless thunder,--unmeaning voice. Papal curses, though\nannually launched against all heretics, tend only to amuse the popular\nmind, not to reach or disturb the individual conscience. For centuries\nthe dragon has been unable to rouse any one horn of the beast to deeds\nof blood.\n\nIt is usual for the victors to give outward expression to their joy.\n\"The voice of them that shout for mastery,\" has been heard since the\ndays of Moses. (Exod. xxxii. 18.) Accordingly, these conquerors\ncongratulate one another on their recent victory, but their joy\nterminates on the proper object. The \"kingdom of their God and the power\nof his Christ\" constitute their theme. His right hand and his holy arm\nhave gotten him the victory. The devil accused Job before God. His\naccusations in that instance were prosecuted through Job's friends and\nhis wife. (Job ii. 4, 5, 9, 11.)--So it was in the experience of the\nreformers. They were loaded with infamy by their persecutors; and while\nthey were depressed, God himself seemed to give sentence against them.\nThis was the wormwood and the gall in the cup of their affliction, as it\nwas in holy Job's experience: but in due time God \"brought forth their\nrighteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday.\" Their\n\"good conversation put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.\" The\npower of the Lord's Christ was made manifest through the instrumentality\nof his servants, by producing conviction in many hearts that the cause\nfor which they suffered was from God, and thus prevailing with such to\njoin in their fellowship. The hearts of kings and princes of the earth\nwere touched from on high; so that they braved the combinations of\nimperial and papal power, while extending the shield of their protection\nto the followers of the Lamb. Frederick the Wise, and especially John\nhis brother, electors of Saxony in Luther's time, were notable bulwarks\nof defence to the sufferers, against the bloody edicts of Charles fifth,\nemperor of Germany. The \"good regent\" in Scotland and others extended\neffectual protection to Knox, his coadjutors and followers in the cause\nof reformation. When the seven thunders uttered their voices, John \"was\nabout to write,\" (ch. x. 4.) He was about to proclaim a final victory!\nHe was too sanguine. \"The time was not yet.\" Just so in the case of his\nlegitimate successors in the work of the Lord. Confident in the power\nand faithfulness of Michael their Prince, confident in the righteousness\nof their cause, fondly hoping that at this time their Master is about to\nrestore again the kingdom to Israel, they prematurely exclaim,--\"Now is\ncome salvation.\"--In reaping the first fruits of victory, they\nanticipate the harvest of final and absolute conquest, (ch. xiv. 8.)\nIndeed, the salvation of God and the power of his Christ, were\nexperienced by great multitudes during the time of this contest. The\nsaints experienced times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.\nThen followed a work of grace, both on the continent of Europe and in\nthe British Isles; Christians entering into solemn covenant bonds with\nGod and with one another, whereby the kingdom of God was rendered more\nvisible among mankind than in the \"dark ages.\" The weapons, with which\nthe saints overcame the dragon, were not carnal, but mighty. These, we\nare told, were \"the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony.\"\nThey believed and they taught in opposition to the popular doctrine of\ngood works and penances, that the righteousness which the law of God\nrequires of a sinner, is provided by a Surety; that the blood of Christ\nalone cleanses believers from the guilt of sin, and thus justifies them\nin the sight of God. No man ever used stronger language than Luther in\ndenouncing the supposed efficacy of works, or in asserting the\nsovereignty of free grace, in the justification of a sinner. Indeed it\nwas the deep impression which the doctrine of justification made upon\nthe hearts of men, and the firm hold which faith took of it, that\nenabled and constrained them to forsake the Romish church and to seek\nand erect a separate fellowship. This was with them \"the word of\nChrist's patience.\" Other doctrines of grace were, of course, connected\nwith this of justification in the apprehension of the Reformers, but it\nwas the central one. And thus we may learn, that any doctrine of the\nBible, when generally opposed, may lawfully become a point of testimony;\nand when openly opposed and practically denied, it may become a\nwarrantable and imperative ground of separation. In all such cases,--and\nhistory supplies multitudes of them,--the declining majority are truly\nthe schismatics and separatists. The malicious, the indolent and\ncredulous, however, in all ages have joined in the cry of schism as\nattaching to the virtuous minority.\n\nMany of the combatants fell in the conflict, \"resisting unto blood,\nstriving against sin.\" \"They loved not their lives unto the death.\" They\ncould give no stronger evidence of love to Christ and truth. Their\nfaithful contendings constituted their testimony. This testimony is\ncalled in the 17th verse, \"the testimony of Jesus Christ.\" Does this\nmean that it _belongs_ to Christ? or that it _treats_ of him? The\nlanguage may probably be taken in either sense, or as embracing both. It\nis Christ's testimony, as he is \"the faithful and true Witness, who\nbefore Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;\" or it may be\nunderstood as bearing upon Christ in his person, offices and work. In\neither sense his faithful disciples enjoy intimate communion with\nhimself, sharing the honour of his victories, (v. 5.) Therefore let the\nheavens rejoice in prospect of _final_ victory, (ch. xviii. 20.)\n\n\n12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the\ninhabiters of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto\nyou, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short\ntime.\n\n13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he\npersecuted the woman, which brought forth the manchild.\n\nVs. 12, 13.--Here is a note of warning. The dragon, though ejected from\nthe symbolic heaven, the seat of imperial and ecclesiastic power, is not\nyet bound with the great chain, (ch. xx. 1, 2.) His late defeat has only\nincensed his rage, \"as a bear robbed of her whelps.\" But the special\nreason assigned for his \"great wrath\" is, \"because he knoweth that he\nhath but a short time.\" How does the devil come to this knowledge? Is he\nomniscient! No. Was he joint-counsellor with the Most High? No. (Isa.\nxl. 13, 14; Rom. xi. 34.) He must have derived this knowledge from\nrevelation; and from some instances in Scripture, we might infer that\nthe devil is more skilled in theology, especially in prophecy, than\nmany, if not most modern interpreters. In the time of our Lord's\nhumiliation he quoted and applied to him a prophecy in the 91st psalm,\n(v. 11, 12.) He also dreaded being tormented,--\"before the time.\" (Matt.\nviii. 29:) from which it appears that he reasons of the \"times and the\nseasons\" as revealed in the Bible. But by the phrase, \"a short time,\"\nthe devil understood,--and we are to understand,--not the time to\ntranspire till the end of the world; but, the time intervening between\nhis ejectment out of heaven, and the overthrow of Antichrist, when he is\nto be bound. Now, we may learn from the _devil's calculation_, that all\nthose learned and famous divines, especially of the prelatic church of\nEngland, \"do greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures;\" who say, that the\ndragon was cast out of the symbolic heaven _in the time of Constantine!_\nThe space of duration _from Constantine till the millennium_, cannot be\nrelatively \"short,\" under the New Testament dispensation. The time of\nthe dragon's being cast out of heaven, and the instruments by which this\nwas accomplished, are to be found clearly verified in the authentic\nhistories of the sixteenth century, to which some references have been\nalready made, as elucidating the events of the 11th chapter: for it is\nto be still remembered that the former part of the 11th chapter _agrees\nin time_ with the 12th, 13th and 14th chapters. At the end of the second\nwoe, which we supposed to be in the latter part of the seventeenth\ncentury, about the year 1672, it is declared \"the third woe cometh\nquickly,\" (ch. xi. 14.) Now here it is said \"the devil,--hath but a\nshort time.\" Taking both expressions as relating to the same period, it\nfollows that we are now living,--not in the time of the third woe, but\nin the time of the devil's activity among the \"inhabiters of the earth\nand of the sea;\" that is, the population of Christendom either in a\ntranquil or revolutionary state. The enemy makes his _second_ attack\nupon the \"woman\" in a new and unexpected mode of warfare. So long as\npermitted, he never ceases to persecute the saints. When defeated in\n_heaven_, he renews the assault upon the _earth_. If the edicts and\nbulls of crowned and mitred heads have lost their power to terrify and\ndestroy the souls of men, he will try to effect the same object by other\nmeans.\n\n\n14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she\nmight fly into the wilderness, into her place; where she is nourished\nfor a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.\n\n15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth, water as a flood, after the\nwoman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.\n\n16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and\nswallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.\n\nVs. 14-16.--To guard against the _second_ attack of the dragon, the\nwoman flees a _second_ time to the place of safety, which had been\nmercifully prepared for her preservation before the war began, (v. 6.)\nAnd she is in no less peril from her deadly enemy than before.\n\nThe \"two wings of a great eagle\" have furnished occasion to many fertile\nminds for indulging in fanciful conjectures. To such persons nothing\noccurs answerable to the symbol but some emblem of imperial power or\nnational sovereignty. And because the eagle was the visible symbol on\nthe military banner of Rome, it is conjectured that \"the eastern and\nwestern empires afforded protection to the church!\" Why, the empire, in\nboth its wings, was the deadly enemy of the church, as we have already\nseen! (ch. xi. 7.) Alas! what absurdities result from political bias!\nThe unlettered Christian will readily perceive under the emblem in the\ntext, a plain allusion to the gracious interposition of the church's\nRedeemer in the days of old. \"Ye have seen what I did unto the\nEgyptians, and how I bare you on _eagles' wings_, and brought you unto\nmyself.\" (Exod. xix. 4.) Thus the Lord delivered his people and brought\nthem into a literal wilderness on their way to the promised land of\nliberty. And now in a time of equal danger, he will \"set his hand again\nthe second time\" to deliver his people. He who delivered them from so\ngreat a death as Pharaoh threatened, doth still deliver: in whom his\nsaints have ground to trust that he will still deliver them, (2 Cor. i.\n10) The great and beneficial change accomplished among the nations by\nthe reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whereby the\ndragon was hurled from seats of ecclesiastical and civil power, did not\nmaterially change the position of the \"two witnesses.\" The time had not\nyet come when they were to be called up into the symbolic heaven. They\nmust continue to prophesy till the close of the appointed period of 1260\nyears. Till the expiration of that definite period the true church of\nChrist is not to be permanently established in any nation of the earth.\nThe actual condition of the church and of the nations among whom she\ndwells, is delineated in these verses during the time subsequent to the\nProtestant Reformation,--consequently in our own time. The \"time, times\nand half a time\" of the 14th verse, are an obvious reference to Daniel\nvii. 25: xii. 7; and are the same period as 42 months, or 1260 days, \"a\nday for a year.\" During this whole time the woman is nourished in the\nwilderness \"from the face of the serpent.\" Safety is secured for her\nonly \"in her place.\"\n\n\"Water,\" as a symbol or metaphor, is of frequent occurrence and varied\nimport in Scripture. Among its diversified significations, perhaps that\nof a destructive element is most common. (Ps. xviii. 4; xxxii. 6.) It is\nindeed often used to denote gospel blessings, (as Is. lv. 1; John vii.\n38; Rev. xxii. 17.) As here used, the \"water as a flood,\" represents\nsomething intended by the dragon for the destruction of the woman. If he\ncannot destroy her by fire, he aims to overwhelm her with water. This\nwater comes out of the dragon's \"mouth.\" So of the \"unclean spirits,\"\n(ch. xvi. 13.) Soul-destroying errors,--heresies,--are undoubtedly\nintended. If he cannot devour as a roaring lion, he will endeavour to\ndeceive and seduce as a cunning serpent. We are therefore instructed\nhereby to look for \"damnable heresies\" to prevail, accompanied and\nfollowed by popular commotions and licentiousness. The age in which we\nlive is remarkably characterized by false systems and impious theories.\nSpeculative atheism caused the French revolution, and led to the\nerection of the United States government; which, having openly declared\nindependence of England, soon after virtually declared independence of\nGod. France, Germany, England and the United States, have all been\npervaded with infidel and atheistical sentiments; and these, whether\npropagated under the name of _solid science_ or _polite literature_,\nhave corrupted the public mind for generations. In the name of science,\ntreating of the material or moral world, the agents of the dragon have\nbeen exceedingly successful. Metaphysicians and geologists have\nconstructed systems which would exclude the Almighty from the heavens\nand the earth. But however active and zealous these laborers in the\nservice of the dragon, they do not reach the popular ear but in part.\nThose sons of Belial who devise false systems of religion under the name\nof Christianity, have been still more pernicious to the nations, and\ndangerous to the church. If the church of Rome cannot prevail with kings\nas before, to execute her cruel sentences of death upon heretics, she is\nnot less active in disseminating her idolatrous and superstitious dogmas\namong the nations. By freemasonry, odd-fellowship, temperance\nassociations, and a countless number of affiliated societies,--the\noffshoots of popery and infidelity, the dragon still assails the woman.\nReason, toleration, humanity, charity and liberality are terms which\nhave been selected and abused by the servants of the devil \"to deceive\nthe hearts of the simple.\" These are alike the watchwords of the\nspiritual seducer and the political agitator. What dogma or heresy so\nabsurd,--what conduct so immoral, as not to find patronage in the\njournals of the day? or not to find tolerance or protection under the\nfostering wings of church or state? What is impiously called \"free\nlove,\" as well as avowed infidelity and polygamy, are patronized by\nconstituted authorities in Christendom. When taking a survey of the\nerrors and systems of error, hostile to the honor of Messiah and the\nfree grace of his gospel, how few can be found in the different nations\nof the earth, who \"overcame by the blood of the Lamb!\" The religions\nestablished by the nations of the world are all more or less tainted\nwith the errors, and disfigured by the ceremonies of the church of Rome.\nSurely we have before our eyes a constant fulfilment of the prophecy\nunder consideration. To all outward appearance the woman is in the\nwilderness. She is in fact so obscure that some of her sons begin to\nquestion her visibility. They are ready to cry in despondency,--\"The\nwitnesses are slain.\"--They are mistaken. This is their infirmity. The\n1260 years are not yet expired, nor the testimony finished. \"When the\nenemy shall come in _like a flood_, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up\na standard against him.\" (Isa. lix. 19.) The mystic woman is yet in the\nwilderness, and there she is nourished with the hidden manna \"a time,\ntimes and half a time,\" \"forty and two months, or twelve hundred and\nsixty days,\"--that is, years; for, as formerly noticed, all these\nexpressions mean the same period of time; the period during which the\nwitnesses prophesy, on the one side, and the gentiles tread the outer\ncourt, on the other. The profanation of the holy city,--the church\nnominal, and the testimony of the witnesses against that conduct, is the\nsame contest which in this chapter is represented under other symbols.\nThe waters of the symbolic flood have spread over all the nations of\nChristendom, corrupting the very fountains of natural and moral science,\nliterature, politics and religion; so that hardly any principle is\naccepted by the human mind as settled, but all is thrown into debate.\nMan's intellect, craving substantial nourishment, and thirsting for\nrefreshment which nothing but the water of life can supply, vibrates\nbetween ritualism and skepticism in our day. The flood from the dragon's\nmouth, consisting of truth and error, a combination of Christianity,\nrefined idolatry and speculative atheism, fails to satisfy the necessary\ncravings of the immortal soul. \"There be many that say, Who will show us\nany good?\" (Ps. iv. 6.)\n\nIn this state of the popular mind, there is a general sentiment which\ndiscountenances penalties inflicted for mere opinion. The cry of\ntoleration,--\"freedom of speech and of the press,\" resounds in the\npublic ear among most communities since the dragon was cast down from\nthe mystic heaven. This popular sentiment is not an expression of the\nlaw of charity, actuating hearts influenced by divine grace; but rather\noriginates from indifference alike to the claims of Messiah and the\ndestinies of mankind. Thus \"the earth helps the woman.\" Indeed, the\nnations of Christendom, contrary to their former policy, are now much\nmore tolerant of ecclesiastical than of _political_ heresies. With few\nexceptions, the policy of the nations at the present time is to\ndiscriminate, not among _churches_, but among _religions_. The popular\nvoice is obviously in favor of dissevering that alliance between church\nand state, from which mankind have suffered in past generations. While\nevery earthly potentate, usurping the place and prerogatives of the\nMediator, assumed to dictate the faith and worship of his subjects, all\ndissenters and recusants must necessarily be subjected to penalties.\nSuch was the policy of the dragon for centuries, while in the heavens of\necclesiastical and civil power. The nominal church established by the\nstate, _defined heresy_; and the heresy found by the church became\nrebellion against the civil authority. Of course the saints were then\nexecuted as _traitors_. Even a superficial view of the signs of the\ntimes will result in the conviction, that a great change has taken place\nin the policy of nations and churches. The dragon has now prevailed with\nmost politicians and statesmen, as well as with most professing\nChristians, to demand a total \"separation of church and state;\" by which\ndemand they do not mean a divorce of the unscriptural and\n_antichristian_ alliance only or chiefly, but a simple and absolute\nrejection of religion, and especially the _Christian_ religion, from any\nconnexion with or influence upon _civil_ affairs. This is undeniably the\navowed aim and declared desire of the great body of the population of\nChristendom at the present time, (1870.) And what is this but an open\ndenial of the authority of the Mediator as he is the \"Prince of the\nkings of the earth?\" Thus has the dragon, since his ejection from heaven\nbecome a terrible \"woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!\"\nAnd thus has the \"earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood;\" so\nthat the woman remains comparatively safe \"from the face of the serpent\"\nin the very obscurity of her position. Some of her sons, from time to\ntime, venturing abroad from their secluded place in the wilderness,\nbecoming weary of sackcloth and aspiring to worldly distinction, have\nbeen borne along by the waters of the flood, and _drowned in the general\ndeluge_. Against the force of this strong current of popular errors,\nnothing will avail the seed of the woman but the \"living water\" which\nJesus imparted to the woman of Samaria. To him who partakes of this\nwater, those of the dragon will be distasteful; for \"it shall be in him\na well of water springing up into everlasting life.\" (John iv. 14.)\nSince the middle of the seventeenth century, when by the reformation in\nEurope and the British Isles, the dragon was cast down from the symbolic\nheaven, he has been assailing in \"great wrath\" all ranks and degrees of\nmen, not, as before, with fire and sword, with scaffolds, gibbets,\nthumb-screws,--torturing and destroying their mortal bodies, that he\nmight reach their immortal souls: but by bringing them together in\n_voluntary associations_ on principles of the covenant of works,\nsubversive of the covenant of grace, and consequently aiming at the\ndrowning of the mystic woman. This the enemy of all righteousness has\nbeen attempting, and with too much success, by public and professed\necclesiastical and Christian associations; such as Jesuits, Socinians\nand other self-styled Unitarians, Latter-day Saints, Mormons,--or by\ncombinations in secret and sworn confederacies; such as Odd Fellows,\nFreemasons, Sons and Daughters of Temperance, with other affiliated\nfellowships innumerable. The special subtlety of the serpent consists in\nblending these two kinds of communions, so that under the name of\nreform, moral and spiritual, those who fear God may be unconsciously\ndrawn into the snare. And alas! how many simple ones have been thus\ncarried away by the waters of the flood! And many strong men have been\nthus cast down from their excellency. We are not to be surprised if we\nfind the witnesses few in our time,--the seed of the woman diminished\nwhen the dragon makes his final attack.\n\n\n17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with\nthe remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have\nthe testimony of Jesus Christ.\n\nV. 17.--In this verse we have the last effort of the enemy, to destroy\nthe woman's offspring. It is the _third_ attempt, and, as we suppose, is\nyet future. We cannot therefore, of course, be so exact or certain as to\nthe nature of this contest. Some things, however, are plain enough. The\ndragon, disappointed in his efforts hitherto against the woman, so far\nfrom ceasing the warfare, is only thereby the more exasperated. \"The\ndragon was wroth with the woman.\" Malice overcomes reason. He knows that\nhe cannot finally prevail,--that \"no weapon formed against her shall\nprosper;\" yet he continues to vent his rage. The mode of attack is to be\ndifferent from what it was in the second struggle. He is said to \"make\nwar,\"--to resort to open violence, to employ the agency of the civil\npower, the beast of the bottomless pit, (ch. xi. 7;) for this third and\nlast war, waged by the dragon agrees in time with the _slaying of the\nwitnesses_. This third onset agrees also with the \"third woe-trumpet,\"\nthe \"vintage\" and the last \"vial;\" and immediately precedes the\nintroduction of the millennium. \"The remnant of the woman's seed\" are so\ncalled with reference to those of her offspring who had suffered death\nunder pagan and papal Rome, (ch. vi. 9.) Perhaps also we may suppose the\nnumber to be comparatively few at the time of the last war with the\ndragon; as during the whole period of the 1260 years, it was the aim of\nthe dragon, through his instruments, to wear out the saints of the Most\nHigh. (Dan. vii. 25.) The character which the Holy Spirit gives of these\nsufferers proves them to be the woman's seed. They \"keep the\ncommandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.\" This is\nthe special ground of the devil's hostility towards them. A more\ncomprehensive and definite description of true believers is not to be\nfound in the whole Bible. In matters of religion they adhere strictly to\nthe commandments of God. They will not introduce, nor permit to be\nintroduced, any corruptions into the doctrines of grace or into the\nmatter of God's worship. The temple, altar and worshippers must stand\nthe measurement of God's word in their fellowship. No human traditions\nor innovations are to be tolerated. But besides their conscientious care\nto have all the laws of the house of God duly observed, these remaining\nwitnesses sustain and propagate the testimony of their predecessors,\nwith such additional facts as they may have collected in their own time,\nfor the personal glory, the offices and work of Jesus Christ. This\ntestimony will necessarily bring them into collision with the children\nof those who killed their fathers in the same quarrel. Like their\nfathers, \"they have the sentence of death in themselves, that they\nshould not trust in themselves, but in God which raiseth the dead,--not\naccepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.\" (2\nCor. i. 9; Heb. xi. 35.) For as already hinted, this remnant is to\n\"overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,\"\nas others did; and in death to gain the final victory over death by\nvital union to their living Lord, \"being made conformable to his death.\"\n(Heb. ii. 14, 15.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\n1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of\nthe sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten\ncrowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.\n\n2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were\nas the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the\ndragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.\n\n3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his\ndeadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.\n\n4. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and\nthey worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is\nable to make war with him?\n\n5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and\nblasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two\nmonths.\n\n6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his\nname, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.\n\n7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to\novercome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues,\nand nations.\n\n8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are\nnot written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of\nthe world.\n\n9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.\n\n10. He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity; he that\nkilleth with the sword, must be killed with the sword. Here is the\npatience and the faith of the saints.\n\nVs. 1-10.--This chapter may be considered as an explication or\ncommentary upon the seventh chapter of Daniel's prophecy, and a farther\nelucidation of what is revealed under different symbols in the two\npreceding chapters; and no one can have an intelligent understanding of\nits contents without a competent knowledge of the symbols employed in\nthose chapters. Here the Holy Spirit has given a most graphic,\nintelligible and comprehensive exhibition of the complex power which the\ndragon employs, to persecute and slay the witnessing servants of Christ.\nHitherto the devil has conducted the war against the saints through the\nagency of the beast of the pit, (ch. xi. 7,) and those allies called\n\"his angels:\" (ch. xii. 7:) but there has been a vail of obscurity\nhanging over these agencies. Who the beast and other allies of the\ndragon are, it is the very _design_ of this chapter to disclose, with\ngreater precision and clearness than heretofore. In a word, we have here\nthe _full portrait_ of THE GREAT ANTICHRIST. The distinct features and\ncomponent parts of this complex and diabolical system of hostility to\nthe Lord and his Anointed, are presented in detail for our inspection.\nAnd it is a fact, that by a competent knowledge of this hostile\ncombination, the suffering saints of God have been hitherto enabled to\ndirect their testimony with intelligence and efficacy against their\nappropriate objects. And although the developments of providence in past\ncenturies, and those transpiring in our own generation, are calculated\nto shed light upon this and collateral prophecies; yet the gross\nconceptions of the illiterate in the contemplation of prophetic symbols\non the one hand, and the reckless disregard of scripture rules and usage\nby the learned on the other, have greatly contributed to the present\nlamentable ignorance and culpable indifference of most Christians. For\npeople cannot feel an interest in that of which they are ignorant. But\nto be \"willingly ignorant\" of that which may and ought to be known, is\none of the characteristic sins of a generation of impenitent and profane\n\"scoffers.\" (2 Pet. iii. 3, 5.) On the other hand, all who humbly and\nearnestly desire to know the mind of God for their direction in faith\nand holiness, shall assuredly obtain the necessary instruction. (Dan.\nvii. 16: viii. 15; John xvi. 13; 1 Cor. xiv. 38.)\n\nIn these first ten verses are contained the characteristics of that\nbeast whose origin is given, ch. xi. 7. There we had no particular\ndescription of this personage; only he was the agent by whom the\nwitnesses were opposed in open warfare, and by whom they were finally\nkilled. Now we have a more full account of his origin, character,\nachievements and duration. This personage is denominated a \"beast.\" So\nare designated other characters, who are very different from this, (ch.\niv. 6.) In that place we intimated that the authorized version is\nimperfect; and that either \"living creatures\" or simply \"animals,\" which\nlatter we prefer, is that which the reader is to understand from the\noriginal word. Not only are the \"four animals\" different in origin,\nnature and agency from the \"beast;\" but in all these respects they are\nmorally opposite. This is a ravenous beast; a beast of prey. Elsewhere\nthe word is translated a \"wild beast,\" a \"venomous beast,\" a \"viper.\"\n(Acts x. 12; xxviii. 4.) This beast is the same which appeared in vision\nto the prophet Daniel, (ch. vii. 3.) Of the four great beasts which that\nprophet saw, this is the last. All the preceding are described by their\nresemblance to some known animals, but each is ferocious,--\"a lion,\nbear, leopard.\" The fourth is a _nondescript_; there is no species in\nthe animal kingdom that can represent it; only it was \"diverse from all\nthe beasts that were before it,\" (v. 7.) These four beasts represent\n\"four kings,\" (v. 17,) that is, \"kingdoms,\" (v. 23,) or _dynasties_. Now\nall interpreters agree that these four dynasties are the same as those\nsymbolized in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, (ch. ii. 31-43.) The different\nparts of the \"image\" answer to the four beasts; and these again are the\nsymbols of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires. Thus\nfar, all sober expositors are agreed. Also, there is a like agreement\nthat John's _first_ beast identifies with Daniel's _fourth_,--the Roman\nempire. This is obvious from the general description by both\nprophets,--\"having seven heads and ten horns.\" (Dan. vii. 7; Rev. xiii.\n1.)\n\nThe origin of this beast is threefold,--\"out of the sea,\" (v. 1,) \"out\nof the bottomless pit,\" (ch. xi. 7; xvii. 8,) and \"out of the earth.\"\n(Dan. vii. 17.) Out of the sea of the commotions arising from the\nincursions of the northern barbarians, by whom the Roman empire was\ndismembered. \"The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall\narise.\" (Dan. vii. 24.) This is the result of revolution,--\"the sea.\"\nThe Roman empire, especially as nominally Christian, is thus\ncharacterized as being \"earthly, sensual, devilish,\" a suitable agent of\nthe dragon.\n\nThe fact of the ten horns of the beast, _now wearing crowns_, proves\nthat the time to which the prophecy refers, is that which followed the\ndivision of the empire into ten kingdoms. The seven heads of the beast\nhave a double significance,--seven different forms of government, and\nseven mountains, afterwards to be more fully explained, (ch. xvii. 9,\n10.) The \"name of blasphemy\" may indicate \"eternal city, mistress of the\nworld.\"--Of this characteristic of the beast, other examples will be\ndiscovered hereafter.\n\nDaniel was solicitous to \"know the truth (interpretation) of the fourth\nbeast, which was diverse from all the others,\" (ch. vii. 19.) Although\n\"diverse from all the others\" in geographical extent and destructive\npower, this fourth beast combined in one all the ravenous propensities\nof the three predecessors, but in _reverse order_. The \"leopard, bear\nand lion of Daniel,\" by which Grecian, Persian and Chaldean dynasties\nwere symbolized, are all comprised in John's beast of the sea,--the\nantichristian Roman empire. Since this beast of the sea embodies all the\nvoracious properties of the three persecuting powers which went before\nit; this may be a suitable place briefly to review the sufferings\ninflicted by them upon the saints, that we may know what the witnesses\nwere taught to expect at the hands of this monstrous enemy.--\"Israel is\na scattered sheep, the lions have driven him away: first, the king of\nAssyria hath devoured him, and last, this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon\nhath broken his bones.--The violence done to me and to my flesh, be upon\nBabylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood upon the\ninhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.\" (Jer. 1. 17; li.\n35.)--\"Haman, the son Hammedatha, the Agagite, the Jews' enemy,--thought\nscorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone.\"--\"If it please the king, let it\nbe written that they (the whole people) may be destroyed; and I will pay\nten thousand talents of silver,--to bring it into the king's\ntreasuries.\"--\"Behold also the gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman\nhad made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the\nhouse of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.\" (Esth. iii. 1, 9;\nvii. 9.) Such were the crimes and such the punishments of the enemies of\nGod's people in Babylon and Persia, as already matter of inspired\nhistory: and had we equally full and authentic records of the\npunishments as we have of the cruelties of Antiochus and other\nsuccessors of Alexander the Great, the king of Greece, we would see, as\nin the other cases, \"the just reward of the wicked.\" Of all these\nidolatrous, tyrannical and persecuting powers, which the Divine Spirit\nrepresented by beasts of prey, it was foretold that they were to be\nremoved in succession and with violence. This fourth beast, \"dreadful\nand terrible and strong exceedingly, was to devour and break in pieces,\nand stamp the residue with the feet of it.\" (Dan. vii. 7.) Moreover,\nwhile it is predicted of them that \"they had their dominion taken away,\"\nit is also added,--\"yet their lives were prolonged for a season and\ntime,\" (v. 12.) That is, though their distinct and successive\n_dominions_ were severally swept from the earth, yet their _lives_,--the\ndiabolical principles by which they had been actuated survived; and\nthese passed, by a kind of transmigration, into the body of the fourth\nbeast. This transition of animating principles or imperial policy of\ninveterate hostility to the kingdom of God, we think, is plainly\nindicated by the three features of this beast of the sea, the \"leopard,\nbear and lion.\" If these three \"slew their thousands,\" this monster has\n\"slain his ten thousands\" of the saints; and the remnant of the woman's\nseed are yet to be \"slain as they were,\" (ch. vi. 11.)\n\n\"The dragon gave him his power,\"--physical force, \"his seat\" or\n_throne_,--his right to reign, \"and great authority\"--dominion--by the\nvoice of the people. Thus, it is obvious that the seven-headed,\nten-horned beast is the first, and the oldest, among the combined\nenemies of the Christian church; all of whose origin is from the dragon,\nthe abyss or bottomless pit. The writers of the church of Rome, while\nforced to acknowledge that this beast is emblematical of the Roman\nempire, still insist that _pagan_ Rome is intended. It is sufficient in\nopposition to this false interpretation to observe, that the beast\nappears to John with crowns, not upon his _heads_, but upon his _horns_,\ndenoting the actual division of the empire into ten kingdoms: an event\nwhich did not transpire till after the empire had become nominally\nChristian under the reign of Constantine the Great. The reign of this\nemperor and his successors, by their largesses fostered the luxurious\npropensities of the Christian ministry, and so contributed to prepare\nthe way for the rise of the next enemy in this antichristian confederacy\nagainst the witnesses.--The \"head wounded unto death is the _sixth_.\nJohn says expressly, elsewhere, \"five are fallen, and one is, and the\nother is not yet come,\" (ch. xvii. 10.) The \"five fallen\" were, kings,\nconsuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes. All these forms of\ncivil government had passed before the time of the apostle. The one\nexisting in his time, was the sixth head,--the emperors; by one of whom\nthe apostle was now subjected to banishment in the desert isle of\nPatmos. This wound is supposed by some to be the change from paganism to\nChristianity in the empire. No; this view is many ways erroneous: but it\nis enough to remark that the Roman empire, according to both prophets,\nDaniel and John, is to continue _bestial_ under all changes, during the\nwhole period of 1260 years. The deadly wound was inflicted by the\nnorthern invaders who overturned the empire, and, for the time,\nextinguished the very name of emperor in the person of Augustulus. After\nthe division of the western member of the empire had been subdivided\namong the victorious leaders of the invaders from the north, and the\npeople of that section supposed the beast slain, the throne of\nConstantinople continued to be occupied by the representative of the\nempire. In the popular apprehension the imperial head of the beast\nseemed to be utterly cut off by the sword of Odoacer,--\"wounded by a\nsword:\" but the several kingdoms into which the empire was divided, in\nprocess of time became united in the bonds of an apostate faith. The\nimperial name and dignity were revived in the person of the emperor of\nGermany, Charlemagne, in 800; and by the wars among the horns of the\nbeast, the title of emperor has been claimed alternately by Germany,\nAustria and France, down to our own time. These dissensions and\nrivalries among the sovereigns of Europe,--the mystic horns of the\nbeast, were foreshadowed in the Babylonish monarch's dream:--\"the\nkingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken,--they shall not cleave\none to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay,\" (Dan. ii. 42, 43.)\nAnd doubtless these internal commotions among the common enemies of the\nsaints of God, have tended, in divine mercy, to divert their attention\noccasionally from the witnesses. While they have been made the\ninstruments of mutual punishment, the Lord's people have been \"hid in\nthe day of his fierce anger.\" (Zeph. ii. 3.)\n\nAt what time the sixth head of the beast disappeared and the seventh\nbecame developed, is not clearly marked in the Apocalypse, and it is of\ncomparatively little importance, since the latter is to \"continue a\nshort space\" (ch. xvii. 10.) The _central fact_ is the continuance of\nthe beast a definite time under _all the heads_,--1260 years. Under all\nthe forms of government through which the empire passed, it continued\nbestial and was the object of popular admiration. \"All the world\nwondered after the beast.\" The populace made court to, fawned upon,\nfollowed in the train, or formed the retinue of the beast. We are to\nlimit the phrase,--\"all the world,\" for not all the inhabitants are to\nbe understood, but such only as professed allegiance to the existing\nimperial dominion; and among those within the beast's territorial\njurisdiction, the witnesses still stood to their protest against his\nimpious claims.--But from admiration and loyalty, the servile multitude\nbreak forth into adoration, addressing the dragon and the beast in such\nlanguage as is proper to God only. (Ps. lxxxix. 6.) The shouts of the\nrabble on Herod's birth-day may illustrate the conduct of these votaries\nof the beast and dragon. (Acts xii. 22.) The poor ignorant and deluded\nsubject, in rendering homage to the beast, did homage to the devil, from\nwhom the power was derived. Such is the degradation to which man is\nreduced by blind obedience to despotic power, whether civil or\necclesiastical. He glories in the chains which bind him!--And this is\nthe actual and voluntary condition of the great majority of the\npopulation of Christendom at the present hour. There has been, indeed,\nwithin the current century, an effort by the masses of the people to\nassert their natural and civil rights, to regain the exercise of the\nelective franchise; but in selecting candidates to bear rule over them,\nthey generally prefer such as are, like the majority of\nthemselves,--\"aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from\nthe covenants of promise.\" Hence, \"vile men are exalted, the wicked bear\nrule, and the people mourn.\" (Ps. xii. 8; Prov. xxix. 2.)--The\n\"blasphemies\" uttered by this beast are all those _royal prerogatives_\nclaimed by the several crowned horns or civil sovereigns who have\nestablished idolatry and superstition within their respective dominions.\nThe \"blasphemous headship\" over the church of Christ, as viewed and\ndesignated by his persecuted disciples in the British empire, may tend\nto illustrate this part of the beast's history. King Henry VIII. of\nEngland, upon renouncing the civil and ecclesiastical headship of the\nPope, proceeded to usurp an ecclesiastical headship within his own\ndominions; and all his royal successors till the present day have\nasserted a similar dominion over the faith of the Lord's people. As an\n\"inherent right of the crown,\" the sovereign of Britain, male or female,\nis declared to be \"supreme judge in all causes, as well ecclesiastical\nas civil!\" The rest of the horns are no less blasphemous in their\nhaughty pretensions. History attests that the martyrs of Jesus denounced\nthese encroachments on the prerogatives of Christ, and the intrinsic\npower of his church, as \"Erastian supremacies,--blasphemous\nsupremacies.\" Most expositors tell us that the blasphemies are\nchargeable to the Pope or to the Romish church. But this interpretation\nconfounds this beast of the sea with the apostate church of Rome; and\nindeed this confounding of symbols and consequent mistaking of objects\nin actual history, are the primary errors of expositors in nearly all\ntheir attempts at expounding the Apocalypse. This first beast of John,\nand fourth of Daniel, however, is _wholly secular or civil_; and clearly\ndistinguished by both inspired prophets, from the other agents of the\ndragon, as we shall find in the subsequent part of this chapter. This\nbeast \"blasphemes the name of God\" by compelling men to worship idols\nand images, enacting penal statutes and issuing bloody edicts to force\ntheir consciences. He \"blasphemes his tabernacle,\" when stigmatizing the\nassemblies of God's worshipping people as \"traitorous conspiracies,\nrendevouses of rebellion\"--\"and them that dwell in heaven,\" he\nblasphemes by calling them \"incendiaries, fanatics, enthusiasts, rebels\nand traitors;\" for all these terms of reproach are well authenticated in\nhistory, as heaped upon the faithful and heroic servants of Christ.\nThose who suppose that the phrase \"them that dwell in heaven,\" means\nsaints departed and angels as worshipped by papists in obedience to the\nRomish church, make two mistakes,--the one, that _ecclesiastical_ power\nis here intended, whereas we have already shown that the power is\n_civil_; the other, that the word \"heaven\" is to be taken in a literal\nsense, contrary to the symbolic structure of the whole context. All\nhistory, so far as authentic, teaches that the civil powers throughout\nChristendom, attempt to coerce by penal inflictions the consciences of\nall who refuse obedience to their commands, no less than the church of\nRome. Even _constitutional guarantees of liberty_ of _conscience_ have\nnever secured the witnesses from the savage rage of the beast or any of\nhis infuriated horns. Witness the history of the bloody house of the\nStuarts of Britain. In vain did the victims of papal and prelatic\ncruelty plead, in their just defence in the seventeenth century, the\nconstitution and laws of their native land! Those who have done violence\nto the law of God, will always disregard human enactments which stand in\nthe way of their ambitious schemes. Their own laws will be treated as\nropes of sand, as Samson's withs, and the blood of saints as water. Such\nis persecution.--The seventh verse, expressing the beast's victory over\nthe saints and the extent of his power, is explanatory of ch. xi. 7, 9;\nand the time of his continuance, (v. 5,) is the same as the treading\nunder foot of the city; (ch. xi. 2:) so that we are assured of the\nagreement in time between the events here and those of the first part of\nthe eleventh chapter. Also, the parties here presented are the same as\nin the two preceding chapters, only they are exhibited in different\naspects by appropriate symbols.--The worshippers of the beast include\nall under his dominion except those \"whose names were written in the\nbook of life.\"--This book is different both from the sealed book, (ch.\n5;) and also from the open book, (ch. 10.) It is the register, as it\nwere, of the names of all whom the Father gave to the Son, to be by him\nbrought to glory. (John xvii. 2; Heb. ii. 10; Rev. xx. 12, 15.) During\nthe whole reign of the beast, these are preserved, having been \"sealed\nunto the day of redemption.\" In the seventh chapter we had the angels\nemployed in holding the four winds of the earth, till these servants of\nGod were sealed in their foreheads, before the first alarm should be\ngiven by the trumpets. The book of life contained their names from the\nfoundation,--before the foundation of the world. (Eph. i. 4.) They were\nin time \"sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,\" so that it was\nimpossible to deceive them, either by lying wonders or the serpent's\nsophistry. (Eph. i. 13; Matt. xxiv. 24.)--The Lamb may be said to be\n\"slain from the foundation of the world\" in the purpose of God, (2 Tim.\ni. 9;) in sacrifice, (Gen. iv. 4;) in the ceremonial law and prophecy.\n(Matt. xi. 13;) and in the efficacy of his satisfaction rendered to\ndivine justice, for which the Father gave him credit from the fall of\nman. (Rom. iii. 25.)--So many erroneous views have been taken, and false\ninterpretations given of this chapter in particular, as of the\nApocalypse in general, that the Divine Spirit calls special attention\nhere to the rise, reign and ruin of the beast of the sea. The prophetic\ndescription of this beast in an especial manner is of such importance to\ninstruct, and thereby sustain and comfort, the suffering disciples of\nChrist, that he causes his servant John to pause, as it were, and allow\nthe reader to reflect. Indeed, wherever a note of attention is thus\ngiven, we may be sure that something \"hid from the wise and prudent\" is\nintended. Accordingly, it were endless to follow the vagaries of even\nlearned men dealing out their \"private interpretations\" of this chapter.\nYet the understanding of its general outlines was at the bottom of the\nReformation by Luther, his colleagues and successors. Elsewhere,\nhowever, we may take occasion to notice how vague, and inadequate, and\nbold, were some of their conceptions; all going to show the\nseasonableness of the solemn admonition,--\"If any man have an ear, let\nhim hear.\"--The beast is to be treated as he dealt with the victims of\nhis cruelty. He is justly doomed to captivity and death. \"The beast was\ntaken and--cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone,\" (ch.\nxix. 20.) \"Tophet is ordained of old.\" It was used by the prophets as a\nfigure of hell. (Is. xxx. 33.) To this place, whence there is no\nredemption, this monstrous beast was to be consigned, as predicted by\nthe prophet Daniel, (vii. 11,)--\"The beast was slain, and his body\ndestroyed, and given to the burning flame.\"--In the protracted contest\nof 1260 years with this imperial power, \"the patience and the faith of\nthe saints\" were exemplified. Faith and patience would be more severely\ntried in this case than in any other; as the period of persecution was\nto be of much longer continuance than any that had preceded since the\nbeginning of the world. (Heb. vi. 12.)\n\n\n11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had\ntwo horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.\n\nV. 11.--John \"beheld another beast,\"--therefore not the _same_, as many\nexpositors strangely suppose. No one can have an intelligent\nunderstanding of this chapter unless he views the beast of the sea and\nthe beast of the earth as _perfectly distinct_. As the former arose out\nof a revolutionary state of society, and was consequently more clearly\nmarked in history, so the latter grew \"up out of the earth\" more quietly\nand gradually, like a spear of grass,--we \"know not how.\" As this second\nbeast of the Apocalypse is to act a prominent part in the scenery\nafterwards presented in vision to the apostle, and a correspondent part\nin actual history, and as it is called by different names and appears\nunder different aspects, it is necessary that its character be closely\ninspected, so that its identity may be clearly ascertained. The\ndescription here given is very minute. One thing is very obvious,--that\nthis beast of the earth is the confederate, the ally, and the accomplice\nof the beast of the sea. They act in concert. They had been thus\nrepresented in vision to Daniel. In the seventh chapter of that prophecy\nwe have the beast of the sea, as here, with his \"ten horns,\" (v. 7.)\nWhile the prophet narrowly \"considered the horns, behold, there came up\namong them another little horn,\" (v. 8.) It has been already shown that\nthese horns represent the kingdoms into which the Roman empire was\ndivided, (v. 24.) Among these horns, kings, (v. 24,) or kingdoms,\n\"another shall rise after them,\"--\"among them,\" yet in the order of\ntime,--\"after them.\" Thus it appears that Daniel's fourth beast had\n_eleven_ horns; but the eleventh is called \"another which came up,\" to\ndistinguish it from the ten, (v. 20.) \"He shall be diverse from the\nfirst,\" (v. 24.) It is thus evident that the last horn,--the eleventh,\nis as really a horn of the beast, as the other ten; and of course this\nhorn,--\"little\" at its rise, but in time becoming \"more stout than his\nfellows,\" is the willing accomplice in crime of that beast whose horn it\nis. \"The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against\nthem,\" (v. 21.)--\"He had two horns like a lamb.\" He professed to be\ngentle and innocent as a lamb,--to be the vicegerent of the \"Lamb of\nGod.\" He claimed only a _spiritual_ jurisdiction. As it is natural that\na lamb should have only two horns, so the symbol is agreeable to nature.\nBut this lamb \"spake as a dragon;\" and that was contrary to nature. No\ntwo animals in creation are in their respective natures more diverse or\nopposite than a lamb and a beast of prey. These two antagonistic natures\ncombined, indicate the crafty and cruel policy of this beast of the\nearth. Daniel mentions the \"little horn\" of the civil beast; but says\nnothing of the \"two-horned beast.\" On the other hand, John speaks\nplainly of this beast of the earth, but omits any mention of the \"little\nhorn.\" But the \"beast of the earth\" and the \"little horn\" sustain the\nsame relation to the first beast, the \"beast of the sea\"--the Roman\nempire; therefore the \"two-horned beast of the earth\" and the \"little\nhorn\" are identical; and this identity is confirmed by the additional\nname \"false prophet,\" given to the beast of the earth in ch. xix, 20.\nHis alliance and co-operation with the civil beast is precisely the same\nas in this chapter. He \"wrought miracles before him,\" that is,--in his\ninterest. Some interpreters have mistaken this \"false prophet\" as a\nsymbol of Mahometanism. The facts of history demonstrate the fallacy of\nthis interpretation; for the delusions of Mahomet never had, and they\nhave not now, any affinity with the idolatries of the Latin Roman\nempire. But these two beasts of the sea and of the earth are obviously\nin the closest sympathy, having a common interest.\n\n\n12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and\ncauseth the earth and them which dwell therein, to worship the first\nbeast, whose deadly wound was healed.\n\nV. 12.--The second beast \"exerciseth all the power of the first beast\nbefore him,\"--in his presence, under his sanction and powerful\nprotection. Thus the state, or empire, lays the church under obligation,\nand of course expects a reciprocity of kind offices. This is effected by\nthe beast of the earth \"causing the earth--to worship the first beast.\"\nBy force and craft this is accomplished. By his \"two horns\" of power,\nthe _regular_ and _secular_ orders of the hierarchy, as from the mouth\nof a \"dragon,\" he enjoins \"submission to the (civil) powers that be.\"\nBut besides the horns of power, that is, ecclesiastical authority, this\nbeast of the earth, in order more effectually to enforce his commands to\nworship the first or civil beast, resorts to \"great wonders,--miracles,\"\n(vs. 13,14,)--\"lying wonders;\" (2 Thess. ii. 9:) for Paul and John agree\nin their description of the same diabolical agency. \"As Jannes and\nJambres withstood Moses,--magicians doing so with their\n_enchantments_,\"--\"beguiling unstable souls,\" so this second beast\n\"maketh fire to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of\n(credulous) men.\" (2 Tim. iii. 8; Exod. vii. 22; Acts viii. 9-11.) The\nvenal ministry of the heathenized church, (ch. xi. 2,) inculcate passive\nobedience to the beast of the sea, as to the \"ordinance of God;\"--to\n\"resist\" which, subjects the recusant to \"damnation.\" (Rom. xiii. 2.)\nHere, then, we behold the _counterfeits_ of the two great ordinances of\nchurch and state, against which it is the special duty and arduous work\nof the two witnesses to contend for 1260 years. This \"false prophet,\"\nwho \"spake as a dragon, and made fire to come down from heaven,\" to\nauthenticate his divine mission, may represent the bulls, anathemas,\ninterdicts, encyclical letters, which emanate from Rome, together with\nthe less terrifying mandates of her coadjutors,--\"daughters.\"\n\n\n13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from\nheaven on the earth, in the sight of men,\n\n14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those\nmiracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saving to\nthem that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the\nbeast which had the wound by a sword, and did live.\n\n15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the\nimage of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would\nnot worship the image of the beast should be killed.\n\n16. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and\nbond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:\n\n17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the\nname of the beast, or the number of his name.\n\nVs. 13-17.--This lamb-like beast of the earth devises another agency, by\nwhich to subserve his own diabolical interest, as well as that of the\n\"first beast.\" He causes to be made \"an image\" _to_ or _of_ the beast of\nthe sea. Of images in general, as objects of idolatrous worship, we are\nwarranted to say,--they are _dead_ and _dumb_ idols; (ch. ix. 20; Jer.\nx. 14:) but this one is altogether different. And it is surprising to\nfind learned expositors fixing upon the superstitious use of the cross\nby the papists, as exemplifying this symbol. The Holy Spirit, as if to\nguard all readers against such misapprehension, declares explicitly,\nthat this image has \"life, speaks,\" and _acts_. The only point in which\nthis image resembles others is, that it is to be _worshipped_: but of\nall others we are assured that they \"cannot do evil,\" (Jer. x. 5.) This\nimage has such \"life,\" (breath,) and power as to cause the death of such\nas refuse to worship _itself_. Three agents are to be noticed and\nclearly distinguished here,--the ten-horned beast of the _sea_, the\ntwo-horned _beast_ of the _earth_, and the _image_ of the beast. At the\ninstance of the second beast, an image is made; not _to_ or of himself,\nbut _to_, and also _of_, the first beast. Now, as the beasts put forth\ntheir power by their horns, so this ecclesiastical beast of the earth\nmakes the image by his horns. In short, history explains the symbols.\nThe Roman clergy,--the horns, the cardinals, create the Pope; and, in\ntheir own ceremonial and language,--_quem creant, adorant_, \"whom they\ncreate, they adore;\" like all other idolaters. Thus, the Pope becomes\nthe \"man of sin, sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he\nis God,\" (2 Thess. ii. 4.) The Pope is the most perfect image of the\nRoman emperor; claiming the same universal dominion, the same titles and\nprerogatives, in the same city: but the Pope and the emperor never\nidentify. They are always distinct. Two authoritative measures are to be\nspecially noticed in this connexion; one by the beast of the earth, the\nother by the image of the beast of the sea. The image demands worship\nunder pain of death. All _heretics_ are judged worthy of death. All are\nrequired by the second beast to receive the mark of the first or civil\nbeast. The penalty in this case is privation of civil and political\nprivileges,--to \"buy or sell.\" It is to be noticed here that the \"mark\"\nis imposed by the authority of the _ecclesiastical_ power, the\ntwo-horned beast. As there is liability to mistake as to which of the\ntwo beasts the \"mark\" refers, and as this mistake is in fact generally\nmade by expositors, the apostle John has been directed, as in the case\nof the image, to be peculiarly explicit, that all may know it to be the\nmark of the _first_ beast. (See chs. xv. 2; xix. 20; xx. 4.) But it will\nbe asked,--What are we to understand by the \"mark?\" This question is\neasily answered from history. The heathen idolater gloried in his\ndevotion to his imaginary god; as the ivy leaf was the token of the\nworshippers of Bacchus: soldiers bore the initials of the names of their\ncommanders; and slaves, of their masters. These _characters_ were\nimpressed on the foreheads or other part of the persons of individuals.\nThe general idea suggested by the \"mark\" was subjection or _property_.\nIn short, the mark of the beast signifies open and avowed allegiance to\nantichristian or immoral _civil_ power, when in the \"forehead;\" and\nactive co-operation with the same, when in the \"hand.\" It is at once a\npitiable and culpable error, to suppose, as many preposterously do, that\nthis \"mark of the beast\" is _popery_! And as the \"mark\" is the\nrecognised badge of loyalty to civil rule, of course the prohibition to\n\"buy or sell,\" must signify civil disabilities,--_disfranchisement_. Men\nwho suffer, necessarily feel. Christ's witnesses, as they only have the\n_scriptural_ conception of the rights of man, have long been familiar\nwith the deprivation of their rights, both civil and ecclesiastical. The\nmoral evils incorporated in the constitutions of church and state,\nthroughout all the streets of mystic Babylon, have effectually excluded\nthe two witnesses, and left them in the \"wilderness.\" Here is their\ndestined \"place,\" and here they are to be \"nourished from the face of\nthe serpent\" for 1260 years. Christ's promise,--\"I will not leave you\ncomfortless,\" (orphans,) is all along verified in their soul-satisfying\nexperience.--This will appear in the next chapter.\n\n\n18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of\nthe beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred\nthreescore and six.\n\nV. 18.--\"The name of the beast,\" since the time of Ireneus, the disciple\nof Polycarp, who was cotemporary with the apostle John, is understood to\nbe _Lateinos_, or _Lateinus_; for it is well known to scholars, that\nclassical usage justifies the orthography of this word. However learned\nmen may indulge their fancy, and sport with this mystic and sacred name\nand number, no other word fills up all the conditions required by the\ninspired writer. _Latinus_ is the proper name of the \"first beast,\" the\n_Latin_ empire: it is the name common to the whole population of the\nempire, the _Latins_: it is the name of the _founder_ of the empire,\n_Latinus_; and it contains the _number_, 666. The probability that this\nword contains the requisite name and number, amounts almost to a\ncertainty. The unlearned reader may be easily taught to understand how\nto \"count the number of the beast.\" Of course, the apostle John\naccommodated his expressions to the custom of his own age. Well, even\nchildren soon learn to number or count by the use of Roman letters of\nthe alphabet. They know that the letter I, stands for _one_; V. for\n_five_, etc. Now, in the apostolic age, the Jews, Greeks and Romans,\nwere accustomed to express numbers by the use of the letters of their\nrespective alphabets. This we suppose to be the only rational and\nprobable method of solving the mystery.\n\nIn this chapter we have the fullest exhibition of the great\nantichristian confederacy, spoken of by prophets and apostles, including\nthe \"man of sin, to be revealed in his time.\" The component parts of\nthat complex moral person called \"Antichrist,\" are here graphically\nportrayed. The three most prominent features are the _two beasts_ of the\nsea and of the earth, with the _image_ of the first; or, a tyrannical\n_empire_, an apostate _church_, and the _Pope_. To suppose that the\nAntichrist is a power or moral person _distinct from these_,--a \"wilful,\ninfidel or atheistical king,\" is a mere _chimera_ framed in a learned\nbrain, disordered by _antichristian_ politics. The chief, if not the\nonly ostensible ground of such hypothesis is the language of our\napostle, (1 John ii. 22.) \"He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and\nthe Son.\" The _sound_ of the words of Scripture is too often mistaken\nfor the _sense_. This is a notable example. From the words of our Divine\nRedeemer,--\"My Father is greater than I, Socinians infer the _essential_\ninferiority of the Son to the Father. So in the preceding instance. The\ninference is, that the Antichrist is to be known by a _doctrinal_ denial\nof deity. But the very name of this enemy of all righteousness,\n_Antichrist_, demonstrates his recognition of the existence and office\nof our Saviour. For why should he oppose a _nonentity_? All scholars are\naware that the primary meaning of _anti_, is substitution. (Matt. xx.\n28.) Antichrist usurps Christ's place in church and state, that he may\nmore successfully oppose his interest. There is no mystery to the\nintelligent Christian in the declaration, that men too often \"profess\nthat they know God, but in works deny him.\" This explains the fact of\nAntichrist's denying the Father and the Son. Usurping the prerogatives\nof the Mediator is a practical denial of him,--of his authority, and by\nconsequence, of the Father who sent him. \"He that acknowledged the Son,\"\nin this sense, \"hath the Father also; while it is equally true, in the\nsame sense,--\"whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father.\"\n(1 John ii. 23.) Hence it _is not true_ that the _Pope_ is the\n_Antichrist_ of prophecy, nor the church of Rome, nor both combined; but\nDaniel's ten-horned beast,--John's seven-headed, ten-horned beast, which\nare the same: Daniel's little horn and John's beast of the earth, which\nare the same; together with the image of the first beast: the Saracenic\nlocusts and Euphratean horsemen;--all these go to the composition of the\nAntichrist, the \"eastern and western Antichrist,\" so identified and\n_familiarly_ designated by the _martyrs_ and _witnesses_ of Jesus for\nhundreds of years. The great family of nations, called \"the nations of\nthis world,\" (chap. xi. 15;) in unholy alliance with a _gentile_ church;\n(ch. xi. 2;) _these combined, constitute the Antichrist_. They \"will not\nhave this man to reign over them.\" Against this combination it is the\nappointed business,--the life of the two witnesses, to prophesy for a\ndefinite period of 42 months, 1260 days, time, times and a half; all\nindicating the same duration, 1260 natural years. All this time the\nwitnesses are alive and active, but in an obscure and depressed\ncondition, wearing sackcloth in the wilderness, \"not reckoned, (not\n_reckoning themselves_,) among the nations.\" (Num. xxiii. 9; Dan. vii.\n22, 27; Rev. xx. 4.) Such is the condition of the saints, and such the\npowerful combination against them, as symbolically represented in the\n11th, 12th and 13th chapters of the Apocalypse. And in this prolonged\nand eventful conflict we may with Moses, \"turn aside and see this great\nsight, why the bush is not burnt.\" (Exod. iii. 3.) The Lord was in the\nbush, and \"greater is he that is in them than he that is in the world.\"\n(1 John iv. 4.) This will appear in the following chapter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\nAs the 13th chapter contains the most full and graphic description of\nthe great apostacy, so in this chapter we have the other party described\nwhich protested against that apostacy. It is a concise history of the\ntwo witnesses in holy and happy fellowship with Christ, when he had\nrejected the heathenized church, because of her unholy league with the\nbeast of the bottomless pit, (ch. xi. 2, 7.) The contrast between the\n\"sealed\" ones here, and those who bore the \"mark of the beast,\" is very\nnoticeable. This fact suggests that the parties are _cotemporary_.\nBesides, it is evident that this company of 144,000 are the legitimate\nsuccessors of those sealed in ch. vii. 4-8; or rather, from the\nperpetual identity of the covenant society as a moral person, we may\nview this company as the same with the sealed ones of the seventh\nchapter, the two witnesses of the eleventh chapter, and as in the\nwilderness in the 12th chapter. Political bias caused a learned\nexpositor to interpret the third angel of this chapter as a symbol of\nthe prelatic church of England! and a similar bias, or _modern_ charity,\ninduced another to distinguish between the \"two witnesses\" and the\n144,000. To the unbiased and enlightened mind it is obvious that instead\nof the 144,000 symbolizing the \"pious people,--in the different branches\nof the Christian church\"--all true Christians; they are in fact\ndistinguished from _true Christians_, as 144,000 from \"a great multitude\n... who had washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the\nLamb,\" (ch. vii. 9, 14.)\n\nAs the Antichrist, after his first development in the world, appeared in\ndiverse forms of organization, thereby more effectually to deceive them\nthat dwell on the earth, yet still preserved his moral identity, so the\nfaithful servants of Christ are presented in corresponding attitudes and\naspects, to oppose and counteract his diabolical policy and tyranny; yet\nalways preserving their proper identity during the whole period of 1260\nyears.\n\nThe process of \"sealing the servants of God in their foreheads,\" (ch.\nvii. 4-8,) took place under the _sixth_ seal before the opening of the\nseventh, (ch. viii. 1,) which introduced the trumpets,--the harbingers\nof the visible organization of Antichrist. For this purpose the \"four\nwinds,\"--all winds, emblematical of popular commotions, were by four\nangels restrained from blowing upon the earth etc., during the peaceful\nreign of Constantine and his successors. Under the patronage of those\nnominally Christian emperors, as history informs us, multitudes flocked\ninto the church; \"the number of immoral and unworthy Christians began so\nto increase, that the examples of real piety and virtue became extremely\nrare.... The virtuous few were oppressed and overwhelmed with the\nsuperior numbers of the wicked and licentious.\"[6] Thus the way was\nprepared for the visible appearing of the \"man of sin,\"--the papacy. So\nsoon as the confederate hosts of the dragon are completely organized,\nthe two witnesses take their position with the Lamb.\n\n\n1. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him a\nhundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in\ntheir foreheads.\n\nV. 1.--While \"all the world wonders after the beast,\" (xiii. 3,) and the\ngross senses of the multitude are preoccupied with that object; here is\nanother presented more worthy of our contemplation. Often has the Lord\nJesus appeared in vision to John while viewing the grand panorama\npassing before him in Patmos. Here he appears as the \"captain of the\nLord's host\" at the head of his army; not indeed in active military\nenterprise, but rather as leader in acts of solemn worship during a\ntemporary recess from sanguinary warfare. He and his associates are on\nthe \"Mount Zion.\" \"In Zion is his seat.\" ... \"The Lord hath founded\nZion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. (Is. xiv. 32.) This\nselect company maintain fellowship with Christ, being \"really and\ninseparably united to him as their Head,\" by the bond of the Spirit, on\nhis part, and faith on theirs. Christ's \"Father's name in their\nforeheads\" indicates that they are the _property_ and voluntary servants\nof God in Christ. Of this covenant relation baptism is the visible sign;\nbut while Simon Magus may bear the sign, none but those who are \"sealed\nunto the day of redemption,\" are honored to \"stand with the Lamb on\nMount Zion.\" To him their number is as accurately known, as one hundred\nand forty-four thousand is to us; and \"truly their fellowship is with\nthe Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.\" The votaries of the beast may\neither glory in bearing his mark in their foreheads, or conceal the mark\nin their right hand; but the followers of the Lamb will \"confess him and\nhis word before men,\" at the hazard of all that is dear to men,--even\nlife itself. (Mark viii. 38.)\n\n\n2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as\nthe voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping\nwith their harps:\n\n3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the\nfour beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the\nhundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.\n\nVs. 2, 3.--\"Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.... Let the\nhigh praises of God be in their mouth.\"--(Ps. cxlix. 2, 6.) Unterrified\nby the roaring of the beasts of prey, these followers of the Lamb lift\ntheir voices in unison; and whether on mountains or in valleys, in dens\nor in caves of the earth, their songs of praise ascend to the ears of\nthe Lord of Sabaoth. The symphony is heightened by the \"voice of\nharpers, harping with their harps.\" And if any person be so ignorant as\nto ground an argument on these words, for the use of instruments in the\nworship of God, consistency will require him to take his position on the\nliteral Mount Zion with a literal lamb!\n\nThe song was _new_. It was not peculiar to the Mosaic economy; that,\nlike it, was to \"wax _old_ and vanish away.\"--(Heb. viii. 13.) No, it\nwas indited by the Holy Spirit, \"to whom all hearts are known, and all\nevents foreknown.\" It was a song exactly framed to answer the twofold\nend of all inspired songs--to display the glories of the Godhead, and\ndelineate the workings of grace and corruption with infallible\nprecision, neither of which can be even successfully imitated by the\nbest of uninspired men; much less by the licentious debauchees--the\nslaves of Antichrist. Moreover, the _order_ of worship, as here\nexemplified, merits special attention, The 144,000 perform this solemn\nservice \"before the four beasts, and the elders.\" The office-bearers,\nappointed by the Lamb--the Lord Christ--direct the whole solemnity.\nAmong this joyful and holy company, there is no hint that any part of\npublic worship is left to \"a vote of the congregation.\" This \"new song\"\nwas unintelligible by the votaries of the beast; nor could they learn it\nwhile in that servile vassalage. They only who were \"redeemed from the\nearth,\" as well as \"from among men,\" were capable of learning it. As\nthis song related to the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ, and those\nwho \"dwelt on the earth\" had transferred their allegiance to Antichrist,\nthey became thereby incapacitated for learning that song. Alas! how many\ncomplain of the _cloudiness_, the _Jewish peculiarities_, the\n_unforgiving, revengeful spirit_ of the inspired Psalms! In their\napprehension, they are \"contrary to the spirit of the gospel\"--that is,\n_the Holy Spirit is contrary to Himself!_ O, the blasphemy! Can such\nlearn the \"new song?\" No, indeed, unless they repent and \"pray God if\nperhaps the thought of their heart may be forgiven them.\"\n\n\n4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are\nvirgins. These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.\nThese were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and\nto the Lamb.\n\n5. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault\nbefore the throne of God.\n\nVs. 4, 5.--These 144,000 worshippers are farther distinguished by their\nchastity. Betrothed to the Lord Christ from eternity, they were married\nto him in time. (Hosea ii. 19, 20; Rom. vii. 4; Cor. xi. 2.) Indeed the\nmarriage covenant is employed throughout the Bible, to shadow forth the\nunion between Christ and believers. (See Is. liv. 5; Jer. xxxi. 32; Hos.\nii. 2; Rev. xxi. 2) This analogy pervades the 45th Psalm and the Song of\nSolomon. Idolatry is therefore adultery; and superstition, will-worship\nand human inventions, as means of grace or of communion with God, are\nfornication. (Ezek. xxiii. 27.) Accordingly, the \"kings of the earth\"\nare charged with this crime, (ch. xviii. 3.) Hence, it is plain that\nthis company with the Lamb are such as do not receive or \"teach for\ndoctrines the commandments of men,\" nor submit to a \"voluntary humility\nand worshipping of angels, (Col. ii. 18,) \"for they are virgins.\" (Ps.\nxlv. 14.) They are distinguished for \"sound doctrine and the power of\ngodliness.\" \"A man that is a heretic, after the first and second\nadmonition,\" they \"reject.\" (Titus iii. 10.) They cannot be indifferent\nto truth and error; and they may be known by their love for practical,\nbut _especially doctrinal_, preaching. They frequent the ministry of\nthose who \"give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.\" (1\nTim. iv. 13.)\n\n\"These follow the Lamb.\" (John x. 4, 27.) Next after self-denial, taking\nup the cross, becomes the test of discipleship. (Matt. xvi. 24, 25.)\nSuffering is the most trying and most difficult part of a Christian's\nobedience. But mere suffering for one's religion is no evidence that his\nreligion is scriptural. Nor is punishment endured for religion\n_persecution_; but suffering \"for righteousness' sake, or for Christ's\nsake,\" is persecution. And this is what is implied in \"following the\nLamb whithersoever he goeth.\" Not suffering, but the _cause_ for which\nhe suffers, makes a Christian martyr. All these 144,000 are martyrs in\nprinciple and intention.\n\nBesides, \"these were redeemed (bought) from among men.\" Purchase\nsupposes contract,--a price fixed and paid. This ransom is both from\ndebt and crime,--from bondage, sin and penalty. The Lamb is their\nsurety. With his blood he \"redeemed them to God,\" (ch. v. 9; 1 Pet. i.\n19.) An atonement which _does not reconcile_, a redemption which _does\nnot save_, must be an atonement and a redemption _without a compact_.\nHence the covenant of grace, and Christ's engagement as surety in that\ncovenant, determine the _extent_ of the atonement; for _without compact\nno sinner could be saved!_ But such is the liberal doctrine of the\nboasted Roman Catholic Church, and such the sandy foundation of that\n\"general and doubtsome faith\" which the witnesses renounce. However\nnumerous these followers of the Lamb may seem to be, they are no more\nthan \"the first fruits.\" But the first fruits are part of the coming\nharvest, and an assured pledge of a larger ingathering. Their numbers\nwere to be greatly augmented by the Reformation, and still further in\nthe millennial era.\n\n\"Godly sincerity\" is the last quality of these upright ones. They are\n\"Israelites without guile.\" Integrity, probity, candor, distinguish them\nfrom the \"flocks of the companions\" by whom they are surrounded. \"As\nthey think in their heart, so do they express the truth.\" (Ps. xv. 2;\nxii. 2; John i. 47.) They know nothing of the \"pious frauds\" any more\nthan the \"indulgences\" and \"supererogations\" by which the \"man of sin\"\nsustains his interest. Their being \"without fault before the throne of\nGod,\" is the highest commendation possible; yet it does not imply\nsinless perfection. It speaks their justification by the righteousness\nof Christ, and their Christian sincerity, such as God testifies of Job,\n(ch. i. 8.) Who would not prefer the society and employments of those\nwho are with the Lamb on Mount Zion, to dwelling in the tents of\nwickedness? Let our delights be with these excellent ones of the earth.\n\n\n6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the\neverlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to\nevery nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,\n\n7. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the\nhour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and\nearth, and the sea, and the fountains of water.\n\nVs. 6, 7.--The apostles, Paul and John agree, as already noticed, in\ndelineating a great defection from the purity and power of Christianity\nin \"the last days.\" Paul calls this event \"the Apostacy,\" (2 Thess. ii.\n3.) while John designates it \"the Antichrist.\" (1 John ii, 22.) Both\nthese inspired writers use the Greek article, as may be supposed, to\n_emphasize_ that wicked confederacy of Church and State,--a confederacy\nof greater extent and longer continuance than any other conspiracy\n\"against the Lord and his Anointed.\" Against these the saints of God,\nwith Messiah at their head, contend for the allotted period of 1260\nyears, as we have seen in the three preceding chapters. On their part\nthe warfare is mostly defensive, and their weapons ordinarily spiritual.\n(2 Cor. vi. 6, 7.)\n\nFrom the 6th verse to the close of this chapter are presented, under\ncustomary and well-defined symbols, three successive stages of\nsuccessful reformation, showing how the \"two witnesses\" manage their\nscriptural and effective testimony against antichristian error and\ndisorder in organized society. Three mystic \"angels\" successively\nappear, divinely commissioned to execute their respective and appointed\nwork. These angels have been correctly designated, by judicious\nexpositors, \"angels of revival and reform.\" To the intelligent Christian\nit will be obvious, that without _reform_ there can be no _revival_. The\npopular idea of our time connected with the term _revival_, is without\nfoundation in the Holy Scriptures. It does not mean the regeneration of\na sinner, nor the first work of the Spirit in conviction. It presupposes\nthe existence of the vital principle, and the bringing of that living\nprinciple into visible activity, (Rom. vii. 9;) and this is equally\ntrue, whether of an individual or moral person. (Ps. lxxxv. 6; Ezek.\nxxxvii.) Divine truth and external order are characteristics of a\ngenuine revival: for nothing but \"sound doctrine\" can produce \"the power\nof godliness.\" The popular commotions and social disorders which\naccompany modern revivals, render them highly suspicious, if they do not\ndemonstrate them to be spurious. It is true, indeed, that passionate\ndeclamation, vociferous assertion of heresy, intensified by theatrical\nand violent gesticulation, may commove to a higher degree the active\npowers,--the passions of the sinner; but such appliances can generate\nonly a temporary faith. Such converts, \"having no root in themselves,\nwither away.\" (Mark iv. 6.) \"God is not the author of confusion, but of\npeace, as in all the churches of the saints.\" So these angels of reform\ndeclare by their ministry.\n\nThe first of these angels is the recognized symbol of a gospel ministry,\n(ch. i. 20; ii. 1, 8, 12, etc.) \"Heaven\" is the visible church general.\n\"Flying\" indicates celerity of motion. This \"angel\" does not represent\nany individual, as Luther; but the _collective body_ of those who carry\nthe joyful message of \"the everlasting gospel.\" This gospel is\n_everlasting_ as distinguished from \"another gospel, which is not\nanother\" (Gal. i. 6, 7, 8, 9,)--a spurious, counterfeit, and therefore\nephemeral gospel, invented and propagated by the \"man of sin,\" from the\nflood which issued from the mouth of the dragon, (ch. xii. 15) The\ngospel preached by this angel is everlasting in its origin and duration.\n(Tit. i. 2; John iv. 14; Gal. vi. 8.) This angel's commission is as\nextensive as that of the apostles,--\"every nation;\" his \"loud voice\" is\nexpressive of his zeal, energy and authority; the subject matter of his\nbrief sermon indicates very plainly that the object of his teaching is\nto counteract the heresies of the Romish apostacy. \"Fear God and give\nglory to him,\"--not to the Virgin Mary, canonized saints and angels,\nimages of wood and stone, (ch. ix. 20.) All are solemnly warned to\n\"abstain from pollutions of idols,\" and their attention earnestly\ndirected to their Creator,--to him \"who made heaven, and earth, the seas\nand fountains of waters.\" This argument of the angel is very\nshort,--that He only is to be worshipped who created the universe; but\nit is sufficient to \"leave all men without excuse who do not glorify him\nas God.\" (Rom. i. 20, 21.) And how much more aggravated is the guilt of\nprofessing Christians! But the \"angel\" employs another powerful argument\nto enforce his teaching,--\"The hour of his judgment is come.\" The final\njudgment of the last day is often set before us in the Bible, and it is\nso even in this book; but the last judgment cannot be intended here, for\nsubsequent judgments are to be inflicted according to the messages of\nthe following angels.\n\nThat Charlemagne should be mistaken for this flying angel betrays an\nalmost incredible hallucination of the human mind![7] No individual, as\nalready noticed, much less a successful civil or military tyrant, can be\nintended by the Spirit as the herald of the \"everlasting gospel!\"\n\nIn fact, this \"angel\" is identical with the \"two witnesses,\" whose\nspecial work is to oppose the great apostacy; and this they do in a\npre-eminent manner by proclaiming the everlasting gospel. For 500 years\nthose who are known in history by the name of Waldenses, kept the\ndoctrines and order of the apostles, in a state of separation from the\nChurch of Rome. In the latter part of the twelfth century their numbers\nand influence attracted the notice and brought upon them the wrath of\nthe \"man of sin.\" In the following ages multitudes of them were\nsubjected to all the penalties of confiscation, banishment and death.\nLike the seed of Abraham in Egypt, however, \"the more they were\nafflicted, the more they multiplied and grew.\" They revived true\nreligion in the kingdoms of southern Europe, and it is most probable\nthat the good seed sown by them reached even to the island of Britain.\nJohn Huss and Jerome, who, by decree of the council of Constance, were\ncommitted to the flames for heresy; and Wishart, in England, whose end\nwas similar, together with such as co-operated with them and succeeded\nthem in the same holy warfare, are to be viewed as answering to the\nmystic angel. These faithful and dauntless men denounced divine\njudgments against all who worshipped graven images, however enjoined by\ncivil and ecclesiastical authority. For their fidelity to Christ and the\nsouls of men, they were subjected to the heaviest censures of the\nheathenized church, and the severest penalties of a tyrannical\nstate,--the beast of the earth and the beast of the sea always in unholy\nalliance and acting in concert. The ministry of this angel is a\ntestimony against papal corruptions, such as the worshipping images of\nthe Creator and creatures, but especially the Pope,--the image of the\nRoman emperor. It is a mere fancy to suppose this angel symbolizes\nmodern missions. The series of the prophecy forbids such an\ninterpretation. Besides, the idolatry of Rome Christian, is not less\nreal or gross than the idolatry of pagans, and calls for a more earnest\ntestimony; and God has never left himself without witnesses against\ndefection and apostacy. This angel prepares the way for his successor,\nwho prosecutes the same work with increasing clearness and confidence.\n\n\n8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is\nfallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine\nof the wrath of her fornication.\n\nV. 8.--\"There followed another angel.\" Some expositors[8] interpret this\nangel of Luther, some of Calvin; but no _individual_ is sufficiently\nprominent in history to justify the application to him of so striking a\nsymbol in so concise a prophecy. Such restriction of a symbol to an\nindividual results from _prelatic_ habits of thought. In the mind of a\nprelate the idea of a gospel ministry includes that of a _metropolitan_.\nThis angel is, in fact, as usual, simply the emblem of the ministry, not\nexcluding the social body of which they are the official guides.\n\nThis second angel carries forward the reformation effected by his\npredecessor, reviving that cause when it began to languish under the\nviolence of Antichrist. \"While the Roman pontiff,\" says Mosheim,\n\"slumbered in security at the head of the church, and saw nothing\nthroughout the vast extent of his domain but tranquillity and\nsubmission, and while the worthy and pious professors of genuine\nChristianity almost despaired of seeing that Reformation on which their\nmost ardent desires and expectations were bent, an obscure and\ninconsiderable person arose on a sudden, in the year 1517, and laid the\nfoundation of the long expected change, by opposing with undaunted\nresolution his single force to the torrent of papal ambition and\ndespotism.\" That individual was the heroic Luther, whose praise is in\nall the churches till the present day. No individual is so famous in the\nhistory of that eventful period as Martin Luther, for recovering the\ndoctrine of justification by the righteousness of Christ, to the\nexclusion of all creature merit. This fundamental principle in the\neconomy of man's salvation he justly denominated _articulus stantis vel\ncadentis ecclesiae_--\"the hinge of a standing or falling church.\" By the\ndefence and propagation of this doctrine especially, the priestly office\nof Christ was vindicated against the dogmas of penance, indulgence and\nsupererogation, inculcated by the \"Man of Sin;\" and by consequence, one\nof the bulwarks of mystical Babylon effectually demolished. At the\nfamous Diet of Worms, which, like the Council of Constance, combined the\nimperial power of Rome, civil and ecclesiastic, that indomitable servant\nof Christ gave a visible demonstration that \"the Spirit of the Father\"\nanimated and \"spake in him,\" (Matt. x. 20.) Not less explicit was Luther\non the fundamental doctrine of the divine decrees; which, with other\nArminian dogmas of creature-merit, had been almost universally\npropagated and stamped with the pretended infallible authority of Rome.\nBy the translation and circulation of the Holy Scriptures among the\npeople, the idolatries, impositions and profligacy of the priesthood\nwere extensively discovered. And after years of deference to\necclesiastical authority, conditional proposals of submission to the\nPope upon conviction of error in his _theses_, or conscientious belief,\nLuther in time arrived at the conclusion that the church of Rome was\nirreclaimable, giving publicity to his deep convictions in a treatise\n_De Captivitate Babylonica_,--\"The Captivity of Babylon.\" In the 18th\nchapter of this book, he discovered that Babylon is doomed to\ndestruction. He considered the church of Rome as answering to the\nprophetic symbol, and of course not to be reformed. It was an obvious\ninference--he ought to obey Christ rather than the Pope,--\"Come out of\nher, my people.\"--This call was indeed a sufficient warrant to separate\nfrom the Church of Rome; and, acting on it, protestant churches have\never since been organized: but the type or symbol, Babylon, was\nunwarrantably restricted in import, as representing only the Church of\nRome. And it is to be deplored that most protestant expositors continue\nto limit the inspired symbol in the same way till the present time. The\nliteral Babylon, a name common to the ancient city and empire by the\nriver Euphrates, was in no sense a church; and it would be anomalous and\nincongruous to select either city or empire as an _emblem of a church_!\nThere is, however, in the Apocalypse a combining or blending of symbols\nin order clearly and fully to represent a complex moral person. This has\nbeen already exemplified in ch. xiii. 2, where the prominent features of\nDaniel's first _three_ beasts, (ch. vii. 4-6,) are combined in John's\n_first_ beast of the sea. Just so in this instance. The idolatrous and\ntyrannical Roman empire, in alliance with an apostate church,\nconstitutes mystical Babylon. History demonstrates the fact of their\ncoalition. The great red dragon, the devil, operates through both during\nthe allotted period of 1260 years against the witnesses of Christ.\nSometimes, indeed, the nominal church is the more active and visible\ninstrument, and at other times the state, in opposing Mediatory\nauthority; and thus Babylon, or one of her streets, which is the\nequivalent of a horn of the beast, becomes prominent. This second angel\nconfidently proclaims,--\"Babylon is fallen, is fallen.\" So said Isaiah\nof literal Babylon long before the event; (ch. xxi. 9,) and so said\nJeremiah, (ch. li. 8,) to whose predictions John obviously alludes. All\nthese three prophets speak in present time of a future event, simply\nbecause of the settled and unalterable purpose of God, acting not\nformally as a sovereign, but as a judge. The multiplied and aggravated\ncrimes of Babylon, literal or mystical Babylon, are the just grounds of\nher deserved and awful doom. From ancient times God has declared by his\nprophets the things that are not yet done. (Isa. xlvi. 10.) His counsel\nstands and he doeth all his pleasure.\n\nThat the mystical Babylon emblematically represented the complex systems\nof civil and ecclesiastical corruption and despotism organized in\nChristendom, was in some degree understood by the reformers in Europe;\nbut the work of this second angel was carried on successively by men of\npiety and learning, who were eminently qualified for systematically\narranging the doctrines of grace as deduced from the word of God. Their\npious labors we still have in the forms of Bodies of Divinity and\nConfessions of Faith, in both which the unscriptural and antiscriptural\ndogmas and heresies of Rome are condemned and solidly confuted by the\nScriptures. There is a wonderful \"harmony of confessions\" framed by\nthose who separated from the fellowship of the Romish church; which\nharmony can be accounted for only by the fact that those who framed them\ndrew their materials from the Bible. But it was by their public\n_covenants especially_, that the reformers lifted a testimony against\nthe heresies, immoralities and tyrannies of the church of Rome. And\namong all the churches of the Reformation, that of Scotland is justly\nentitled to the pre-eminence. In no nation or state in Christendom did\nthe witnesses of Christ,--the second angel, attain so nearly to a\nscriptural model of organized society in church and state as in that\nland, whose mountains and valleys were \"flowered with martyrs\" for a\n\"Covenanted Work of Reformation.\" As Zuingle the Swiss-reformer excelled\nLuther, Calvin and others in Europe in the application of the divine\nmoral law, as revealed in Scriptures, to civil society, so John Knox in\nScotland was equally clear, that royal personages are amenable to the\nbody politic, and both to the Mediator.\n\n_We are now_ under the ministry of this _second_ \"angel.\" The revival\neffected by the first angel had greatly declined before the second made\nhis appearance; and all persons of intelligence and spiritual\ndiscernment in our day, lament the visible decline in practical\ngodliness, arising from indifference to divine truth. Most professing\nChristians, including the descendants of the martyrs, are \"willingly\nignorant\" of the attainments and sufferings of their illustrious\npredecessors. The work of reformation to be accomplished by the second\nangel, we suppose to have been completed about the middle of the\nseventeenth century. Since that period his work appears from history to\nconsist in testifying against defection from the reformation which had\nbeen reached. The \"great city\" is to fall \"because she made all nations\ndrink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.\" She is \"spiritually\ncalled Sodom and Egypt,\" neither of which was a church any more than\nBabylon. These were all heathen communities, never _married_ to the\nLord; therefore Babylon is not here charged as an adulteress, but with\n_fornication_. The nations are her paramours. Her wine is intoxicating.\nIt deranges the intellect and stupifies the conscience. Will any\nreasoning prevail with a drunken man? An active politician is\nproverbially unscrupulous, and proof against the law of God. There is,\nhowever, \"wrath\" in this cup. Those who refuse to \"kiss the Son\" must\nfeel the weight of his iron rod. (Ps. ii. 9, 12; lxxv. 8.)\n\nThe \"little book\" introduced at the 10th chapter, is included in the\nfirst 13 verses of the 11th chapter, which comprehends a concise history\nof the 1260 years, as we have seen. At the 15th verse, the seventh and\nlast trumpet is sounded which introduces the millennium and gives a\nbrief outline of events till the end of the world. Then the three\nfollowing chapters give in detail the events prior to the millennium, a\ncommentary, as it were, on the \"little book,\" but resuming a narrative\nof the sealed book's contents, which had been suspended at the end of\nthe 9th chapter. There, as we have seen, the first and second\nwoe-trumpets left the population of the Roman church and empire still in\nrebellion:--\"They repented not.\"--Hence it is apparent that the work of\nthese symbolic angels consists in opposing the antichristian systems of\norganized society during the period of the fifth and sixth trumpets.\nThis they do partly by declaring the truth as it is in Jesus, and partly\nby denouncing divine judgments on the impenitent. The first angel, by\nproclaiming the \"everlasting gospel,\" called upon men to \"fear God and\ngive glory to him,\" and not to idols,--threatening \"coming judgment.\"\nThe great majority of those addressed, however, disregarding alike his\nloving instructions and faithful warnings, must hear from the second\nangel that the judgment threatened by his predecessor, is now\nimminent:--\"Babylon is fallen,\" etc. Notwithstanding the faithful and\nearnest contendings of the Waldenses, Bohemians and others on the\ncontinent of Europe, seconded by the Lollards in England, so far were\nthe votaries of Antichrist from repenting of their idolatry and\nprofligacy, that they became more and more exasperated against those\nwitnesses who tormented them, and attempted to silence their testimony\nby committing their leaders to the flames. Hence the second angel's\nministry consists more in denouncing judgment than in offering mercy to\nthe penitent; and the history of the struggles in Europe and the British\nIsles between Christ's witnesses and the Roman Antichrist in the 16th\nand 17th centuries, demonstrates the awful fact that they, with great\nand wonderful unanimity, judged the church of Rome at least, utterly\nirreclaimable. Of this united judgment the Confessions of those\nreformers are at this day a standing evidence. But chief among the\nchurches and nations of Christendom stands Scotland, as well before as\nafter her appearance, by her famous Commissioners, in the Westminster\nAssembly of Divines. In her full and free Assembly, and by her national\nrepresentatives, sustained by all their pious constituency, she uttered\nthose memorable words,--\"We abhor and detest ... chiefly all kind of\nPapistry in general and particular heads, even as they are damned\n(_condemned_) and _confuted_ by the word of God and Kirk of Scotland.\"\nPerhaps this is the only instance hitherto within the 1260 years, where\na _whole church_ and _nation_, under the awful sanction of a _solemn\noath_, has pronounced a judicial sentence of condemnation upon the\nchurch of Rome. Thus with confidence did those noble witnesses pronounce\nthe anticipated doom of the mystic Babylon. But alas! may we not adopt\nand apply now (1870,) the language of the weeping prophet?--\"How is she\nbecome a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among\nthe provinces!\"\n\nAs declension among those who had protested against the corruptions of\nAntichrist, under the ministry of the first angel of reform, together\nwith the continued impenitence of the multitude who still wondered after\nthe beast, called for the appearance of the second angel of revival, so\nthe moral condition of the world called for the work of his successor.\nIn the mean time, living as we now are, within the period allotted in\nprophecy and in history to the ministry of the second angel of revival\nand reform, it is but too evident that there is a great and increasing\ndecline among the best reformed churches. Many of the Protestant\nministry, especially of the prelatic order, are posting back to Rome;\nand the growing ritualism, with its gaudy and splendid \"attire of a\nharlot,\" which characterizes others, plainly indicates their tendency in\nthe same direction. And even those other denominations, which are not\nyet prepared to adopt that \"blasphemous hierarchy,\" are visibly\ndeparting from the soundness in doctrine and purity of gospel worship\nwhich constituted the chief glory of the Second Reformation. These are\nthe baleful effects of the dragon's influence \"on the earth,\" (ch. xii.\n13, 15.) Besides, nearly all ecclesiastical bodies are yet in cordial\nalliance with the beast of the sea; and this alliance is the Antichrist.\nThe Pope is now nearly divested of his former civil supremacy, and in\nthis respect become less the express image of the imperial beast of the\nsea, (ch. xiii. 14;) yet the leaven of the Romish religion pervades all\nthe Christian community, so far as allegiance to the beast or his horns\nis either enjoined or tolerated. This usurpation of the royal\nprerogatives of Christ over the churches and nations in the eastern\nhemisphere by the kings of the earth, and a similar usurpation in the\nwestern hemisphere, whether by individual despots or by the body\npolitic, is the _great crime_ which fills the measure of the cup of\nwrath, to be poured out of the \"seven vials.\" While such is the moral\ncondition of society in all lands favored with a revelation of the will\nof God,--visited with judgments, continuing impenitent and guilt\naugmenting, what is to be expected but heavier judgments to follow?\n\n\n9. And the third angel followed them, saying, with a loud voice, If any\nman worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his\nforehead, or in his hand,\n\n10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is\npoured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall\nbe tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,\nand in the presence of the Lamb:\n\n11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and\nthey have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image,\nand whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.\n\nVs. 9-11.--\"And the third angel followed.\" The two preceding angels\naddressed _communities_, calling them to repentance and reformation.\nIndeed, the language of the second implies little or no hope of their\nrecovery. This third angel, \"following\" up the scriptural testimony of\nthose who went before, and assuming that church and state,--the\nessential elements of the antichristian system,--continue irreclaimable,\naddresses his message to _individuals_. This angel is the last that the\nLord Jesus will employ to awaken sinners that \"are at ease in Zion.\" His\nministry is yet future, and he will never be succeeded by an angel of\nmercy until mystical Babylon is overthrown. The special, arduous and\nperilous work of this angel is, to threaten eternal death against every\nindividual who persists in the hitherto popular idolatry. \"If any man\nworship the beast.\"--Up to the time of this angel's appearance the beast\nlives and devours his prey: consequently, his work comes within the\nperiod of the 1260 years. During this limited time, there will be found\nin the Apocalypse _three objects_ of popular devotion,--the dragon, (ch.\nxiii. 4,) the _beast_, and his _image_, (v. 15.) In this place the\ndragon is omitted, as also in ch. xv. 2; xx. 4. We may ask, why the\nomission?--Simply because \"the things which the _Gentiles_ sacrifice,\nthey sacrifice to devils, and not to God,\" (1 Cor. x. 20;) consequently,\nthese worshippers being _Gentiles_, (ch. xi. 2,) there is no necessity\nthat the dragon (the devil) should be particularized. From the first\nrise of the beast, he was in alliance with the dragon, (ch. xiii. 2, 3;)\ntherefore both are doomed to perdition, (ch. xx. 10.) Most expositors\nconsider this angel as emblematical of events already past; the\nreformation effected by Luther, his coadjutors and successors, or the\nchurch of England![9] Their error consists in viewing the beast as the\nsymbol of the church of Rome. And it is remarkable, that through the\npower of local and political bias, those commentators who themselves\nperceive that the beast of the sea in chapter xiii. 1, symbolizes the\nRoman _empire_, lose sight of their _own exposition_ when they arrive at\nthe place before us! And of this bias and inconsistency they seem to be\nwholly unconscious! No, there has never yet appeared in the symbolic\nheaven a minister or ecclesiastical organization, which has\nauthoritatively denounced everlasting punishment against all who\n\"receive the mark of the beast.\" It is to be noticed here that the sins\ncharged are _cumulative_, not _distributive_. Guilt is contracted as\nhere charged, by \"worshipping the beast and his image, and receiving his\nmark.\" If the beast signify immoral civil power, and his image signify\nthe Papacy, as we have seen they do, then it follows that worshipping\nboth, and receiving the mark of the former, constitute the special guilt\nhere charged by the angel: that is, eulogizing, praising, and actively\nco-operating with civil and ecclesiastical society, at war with the\nBible--in organized hostility to the Lord and his Anointed. (Ps. ii. 9.)\n\"Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth\nmischief by a law?\" (Ps. xciv. 20.) But during the 1260 years, the\nsecular imperial beast consists of \"kingdoms of this world\" in alliance\nwith the beast of the earth, (ch. xiii. 1, 11.) And as both are for\ntheir crimes consigned to utter destruction, so in the time of the\n\"third angel,\" every individual is threatened with everlasting\npunishment, who identifies with them. \"No _temporal_ judgments on\n_collective_ bodies can be the fulfilment of this awful denunciation,\nwhich evidently relates to _individuals_, and to each individual who is\nguilty; and if words can convey the idea of eternal punishment, it is\nhere denounced.\"[10] The words in the original, translated \"for ever and\never,\" (v. 11,) are the strongest in the Greek language to signify\neternity, and are not susceptible of any other meaning.\n\nAs already intimated, the special mission and awful message of this\nangel is yet future; but the testimony of his predecessor will have made\nthe tyranny, idolatry, immorality and profligacy of civil despots and\nmercenary ministers so palpable and glaring, that the vengeance of the\nLord proclaimed by the last messenger will appear to be just. In this\nway the \"two witnesses smite the earth with all plagues,\" (ch. xi. 6;)\nfor they are identical with the \"third angel,\" and have an active agency\nin the work of judgment to be executed upon the antichristian enemies,\n(ch. xv. 7.) And \"who knows the power of that wrath which is poured out\nwithout mixture into the cup of Jehovah's indignation?\" In temporal\njudgments there may be a mixture of mercy; but there is no such element\nin the cup of the impenitent votaries of mystic Babylon. \"Holy angels\"\nlook on without sympathy for her agonies, while the Lamb inflicts the\ntremendous penalty of her complicated and long-continued crimes. \"_He_\nshall be tormented--_their_ torment:\"--individuals found guilty of\ncomplicity with Babylon, will be bound up into bundles as fuel for that\nfire and brimstone, whose \"smoke ascendeth up for ever and ever.\" \"They\nhave no rest day nor night who worship the beast,\"--no mitigation of\ntheir sufferings. They are doomed to dwell \"with everlasting burnings.\"\n(Is. xxxiii. 14.) Such are the denunciations which the \"third angel\" is\ncommissioned to proclaim in the ears of men, either to bring them to\nrepentance, or to justify the Lamb in punishing their impenitent\ndisobedience. Now \"every one who is acquainted with the writings of the\nreformers and their successors, knows that they generally declared,\nwithout hesitation, that popery is a damnable religion.\"[11] Popery,\nhowever, is the religion which has corrupted states and churches\nthroughout the world; and therefore future reformers will not hesitate\nto join civil states with her in their testimony and prayers,\nsaying,--\"The wicked shall be turned into hell, _and all the nations_\nthat forget God. Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that have not known\nthee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name; for they\nhave devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling place.\" (Psa. ix. 17;\nlxxix. 6, 7.)\n\n\n12. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the\ncommandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.\n\n13. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are\nthe dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit,\nthat they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.\n\nVs. 12, 13.--The faithful and pointed testimony of the \"third angel\" of\nreform against the organized enemies of God in church and state, instead\nof producing repentance, tends only to provoke them to greater rage\nagainst those who thus awaken their consciences and disturb their sinful\nrepose. The fires of persecution are again kindled, and the witnesses\nare subjected to the anathemas of the church and the sword of the civil\nmagistrate,--the cruelty of the two beasts. It is therefore\nadded,--\"Here is the patience of the saints.\" The events predicted here\nagree in time with ch. xiii. 10; and the subjects of persecution are the\nsame moral person in their legitimate successors who appeared in ch.\nxii. 17. They \"keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,\"\nwhile the multitude \"obey unrighteousness, receiving for doctrines the\ncommandments of men.\"\n\nTo animate these sufferers who are in \"jeopardy every hour\" and who have\nthe sentence of death as outlaws, pronounced against them by Antichrist,\nJohn \"heard a voice from heaven,\" directing him to write,--\"Blessed are\nthe dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth.\"--To \"die in the\nLord,\"--means, in the faith and hope of the gospel, relieved by the\n\"witness of the Spirit\" from the overwhelming fears of the pains of\n_purgatory_. Both negatively and positively, this angel testifies\nagainst the antichristian dogma of purgatory. He declares that the\ntorments of the wicked continue \"for ever and ever,\" while the righteous\nwho die in the Lord, \"cease from their labours.\"--No stronger testimony\ncan be conceived against the more gross papal heresy, or the more modern\nand so called philosophical delusions of Universalists, Socinians and\nothers,--all of whom are the offspring of the \"mother of harlots.\" But\nbesides the voice from heaven, and the concurrent witness of the Spirit,\nagainst the papal dogma of purgatory, the \"rest\" here proclaimed for the\ncomfort of martyred saints, may be also understood as a termination to\ntheir sharp conflicts with Antichrist. \"_Henceforth_ they rest from\ntheir labours,\"--they shall never again be called to \"resist unto blood,\nstriving against sin,\" as heretofore, by the combined opposition of the\n\"beast and false prophet,\" organized tyranny and idolatry. The ministry\nof the \"third angel,\" cotemporary with the \"seventh trumpet,\"--the third\nand last \"woe,\" prepares society throughout Christendom for entering\ninto the millennial rest.\n\n\n14. And I looked, and, behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat\nlike unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his\nhand a sharp sickle.\n\n15. And another came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him\nthat sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is\ncome for thee to reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe.\n\n16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and\nthe earth was reaped.\n\nVs. 14-16.--The gathering in of the harvest is sometimes emblematical of\nmercy,--as when the believer is gathered to his fathers by death. His\nsanctification being completed, he is taken home \"as a shock of corn\nripe in his season.\" Reaping and threshing, however, are most frequently\nsymbolical of divine judgments, (Jer. li. 33;) and the apostle refers\nhere to the same event which the Lord foretold by the mouth of other\nprophets. (Joel iii. 13-17; Micah iv. 12, 13.) This harvest is\nemblematical of divine judgment on the nations of apostate Christendom.\nHe who executes the judgment is one like the Son of man, the Lord\nChrist. Enthroned on a \"white cloud\" as his chariot, and having on his\nroyal \"head a golden crown,\" the symbol of sovereignty, at the\nsolicitation, the loud cry of the symbolic angel,--a gospel ministry, he\n\"thrusts in his \"sharp sickle,\" the emblem of avenging justice, and with\ninfinite ease, \"the earth is reaped.\" This work of punishing guilty\n_nations_ is not so proper to the ministry, the functions of whose\noffice are of a spiritual nature; yet are they active in a way competent\nto them, calling upon the \"Lord of the harvest\" to reap. They judge of\nthe signs of the times. Such is part of their appropriate work. Thus\nthey say,--\"The time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the\nearth is ripe.\" The Lord Jesus appeared in royal majesty to John, as he\nhad appeared to Ezekiel, (ch. i. 26;) and to Daniel, (ch. vii. 13.) The\ncloud on which he sat had a bright side towards his saints, but to his\nenemies a dark side, as at the Red Sea. (Ex. xiv. 19, 20.)\n\nThe two judgments of the _harvest_ and _vintage_, are obviously an\nallusion to a natural order in the climate of Judea. Not only did the\nbarley and wheat-harvest precede the time of gathering grapes, but some\nspace elapsed between these labors of the husbandman. The usual order is\nobserved here.\n\n\n17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also\nhaving a sharp sickle.\n\n18. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over\nfire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle,\nsaying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine\nof the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.\n\n19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the\nvine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of\nGod.\n\n20. And the wine press was trodden without the city, and blood came out\nof the wine-press even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a\nthousand and six hundred furlongs.\n\nVs. 17-20.--As the ministry of the \"third angel,\" (v. 9,) was final, as\nto pronouncing the deserved doom of all the adherents of the\nantichristian system, so in the symbols of the _harvest_ and _vintage_,\nwe have the execution of that sentence exhibited. The nations of\nChristendom, having drunk the wine of the mother of harlots, and of her\ndaughters too, and having exhausted the patience of the Lord Jesus,\nrefusing to repent, while he warned them by his servants the three\nangels of reform,--\"rising early and sending them,\" were at length\n\"ripe\" for his sharp sickle. Long had he expostulated with them, saying\nto them, while addressing his church,--\"The nation and kingdom that will\nnot serve thee (O Zion,) shall perish; yea, those nations shall be\nutterly wasted.\" (Isa. lx. 12.)--The desolating judgments of the\nreigning Mediator, having brought those nations to \"hate the whore,\"\nthey become the willing and zealous agents of her destruction, as\nappears, (ch. xvii. 16.)\n\nThe \"gathering of the clusters of the vine of the earth,\"--is a concise\nemblematical representation of that tremendous work of punishing the\napostate church, to be exhibited in greater detail in the following\nchapters.\n\nThe \"angel coming out of the temple,\"--represents the gospel ministry as\nusual. His \"having a sharp sickle\" may import his more immediate agency\nin this than in the preceding work of the harvest.\" Christ himself\njudged the nations,--had the \"sharp sickle;\" but in reckoning with\nimpenitent ecclesiastical communities, he will honor his faithful\nservants. As in \"measuring the temple,\"--the Mediator held the\ninstrument in his own hand under the Old Testament, (Zech. ii. 1,) but\nunder the New Testament gave it into the hand of John, the\nrepresentative of a gospel ministry, (ch. xi. 1,) so that transaction\nmay illustrate the symbols here.\n\nThe other angel \"coming from the altar, who had power over fire,\" is\nalso symbolical of the ministry. The sickle in the hand of the former\nangel, is for gathering the grapes; while the connexion of the latter\nangel with the \"altar,\" imports that a sacrifice is about to be offered,\nas customary, to appease divine justice.--The \"vine of the earth\" is\nplainly contrasted with the true vine. (Ps. lxxx. 1; Jer. ii. 21.) This\nis a vine of Sodom with clusters of Gomorrah, (ch. xi. 8; Deut. xxxii.\n32, 33.) It is the symbol of an apostate church, the chief heresy of\nwhich is a practical rejection of the atonement of Christ; for it is\ncertain that vindictive justice is an attribute of God, and that he will\ndemand satisfaction from those impenitent sinners who despise his mercy\nin the gospel offer, and \"tread under foot the blood of the covenant\nwherewith Christ was sanctified.\" (Heb. x. 29.) A heavier doom awaits\nall such than to \"die without mercy,\" which was the penalty for those\nwho \"despised Moses' law.\" No sacrifice is appointed for the man or the\nchurch that sins presumptuously. (Num. xv. 30, 31.) To all such, \"_our_\nGod is a consuming fire.\" (Heb. xii. 29.)--The one angel calls upon the\nother,--encourages his companion, to execute the judgment of God.\n\"Thrust in thy sharp sickle.\"--Under the superintendence of the\nMediator, his servants by their prayers and their sermons have an active\npart in this work of judgment. From the mouth of the witnesses proceeded\nfire to devour their enemies, (ch. xi. 5.) This is the last work of\njudgment in which they will be honoured. Joining their victorious\npredecessors who overcame the antichristian combinations \"by the blood\nof the Lamb and the word of their testimony,\" (chs. vi. 9, 10; xii. 11,)\nthese undaunted servants of the Lord are honored by him as instrumental\nin the infliction of the final judgments symbolized by the seventh\ntrumpet and the seventh vial,--the third and _last woe_.--The\n\"wine-press\" is the symbol of the \"wrath of God,\" and its location\n\"without the city,\" denotes that the churches of the apostacy are\nexcommunicated,--\"reprobate silver, because the Lord hath rejected\nthem.\"\n\nWe are not told here by whom the grapes are trodden; but this is the\nwork of the Lord Jesus himself, who in the days of his flesh on earth\nforewarned his impenitent foes that he would thus deal with them in his\nwrath. \"Those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over\nthem, bring hither, and slay them before me.\" (Luke xix. 27; Isa. lxiii.\n3; Rev. xix. 15.)--The blood in depth is to the \"horse-bridles,\" and in\nextent \"a thousand and six hundred furlongs,\"--200 miles! Although this\nlanguage is hyperbolical, it is intended to signify \"a time of trouble,\nsuch as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and\nat that same time God's people shall be delivered, every one that shall\nbe found written in the book.\" (Dan. xii. 1; Rev. xiii. 8.)--Thus it\nappears that church and state, having combined in the antichristian\napostacy, are severally visited with the unmingled wine of the wrath of\nGod. All the saints shall have obeyed the call,--\"Come out of her, my\npeople;\" and mystic Babylon shall then be utterly destroyed. Whether\nPalestine, the Pope's patrimony, or some other territory be understood\nby the \"1600 furlongs,\" is matter of vague conjecture by all expositors,\nand is to be verified only by the fulfilment of the prediction.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nThis chapter introduces the third and last series of symbols under which\nthe prospective history of the church militant is given, to strengthen\nthe faith and animate the hopes of her suffering and heroic children.\nThe warfare of the witnesses for the crown rights of Immanuel, which\nhave been usurped by his enemies, has been symbolized under the seals,\n(chs. vi.-ix.,) and under the trumpets, (chs. xi. xii.;) and the\nsymbolic narrative is yet under the vials to be greatly amplified,\nespecially their last and greatest conflict, briefly represented in the\nlatter part of the preceding chapter, (vs. 9-18.) Whether or not the\nvials, to which this fifteenth chapter is introductory, be all\ncomprehended under the _seventh trumpet_, as the trumpets are all\ncomprehended under the _seventh seal_, is a question upon which\nrespectable expositors differ. It is indeed obvious that the breaking of\nthe last seal, lays open the whole of the book, consequently the angels\nholding the vials would come into view. John, however, is obliged to\n\"write\" _consecutively_ some visions which he saw as it were at _one\nview_. Thus he was \"about to write what the seven thunders uttered,\"\n(ch. x. 4,) but was prohibited. That was not the proper time or place;\nbut it is there intimated, (v. 7,) that \"in the days of the voice of the\nseventh angel,\" the import of the \"seven thunders\" would be disclosed.\nThen would the \"mystery of God be finished, as he had declared to his\nservants the prophets.\" (Joel iii. 2, 12, 13; Micah iv. 3; Zech. xii.\n2-4; 2 Thess. ii. 8.) Some of the most learned and sober divines, who\nwrote on the Apocalypse during the peninsular war waged by the first\nNapolean, contemplating the anarchical and bloody scenes of the French\nRevolution, and the subsequent tyranny and blood connected with the\nsuccessful wars of the Gallic usurper, thought they heard in the\ncommotions of European nations the sound of the seventh trumpet, and saw\nthe plagues inflicted as symbolized by the vials. And thus it is that\nlocal events, which excite the political feelings, the prejudices and\npartialities of even good men, are hastily interpreted as a fulfilment\nof prophecy. It does not appear, however, that those events were either\nof sufficient magnitude or geographical extent to answer the tremendous\nsymbols of either _harvest_ or _vintage_. Did the French revolution, the\nAmerican revolution, or the wars of Napolean First, influence the\ncivilized world or affect the church of God, as Popery and Mahometanism\nhave done? No, the comparison is preposterous. Hence it is most probable\nthat Christendom has not yet heard the alarming sound of the seventh\ntrumpet.\n\n\n1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels\nhaving the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of\nGod.\n\nV. 1.--\"Another sign in heaven.\"--All the visions were seen by the\napostle in the same place, (ch. i. 1; xii. 1.) The word translated\n\"sign\" here is the same as \"wonder\" in the twelfth chapter, which for\ngreater clearness to the English reader ought to have been rendered by\nthe same word.--The symbol or sign consists of \"seven angels having the\nseven last plagues,\"--the _last_ to be inflicted on the Antichrist, but\nnot absolutely the last penal inflictions on the enemies of God; for\n\"Gog and Magog\" are in like manner to be destroyed, and there is\n_eternal_ wrath.\n\nUpon the \"Lamb's taking the book,\" and before he had opened the first\nseal, songs of joy burst forth from saints and angels, (ch. v. 8, 9.) So\nit is here. Before the angels proceed to execute their commission, the\nredeemed of the Lord, anticipating the effects of these judgments, give\nexpression to their joy.\n\n\n2. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that\nhad gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his\nmark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having\nthe harps of God.\n\n3. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of\nthe Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty,\njust and true are thy ways, thou King of saints!\n\n4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only\nart holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy\njudgments are made manifest.\n\nVs. 2-4.--The \"sea of glass,\" or transparent sea, (as in ch. iv. 6,)\nrefers us to the brazen sea before the throne of God in the temple. In\nthis sea the priests were to wash themselves, (Exod. xxx. 18, 19,) and\nin water drawn from it the sacrifices were to be washed also. (Lev. i.\n9, 13.)\n\nAs the brazen sea typified the blood of Christ, that \"fountain opened\nfor sin and for uncleanness,\" (Zech. xiii. 1,) so this \"sea of glass\" is\nthe symbol of the same thing; for the Lord washes away the filth of the\ndaughters of Zion, and purges the blood of Jerusalem from the midst\nthereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. (Isa.\niv. 4.) This happy company were victorious by the blood of the Lamb,\n\"over the beast, his image, his name and number;\" having clean escaped\nfrom them who live in error, both in civil and ecclesiastical relations.\nHolding the eucharistic \"harps of God,\" they are the same company as\nthose on Mount Zion with the Lamb, (ch. xiv. 1, 2.) There, their song\nwas called _new_; here it is more fully described. There it was said,\n\"no man could learn that song\" but themselves, here we have the matter\nof the song epitomised. It is constructed of two parts, \"the song of\nMoses and the song of the Lamb.\" As the children of Israel at the Red\nSea celebrated the praises of God's justice in the overthrow of their\nenemies the Egyptians, so do these with united voice express their\nadmiration and praise in anticipation of the final and awful end of\nthese cruel, idolatrous and persecuting mystical Egyptians, (ch. xi. 8,)\n\"saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and\ntrue are thy ways, thou King of saints.\" They do also declare their\nfaith in the universal dominion of their King; that \"all nations shall\ncome and worship before him.\" And to this day none but the witnesses are\nprepared either with intelligence or affection to \"learn\" or use this\nsong. We have the subject matter of both parts of this triumphant song,\nframed by the Holy Spirit and incorporated in the Book of Psalms, (as\nPs. ii. 8; xviii. 37-45; xlv. 3-6; cx. 1, etc.) The fortunes of God's\ncovenant people till the ingathering of the Jews, with the fulness of\nthe Gentiles, may be found in Moses' song, (Deut. xxxii. 1-43,) and the\n\"song of the Lamb\" is found in chapter v. 9-13.\n\n\n5. And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of\nthe testimony in heaven was opened:\n\n6. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven\nplagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts\ngirded with golden girdles.\n\nVs. 5, 6.--John looked again, and saw the \"temple opened,\" that the\nseven angels might have egress to enter upon their heavenly mission.\nTheir clothing resembled the garments of the priests under the law,\n\"white linen and golden girdles,\" representing the holiness or moral\npurity of their work. They shed the blood of the victim, so to speak,\nwithout soiling their garments; but the Lord Jesus, whose work of\njudgment this is, \"stains all his raiment,\" (Isa. lxiii. 3,) \"for the\nday of vengeance is in his heart,\" (v. 4.)\n\n\n7. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden\nvials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.\n\nV. 7.--\"One of the four beasts,\"--_animals_, the symbol of the gospel\nministry, as we found, (ch. iv. 6.) Not all the ministry were employed\nin this action, but _one_ only. That is, some few, a fractional part,\npossessing more insight into the \"sure word of prophecy,\" and endowed\nwith larger measure of heroic spirit by the Lord Jesus, co-operated with\nholy angels in this work of judgment. \"He gave the vials into the hand\nof the angels.\" By their preaching, their prayers and their example,\nfaithful ministers, unseduced by the blandishments of corrupt power, and\nundismayed by the bloody edicts of the beast,--\"in nothing terrified by\ntheir adversaries,\" denounce the judgments represented by these vials,\nupon the impenitent enemies of the Lord and his Anointed. For an\nillustration of this symbolic action of giving the vials of divine wrath\nto the appointed agents, reference may be had to Jer. xxv. 15-26; li. 7.\n\n\n8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from\nhis power, and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven\nplagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.\n\nVs. 8.--\"The temple filled with smoke,\" represents the darkness of these\ndispensations, the horror and dismay which seizes upon the votaries of\nAntichrist. But during the time of executing these judgments, the\nprogress of the gospel will be retarded,--\"no man being able to enter\ninto the temple.\" It is intimated, moreover, that these judgments will,\nas it were, clear away the \"smoke,\" and render the temple once more\nluminous. So we may conclude by comparing the 4th and 8th verses. In the\n4th verse the witnesses declare their faith thus,--\"All nations shall\ncome and worship before thee.\" But this is a description of the\nmillennial state of the world. (Ps. lxxii. 11.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nAll preliminaries being now arranged, the seven angels receive their\ncommission by a \"great voice out of the temple.\" It is the \"voice of the\nLord, full of majesty.\" (Ps. xxix. 4.)--As the _seals_ and _trumpets_\nwere not coincident, but successive, so it is doubtless with the\n_vials_. No two begin to be poured out at the same time. One follows\nanother in orderly succession.\n\nSeveral questions of difficult solution, arise in the minds of devout\nand humble students of the Apocalypse, respecting the series of the\nvials. Are the vials cotemporary with the trumpets? Seeing that the\nseventh seal included all the trumpets, does analogy require that all\nthe vials be comprehended under the seventh or last trumpet? Or, do the\nseven vials come under the last three trumpets, distinguished as they\nare by the character of woe-trumpets? (ch. viii. 13.) Other questions\nmay here be propounded; but these seem to be the most obvious and\nimportant, in fixing the time of the events predicted.\n\nThe breaking of the seventh seal unquestionably laid open the whole of\nthe book, including all the trumpets and vials,--all future events till\nthe end of the world; but it does not follow, for instance, that the\nawful scene of the final judgment is to be cotemporary with any of the\ntrumpets, (ch. xx. 11, 12.) The seventh seal, therefore, discloses\nimportant events, which are to come to pass subsequently to both\ntrumpets and vials. The fact that both trumpets and vials are disclosed\nby the opening of the last seal, admits of their being cotemporaneous.\n\nFrom the striking resemblance between the effects of the trumpets and\nthose of the vials, (ch. viii. 7-12; xvi. 2-12,) they might seem to be\ncotemporary. This, however, is not the case, for the objects of the\njudgments are different, that of the trumpets being more formally the\ncivil empire, while that of the vials is the ecclesiastical empire;\neach, however, greatly affecting the other, because of their unholy\nunion against the cause of Christ. Perhaps it may be most consonant to\nthe mind of the Spirit to view the vials as agreeing in time with the\nthree woe-trumpets. Keeping in view the definite period of Antichrist's\ndomination in church and state, 1260 years, and the probability of its\ndrawing to a close, the remaining part would seem too short for the\nperiod of the vials. As the series of the vials, like those which in\nvision preceded them, is successive, the application of them all to the\nFrench Revolution is simply preposterous.[12] That event answered not to\nthe symbol either in extent or duration. Nor indeed is there\nsatisfactory evidence in the actual condition of the Christian world,\nnotwithstanding the fond imagination of learned and good men, that the\nvoice of the seventh angel has yet been heard by Christendom.\n\n\n1. And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven\nangels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon\nthe earth.\n\nV. 1.--\"Earth\" has here the usual meaning,--the whole territory and\npopulation of the Roman empire, those only and always exempted, who are\ntrue to the cause of Immanuel. The angels of destruction cannot hurt\nthose who are under the protection of his blood. (Exod. xii. 23.) They\nmay not \"come near any man upon whom is the mark.\" (Ezek. ix. 6; Rev.\nxiv. 1.)\n\n\n2. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there\nfell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the\nbeast, and upon them which worshipped his image.\n\n3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became\nas the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.\n\n4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains\nof waters; and they became blood.\n\n5. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,\nwhich art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus:\n\n6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast\ngiven them blood to drink; for they are worthy.\n\n7. And I heard another out of altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty,\ntrue and righteous are thy judgments.\n\nVs. 2-7.--\"And the first went.\"--However disagreeable the service, as we\nare ready to suppose, this holy agent at once obeys the divine command.\nThe best of men hesitate and remonstrate when called to difficult and\ndisagreeable work. So it was with Moses, and with Jeremiah. (Exod. iv.\n10; Jer. i. 6.) But all these heavenly messengers in succession, execute\ntheir respective tasks without gainsaying. It is the will of our common\nLord that his disciples should emulate their example, that they should\n\"know, obey and submit to his will in all things as the angels do in\nheaven.\" (Ps. ciii. 20, 21.)--The judgments upon the antichristian\nenemies which have been briefly represented in the close of the 14th\nchapter by a _harvest_ and _vintage_, are in this chapter more\nextensively exhibited by the seven vials. A resemblance to the first\nfour trumpets may be observed in the effects of the first four vials,\nand besides, these plagues resemble those inflicted on Egypt. If by her\ncrimes, especially by idolatry and cruelty to the people of God papal\nRome has copied the manners of Egypt and Babylon, it is but just that\nshe should be visited with like punishment.--The first vial selects as\nvictims those who \"had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image;\"\nand this is true of the succeeding plagues, although the fact be not\nrepeated. The object of this vial is the \"earth\" in a more restricted\nsense than in the first verse. The \"earth\" in the first verse comprises\nall the parts of a system, \"earth, sea, fountains, sun and air,\"\nmentioned in the following verses.--The \"noisome and grievous sore,\"\nrefers to one of the plagues of Egypt. (Exod. ix. 9-11.) The _earth_ was\nthe object affected also by the first trumpet; (ch. viii. 7;) but as\nAntichrist had not then arisen, this plague cannot agree in time with\nthe first trumpet, though it might with the fifth or sixth trumpet; for\nwhile these trumpets were demolishing the eastern member of the Roman\nempire, making way for the development of Mahomet's imposture, the\n\"little horn\" of Daniel, and Paul's \"man of sin,\" was revealed in the\nwest. But the \"two witnesses\" were coincident in origin with Antichrist,\nand were empowered by the Lord Christ \"to smite the earth with all\nplagues as often as they would,\" (ch. xi. 6.) The \"grievous sore\" is to\nbe understood metaphorically, not literally; for so the construction of\nthe Apocalypse requires. It may import the festering of unmortified\ncorruption among the votaries of Antichrist, intensified by the faithful\napplication of the divine law by the witnesses.--The object of the\nsecond vial is the \"sea,\" the same as that of the second trumpet, (ch.\nviii. 8, 9.) The allusion is to Exod. vii. 20, 21. Intestine commotions,\nwith war, blood and death, seem to be symbolized. The horns of the beast\nwere often turned against one another; for the bestial kingdom was\n\"partly broken.\" The toes in Nebuchadnezzar's image did not \"cleave one\nto another.\" (Dan. ii. 42, 43.)--The object of the third vial is the\n\"rivers and fountains of waters,\" (ch. viii. 10; Exodus vii. 19.) These\nsymbols may signify the several kingdoms of the empire, tributary by\ntheir wealth and traffic to the great city. And as the witnesses\ncontinued to prophesy, giving increased point and publicity to their\ntestimony, and as the Turks were making encroachments upon the\nterritories of nominal Christian princes in the west, extensive wars and\ngreat slaughter were the results. These awful judgments are followed by\nthe plaudits of two angels. The eternal Jehovah is recognized as the\nAuthor of these judgments. The Mediator may here be understood, (ch. i.\n8;) (John v. 22, 27.) The \"angel of the waters\" may be the same who\npoured out the vial. He gives to the Lord the glory of his\njustice:--\"Thou art righteous.\" He also approves the \"law of\nretaliation:\"--\"For they are worthy.\" The other angel \"out of the altar\"\nspeaks on behalf of the martyrs, (ch. vi. 9, 10,) recognizing the\nfaithfulness of God:--\"True and righteous are thy judgments.\"\n\n\n8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was\ngiven unto him to scorch men with fire.\n\n9. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of\nGod, which hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give\nhim glory.\n\nVs. 8,9.--The object of the fourth vial is the \"sun,\" (ch. viii. 12.)\n\"Power was given him,\"--the angel. The two witnesses are represented as\narmed with \"fire, which proceedeth out of their mouth, devouring their\nenemies,\" (ch. xi. 5.) As the formal object of all the vials is the\necclesiastical, rather than the civil empire, and the sun is the symbol\nof the chief dignitary, perhaps this vial strikes more directly upon the\n\"man of sin.\" The expression in the introduction to the vials, (ch. xv.\n4,)--\"thou only art holy,\" seems to be a testimony against the\nantichristian \"name of blasphemy,\"--\"His Holiness.\" By the Reformation,\nsymbolized by successive angels of the fourteenth chapter, those valiant\nmen tormented the Pope and his vassals, so that they raged and\nblasphemed more and more, but \"repented not to give God the glory.\" So\nit was at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, (ch. ix. 20, 21.)\n\n\n10. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast;\nand his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for\npain,\n\n11. And blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and their\nsores, and repented not of their deeds.\n\nVs. 10, 11.--\"The seat of the beast\" is the object of the fifth vial.\nThe \"beast\" is all along from chapter xi. 7, the Roman empire. The\n\"image of the beast,\" we have found to be the papacy, (ch. xiii. 14,\n15.) Now the \"seat (throne) of the beast,\" would seem to point to the\nmetropolis, where the Pope, as a kind of imperial,\npolitico-ecclesiastical head, keeps his court, and whence decrees are\nissued. This plague is like the ninth inflicted upon Egypt, (Exod. x.\n21.) It was the last but one, and left Pharaoh still impenitent. Just so\nhere; although this vial is the last but one to be poured out on the\nwestern limb of the great antichristian conspiracy: the population of\nthe spiritual empire repress their complaints before men,--\"they gnawed\ntheir tongues for pain;\" while they in their hearts \"curse their king\nand their God, and look upward.\" (Is. viii. 21.) This may be understood\nto be the actual condition of the Pope and his retainers at the present\ntime, and especially since the year 1848, when he was forced to flee\nfrom Rome. _Darkness_ is the emblem of distress, of mental despair, (Ps.\nxxxv. 8; Is. viii. 22;) and the actual relation of European powers to\nthe see of Rome,--Austria, France, Spain, and the Italian states, is not\ncalculated to mitigate, but rather to augment and irritate the \"pains\nand the sores\" inflicted by this and former vials.\n\nWe can, however, offer only conjectures here, and dare not be too\nconfident; for learned and pious expositors are of the opinion that all\nthe vials are comprehended under the seventh trumpet; that the seventh\ntrumpet has not yet begun to sound; and consequently, that the vials are\nall future. On the other hand, equally learned and godly interpreters of\nthese Apocalyptic hieroglyphics, are very confident that the _sixth_\nvial is in process of pouring out in our present time; and that in fact\nits effects are obviously traceable in providence. Already we have\nindicated our humble opinion, that all the vials are not necessarily\ncomprehended under the seventh trumpet; inasmuch as the opening of the\nlast seal disclosed equally trumpets and vials: yet doubtless it is\nrequisite that the series of the trumpets should precede that of the\nvials, while nothing hinders that of both series should cotemporate. We\nmay conceive that as the first four trumpets demolished the western\nmember of the Roman empire, and the next two the eastern limb, so the\nvials may be distributed in a manner somewhat similar. The second woe,\nor sixth trumpet, has not yet finished its appropriate work in the final\nsubversion of the Turkish empire, which still exists; and during the\ntime of its last echoes, the vials may be supposed to be accomplishing\ntheir appropriate work upon the western empire, as being \"wholly given\nto idolatry.\" While the first five vials are consuming the Antichrist in\nthe west, the sixth is operating in the east.\n\n\n12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river\nEuphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings\nof the east might be prepared.\n\n13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of\nthe dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of\nthe false prophet.\n\n14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth\nunto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to\nthe battle of that great day of God Almighty.\n\n15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth\nhis garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.\n\n16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew\ntongue Armageddon.\n\nVs. 12-16.--\"The great river Euphrates\" is the object of the sixth vial.\nBy the very general consent of expositors the Turkish empire is intended\nby this symbol; and they seem to be equally agreed that the sixth vial\nin now in process of pouring out. The object of the sixth trumpet is the\nsame, (ch. ix. 14.) There is, besides, an obvious allusion to the\nancient literal Babylon; and to the manner of its overthrow by Cyrus the\nking of Persia. (Jer. l. 38; li. 36; Dan. v. 26-28; Is. xliv. 27,\n28.)--This monarch, as historians relate, changed the current of the\nEuphrates, and by this means took possession of the city, while\nBelshazzar and his nobles were engaged in a drunken festival. (Dan. v.\n1-30.)--The waters of this river are to be taken as representing the\npopulation of the Ottoman empire, (ch. xvii. 15.) By the \"kings of the\neast\" may be understood the Jews, agreeably to the symbolical nature of\nthis book; (Is. xli. 2, 3;) yet as the Turkish empire and Mahometan\nimposture constitute barriers to the extension of Christ's kingdom among\nthe populous nations of the east, as Popish despotism and idolatry,\nobstruct the gospel in the west, we may give this symbol of the \"kings\nof the east\" a more extensive interpretation. Probably a larger\nproportion of the natural seed of Abraham are to be found on the west\nthan even on the east of the Turkish empire. The dynasty of the Turk is\nin process of visible exhaustion, and nothing but what is termed among\nantichristian nations \"the balance of power,\" prolongs its existence or\nhinders its extinction. \"Drying up,\" evaporation, is a gradual process,\nand with singular precision describes the waning light of the once proud\nCrescent,--the expiring breath of what has been termed by a bold figure,\n\"the sick man.\"[13]--Under this vial, however, and likewise as the\ntermination of the second woe, a general, final and desperate alliance\nis to be found to resist the aggressive forces of the \"Lord of\nHosts.\"--This confederacy is headed by the dragon, and is identical with\nthe war, (ch. xii. 17,) against the \"remnant of the woman's\nseed.\"--These \"unclean spirits like frogs\" are called \"spirits of\ndevils.\" They \"come out of the mouth\" of all the agents, the dragon,\n(ch. xii. 3, 9,) the beast, (ch. xiii. 1,) and the false prophet,--the\nsame as the two-horned beast, (v. 11,) and (ch. xix. 20.) These \"unclean\nspirits\" succeed in gathering the kings of the earth, by \"working\nmiracles,\" \"lying wonders.\" (2 Thess. ii. 9; 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2.) They are\nthe agents of antichristian Rome, spiritual wickedness in high places,\"\n(Eph. vi. 12;)--\"like frogs,\" living in moral filth; garrulous and\nimpudent, stealthily gaining access into the bedchambers of the kings,\n\"after the manner of Egypt.\" (Exod. viii. 3.)--Surely the policy of Rome\nis here portrayed, her cardinals, archbishops, Jesuits, etc., gaining\nentrance into the councils and cabinets of princes, inciting them to\ndebauchery, tyranny and blood. Hellish hosts are thus \"gathered to the\nbattle of that great day of God Almighty,\"--the day of the seventh vial,\nof the \"vintage,\" (ch. xiv. 18-20,) and of the seventh trumpet, (ch. xi.\n15;) for all these agree in point of time.--This will be an \"hour of\ntemptation,\" as intimated in the 15th verse, which is a parenthesis,\ninterrupting a little the narrative of the effects of the vial. There is\ndanger of apostacy, of \"falling away to these Chaldeans,\" of temporizing\nwith the enemy in order to escape suffering. Thus Christian soldiers of\nthe cross, losing \"the armour of righteousness,\" would be exposed to\n\"shame.\" But \"blessed is he that watcheth,\" that looks to the Captain of\nSalvation, to his cause, as elucidated by his providence,--the signs of\nthe times; for so shall he \"keep his garments,\" when others are \"found\nnaked.\"--\"And he gathered them\" or rather \"_they_ gathered,\" (for the\nsingular verb agrees with its nominative plural neuter as usual,)--the\n\"unclean spirits gathered the kings of the earth\" to the destined place.\nThis hinders not but that these antichristian enemies of the church are\nbrought together by the Almighty. Just so he sent the king of Assyria\nagainst \"a hypocritical nation.\" (Is. x. 5-7.) And doubtless the prophet\nJoel prophesied of this great and decisive battle, (ch. iii. 11-14.)\n\"Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.\" Compare vs. 1, 2.\nThe place is called \"Armageddon,\" the _mountain of destruction_,\nsuggesting the issue of the battle in the final overthrow of Antichrist;\nfor it is not necessary to suppose that any _place_ is literally pointed\nout; but as this is a compound word in the \"Hebrew tongue,\" allusion may\nbe made to the slaughter of Sisera's army, (Judges v. 19;) or to the\nmournful death of Josiah, (2 Chron. xxxv. 22.)\n\n\n17. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there\ncame a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying,\nIt is done.\n\n18. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a\ngreat earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so\nmighty an earthquake, and so great.\n\n19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of\nthe nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to\ngive unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.\n\n20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.\n\n21. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone\nabout the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God, because of the\nplague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.\n\nVs. 17-21.--\"The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air.\"--The\ndevil is emphatically styled \"the prince of the power of the air.\" (Eph.\nii. 2.) All the preceding vials fell upon their respective and\nsuccessive objects, the several parts of the symbolic system; but this\n\"vial of consummation\" affects the whole of that system at once. The\ndragon, the beast, and his image, together with the false prophet,--all\nthe \"kingdoms of this world and the glory of them,\" which the god of\nthis world claimed as his own, and offered to our Lord Jesus Christ in\nthe days of his humiliation, (Luke iv. 6, 7;)--all will be destroyed for\never. He who gave commission by a \"great voice,\" (v. 1,) to these\nangels, now that they have fulfilled his pleasure, solemnly declares his\napprobation,--\"It is done.\" The Lord Christ had solemnly sworn that \"in\nthe days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he should begin to\nsound, the mystery of God should be _finished_,\" (ch. x. 6, 7.) He is\nfaithful to his oath,--_It is done._ Hence, it is undeniably evident\nthat the seventh trumpet agrees in time with the seventh vial; and it is\nequally evident that the events which they represent are yet future.\nWhat was obscurely intimated as following the sounding of the seventh\ntrumpet,--\"the nations were angry,--and thy wrath is come,\" (ch. xi.\n18,) is here amplified; for the \"voices, thunders and lightnings,\" are\nthe visible and sensible tokens of the wrath of God. (Exod. xix. 16;\nHeb. xii. 21.) Next follows an \"earthquake,\" the usual symbol of\nrevolution; but this one is without parallel. An earthquake followed the\nopening of the sixth seal, (ch. vi. 12;) when paganism was overthrown in\nthe Roman empire by Constantine, and another earthquake marked the close\nof the second woe, (ch. xi. 13,) when \"the tenth part of the city fell:\"\nbut this _concussion_ is \"so mighty and so great\" as to \"divide the\ngreat city into three parts,\" or rival factions: next, \"the cities of\nthe nations fell,\"--revolted from their wonted allegiance, and \"great\nBabylon came in remembrance before God,\" who seemed to have forgotten\nboth her and his saints whom she had so long and so cruelly persecuted.\nAt the fall of Rome _pagan_, mountains and islands were only \"moved out\nof their places,\" (ch. vi. 14;) but at the fall of Rome _papal_, \"every\nisland fled away, and the mountains were not found;\"--the former\nindicating _transition_, the latter utter _destruction_.--The \"fall of\nhail\" is to be viewed as accompanying, not following, the fall of\ncities, flight of islands and mountains. As hail-stones are symbolical\nof divine judgments, and as there may be allusion here to another of the\nplagues of Egypt, (Exod. ix. 18;) so more especially may the facts of\nhistory supply the figurative language with which the judgments of the\nvials terminate. If any escaped the destroying sword in the battle of\nArmageddon, they are overtaken by these ponderous hail-stones out of\nheaven; even as \"the Lord cast down great stones from heaven\" upon the\nfive kings of the Amorites; so that \"more died with hailstones than they\nwhom the children of Israel slew with the sword.\" (Jos. x. 11.)--The\nresult is as before; the survivors remain impenitent. As history\nsupplies no instance of literal hail-stones of a talent weight, (sixty\npounds, or as others, a hundred,) so the symbol represents this as the\nmost tremendous of all the judgments of God, (ch. xiv. 20.)\n\nThus, we have seen that the last trumpet and the last vial combine, in\nthe final perdition of Babylon the great.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nThis chapter may be considered introductory to the eighteenth, or as a\ndigression in the narrative, to explain more fully the integral parts of\nthat complex, mystical moral person so often called \"great Babylon,\"\nwhose destruction was so awfully presented in the foregoing chapter.\n\n\n1. And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials,\nand talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee\nthe judgment of the great whore, that sitteth upon many waters;\n\n2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the\ninhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her\nfornication.\n\nVs. 1, 2.--The angel that \"talked with the apostle\" was probably the\nseventh. \"The great whore\" is the symbol of the idolatrous church of\nRome, which broke her marriage covenant with Christ. Idolatry is\nspiritual whoredom. (Hosea vi. 10.) Her \"sitting upon many waters\" is\nexplained, verse 15. \"The kings of the earth\" are her paramours, and\ntheir subjects are partakers in the crime,--\"made drunk.\"\n\n\n3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a\nwoman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy,\nhaving seven heads, and ten horns.\n\n4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet-colour, and decked\nwith gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her\nhand, full of abominations, and filthiness of her fornication.\n\n5. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,\nTHE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.\n\nVs. 3-5.--The \"scarlet-coloured beast\" is the Roman empire professing\nthe Christian religion, modelled by the Romish church; for the \"woman\nsits upon the beast,\" guiding and controlling all its motions. (James\niii. 3.) The raiment of both is at once _imperial and bloody_,--\"purple\nand scarlet.\"--The raiment of this \"woman\" is decked with precious\nmetal, stones and pearls, after the usual \"attire of a harlot.\" (Ezek.\nxvi. 17.) The \"cup\" alludes to the practice of harlots giving\nlove-potions to their paramours, very expressive of the indulgences,\nabsolutions, preferments, etc., by which the church of Rome attracts\ndisciples to her idolatry. \"The nations have drunken of her wine;\ntherefore the nations are mad.\" (Jer. li. 7.)--The inscription \"upon her\nforehead\" is after the manner of shameless prostitutes, avowing Rome's\nwhoredoms of idolatry, monasticism, indulgences to sin, as essential to\nreligion, a \"mystery of iniquity,\" by which the \"man of sin thinks to\nchange times and laws.\" (Dan. vii. 24, 25; xi. 36, 37.)\n\n\n6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with\nthe blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with\ngreat admiration.\n\nV. 6.--This \"woman,\"--_Christian church_,--was \"drunken with the blood\nof saints and martyrs.\" Of course, such a sight would give rise to the\napostle's astonishment. The attempt of popish writers to apply this to\n_pagan_ Rome's persecutions is demonstrably false; for John could not\n\"wonder\" at the persecution of the church when he was himself an actual\nvictim in Patmos, (ch. i. 9.)\n\n\n7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell\nthee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which\nhath the seven heads and ten horns.\n\n8. The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not; and shall ascend out of\nthe bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the\nearth shall wonder (whose names were not written in the book of life\nfrom the foundation of the world,) when they behold the beast that was,\nand is not, and yet is.\n\n9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven\nmountains, on which the woman sitteth.\n\n10. And there are seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and the\nother is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short\nspace.\n\n11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of\nthe seven, and goeth into perdition.\n\nVs. 7-11.--The angel explains the \"mystery of the woman and of the beast\nthat carrieth her.\" The beast, the civil power, carrieth, sustains the\nwoman, the church; as the church controls the state, (v. 3; ch. xiii. 1,\n11, 16.) The \"beast that was, and is not, and yet is,\" is a mysterious\npersonage as well as the woman; therefore all who \"dwell upon the\nearth,\"--not in \"heaven, wonder,\" (ch. xiii. 3-6;)--that is, all the\nvassals of Antichrist, distinguished from those whose \"names are in the\nbook of life,\"--the two witnesses.--\"The seven heads\" of the beast\nsignify seven mountains, on which Rome literally stands, namely,\nCapitoline, Palatine, Aventine, Esquiline, Coelian, Viminal and\nQuirinal. Here the woman and Rome are manifestly identical,--the\nspiritual empire. But the heads of the beast have a double meaning; for\nthey also signify \"seven kings\" or successive forms of civil government.\nAt the time when John wrote, \"five had fallen;\" they had passed into\nactual history. One was then existing, namely, the emperor, in the\nperson of Domitian, as is supposed. This is the imperial head, whose\n\"deadly wound was healed,\" (ch. xiii. 3.)--The \"seventh head was not\ncome\" in the apostles' time, but on his appearance, he was to \"continue\na short space.\" The papacy is not the seventh head. _He_ is a horn.\n(Dan. vii. 8, 20.) But a _horn_ of the beast cannot identify with the\n_beast himself_. It is otherwise with a head, which is the form of\ngovernment over the _whole empire_. The _patriciate_ succeeded the\nimperial, being the seventh head, and only of _short_ duration, about\nfifty years. Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Romans in the year\neight hundred; and so the patriciate terminated. This is the _eighth_,\nwhich \"is of the seven;\" and goeth into perdition. This septimo-octave\nhead is so variable, sometimes acknowledged as residing in Austria, then\nin France, etc., that for hundreds of years, the great republic of the\nnations,--all _bestial_,--are at a loss to identify the visible head in\nwhom resides the precedency: hence the \"balance of power\" is so\nperplexing and difficult to adjust. Were there an acknowledged imperial\nand despotic head, this obvious difficulty could not exist. But the\nbeast is not. Nevertheless the arbitrary power of the horns of the beast\nis sensibly felt in every part of the Roman empire.--The beast is, and\nwill continue till \"the time of the end;\" (Dan. xii. 9;) for the Roman\nempire must be equal in duration with the life and actings of the two\nwitnesses, 1260 years.\n\n\n12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have\nreceived no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the\nbeast.\n\n13. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto\nthe beast.\n\n14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome\nthem; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with\nhim are called, and chosen, and faithful.\n\nVs. 12-14.--\"The ten horns\" signify \"ten kings\" or regal or civil\nsovereignties, into which the empire was to be partitioned after John's\ntime, and which we have seen was effected by the first four trumpets,\n(ch. viii. 7-12.)--These \"received power _one hour_ with the\nbeast,\"--rather, at _one time_, or cotemporaneously with the beast; for\nthey are his horns, and are of \"one mind, giving their power and\nstrength,\" all their resources, to him. These shall make war with the\nLamb,\" the Mediator, headed by the dragon, and instigated by the beast\nand his image, (ch. xii. 7; xiii. 7.)\n\n\n15. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore\nsitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.\n\nV. 15.--\"The waters,\" controlled by \"the whore,\" are the multitudes whom\nthe apostate church of Rome commands to volunteer in the wars of the\nkings against the Lamb.\n\n\n16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate\nthe whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her\nflesh, and burn her with fire.\n\nV. 16.--What a surprising change! yet how natural! (2 Sam. xiii. 15.)\nThe punishment is that which was adjudged in the case of a priest's\ndaughter. (Lev. xxi. 9.)--The \"ten horns,\" here, are to be understood\ngenerally, not universally, (ch. xviii. 9; xix. 19.) Some of those\nprinces that have contributed most to the aggrandizement of the Romish\nchurch, and been most devoted to her religion, as the ruler of France,\n\"the eldest son of the church,\" their \"catholic majesties\" of Austria,\nSpain, Portugal,--may be among the first in executing divine judgments\non Babylon.--\"Make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh;\" that is,\nwithdraw the lands, endowments, etc., which enriched her monasteries and\nfattened her bishops, priests, etc.\n\n\n17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree,\nand give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be\nfulfilled.\n\nV. 17.--Here we are led into the secret cause of the wonderful change in\nthe policy of the horns: \"God hath put into their hearts.\" They just do\nto the \"great whore, whatsoever God's hand and counsel determined before\nto be done.\" (Acts iv. 28. See also Exod. vii. 3; Gen. xiv. 8; l. 20;\nPs. cv. 25.)\n\n\n18. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth\nover the kings of the earth.\n\nV. 18.--This \"woman is the great city;\" not literally the city of Rome;\nbut the imperial ecclesiastical jurisdiction, to whose authority\nintoxicated kings and their subjects bowed in slavish submission; and\nwhose bloody decrees they had executed for 1260 years upon many of their\nbest subjects and fellow-creatures.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\n1. And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven,\nhaving great power; and the earth was lightened, with his glory.\n\n2. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great\nis fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the\nhold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.\n\n3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her\nfornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with\nher, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance\nof her delicacies.\n\nVs. 1-3.--After the apostle had described Babylon in the preceding\nchapter, he \"saw another angel.\" This seems to be the Lord Christ, the\nsame as in ch. x. 1. He \"confirmeth the word of his servants,\" (ch. xiv.\n8;) that \"Babylon the great has fallen,\" and is adequately punished for\nher crimes, which are enumerated, v. 3.\n\n\n4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my\npeople, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of\nher plagues.\n\nV. 4.--The phrase, \"my people\" indicates that the speaker is not a\ncreated angel whose warning is here given with a \"voice from heaven.\"\nThis call of the Lord Jesus has been addressed to his elect, ever since\nthe revelation of the \"man of sin.\" It has been obeyed but partially\nhitherto: but upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet, his Holy Spirit\nwill give the call unusual efficacy.\n\n\n5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her\niniquities.\n\n6. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double,\naccording to her works: in the cup which he hath filled, fill to her\ndouble.\n\n7. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much\ntorment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart. I sit a queen;\nand am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.\n\n8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and\nfamine; and she shall be utterly burnt with fire; for strong is the Lord\nGod who judgeth her.\n\nVs. 5-8.--\"Her sins have reached unto heaven,\" and now she is to be\nvisited with condign punishment; although it seemed both to her and\nGod's own people long delayed. \"God hath remembered her iniquities.\"\nThere is reference to ancient Babylon's punishment, and the law of\nretaliation. (Jer. l. 15; Ps. cxxxvii. 8; Is. xlvii. 1-8.) Her\npunishment is destruction from the Almighty\": \"strong is the Lord God\nwho judgeth her.\"\n\n\n9. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived\ndeliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they\nshall see the smoke of her burning.\n\n10. Standing afar off, for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas,\nthat great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy\njudgment come.\n\n11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no\nman buyeth their merchandise any more.\n\n12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of\npearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet and all thyine\nwood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most\nprecious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble.\n\n13. And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine,\nand oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses,\nand chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.\n\n14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee,\nand all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and\nthou shalt find them no more at all.\n\n15. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall\nstand afar off, for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,\n\n16. And saying, Alas, alas! that great city, that was clothed in fine\nlinen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious\nstones, and pearls!\n\n17. For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every ship\nmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade\nby sea, stood afar off,\n\n18. And cried, when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city\nis like unto this great city?\n\n19. And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing,\nsaying, Alas, alas! that great city, wherein were made rich all that had\nships in the sea, by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she\nmade desolate.\n\nVs. 9-19.--At the fall of Babylon some of the kings who had been her\nsupporters, will lament for her while utterly unable to protect her, and\nafraid of partaking of her plagues. It may be proper to remark, that the\nword translated \"alas,\" and repeated in this chapter, is the same in the\nGreek text as that which is rendered, \"woe\" in ch. viii. 13; from which\nfact we are to infer that the fall of mystical Babylon described in this\nchapter comes under the last three, or probably the seventh trumpet.\nThat the Turkish empire is to be overthrown by the sixth trumpet or\nsecond woe, and gradually exhausted by the sixth vial, hardly admits of\na doubt: but it does not necessarily follow, that said trumpet and vial\nare to terminate when that judgment ends. Each trumpet and vial may\ncontinue its effects for some time after the following one\ncommences.--Kings, merchants and shipmasters are mentioned as chief\nmourners, while they are helpless spectators of this judgment. In all\nthis narrative there is plain allusion to the language of Old Testament\nprophets who predicted the destruction of the enemies of God's people;\nas Babylon, Tyre, Egypt. All these powerful kingdoms have been made\ndesolate for their idolatry and cruelty; and thus history comes in aid\nof prophecy to confirm the faith of the saints. The moral government of\nthe Most High is uniform, and he will execute vengeance upon his and\nZion's impenitent enemies. The merchandise and lamentations are borrowed\nfrom Ezek. xxvii. In ver. 13 there is mention made of \"the persons of\nmen\" as part of the wares in the markets of Tyre, and we find \"slaves\n(_bodies_) and souls of men,\" among the commodities for sale in modern\nBabylon. How can we, in view of historic facts, exempt the United States\nof North America from complicity in the crimes of mystic Babylon as one\nof her dependencies? While earthly politicians, sustained by eminent\ndivines, proclaimed to the world in gushing oratory that \"America was an\nasylum for the oppressed of all nations,\"--\"the land of the free, and\nthe home of the brave;\" perhaps there never was a more effectual\nrefutation of this popular sentiment, accompanied with a more biting\nsarcasm, than that which was uttered in derisive song by the sable,\ncoffled chain-gang in the streets of the national capital,--\"Hail!\nColumbia, happy land!\"--All who are acquainted with the internal and\npolitical history of the United States, know that the adherents of the\n\"Man of Sin\" always gave their suffrages for the support and continuance\nof that cursed traffic.\n\nThe great variety of the articles of merchandise here enumerated, is\ncalculated to impress the reader with the idea of the wealth, luxury,\nsplendor, and self-indulgence of the metropolis of the idolatrous Roman\nempire, the \"mother and mistress of all churches.\"--The prophetic\ndeclaration, however,--\"with feigned words shall they make merchandise\nof you,\" (2 Pet. ii. 3,) is not confined to the Romish communion. This\ntraffic, in _souls_, pervades all the streets of symbolic Babylon.--The\noverthrow is sudden and unexpected,--\"in one hour.\" This is thrice\nrepeated, (vs. 10, 17, 19.) In v. 18 this \"spiritual Sodom\" is compared\nto her prototype in her fearful end. \"They saw the smoke of her\nburning.\" (Gen. xix. 28.)\n\n\n20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets;\nfor God hath avenged you on her.\n\nV. 20.--Judgments on the impenitent enemies of God and of the saints,\nare mercies to the church. (Ps. cxxxvi. 15-20;) and consequently, while\nthe former are lamenting for the fall of the great city, the latter are\nexhorted to rejoice in her ruin,--all the members of the church in\ngeneral, and \"holy apostles and prophets\" in particular. The apostles\nare daily worshipped at Rome in their supposed likenesses, the work of\nthe \"cunning artificer; but here they are mentioned as rejoicing in the\ndestruction of the idolatrous sinners who so greatly _dishonoured_ them,\nand detracted from the glory of God.--As \"there is joy in heaven over\none sinner that repenteth,\" so is there over the destruction of the\nimpenitent. (Jer. li. 48.) \"So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord.\"\n(Judges v. 31.)\n\n\n21. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast\nit into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city\nBabylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.\n\n22. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and\ntrumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of\nwhatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound\nof a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;\n\n23. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and\nthe voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at\nall in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by\nthy sorceries were all nations deceived.\n\nVs. 21-23.--The emblem of \"a great millstone cast into the sea,\" is a\nvery striking indication of the sudden and irretrievable ruin of mystic\nBabylon, and contains an allusion to Jer. li. 63, 64.--The removal of\n\"musicians, craftsmen, candles, etc.,\" from this devoted city, as they\nplainly point to the statuary, music and paintings which have attracted\nmultitudes to the idolatry, superstition and harlotry of antichristian\nRome, emphatically proclaims the utter and perpetual desolation of papal\nRome. The language is borrowed from Isa. xxiv. 8; Jer. xxv. 10; Ezek.\nxxvi. 13.--Her merchants being the \"great men of the earth,\" and the\n\"sorceries\" by \"which the nations were deceived, very plainly indicate\nthe successful traffic of the \"mother of harlots,\"--the church of Rome.\n\n\n24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all\nthat were slain upon the earth.\n\nV. 24.--When the Lord \"maketh inquisition for blood,\" the \"blood of all\nthat were slain upon the earth,\"--_for Christ's sake_, will be found in\nthe skirts of this Jezebel. Papal Rome has shed more innocent blood than\npagan Rome; than Babylon, Tyre and Egypt; and by her relentless cruelty\nto \"prophets and saints,\" ministers and members of the witnessing\nchurch, she has endorsed all the murderous persecutions from Abel down\nto the present day. (Luke xi. 50, 51; Acts vii. 52.)--Now when we\ncontemplate in the light of prophecy, confirmed by authentic history,\nthe numberless, aggravated and long-continued crimes of Babylon the\ngreat, her pride, (v. 7,) her cruelty, (v. 3,) her luxury, her tyranny,\nher idolatry, her fornication, her impenitence in all,--can we hesitate\nto acquiesce in the righteousness of her final doom, or to join in the\nplaudits of the saints in the next chapter?\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n\n1. And after these things, I heard a great voice of much people in\nheaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power,\nunto the Lord our God:\n\n2. For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the\ngreat whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath\navenged the blood of his servants at her hand.\n\n3. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and\never.\n\n4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and\nworshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.\n\nVs. 1-4.--The frequent repetition of the Hebrew word \"Alleluia\" in this\nchapter, may perhaps be an intimation of something which specially\nrelates to the Jews. The perpetuity of the covenant made with Abraham,\nrenewed to Isaac, and confirmed to Jacob, (Ps. cv. 9, 10,) is clearly\ntaught in the Scriptures. (Gen. xvii. 7; Acts ii. 39; Rom. iv. 13; Gal.\niii. 14, 29.)\n\nIt has been already intimated, (ch. xi. 15,) that at the sounding of the\nseventh trumpet, \"there were great voices in heaven, saying, The\nkingdoms of this world are become _the kingdoms_ of our Lord and of his\nChrist; and he (Christ,) shall reign for ever and ever.\" Beholding the\noverthrow of Babylon, all the people of God were invited, (ch. xviii.\n20,) to \"rejoice over her,\" for her downfall was effected under the last\ntrumpet and vial. With that invitation the saints here joyfully comply.\n\"_Much people_ in heaven,\" implies a great augmentation of their number,\nand as \"heaven\" signifies the church on earth, we are warranted to\nexpect a rapid increase of her membership as the consequence of the\nsounding of the seventh trumpet.--At the pouring out of the third vial,\n(ch. xvi. 7,) the angel of the altar said, \"True and righteous are thy\njudgments.\" The very same sentiment is repeated here by the \"much\npeople,\"--all the saints. Thus they recognise the faithfulness and\njustice of God, as he heard and answered the cry of the \"souls under the\naltar;\" (ch. vi. 9, 10,) for he had now \"avenged their blood\" and that\nof their \"brethren that had been killed as they were,\" upon them that\ndwell on the earth,--the population of mystic Babylon. (Ps. cxxxvii. 8,\n9.) \"And again they said, Alleluia; and her smoke rose up for ever and\never,\" like that of Sodom. In all this, the ministry and members of the\nwhole church cordially join, adding their hearty and solemn \"Amen!\"\n\nFor this protracted joy and exulting praise, two causes seem to be in\noperation, God's judgment on Babylon, and his mercy on Zion. Both are\nmatter of praise. (Ps. ci. 1.)\n\n\n5. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye\nhis servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.\n\n6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the\nvoice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,\nAlleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.\n\n7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage\nof the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.\n\n8. And to her was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen,\nclean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.\n\n9. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto\nthe marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the\ntrue sayings of God.\n\nVs. 5-9.--This happy company are called upon to renew their song. The\ncall seems to come from some one who is authorized to speak with\nauthority, \"out of the throne.\" All the servants of God are invited, and\nall appear to respond, \"a great multitude.\" This is the most animated of\nall the examples of praise recorded in this book. It is compared to the\nrushing of waters down a cataract, as the roaring of the sea, or the\nrolling of thunder in the heavens. It is indeed the \"voice of them that\nshout for mastery,\"--and \"all the people shout with a great shout, for\nthe Lord hath given them the city,\"--\"Alleluia, _praise ye the Lord_,\nfor the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.\" \"Thou wilt perform the truth to\nJacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers\nfrom the days of old.\"--These joyful victors encourage each other to\nprolong their acclamations:--\"Let us be glad and rejoice,\" ... \"for the\nmarriage of the Lamb is come:\" and what can that be, but the recalling\nof the Jews? This is the day of our New Testament Solomon's espousals,\nand the day of the gladness of his heart. (Song iii. 11.)--Not only the\nJews, but the great majority of professing Christians during the 1260\nyears of Antichrist's usurpations, have refused to \"submit themselves to\nthe righteousness of God.\" (Rom. x. 3.) The kings of the earth also have\nfostered the pride and profligacy of the great whore, instead of the\nbride of the Lamb. The lewd woman, and the woman in the wilderness\nhitherto, are now to be distinguished. As their character and conduct\nare different, so is their raiment. The gaudy and splendid attire of the\nformer, is in striking contrast with that of the latter; which is that\nof a \"woman professing godliness,\" (ch. xvii. 4; 1 Tim. ii. 10.)--\"To\nher was granted,\"--Precious words; for the \"Lamb's wife of herself was\nutterly destitute,\" (ch. iii. 17.) The Jews, in the day of their\nMessiah's power, (Psa. cx. 3,) convinced of the law as transgressors,\nwill be brought to adopt the language of their own prophet, (Is. lxi.\n10;) \"he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered\nme with the robe of righteousness.\" The righteousness of Christ imputed\nfor justification, and the Spirit of Christ imparted for sanctification,\ntogether with good works, the visible evidence of both, will constitute\nthe \"fine linen, clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints.\"\nThis is, after all, a more _costly_, as well as more comely attire, than\nthat of the mother of harlots. (Ps. xlv. 13, 14.)--\"And he saith.\"--That\nis, say some, the angel, (ch. xvii. 1, 7; or ch. xviii. 1;) but we are\nrather to view him as the same who brings all these messages from Christ\nto the apostle, (ch. i. 1.) The angel pronounces those \"blessed who are\ncalled to the marriage supper of the Lamb.\"--In the beginning of the New\nTestament dispensation, the invitation was to a _dinner_. (Matt. xxii.\n4.) The day will have been far spent at the sounding of the seventh\ntrumpet, when Jews and Gentiles are called to this supper. It will be\nthe last _great feast_ of the church militant. But who shall live to\npartake of the banquet? The angel gives his solemn attestation to \"these\nsayings.\"\n\n\n10. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See\n_thou do it_ not; I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have\nthe testimony of Jesus. Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the\nspirit of prophecy.\n\nV. 10.--This is a surprising incident,--an aged, experienced and holy\nman, an apostle, \"falling down to worship the angel!\" And we are told\nthat he relapsed into the same sin, (ch. xxii. 8, 9.) Like Peter on the\nmount, who \"wist not what to say;\" or Paul in the \"third heaven ...\nwhether in the body or out of the body, he could not tell.\" (Mark ix. 6;\n2 Cor. xii. 3.) John had become overpowered by the visions and\ntransported by the high praises which he saw and heard. The like effects\nwere experienced by Daniel, (viii. 18; x. 8, 17.)--This sin of idolatry\nby the apostle was doubtless permitted by the Lord, in order to furnish\noccasion for a testimony from the angel, against the \"voluntary humility\nand worshipping of angels,\" (Col. ii. 18;) practised by the Papists, and\nto leave them without excuse.--The abrupt language of the angel in this\nand a subsequent case, is strongly expressive of\nresentment:--\"See--not.\" Such is the _curt, sententious_ utterance in\nthe Greek text. He assigns the best reason and strongest argument\nagainst idolatry:--\"I am thy fellow-servant,\" a creature as well as\nyourself: we are servants of one Lord, who alone is the object of our\ndevotion, \"Worship God.\" This is the best counsel, enforced by the most\ncogent reasoning,--\"For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of\nprophecy.\" This sentence may be read,--\"The Spirit of prophecy is the\ntestimony of Jesus;\" and it will be equally true. \"To him give all the\nprophets witness,\" (Acts x. 43;) for \"the Spirit of Christ was in them;\"\n(1 Pet. i. 11;) and this fact is well known to holy angels. (Eph. iii.\n10; 1 Pet. i. 12.) So this angel plainly declares.\n\n\n11. And I saw heaven opened, and, behold, a white horse: and he that sat\nupon him was called Faithful and True: and in righteousness he doth\njudge and make war.\n\n12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns:\nand he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself.\n\n13. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is\ncalled The Word of God.\n\n14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,\nclothed in fine linen, white and clean.\n\n15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should\nsmite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he\ntreadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.\n\n16. And he hath on his vesture, and on his thigh a name written, KING OF\nKINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.\n\nVs. 11-16.--\"Heaven opened\" once more, allows the apostle to look upon\nMessiah the Prince going forth to fresh conquests. As he began, (ch. vi.\n2,) so he continues, \"in righteousness to judge and make war;\" not as\nthe ambitious tyrants who \"destroy the earth,\" (ch. xi. 18.) He has here\nthree names,--\"Faithful and True, The Word of God, king of kings and\nLord of lords; yet he has a \"name written which no man knoweth but he\nhimself.\"--His infinite essence and eternal generation are\nincomprehensible by angels and men.--He is, however, known by his\nmediatorial titles,--\"faithful and true\" to all covenant engagements; as\nthe prophet of the church, he \"declares the Father,\" making known the\n\"word of God;\" and his lordship is at once a warning to his enemies and\nsecurity to his friends.--\"On his head were many crowns,\" emblematical\nof his numerous victories over the princes of the earth, especially the\n\"ten kings,\" (ch. xvii. 14.)--\"His eyes as a flame of fire,\" going\nthough the whole earth \"in every place,\" (Prov. xv. 3;) render it\nimpossible for his enemies to elude discovery. (Jer. xxiii. 24.)--His\n\"vesture dipped in blood,\" refers to his victories over all his\nmalicious and impenitent foes. (Is. lxiii. 1-3; Rev. xiv. 20.)--His\n\"armies on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,\" are\nuniformed like their leader, (ch. xii. 7;) for \"they that are with him\nare called, and chosen, and faithful,\" (ch. xvii. 14.)--The weapon with\nwhich he \"smites the nations\" that oppose him, is the \"sharp sword,\" an\nemblem of his ruinous and avenging justice; for he \"tradeth the\nwine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.\"--\"On his\nthigh,\" where he wears his sword, there is a legible inscription,\nindicating his universal and rightful authority.\n\n\n17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud\nvoice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and\ngather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;\n\n18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and\nthe flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on\nthem, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and\ngreat.\n\n19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,\ngathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and\nagainst his army.\n\n20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought\nmiracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the\nmark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were\ncast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.\n\n21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the\nhorse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were\nfilled with their flesh.\n\nVs. 17-21.--The position of the \"angel standing in the sun,\" and \"crying\nwith a loud voice;\" represents, that Messiah's judgments would be\nvisible to all the world; and the extent of the invitation to the\n\"fowls,\" indicates the vast slaughter of his enemies. Babylon being\n\"utterly burned with fire,\" (ch. xvii. 16, xviii. 8,) as a suitable\npunishment of an apostate church; the \"flesh of kings, of captains, of\nmighty men,\" etc., as a sacrifice to divine justice, is given as a feast\nto the fowls of heaven. The allusion here is to the destruction of \"Gog\nand Magog.\" (Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.) These enemies of the saints are to\nappear and be overthrown before the millennium; and although John\nborrows the names of these enemies, (ch. xx. 8,) they are not the same\nas those of Ezekiel; the one appearing _before_, the other _after_ the\nthousand years. We have often found the enemies of the church called in\nthe Apocalypse by the names of persecutors under the Old\nTestament;--Babylon, Egypt, etc.--We may consider the \"fowls,\" the birds\nof prey, as symbolizing the kings who retaliate upon Babylon; (as in ch.\nxvii. 16;) or rather, as the Lord's people reclaiming their own, of\nwhich they had been unjustly and long deprived,--\"spoiling the\nEgyptians.\" (Exod. xii. 36.)\n\nSome suppose that the confederacy of the \"kings of the earth\" with the\nbeast, (v. 19,) is a distinct attack from that mentioned in chapter\nseventeenth; (v. 14;) but perhaps it is safer to consider it as the\nsame, only more distinctly and fully exhibited here. Indeed it seems,\nfrom the agency of the \"false prophet,\" to be the same event as that\nunder the sixth vial, (ch. xvi. 14;) preparing to the battle of\nArmageddon. The Lord Jesus as \"captain of the Lord's hosts,\" and the\narmy of heaven following him, all of them on white horses, appear to be\non the one side; and the beast with the kings of the earth, instigated\nby the false prophet, on the other. The rank and file like their leaders\nare described as having \"received the mark of the beast and worshiped\nhis image.\" But the beast of the earth, (ch. iii. 11,) causes all ranks\nto receive the mark, and worship the image of the beast, (vs. 15, 16)\nThe beast of the earth, the woman, and the false prophet, all mean the\nsame thing; and that is, an apostate church in alliance with tyrannical\ncivil powers, (ch. xvii. 3.) Now, if the great city Babylon, a symbol\nwhich comprises the whole antichristian confederacy, has been utterly\ndestroyed, as appears in the eighteenth chapter, whence come these\nenemies bearing the same characters? The only solution of this apparent\ndifficulty is by supposing as we have done, that this is a re-exhibition\nof what has been more obscurely symbolized, (ch. xiv. 20; xvi. 17; xvii.\n16; xviii. 2, 8, 20,) in order more distinctly to point out the end of\ntwo principal leaders,--the \"beast and the false prophet,\" the empire\nand church of Rome. \"These both were cast alive into a lake of fire\nburning with brimstone.\"--\"The remnant were slain.\" When the leaders\nwere discomfited, the ranks were soon broken, and the whole army melted\naway. They were slain with Messiah's sword, the emblem of his justice,\n(ch. i. 16.)\n\nThus \"Babylon is fallen, to rise no more at all:\" all the visible\nenemies of the Lord and his Anointed are cut off from the face of the\nearth: and it remains only that he who originated the rebellious\nconspiracy be put under necessary restraint.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\n1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the\nbottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.\n\n2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil,\nand Satan, and bound him a thousand years.\n\n3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal\nupon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand\nyears should be fulfilled: and after that, he must be loosed a little\nseason.\n\nVs. 1-3.--\"And I saw an angel.\" This angel is the Lord Christ, (ch. x.\n1.) The key is the symbol of authority. (Is. xxii. 22; chs. i. 18; iii.\n7.) The dragon had been previously cast down from heaven, (ch. xii. 9;)\nby the Reformation, and during the \"short time\" of his liberty, he\npersecuted the woman and the remnant of her seed, on the earth. Now,\nhowever, his career is arrested. \"Seizing, binding, casting into the\nabyss, shutting up, and setting a seal upon that old serpent,\" (ch. xii.\n9,) are strong figurative expressions, by which his secure confinement\nis signified. Thus is the devil to be restrained from deceiving the\nnations for a \"thousand years.\" That this period is to be taken in a\nproper, and not in a mystical sense, appears thus. If we multiply one\nthousand by three hundred and sixty, as some fancifully do, the\nresulting number of years, three hundred and sixty thousand, would be\nout of all proportion to the past duration of the world, as well as the\nwell-defined period of 1260 years. Add to this, that when by Daniel and\nJohn definite duration is symbolically mentioned, it is by \"months,\ndays; time, times and a half a time,\" or \"the dividing of time,\"--never\nby \"years.\"\n\nAt the expiration of the thousand years, Satan will be loosed a \"little\nseason,\"--_little_, as compared with the thousand years; so little, as\nnot to be deemed worth estimating.\n\n\n4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given\nunto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the\nwitness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped\nthe beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their\nforeheads, or in their hands: and they lived and reigned with Christ a\nthousand years.\n\nV. 4.--\"And I saw thrones.\" Here there is no mention of _heaven being\nopened_. Nothing henceforth obstructs John's vision. \"The darkness is\npast, and the true light now shineth.\"--\"At evening time it shall be\nlight.\" (Zech. xiv. 7.)--\"And they sat on them.\" Who?--There is here\nwhat may be termed a remarkable chasm in the language of the text. There\nis no visible or proximate antecedent. Who are they who \"sit on\nthrones?\" Did Millenarians only put this question, and patiently search\nfor the solution in the context, agreeably to the _allegorical texture_\nof this whole book, all their hallucinations might be easily and happily\nobviated. The inspired writer assumes, of course, that the reader will\nreadily identify these persons, who are thus promoted to honour, now\nthat Antichrist is no more, and society is to be reorganized.--Daniel\nfurnishes a satisfactory answer to our question. \"I beheld till the\nthrones were cast down.\" (Dan. vii. 9.) The Roman imperial thrones of\n_civil despotism_ were subverted. Again,--\"But the judgment shall sit,\nand they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto\nthe end.\" (v. 26.) The Roman imperial _throne_ of ecclesiastical\ndomination shall be destroyed. Then when Messiah \"shall have put down\nall rule, and all authority and power,\" of both sorts of tyranny, \"the\nkingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole\nheaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,\nwhose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions, (_rulers_)\nshall serve and obey him,\" (v. 27.) The \"saints of the Most High,\"\naccording to Daniel, are to be exalted to civil rule, and these are the\nsame whom John saw \"sitting on thrones.\" Now, the effect of the seventh\ntrumpet becomes a fact in history.--\"The kingdoms of this world,\" which\nhad been controlled by the beast, and bewitched by the sorceries of the\nlewd woman, \"are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his\nChrist.\"--For in the millennial state of the world, there will be a\n_plurality_ of _kingdoms_.--Hence a very common petition of pious but\nignorant people,--\"That the kingdoms of this world may soon become the\nkingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,\" neither will, nor ever\ncan be answered.--Under the righteous and benign administration of the\nsaints, \"kings shall be nursing-fathers, and their queens\nnursing-mothers to the church:\" for \"the nations and kingdoms that would\nnot _serve her_, have perished; yea, those nations have been utterly\nwasted.\" (Is. xlix. 23; lx. 12.)--The souls which the apostle saw under\nthe altar, whose cry for vengeance he heard, and who were directed to\nrest for a little season, till the roll of their martyred brethren\nshould be completed, are here presented in quite a new position,\n\"sitting on thrones,\" (ch. vi. 9.) Although they are not the same\nidentical persons _physically_, they are the same _morally_; for the\nlife of the two witnesses is commensurate with the reign of\nAntichrist,--twelve hundred and sixty years. These \"lived and reigned\nwith Christ a thousand years; that is, in their successive generations:\nfor otherwise they would over-live the age of Methuselah!--Souls are\nhere evidently persons, and not souls as distinct from bodies, as some\nneedlessly argue against Millenarians: for \"foreheads\" and \"hands\" are\nattributed to them: but foreheads cannot be literally ascribed to those\nwho had been \"beheaded.\" Their living is to be understood of their\nsucceeding to the same scriptural position occupied by their\npredecessors, as well as succeeding them in the order of natural\ngeneration. The Holy Spirit says, \"Levi, who receiveth tithes, paid\ntithes in Abraham.\" (Heb. vii. 9, 10.) Elijah reappeared in the person\nof John the Baptist. (Matt. xi. 14.) Jezebel and Balaam were recognised\nin their wicked successors, (ch. ii. 14, 20.) But this is the very\nstructure of the Apocalypse, being composed of hieroglyphics, that the\nfree agency of the wicked might be left untrammelled, and the diligence\nof God's people might be tested in \"searching the Scriptures.\"\n\n\n5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years\nwere finished. This is the first resurrection.\n\nV. 5.--\"The rest of the dead\" supposes two classes of the dead. These\nare the witnesses, who died a violent and cruel death, and the wicked,\nwho died a natural death,--there \"were no bands in their death.\" As\nthere are _two kinds_ of death, so are there two kinds of\nresurrection,--a _first_ and _second_ of each. Those who had been\n\"beheaded for the witness of Jesus,\" etc., lived in their\nsuccessors,--sat on thrones, reigned with Christ a thousand years. Of\ncourse those who were slain by Christ and his army at the battle of\nArmageddon, and whose flesh was given to the fowls of heaven, \"lived not\nagain\" in their successors, \"until the thousand years were finished.\"\nConsequently, \"this is the first resurrection,\" with which the true\ndisciples of Christ shall be honoured. They must, however, die as all\nothers, and await the _second_ resurrection: but \"on them the second\ndeath shall have no power.\"\n\n\n6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on\nsuch the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God\nand of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.\n\nV. 6.--\"Blessed and holy,\"--and blessed, because _holy_; for sin is the\nprocuring cause of misery. This is a summary description of the\nmillennial period. The dragon being bound by the almighty power of\nChrist, and not permitted to deceive the nations, wars shall cease unto\nthe ends of all the earth: the population of the globe must be rapidly\nand greatly multiplied beyond all precedent. (Ps. xlvi. 9; lxxii. 16,)\nthe life of man will be prolonged; (Isa. lxv. 20-25,) holiness,\nrighteousness and praise shall spring forth before all the nations,\n(lxi. 11.)\n\nThat condition of our globe, which divines call the _millennium_,--a\nstate of holiness and happiness, second only to the enjoyment of\nheavenly felicity, is as clearly and frequently promised to God's\npeople, as the promise of the Messiah was under the former economy. But\nas many were \"in expectation that the kingdom of God should immediately\nappear,\" who then entertained unwarrantable and carnal conceptions of\nthe Messiah's person and reign, just such groundless and gross\nexpectations and aspirations are cherished now. A literal resurrection\nof _all_ the righteous, who shall have died before the millennium is\nsupposed to take place at the personal appearance of Christ; and this,\ntoo, before the general judgment. By _personal_, they mean _corporeal_:\nfor the Lord Christ promised his gracious _personal_ presence with his\npeople _all days_, when he was about to disappear from their bodily\nvision. (Matt. xxviii. 20.) \"To them that look for him shall he appear\nthe _second_ time, (not a _third_,) without sin unto salvation.\" (Heb.\nix. 28; Rev. i. 7.) Besides, is it for a moment supposable that saints\nwho have passed into glory, are to be brought upon earth to conflict\nonce more with enemies, when Gog and Magog shall surround the \"camp of\nthe saints?\" Such is a specimen of questions suggested by the\n_Millenarian system_, which have failed of either scriptural or rational\nsolution by all the learning and ingenuity of its fanciful advocates.\n\nThe whole series of the Apocalypse proves that the _two witnesses_ live\nand prophesy throughout the 1260 years of Antichrist's reign. Their\nlives and their testimony end together, (ch. xi. 7.) But the beast that\nslays them is himself with his ally, the false prophet, at the close of\nthe contest, cast alive into the lake of fire, (ch. xix. 20.)\n\nAfter three and a half prophetical days, the witnesses are raised, and\nascend up to heaven, (ch. xi. 12;) and this is the identical fact which\nis more fully presented here in the 20th chapter. The resurrection of\nthe witnesses in the 11th chapter is a spiritual and mystical\nresurrection in the persons of their successors; the heaven to which\nthey were exalted is a mystical heaven: and just so of those beheaded\nand advanced, after their resurrection, to positions of civil and\necclesiastic power as in this 20th chapter. Thus exalted, and ruling in\nthe fear of God, they become a terror to evil doers, and a praise to\nthem that do well. (Rom. xiii. 3.) Then shall be realized the glorious\npredictions of Isaiah and the Sweet Psalmist of Israel. (Isa. xi. 1-9;\nPs. lxxii. 1)\n\n\n7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall\nbe loosed out of his prison.\n\n8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four\nquarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle:\nthe number of whom is as the sand of the sea.\n\n9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp\nof the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God\nout of heaven, and devoured them.\n\nVs. 7-9.--\"Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.\"--The Lord Christ\nwill remove the restraint which had repressed the chief enemy during the\nthousand years, that the Faithful and True Witness may give a final\ntestimony to the moral universe, that neither the philosophy of proud\nman, nor the law of Moses,--no, nor the ordinances of the gospel, will\never change the nature of a sinner:--That neither judgments nor mercies\nhave any efficacy to subdue the stubborn will, or renew the desperately\nwicked heart of man; and that it is a righteous thing with God to render\ntribulation to them that trouble his saints and insult his Majesty.\n\nThus released \"for a little season,\" the prime enemy goes out as before\nto \"deceive the nations.\" He is successful. \"The rest of the dead,\" who\nlived not again during the 1000 years, at once re-appear in the persons\nof their genuine successors. They are the children of them that killed\nthe witnesses;--the seed of the serpent aiming a last fatal stroke at\nthe seed of the woman.--They are called \"Gog and Magog;\" and because of\nthe identity of names, many have supposed them to be the same as those\nenemies of the people of God described by Ezekiel, (chs. xxxviii.,\nxxxix.) This view is, however, without sanction in the Scriptures. The\ncharacters are mystical according to the uniform structure of the\nApocalypse. Ezekiel's Gog and Magog come from the \"north quarters;\"\nthose of John from the \"four quarters or corners of the earth.\" It is\nalso probable, if not absolutely certain, that the enemies predicted by\nEzekiel are to appear before, while those of John are to arise after the\nmillennium. The overthrow of Gog and Magog, foretold by Ezekiel, is\nevidently connected with the conversion of the Jews, (ch. xxxix. 22,\n29;) but that event must precede the millennial period. (Rom. xi.\n26.)--Magog is reckoned with Meshech and Tubal among the sons of\nJapheth, (Gen. x. 2;) and those nations called in history Scythians and\nTartars, in the \"north quarters\" of Europe and Asia, as well as the\n\"isles of the Gentiles,\" are supposed to be their descendants. By the\n\"three unclean spirits,\" (ch. xvi. 13,) a confederacy was effected under\nthe sixth vial to the battle of Armageddon; and the same is again\npresented in ch. xix. 20, as the final attempt against the saints\npreviously to the millennium, when two of the prime instigators, the\nbeast and the false prophet, are cast into the lake of fire. Thus we may\nsuppose _eastern_ and _western_ Antichrist finally destroyed.\n\nEzekiel's Gog and Magog being slain in the battle of Armageddon, how or\nwhere shall we find those of John? They are to be found precisely on the\nsame principle on which we find the witnesses of Christ in this chapter.\nSatan is loosed \"a little season,\"--_little_ as compared with the\nthousand years of Messiah's reign; or rather, as compared with the 1260\nyears of the dragon's successful enterprises against the saints through\nthe beast and false prophet as agents. These being now cast into the\nlake of fire, Satan is for ever deprived of their agency. During the\nmillennial period people will be born in sin as at other times; and at\nthe close of that happy period, Almighty God will display his\nsovereignty by withholding his grace, that a last demonstration may be\ngiven to all the world of the necessity and efficacy of that grace in\nchanging the heart of a sinner. Without the intervention of the beast or\nthe false prophet, Satan will prevail by more direct temptations to\ngather together to battle a multitude of the _same spirit_ as Ezekiel's\nGog and Magog displayed against the saints before the millennium. These\nare the \"rest of the dead that lived not again till the one thousand\nyears were finished.\" As the \"deadly wound\" of the civil beast \"was\nhealed,\" and he received a new life, to the astonishment of spectators,\n(ch. xiii. 3,) as the witnesses received \"the Spirit of life from God,\"\nto the dismay of their enemies; (chs. xi. 11; xx. 4,) so Gog and Magog\nre-appear in the persons and bloody cruelties of their genuine\nsuccessors. And in language similar to that in the context we may\nwarrantably say,--this is the _second resurrection_; for when it is\ndeclared that the \"rest of the dead lived not again,\" it is manifest\nthat two classes of dead are intended. All are said to be dead; the\nwitnesses, slain by the beast; their enemies, slain by the Lord. The\nwitnesses rise, and \"this is the first resurrection.\" A _first_ implies\na _second of the same kind_. Well, \"the rest lived not again till the\nthousand years were finished.\" What then? Why, simply this,--that the\nother remaining class of the dead _lived again_; and this appears to be\nthe obvious scope and meaning of these terms, so vexing to many critics.\n\nBy deception Satan prevails to assemble the nations in vast multitudes,\n\"as the sand of the sea,\"--a proverbial form of expression applied to\nAbraham's seed. (Gen. xxii. 17.) \"They went up on the breadth of the\nearth.\" Coming from the \"four quarters of the earth,\" they \"compassed\nthe camp of the saints.\" The allusion here is twofold: to Israel in the\nwilderness, in the time of Moses; and to the holy city Jerusalem, in the\ndays of David; (Ps. cxviii. 10-12,) for often did the enemy with \"joint\nheart\" attempt to \"cut off the name of Israel.\" (Ps. lxxxiii. 4-8.)\nNever was Pharaoh or Sennacherib more confident of a sure and easy\nvictory over the saints. (Exod. xv. 9; Isa. xxxvi. 20.) As in the days\nof Noah, most of the generation of the righteous had been taken home to\nglory before the ungodly were destroyed by the deluge, so we may suppose\nthe \"camp of the saints\" to be but a \"little flock,\" when assailed for\nthe last time, while they are in a militant state.--The issue in this\ncase, however, will be more decisive and glorious than any other battle\nwith the powers of darkness. We may adopt and apply the words of the\nprophet to God's people in the time of Jehoshaphat:--\"Thus saith the\nLord,--Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for\nthe battle is not yours, but God's. Ye shall not need to fight in this\nbattle.\" (2 Chron. xx. 15, 17.)--\"Fire came down from God out of heaven,\nand devoured\" this great multitude. This most dreadful of all elements\nin the material universe, is that which is commonly employed to\nrepresent the wrath of God. By it Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed,\nCorah and his rebellious company, the captains and their fifties; fire\nproceeded out of the mouth of the two witnesses and devoured their\nenemies; Gog and Magog are consumed by this element; the heavens and the\nearth which are now, are reserved unto fire; the Lord Jesus shall be\nrevealed from heaven ... in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that\nknow not God, and that obey not the gospel,--most probably _these very\nenemies_; and all such are to be consigned to \"the fire that never shall\nbe quenched.\" Awful thought! Tremendous destiny! Who would not fear\nthee, O Lord; who art a consuming fire to all thy impenitent enemies?\n\n\n10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and\nbrimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be\ntormented day and night for ever and ever.\n\nV. 10.--The _first_ rebel against the righteous authority of the Lord\nand his Anointed, and the ceaseless instigator of all rebellions of\nindividual and social man, is the _last_ to be consigned to adequate\npunishment. When the Lord first called sinners to account, the same\norder is noticeable: First, Adam, then Eve, and last the serpent. The\nbeast and the false prophet are already in the lake of fire; (ch. xix.\n20;) and now, Satan, who is here called the devil, is dismissed after\nthem, that they may all be tormented \"for ever and ever,\"--words, as\nalready noticed, which are the strongest in the Greek language, to\nconvey to the human mind the idea of _endless duration_.\n\n\n11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose\nface the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place\nfor them.\n\n12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God: and the books\nwere opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and\nthe dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books\naccording to their works.\n\n13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell\ndelivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man\naccording to their works.\n\n14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the\nsecond death.\n\n15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast\ninto the lake of fire.\n\nVs. 11-15.--Nothing now remains to bring to a close the moral\nadministration of Messiah, but the raising of the dead and pronouncing\nfinal sentence on all the subjects of his government. There is no\nintimation that any events shall intervene between the casting of the\ndevil into the burning lake, and the appearing of the Judge.\n\nThe \"great white throne\" is suitable to the majesty and holiness of the\nJudge. He is not at first called by any name, for \"every eye shall see,\"\nand seeing, recognise his divine dignity. In the next verse he is styled\nGod, not to identify him, but as a matter of course in the\nnarrative.--No sooner did the Judge take his seat, than \"the earth and\nthe heaven fled away.\" The simplicity and sublimity of this language are\ninimitable by human genius; and rarely if at all equalled, even by those\nwho spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The first inspired\nwriter uses language very similar. (Gen. i. 3.) We are frequently and\nsufficiently taught that the Lord Christ in person is to be the judge of\nquick and dead. (Acts xvii. 31.) \"All must appear before the judgment\nseat of Christ.\" (2 Cor. v. 10.) No person is competent to this work of\njudgment but one who is omniscient and omnipotent, not to speak of other\ndivine perfections. The \"Judge of all the earth\" is a divine person,\npossessed of all the attributes of deity; and as there is not _now_\namong apostate angels, so there will not _then_ be a child of Adam, to\n_deny the supreme deity of Jesus Christ_. (Matt. viii. 29.) Of this he\ngave intimation at the beginning of the Apocalypse:--\"Every eye shall\nsee him, and they also which pierced him,\" (ch. i. 7;) yes, they pierced\nhim for _blasphemy_, \"because that he, being a man, made himself God.\"\n(John x. 33.) Here the Judge on the throne demonstrates to an assembled\nuniverse, the scriptural warrant for the language of the Reformers when\nthey say he is \"very God, and very man.\" \"God is judge himself,\" (Ps. l.\n6,) in the person of the Father; but \"he hath appointed a day in the\nwhich _he_ will judge the world in righteousness, by that _man_ whom he\nhath ordained.\"--(Acts xvii. 31.)\n\nBefore the righteous Judge \"shall be gathered all nations,\" (Matt. xxv.\n32,) all that have ever lived upon the earth, from the creation till the\nend of time, all ranks and degrees, however diversified by sex, age, or\nsocial position; righteous and wicked, Jews and Gentiles, Herod and\nPontius Pilate, Cain and Abel, Judas, etc.\n\nIn order to this general assize, \"the dead shall hear the voice of the\nSon of God,\" (John v. 25, 28, 29;) \"and many of them that sleep in the\ndust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to\nshame and everlasting contempt.\" (Dan. xii. 2.) The \"sea, death and\nhell,\" or the grave, (or rather, the place of souls as separated by\ndeath from their bodies,) which are thus awfully, but beautifully\npersonified, shall surrender their respective tenants, that they may\nstand before the Son of man in judgment.--Only such as have died are\nmentioned here: but some will not die, but \"remain alive unto the coming\nof the Lord,\" the judge; and these, it is probable, will be the \"camp of\nthe saints\" which have been miraculously delivered from the rage of Gog\nand Magog, (vs. 8, 9.) There is a beautiful order in the final\nresurrection. \"The dead in Christ shall rise first.\" (1 Thess. iv. 16; 1\nCor. xv. 23.) Next will be raised the wicked; for \"like sheep they are\nlaid in the grave; death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have\ndominion over them in the morning.\" (Ps. xlix. 14.) The dead, being all\nraised, those who shall be alive will undergo a change equivalent to\ndeath,--\"in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye;\" for these \"shall not\nprevent (anticipate) them which were asleep;\" that is, they will not be\n_changed_ until their companions are called from the grave, etc. All\nbeing now \"before the judgment seat of Christ,\"--the \"books are opened!\"\nOh, what emotions will swell and heave the bosoms of the\nrighteous!--\"joy unspeakable and full of glory:\" for before the sentence\nof acquittal is publicly pronounced, their position on the Judge's right\nhand indicates the sentence. And next what terror insupportable will now\nseize the wicked! What \"fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery\nindignation,\" when in breathless suspense, they await the just\nsentence,--\"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared\nfor the devil and his angels!\" (Matt. xxv. 41; Heb. x. 27.) The\nrighteousness of this sentence will be attested by the \"opened\nbooks,\"--of the divine omniscience, the human conscience, and in the\ncase of gospel-rejecters, the Bible. (2 Thess. i. 7, 8.) And the like\ncondemnation would pass upon the righteous, but that \"another book is\nopened,\" in which are inscribed the names of all the objects of God's\nelecting love: and this will be the key-note in their songs of praise to\nall eternity. (Jer. xxxi. 3; Rev. i. 5.) All are \"judged according to\ntheir works,\" as these are witnessed by the books,--for \"their works do\nfollow them,\" (ch. xiv. 13.)\n\n\"Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.\" Death, or the grave;\nhell, or the separate state, will never again be needed, as prisons to\nkeep their inmates for trial. \"The lake of fire\" is the place of\nceaseless and endless torment for all who are not \"found written in the\nbook of life;\" and this place seems to be distinct from the \"bottomless\npit,\" Satan's \"prison,\" out of which he had been loosed, (v. 7.)--Of the\nbeast it was said, he \"ascendeth out of the bottomless pit,\" but not\nthat he was remanded thither again: he is said to \"go into perdition,\"\nwhich must be \"the lake of fire.\" (Compare ch. xvii. 8, with xix. 20;\nand xx. 1-3 with v. 10.)--The plain and obvious meaning of these closing\nverses of the 20th chapter, as delineated in its general import by\nappropriate and familiar symbols and intelligible words, for ever\nexcludes, and emphatically condemns the conscience-stupifying heresies\nand blasphemies of Unitarians and Universalists. The God-man Mediator,\nseated upon the \"throne of his glory,\" before whose face the \"earth and\nthe heaven fled away,\" is thus evidenced to be the Son of God, Jehovah's\nFellow. And we may here adopt the assertion and caution of the \"beloved\ndisciple,\"--\"This is the true God and eternal life.--Little children,\nkeep yourselves from idols.\" (1 John v. 20, 21.)--Moreover, these verses\nreveal a place or state, more to be dreaded than the \"killing of the\nbody,\"--\"the lake of fire, which is the second death,\" \"where their worm\ndieth not, and the fire is not quenched.\" (Matt. x. 28; 2 Thess. i.\n8-10; Heb. x. 26-31.)\n\nWith the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse terminate the events of time, in\nwhich the divine Author demonstrates, that \"known unto him are all his\nworks, from the beginning of the world.\" (Acts xv. 18.) Many, indeed, of\nthe learned and pious have supposed the remaining chapters of the\nApocalypse, to be a description of the church on earth during the\nmillennial period. But besides the series, coherence and dependence of\nthe several parts of the book, precluding such _retrogression_, this\ninterpretation overthrows the scriptural distinction between the\nmilitant and triumphant state of the church. And it is not to be thought\nout of place, that the inspired prophet should describe, by suitable\nemblems, the outline of the heavenly state; for this he has done briefly\nalready in a number of instances. (See chs. ii. and iii., also ch. vii.\n15, 17.)--Those who consider the last two chapters as a delineation of\nthe church on earth, have first formed in their minds ideas of a\ncorporeal or bodily presence of Christ, and of a literal and visible\nreign on the earth. Such views we have already shown to be without\nscripture warrant, yea against plain declarations of the Holy Spirit,\n(as Acts iii. 21; Matt. xvii. 11, 12; Heb. ix. 28.) Hence we shall\ncontemplate the symbols of the following chapters,--except as incidents\nor allusions may render this incompatible,--as shadowing forth the\nglories of the church's heavenly state.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n\n1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the\nfirst earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.\n\n2. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out\nof heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.\n\n3. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the\ntabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they\nshall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their\nGod.\n\n4. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be\nno more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any\nmore pain: for the former things are passed away.\n\n5. And he that sat upon the throne, said, Behold, I make all things new.\nAnd he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.\n\n6. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning\nand the end: I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of\nthe water of life freely.\n\n7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be his God,\nand he shall be my son.\n\nVs. 1-7.--It is unquestionable that the phrase \"new heavens and a new\nearth\" is to be understood sometimes as descriptive of moral renovation\nin the world. As the moral change affected by grace in the character of\nan individual sinner is called a new creation, and is in truth no less,\nso in respect to a community. The analogy in this case is the same as\nbetween a revolution and an earthquake. Thus, we must understand Is.\nlxv. 17, lxvi. 22, of that great moral change which will characterize\nthe millennium. But the \"new heaven and the new earth\" are here\ncontrasted with the \"first heaven and the first earth which were passed\naway,\" (ch. xx. 11.) The apostle Peter describes the very same grand and\nglorious change. Mingling the important facts of authentic history with\nthe future facts of prophecy, he tells us that the \"heavens and the\nearth which are now, ... are reserved unto fire.\"--He speaks obviously\nof the visible heavens and earth. These \"heavens shall pass away ... and\n\"the earth also, ... shall be burnt up.\" He adds,--\"We look for new\nheavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.\" (2 Pet. iii.\n7, 13.)--\"There was no more sea,\" no more disorderly passions,\nanimosities, arising from human depravity, to interrupt the delightful\nharmony and fellowship of saints in glory. It is estimated that about\ntwo thirds of this world are occupied by water. In that happy place\noccupied by the people of God, there is no sea; consequently, \"yet there\nis room,\" many mansions, room enough for all the redeemed. \"The holy\ncity,\" compared to a \"bride,\" two very incongruous emblems, shows the\npoverty of symbols, their inadequacy to represent the church triumphant:\nhow then shall created objects furnish suitable emblems of the glorious\nand glorified Bridegroom? In vision the city seemed to the apostle as if\nsuspended in the air on the same plane with himself; for now he stood\nneither on \"the sand of the sea,\" (ch. xiii. 1,) for \"there was no more\nsea,\" nor upon the earth, for it was \"passed away.\" No intervening\nobject could obstruct his view.--He heard a voice from heaven, saying,\n\"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with\nthem,\" as his reconciled and beloved people. As a tender Father, he will\n\"wipe away all tears from their eyes.\" \"There shall be no more death,\"\neither of themselves or their beloved friends, to open the fountain of\ntears any more for ever. But death is the last enemy to be destroyed; (1\nCor. xv. 26;) how then can these words apply to any state short of\nimmortality in heaven? \"Neither sorrow nor crying,\"--for sin or\nsuffering; \"neither shall there be any more pain,\" causing tears or\ncries: and what is this but heaven? Yes, \"the former things are passed\naway.\" Now \"he that hath the bride is the bridegroom,\" and she shall\nnever be false to her marriage covenant any more.--\"He that sat on the\nthrone,\" denotes the Father most frequently in this book, as he is\ndistinguished from the Son; but the Son \"is set down with his Father in\nhis throne,\" (ch. iii. 21;) and the Son is to be viewed as the person on\nthe throne here, as the following words, compared with the twentieth\nchapter, verse eleventh, make evident.--He it is who \"makes all things\nnew.\" He left his disciples as to his bodily presence, and went to\n\"prepare a place for them,\" (John xiv. 2;) and now he has come again and\nreceived them to himself, in fulfilment of his promise. Having sent the\nHoly Spirit to create them anew and to carry on to completion their\nsanctification, he now sees of the travail of his soul, the Father has\ngiven him his heart's desire, and hath not withholden the request of his\nlips. Now, all his ransomed ones are with him, in answer to his prayer,\nand also their own prayers, that they may behold his glory which the\nFather gave him. (Ps. xxi. 2; John xvii. 24; Phil. i. 23.)--The Lord\nChrist said to John,--\"Write; for these words are true and faithful.\"\nAnd what has sustained the spirits, animated the hopes, and filled with\nexulting joy, the confessors, witnesses and martyrs of Jesus, but\nfaith's realizing views of the King in his beauty, and the glories of\nImmanuel's land? For this peculiarity the disciples of Christ have been\nas speckled birds, men wondered at, in all generations.--\"It is done,\"\nso he said at the pouring out of the seventh vial, (ch. xvi. 17;) when\nthe final stroke was given to the antichristian enemies: but now these\nwords import the completion of the whole counsel of the will of God, as\ncarried into effect by the Captain of salvation, in bringing the beloved\nand adopted sons and daughters of the Father home to glory. (Heb. ii.\n10.) He who is the \"Alpha and Omega,\" is the \"author and finisher of\ntheir faith.\"--Although the Lord Jesus has made of sinners \"new\ncreatures,\" prepared them as \"vessels of mercy unto glory,\" and\nintroduced them into heaven, they are _creatures_ still, and necessarily\ndependent. They thirst for refreshment suited to their holy nature; and\naccordingly he gives of the \"_fountain_ of the water of life freely,\"\nfor the _streams_ of which they thirsted, \"as the heart panteth for the\nwater brooks,\" while they sojourned in a dry and parched land, far from\ntheir Father's house. Man's sin consisted in forsaking this \"Fountain of\nliving waters,\" and his recovery and felicity must arise from his\nreturning from his own \"broken cisterns\" to the original spring.--The\nwater of life was purchased at infinite cost by Christ; but he offers it\nto the thirsty without price, (Is. lxv. 1, 2.)--Those who are refreshed\nby the streams of the water of life, have many enemies to encounter in\ntheir militant state, but all who overcome are encouraged in their\nwarfare by the animating promise, that they shall \"inherit all things.\"\n(1 Cor. iii. 21.)--\"He shall be my son,\" and \"if a son, then an heir of\nGod, and joint heir with Christ.\"\n\n\n8. But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,\nand whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall\nhave their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which\nis the second death.\n\nV. 8.--\"But the fearful,\" who dread suffering or reproach for the cause\nof Christ,--not the self-diffident who loves his Captain, but the coward\nor deserter, who \"turns back in the day of battle,\" who fears the enemy\nmore than his Captain:--\"and unbelieving,\" not the misbelieving, as\nThomas; nor the _weak_ in faith, but such as have _no_\nfaith,--_infidels_;--\"the abominable,\" defiling the flesh as\nSodomites:--\"murderers,\" suicides, duelists, assassins, burglars, etc.,\n\"whoremongers,\" adulterers, fornicators:--\"sorcerers,\" necromancers,\nspiritualists, who are the devil's prophets, pretending to new\nrevelations, \"and all liars,\" perjured persons, deceivers, hypocrites,\nfalse teachers, who handle the word of the Lord deceitfully, for filthy\nlucre's sake,--all such shall have their part in the lake, with the\ndevil, the beast, and the false prophet. (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Gal. v.\n19-21; Eph. v. 5, 6; 2 Cor. xi. 13.)\n\n\n9. And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven\nvials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come\nhither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.\n\n10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain,\nand showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of\nheaven from God,\n\n11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most\nprecious, even like a jasper-stone, clear as crystal;\n\n12. And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the\ngates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of\nthe twelve tribes of the children of Israel.\n\n13. On the east, three gates; on the north, three gates; on the south,\nthree gates; and on the west, three gates.\n\n14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the\nnames of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\n\nVs. 9-14.--This \"angel\" is probably the same who had shown John the\nmystic Babylon and her destruction, (ch. xvii. 1;) and who now proposes\nto show him the \"bride of the Lamb\" by way of contrast.--Under the\ninfluence of the Spirit, who has access to the soul without the use of\nthe bodily organs, (2 Cor. xii. 2,)--John was \"carried to a great and\nhigh mountain,\" where the prospect might be sufficiently enlarged. When\nthe angel proposed to show him the \"scarlet whore,\" he \"carried him into\nthe wilderness,\" intimating that such is the _only position_ in which\nthe \"mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her,\" can be\nclearly seen or perfectly understood. (2 Pet. i. 9.) Great indeed is the\ncontrast. Both objects are complex, and the combination of symbols,\nwholly incongruous in nature, admonishes the sober interpreter to beware\nof indulging his vain fancy by attempting to trace analogies in detail,\nwhere none are intended by the Holy Spirit. The true church of Christ is\ncompared to a virtuous and fruitful woman, (ch. xii. 5;) and the\napostate church is symbolized by a fruitful but profligate woman, (ch.\nxvii. 5.) Then both are also represented by two cities, which are\nequally contrasted. As the women differ in their outward adornment,\n(chs. xix. 8, xvii. 4,) so do the cities in the quality of population,\ncommerce and employment, (ch. xviii. 4; xxii. 14.)--The nuptials being\nconsummated between the Lamb and his bride, and she being now \"made\nperfect in holiness;\" under the emblem of a city, she is illuminated\nwith \"the glory of God,\" made \"comely through his comeliness put upon\nher,\" rendered beautiful and illustrious beyond conception or\nexpression: for the happiness of heaven results from conformity to the\nGod-man, communion with him and communications from him. (1 John iii.\n2.)--\"Her light\" resembled the \"jasper, clear as crystal.\" The knowledge\nof saints in heaven will be intuitive: they will no longer \"see through\na glass darkly,\" by word and sacraments; nor shall the glorious\nBridegroom show himself as formerly \"through the lattice;\" (Song ii. 9;)\nbut they \"shall see him as he is.\" (1 John iii. 2.)--\"A wall great and\nhigh\" denotes the security of this city, which can never be scaled by an\nenemy. The \"twelve gates\" are to admit the twelve tribes of God's\nspiritual Israel,--the sealed ones, (ch. vii. 5-8;) who \"shall come from\nthe east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and\nshall sit down in the kingdom of God.\" (Luke xiii. 29.)--At the gates\nwere \"twelve angels,\" as guards and porters. The \"foundations\" of the\nwall, named after the \"twelve apostles,\" denote that all who enter the\ncity, gained admission by \"belief of the truth\" as taught by the\napostles,--had \"continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and\nfellowship,\" in the face of reproach, persecution and apostacy. They\nwere \"built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,\"--Old and\nNew Testament believers saved by the blood of the Lamb: for the twelve\ntribes, multiplied by the twelve apostles, make a hundred and\nforty-four; and these again, multiplied by a thousand, make the whole\nnumber who appeared with the Lamb on Mount Zion, (ch. xiv. 1;) _the\npublic witnesses_ of Christ, in the _church militant_ during the great\napostacy.\n\n\n15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city,\nand the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.\n\n16. And the city lieth four square, and the length is as large as the\nbreadth. Ami he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand\nfurlongs: the length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal.\n\n17. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four\ncubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.\n\nVs. 15-17.--The apostle borrows the symbols and language of preceding\nprophets, especially those of Ezek. (xl. 3,) and Zech. (ii. 1.) The\n\"furlongs\" measured by the \"reed,\" indicate a city of vast dimensions;\nand being \"four square,\" each side would be about fifteen hundred miles!\nAnd as the \"length and breadth and height of it are equal,\" we are\nhereby taught that no gross conceptions are to be formed in our\nimaginations, since a city fifteen hundred miles high, is utterly\ninconceivable. The instruction intended to be conveyed to us by the vast\ndimensions, and precious materials of this city may be, the\nincomprehensible nature and transcendent glory of heaven. (1 Cor. ii.\n9.) A cubit, as the word signifies, \"is the measure of a man\" from his\nelbow to the end of his middle finger. The measure of the wall, in\nheight or breadth, was a hundred and forty-four cubits, or the twelve\ntribes, as before, multiplied by the twelve apostles; for the idea of a\ncube, as the most perfect symbol of symmetrical form, seems to be\nintended.\n\n\n18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was\npure gold, like unto clear glass:\n\n19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all\nmanner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second,\nsapphire; the third chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;\n\n20. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite;\nthe eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the\neleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.\n\n21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of\none pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were\ntransparent glass.\n\nVs. 18-21.--The \"jasper, gold and glass,\" are here all combined; though\ntheir natural properties and chemical elements are so different. Glass\nis clear, transparent, but brittle; gold is solid and shining, but\nopaque. In heaven, the saints shall _know_ more than we can now\n_imagine_. The glass will be all gold. As the eye sees an object through\nglass at a glance, so the saints in heaven will perceive truth without\nthe tedious process of comparison and reasoning. The gold will be all\nglass. All these symbols are intended to show to the devout reader, that\nthe antichristian harlot is incomparably eclipsed by the glory of the\nLamb's bride,--having \"no glory, by reason of the glory that\nexcelleth.\"--The twelve \"precious stones\" which \"garnished the\nfoundations of the wall of the city,\" are an allusion to those of\nAaron's breastplate of judgment. (Exod. xxviii. 17-20;) indicating that\nthe _Urim_ and _Thummim_, the _light_ and _perfection_ of glory, shall\nbe there, superseding the oracle and Shekinah: for one thing is peculiar\nto this city by which it is distinguished from the old Jerusalem,--no\ntemple.\n\n\n22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty, and the\nLamb, are the temple of it.\n\n23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine\nin it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light\nthereof.\n\n24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of\nit, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.\n\n25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day; for there shall\nbe no night there.\n\n26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.\n\n27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth,\nneither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which\nare written in the Lamb's book of life.\n\nVs. 22-27.--There was \"no temple therein.\" As there _was a temple_ in\nthe city which Ezekiel saw in vision, (ch. xli. 1,) and this fact\ndetermines the point, that his prophecy relates to the church\n_militant_; so, the absence of even the semblance of such a structure\nhere, proves that this is a description of the church _triumphant_. In\nheaven there is no need of external, material, visible symbols of God's\npresence. As the ceremonial \"law had a shadow of good things to come,\"\nbut \"vanished away\" when Christ appeared, (Heb. x. 1,) so will it be in\nheaven; no ordinances will be used to act upon either sense or faith,\nthese having issued in vision.\n\nThe glorious presence of \"the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb,\" having\nsuperseded the necessity of a temple; the light of the sun and moon\nshall be no longer needed. \"God is light, and in him is no darkness at\nall,\" (1 John i. 5;) and \"as long as Christ was in the world, he was the\nlight of the world.\" (John ix. 5.) We have seen that other suns and\nmoons which were _symbolical,_ have been darkened or blotted out of\nexistence by the omnipotent Mediator; but now these natural luminaries\nare totally and for ever obscured by the ineffable effulgence of\nuncreated light,--the manifested and immediate presence of the Father\nand the Son.--All the redeemed shall \"walk in the light of the Lord;\"\nand all the glory of \"the kings of the earth,\" concentrated in one\nplace, would bear no comparison with the splendor of this \"holy city.\"\nThe gates are not to be shut during the \"day\" of _eternity_; and since\nthe \"excellent ones of the earth\" shall all enter the twelve open gates\nfrom every part of the world, it may be truly said \"they bring the glory\nand honor of the nations into it.\" What a delightful scene of a holy,\nhappy, safe and harmonious fellowship!--It is observable that the\napostle altogether drops _personalities_ here. He seizes only upon\nproperties or qualities,--\"any thing,\"--so holy is the place, and so\nholy the inhabitants; yea, so safe and secure, that no creature,--no\n\"beast of the field which the Lord God has made,\" shall ever gain an\nentrance into this heavenly Paradise: but only those whose names are\n\"written in the Lamb's book of life;\" who, despite of the Serpent,\nbrings all his spiritual seed safe to glory.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n\n1. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,\nproceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.\n\n2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river,\nwas there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and\nyielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the\nhealing of the nations.\n\n3. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the\nLamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.\n\n4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their\nforeheads.\n\n5. And there shall be no night there: and they need no candle, neither\nlight of the sun: for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall\nreign for ever and ever.\n\nVs. 1-5.--These verses, being a continuance of the description of the\n\"holy city,\" naturally belong to the preceding chapter.--The angel\nproceeds to show John the source and current from which emanate all\nheavenly blessings. The allusion is to Ezekiel, xlvii. 1-12; but both he\nand John call our attention to man's primeval state, when our first\nparents dwelt in Eden. This abode of the blessed is beautified and\nenriched with all the products, delights and attractions which are\nadapted to the refined senses of holy creatures,--\"pleasant to the eyes,\nand good for food.\" It is Paradise restored, by the \"doing and dying\" of\nthe second Adam. It is also Paradise _improved_, having not only the\n\"tree of life,\" as the first had, but also, in addition, the \"water of\nlife.\" The \"tree of life\" was to sinless Adam a symbol and pledge of\nimmortality to himself and all his posterity whom he represented in the\nCovenant of Works. Now that heaven is procured for all believers by the\nsecond Adam, it is emblematically represented to our weak apprehension\nby directing our attention to the primitive and earthly Paradise. This\nis repeatedly done in Scripture. The Lord Jesus, before he expired upon\nthe cross, said to the penitent thief,--\"To day shall thou be with me in\nParadise. (Luke xxiii. 43.) Paul was \"caught up\" thither, (2 Cor. xii.\n4;) and he calls the place \"heaven,\" (v. 2;) and in this book, (ch. ii.\n7,) the Lord promises,--\"I will give to him that overcometh to eat of\nthe tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.\" The\n\"tree\" is an emblem of Christ, (Song ii. 3;) the \"river of the water of\nlife\" symbolizes the Holy Spirit, (John vii. 38, 39;) for as the Son and\nthe Holy Ghost proceed from the Father, the former by generation, the\nlatter by emanation from eternity,--so \"that eternal life which was with\nthe Father\" in the person of the Son, and purchased by the Son, is\ncommunicated by the Holy Ghost to all the redeemed by regeneration. (2\nCor. iii. 6; Rom. viii. 2.)--Thus, the eternal duration of life in glory\n\"proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb.\" On each side of the\nriver \"the tree of life\" is accessible by the inhabitants; and the\nfruits of the tree, ripe in all months of the year, and adapted to every\ntaste, each one may \"put forth his hand\" as he passes, \"and take ... and\neat, and live for ever.\" (Gen. iii. 22.) Or, \"the people that are\ntherein\" may \"sit down under its shadow, and its fruit will be sweet to\ntheir taste.\"--\"The leaves of the tree\" are for medicine, being\npreventive of all disease, so that \"the inhabitant shall not say, I am\nsick: the people that dwell therein are forgiven their iniquities.\" (Is.\nxxxiii. 24.) \"There shall be no more curse.\" Satan gained entrance into\nthe garden of Eden, and succeeded in entailing the \"curse\" upon man, and\nupon beast, and upon the fruits of the ground; but he shall never be\nloosed again, or emerge from \"the lake of fire,\" to disturb the repose\nof that blessed society in heaven, (ch. xxi. 27.)--As the \"throne of God\nand the Lamb\" is _one,_ (ch. iii. 21;) so it is remarkable that the\ndistinction of persons is omitted, as though the Father and the Son were\nbut one person. True, Christ said, \"I and my Father are one,\" (John x.\n30;) but he referred to _unity_ of _nature_ and purpose, not of\n_personality;_ for, in consistency with this, he said also,--\"My Father\nis greater than I;\" an assertion which must consist with the former, and\nwhich plainly involves personal distinction, (ch. xiv. 28.)--\"His name\nshall be in their foreheads.\"--Which of them? We have found Christ's\nFather's name \"written in the foreheads\" of a hundred and forty-four\nthousand saints _militant_, (ch. xiv. 1.) While in conflict, \"the world\nknew them not,\" and the adherents of Antichrist \"cast out their names as\nevil,\" branding them as _heretics_; but now they are known to the whole\nuniverse, as the _covenant property_ of both the Father and the Son,\n(ch. iii. 12.)--\"Behold, I and the children which God hath given me;\"\n(Heb. ii. 13.) \"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou\ngavest me cut of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me;\nand they have kept thy word. ... All mine are thine, and thine are mine;\nand I am glorified in them.\" (John xvii. 6,10.)--There will be no\nintermission or interruption of service, \"no night there,\"--no hidings\nof God's countenance, no desertions; for \"they shall see his face\" in\nthe \"express image of the Father's person,\" be assured of his\nlove;--\"need no candle,\" nor any earthly accommodation; \"for the Lord\nGod giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever,\" in\nfulness of joy and unalloyed pleasures for evermore. (Ps. xvi. 11.) How\ndifferent is this heaven from the Mahometan paradise, which, if real,\ncould gratify only carnal and sensual sinners! yet the imaginations of\nmany, and their aspirations too, with the Bible in their hands, are\nlittle better than those of Mahometans or pagans. All speculations of\nheathen philosophers about the \"chief good,\" or the enjoyments of their\nimaginary gods, are so gross and brutish as to demonstrate the\nall-important truth, that \"except a man be born again, _he cannot_ see\nthe kingdom of God.\" (John iii. 3.) And it is too evident that some\nmodern philosophers are as little acquainted as Nicodemus with the\nhumbling doctrines of the gospel. The society of learned men, making\nperpetual advance in natural science, especially in astronomy,--would\nseem to be the highest conception of happiness which too many modern\nphilosophers can reach. They know not some of the elementary teachings\nof the Holy Scriptures; such as,--\"Without holiness no man shall see the\nLord;\" and that this indispensable preparation for heavenly felicity\nconsists in \"the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy\nGhost.\"\n\nThe hundreds of diverse and conflicting opinions of learned writers on\nthe _summum bonum_, or chief good, proves to demonstration, that without\nsupernatural revelation and regeneration, man cannot conceive in what\nhappiness consists. Thus far is the description of the heavenly state;\nand how little can we know, or even conceive of the glory and felicity\nof the upper sanctuary! We must still say with the prophet Isaiah and\nthe apostle Paul,--\"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have\nentered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for\nthem that love him.\" (Isa. lxiv. 4; 1 Cor. ii. 9.)\n\n\n6. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the\nLord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants\nthe things which must shortly be done.\n\n7. Behold, I come quickly, blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the\nprophecy of this book.\n\nVs. 6, 7.--The angel assures the apostle and all who read, that \"these\nsayings are faithful and true,\" however sublime and incomprehensible;\nhowever, incredible to infidels; however contradicted and misinterpreted\nby antichristian apostates and enthusiasts. They are all from \"the Lord\nGod of the holy prophets,\"--from Jesus Christ and God the Father, (ch.\ni. 1.)--All prophets who wrote _any part_ of the Bible, were \"holy men\nof God.\" (2 Pet. i. 21.)--Of \"these things\" some were \"shortly to be\ndone;\" and all in regular series would be accomplished in due\ntime.--\"Behold I come quickly.\" Christ is the speaker here, and declares\nthat each one is \"blessed who keepeth the sayings ... of this book.\"\nThis benediction was pronounced on such at the beginning of this\nRevelation, (ch. i. 3,) and it is repeated by its immediate divine\nAuthor, to encourage all to study it. This blessing is not to be\nexpected by any who merely _read_ or _hear_, but by those only who\n_keep_ the \"sayings of this prophecy.\" Its Author foreknew its enemies\nand corrupters.\n\n\n8. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and\nseen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, which showed\nme these things.\n\n9. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy\nfellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep\nthe sayings of this book: worship God.\n\nVs. 8, 9.--A _second_ time, John attempts an act of idolatry! While we\nmay wonder at this, let us not fail to admire the wonderful wisdom of\nGod in permitting his servant to fall, as he did in the case of our\nfirst father Adam, that he might take occasion more fully to display his\nglory in \"bringing good out of evil.\" The Apocalypse is directed chiefly\nagainst that primary feature of the great Antichrist, _idolatry_. This\nwas part of \"the mystery of inquity \"which did already work\" in the time\nof the apostles, (Col. ii. 18,) and was to be fully developed\nafterwards. (2 Thess. ii. 4.) This second rebuke of an apostle, by one\nof the most exalted of creatures, for ever answers all arguments of\nPapists or others, who plead for, or palliate the \"worshipping of\nangels\" or souls of men. Idolaters worship angels and souls _when\nabsent_, as though they were omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent;\nthus giving the glory to creatures of these divine perfections: whereas\nthis heavenly messenger, _when present_, keenly resents this indignity\nto his and the apostle's adorable Creator and Lord. Once more the angel\ndirects John and all men to join him and all the heavenly host in\nobserving \"the first and great commandment,\"--\"Worship God,\" (ch. v.\n11-14.) This angelic rebuke, leaves Papists for ever without excuse; and\nconsequently all others who deny the _supreme deity_ of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ, and yet worship him.\n\n\n10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this\nbook; for the time is at hand.\n\n11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy,\nlet him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous\nstill; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.\n\n12. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every\nman according as his work shall be.\n\nVs. 10-12.--Christ himself addresses John in person. He had done so at\nthe beginning of these glorious scenes of the future, (ch. i. 8.) Now he\nappears again in glory, though not described as before, that he may thus\nauthenticate and close the vision.--\"Seal not the sayings of the\nprophecy of this book.\" Why is this? The reason is assigned, because\n\"the time is at hand\" when they shall begin to be verified in actual\nhistory. The case was different in Daniel's time, who was inspired by\nthe same omniscient Spirit to predict the same events. \"O Daniel, shut\nup the words, and seal the vision, even to the time of the end.\" (Dan.\nxii. 4.) If the vision of the empires of Persia and Greece was to be\n\"for many days,\" (ch. viii. 26,) then the rise, reign and overthrow of\nthe Roman empire, were still more remote. No wonder that Daniel, with\nbecoming humility but intense interest inquired, \"O, my Lord, what shall\nbe the end of these things?\" Such was the subdued anxiety of other\nprophets. (1 Pet. i. 10.) And here we may once for all notice the _three\ndistinct_ periods mentioned by Daniel, as measuring the duration of the\nRoman empire, the Romish apostacy, and as they bear upon the promised\nand desirable millennium. The two prophets, Daniel and John, agree in\nfixing and limiting the domination of the Antichrist to 1260 years. This\nagreement has been already pointed out. The Lord, however, to allay the\nlaudable anxiety of his \"greatly beloved\" servant Daniel, makes mention\nof two other periods of time, 1290 and 1335 days or years, (ch. xii. 11,\n12.) Now, when we have manifold assurances that the great apostacy shall\nterminate with the close of the 1260 years, we may venture humbly to\nsuppose, that the next thirty years may be occupied in the conversion of\nthe Jews, and the remaining forty-five in the effectual calling of the\nresidue of the gentile nations; so as to bring the kingdoms of the earth\nand the church of Christ to perfect organization and visible harmony,\nand the whole population of the globe into voluntary and avowed\nsubjection to the Lord and his Anointed,--to perfect millennial\nsplendor, the nearest approximation to heaven. (Rom. xi. 25, 26; Ps.\ncii. 15, 16.) But \"who shall live when God doeth this?\" (Num. xxiv.\n23.)--The divine Author of this book, having given to mankind a complete\nand sufficient revelation of his will, containing invitations and\nwarnings, at this juncture gives intimation that obstinate sinners shall\nat length be left to the consequences of their own free and perverse\nchoice, \"unjust and filthy still;\" no further means to be employed for\ntheir conviction; but those who have embraced the offer of the gospel,\nshall be confirmed for ever in holiness and happiness,--\"righteous and\nholy still.\"--He also repeats the assurances of his sudden appearance to\nreward \"every man according as his work shall be.\" The recompense which\nhe brings will be of debt or justice to the impenitent unbeliever; but\nwholly of free grace to the believer; for the works of each class shall\nfollow them, as decisive evidence of their respective characters, (ch.\nxiv. 13.)\n\n\n13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the\nlast.\n\nV. 13.--The Lord Christ here declares and asserts the eternity of his\npersonal subsistence and official standing, as an all-sufficient\nguarantee of his ability and authority to deal with the righteous and\nthe wicked, as also to bring to pass all events by his providence which\nare here predicted. The same guarantee he had given at the beginning of\nthe Apocalypse, (ch. i. 8.)\n\n14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right\nto the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.\n\nV. 14.--Those who \"do his commandments,\" are believers, (John xiv. 15,)\nand no others can obtain a \"right to the tree of life\"--all the\nblessings of Christ's purchase: for \"without faith it is impossible to\nplease God,\" (Heb. xi. 6;) and \"this is the love of God, that we keep\nhis commandments.\" (1 John v. 3.) \"By the deeds of the law,\"--keeping\nthe commandments, whether moral or ceremonial, \"shall no flesh be\njustified in the sight of God,\" or _merit_ a \"right to the tree of\nlife,\" or to \"enter in through the gates into the city.\" This right,\npower, or privilege, is confined to those, and to those only, who\n\"receive and believe on the name of Christ.\" (John i. 12.) They who\nserve the Lord Christ, are entitled to the reward of the inheritance,\n(Col. iii. 24;) and in keeping of his commandments, there is great\nreward. (Ps. xix. 11.) This reward is of _grace_, not of _debt_ to any\nof the children of Adam: \"not of works, lest any man should boast.\"\n(Rom. xi. 6; Eph. ii. 9.) And when the last elected sinner, pertaining\nto the whole company of the redeemed, shall have been called, justified\nand sanctified, then \"with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought:\nthey shall enter into the King's palace.\" (Ps. xlv. 15.)\n\n\n15. For without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,\nand idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.\n\nV. 15.--\"Without are dogs.\"--These characters have been excluded by the\nrighteous and unalterable sentence of the judge of quick and dead,\nhaving their part in the \"lake of fire:\" for there is no intimation here\nor elsewhere, of any _purgatory_ or intermediate place, with the\ndelusive hope of which, those who \"love and make lies,\" flatter\nthemselves and their blind votaries. Oh, that such \"sinners in Zion,\"\nand out of Zion, \"might be afraid!\"--that timely \"fearfulness might\nsurprise these hypocrites!\" that they might ponder those awful\nquestions!--\"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among\nus shall dwell with everlasting burnings?\" (Isa. xxxiii. 14.)\n\n\n16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the\nchurches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and\nmorning star.\n\nV. 16.--This is the \"angel\" whose ministry the Lord Christ was pleased\nto employ in making known to the church through his servant John, most\nof the discoveries of this book, (ch. i. 1, 11.) Many other angels have\nindeed been employed by the Mediator as the ministers of his providence;\nbut this one seems to have been the principal all along. None of these\nheavenly messengers, however, was found competent to reveal the purposes\nof God, (ch. v. 3.) To this work the eternal Son of God alone was found\nadequate by nature and office,--the \"Lamb that had been slain.\" Christ\nhas a personal property in the angels, as he is their Creator and Lord;\nand as they are his creatures and willing servants,--\"_mine_\nangel.\"--This is perfectly reasonable; for he is the \"Root of David\" in\nhis divine nature; and the \"Offspring of David,\" in his human nature,\n(Rom. i. 3.)--God-Man, Mediator. And here let it be remarked, that in\nspeaking or writing of our Redeemer there appears to be no scriptural\nwarrant for the popular phrases,--\"the _union_ of the two\nnatures,\"--\"Christ as man;\" or, \"as God.\" These expressions militate\nagainst the _unity_ of his _divine nature_ and _personality;_ and are\ncalculated,--we do not say _intended_, to mislead or confuse the mind of\nhis disciples. \"In _him personally_, not in the Father or the Holy\nGhost, \"dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.\" (Col. ii.\n9.)--By John the descent of Christ's human nature is traced through\nDavid here, because of the Covenant of Royalty; by Paul, he is\nrepresented as being of the \"seed of Abraham,\" by reason of the more\nextended relation involved in the Covenant of Grace. (Heb. ii. 16.)--He\nis also \"the bright, even the morning star.\" This may be in reference to\nthe less luminous \"stars in his right hand,\" (ch. i. 16, 20,) and by way\nof contrast with them: but he takes this name chiefly to intimate that\nhe is the Author of all supernatural illumination, whether in the\nkingdom of grace or of glory:--\"The Lamb is the light thereof,\" (ch.\nxxi. 23.)\n\n\n17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth,\nsay, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let\nhim take the water of life freely.\n\nV. 17.--Here is the unrestricted universal call of the gospel, to \"come\"\nto Christ for eternal life.--\"We do testify that the Father sent the Son\nto be the Saviour of the world,\" (1 John iv. 14.)--The invitation is\nmanifold and pressing. \"The Spirit\" by the word and conscience says,\n\"Come.\" \"The Bride,\" the church militant and triumphant, says, \"Come.\"\nEvery one \"that heareth\" the invitation, is warranted to say to others,\n\"Come.\" Let every one that \"thirsts\" for true and lasting felicity,\n\"Come.\" If any one be in doubt, whether his desire be spiritual or not,\nit is added for his encouragement, as well as sufficient warrant,--\"Let\nwhosoever will, take of the water of life freely.\" Any sinner of Adam's\nrace may \"wash and be clean,\" in that \"fountain open for sin and for\nuncleanness;\" may with confidence and pleasure, \"draw water from the\nwells of salvation.\" (Zech. xiii. 1: Isa. xii. 3.) Who can resist these\ncalls, invitations and persuasions, and be guiltless? or who can devise\neasier terms of reconciliation to an offended God, than are here\naddressed to the chief of sinners?\n\n\n18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy\nof this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto\nhim the plagues that are written in this book:\n\n19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this\nprophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out\nof holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.\n\nVs. 18, 19.--\"For I testify.\"--He who is \"the faithful and true Witness\"\ncloses this book of prophecy, with a solemn and awful sanction. These\ntremendous threatenings by the \"Lord God of the holy prophets,\" may well\ncause all who read or hear to tremble: for who can abide his\nindignation?--While the \"prophecy of this book\" is primarily intended,\nall other parts of the Bible are included in this solemn conclusion: for\ndoubtless our Lord intended the Apocalypse to be a close to the whole\ncanon. The threatening is twofold, corresponding to the criminality.\nLearned, bold and irreverent biblical critics; enthusiasts and\npretenders to new revelations, are in danger of these judgments. \"The\nplagues that are written in this book,\" are such as will utterly destroy\nthe presumptuous sinner who \"adds to these things.\" And he that\nimpiously \"takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy,\"\nexposes himself to the like awful punishment. \"God shall take away his\npart out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the\nthings which are written in this book.\"--Tremendous doom! All that which\nhe seemed to have shall be taken away. (Luke viii. 18.) Great will be\nthe sudden and unexpected loss!--These awful denunciations, however,\nhave special reference, like the rest of the threatened judgments in\nthis book, to the great, continued and defiant impieties of the apostate\nchurch of Rome. She has \"added\" her _traditions_ to the Scriptures, as\npart and principal part, of the \"Rule of Faith!\" She has \"taken away\"\nthe Scriptures from the body of her people; or shut them up in an\n\"unknown tongue,\" so that \"every man may\" _not_ \"hear in his own tongue\nwherein he was born, the wonderful works of God.\" (Acts ii. 8, 11.) This\nis one of the articles in Rome's indictment here; and whatever modern\ninfidelity or spurious charity may suggest, this theft of God's word,\nand robbery of his people, is not to be expiated with burnt offering or\nsacrifice. And he who scans all time, foresaw this attempt of the dragon\nand his allies to deprive the church and the world of the \"lively\noracles;\" therefore, as he promised a blessing on the reader of this\nbook, as it were on the title-page, here in the close he appends a\nmalediction, that all who read or hear, may be deterred from such\nsacrilege.\n\n\n20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen.\nEven so, come, Lord Jesus.\n\nV. 20.--\"He which testifieth these things\" is the Lord Jesus. Again he\nreminds all to whom these presents come, of his certain and speedy\nappearance. These frequent assurances are not \"vain repetitions.\" They\nare intended to strengthen the faith and counteract the despondency of\nthe saints, and to alarm the consciences of his enemies. (2 Pet. iii. 3,\n4, 8, 10; Jude 14, 15.) To this \"promise of his coming,\" John responds\nin the name of the whole church,--\"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus,\" to\nfulfil these predictions, in their promises and threatenings; \"to be\nglorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe.\" \"So\nshall they ever be with the Lord.\" (1 Thess. iv. 17.)\n\n\n21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.\n\nV. 21.--These are also the words of John. He had just been addressing\nthe \"Lord Jesus,\" and his next words are addressed to the \"seven\nchurches,\" (ch. i. 4, 11,) or to all who read or hear the words of this\nbook: but especially the church general. This is a concise form of the\n\"apostolic benediction,\" (2 Thess. iii. 18,) which is sometimes\namplified, by naming the Father and the Son; or, at other times, the\nthree divine persons. (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) However, \"the grace of the Lord\nJesus Christ\" is originally from God the Father, procured for us by\nJesus Christ, and communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. And unto the\nFather, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, let equal, undivided, and\neverlasting glory be ascribed, by all the subjects of his regenerating\nand sanctifying grace, \"throughout all ages, world without end.\" Amen.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Footnote 1: Life of Martin Luther. Pp. 173, 174. London. 1855. Luther\nafterwards became convinced of his error.]\n\n[Footnote 2: Gibbon has unconsciously written a commentary on\nprophecy!--an involuntary witness, like Josephus!]\n\n[Footnote 3: \"It has been our lot to hear the voice of the third woe,\"\nFaber.--\"In this I entirely agree with that expositor.\" M'Leod. The\nblinding influence of earth's politics upon the minds of pious men, has\noften occasioned the hearts of their brethren to \"sigh for their\ninconsistency.\"]\n\n[Footnote 4: The terms \"clergy and laity\" are of papal origin, and the\nunlearned Christian should know that they are contrary to the mind of\nthe Holy Spirit. 1 Pet. v. 3. The body of the people are \"God's\nheritage,\"--_clergy_.]\n\n[Footnote 5: Gibbon.]\n\n[Footnote 6: Mosheim.]\n\n[Footnote 7: Such is the interpretation of Bishop Newton!]\n\n[Footnote 8: Faber.]\n\n[Footnote 9: This is the opinion of Mr. Faber.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Scott.]\n\n[Footnote 11: Scott]\n\n[Footnote 12: So Mr. Faber imagined.]\n\n[Footnote 13: So designated by Nicholas, late emperor of Russia.]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\nTHE NEW JERUSALEM.\n\nInterpreters are much divided in opinion as to the import of this\nsymbol. Some think it represents the church on earth during the period\nof the millennium; while others, no less learned and pious, consider it\nas an emblematical representation of the heavenly state. Of those who\nacquiesce in the former view, some consider the arguments \"quite\nconclusive.\" It may be conceded that much may be advanced, and with\ngreat plausibility, in support of this position.\n\nPerhaps the most specious arguments to this purpose are such as the\nfollowing:--\"That the New Jerusalem is distinguished from the Old,\nbecause of the superior light and grace of the present dispensation of\nthe Covenant. Moreover, the glowing descriptions of the church militant\ngiven by the prophets, especially Isaiah, are thought to be as boldly\nrhetorical as those of John; yet those lofty flights are confessedly\ndescriptive of the church on earth. Besides, who can conceive how \"the\nkings of the earth bring their glory and honour into\" the heavenly\nstate? or how are \"the leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the\nnations,\" when there _are no nations to be healed?_ etc.\n\nTo these arguments the following answers may be given.\n\nThe church is one under all changes of dispensation, and by what names\nsoever she is called: but it does not appear that we are warranted by\nScripture usage to view the New Jerusalem as a designation of the church\nin her militant state. She is indeed sometimes called in the New\nTestament by Old Testament names: as when Paul calls her by the name\nZion, (Heb. xii. 22.) But he does not say, _new_ Zion. Again, when our\nLord promises, (as in Rev. iii. 12,) to reward \"him that overcometh,\" it\nmust be supposed from the connexion, that, as in all similar cases of\nspiritual conflict, this reward is to be conferred in a future\nstate,--heaven. But part of the reward he describes in these words:--\"I\nwill write upon him the name of the city of my God, which is New\nJerusalem.\" Surely it may be supposed without presumption, that in this\nplace New Jerusalem means heaven. Nor is the assumption true,--that the\ndescriptive language of the Old Testament prophets is always to be\nunderstood of the church on earth. For instance, can the following\nlanguage (Is. xxxiii. 24,) be predicated of the saints while in the\nbody:--\"The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick?\" \"The glory and honour\nof the nations\" are the \"saints of God, the excellent;\" who while here,\nare \"the light of the world, the salt of the earth;\" and doubtless\nnations as well as families and individuals \"have learned by experience\nthat the Lord hath blessed them for their sakes:\" (Gen. xxx. 27; xxxix.\n5;)--and that he has also \"reproved kings\" and destroyed nations for\ntheir sakes, (Ps. cv. 14; Is. xliii. 3, 4.) And when all the saints who\nare to rule the nations, (Rev. xx. 4, 6,) for a thousand years, shall\nhave been brought home to glory, then emphatically will the glory and\nhonour of the nations be brought into the New Jerusalem.\n\nAs to the \"leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations,\" it may be\nremarked, that their sanative virtue will have been experienced by\nnational societies on earth: and there is not, there never was, nor will\nthere ever be, any other healing medicine for them, (Ezek. xlvii. 12) In\naddition to what has been said, it is worthy of notice that the tree of\nlife, in allusion to the delights of the garden of Eden, which was an\nemblem of heaven, is mentioned in the Apocalypse, near the beginning and\nnear the end of the book, (chs. ii. 7; xxii. 2.) Now, we are told\nexpressly that this tree is \"in the midst of Paradise.\" But we learn\nboth from our Lord and the apostle Paul that Paradise signifies\nheaven:--\"To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,\" said Christ to the\npenitent thief. \"I was caught up into Paradise;\" that is, \"the third\nheaven,\" said Paul. Did Christ and Paul mean the visible, or the\ninvisible church militant by the name Paradise? But the tree of life\nflourishes there, and all the redeemed eat of its fruit. They are where\nthe tree is, the tree is in Paradise, and Paradise is heaven itself:\ntherefore we are warranted to conclude with certainty that New Jerusalem\nis a symbol of the church triumphant; and, consequently, that those\nparts of chapters twenty-one and twenty-two, which are of symbolic\nstructure, are descriptive of the heavenly state.\n\n\nTHE ANTICHRIST.\n\nThis word does not occur in the Apocalypse, nor in any other book of the\nNew Testament except the first and second epistles, by the apostle John.\nThere it is found in the singular and plural form. (1 John ii. 18, 22;\niv. 3; ii. 7.) The apostles in their ministry had spoken frequently and\nfamiliarly to the disciples of this personage, as an enemy of God and\nman. \"Ye _have heard_ that Antichrist shall come.\" \"Remember ye not,\"\nasks Paul, \"that, when I was yet with you, I _told you_ these things?\"\n(2 Thess. ii. 5.) Paul blames his countrymen, the Hebrews, that they had\nneed that one should teach them again which be the first principles of\nthe oracles of God, (Heb. v. 12.) And it is just so now, in the case of\nmost professing Christians, learned and illiterate; they yet need to be\ntaught again what is meant by Antichrist.\n\nAll who are acquainted with the sentiments of the reformers of the\nsixteenth and seventeenth centuries are aware that their conceptions of\nthis enemy were vague and confused. Persecuted as heretics and apostates\nfrom the only true church, the church of Rome, the reformers very\nnaturally concluded that the Pope, or the church of which he is the\nvisible head, was the Antichrist. And this opinion is very generally\nheld at the present day.\n\nMr. Faber, however, dissents from this popular notion, and with much\nconfidence and plausibility broaches a new theory of his own. His style\nis always forcible, and so perspicuous that he cannot be misunderstood.\nIn his \"Dissertation on the Prophecies,\" he lays down the following\ncanon or rule for expositors:--\"Before a commentator can reasonably\nexpect his own system to be adopted by others, he must show likewise\nthat the expositions of his predecessors are erroneous in those points\nwherein he differs from them.\" To enforce this rule he adds,--\"It will\nbe found to be the only way, in which there is even a probability of\nattaining to the truth.\" I can neither admit the justness of his rule,\nnor the conclusiveness of his reason; for by its adoption, \"of making\nmany books there would be no end; and the world itself could not contain\nthe books that should be written.\" To deduce the truth from any portion\nof God's word, it is by no means necessary that the expositor shall\nundertake the Herculean task of refuting all the heresies and vagaries\nwhich \"men of corrupt minds\" have pretended or attempted to wring out of\nit. But as Mr. Faber is not to be reckoned in this category, I shall pay\nhim so much deserved respect as to apply to himself _his own rule_ in\nsome following particulars:--\n\nBy a formal syllogism Mr. Faber proposes to overthrow the generally\nreceived interpretation of the term _Antichrist_, that it means, the\n_Papacy_, or, the _Church of Rome_. Thus he reasons:--\"He is Antichrist\nthat denieth the Father and the Son: but _the Church of Rome_ never\ndenied either the Father or the Son: therefore _the church of Rome_\ncannot be the _Antichrist_ intended by St. John.\" Now, in this argument,\nwhich seems to be so clear and conclusive, there is a latent sophism, an\nassumption contrary to the Scriptures. The false assumption is, that the\nword _denieth is univocal_; that is, that it has in the Bible, and on\nthis doctrinal point in particular, only _one sense_; whereas this is\nnot the case. The Church of Rome does indeed \"profess to know\" the\nFather and the Son, but \"in works denies\" both, (1 Tim. v. 8; Tit. i.\n16.) Therefore Mr. Faber's conclusion is not sustained by his premises,\nand the Church of Rome might be the Antichrist for any thing that his\nsyllogism says to the contrary.\n\nMr. Faber imagined that \"Republican France,--infidel and atheistical\nFrance,\"--was the Antichrist; and he labored with much ingenuity to\nsustain his position by applying to revolutionary France the latter part\nof the eleventh chapter of Daniel, together with the prophecies of Paul,\nPeter and Jude. I presume that most divines and intelligent Christians\nare long since convinced, by the developments of Providence, that he was\nmistaken. The commotions of the French Revolution and the military\nachievements of the first Napoleon, however important to peninsular\nEurope, were on much too limited a scale to correspond with the\nmagnitude and duration of the great Antichrist's achievements. They\nwere, however, owing to their proximity to Britain and their threatening\naspect, of sufficient importance to excite the alarm and rouse the\npolitical antipathies of the Vicar of Stockton upon Tees! Mr. Faber's\nAntichrist is an \"infidel king, wilful king, an atheistical king, a\nprofessed atheist,\" of short duration, and his influence of limited\ngeographical extent. He is not in most of these features the Antichrist\nof prophecy, whose baleful influence is co-extensive with Christendom,\nand whose duration is to be 1260 years. Mr. Faber's erudition is to be\nrespected, his imagination admired, but his political feelings to be\nlamented. Indeed, his very ecclesiastical title of office,--\"Vicar,\" is\nitself partly indicative and symbolical of the prophetic Antichrist.\n\nI do not believe that infidel France, whether republican or monarchical,\nnor the Papacy, nor the Church of Rome, is the Antichrist of the apostle\nJohn; yet I do believe that all these are essential elements in his\ncomposition. The following are the principal component parts of that\ncomplex moral person, as defined by the Holy Spirit, by which any\ndisciple of Christ without much learning may identify John's Antichrist.\nHis elemental parts are three, _and only three_, and all presented in\nthe thirteenth chapter of Revelation. The \"beast of the sea,\" (vs. 1,\n2,) the \"beast of the earth,\" (v. 11,) and the \"image of, or to the\nfirst beast,\" (v. 14,) that is, the Roman empire, the Roman church and\nthe Pope: all these in combination, _professing Christianity_; these,\nwith their adjuncts as subordinate agencies constitute the Apocalyptic\nAntichrist. Besides this personage, well defined by the inspired\nprophets, Daniel, Paul, John and others, there is no other Antichrist.\nAn \"infidel king, a professed atheist,\" as distinct from this one and\nsymbolized in prophetic revelation, I find not. I conclude that such a\npersonage is wholly chimerical, framed as a creature of a lively\nimagination.\n\n\nTHE IMAGE OF THE BEAST.\n\nMr. Faber is unsuccessful in his interpretation of the \"image of the\nbeast.\" His reasoning is ingenious, specious and intelligible as usual.\nHe labours to prove that the worshipping of images by the Papists is the\nmeaning of the symbol. Material images, however, whether of papal origin\nor otherwise, are harmless vanities: \"for they cannot do evil, neither\nalso _is it_ in them to do good,\" (Jer. x. 5.) The case is quite\notherwise with this image. It has \"life, speaks, and has power to\n_kill_,\" (Rev. xiii. 15.) These properties of John's \"image\" are so\nopposite to those of the Papal images, that they effectually confute Mr.\nFaber's fanciful, not to say whimsical theory. It has been already shown\nthat the \"image\" symbolizes the Papacy, the _fac-simile_ of the Roman\nemperor.\n\n\nTHE BEAST'S \"_deadly wound_.\"\n\nThe Erastian heresy, the usual concomitant of prelacy, will readily\naccount for Mr. Faber's explanation of the \"deadly wound,\" which the\nfirst beast received in his sixth head. Constantine, he thinks,\ninflicted that wound by abolishing paganism. He writes as though the\nbeast had been _actually killed_, and had lain literally dead for a\nperiod of nearly three centuries! (viz., from 313 till 606.) Yet the\napostle assures us that the \"deadly wound was healed.\" The _beast did\nnot die_. Daniel gives no hint of the death of his fourth beast, which\nis the same as John's beast of the sea, until his final destruction at\nthe close of the 1260 years. It was in fact under the reigns of\nConstantine and his successors, that ambitious pastors were nurtured\ninto antichristian prelates, and passed by a natural transition into\nPopery. The empire never ceased to be a beast during the whole period of\nits continuance. The sixth _head_ was wounded, but the beast still\nsurvived. The sixth or imperial form of government was changed, but that\nchange brought no advantage to the Christian church either in her\ndoctrine or order. As a distinct horn of this beast the British nation\nwith her hierarchy is easily traceable to mystic Babylon in point of\nmaternity. Since, as well as before the time of Henry the Eighth,\nspiritual fornication has ever been the crime of the \"British\nEstablishment.\" This historical fact requires no proof.\n\nMr. Faber seems to me to give too little prominence in his exposition to\nDaniel and John's beast of the sea, as an enemy to Christ. Indeed, he\nappears to overlook the leading idea involved in the name Antichrist, as\na _substitutionary_, false, and therefore inimical or hostile christ.\nInstead of keeping before his mind the glorious person of the Mediator\nas the special object of Antichrist's enmity, as prophecy requires, he\nplaces before him the church or the gospel instead of Christ. Hence he\nwrites thus:--\"We find in the predictions of St. John,--(why not _St_\nDaniel?) two _great enemies_ of the _gospel_, Popery and Mohammedism.\"\nThen he adds,--\"a third power is introduced,\" (Preface, p. 7.) This\n\"third power\" he calls \"a wilful infidel king,\" and, as already noticed,\ninterprets it of \"atheistical France.\" Now, it will be evident to the\nintelligent reader that among his \"three powers\" considered by him as\n\"enemies to the gospel,\" he has entirely lost sight of the _seven headed\nten horned beast_, and _his hostility to Christ_! He has, in fact,\nmanifestly substituted his imaginary \"wilful king\",--infidel France, for\nthe Roman empire, the beast of Daniel and John, the agent that slays the\nwitnesses, (Rev. xi. 7.) To almost every expositor, and in his lucid\nmoments, even to Mr. Faber himself, it is apparent, that the Roman\nempire is the primary element in the complex personage that wars against\nthe Lamb. Even kings are but _horns of the beast_, and Popery but a\n_horn_. (Dan. vii. 20; Rev. xvii. 12, 13.)\n\nIt is therefore a great mistake on the part of this learned author, to\nfeign an Antichrist distinct from the three confederated enemies of\nChrist and his witnesses,--enemies so clearly pointed out in prophecy by\nappropriate and intelligible symbols:--the beast with ten, and the beast\nwith two horns, and the image of the first. These three, all professing\nthe Christian religion, and practically denying it, without the shadow\nof a doubt, constitute the Antichrist of John, (1 John ii. 19-21.) This\nis the identical enemy described by Daniel, and according to the\ninspired predictions of both prophets, doomed to eternal destruction,\n(Dan. vii. 11; Rev. xix. 20.) Hence it is obvious that Mr. Faber's\n\"wilful king\" is wholly a creature of his own fancy, constituting no\nfeature of the prophetic Antichrist.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE BOOK.\n\nThis symbol is in the tenth chapter evidently distinguished from the one\nin the fifth chapter. It is considered by several interpreters as\ncontaining all that follows to the end of the book. According to this\nview, it would be larger than the sealed book, (ch. v. 1.) Such a view\nis altogether untenable, involving, as it does, almost a palpable\ncontradiction. The little book is indeed comprehended in the sealed\nbook, as a part of the whole; or it may be viewed as an appendix or\ncodicil, or perhaps still more correctly as a _parenthesis_,\ninterrupting the series of the trumpets, that the object of the seventh\nor last woe-trumpet maybe thus described and rendered intelligible when\nsounded.\n\nMr. Faber is correct in saying, \"the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and\nfourteenth chapters, in point of chronology run parallel to each other;\"\nbut he is mistaken when he says the \"little book comprehends these four\nchapters.\" It comprehends only so much as intervenes between the close\nof the ninth chapter and the fifteenth verse of the eleventh chapter;\nor, in other words, between the sounding of the sixth and seventh\ntrumpet. To be more correct and explicit,--the tenth chapter introduces\nthe little book, and the eleventh chapter, from the first to the\nfourteenth verse inclusive, exhibits an abstract of its contents,--a\ncondensed narrative or mere outline of the contest during the 1260\nyears.\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF THE WITNESSES.\n\nMany divines have considered the death of the two witnesses, as\nconsisting in a moral slaying, equivalent to apostacy. Mr. Faber views\ntheir life and death as altogether political. He censures Mr. Galloway\nfor \"want of strict adherence to _unity of symbolical_ interpretation,\"\nbut he inadvertently falls into the same error. Assuming, as he does,\nthat the two witnesses are the Old and New Testament _Churches_, where\nis the \"unity of symbolical interpretation\" when he tells us that the\nwitnesses were politically slain in the \"disastrous battle of Mulburgh\nin the year 1547, by the total route of the protestants under the lead\nof the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse?\" The _political_\ndeath of two churches in the battle of Mulburgh!--Such language\nexemplifies neither the accuracy of historic narrative, nor the \"unity\nof symbolical interpretation:\" nor does it accord with another rule of\nthe writer, one of his three cardinal rules, namely,--That \"no\ninterpretation of a prophecy is valid, except the prophecy agree _in\nevery particular_ with the event to which it is supposed to relate.\"\nMistaking the character of the witnesses, as one of the primary symbols\nin the Apocalypse, he is unable to ascertain in history either their\nidentity or work, their life or their death. Having imagined their\npolitical death in 1547, he supposes their resurrection to political\nlife in 1550,--\"by the accession of Edward the Sixth to the throne of\nEngland!\" and \"the defeat of the Duke of Mecklenburgh in the October of\nthat year!!\" Of course, these witnesses, according to Mr. Faber's\ninterpretation, resumed their function of prophesying so soon as they\nwere restored to political life: but we look in vain for the prophesying\nof the mystic witnesses after their ascension to the symbolic heaven,\n(Rev. xi. 12.) As we have shown to the readers of these Notes, their\nlives and their testimony, or prophesying, terminate together, (ch. xi.\n7; xii. 11.)\n\n\nTHE MARK OF THE BEAST.\n\n\"With regard to the mark of the beast,\" Mr. Faber \"thinks, with Sir\nIsaac Newton, that it is _the cross_,\" (p. 176.) This _thought_ has\nindeed been almost universal in the minds of protestants. So deep-seated\nis this conviction in the popular belief, that one is deemed chargeable\nwith temerity, if not something worse, who would call its grounds in\nquestion. Popular opinion, or belief in matters of this spiritual and\nmystical nature, is, however, of very little weight in the estimation of\nsuch as are accustomed to \"try the spirits.\" Although the mark was to be\nreceived at the instance and by the authority of the two horned beast of\nthe earth, it was not enjoined as a mark of devotion to _himself_. It\nwas manifestly commanded by him as a _tessera_ of loyalty to the\nten-horned beast of the sea, the obvious symbol of corrupt and\ntyrannical civil power. Instead therefore of the cross as a sign of\ndevotion to Popery,--of membership in the church of Rome, as identifying\nwith the beast's mark, this mark is evidently and demonstrably the\ntessera of loyalty to the Roman empire,--immoral civil power; and this,\ntoo, in any of the dependencies of that iron empire, (Dan. ii. 40; vii.\n7.)\n\nFrom the errors and vagaries of this learned and acute expositor, some\nof which have been pointed out, it is apparent that no amount of\nintellectual culture, no natural powers of discrimination, no logical or\nmetaphysical acumen, will compensate for the want of early and accurate\ntraining in the knowledge of supernatural revelation. On the prophetical\nand priestly offices of our Redeemer, some of the English prelates have\nwritten with a force, perspicuity and zeal against the heresies of the\nRomish apostacy, not excelled by the writings of those who have\ndissented from the semi-papal hierarchy of the Anglican Church. But on\nthe _royal_ office of Immanuel, their prelatic training and associations\nseem to have blinded their minds. \"No bishop, no king,\" is a maxim which\nseems to lie at the foundation of all their political disquisitions and\nspeculations, and which gives a tincture to all their expositions of\nprophecy. Nevertheless, even in this field of labor, the diligent\nstudent may consult with much advantage the learned works of such\nwriters as the two Newtons, Kett, Galloway, Whitaker, Zouch, with their\npredecessors, Lowman, Mede and others.\n\nAfter all, the best works to be obtained as helps to understand the\nprophetic parts of Scripture, will be found in the labors of those who,\nfrom age to age, have obeyed the gracious call of Christ,--who have\n\"come out from mystic Babylon,\" from the Romish communion,--from the\nmother and her harlot daughters, and who have associated more or less\nintimately with the _witnesses_. Among these may be consulted with\nprofit the works of Durham, Mason and M'Leod. But while searching after\nthe mind of God revealed in this part of his word, let us never exercise\nimplicit faith in the teachings of any fallible expositor. Let us always\nregard the injunction of our apostle:--\"Beloved, believe not every\nspirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.\" Of course, the\nonly infallible standard by which we can try the spirits is the whole\nword of God,--\"comparing spiritual things with spiritual.\"\n\n\nTHE FIRST RESURRECTION.\n\nBishop Newton, among those divines distinguished in ecclesiastical\nhistory as Millenarians, may be regarded as one of the most learned,\njudicious and cautious. The amount of the deductions which this class of\nwriters draw from the scripture phrase \"first resurrection,\" and its\ncontext, confirmed as they suppose by many other parts of Scripture,\nappears to be the following:--All the righteous shall be raised from\ntheir graves to meet our Saviour coming from heaven at the beginning of\nthe Millennium: he and these saints, clothed in real human bodies, are\nto dwell and reign together upon a renovated earth during that happy\nperiod. Indeed, writers on this interesting subject differ so much in\ndetails, that no well-defined theory or system can be discovered among\nthem. The _literal resurrection_ of the bodies of the saints, and the\n_corporeal presence_ of Christ among them, seem to be the cardinal\npoints of agreement with this class of expositors; and from this literal\ninterpretation of the resurrection of the righteous and bodily\nappearance of the Saviour, they either took or received the name\n_Millenarians_. Other Christians, however, who differ from them in the\ninterpretation of symbols, are no less believers in a millennium than\nthey,--a thousand years of righteousness and peace _on the earth_.\n\nBishop Newton understands \"this 'first resurrection' of a particular\nresurrection preceding the general one at least a thousand years.\" \"It\nis to this first resurrection,\" says he, \"that St. Paul alludes, (1\nThess. iv. 16,) when he affirms that the 'dead in Christ shall rise\nfirst,' and (1 Cor. xv. 23;) that every man shall be made alive in his\nown order, Christ the first fruits, afterwards they that are Christ's at\nhis coming.\" It is surprising that a person of the Bishop's learning\nshould so readily mistake the _sound_ for the _sense_ of the words which\nhe quotes. While the apostle is, for the \"comfort\" of the saints,\ntreating of _their_ resurrection, he is evidently speaking of the\ngeneral resurrection at the _end of time_. In the morning of the\nresurrection Christ's members will be raised after the manner and in\nvirtue of his resurrection,--\"the first fruits\" securing the following\nharvest, in obvious allusion to the ceremonial law. In the other case,\nwhen Paul says, \"the dead in Christ shall rise first,\" does he\nmean,--before \"the rest of the dead?\" No, but before those of their\n_redeemed brethren_ who shall then be \"alive and remain;\" for these\n\"shall not prevent (_anticipate_) them which are asleep,\" (_in the\ngrave_.) That is, the bodies of the saints who have died shall be raised\nin glory, _before_ those then alive shall undergo a change equivalent to\nthat of the resurrection. Such is manifestly the meaning of the\napostle's plain language which has no reference whatever to the\nmillennium, not even the remotest allusion. Nothing but a groundless\npreconception of the nature of the millennium will account for the sound\nof words taking the place of their sense in the reader's mind, and no\ndegree of mere scholarship can obviate this propensity of the human mind\nin \"the things of the Spirit of God.\"\n\nNot only does the learned prelate misapprehend and misapply the texts\nabove quoted to support his theory, but he makes a gratuitous\nconcession, which is at once fatal to his scheme and inconsistent with\nhimself. He says,--\"Indeed, the _death_ and _resurrection_ of the\nwitnesses before mentioned, (Rev. xi. 7, 11,) appears from the\nconcurrent circumstances of the vision to be _figurative_.\" The Bishop\nevidently viewed the witnesses of the eleventh chapter as a company\naltogether different from those of whom John speaks in the twentieth\nchapter, (vs. 4, 5.) This is another of his surprising mistakes; for\nthat the _identical party_ as a moral person appears in both parts of\nthe symbolic and allegorical representation will readily appear to any\nunbiassed mind by an induction of the following particulars.\n\nThese witnesses are to continue \"prophesying 1260 days (_years_,) (Rev.\nxi. 3.) Then they are killed, (v. 7.) But we learn that _in death_ they\nare _victorious_, (ch. xii. 11) They triumph \"with the Lamb on Mount\nZion,\" (ch. xiv. 1) In a similar attitude of triumph they again appear\n\"standing on the sea of glass, (ch. xv. 2.) They are with their\nvictorious King, (ch. xvii. 14.) They are exhorted to retaliate upon\nmystic Babylon, (xviii. 6.) They are also engaged in the last campaign\nwith the Captain of their salvation, (ch. xix. 14, 19, 20.) And at\nlength they are advanced to thrones of civil power to \"rule the\nnations,\" (ch. xx. 4,) in fulfilment of Daniel's prophecy and their\nSaviour's promise, (Dan. vii. 27; Rev. ii. 26, 27.) The death and\nresurrection of the witnesses is compendiously stated in the former part\nof the eleventh chapter, (vs. 7-14;) but these events, epitomised again\nin the \"little book,\" are amplified in the subsequent chapters, where we\nare made acquainted more fully with their enemies, their conflicts,\ndeath, resurrection, ascension and exaltation; and in all these respects\nis exhibited their conformity to the example of their Captain and\nLeader. If, therefore, according to the Bishop's conception, \"the death\nand resurrection\" of the witnesses in the eleventh chapter be\n_figurative_, and if the witnesses of the twentieth be the same as those\nof the eleventh chapter, which identity I have proved, it follows\nincontrovertibly, that the \"first resurrection\" is to be understood in a\nfigurative sense. This interpretation may be abundantly confirmed in the\nfollowing manner:--The witnesses prophesy 1260 years. But since no\nindividual persons live so long, a succession _must_ be supposed. They\nare, in fact, mystic characters, having their real counterpart in actual\nhistory on this earth. The scarlet colored beast and woman, (ch. xvii.\n3,) are of equal duration with the witnesses, and of similar mystic\ncharacter, and have their real counterpart in history. The witnesses are\nslain by the beast at the instigation of the woman; but their death is\nonly temporary, (ch. xi. 7, 11;) their enemies \"have no more that they\ncan do:\" while, on the other hand, the death of the beast is\n\"perdition,\"--eternal death, (ch. xvii. 8,) and in this death the\nwoman,--\"the false prophet\" participates, (ch. xix. 20.) All this\nsymbolical language respects Christ's enemies as corporate or organized\nbodies.\n\nHere it is proper to notice an objection of Bishop Newton. He\nasks,--\"With what propriety can it be said, that some of the dead who\nwere beheaded \"lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; but the\nrest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were\nfinished;\" unless _the dying_ and _living again_ be the same in both\nplaces?\" Very true, the dying and living are doubtless \"the same in both\nplaces.\" The Bishop's mistake consists in taking these expressions in a\nliteral sense, \"a proper death and resurrection.\" He evidently assumes\nthat \"the rest of the dead,\" here mentioned, are to be literally raised\nat the last day. This is undoubtedly true, for there shall be a\nresurrection ... of the unjust.\" (Acts xxiv. 15,) but it is not the\ntruth contained in the words in question. From the assumption of the\n_literal_ raising of \"the rest of the dead,\" he infers the _literal_\nraising of those that were beheaded. The converse of this is obviously\nthe correct way of reasoning. We have found that the witnesses are\nspoken of, (xi. 14,) as _figuratively_ raised by the Bishop's own\nacknowledgment, therefore it is most natural and logical to infer that\n\"the rest of the dead\" were to be raised in the same manner, namely,\n_figuratively_. As at the beginning of the millennium,--the martyrs, not\nsome of them only, as the Bishop hints, will be raised in the persons of\ntheir legitimate successors in faith and practice; and their faith and\npractice will constitute the happy state of the world for a thousand\nyears, so, when that period shall have expired, Satan, being \"loosed out\nof his prison,\" (ch. xx. 8,) will deceive the nations as before, and\nduring the \"little season\" of liberty, will succeed in raising from the\ndead as it were, a multitude of the same character as those who killed\nthe witnesses,--\"Gog and Magog.\" This maybe called the _second_\nresurrection, and there will never be a _third of that kind_, for the\nLord will destroy them for ever, (ch. xx. 9.) The character of the\nwitnesses and their unparalleled conflicts with Antichrist sufficiently\nidentify them in the Apocalypse throughout the 1260 years, as also\nduring the thousand years of their reign; and the character of their\nenemies identifies them in the time of conflict for 1260 years; but\nduring the succeeding period of righteousness and peace for a thousand\nyears, they will not be permitted to lift up the head. And so soon as\nthey are organized under the conduct of Satan, and like Pharaoh, most\nconfident of victory, (Exod. xv. 9,) then \"sudden destruction cometh\nupon them, and they shall not escape.\"\n\n\nTHE IDENTITY OF THE TWO WITNESSES.\n\nThe late Rev. Alexander M'Leod, D. D., who had the works of learned\npredecessors before him, has successfully corrected many of their\nmisinterpretations in his valuable publication, entitled \"Lectures upon\nthe Principal Prophecies of the Revelation.\" At the time when he wrote\nthat work, he possessed several advantages in aid of his own\nexpositions. He had access to the most valuable works which had been\nissued before that date, (1814.). He was then in the vigor of youthful\nmanhood; and he was also comparatively free from the trammels which in\nattempts to expound the Apocalypse, have cramped the energies of many a\nwell-disciplined mind, _political partialities_. At the time of these\nprofound studies, he occupied a position \"in the wilderness,\" from which\nas a stand point, like John in Patmos, he could most advantageously\nsurvey the passing scenes of providence with the ardor of youthful\nemotion, and with unsullied affection for the divine Master. With all\nthese advantages, however, the dispassionate and impartial reviewer may\ndiscover, in the rapid current of his thoughts, that the active powers\nof the expositor some times took precedence of the intellectual. Two\nspecial causes may be assigned for this, hereditary love of liberty, and\nthe actual condition of society at the time. Born in Scotland, the\ncradle of civil and religious liberty from the days of John Knox, Dr.\nM'Leod's traditions and mental associations were necessarily imbued with\nthe atmosphere of such surroundings. To such causes may be attributed\noccasional declamation, extravagant verbosity and unconscious\ninconsistencies, not well comporting with the solidity and self\npossession so desirable on the part of an expositor. Yet even in such\noutbursts of impassioned eloquence we may sometimes discover noble\nconceptions commanding our admiration, if not altogether such as to\nsecure our approbation. It ought to be considered, moreover, that the\n\"Lectures\" came from their author in a turbulent, if not in a\nrevolutionary condition of society. Peninsular Europe was convulsed by\nthe successful military career of that brilliant general, Napoleon.\nEngland and the United States were also at war. The independence and\neven the existence of the young Republic were apparently in peril. The\nlecturer very naturally sympathized with the land of his adoption, in\nwhich resided his domestic treasures and many of the \"excellent ones of\nthe earth,\" to whom he was bound by conjugal, paternal and covenant\nties. In a condition of actual warfare, he could not but feel most\nkeenly the constriction of these manifold and endearing bonds,\nespecially when thought to be jeopardized.\n\nWith these preliminaries, and expressing my obligation to the Doctor's\nlabors, to whose system of interpretation as well as to most of his\ndetails, I cheerfully give my approbation in preference to all other\nexpositors whose works it has been in my power to consult; it is\nproposed briefly to review some of his expositions and sentiments, from\nwhich I crave liberty to dissent. \"It is not the interest of any man to\nbe in error.\"\n\nIn his interpretation of the seals and trumpets of the Apocalypse, Dr.\nM'Leod has unquestionably corrected many misapprehensions of his learned\npredecessors, especially Bishop Newton and Mr. Faber: and it is perhaps\nto be regretted that he did not favor the public with his view of the\nvials also, a work which he seems to have had in contemplation when the\n\"Lectures\" were published. The three last named interpreters did\ncertainly improve upon the expositions of all who went before them in\nthis field of investigation; and in most cases of disagreement the\nDoctor excelled in accuracy the other two, as will readily appear on\ncareful examination.\n\nIn attempting to ascertain the import of the mystic \"witnesses,\" as of\nthe Antichrist, expositors widely differ. Bishop Newton says\npositively,--\"The witnesses cannot be ... any two churches.\" Mr. Faber\nis equally peremptory, that they \"must be two churches,\" and he attempts\nto sustain his position by many citations of Scripture, and by much\nplausible argumentation. The Bishop is substantially correct in saying,\n\"They are a succession of men, and a succession of churches.\" Mr. Faber\nis also correct in the main when he says,--\"The two witnesses signify\nthe spiritual members of the catholic church:\" but his notion of _two\nchurches_, the \"Old and New Testament churches,\" betrays his imperfect\nconception of the _essential unity_ of the church of God. Both he and\nthe Bishop overlook too often the important fact that civil magistracy\nis a divine ordinance, which, as corrupted, constitutes the first beast\nof the Apocalypse, and the most prominent feature of the great\nAntichrist.\n\nDoctor M'Leod's definition or description of the witnesses is as\nfollows:--\"They are a small company of true Christians, defending the\ninterests of true religion against all opposition, and frequently\nsealing with their blood the testimony which they hold,\" (p. 314.) This\ndescription is more definite than either of the two preceding, and is\ntherefore worthy of preference; yet the reader will still wish for\nsomething more precise and tangible. Since the prophets of the Old and\nNew Testaments reveal the hostility of the Devil to Christ and his\npeople, and since both Daniel and John represent this hostility by\nappropriate and intelligible symbols, as carried out by corrupting the\ntwo great ordinances of _church_ and _state_, would it not follow that\nthe witnesses are those Christians who, for 1260 years, apply the word\nof God to these two ordinances, contending for a _scriptural magistracy_\nand a _gospel ministry_,--the \"Two Sons of Oil;\" and testifying against\ntheir _Counterfeits_? Such appears to be the import of those mystical\ncharacters of whom we read, Zech. iv. 14; Rev. xi. 4.\n\nIn tracing the witnesses through their eventful history for 1260 years\nas portrayed in the Apocalypse, and in fixing with precision their\n_continuous identity_, I am constrained reluctantly to dissent from the\nDoctor and agree with Faber. Adopting the language of \"Frazer's Key,\"\nDr. M'Leod says, \"These witnesses differ as much from their\ncotemporaries, the one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed ones,\n(Rev. vii. 4,) as Elijah differed from the seven thousand in Israel in\nhis time.\" The attempt is made to prove this assertion by the following\nplausible argument:--\"God is never for a moment without a people upon\nearth.\" This is true,--\"And the visible church is an indestructible\nsociety.\" Is this assertion true? It is partly true, and partly\nuntrue:--\"true of her _existence_ and moral identity, but not of her\n_visibility_ as an organized body.\" For example, where was the visible\nchurch while Elijah \"dwelt by the brook Cherith?\" (1 Kings xvii. 3, xix.\n10;) or while the \"woman was in the wilderness?\" (Rev. xii. 6.) Is it\nconsistent with propriety to contemplate the woman as _literally\nvisible_, when she is symbolically \"in the wilderness?\" This seems to be\nimpossible. I am therefore prepared to give my decided preference to the\nsentiment of Mr. Faber contained in the following words of his\n\"Dissertation:\" \"The one hundred and forty-four thousand here mentioned,\n(Rev. xiv. 1,) are the immediate successors of the one hundred and forty\nfour thousand sealed servants of God; (ch. vii. 4.) They are the same in\nshort, as _the two witnesses_.... They constitute the _persecuted church\nin the wilderness_.\"--I cannot but think the evidence of identity here\nirresistible; and in the pithy language of the Doctor on another point,\nI say,--\"A man must shut his eyes not to see\" the correctness of Mr.\nFaber's interpretation of this identity. The Doctor's censure of English\nexpositors in one of his notes will too often justly apply to other\ndivines in expounding prophecy:--\"They have greatly diminished the value\nof their publications, by permitting themselves to indulge so much of\nthe spirit of political partiality.\" Doctor M'Leod and Mr. Faber I\nconsider among the best expositors of the prophecies on which they\nseverally wrote; and therefore their valuable works have been\nprincipally contemplated in these animadversions. On material points\nthey have shed much light where those who preceded them left the reader\nin darkness, or involved him in perplexing labyrinths. Faber preceded\nM'Leod, and the latter availed himself of all the aid furnished by the\nformer; yet till the \"mystery of God shall be finished,\" his people will\nbe receiving accessions of light from the \"sure word of prophecy.\"\n\n\nSOUNDING OP THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.\n\nAt the time when those learned divines wrote, the political agitations\nin Europe and America, as already noticed, gave a peculiar tincture to\ntheir opinions and expositions of the Apocalyptic symbols. This state of\nfeeling on the part of these distinguished men, and on opposite sides of\nthe Atlantic, is very strikingly illustrated in their conflicting\ninterpretations of the \"third woe,\"--the seventh trumpet. Amidst the\nconflict of arms and the booming of cannon, in both hemispheres, those\nwriters thought the first blast of the seventh trumpet and third woe\ncould be distinctly heard. They differed widely, however, in their\ninterpretations of its import and effects. To Mr. Faber, Napoleon, who\nwas the most conspicuous figure in the passing drama, appeared as a\nterrific Vandal at the head of his legions, threatening to uproot and\nlay waste the fair fabric of European civilization. To the Doctor, on\nthe other hand, Napoleon seemed the possible minister of Providence,\ndestined to prepare the way of the Lord, and to introduce a better, a\nscriptural civilization. As time has sufficiently demonstrated the\nfallacy of their respective expositions of the seventh trumpet, it is\nneedless to quote or review their speculations.\n\nThe principal defect pervading the \"Lectures,\" and one which most\nreaders will be disposed to view in an opposite light, appears to be, a\ncharity _too broad_, a catholicity _too expansive_, to be easily\nreconciled with a consistent position among the mystic witnesses. Their\nauthor, however, deriving much information from the learned labours of\nEnglish prelates on prophecy, could not \"find in his heart\" to exclude\nthem from a place in the _honourable roll of the witnesses_. I am unable\nto recognize any of those who are in organic fellowship with the \"eldest\ndaughter of Popery,\" as entitled to rank among those who are symbolized\nas \"clothed in sackcloth.\" The two positions and fellowships appear to\nbe obviously incompatible and palpably irreconcilable. It is true that\nthere have been and still are in the English establishment divines who\nare strictly evangelical; but the reigning Mediator views and treats\nindividuals, as he views and treats the moral person with which\nindividuals freely choose to associate; and we ought to \"have the mind\nof Christ.\" (1 Cor. ii. 16.)\n\nAssuming that the third woe trumpet was sounding in his ears, the\nDoctor, transported with the imaginary but delightful prospect, that the\nkingdoms of this world were speedily to become the kingdoms of our Lord\nand of his Christ, speaks of France as follows:--\"She had given\nassistance to the sons of freedom on the plains and along the shores of\nColumbia, until the republican eagle snatched the oppressed provinces\nfrom the paw of the royal lion of England.\"--We may admire the metaphors\nof the _orator_, while we deplore the political feeling of the _divine_.\nIt is true, as the orator in calmer moments reflects,--\"The political\nconduct of professing Christians is generally lamentable;\" and alas!\nthis \"lamentable conduct\" is usually tolerated and too often exemplified\nby their spiritual guides. It has been generally so since the days of\nJeroboam who \"made priests of the lowest of the people,\" and thereby\nrendered the ministry the stipendiaries of the state. And as it was\nthen, even so it is now, whether in the kingdoms, empires or republics\nof the earth. \"Let us,\" with the Doctor, \"lament the political conduct\nof Christians in the present age of the world.\"\n\nAllusion has been already made to seeming inconsistencies in the\nDoctor's sentiments. There is truth in the adage,--\"_tempora mutantur et\nnos mutamur cum illis_,\"--\"times change, and we change with them.\" And\nindeed changes are allowable in matters of a circumstantial nature which\ndo not affect moral principle. Moral principle, however, is in its\nnature immutable. In the early period of the Doctor's public life he had\nnobly proved \"Negro Slavery Unjustifiable.\" But this accursed system was\nfrom the first interwoven with the very framework of that \"Republican\nAmerica,\" which in his \"Lectures\" he takes occasion thus to eulogize!\n\"We never formed a street of the mystical Babylon.... Let this be the\nasylum of the oppressed.... She (Republican America) has not, either by\nsea or land, encouraged oppression (?) or despoiled of his goods him\nthat was at peace with us?\"--I confess my inability to credit these\nstatements, or to reconcile them with \"the great moral principles\" which\nthe author justly tells his readers it was the object of the Author of\nthe Apocalypse to illustrate before the world.\n\nI have thus noticed some of the most important particulars in which I\ndissent from the interpretations of the Doctor and others, that the\nreader may be guided by all accessible way-marks in searching after the\nmind of God in this mysterious but highly instructive part of his\nprecious word. I can again cordially recommend to his attention the\nLectures of Doctor M'Leod, as the best exposition of those parts of the\nApocalypse of which he treats, that has come under my notice. In the\nNotes will be found minor points of dissent from the Doctor's views, and\nfrom multiplied aberrations of many others. I have studied great\nplainness of speech, abstaining from the introduction of many verbal\ncriticisms on the original text, and from the use of terms and phrases\nnot familiar to the unlearned reader. Let no sincere Christian be\ndeterred by seeming difficulties from reading the Apocalypse, or be\ndissuaded from searching it, by the discrepancies of interpreters; for\nthis is equally true of \"the other Scriptures.\" (2 Pet. iii, 16.)\n\n\nTHE TITLE OF THIS BOOK.\n\nIn our authorized version of the Bible, this last book is correctly\ntranslated \"Revelation.\" It is otherwise designated \"The Apocalypse,\" by\nsimply Anglicising the Greek title,--_Apokalupsis_. A distinguished\nmodern divine, Doctor Seiss, has furnished the public with a novel\ninterpretation of the title. But it is remarkable that he does not\npropose an _interpretation_ at all; he merely gives what he conceives to\nbe a _correct translation_. It is this:--\"The Book of the _Unvailing_ of\nJesus Christ!\" In this singular translation two things are\ntransparent,--affectation of scholarship, and the (_proton pseudos_) the\ncardinal error of Millenarianism. Learned men, however, are not devoid\nof fancy. Of this fact those who are historically designated\nMillenarians have given many illustrations from the primitive ages down\nto our own time. The Doctor's rendering of the name of this book\ndiscloses the predominant idea conceived in his imagination and\ncherished there, that Christ is to appear upon earth in glorified\nhumanity at the beginning of the millennium, and that the Apocalypse is\nintended chiefly to apprize the church and the world of this momentous\nevent.\n\n\"The unvailing of Jesus Christ,\" indeed! Why, the Lord Jesus Christ was\nrevealed,--\"unvailed\" to the faith of our first parents in the promise\nof the \"woman's seed\" as every intelligent Christian knows, (Gen. iii.\n15.) We are assured that \"to him give all the prophets witness,\" (Acts\nx. 43.) Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day, (John viii. 56.) His\nadvent in the flesh was so well known that Old Testament believers spoke\nof him familiarly as of \"Him that was to come,\" (Matt. xi. 3.) Surely he\nwas \"unvailed\" to his disciples all the time that he went in and out\namong them before his death. And after his resurrection he appeared unto\nthem the third time,--\"was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after\nthat he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once,\" (1 Cor. xv. 5,\n6.) After his ascension Stephen \"saw Jesus standing on the right hand of\nGod,\" (Acts vii. 56) How preposterous then, since the whole Bible\n\"unvails\" the Saviour, to insinuate that the _specific object_ of the\nApocalypse is to _unvail Jesus Christ_!\n\nThat Doctor Seiss and those who endorse his _mistranslation_, or, as it\nought to be called, his _false exposition_ of the title to this book, do\ntotally misapprehend and misinterpret the mind of the Holy Spirit, is\nfurther evident from the obvious import of the plain words in the first\nverse;--this \"Revelation of Jesus Christ, God gave unto him.\"--Christ.\nDid God the Father \"unvail\" Christ to Christ himself? How gross the\nabsurdity! We do not transgress the law of charity in pronouncing as\nimpious, such manifest \"wresting of the Scriptures.\" Moreover, the\ndeclared object of this book is to \"show unto God's servants\n_things_,--(not to show Christ,) which must shortly come to pass:\"\nnamely, events of providence which were then future,--the evolution of\nthe purposes of God. It is indeed true that in the sublime scenery\npresented in vision to John, the Lord Jesus often appears as a very\nconspicuous object; but he is only one among a multiplicity of other\nobjects, and generally as the principal agent in executing the divine\ndecrees. In this attitude he appears immediately on the opening of the\nseals of that book, which all sober expositors consider as the symbol of\nGod's purposes, especially of those \"unvailed\" in this prophetic book.\nWhen in the sixth chapter, the \"four animals\" say in succession, \"Come\nand see,\" is Jesus Christ the only object to be seen?--the exclusive\nobject unvailed? or even always the _primary_ object? By no means.\n\nThus it is evident that at the very beginning of his career as an\nexpositor of this sacred book, Doctor Seiss gives loose reins to his\nfancy; and then it is not difficult to foresee through what mazes of\nerror the credulous reader will be conducted, who in his simplicity,\nfollows such a reckless guide. The hallucinations of Millenarians of old\nand of late have greatly discouraged the disciples of Christ, and\nseriously hindered them in obeying his command,--\"Search the\nScriptures,\" especially this precious book. Their unscriptural error,\nwhich some might call an _antiscriptural heresy_, of the pre-millennial\ncorporeal appearance of our Saviour, with its carnal concomitants, has\nbeen a temptation to not a few to look upon this part of the Bible as\nwholly unintelligible, _contrary to its very name_,--REVELATION, The\nhereditary and inveterate misconception by Millenarians of the nature of\nthe thousand years' reign of the saints, bears a striking analogy to\nthat of the Jews concerning the kingdom of their Messiah, and suggests a\nremark by that prince of divines among English Dissenters, Doctor Owen,\nin his \"Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews.\" He says\ntruly,--\"There are precious, useful, significant truths in the\nScripture, so disposed of, so laid up, as that if we accomplish not a\ndiligent search, we shall never set eye on them. The common course of\nreading the Scriptures, nor the common help of expositors, who for the\nmost part, go in the same track, and scarce venture one step beyond\nthose that are gone before them, will not suffice, if we intend a\ndiscovery of these hid treasures.\" And again he says, \"How hard it is to\ndispossess the minds of men of inveterate persuasions in religion!\"","title":"Notes on the Apocalypse","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":101206}