{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26639/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26639","id":"gutenberg_26639","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26639","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Revelation -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Revelation"],"text":"A\n\n                             BRIEF COMMENTARY\n\n                                  ON THE\n\n                                APOCALYPSE\n\n                           By SYLVESTER BLISS,\n\n             AUTHOR OF \u201cANALYSIS OF SACRED CHRONOLOGY,\u201d ETC.\n\n                              SECOND EDITION\n\n                                 BOSTON:\n\n                        PUBLISHED BY J. V. HIMES,\n\n                          No. 8 CHARDON STREET.\n\n                                  1853.\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPREFACE.\nELEMENTS OF PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION.\nEXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.\nFootnotes\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Apocalypse should be regarded as a peculiarly interesting portion of\nscripture: a blessing being promised those who read, hear, and keep the\nthings which are written therein. It has been subjected to so many\ncontradictory interpretations, that any attempt to comprehend its meaning\nis often regarded with distrust; and the impression has become very\nprevalent, that it is a \u201csealed book,\u201d\u2014that its meaning is so hidden in\nunintelligible symbols, that very little can be known respecting it; and\nthat to attempt to unfold its meaning, is to tread presumptuously on\nforbidden ground.\n\nThe attention of the Christian community has been called more of late to\nits study, by the publication of several elaborate Expositions. One in two\nlarge volumes, 8vo., by Prof. Stuart, was published at Andover, Mass., in\n1845. A large 8vo. volume, by David N. Lord, was issued from the press of\nthe Harpers, in New York, in 1847; and a smaller work, by Rev. Thomas\nWickes, appeared in that city in 1851. These are the more important works\non the subject which have been published in this country. In England, the\n\u201cHor\u00e6 Apocalyptic\u00e6,\u201d by the Rev. E. B. Elliott, A.M., late Vicar of\nTuxford, and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, has passed through\nseveral editions,\u2014the fourth of which, in four large vols. 8vo., was\npublished in London, in 1851. These works, with the writings of Habershon,\nCunningham, Croly, Bickersteth, Birks, Brooks, Keith, and other\ndistinguished English writers, have caused the study of the Apocalypse to\nbe regarded with more favor of late than heretofore.\n\nThe Expositions of MR. LORD have thrown much light on the nature and laws\nof symbols, by unfolding the principles in accordance with which they are\nused. The evolving of these has removed from many passages the obscurity\nwhich had before caused them to be regarded as enigmatical. There are,\ndoubtless, many portions of the Apocalypse, the meaning of which is as yet\nonly dimly perceived, and which will be more clearly unfolded by the\ntranspiring of future events; and it would be arrogant to claim that its\ninterpretation had been freed from all perplexities. But it is believed\nthat it may be as profitably and as satisfactorily studied as other\nportions of Scripture; and that the reader may feel an assurance of\napproximating to a knowledge of the true meaning of its symbolic\nteachings.\n\nThe Bible is its own interpreter; and when practicable, scripture should\nbe explained by scripture. The meaning imputed to any passage must never\ncontradict, but must harmonize with that of parallel texts. In\nillustrating the several references in the Apocalypse to the same events\nand epochs, a repetition of scripture is somewhat unavoidable.\n\nThese pages have resulted from notes prepared in a familiar course of\nBible-class instruction, where the study of brevity was necessary. Without\ndesigning to speak dogmatically, the didactic was found the more direct\nand simple mode of expression. In presenting this exposition, merely as\nthe opinion of the writer, it is with the hope that it will give, in a\nsmall compass, a common-sense view of the intricacies of this book, and be\nacceptable to those interested in the study of prophecy.\n\n\n\n\n\nELEMENTS OF PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION.\n\n\n1. THE GRAMMAR of any science is a development of the principles by which\nit is governed. As the science of interpretation must be founded on some\nfixed and uniform laws, the unfolding of these is the first step in the\nstudy of prophecy.\n\n2. BIBLICAL EXEGESIS and SACRED HERMENEUTICS, are terms applied to the\nscience of interpretation, or of learning the meaning of Biblical words\nand phrases.\n\n3. THE USUS LOQUENDI, is the usual mode of speaking. When applied to the\nScriptures, it denotes the general _scriptural use_ of words.\n\n4. To learn the meaning of scriptural terms, their general use must be\nascertained, by comparing their contexts in the several places of their\noccurrence.\n\n5. PROPHECY is the prediction of a future event. The term sometimes\ndenotes a book of prophecies (Rev. 22:18); and sometimes a history.\u20142\nChron. 9:29.\n\n6. CONSECUTIVE Prophecy gives the succession of future events in the order\nin which they will transpire. _Examples._\u2014See Dan. 2d, 7th, 8th, 11th, and\nRev. 6th and 7th, 9th to the 11th; 12th and 15th, &c.\n\n7. DISCURSIVE Prophecy presents future events, irrespective of the order\nof their occurrence. _Examples._\u2014ISAIAH and the minor prophets.\n\n8. CONDITIONAL Prophecy is when the fulfilment is dependent on the\ncompliance of those to whom the promise is made, with the conditions on\nwhich it is given. _Examples._\u2014\u201c_If_ ye walk in my statutes and keep my\ncommandments, and do them: then I will give you rain in due season, and\nthe land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield\ntheir fruit.\u201d Lev. 26:3, 4. \u201cBut _if_ ye will _not_ hearken unto me, and\nwill _not_ do all these commandments; and _if_ ye shall despise my\nstatutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all\nmy commandments, _but_ that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto\nyou, I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning\nague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall\nsow your seed in vain; for your enemies shall eat it.\u201d _Ib._ 14-16.\n\n\u201cAnd it shall come to pass, _if_ thou shalt hearken diligently unto the\nvoice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which\nI command thee this day: that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above\nall nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and\novertake thee, _if_ thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy\nGod.\u201d Deut. 28:1, 2. \u201cBut it shall come to pass, _if_ thou wilt not\nhearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his\ncommandments and his statutes which I command thee this day: that all\nthese curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee,\u201d &c. _Ib._ 15.\n\nPredictions of mere national prosperity, or adversity, are usually\nconditional. When the condition is not expressed, it is implied.\n_Example._\u2014The Lord said unto Jonah, \u201cArise, go unto Nineveh, that great\ncity, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.... And Jonah began\nto enter into the city a day\u2019s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty\ndays, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed\nGod, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of\nthem even to the least of them.... And God saw their works, that they\nturned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said\nthat he would do unto them: and he did it not.\u201d\n\nFor all cases of this kind, the Lord has given the following general RULE:\n\u201cAt what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a\nkingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it: if that nation\nagainst whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the\nevil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak\nconcerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;\nif it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent\nof the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.\u201d Jer. 18:7-10.\n\n9. UNCONDITIONAL Prophecy includes all predictions which are absolute in\ntheir nature. _Examples._\u2014\u201cBut as truly as I live, all the earth shall be\nfilled with the glory of the Lord.\u201d Num. 14:21.\n\n\u201cFor behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the\npeople: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen\nupon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the\nbrightness of thy rising.... For the nation and kingdom that will not\nserve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted....\nThy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for\never, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be\nglorified.\u201d Isa. 60:2, 3, 12, 21.\n\n\u201cBut in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the\nhouse of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it\nshall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.\u201d Micah\n4:1.\n\n10. A VISION is a revelation from GOD, supernaturally presented. Future\nevents are made to pass before the mind of the _seer_, as if actually\ntranspiring. _Examples._\u2014See the prophecies of ISAIAH, AMOS, OBADIAH, &c.\n\n11. A SYMBOLIC VISION is where the future events, instead of being\npresented to the mind of the prophet, are represented by analogous\nobjects. _Examples._\u2014The prophecies of EZEKIEL, DANIEL, ZECHARIAH, and\nJOHN, are of this kind.\n\n12. A LITERAL Prophecy is where the prediction is given in words used\naccording to their primary and natural import. _Examples._\u2014Num. 14:21-35;\nJer. 25:1-33.\n\n13. Prophecy is _figurative_ when it abounds in tropes, as in much of\nISAIAH and the minor prophets; and it is symbolic, when symbols instead of\nthe objects themselves are presented\u2014as in DANIEL and JOHN.\n\n14. POETRY is writing thus constituted by the metrical or rhythmical\nstructure of its sentences; and is not necessarily any more figurative or\nobscure than prose writing. It is, also, a term sometimes applied to the\nlanguage of excited imagination and feeling.\n\nThe Poetry of the Bible consists in Hebrew parallelisms, where the idea of\nthe preceding line is repeated, or contrasted, in the succeeding one.\n_Examples._\u2014The Psalms, ISAIAH, and other prophets.\n\n15. HIGHLY FIGURATIVE, or SYMBOLIC Prophecies\u2014the laws and use of _Tropes_\nand _Symbols_ being understood are not necessarily more equivocal,\nenigmatical or obscure, than those which are literal.\n\n16. LITERAL FULFILMENT of prophecy is prophecy fulfilled in accordance\nwith the _grammatical interpretation_ of its language.\n\n17. LITERAL INTERPRETATION, when _technically_ applied to the\ninterpretation of prophecy, is not opposed to tropes or figures of speech,\nbut to _spiritual_ interpretation. It interprets the language of the\nScriptures, as similar language would be interpreted _in all other\nwritings_.\n\n18. SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION (_mystical_) seeks, in the language of\nScripture, a meaning that is not expressed by any of the ordinary rules of\nlanguage. It sets at defiance all the laws of language, and makes fancy\nthe interpreter of prophecy. \u201cIt subjects clear predictions to an\nexegetical alembic that effectually subtilizes and evaporates their\nmeaning.\u201d\u2014_Bush._\n\n19. ULTRA LITERAL INTERPRETATION is a disregard of the peculiarities of\nsymbols and of the several kinds of tropes\u2014understanding them as if they\nwere _literally_ expressed.\n\n20. SYMBOLS and TROPES are _literally_ explained, when interpreted in\naccordance with the _grammatical laws_ which respectively govern their\nuse.\n\n21. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS are objects, real or imaginary, _representative_ of\nagents or objects possessing analogous characteristics. All agents or\nobjects _seen_ in symbolic visions are symbols. The inspired\n_explanations_ of symbols are always literal, except when they are\naffirmed to be the same as some other symbol which represents the same\nobject, as in Rev. 17:9.\n\n22. LAWS OF SYMBOLS.\n\nI. \u201cThe Symbol and that which it represents resemble each other in the\nstation they fill, the relation they sustain, and the agencies they exert\nin their respective spheres.\u201d\u2014_Lord._\n\nII. The Symbol and that which it represents are of the _same_, or they are\nof _different_ species, kinds, or rank, according to the _nature_ and\n_use_ of the symbol.\n\nIII. \u201cWhen the Symbol is of such nature, or is used in such a relation\nthat it can properly symbolise something _different_ from itself, the\nrepresentative and that which it represents, while the counterpart of each\nother, are of _different_ species, kinds, or rank.\u201d\u2014_Lord._\n\n_Example._\u2014Dan. 7:3, beasts; v. 17, governments.\n\nIV. \u201cSymbols that are of such a nature, station or relation, that there is\nnothing of an analogous kind that they can represent, symbolize agents,\nobjects, acts, or events of _their own_ kind.\u201d\u2014_Ib._ _Example._\u2014Dan. 7:9.\n\nV. \u201cWhen the Symbol and that which it symbolizes differ from each other,\nthe correspondence between the representative and that which it\nrepresents, still extends to their chief parts; and the elements or parts\nof the symbols denote corresponding parts in that which is\nsymbolized.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\nVI. \u201cThe Names of Symbols are their literal and proper names, not\nmetaphorical titles.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\nVII. \u201cA single agent, in many instances, symbolizes a body and succession\nof agents.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\nVIII. Symbols of the same kind, and used in the same relations, always\nrepresent one class of objects; and when the office of a symbol has been\nonce shown, the same symbol, similarly used, always fills a like office.\nThey are never used arbitrarily.\n\nIX. While like symbols represent like objects, the same agents are often\nindicated by different symbols.\n\nThus, a church may be symbolized by a city and a woman; and government, by\na beast and a mountain, &c.\n\n23. INSPIRED EXPLANATIONS OF SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS:\u2014\n\n      Ancient of Days\u2014The Most High.\u2014Dan. 7:9, 22.\n      Candlesticks\u2014Churches.\u2014Rev. 1:20.\n      Carpenters\u2014Destroyers of governments.\u2014Zech. 1:21.\n      Days\u2014Years.\u2014Num. 14:34. Ezek. 4:4-6.\n      Horns, of a wild beast\u2014Kings or kingdoms succeeding to a divided\n      empire.\u2014Dan. 8:22 and 7:24.\n      Heads, of a wild beast\u2014Kings or forms of government.\u2014Rev. 17:9, 10.\n      Image, of different metals\u2014A succession of governments.\u2014Dan.\n      2:37-42.\n      Incense, or odors\u2014Prayers.\u2014Rev. 5:8 and 8:4.\n      Lamb, the\u2014Christ.\u2014Rev. 5:6, 9, 10.\n      Lamb\u2019s wife\u2014Risen saints.\u2014Rev. 19:7, 8.\n      Lake of fire and brimstone\u2014The place of the second death.\u2014Rev.\n      20:15.\n      Likeness of a man\u2014The Lord.\u2014Ezek. 1:26, 28, and 8:2, 4.\n      Linen, fine and clean\u2014Righteousness of saints\u2014Rev. 19:8.\n      Mountains\u2014Kings, or forms of government.\u2014Rev. 17:9, 10.\n      New Jerusalem\u2014The redeemed Church, or the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s\n      wife.\u2014Rev. 21:9, 10.\n      Revivification of dry bones\u2014Resurrection of the dead.\u2014Ezek. 37:11,\n      12.\n      Stars\u2014Angels, _i.e._, messengers of the churches.\u2014Rev. 1:20.\n      Souls of martyrs living again\u2014The first resurrection.\u2014Rev. 20:4, 5.\n      Stone, becoming a mountain\u2014Kingdom of God.\u2014Dan. 2:45.\n      Waters\u2014Peoples.\u2014Rev. 17:15.\n      Wild Beasts\u2014Governments.\u2014Dan. 7:17.\n      Woman\u2014A city.\u2014Rev. 17:18. Explained to be a church.\u201421:9, 10.\n\n24. TROPES are figures of various kinds, used to _illustrate_ the subjects\nto which they are applied.\u2014They embrace the Simile, Metaphor, Prosopop\u0153ia,\nApostrophe, Synecdoche, Allegory, &c.\n\n25. LAWS OF FIGURES\u2014(_a._) \u201cThe terms in which they are expressed are used\nin their ordinary and literal sense.\u201d\u2014_Lord._\n\n(_b._) \u201cThe agents or objects to which figures are applied are always\nexpressly mentioned. Figures, in that respect, differ wholly from symbols,\nwhich never formally indicate, unless an interpretation is given, who the\nagents, or what the objects are which they represent.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n(_c._) \u201cThe figurative terms are always predicates, or are employed in\naffirming something of some other agent or object; and are therefore\neither nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n(_d._) \u201cAs their terms are used literally, the figure lies, when they are\nemployed in an unusual manner, simply in their being applied to objects to\nwhich they do not properly belong.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n(_e._) \u201cThey are used accordingly in all such cases for the purpose of\nillustration, and their explication is accomplished, not by assigning to\nthem some new and extraordinary meaning, but simply by conjoining with\nthem the terms of a comparison which expresses the relation in which they\nare employed.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n(_f._) \u201cIt is in metaphors and personification only that acts and\nqualities are ascribed to agents and objects that are incompatible with\ntheir nature; or do not properly belong to them.\u201d\u2014_Ib. Theo. & Lit.\nJour._, vol. 1, p. 354.\n\n26. A SIMILE, or comparison, is an affirmation that one agent, object, or\nact, is _like_, or as, another,\u2014there being a real or imaginary\nresemblance. Sometimes only the mere fact of a resemblance is affirmed. At\nothers, the nature of the resemblance is indicated.\n\n_Examples._\u2014\u201cAs for man, his days are _as_ grass.\u201d Psa. 103:15. \u201cWhose\ngarment was _white_ as _snow_.\u201d Dan. 7:9.\n\n27. ANTITHESIS is a contrast, or placing in opposite lights things\ndissimilar.\n\n_Example._\u2014\u201cThe wicked are overthrown and are not; but the house of the\nrighteous shall stand.\u201d Prov. 12:7.\n\n28. A METAPHOR is a simile comprised in a word, without the _sign_ of\ncomparison. It is an affirmation of an object, incompatible with its\nnature\u2014_i.e._, it affirms that an object is, what literally it is only\n_like_; or attributes to it acts, to which its acts only bear a\n_resemblance_.\n\n_Examples._\u2014\u201cHe is the _Rock_.\u201d Deut. 32:4. \u201cHer gates shall _lament_ and\n_mourn_.\u201d Isa. 3:25.\n\nA metaphor may be a simple affirmation of what an object is, or it may\nembrace \u201cthe agent, the act, the object, and the effect of an\naction.\u201d\u2014_Lord._\n\n(_a._) When an object is affirmed to be what it only resembles, that of\nwhich the affirmation is made is always _literally_ expressed.\n\n(_b._) \u201cWhen a nature is ascribed to an object that does not belong to it,\nthe acts or results affirmed to it are proper to that _imputed nature_,\nnot to its own.\u201d\u2014_Lord._\n\n(_c._) \u201cThe meaning of a metaphorical passage is precisely what it would\nbe if a comparison only were affirmed.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n29. AN ELLIPTICAL METAPHOR is where the figure is incomplete. An object,\ninstead of being affirmed to be what it only resembles, is introduced by\nthe name proper only to that resemblance. The literal name of the object\nand the affirmation to complete the figure are to be supplied.\n\nTo find the meaning of an elliptical metaphor, trace the word through the\nBible, and find to what object such metaphorical term is applied.\n_Example._\u2014\u201cAnd in that day there shall be a _Root_ of JESSE, which shall\nstand for an ensign of the people.\u201d Isa. 11:10. _Explanation._\u2014\u201cI [JESUS]\nam the _Root_ and the offspring of DAVID.\u201d Rev. 22:16.\n\n30. PROSOP\u0152IA, or PERSONIFICATION, is an address to an inanimate object,\nas if it were a person, and had intelligence.\u2014_Lord._ _Example._\u2014\u201cGive\near, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my\nmouth.\u201d Deut. 32:1.\n\n31. AN APOSTROPHE is a _digression_ from the order of any discourse, and a\ndirect _address_ to the persons of whom it treats, or to those who are to\nform a judgment respecting the subject of which it treats.\u2014_Lord._\n_Example._\u2014\u201cHear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto\nthe law of our GOD, ye people of Gomorrah.\u201d Isa. 1:10.\n\n32. AN ALLEGORY is a narrative in which the subject of the discourse is\ndescribed by an analogous subject, resembling it in its characteristics\nand circumstances\u2014the subject of which it is descriptive being indicated\nin its connection. _Examples._\u2014See Ezek. 31:3-9; Ps. 80:8-16; Jud. 9:8-15.\n\nPast _historical_ events, instead of supposititious ones, are sometimes\nused for illustration. When thus used they serve as allegories, without\naffecting their original historical significance. _Example._\u2014Gal. 4:\n22-31. See also Rom. 9:7, 8; 1 Cor. 9:9, 10, and 10:11.\n\n33. A PARABLE is a similitude taken from natural things, to instruct us in\nthe knowledge of spiritual. _Examples._\u2014Matt. 13th, and 21:28-41.\n\nThe Parable differs from the Allegory in that the acts ascribed are\nappropriate to the agents to which they are attributed. In the Allegory,\nacts may be ascribed to real objects which are not natural to those\nobjects. _Example._\u2014See Judges 9:7-15.\n\nThe Parable is sometimes used to denote a prophecy, (Num. 23:7); sometimes\na discourse, (Job 27:1); sometimes a lamentation, (Micah 2:4); sometimes a\nproverb, or wise saying, (Prov. 26:7); and sometimes to indicate that a\nthing is apocryphal. Ezek. 20:49. The terms parable and allegory, are\noften wrongfully applied.\n\n34. A RIDDLE is an enigma\u2014something to be guessed. _Example._\u2014See Judges\n14:24-18. It is sometimes used to denote an allegory. Ezek. 17:1-10.\n\n35. TYPES are emblems\u2014greater events in the future being prefigured by\ntypical observances, \u201cwhich are a shadow of good things to come.\u201d Col.\n2:17.\n\n36. THE HYPOCATASTASIS, or substitution, is a figure introduced by Mr.\nLORD, in which the objects, or agents, of one class are, without any\nformal notice, employed in the place of the persons or things of which the\npassages in which they occur treat; and they are exhibited either as\nexerting, or as subjected to an agency proper to their nature, in order to\nrepresent by analogy, the agency which those persons are to exert, or of\nwhich those things are to be the subjects. _Example._\u2014\u201cO, my people, they\nwhich lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.\u201d\u2014Isa.\n3:12,\u2014expressive of the manner in which they were misled by their rulers\nand kept from the truth.\n\n37. A METONYMY is a reversion, or the use of a noun to express that with\nwhich it is intimately connected, instead of using the term which would\nliterally express the idea. Thus the cause is used for the effect, the\neffect for the cause, the thing containing for that which is contained in\nit, &c. _Example._\u2014\u201cYe have eaten up the _vineyard_.\u201d Isa. 3:14\u2014meaning\nthe fruit of the vineyard.\n\n38. A SYNECDOCHE is the use of a word expressive of a part, to signify the\nwhole; or that expressive of the whole, to denote only a part\u2014as the genus\nfor the species, or the species for the genus, &c. _Example._\u2014\u201c_Man_ dieth\nand wasteth away; yea _man_ giveth up the ghost, and where is he?\u201d Job\n14:10.\n\n39. A HYPERBOLE is an exaggeration in which more is expressed than is\nintended to be understood. _Example._\u2014\u201cI suppose that even the world\nitself could not contain the books that should be written.\u201d John\n21:25\u2014meaning that a great number might be written.\n\n40. IRONY is the utterance of pointed remarks, contrary to the actual\nthoughts of the speaker or writer\u2014not to deceive, but to add force to the\nremark. _Examples._\u2014\u201cNo doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die\nwith you.\u201d Job 12:2.\n\n\u201cAnd it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry\naloud: for he _is_ a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he\nis in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.\u201d 1 Kings\n18:27.\n\n41. THE INTERROGATION\u2014while its legitimate use is to ask a question\u2014is\nalso used to affirm or deny with great emphasis. Affirmative\ninterrogations usually have _no_ or _not_ in connection with the verb.\n_Example._\u2014\u201cIs _not_ God in the height of the heavens?\u201d Job 22:12.\n_Examples of a negative._\u2014\u201cShall the earth be made to bring forth in one\nday? or shall a nation be born at once?\u201d Isa. 66:8. \u201cCan the rush grow up\nwithout mire?\u201d Job 8:11.\n\n42. EXCLAMATIONS are digressions from the order of a discourse or writing,\nto give expression to the emotions of the speaker, or writer.\n_Example._\u2014\u201cO that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and\nbe at rest!\u201d Psa. 55:6.\n\n43. FABLES are fictions\u2014additions to the word of GOD. All false theories\nand doctrines supposed to be based on the Bible, all interpretations of\nScripture which do violence to the laws of language and falsify their\nmeaning, and all opinions which are the result of mere traditions and\ndoctrines of men, are to be classed as fables. Mark 7:8-13; 1 Pet. 1:18; 1\nTim. 1:4; 4:7; Tit. 1:14.\n\n44. SYNCHRONOUS SCRIPTURES are the several passages which have reference\nto any one and the same event.\n\nEach portion of Scripture respecting any subject, must be considered in\nconnection with all the Scriptures that refer to the same\nsubject.\u2014_Compare_, for example, Dan. 2:34, 35, 44; 7:18, 27; Matt. 6:10;\n13:37-43; 35:34; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15-18.\n\n\n\n\n\nEXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE.\n\n\n\n\nThe Title of the Book.\n\n\n    \u201cThe Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to\n    his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and sending,\n    he signified _them_ through his angel to his servant John: who\n    testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and\n    whatever he saw.\u201d\u2014Rev. 1:1, 2.\u2014_Prof. Whiting\u2019s Translation._\n\n\n\u201cThe very title of John\u2019s predictions, Apocalypse, implies the _unveiling_\nor \u2018_revelation_\u2019 of the mystic and hidden sense of the prophetic oracles,\npreviously uttered by his inspired predecessors.\u201d\u2014PROF. BUSH.\n\n\u201cThe \u0391\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03c5\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2, from which we have our word Apocalypse, signifies,\nliterally, a _revelation_, or _discovery_, of what was _concealed_, or\n_hidden_.\u201d\u2014DR. CLARKE.\n\nThe work of the apostles was \u201cto make all men see what is the fellowship\nof the mystery, which, from the beginning of the world, hath been hid in\nGod, who created all things by Jesus Christ,\u201d (Eph. 3:9); \u201ceven the\nmystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is\nmade manifest to his saints,\u201d Col. 1:26. The entire record of the New\nTestament, is a revelation that God \u201chath in these last days spoken unto\nus by his Son;\u201d in distinction from the records of the Old Testament,\nwhich He, \u201cat sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto\nthe fathers by the prophets,\u201d Heb. 1:1. But the closing book of the new\nseries is called, in distinction from the others, \u201cTHE REVELATION OF JESUS\nCHRIST.\u201d\n\nIt contains the \u201cmany things\u201d he had to say to his disciples, in addition\nto those recorded by the evangelists; but which they could not then bear,\nJohn 16:12. It is the revelation \u201cwhich God gave unto him;\u201d for \u201cthere is\na God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known ... what shall be\nin the latter days,\u201d Dan. 2:28. God communicated by his servants the\nprophets what should \u201ccome to pass hereafter,\u201d by visions which were\n\u201ccertain,\u201d and by \u201cthe interpretation thereof\u201d which was \u201csure,\u201d Dan.\n2:46. But Daniel was commanded to \u201cshut up the words, and seal the book,\neven to the time of the end,\u201d when many should \u201crun to and fro,\u201d and\nknowledge should \u201cbe increased.\u201d And it was added, \u201cGo thy way, Daniel;\nfor the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end: Many\nshall be purified and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do\nwickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall\nunderstand.\u201d Dan. 12:4, 9, 10.\n\nIt will thus be seen, that provision had been made for the future\n_unveiling_ of what was left obscure in the predictions of the Old\nTestament writers; and for the _unsealing_ of what was then closed up and\nsealed. This revelation must come from God; for the Saviour has testified,\nthat \u201cof that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven,\nbut my Father only.\u201d Matt. 24:36. \u201cThe secret things belong unto the Lord\nour God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our\nchildren forever.\u201d Deut. 29:29.\n\nAs God had provided for a more full \u201crevelation\u201d respecting the events of\nthe future, it was necessary that it should be communicated through \u201cthe\nappointed Heir of all things,\u201d by whom he was to speak in the last days,\nHeb. 1:2. The BAPTIST said of Christ, that \u201cwhat he hath seen and heard,\nthis he testifieth,\u201d John 3:22. And the Saviour said of him by whom he was\nsent, \u201cI speak to the world those things which I have heard of him,\u201d _Ib._\n8:2, 6. And again, he saith, \u201cI have not spoken of myself; but the Father\nwhich sent me, he gave me a commandment; what I should say, and what I\nshould speak,\u201d _Ib._ 12:49. \u201cThe Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of\nDavid, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals\nthereof,\u201d Rev. 5:5.\n\nThe design of God in giving this additional revelation, was that he might\n\u201cshow unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;\u201d for\n\u201csurely the Lord God doeth nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his\nservants the prophets,\u201d Amos 3:7. And he saith, \u201cI have told you before it\ncome to pass, that when it is come to pass ye might believe,\u201d John 14:29.\nWhen the old world was to be destroyed by water, \u201cNoah, being warned of\nGod of things not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of his\nhouse,\u201d Heb. 11:7. And when the Lord had purposed the destruction of\nSodom, he said, \u201cShall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?\u201d and\nangels were sent to Lot, that he might say to his children, \u201cUp get ye out\nof this place; for the Lord will destroy this city,\u201d Gen. 18:17, and\n19:14. So of the times and seasons of the second advent: while \u201cthe day of\nthe Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,\u201d he has said to his chosen\nones, \u201cYe brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you\nas a thief,\u201d 1 Thess. 5:1-4. He has condescended to give his people \u201ca\nmore sure word of prophecy: whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as\nunto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day\nstar arise in your hearts,\u201d 2 Pet. 1:19. Therefore it was said to John, \u201cI\nwill show thee things which must be hereafter,\u201d Rev. 4:1; which things\nwere shortly to begin to come to pass,\u2014they being a series of successive\nevents, commencing near the time in which John wrote, and extending to the\nend of the world and the establishment of the everlasting kingdom.\n\nThese were shown to John by symbolic representations, in a series of\nvisions, the import of which was signified to him by an angelic\ninterpreter. Said the Saviour, \u201cI, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify\nunto you these things in the churches,\u201d 22:16. And _these things_ were not\nto be sealed up, like the words of Daniel; for John was commanded to\n\u201c_seal not_ the sayings of the prophecy of _this_ book: for the time is at\nhand,\u201d 22:10. He recorded the words which God thus gave him,\u2014\u201cthe\ntestimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.\u201d He has given\nus, in graphic language, such descriptions of the visions shown, that we\ncan easily imagine the symbols which he saw; and we have the inspired\nexplanations of those which were \u201csignified\u201d to him. Therefore we may\nread, and receive the blessings promised to those who keep this testimony\nof Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nThe Benediction.\n\n\n    \u201cHappy is he, who readeth, and those, who hear the words of this\n    prophecy, and keep the things, written in it: for the season is\n    near.\u201d Rev. 1:3.\n\n\nThose who teach that the Apocalypse is a \u201csealed book,\u201d most clearly\ncontradict the testimony of Christ respecting it. To discourage the study\nof it, is to treat with neglect, and to despise what God has spoken in\nthese last days by his Son, Heb. 1:2; of whom it is said: \u201cSee that ye\nrefuse not him that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused him who\nspake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him\nthat speaketh from heaven,\u201d Heb. 12:25. Those who thus neglect it, cannot\nregard the blessing promised to those who read, hear, and keep its\nsayings.\n\nThe Apocalypse is not to be undervalued as unprofitable; for \u201call\nscripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,\nfor reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the\nman of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,\u201d 2\nTim. 3:16, 17. \u201cFor whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written\nfor our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures\nmight have hope,\u201d Rom. 15:4. \u201cSearch the scriptures; for in them ye think\nye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me,\u201d John 5:39.\n\u201cThus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of\nthings to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands\ncommand ye me,\u201d Isa. 45:11. \u201cBehold, I come quickly: blessed is he that\nkeepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book,\u201d Rev. 22:7.\n\n\n\n\nJohn\u2019s Salutation to the Churches.\n\n\n    \u201cJohn to the seven congregations in Asia: grace be to you and\n    peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to be; and from\n    the seven Spirits, that are before his throne; and from Jesus\n    Christ, the faithful Witness, and the First-born of the dead, and\n    the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loved us, and\n    washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings\n    and priests to God even his father: to him be glory and dominion\n    for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every\n    eye will see him, and those, who pierced him: and all the tribes\n    of the earth will wail because of him. Yea, so be it! I am the\n    Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and\n    who is to be, the Almighty.\u201d\u2014Rev. 1:4-8.\n\n\nThe seven churches to which John sends salutation, were those of Ephesus,\nSmyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, 1:11. The\nAsia, in which they were situated, was a province in Asia Minor, distinct\nfrom Pontus, Gallatia, and Bithynia; which also were in Asia Minor, 1 Pet.\n1:1, and Acts 2:9. Of the province of Asia, Ephesus was the capital, and\nwas the principal place of John\u2019s residence. The seven cities which\ncontained those churches, were situated in a kind of amphitheatre,\nsurrounded by mountains. Smyrna was 46 miles north of Ephesus, and\nPergamos 64 miles; Thyatira was 48 miles to the east, and Sardis 33 miles;\nPhiladelphia 27 miles to the south, and Laodicea 42 miles. These churches\nhad all been under the general supervision of John\u2019s ministry; and for\nthis reason, doubtless, they are especially designated, instead of those\nwith which he had not been so intimately connected.\n\nJohn writes to the seven churches, in obedience to the command,\u2014\u201cWhat thou\nseest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in\nAsia,\u201d 1:11. He seems to have written what he saw, at the time of its\nexhibition, and not at the close of the entire presentation; for when he\nwas about to write the discordant utterances of \u201cthe seven thunders,\u201d he\nwas told to \u201cwrite them not,\u201d 10:4.\n\nJohn observes the oriental custom of placing his name at the commencement,\ninstead of the close of his communication. Few persons now deny that this\nwas John the Evangelist. Iren\u00e6us, who was born only about 30 years after\nthe death of John, speaks of the writer of the Apocalypse, as \u201cthe\ndisciple of Christ,\u2014that same John that leaned on his breast at the last\nsupper.\u201d\n\nMost beautiful reference is here made to the attributes of DEITY: \u201cHim who\nis, and who was, and who is to be,\u201d can be no other than the great\nPre\u00ebxistent, who said to Moses, \u201cI AM THAT I AM,\u201d Ex. 13:14.\n\nThe seven Spirits, would seem to be irrelevantly placed between the Father\nand the Son,\u2014the place always occupied by the Holy Spirit, when spoken of\nin connection with them,\u2014if they were merely seven angels. Grace would\nalso seem to be irreverently invoked from such,\u2014its presence being implied\nwhere it is invoked,\u2014unless they are expressive of the Holy Spirit, in\nwhich grace is inherent, and from whom it may be communicated; as it may\nnot be from angels. Seven is a full and perfect number, and it may be here\nused because in another place \u201cseven lamps of fire burning before the\nthrone\u201d are symbolic of \u201cthe seven Spirits of God,\u201d (4:5); which, if\nangels, would be expressly named, as in other inspired explanations,\u2014as\nthey are in that of the stars, 1:20. A burning _flame_ is often used as a\nsymbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when God would make a covenant with\nAbraham, and the victims between which the covenanting parties were to\npass, were divided, the presence of God was symbolized by \u201ca burning lamp\nthat passed between those pieces,\u201d Gen. 15:17. And the descent of the Holy\nSpirit on the day of Pentecost, was manifested by \u201ccloven tongues, like as\nof fire,\u201d which \u201csat upon each of them,\u201d Acts 2:3. In Zechariah 3:9, we\nread of the symbol of a stone laid before Joshua, that on it were engraved\n\u201cseven eyes,\u201d which \u201care the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro,\nthrough the whole earth,\u201d (Zech. 4:10);\u2014an expressive figure of God\u2019s\nOmniscience. The same is symbolized in Rev. 5:6, by the \u201cseven eyes\u201d of\nthe LAMB.\n\nJesus Christ is the faithful Witness. He \u201cwas faithful to him that\nappointed him,\u201d (Heb. 3:2); and he was given as a Witness to the people, a\nLeader and Commander to the people, Isa. 55:4. He is the \u201cfirst-begotten\nof the dead,\u201d having \u201crisen from the dead, and become the first fruits of\nthem that slept,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:20: he is \u201cdeclared to be the Son of God, with\npower according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the\ndead,\u201d Rom. 1:4. He is \u201cthe Prince of the kings of the earth,\u201d the \u201cKing\nof kings and Lord of lords,\u201d 19:16; \u201call kings shall fall down before him:\nall nations shall serve him,\u201d Psa. 72:11. He hath shown how he \u201cloved us,\u201d\nby giving himself for us, (Gal. 2:20); and hath cleansed his people from\nall sin, not \u201cby the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he\nentered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption\nfor us,\u201d Heb. 9:12. He has redeemed us to God \u201cout of every kindred, and\ntongue, and people, and nation,\u201d Rev. 5:9. He is the one who is to come in\nthe clouds of heaven, in resplendent majesty, to reward his saints, and to\ndestroy those who destroy the earth, 11:18. The announcement that he\n\u201ccometh with clouds\u201d is as if John had said that what he was commanded to\nwrite, was a revelation of the events which were to precede and usher in\nthat coming.\n\n\n\n\nChrist\u2019s Annunciation.\n\n\n    \u201cI John, your brother, and partner in the affliction, and kingdom\n    and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for\n    the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in\n    the Spirit on the Lord\u2019s day, and heard behind me a great voice,\n    like that of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book,\n    and send it to the seven congregations, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna,\n    and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to\n    Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.\u201d\u2014Rev. 1:9-11.\n\n\nThis gives a clue to the date of the Apocalypse. It was written when John\nwas in the Isle of Patmos: \u201cIt is the general testimony of ancient\nauthors, that St. John was banished into Patmos in the time of Domitian,\nin the latter part of his reign, and restored by his successor, Nerva. But\nthe book could not be published till after John\u2019s release, and return to\nEphesus, in Asia. Domitian died in 96, and his persecution did not\ncommence till near the close of his reign.\u201d\u2014DR. CLARKE.\n\n\u201cDOMITIAN, having exercised his cruelty against many, and unjustly slain\nno small number of noble and illustrious men at Rome, ... at length\nestablished himself as the successor of NERO, in his hatred and hostility\nto GOD. He was the _second_ that raised a persecution against us. In this\npersecution, it is handed down by tradition, that the apostle and\nevangelist, JOHN, ... was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos.\nIREN\u00c6US, indeed, in his fifth book against the heresies, where he speaks\nof the calculation formed on the epithet of Antichrist, in the\nabove-mentioned Revelation of JOHN, speaks in the following manner\nrespecting him: \u2018If, however, it were necessary to proclaim his name\n(_i.e._ Antichrist\u2019s), openly at the present time, it would have been\ndeclared by him who saw the Revelation, for it was not long since it was\nseen, but _almost in our own times_, at the _close_ of DOMITIAN\u2019s\nreign.\u2019 \u201d\u2014EUSEBIUS.\n\nProf. Stuart, who dissents from the opinion, admits that \u201ca majority of\nthe older critics have been inclined to adopt the opinion of Iren\u00e6us,\nviz.: that it was written during the reign of Domitian, _i.e._, during the\nlast part of the first century, or in A. D. 95 or 96.\u201d\u2014Com. _Apoc._, V.\nI., p. 263.\n\nJohn\u2019s adherence to the word and testimony of Christ, had caused his\nbanishment\u2014as others \u201cwere slain\u2014for the word of God, and for the\ntestimony which they held,\u201d (6:9); and whose living again and reigning\nwith Christ, was subsequently shown John in a vision, 20:4.\n\nJohn was in the spirit; _i.e._, he was in a state of prophetic ecstasy, in\nwhich he was, as it were, caught away from a realization of the actual and\nthe present, and shown \u201cthe things which must be hereafter.\u201d It was on the\n\u201cLord\u2019s day,\u201d the first day of the week, which was so called because on\nthat day the Lord arose from the dead. It was a day which has been\nobserved by all Christians in especial remembrance of that event. John\ndoes not appear to have anticipated any such announcement, until he was\nsuddenly startled from his meditation by a voice in trumpet tones,\nannouncing itself by the titles of Christ, and commanding him to write to\nthe churches what he _saw_. Hearing the voice, he turned to see who had\nspoken to him, and beheld a\n\n\n\n\nVision of Christ.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I turned to see the voice, that spoke with me. And having\n    turned, I saw seven golden lamp-stands; and in the midst of the\n    seven lamp-stands one like a Son of man, clothed with a garment\n    reaching the feet, and girded around the breasts with a golden\n    girdle. His head, even his hair, was white like white wool, like\n    snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet like\n    fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice like the\n    sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars:\n    and from his mouth went forth a sharp two-edged sword: and his\n    countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I\n    saw him, I fell at his feet as if dead. And he laid his right hand\n    on me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and am he,\n    who liveth, and I became dead; and behold, I am alive for ever and\n    ever, and have the keys of death and the pit. Therefore, write the\n    things, which thou hast seen, and the things, which are, and the\n    things, which will take place hereafter; the secret of the seven\n    stars, which thou hast seen in my right hand, and the seven golden\n    lamp-stands. The seven stars, are the messengers of the seven\n    congregations: and the seven lamp-stands are the seven\n    congregations.\u201d\u2014Rev. 1:12-20.\n\n\nThe voice, by a metonymy, is used for the person speaking. He turned to\nsee the glorious personage by whom the trumpet-tones were uttered. Being\nturned, he saw the commencement of those great panoramic presentations, by\nwhich the events of the future were revealed to him, and the significance\nof which were explained by an angelic interpreter.\n\nThe \u201cseven golden candlesticks,\u201d symbolize \u201cthe seven churches\u201d (1:20), to\nwhich John was commanded to write. By this, and other symbols which are\ndivinely interpreted, are unfolded the principles on which symbols are\nused. A candle or lamp stand, supports the light placed on it, as churches\nare the recipients and dispensers of the light of the Holy Scriptures.\nThey are therefore appropriate symbols of churches.\n\n\u201cIn the midst of the candlesticks\u201d is one in the form of humanity,\nsurrounded by the insignia of Deity. It is the same appearance that\nEzekiel saw, when he had a vision \u201cof the likeness of the glory of the\nLord,\u201d (Ezek. 1:26-28); and before which Daniel fell trembling, Dan.\n10:5-9. The sublime spectacle was too overwhelming for John\u2019s endurance,\nand, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, his strength turned to corruption.\nBut the glorified Saviour was the same sympathetic being on whose breast\nJohn leaned, at the last supper, and he lays his endearing hand on John,\nand, by soothing words, restores his confidence. He explains the mystery\ncontained in the symbols shown, and enjoins on him to write the things he\nhad seen\u2014symbolic of the things which then were, and of those which were\nthen in the future. As no created resemblance is a fit representative of\nDeity, Christ is shown to John by the symbol of his own likeness.\n\nThe \u201cseven stars\u201d in the right hand of the Saviour, are the angels,\u2014the\nmessengers, or pastors of the seven churches, 1:20. As the Saviour holds\nthe stars in his hand, so does he sustain all his gospel ministers,\nenabling them to impart light to those who sit under their ministrations.\nAnd as he walked in the midst of the golden candlesticks, so the Lord is\never in the midst of those who fear him, and call upon his name.\n\n\n\n\nEpistles to the Seven Churches.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Ephesus.\n\n\n    \u201cTo the messenger of the congregation of Ephesus write: These\n    things saith He who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who\n    walketh in the midst of the seven golden lamp-stands: I know thy\n    works, and thy toil, and thy patience, and that thou canst not\n    endure the evil; and thou hast tried those, who say they are\n    apostles, and are not; and hast found them liars; and hast\n    patience, and hast endured on account of my name, and hast not\n    fainted. Nevertheless, I have this against thee, that thou hast\n    left thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou hast fallen,\n    and repent and do the first works; or else I will come to thee\n    quickly, and will remove thy lamp-stand out of its place, except\n    thou repentest. But thou hast this, that thou hatest the deeds of\n    the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He, who hath an ear, let him\n    hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations: To him, who\n    overcometh, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in\n    the paradise of God.\u201d\u2014Rev. 2:1-7.\n\n\nThe seven churches are not, themselves, seen in vision; they were\nsymbolized by seven golden candlesticks. Consequently, these are seven\nliteral churches that are addressed, and not allegorical, as some teach.\nThe symbolic portions of the Apocalypse, are the descriptions of what John\nsaw, and the attendant utterances. What was addressed to the ear by way of\nexplanation and instruction, does not come under the laws of\nsymbolization.\n\nAs churches, in all ages, are often in the several conditions ascribed to\nthe seven churches, the warnings, admonitions, and consolations addressed\nto them, may serve for instruction to all Christians, as implied in the\ndeclaration: \u201cHe that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to\nthe churches,\u201d 2:29.\n\n\u201cBy \u03b1\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2, angel [or messenger], we are to understand the _messenger_,\nor person sent by God to preside over the church; and to him the epistle\nis directed, not as pointing out his state, but the state of the church\nunder his care. The Angel of the Church, here answers exactly to that\nofficer of the synagogue among the Jews, called the _messenger_ of the\nchurch, whose business it was to _read_, _pray_, and _teach_ in the\nsynagogue.\u201d\u2014DR. CLARKE. Timothy is supposed to have had the care of the\nEphesian church till A. D. 97, when he was martyred.\n\nEphesus was a large, idolatrous city, \u201ca worshipper of the great goddess\nDiana, and of the image which,\u201d as they claimed, \u201cfell down from Jupiter,\u201d\nActs 19:35. The gospel was first preached there by Paul, and with such\nsuccess, that \u201cMany of them also which used curious arts, brought their\nbooks together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the price\nof them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver: So mightily grew\nthe word of God, and prevailed,\u201d _Ib._ 19, 20. They continued a fine and\nprosperous church, but had fallen away from their first love. Therefore He\nwho walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and holdeth in\nhis hand the messengers of the churches, admonished them that, unless they\nrepented he would remove their candlestick, _i.e._, their church, of which\nthe candlestick was a symbol, out of its place. They did not repent; and,\nsays Gibbon, \u201cIn the year 1312, began the _captivity_, or ruin of the\nseven churches by the Ottoman power. In the loss of Ephesus, the\nChristians deplored the loss of the first _Angel_, the extinction of the\nfirst _candlestick_ of the Revelations. The desolation is complete, and\nthe temple of _Diana_, or the church of _Mary_, will equally elude the\nsearch of the curious traveller.\u201d\n\nThe Nicolaitanes, whose deeds God hated, were a sect of heretics, who\nassumed the name from Nicholas of Antioch, one of the first seven deacons\nof the church in Jerusalem. It is believed that he was rather the innocent\noccasion, than the author of the infamous practices of those who assumed\nhis name,\u2014who allowed a community of wives, and ate meats offered in\nsacrifice to idols. It was a short-lived sect.\n\nFor hating their deeds, the church of Ephesus was commended, and also for\nnot giving countenance to false teachers, who claimed to be apostles, and\nwere proved to be liars. Thus are Christians to \u201cbelieve not every spirit,\nbut try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets\nare gone out into the world,\u201d 1 John 4:1. \u201cSuch are false apostles,\ndeceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ,\u201d 2\nCor. 11:13. \u201cThere were false prophets also among the people, even as\nthere shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in\ndamnable heresies,\u201d 2 Pet. 2:1.\n\nThe promise to him that overcometh, that he shall \u201ceat of the tree of\nlife,\u201d points to the resurrection and to the new creation. As in Eden was\nmade to grow \u201cthe tree of life\u201d (Gen. 2:9), so in Eden restored, \u201cthey\nthat do his commandments ... may have right to the tree of life, and may\nenter in through the gates into the city,\u201d Rev. 22:2.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Smyrna.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd to the messenger of the congregation in Smyrna, write: These\n    things saith the First and the Last, who became dead and is alive:\n    I know thy works, and affliction, and poverty (but thou art rich);\n    and I know the reviling of those, who say they are Jews, and are\n    not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear none of the things, which\n    thou wilt suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into\n    prison, that ye may be tried, and ye will have affliction ten\n    days. Be thou faithful to death, and I will give thee the crown of\n    life. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to\n    the Congregations: he who overcometh, will not be hurt by the\n    second death.\u201d\u2014Rev. 2:8-11.\n\n\nThe angel of the church in Smyrna is supposed to have been Polycarp, who,\nrather than to apostatize, was burnt alive in that city about A. D. 166.\nThat church had passed through the trial of poverty, and was found \u201crich\ntoward God,\u201d Luke 12:21. It had suffered from the blasphemy of unbelieving\nJews, who had a synagogue there and were particularly active at the\nmartyrdom of Polycarp. But \u201cHe is not a Jew, which is one outwardly;\nneither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a\nJew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the\nspirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God,\u201d\nRom. 2:28, 29. And the crucified and risen Saviour has said, that they are\n\u201cof the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews, and are not, but do\nlie,\u201d Rev. 3:9.\n\nNot a word of reproof is addressed to this faithful flock; but they were\nto be still further tried, and a terrible persecution was foretold, which\nshould continue ten prophetic days. Ten years was the duration of the last\nand bloodiest persecution under Diocletian, from A. D. 302 to 312, during\nwhich all the Asiatic churches were grievously afflicted.\n\nThis church passed triumphantly through all those trials; and Smyrna is\nnow the most flourishing city of the Asiatic churches. It contains a\npopulation of 100,000, and is the seat of an archbishop. From 15,000 to\n20,000 of its inhabitants are still professedly Christian.\n\nThe \u201ccrown of life,\u201d promised to those who are faithful unto death, is to\nbe given at Christ\u2019s second coming, \u201cwho shall judge the quick and the\ndead at his appearing and kingdom,\u201d 2 Tim. 4:1: \u201cHenceforth there is laid\nup for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,\nshall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that\nlove his appearing,\u201d _Ib._ 8. \u201cBlessed is the man that endureth\ntemptation: for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which\nthe Lord hath promised to them that love him,\u201d Jam. 1:12.\n\nThose who shall not be hurt of the \u201csecond death,\u201d are those who shall\nattain unto the resurrection of the just, at the commencement of the\nmillennium. \u201cBlessed and holy is he that hath part in the first\nresurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be\npriests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years,\u201d\nRev. 20:6. \u201cBut the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and\nmurderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,\nshall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:\nwhich is the second death,\u201d 21:8.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Pergamos.\n\n\n    And to the messenger of the congregation in Pergamos write: These\n    things saith He who hath the sharp two-edged sword: I know thy\n    works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan\u2019s throne is; and\n    thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in\n    those days in which Antipas was my faithful witness: who was slain\n    among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against\n    thee, because thou hast there those, who hold fast the doctrine of\n    Balaam, who taught Balak to cast an enticement to sin before the\n    children of Israel: to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit\n    fornication. So thou hast also those, who hold fast the doctrine\n    of the Nicolaitanes, in like manner. Repent; or else I will come\n    to thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my\n    mouth. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to\n    the congregations: To him, who overcometh, I will grant to eat of\n    the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and on the\n    stone a new name written, which no one knoweth, but he, who\n    receiveth it.\u2014Rev. 2:12-17.\n\n\n\u201cHe which hath the sharp sword with two edges,\u201d is the one who walked in\nthe midst of the seven golden lamp-stands\u2014out of whose \u201cmouth went a sharp\ntwo-edged sword,\u201d 1:16. This identifies him as the one who was followed by\nthe armies of heaven, when \u201cthe remnant were slain with the sword of him\nthat sat upon the horse: which sword proceeded out of his mouth,\u201d 19:21.\n\u201cThe sword of the Spirit ... is the word of God,\u201d Eph. 6:17. \u201cHe shall\nsmite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips\nshall he slay the wicked,\u201d Isa. 11:4. The One who indites this epistle is\nthus designated, probably, because, unless they repented of the things\nalleged against them, he would fight against them with the sword of his\nmouth.\n\nThe church of Pergamos had refrained from apostasy, although situated in a\nwicked and corrupt city,\u2014even where Satan reigned almost supreme and\nreceived the obedience of its inhabitants. They had been faithful in those\ndays when Antipas, a faithful Christian, and probably the former pastor of\nthe church, was slain (Dr. Hales thinks) in Domitian\u2019s persecution, in A.\nD. 94. Yet, the Lord had some things against them.\n\nThe doctrine of Balaam is what that prophet counselled Balak to cast as a\nstumbling-block before Israel: For \u201cthe people began to commit whoredom\nwith the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices\nof their gods; and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And\nIsrael joined himself unto Baal-peor,\u201d Num. 25:1-3. And Moses said of the\nwomen of Midian, \u201cBehold, these caused the children of Israel, through the\ncounsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of\nPeor,\u201d _Ib._ 31:16. This was also, probably, the same as the doctrine of\nthe Nicolaitanes, p. 34.\n\nThe \u201chidden manna\u201d seems to be a reference to that hidden in the ark,\nwhere it was laid up before the Lord (Ex. 16:33), in memory of what was\nsent for the sustenance of Israel in the wilderness, where \u201cman did eat\nangel\u2019s food,\u201d Ps. 78:25. The law having a shadow of good things to come\n(Heb. 10:1), the manna hidden in the ark may be typical of the angelic\nsustenance to be revealed in the future world. The Saviour said, \u201cVerily,\nverily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I\nam that bread of life. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven,\nthat a man may eat thereof, and not die,\u201d John 6:47, 48, 50.\n\nThe \u201cwhite stone\u201d has received divers interpretations. In ancient trials,\nthe votes of the judges were given by _white_ and _black_ pebbles. The\nformer signified acquittal, and the latter condemnation. Conquerors in\npublic games sometimes received a _white stone_ with their name inscribed\non it, which entitled them, during the remainder of their life, to be\nmaintained at the public expense. Persons were sometimes invited to feasts\nor banquets, by the presentation of a white stone, with their name on it\nin connection with that of their hosts. The possession of the white stone\nevidently entitles the possessor to all the privileges of the heavenly\ninheritance.\n\nThe \u201cnew name\u201d is unknown to all but its possessor; who, on its\npossession, becomes a child of God, and will receive, saith God, \u201cin my\nhouse and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of\ndaughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut\noff,\u201d Isa. 56:5. The Saviour has promised that \u201chim that overcometh will I\nmake a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I\nwill write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my\nGod, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God;\nand I will write upon him my new name,\u201d Rev. 3:12. And his new \u201cname\u201d \u201cno\nman knew but he himself,\u201d _Ib._ 19:12.\n\nPergamos still contains a few thousand inhabitants.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Thyatira.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd to the messenger of the congregation in Thyatira write: These\n    things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of\n    fire, and his feet like fine brass: I know thy works, and love,\n    and faith, and service, and thy patience, and thy works; and thy\n    last works to be greater than the first. Notwithstanding, I have\n    something against thee, because thou allowest thy woman Jezebel,\n    who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants\n    to commit fornication, and to eat idol sacrifices. And I gave her\n    time to repent, and she would not repent of her fornication.\n    Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those, who commit adultery\n    with her, into great affliction, unless they repent of their\n    deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the\n    congregations will know that I am he, who searcheth the reins and\n    hearts: and I will give to each of you according to your works.\n    But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, As many as have not\n    this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as\n    (they say;) I will not put on you another burden: but what ye\n    have, hold fast till I come. And he, who overcometh, and keepeth\n    my works to the end, to him, I will give power over the nations:\n    (and he will rule them with a rod of iron; like the vessels of a\n    potter they will be dashed in pieces:) even as I received of my\n    Father. And I will give him the morning-star. He, who hath an ear,\n    let him hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    2:18-29.\n\n\nIn commending the general piety of this church, they are censured for\npermitting a woman to teach false doctrines among them. The church is not\nonly made responsible for what it teaches, but also for what it suffers\nothers to teach. In this particular the church in Thyatira appears in\ncontrast with the church in Ephesus. The doctrines which this wicked woman\ntaught appear to be similar to those of the Nicolaitanes, p. 34. She is\nprobably called Jezebel, from her being a woman of power and influence,\nlike the wife of Ahab, who \u201cdid sell himself to work wickedness in the\nsight of the Lord: whom Jezebel his wife stirred up,\u201d 1 Kings 21:25.\n\nThey who had not fallen into those depths of Satan, and should continue\nfaithful to the end, were to have \u201cpower over the nations.\u201d \u201cThe saints of\nthe Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever,\neven for ever and ever. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of\nthe kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the\nsaints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all\ndominions shall serve and obey him,\u201d Dan. 7:18, 27. \u201cAsk of me, and I\nshall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts\nof the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;\nthou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel,\u201d Ps. 2:8, 9. \u201cTo\nexecute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To\nexecute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all the saints.\nPraise ye the Lord,\u201d _Ib._ 149:7, 9.\n\nTo receive the morning star, is to receive Christ, who testifieth of\nhimself. \u201cI am ... the bright and morning star,\u201d Rev. 22:16. We are\ncommanded to take heed to the \u201csure word of prophecy ... as unto a light\nthat shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise\nin your hearts,\u201d 2 Pet. 1:19. As \u201cthe testimony of Jesus is the spirit of\nprophecy\u201d (19:10), those who refuse to consider the revelation he has\ngiven of things which shortly after began to come to pass, and which must\nnow be verging towards their consummation, may fail of becoming\nilluminated by the day-star in their hearts.\n\nSays Gibbon: \u201cThe God of Mahomet, without a rival or a Son, is invoked in\nthe mosques of Thyatira and Pergamos.\u201d\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Sardis.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd to the messenger of the congregation in Sardis write: These\n    things saith He, who hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven\n    stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest,\n    and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things, which\n    remain, which are about to die: for I have not found thy works\n    complete before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and\n    heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not\n    watch, I will come on thee like a thief, and thou wilt not know\n    what hour I will come on thee. But thou hast a few names in\n    Sardis, that have not defiled their garments; and they will walk\n    with me in white: for they are worthy. He, who overcometh, the\n    same one will be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out\n    his name from the book of life, but I will acknowledge his name\n    before my Father, and before his angels. He, who hath an ear, let\n    him hear what the Spirit saith unto the congregations.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    3:1-6.\n\n\nThe church in Sardis was Christian in name, but was destitute of spiritual\nlife, with the exception of a few names who had not defiled their\ngarments. Having become dead to the revivifying influences of the Holy\nSpirit, they are reminded that he who addresses them is the one who holds\ntheir messenger in his hand, and who hath the seven Spirits of God;\n_i.e._, that it was from the One who said of \u201cthe Comforter, which is the\nHoly Ghost\u201d (John 14:26), \u201cwhen the Comforter is come, whom I will send\nunto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from\nthe Father, he shall testify of me,\u201d _Ib._ 15:26.\n\nThey had doubtless become greatly conformed to the corrupt worldly\ninfluences by which they were surrounded, without having actually denied\nthe faith, or embraced the hated doctrines of the Nicolaitanes. Therefore\nthey were exhorted to hold fast all that they still retained, and, by\nrepentance, to recover what they had lost; and they were admonished that\nif they neglected those precautions, they would be suddenly visited;\nwithout its being designated what would be the precise nature, time, or\nmanner, of their visitation: which made the threatening the more terrible.\n\nThe \u201cfew names\u201d which had not defiled their garments, were used by a\nmetonymy to signify persons. When an apostle was to be chosen in the place\nof Judas, \u201cthe number of the names together were about one hundred and\ntwenty,\u201d Acts 1:15. Purity of raiment is significant of purity of\ncharacter: \u201cBlessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments,\u201d 16:15.\nWhite is an emblem of purity. To the \u201cbride,\u201d it \u201cwas granted that she\nshould be arrayed in fine linen clean and white: for the fine linen is the\nrighteousness of the saints,\u201d 19:8. Those who came out of great\ntribulation, had \u201cwashed their robes and made them white in the blood of\nthe Lamb,\u201d (7:13); and therefore they were symbolized as standing before\nthe throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms of\nvictory in their hands, 7:9. To be clothed in white raiment, is therefore\nto be accepted of the Saviour.\n\nTo blot one\u2019s name out of the book of life, is to erase his title to\nheaven. The figure seems to be an allusion to the ancient custom of\nenrolling in a book the names of all free citizens. If their names were\nconfessedly written there, they were entitled to all the privileges and\nimmunities of citizenship; but if blotted out, they had forfeited these.\n\u201cThey that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written\nin the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the\nbeast that was, and is not, and yet is,\u201d 17:8. Moses said, if God would\nnot forgive Israel, \u201cblot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast\nwritten,\u201d Ex. 32:32. Of his enemies, David said, \u201cLet them be blotted out\nof the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous,\u201d Ps.\n67:28. Those only enter the New Jerusalem, \u201cwhich are written in the\nLamb\u2019s book of life,\u201d 21:27.\n\nThe church in Sardis, has long been utterly extinct; and what remains of\nthe city is a miserable Turkish village.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Philadelphia.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd to the messenger of the congregation in Philadelphia write:\n    These things saith the Holy, the True One, he who hath the key of\n    David, he who openeth, and no one shutteth; and shutteth, and no\n    one openeth: I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an\n    open door, and no one can shut it; for thou hast a little\n    strength, and hast held fast my word, and hast not denied my name.\n    Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they\n    are Jews, and are not, but who lie; behold, I will make them come\n    and bow down before thy feet, and know that I have loved thee.\n    Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep\n    thee from the hour of trial, which will come on all the world, to\n    try those, who dwell on the earth. I come quickly: hold fast that\n    which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. I will make him, who\n    overcometh, a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out\n    no more: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name\n    of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, (which cometh down out\n    of heaven from my God:) and my new name. He, who hath an ear, let\n    him hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations.\u201d\u2014Rev. 3:7-13.\n\n\nThe church of Philadelphia had maintained her integrity, and is therefore\naddressed in the language of commendation, without the rebukes which were\ndirected to her sister churches. Having remained true to Him who \u201cwas\ncalled Faithful and True\u201d (19:11), the epistle to this church makes\nmention of the Saviour by those titles, which are significant of his own\nfaithfulness and inherent holiness.\n\n\u201cThe key of David,\u201d brings to view the prediction of that which was to be\nlaid \u201cupon his shoulder;\u201d so that \u201che shall open, and none shall shut; and\nhe shall shut, and none shall open,\u201d Isa. 22:22. A key symbolizes that\nwhich will open or unlock, or will close fast: therefore said the Saviour,\n\u201cI ... have the keys of hell and of death.\u201d By virtue of this power, an\nopen door was set before the church of Philadelphia, which no man should\nbe able to close.\n\nThe Jews in Philadelphia, who had claimed to be the only true church of\nGod, but who were in reality of the synagogue of Satan, were to cease\ntheir opposition to the Christians, and to seek instruction and protection\nfrom them\u2014recognizing the love of God to Gentiles as well as to Jews.\nHistory is silent respecting the fulfilment of this; but there is no\nreason to suppose that it was not literally fulfilled.\n\nThe \u201chour of temptation,\u201d which was to \u201ccome upon all the world, to try\nthem that dwell on the earth,\u201d was to be one of peculiar trial. Some\nsuppose it had reference to the persecution under Trajan, which was more\nsevere and extensive than those under Nero, or Domitian: and others that\nit was the Mohammedan delusion. In such times there are peculiar\ntemptations to apostatize, and the less faithful are in more danger of\napostasy than others. But because the Philadelphian church had been\nfaithful thus far, they were to be kept from that trying hour. When the\nscourge of Mohammedanism swept over all the other churches of Asia, this\nchurch maintained its integrity. Says Gibbon: \u201cAmong the Greek colonies\nand churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of\nruins. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed\non all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion\nand their freedom above fourscore years, and at length capitulated with\nthe proudest of the Ottomans.\u201d Philadelphia is still the seat of an\narchbishop, and contains from six hundred to seven hundred Greek houses,\nand several places of Christian worship. \u201cThe Lord knoweth how to deliver\nthe godly out of temptations,\u201d 2 Pet. 2:9.\n\nThey are encouraged to constancy by the prospect of the coming coronation\nday, when \u201cthe Lord; the righteous Judge shall give\u201d a \u201ccrown of\nrighteousness,\u201d \u201cunto all them that love his appearing,\u201d 2 Tim. 4:8. He\nhas said \u201cBe thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of\nlife\u201d (2:10); and therefore \u201cwhen the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye\nshall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away,\u201d 1 Pet. 5:4.\n\nA pillar in the temple of God, is expressive of a position which shall\ngive support to the church, which is erected \u201cupon the foundation of the\napostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;\nIn whom the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in\nthe Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God\nthrough the Spirit,\u201d Eph. 2:20-22.\n\nTo receive the name of God, is to be recognized as belonging to God. As\nmasters designated their servants by branding their name on them, or by\nsome peculiar mark, so the children of God are referred to by the same\nfigure. In a subsequent vision John saw with the Lamb on Mount Zion, \u201can\nhundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father\u2019s name written in\ntheir foreheads,\u201d 14:1. Their connection with new Jerusalem is similarly\ndesignated.\n\n\n\nEpistle to the Church in Laodicea.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd to the messenger of the congregation in Laodicea write: These\n    things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Ruler of\n    the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold\n    nor hot: I would that thou wast cold or hot. So, because thou art\n    lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will cast thee out of my\n    mouth: because thou sayest, I am rich, and have become wealthy,\n    and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched,\n    and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to\n    buy of me gold tried by fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white\n    raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy\n    nakedness may not appear; and to anoint thine eyes with eye-salve,\n    that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chastise: be\n    fervent therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and\n    knock: if any one heareth my voice, and openeth the door, I will\n    come in to him, and will sup with him, and he shall sup with me.\n    To him, who overcometh I will grant to sit with me in my throne,\n    even as I also overcame, and have sat down with my Father in his\n    throne. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to\n    the congregations.\u201d\u2014Rev. 3:14-22.\n\n\nBy his titles of truth and verity, the Saviour prepares the Laodiceans for\nthe humiliating threatenings, which are uttered against them. By that of\n\u201cthe beginning of the creation of God,\u201d is indicated Christ\u2019s kingship as\nhead and governor of all; and hence the authority on which his\ndeclarations are founded.\n\nThe Laodiceans seemed to have been very well satisfied with their own\ncondition, without possessing any very marked characteristics. They were\nneither good, nor very wicked; but supposed that they abounded in all\nspiritual wealth, when they were destitute of all the Christian graces.\nThey could not appreciate their own condition; and not realizing their\nneed, were unlikely to heed the counsel given them, and therefore they\nhave long since ceased to have a name and a place on the earth. Says\nGibbon: \u201cThe circus and three stately temples of Laodicea, are now peopled\nwith wolves and foxes.\u201d\n\nThe great majority of them seemed to have become unworthy even of the\nchastisement which God bestows on those he loves. \u201cBehold, happy is the\nman whom God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the\nAlmighty,\u201d Job 5:17. \u201cMy son, despise not the chastening of the Lord:\nneither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he\ncorrecteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth,\u201d Prov. 3:11,\n12. \u201cBlessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he\nshall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that\nlove him,\u201d Jas. 1:12.\n\nThe Saviour shows his readiness to receive those who will open unto him.\nHe is saying, \u201cOpen to me ... for my head is filled with dew, and my locks\nwith the drops of the night,\u201d Cant. 5:2. \u201cBlessed are those servants, whom\nthe Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, That\nhe shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come\nforth and serve them,\u201d Luke 12:37. Said Jesus, \u201cIf any man love me, he\nwill keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto\nhim, and make our abode with him,\u201d John 14:23.\n\nTo him that overcometh, as in another place he is promised a crown, so now\nthere is the promise of a seat with the Saviour in his throne. Said the\nSaviour, \u201cYe which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of\nman shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve\nthrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,\u201d Matt. 19:28. \u201cAnd I appoint\nunto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me,\u201d Luke 22:29. \u201cIf\nwe suffer\u201d _i.e._ with Christ, \u201cwe shall also reign with him,\u201d 2 Tim.\n2:12.\n\n\n\n\nVision of the Deity.\n\n\n    \u201cAfter this, I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven: and\n    the first voice, which I heard, was like a trumpet talking with\n    me; saying, Ascend here, and I will show thee things, which must\n    take place hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and\n    behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.\n    And, He, who sat, was in appearance like a jasper and a cornelian\n    stone: and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance,\n    like an emerald. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones;\n    and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in\n    white raiment; and crowns of gold on their heads. And from the\n    throne came forth lightnings, and voices and thunders. And seven\n    lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven\n    Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a transparent sea\n    like crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and around the\n    throne, were four living beings, full of eyes before and behind.\n    And the first living being was like a lion, and the second living\n    being like a calf, and the third living being had a face like a\n    man, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle. And each\n    of the four living beings had six wings around him; and within\n    they were full of eyes: and they rest not day or night, saying,\n    Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to\n    be! And when the living beings give glory, and honor, and thanks\n    to Him seated on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the\n    four and twenty elders fall down before Him seated on the throne,\n    and worship Him, who liveth for ever and ever, and cast their\n    crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, O Lord, our\n    God, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for thou hast created\n    all things, and for thy pleasure they existed and were\n    created.\u201d\u2014Rev. 4:1-11.\n\n\nThis vision is preparatory to the revelations of \u201cthings which must be\nhereafter,\u201d which were given John in the series of visions following.\nTheir divine origin, and, consequently, the deference with which they are\nto be received as a revelation from God, are demonstrated by this\nsymbolization of the presence chamber of the Almighty.\n\nThe revelator had before heard a voice speaking to him, (1:10); and\nturning to look, he beheld the risen Saviour. He then writes the epistles\nwhich the Saviour dictated to the churches; and again he turns his eyes to\nthe place where the voice spake to him.\n\nThe opening of a door in heaven, appears to be no part of the \u201cthings\nwhich must be hereafter;\u201d and is, therefore, no symbol. It was doubtless\nan appearance of an aperture in the sky above, through which the revelator\nsaw the vision. It indicates that he looked through and beyond the limits\nprescribed to human vision; and the summons to \u201ccome up hither,\u201d indicates\nthat he was to have free access to the secrets there to be unfolded.\n\nA \u201cthrone set in heaven,\u201d is a symbol of sovereignty there. Consequently\nthe one who sits thereon is the Almighty\u2014his greatness, glory and majesty,\nbeing indicated by the \u201clightnings, thunderings and voices,\u201d the \u201crainbow\nround about the throne,\u201d and the resemblance to brilliant gems. It is the\nsame Being, seen in vision by Ezekiel (1:28), round about whom was \u201cas the\nappearance of the bow in the day of rain;\u201d and who was explained to be\n\u201cthe appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.\u201d\n\nThe \u201celders\u201d seated about the throne, and the \u201cfour living creatures,\u201d\nimproperly rendered beasts, are representatives of the redeemed of our\nrace; for they subsequently unite in the new song, saying to Christ, \u201cThou\nwast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred\nand tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and\npriests, and we shall reign on the earth,\u201d 5:8-10. The difference between\nthe two orders, is not fully apparent. They have \u201cvials full of odors,\nwhich are the prayers of saints.\u201d The four beasts are evidently of the\nsame order as the \u201cliving creatures\u201d in Ezek. 1:5; the cherubim of Ezek.\n10:20, and the seraphim of Isa. 6:1. The entire hosts of the redeemed are\nthus represented as interested spectators in the visions which are to be\nunfolded.\n\nThe \u201cseven lamps of fire,\u201d are explained to be \u201cthe seven Spirits of God,\u201d\nwhich, as before shown, is expressive of the Holy Spirit.\n\nThe \u201csea of glass,\u201d corresponds to the brazen sea, or laver, under the\nlaw, which stood at the door of the tabernacle, Ex. 38:8. It was an emblem\nof purity. Before entering the tabernacle the priest must there wash.\nThose admitted on the sea of glass, are those who are purified and made\nwhite in the blood of the Lamb, 15:2.\n\nWith this preliminary representation, the first series of events extending\nto the final consummation, is shown under the symbol of:\n\n\n\n\nThe Sealed Book.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw in the right hand of Him seated on the throne, a book\n    written within and without, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a\n    mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open\n    the book, and to loose its seals? and no one in heaven, or on the\n    earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book nor to look\n    in it. And I was weeping much, because no one was found worthy to\n    open, and to read the book, nor to look in it. And one of the\n    elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of\n    Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to\n    loose its seven seals. And I saw in the midst of the throne, and\n    of the four living beings, and in the midst of the elders, the\n    Lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns, and seven\n    eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the\n    earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him\n    seated on the throne. And when he took the book, the living\n    beings, and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, all of\n    them having harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the\n    prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Worthy art\n    thou to take the book and to open its seals: for thou wast slain,\n    and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every tribe, and\n    tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us kings and priests\n    to our God, and we shall reign on the earth! And I beheld, and I\n    heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living\n    beings, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand\n    times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud\n    voice, Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain, to receive power, and\n    riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and\n    blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth,\n    and under the earth, and those on the sea, even all that are in\n    them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power,\n    be to Him sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and\n    ever! And the four living beings said, Amen. And the elders fell\n    down and worshipped.\u201d\u2014Rev. 5:1-14.\n\n\nThe written book, must symbolize God\u2019s purposes, which were about to be\nunfolded on the loosening of the seals. Its being written within and\nwithout, indicates the fulness of its contents, the completeness of the\nrecord:\u2014God\u2019s purposes being fully and unalterably formed. In like manner\nEzekiel was shown \u201ca roll of a book ... written within and without,\u201d\nsymbolizing the \u201clamentations, mourning and woe\u201d (Ezek. 2:9), which were\nsoon to overtake Israel.\n\nA sealed book is one whose contents are hidden: \u201cThe vision of all is\nbecome unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver\nto one that is learned, saying, Read this I pray thee: and he saith, I\ncannot; for it is sealed,\u201d Isa. 29:11. God said to Daniel, \u201cShut up the\nwords, and seal the book, till the time of the end,\u201d Dan. 12:4.\n\nTo open the seals, no one was found worthy. There was no being in heaven\namong the angels, no human being on the earth, and no disembodied spirit,\nor demon, under the earth, who was able to unfold the future. The tears of\nthe revelator are, however, dried, and his drooping spirits cheered, by\nthe announcement of one of the elders, that \u201cthe LION of the tribe of\nJUDAH, the ROOT of DAVID, hath prevailed to open the book,\u201d and to unfold\nits mysteries. He stood in the midst of the assembled intelligences,\u2014his\nhuman nature and sacrificial office, being designated by his metaphorical\ntitle of the \u201cLamb:\u201d\u2014John seeing Jesus coming to him said, \u201cBehold the\nLamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,\u201d John 1:29. His\nsovereignty is shown by the \u201cseven horns,\u201d the symbols of power; and his\nrelation to the Godhead, by the seven eyes, the seven Spirits of\nGod;\u2014expressive of the Holy Spirit. See p. 25.\n\nThe rejoicings on the announcement of Christ\u2019s ability to take the book,\nand to open the seals, indicate the greatness of the blessing which God\ngives the church, when he thus reveals a knowledge of the future. All\ncreatures should join in these hosannas, and praise the Lord for his great\ncondescension, in showing his servants the things which must shortly come\nto pass. To neglect this revelation, is not joining in the ascription of\npraise.\n\nThe golden vials, full of odors, symbolize the prayers of saints. Under\nthe Mosaic dispensation, the frankincense and odors offered at the\ntabernacle were emblematic of prayer and praise to God. \u201cLet my prayer be\nset forth before thee as _incense_; and the lifting up of my hands as the\nevening sacrifice,\u201d Psa. 141:2.\n\nChrist takes the book from the hand of him who sits on the throne, and\nopens the seals. Thus he makes known unto his servants the revelation\nwhich God had given him, 1:1. As each successive seal is opened,\nsuccessive portions of the writing in the book become accessible,\u2014an\n_epoch_ is marked, following which, and previous to that symbolized by the\nopening of the next seal, are to be fulfilled, the events symbolized under\nit.\n\n\n\n\nThe First Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I\n    heard one of the four living beings, saying, with a voice like\n    thunder, Come! And I saw, and behold, a white horse: and he, who\n    sat on him, had a bow; and a crown was given him: and he went\n    forth conquering and to conquer.\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:1, 2.\n\n\nThe voice is evidently addressed to the personage on the white horse, or\nto the agencies thus symbolized. It is the signal for their appearance on\nthe stage of action.\n\nThe symbol is that of a victorious warrior, armed with weapons of\nconquest,\u2014success being indicated by the crown given him. As there is no\nanalogous order, except in the religious world, Mr. Lord very properly\nregards it as a symbol of the body of religious teachers, those faithful\nsoldiers of the cross, who, from the middle of the first to the middle of\nthe third century, as \u201csoldiers of Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Tim. 2:3), went forth\nto war \u201cagainst principalities and powers, against the rulers of the\ndarkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,\u201d Eph.\n6:12. The apostle, when they received their commission, said to them,\n\u201cTake unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in\nthe evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your\nloins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of\nrighteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of\npeace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able\nto quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of\nsalvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,\u201d _Ib._\n13-17.\n\nThus equipped, they went forth, conquering and to conquer. They assailed\nthe strong-holds of sin and Satan, and planted the standard of the cross\nin all portions of the then civilized world. And at the end of their\nwarfare thousands of them could say with the apostle: \u201cI have fought a\ngood fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth\nthere is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the\nrighteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto\nall them also that love his appearing,\u201d 2 Tim. 4:7, 8.\n\nThe period symbolized under this seal, was distinguished for purity of\nfaith in the church, and devotion to the cause of Christ,\u2014indicated by the\nwhiteness of the horse that the warrior rides.\n\n\n\n\nThe Second Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living\n    being say, Come! And there went out another horse that was red:\n    and power was given to him, who sat on him, to take peace from the\n    earth, and that they should kill each other: and a great sword was\n    given to him.\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:3, 4.\n\n\nThis symbol, like the former, is that of a mounted warrior, and must also\nsymbolize a body of religious teachers. The color of the horse, indicates\nthat the doctrine and character of the body symbolized will have lost the\noriginal purity of the church, and become more sanguinary; which is also\nindicated by the great sword given him.\n\nThe warfare under this seal is not against outside enemies; for they kill\neach other. This, then, indicates an era when the church shall be\ndisquieted, and her peace interrupted by internal dissensions. Such was\nits history during the third, fourth, and fifth centuries. This period was\ndistinguished for the contentions of the clergy; their usurpation of power\nnot conferred by the apostles; their divisions and sub-divisions into\nparties; their opposing councils; their collisions and distractions; their\nlove of power; their pride, discord, strife, and tyranny; their mutual\nanathemas and excommunications; the envy, jealousy, and detraction they\nindulged in, and the other hateful passions which they exercised. Thus\nthey marred the peace of the church; and by causing many to apostatize,\nkilled each other with spiritual death.\n\n\n\n\nThe Third Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when he opened the third seal I heard the third living being\n    say, Come! And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he, who sat on\n    him, had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst\n    of the four living beings say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and\n    three measures of barley for a penny; and injure thou not the oil\n    and the wine.\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:5, 6.\n\n\nThis foreshadows a period of great scarcity and cruel exactions. Applying\nit to the only department of society which is analogous to civil life, and\nthe famine symbolized, is like that predicted by Amos: \u201cBehold, the days\ncome, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine into the land, not a\nfamine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the\nLord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to\nthe east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and\nshall not find it,\u201d Amos 8:11, 12.\n\nThis, then, marks a period when the traditions and opinions of men are\nsubstituted for the word of God. With Origen was introduced a new mode of\ninterpreting scripture, which afterwards became prevalent. The scriptures,\ninstead of being received in their natural and obvious sense, were\nregarded as mystical and allegorical. Milner, in his Church History, says:\n\u201cFrom the fanciful mode of allegory, introduced by him, and uncontrolled\nby scriptural rule and order, there arose a vitiated method of commenting\non the sacred pages.\u201d And Mosheim says: \u201cThe few who explained the sacred\nwritings with judgment and a true spirit of criticism, could not oppose,\nwith any success, the torrent of allegory that was overflowing the\nchurch.\u201d Following this example, Luther says, \u201cmen make just what they\nplease of the Scriptures, until some accommodate the word of God to the\nmost extravagant absurdities.\u201d\n\nSubstituting the conceptions of their own fancy for the word of God, they\nwithheld from the people the bread of life, and produced a famine for the\nword of the Lord. Crude notions took the place of Bible doctrines; and\npernicious speculations were substituted for the teachings of Christ and\nhis apostles. Baptism and the Lord\u2019s supper, lost their emblematic\nsignificance, and were regarded as saving ordinances. Heaven was sought to\nbe merited by works, and sanctification was supposed to be gained by\npenance and mortification of the flesh. In short, all the corruptions of\nthe apostasy were substituted for the primitive faith, and the Bible\nbecame a sealed book to the great mass of the people.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fourth Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the\n    fourth living being saying, Come! And I looked, and behold, a pale\n    horse: and his name, who sat on him, was Death, and the pit\n    followed with him. And power was given to them over the fourth\n    part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with\n    pestilence, and with the wild beasts of the earth.\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:7, 8.\n\n\nThe Christian church alone being analogous to the civil power, it is\nwithin its pale that the fulfilment of this symbol is to be looked for.\nDuring this period, violence is substituted for famine; and men are\ncompelled to apostatize, which results in spiritual death. The Papacy\nhaving the power to enforce her decrees, Christians had to embrace her\nfaith, or be handed over to the secular power for punishment. They\nproduced death by compelling men to apostatize, by withholding from them\nthe word of life, by infusing into their minds pestiferous doctrines, and\nby the fear of the civil power,\u2014symbolized by the sword, famine,\npestilence, and beasts of the earth.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fifth Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the\n    souls of those slain on account of the word of God, and on account\n    of the testimony, which they held: and they cried with a loud\n    voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not\n    judge and avenge our blood on those, who dwell on the earth? And a\n    white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them,\n    that they should rest yet for a short time, until their\n    fellow-servants also and their brethren, that were to be slain as\n    they were, should be filled up.\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:9-11.\n\n\nThis symbolized a period intervening between the time of the martyrdom, of\nthose whose souls are seen in vision, and another time of persecution to\nfollow. Consequently, the symbol represents the disembodied spirits of\nthose who had already been slain. They symbolize the souls of martyrs who\ncounted not their lives dear unto themselves for the sake of Christ; and\nbeing faithful unto death, were in expectation of a crown of life. Says\nMr. Lord: \u201cThe term \u03c4\u03b1 \u03c0\u03c4\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 is used in the prophecy to denote the dead\nbodies of the martyrs (chap. 11:9), and \u03b1\u03b9 \u03c8\u03c5\u03c8\u03b1\u03b9 (20:4) to denote their\ndisembodied spirits. They are represented as having been slain, and as\nuttering their appeal to God because of their blood having been shed.\u201d\nAlso: \u201cThe martyr souls are exhibited in their own persons; and obviously\nbecause no others could serve as their symbol,\u2014there being no others that\nhave undergone a change from a bodied to a disembodied life, nor that\nsustain such relations to God, of forgiveness, acceptance, and assurance\nof a resurrection from death, and a priesthood with Christ during his\nvictorious reign on the earth,\u201d Ex. Apoc. p. 155.\n\nThe altar, symbolizes the atonement made by Christ for sin; and,\nconsequently, the position of the souls of the martyrs under it, indicates\ntheir reliance on him for an inheritance in his everlasting kingdom,\u2014when\n\u201che shall come to be glorified in his saints,\u201d and to \u201ctake vengeance on\nthem that know not God, and obey not the gospel,\u201d 2 Thess. 1:8, 10.\n\nThe presentation of white robes to them, symbolizes their acceptance and\njustification.\n\nThe declaration that they must rest till _their fellow-servants are\nkilled_, as they have been, implies another persecution, to be subsequent\nto the period symbolized by the opening of this seal. The persecutions\nwhich followed the Reformation, in which the fires of Smithfield were\nlighted in England, the Huguenots were driven from France, and thousands\nsuffered martyrdom, probably fulfilled this.\n\nThe interest taken by the souls of the martyrs in the avenging of their\nblood on the earth, shows that the spirits of departed saints look forward\nwith intense interest to the time of their glorification. And although the\ndead who die in the Lord are blessed, the glories of the resurrection morn\nare not less desired by those who are absent from the body and present\nwith the Lord, than by humble, devoted, waiting Christians here.\n\nThe opening of this seal evidently synchronizes with the commencement of\nthe reformation, when they might have supposed the kingdom of God would\nimmediately appear.\n\n\n\n\nThe Sixth Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great\n    earthquake; and the sun became black like sackcloth of hair, and\n    the moon became like blood: and the stars of heaven fell to the\n    earth, as a fig-tree casteth its unripe figs, when shaken by a\n    mighty wind. And the heaven departed like a scroll rolled\n    together; and every mountain and island were removed from their\n    places. And the kings of the earth, and the nobles, and the rich,\n    and the commanders, and the strong men, and every bond-man, and\n    every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the\n    mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and\n    hide us from the face of Him seated on the throne, and from the\n    wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who\n    can stand?\u201d\u2014Rev. 6:12-17.\n\n\nThe laws of symbolization require that symbols should not be\nrepresentatives of their own order when there is any analogous order to be\nrepresentatives of. In other places in the Apocalypse, these symbols are\nused, under circumstances where it is impossible to regard them as symbols\nof their own order. And here, as the kings of the earth call on the rocks\nand mountains to fall on them after the heaven has departed as a scroll\nand every mountain and island is moved out of its place, it is necessary\nto regard them as symbols of objects of analogous orders.\n\nThe earthquake, then, as in corresponding Scriptures, symbolizes a\npolitical revolution. The darkening of the sun and moon, would represent a\nchange in the character of the rulers and legislators of the world, so\nthat instead of extending a genial influence over their subjects, they\nshould exert a deleterious one; and the fall of the stars, their ejection\nfrom their stations\u2014synchronizing with the first five vials (16:1-11), and\nfulfilled in the political revolutions of Europe during the past century.\n\nBy the passing away of the heavens and the removal of mountains and\nislands from their places, is symbolized the total dissolution of all\nhuman governments\u2014corresponding to the seventh vial (16:20).\n\nOn the occurrence of this unprecedented state of anarchy, the inhabitants\nof earth will be aware of the proximity of the Advent. They flee from the\nface of the Lamb, which indicates his appearance in the clouds of heaven\nat his personal advent. The great day of wrath will have come; but before\nthe infliction of merited punishment on his enemies, the servants of God\nare to be designated, the righteous dead are to be raised, and they with\nthe righteous living are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, 1\nThess. 4:17. The living righteous are designated by:\n\n\n\n\nThe Sealing of the Servants of God.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd after these things I saw four angels standing on the four\n    corners of the earth, holding fast the four winds of the earth,\n    that a wind might not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on\n    any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the\n    sun, having a seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud\n    voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to injure the earth\n    and the sea, saying, Injure not the earth, nor the sea, nor the\n    trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their\n    foreheads! And I heard the number of those sealed: a hundred and\n    forty-four thousand were sealed out of all the tribes of the\n    children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were\n    sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed. Of the\n    tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher\n    twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve\n    thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand\n    were sealed. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed.\n    Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of\n    Issachar twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Zebulon\n    twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Joseph twelve\n    thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand\n    were sealed.\u201d\u2014Rev. 7:1-8.\n\n\nThe symbols here presented, were seen immediately subsequent to the\nexhibition of the preceding ones. This alone would not prove that the\nevents symbolized follow in order, but it is indicated by their being a\ncontinuation of the symbolization under the sixth seal, and before the\nopening of the seventh.\n\nIn the sixth chapter, the great men and rich men, as well as bond-men, are\naware of the proximity of the day of the Lord, and seek for a refuge from\nthe face of the Lamb. The next events in consecutive order, would be the\nresurrection of the righteous dead, the change of the living, their\nascension to meet the Lord in the air, and the infliction of the wrath of\nGod on the wicked.\n\nAfter the wicked seek to escape from God\u2019s presence, the righteous are\nstill unchanged upon the earth. But before the wrath of God is poured upon\nhis enemies, the winds of heaven are to be holden while the angel of the\nliving God seals his servants in their foreheads. The holding of the winds\nand the sealing are, consequently, subsequent to the terror of the wicked,\nat the appearance of the Saviour.\n\nThe four winds are the winds coming from all directions; and symbolize\nstrife, war, and commotion among men, analogous to the violent action of\nthe winds of heaven.\n\nIn Dan. 7:2, the striving of the four winds upon the great sea preceded\nthe rising of the four beasts: in other words, the various contests and\nstrifes among the different people and tongues of earth resulted in the\nestablishment of the successive empires which have arisen to universal\ndominion. The blowing of the wind seems to be any influence exerted upon\nmen. In Ezek. 37:9 the breathing of the wind revives the dead; and in\nZech. 5:9 it symbolizes the removal of the wickedness of the Jews.\n\nThe angels holding the winds, consequently, must symbolize the agencies\nwhich have the power to excite or quell these disturbing influences. They\ndo the bidding of the Lord in restraining or exerting the influences which\nshould produce the effect symbolized. The holding of them indicates the\nproximity and certainty of their blowing unless they are restrained. The\nearth, sea, and trees, which would be hurt by the blowing of the wind,\nevidently symbolize the different classes of inhabitants of the earth, on\nwhom an effect would be produced by the blowing of the winds, analogous to\nthe effect produced on those elements by a violent tempest, or hurricane.\nThe storm here symbolized is evidently that of which the Scriptures speak.\n\u201cOn the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible\ntempest,\u201d Psa. 11:6. \u201cThou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with\nthunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and\nthe flame of devouring fire,\u201d Isa. 29:6. \u201cThe Lord hath a mighty and\nstrong one, which as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as flood\nof waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand,\u201d _Ib._\n28:2.\n\nThe sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads, designates them,\nbut does not constitute them such; for none are sealed, only those who are\npreviously his. This is in allusion to the ancient custom of stamping with\na hot iron the name of the owner on the forehead or shoulder of his slave.\nBefore the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Ezekiel saw\nin vision a man clothed in linen, with a writer\u2019s ink-horn by his side,\nwho was commissioned to go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark\non the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the\nabominations that be done in the midst thereof. And the destroying angels\nwho were commanded to slay all, both old and young, to spare not, nor to\nhave pity, were expressly told to \u201ccome not near any man upon whom is the\nmark,\u201d Ezek. 9:2-6. When the destroying angel passed through Egypt, on the\nnight of the Passover, \u201cto slay all the first-born of that nation, the\nhouses of the Israelites were indicated by the blood of the Paschal Lamb\nsprinkled on their lintels and door-posts; and by these the angels\npassed,\u201d Ex. 12:23. Thus in the present instance, before the descent of\nthe impending storm, the servants of the Lord are to be indicated by the\nseal of the living God in their foreheads, and will be spared the horrible\ntempest which will \u201churt\u201d all those on whom it shall fall.\n\nThe 144,000,\u2014the whole number sealed, is a perfect number,\u2014an appropriate\nsymbol of all the living righteous on the earth. The twelve tribes, then,\nwould symbolize all the branches of Christ\u2019s mystical body in which the\nservants of God are found. The pious dead would need no mark indicative of\ntheir acceptance, having previously, in the white robes given them,\nreceived the symbols of their justification, 6:11. That their resurrection\nand the changing of the living, immediately succeeded, is evident from:\n\n\n\n\nThe Palm-bearing Multitude.\n\n\n    \u201cAfter these things I looked, and lo, a great crowd, which no one\n    could number, out of all nations, and tribes, and people, and\n    tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed\n    with white robes, and palm-branches in their hands; and they cried\n    with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God seated on the\n    throne, and to the Lamb! And all the angels stood around the\n    throne, and the elders and the four living beings, and fell before\n    the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen:\n    blessing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and\n    power, and might, be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! And one\n    of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in\n    white robes? and whence came they? And I said to him, My Lord,\n    thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they who came out of\n    great affliction, and have washed their robes, and made them white\n    in the blood of the Lamb. For this, they are before the throne of\n    God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and He, who\n    sitteth on the throne, will dwell among them. They will hunger no\n    more, and will thirst no more; nor will the sun light on them, nor\n    any heat. For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will\n    tend them, and lead them to fountains of living waters: and God\n    will wipe away every tear from their eyes.\u201d\u2014Rev. 7:9-17.\n\n\nThis great multitude of white-robed palm-bearers, must include those who,\nunder the preceding seal, anxiously inquired how long was to be deferred\nthe avenging of their blood on those who dwell on the earth. That epoch\nhad now arrived; and they come forth arrayed in the white robes then given\nthem. The palm-branches in their hands, are emblems of victory. They\nsymbolize the subjects of the first resurrection, caught up to meet the\nLord in the air. That they are gathered from every land and every age, is\nasserted when it is said they are from every kindred, tongue, and people;\nand that they triumph over death and the grave, is evident from the answer\nof one of the elders to the questions: \u201cWhat are these?\u201d and \u201cWhence came\nthey?\u201d\n\nThe epoch, is a point of time intervening between the first resurrection,\nand the descent of the new Jerusalem, 21:2. The loud and united voice,\nwith which the redeemed multitude cry \u201cSalvation to our God which sitteth\nupon the throne, and unto the Lamb,\u201d\u2014synchronizes with that of the \u201cgreat\nmultitude,\u201d which, like the voice of many waters, and of \u201cmighty\nthunderings,\u201d shouted \u201cAlleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth\u201d\n(19:6), immediately preceding the marriage-supper of the Lamb (19:6-9).\nThey are removed above the troubles of earth, which are impending upon the\nwicked, under:\n\n\n\n\nThe Seventh Seal.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when he opened the seventh seal, silence took place in heaven\n    for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels, who stood\n    before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. And another\n    angel came and stood by the altar, having a golden censer; and\n    much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the\n    prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.\n    And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints,\n    ascended before God from the angel\u2019s hand. And the angel took the\n    censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and out it into\n    the earth: and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings,\n    and an earthquake.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:1-5.\n\n\nThe epoch of this seal, is sometimes regarded as anterior to that of the\ntrumpets; and those are often supposed to be included in the events of\nthis seal; but no conclusive reason has ever been given for removing it\nfrom its obvious position as the closing one, of a series of successive\nperiods, commencing with the gospel, and extending to the end of the\nworld. If the first six are successive in their respective order, analogy\nwould require that the seventh be thus considered.\n\nUnder the sixth seal, the great men and rich, are seen fleeing to the\nrocks for refuge from the wrath of the Lamb; and the risen saints\nsymbolized, are in the Saviour\u2019s presence; but the infliction of the wrath\nof God on the wicked is not there symbolized. The events of that seal come\ndown as far as those in the 19th chapter, which precede the marriage of\nthe Lamb, 19:7.\n\nThe half-hour\u2019s silence, is the first thing indicated under the seventh\nseal. Being so expressly noticed, it would seem to be of some\nsignificance. As a period of symbolic time, on the scale of a day for a\nyear, \u201cabout half an hour,\u201d would equal a week\u2019s duration\u2014corresponding to\nthe time which intervened between the entrance of Noah into the ark, and\nthe commencement of the deluge, Gen. 7:1-4. As the period evidently\nsynchronizes with the parable of the Saviour, when \u201cthe Bridegroom came;\nand they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door\nwas shut\u201d (Matt. 25:10),\u2014the others being still without,\u2014it would seem to\nsymbolize the time, between the entrance to the marriage of the Lamb\n(19:7), and the going forth of the Word of God with his armies, to judge,\nmake war, and to slay the remnant with the sword, 19:11-21. It would be a\nperiod of holy joy to the righteous in the Saviour\u2019s presence, and of\nawful suspense to the wicked.\n\nThe seven angels, to whom were given seven trumpets, being introduced\nhere, have doubtless caused the events of this seal to be regarded as\nanterior to the first trumpet. As those immediately following, evidently\nsynchronize with occurrences of the closing epoch, the angels can only be\nintroduced here in anticipation of the symbolization which they are to\nunfold under the sounding of the successive trumpets\u2014the same as the seven\nangels with the last plagues are introduced, before the epoch of the\ncommencement of their allotted work, 15:1.\n\nThe golden censer was the instrument in which incense was burned in the\nJewish worship. Incense symbolizes prayers (5:8). The offering of much\nincense with the prayers of all saints and the smoke of the incense\nascending up before God, indicates the acceptance of their offerings in\nheaven\u2014the act being before the throne, and not on the earth. The\nacceptance of their prayers, also implies their own acceptance, when\npresented \u201cfaultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,\u201d\nJude 24.\n\nThe fire from the altar, symbolizes the instruments of divine justice; and\nthe filling the censer with coals after the acceptance of the saints, and\nthe casting of both the censer and fire to the earth, indicate that\nthenceforth there would be no more acceptance of prayer from those left on\nthe earth, but the speedy infliction of impending judgments.\n\nThe \u201cvoices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake,\u201d which\nfollowed, evidently synchronize with the same events which follow the\nseventh trumpet: when the \u201cwrath of God\u201d has come, with \u201cthe time of the\ndead that they should be judged;\u201d and when those are to be destroyed who\nhave destroyed the earth, 11:19. They are the same, also, as those under\nthe seventh vial, (16:18); and symbolize the final overturn and commotion,\nprevious to the cleansing of the earth and the ushering in of a better\nday: Then will the\n\n        \u201cfire purge all things new,\nBoth Heaven and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell.\u201d\u2014MILTON, BOOK XI.\n\n\n\n\nThe Seven Trumpets.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the seven angels having seven trumpets prepared themselves to\n    sound.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:6.\n\n\nThe sounding of each successive trumpet marks the commencement of an era,\nof a longer or shorter duration, as the striking of a clock does the\nsuccession of hours. During each era, were to be fulfilled the events\nsymbolized in connection with its respective trumpet. Those under the\ntrumpets are more of a political character than those presented in\nconnection with the seals.\n\n\n\nThe First Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the first angel sounded, and there was hail and fire mingled\n    with blood, and they were cast into the earth; and the third part\n    of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was\n    burnt up, and every green herb was burnt up.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:7.\n\n\nThe earth of the Apocalypse is regarded by most expositors as the Roman\nempire, in a state of comparative quiet. As no tornado like this described\nhas ever happened, its correspondence must be sought for in the political\nrelations of the empire. There is great unanimity among commentators\nrespecting the period and the agents here symbolized,\u2014that it refers to\nthe invasions of the Goths and other barbarians, from A. D. 363 to 410.\nAfter 395, their incursions were more severe than during the earlier\nportion of that period. The third part of the earth, would be the third\npart of the Roman empire, in distinction from the other two-thirds.\n\nThe green grass of the earth, the trees, &c., are distinguished from\n\u201cthose men which have _not_ the seal of God in their foreheads\u201d (9:4), and\nmust therefore symbolize the people of God in the third part of the\nempire. As all the green grass is burnt up, while only one-third of the\ntrees suffer, the latter cannot include one-third of all the trees in the\nempire, but only one-third in the parts affected,\u2014the grass indicating the\nmore weakly, and the trees the more hardy classes of Christians.\n\nThe infidel historian, Gibbon, has given the events which fitly correspond\nwith the symbolization of these trumpets. After the death of Theodosius,\nin January, A. D. 395, Alaric, the bold leader of the Gothic nation, took\narms against the empire. The terrible effects of this invasion, are thus\ndescribed:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe barbarian auxiliaries erected their independent standard; and boldly\navowed hostile designs, which they had long cherished in their ferocious\nminds. Their countrymen, who had been condemned, by the conditions of the\nlast treaty, to a life of tranquillity and labor, deserted their farms at\nthe first sound of the trumpet, and eagerly assumed the weapons which they\nhad reluctantly laid down. The barriers of the Danube were thrown open;\nthe savage warriors of Scythia issued from their forest; and the uncommon\nseverity of the winter, allowed the poet to remark, that \u2018they rolled\ntheir ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the indignant\nriver.\u2019 The unhappy nations of the provinces to the south of the Danube,\nsubmitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, were\nalmost grown familiar to their imagination; and the various troops of\nbarbarians, who gloried in the Gothic name, were irregularly spread from\nthe woody shores of Dalmatia, to the walls of Constantinople. The Goths\nwere directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric. In the midst of a\ndivided court, and a discontented people, the emperor, Arcadius, was\nterrified by the aspect of the Gothic arms. Alaric disdained to trample\nany longer on the prostrate and ruined countries of Thrace and Dacia, and\nhe resolved to seek a plentiful harvest of fame and riches in a province\nwhich had hitherto escaped the ravages of war.\n\n\u201cAlaric traversed, without resistance, the plains of Macedonia and\nThessaly. The troops which had been posted to defend the Straits of\nThermopyl\u00e6, retired, as they were directed, without attempting to disturb\nthe secure and rapid passage of Alaric; and the fertile fields of Phocis\nand B\u0153otia were instantly covered with a deluge of barbarians, who\nmassacred the males of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful\nfemales, with the spoil and cattle of the flaming villages. The travellers\nwho visited Greece several years afterwards, could easily discover the\ndeep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths. The whole territory of\nAttica was blasted by his baneful presence; and if we may use the\ncomparison of a cotemporary philosopher, Athens itself resembled the\nbleeding and empty skin of a slaughtered victim. Corinth, Argos, Sparta,\nyielded without resistance to the arms of the Goths; and the most\nfortunate of the inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the\nslavery of their families, and the conflagration of their\ncities.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon\u2019s Rome_, vol. v., p. 177.\n\nBeing tempted by the fame of Rome, Alaric hastened to subjugate it. He put\nto flight the Emperor of the West; but deliverance soon came, and Rome was\nsaved from his hands. Alaric was first conquered in 403. But another cloud\nwas gathering, and is thus described by Gibbon:\u2014\n\n\u201cAbout four years after the victorious Toulan had assumed the title of\nKhan of the Geougen, another barbarian, the haughty Rhodogast, or\nRadagaisus, marched from the northern extremities of Germany almost to the\ngates of Rome, and left the remains of his army to achieve the destruction\nof the West. The Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, formed the\nstrength of this mighty host; but the Alani, who had found a hospitable\nreception in their new seats, added their active cavalry to the heavy\ninfantry of the Germans; and the Gothic adventurers crowded so eagerly to\nthe standard of Radagaisus, that, by some historians, he has been styled\nthe King of the Goths. Twelve thousand warriors, distinguished above the\nvulgar by their noble birth, or their valiant deeds, glittered in the van;\nand the whole multitude, which was not less than two hundred thousand\nfighting men, might be increased by the accession of women, of children,\nand of slaves, to the amount of four hundred thousand persons.\n\n\u201cThe correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect and\nprecarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the knowledge\nof the court of Ravenna, till the dark cloud, which was collected along\nthe coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper\nDanube, &c. Many cities of Italy were pillaged or destroyed; and the siege\nof Florence by Radagaisus, is one of the earliest events in the history of\nthat celebrated republic, whose firmness checked or delayed the unskilful\nfury of the barbarians.\n\n\u201cWhile the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks,\nand the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of\nthe approaching calamities, enjoyed a state of quiet and prosperity, which\nhad seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds were\npermitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians: their huntsmen\npenetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the\nHercynian wood. The banks of the Rhine were crowded, like those of the\nTiber, with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms; and if the poet\ndescended the river, he might express his doubt on which side was situated\nthe territory of the Romans. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly\nchanged into a desert; and the prospect of the smoking ruins, could alone\ndistinguish the solitude of nature, from the desolation of man. The\nflourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand\nChristians were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished, after a\nlong and obstinate siege; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras,\nAmiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and the\nconsuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the\ngreatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and extensive\ncountry, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to\nthe barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop,\nthe senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and\naltars.\u201d\u2014_Ibid._, vol. v., p. 224.\n\nAfter this invasion of the empire by Radagaisus, Alaric again returned,\ninvaded Italy in 408, and in 410 he besieged, took, and sacked Rome, and\ndied the same year. In 412 the Goths voluntarily retired from Italy.\n\nIn this last year, \u201ca public conference was held in Carthage, by order of\nthe magistrate;\u201d and it was there agreed to inflict the most severe\npenalties on those who dissented from the Catholic doctrines, in the\nAfrican part of the Roman empire. Says Gibbon:\u2014\u201cThree hundred bishops,\nwith many thousands of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches,\nstripped of their ecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and\nproscribed by the laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the\nprovinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in the cities and\ncountry, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exercise of\nreligious worship.\u201d\n\n\n\nThe Second Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the second angel sounded, and it was as if a great mountain\n    burning with fire were cast into the sea: and the third part of\n    the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures in the\n    sea, and having life, died; and the third part of the ships was\n    destroyed.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:8, 9.\n\n\nA mountain differs from a tornado, and must symbolize a compact, organized\nbody of invaders. Its being of a volcanic nature, renders it so much the\nmore terrible and destructive.\n\nAs waters symbolize \u201cpeoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,\u201d the sea\ninto which the mountain is cast, is a people already agitated by previous\ncommotions.\n\nThe ships and fish in the sea, must necessarily symbolize agents\nsustaining a relation to the Roman Sea, analogous to the relation of such\nto the literal sea. They are those who live upon, and are supported by,\nthe people:\u2014the rulers and the officers of state.\n\nThe symbol of a burning mountain fitly represents the armed invaders under\nGenseric. In the year 429, with fifty thousand effective men he landed on\nthe shores of Africa, established an independent government in that part\nof the Roman empire, and from thence, harassed the southern shores of\nEurope and the intermediate islands, by perpetual incursions. Says\nGibbon:\u2014\u201cThe Vandals, who, in twenty years, had penetrated from the Elbe\nto Mount Atlas, were united under the command of their warlike king; and\nhe reigned with equal authority over the Alarici, who had passed within\nthe term of human life, from the cold of Scythia, to the excessive heat of\nan African climate.\n\n\u201cThe Vandals and Alarici, who followed the successful standard of\nGenseric, had acquired a rich and fertile territory, which stretched along\nthe coast from Tangiers to Tripoli; but their narrow limits were pressed\nand confined on either side by the sandy desert and the Mediterranean. The\ndiscovery and conquest of the black nations that might dwell beneath the\ntorrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he\ncast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a new naval power,\nand his bold enterprise was executed with steady and active perseverance.\nThe woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery of timber; his\nnew subjects were skilled in the art of navigation and ship-building; he\nanimated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of warfare which would\nrender every maritime country accessible to their arms; the Moors and\nAfricans were allured by the hope of plunder; and, after an interval of\nsix centuries, the fleet that issued from the port of Carthage again\nclaimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the\nconquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent descents on the\ncoast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian, and the\nsister of Theodosius.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe naval power of Rome was unequal to the task of saving even the\nimperial city from the ravages of the Vandals. Sailing from Africa, they\ndisembarked at the port of Ostia, and Rome and its inhabitants were\ndelivered to the licentiousness of Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions\nrevenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and\nnights; and all that yet remained of public and private wealth, of sacred\nor profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of\nGenseric. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic\ninvasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and\nit was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy the avarice of a\nconqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the\nwealth of the capital.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon._\n\n\n\nThe Third Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven,\n    burning like a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers,\n    and on the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called\n    Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and\n    many men died by the waters, because they were made bitter.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    8:10, 11.\n\n\nThe sounding of the third trumpet marks the advent of a third invader of\nthe Roman empire. And such was Attila, the king of the Huns, who invaded\nGaul A. D. 451. Gibbon says:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe kings and nations of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to\nthe Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village\nin the plains of Hungary, his standard moved towards the west; and, after\na march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the\nRhine and the Necker.\u201d \u201cThe hostile myriads were poured with resistless\nviolence into the Belgic provinces.\u201d \u201cThe consternation of Gaul was\nuniversal.\u201d \u201cFrom the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the\nheart of Gaul, crossed the Seine at Auxerre, and, after a long and\nlaborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans.\u201d \u201cAn alliance\nwas formed between the Romans and Visigoths.\u201d The hostile armies\napproached. \u201c \u2018I myself,\u2019 said Attila, \u2018will throw the first javelin, and\nthe wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign, is devoted\nto inevitable death.\u2019 The spirit of the barbarians was rekindled by the\npresence, the voice, and the example, of their intrepid leader; and\nAttila, yielding to their impatience, immediately formed his order of\nbattle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, Attila occupied, in\nperson, the centre of the line.\u201d The nations from the Volga to the\nAtlantic were assembled on the plains of Chalons; and there fought a\nbattle, \u201cfierce, various, obstinate, and bloody, such as could not be\nparalleled, either in the present, or in past ages! The number of the\nslain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or according to\nanother account, three hundred thousand persons; and these incredible\nexaggerations suppose a real or effective loss, sufficient to justify the\nhistorian\u2019s remark, that whole generations may be swept away, by the\nmadness of kings, in the space of a single hour.\u201d\n\nAttila was compelled to retreat; but neither his forces nor reputation\nsuffered. He \u201cpassed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with\nan innumerable host of barbarians.\u201d \u201cThe succeeding generation could\nscarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. After this dreadful chastisement,\nAttila pursued his march; and, as he passed, the cities of Altinum,\nConcordia, and Padua were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The\ninland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious\ncruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted, without resistance, to the\nloss of their wealth;\u201d and \u201capplauded the unusual clemency which preserved\nfrom the flames the public as well as private buildings, and spared the\nlives of the captive multitude.\u201d \u201cAttila spread his ravages over the rich\nplains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the\nAlps and Apennines.\u201d He took possession of the royal palace of Milan. \u201cIt\nis a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass never\ngrew on the spot where his horse had trod.\u201d\n\nHe advanced into Italy, only as far as the plains of Lombardy and the\nbanks of the Po, reducing the cities he passed to stones and ashes; but\nthere his ravages ceased. He concluded a peace with the Romans in the year\nof his invasion of Italy (451), and the next year he died. Thus he\nappeared like a fiery meteor, exerted his appointed influence upon the\ntongues and people, who were tributary to the Romans,\u2014as rivers and\nfountains of waters are to the sea; and like a burning star, he as\nsuddenly expired. As a specimen of the bitterness which followed his\ncourse, it is recorded of the Thuringians who served in his army, and who\ntraversed, both in their march and in their return, the territories of the\nFranks, \u201cthat they massacred their hostages as well as their captives. Two\nhundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage;\ntheir bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or were crushed under the\nweight of rolling wagons; and their unburied limbs were abandoned on\npublic roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures.\u201d\n\n\n\nThe Fourth Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was\n    smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the\n    stars; so that the third part of them was darkened, and the day\n    shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like\n    manner.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:12.\n\n\nThe sun, moon, and stars cannot here, any more than under the sixth seal\n(6:12,13), symbolize agents of their own order, but must represent the\nrulers of the Roman empire. Says Dr. Keith:\u2014\n\n\u201cAt the voice of the first angel, and the blast of his trumpet, the whole\nRoman world was in agitation, and \u2018the storms of war\u2019 passed over it all.\n\u2018The union of the empire was dissolved;\u2019 a third part of it fell; and the\n\u2018transalpine provinces were separated from the empire.\u2019 Under the second\ntrumpet, the provinces of Africa, another, or the maritime, part, was in\nlike manner reft from Rome, and the Roman ships were destroyed in the sea,\nand even in their harbors. The empire of Rome, hemmed in on every side,\nwas then limited to the kingdom of Italy. Within its bounds, and along the\nfountains and rivers of waters, the third trumpet re\u00ebchoed from the Alps\nto the Apennines. The last barrier of the empire of Rome was broken. The\nplains of Lombardy were ravaged by a foreign foe: and from thence new\nenemies arose to bring to an end the strife of the world with the imperial\ncity.\n\n\u201c \u2018In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian\u2019 (two years\nsubsequent to the death of Attila), \u2018nine emperors had successively\ndisappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended only by his\nbeauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his\nreign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the west,\ndid not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind.\u2019 \u201d\n\nThe throne of the C\u00e6sars had been for ages the sun of the world; while\nother kings were designated as stars. The imperial power had first been\ntransferred to Constantinople by Constantine; and it was afterwards\ndivided between the east and the west; but the eastern empire was not yet\ndoomed to destruction. The precise year in which the western empire was\nextinguished, is not positively ascertained, but it is usually assigned to\nA. D. 476. Some place it in 479. The imperial Roman power, of which either\nRome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the\nWest or the East, ceased to be recognized in Italy; and the third part of\nthe sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The\npower of the C\u00e6sars became unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned\nover Rome.\n\nDr. Keith considers that \u201cthe concluding words of the fourth trumpet imply\nthe future restoration of the Western empire: \u2018The day shone not for a\nthird part of it, and the night likewise.\u2019 In respect to civil authority,\nRome became subject to Ravenna; and Italy was a conquered province of the\nEastern empire. But, as more appropriately pertaining to other prophecies,\nthe defence of the worship of images first brought the spiritual and\ntemporal powers of the Pope and of the emperor into violent collision;\nand, by conferring on the Pope all authority over the churches, Justinian\nlaid his helping hand to the promotion of the papal supremacy, which\nafterwards assumed the power of creating monarchs. In the year of our Lord\n800, the Pope conferred on Charlemagne the title of Emperor of the Romans.\nThe title was again transferred from the King of France to the Emperor of\nGermany. By the latter it was formally renounced, within the memory of the\nexisting generation. In our own days the iron crown of Italy was on the\nhead of another \u2018emperor.\u2019 \u201d Then the sun was suddenly darkened, as\nsymbolized under the sixth seal, 6:12. p. 66.\n\n\n\nThe Woe-denouncing Angel.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I beheld, and heard an eagle flying in the midst of heaven,\n    saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the\n    earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three\n    angels, who are to sound.\u201d\u2014Rev. 8:13.\n\n\nThe word eagle, instead of angel, is in accordance with the more recent\nrevised editions of the Greek. It must symbolize persons peculiarly\napprehensive at this crisis, of disasters to follow the extinction of the\nRoman empire in the west. During the first half of the sixth century, the\nSclavonians invaded the east, \u201cspread from the suburbs of Constantinople\nto the Ionian Gulf, destroyed thirty-two cities or castles, razed Potid\u00e6a,\nwhich Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repassed the Danube,\ndragging at their horses\u2019 heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the\nsubjects of Justinian.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon._ And they continued their inroads, until\nthe citizens became apprehensive that the Empire of the East would be\nextinguished like that of the West.\n\nThis symbol also indicates that the events under the trumpets which were\nto follow, would be far more dreadful and terrible than those of the\npreceding ones. For this reason, the last three are sometimes denominated\nTHE WOE TRUMPETS.\n\n\n\nThe Fifth Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star, which had fallen\n    from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the pit\n    of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and a smoke\n    arose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the\n    sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And locusts\n    came out of the smoke into the earth: and power was given to them,\n    as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them\n    that they should not injure the herbage of the earth, nor any\n    green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who have not the\n    seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not allowed to kill\n    them, but to torment them five months: and their torment was like\n    the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those\n    days men will seek death, and will not find it; and will desire to\n    die, and death will flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts\n    were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were as\n    it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of\n    men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth\n    were like those of lions. And they had breast-plates, like\n    breast-plates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the\n    sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. And they\n    had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails:\n    and their power was to injure men five months. They had a king\n    over them, the messenger of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is\n    Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. One\n    woe is past away; and behold, there come yet two woes\n    hereafter.\u201d\u2014Rev. 9:1-12.\n\n\nThe previous trumpets reveal the agencies which effected the dismemberment\nand overthrow of Western Rome. The fifth and sixth unfold those which\nterminated that empire in the east, embracing the territory between the\nAdriatic and Euphrates, the Lybian desert and the Danube.\n\nA star (1:20) symbolizes a messenger, or head of a religious body, p. 31.\nMohammed is generally regarded as represented by this symbol. He was, by\nbirth, of the princely house of the Koreish, Governors of Mecca, a family\nof eminence.\n\nThe star had fallen to the earth before opening the pit of the abyss,\nwhich illustrates the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, and the seeming\ntermination of all his hopes. To save his life, he took refuge, with one\ncompanion, in a cave near Medina, in A. D. 622, which forms the epoch of\nthe Hegira, _i.e._, of his flight.\n\nThe bottomless pit, is where Satan is subsequently cast (20:3); and the\nkey of it being given to this agent, symbolizes his power to open and to\ncause the smoke to issue from it; the Satanic origin of which is thus\nindicated:\n\nSmoke is an appropriate representative of error, and symbolizes the\nMohammedan doctrines; which, like the smoke of a great furnace, were\ndisseminated far and wide, subverting the religion, and, in time,\neffecting the overthrow of the remaining portion of the Roman empire\u2014the\nsun, one-third of which was smitten under the fourth trumpet.\n\nThe locusts were generated in the smoke from whence they issued. In a\ncorresponding manner, the spread of Mohammedanism resulted in the\norganization of hordes of Saracens, who propagated the religion of the\nfalse prophet by the sword, and founded the famous Arabian empire, which\nextended from the Atlantic ocean to the river Euphrates.\n\nThe shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and the\nSaracenic hordes, thus symbolized, were mounted horsemen, famous for the\nswiftness of their flight or pursuit, and ever ready for the contest.\n\nTheir crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breast-plates, &c., seem to be\nindicative of their personal appearance: on their heads they wore yellow\nturbans, like coronets; their demeanor was grave and firm; their hair,\nlike that of women, was suffered to grow uncut; they were defended by the\ncuirass or breast-plate; and in rushing to battle, their onset was like\nthat of chariots and many horses.\n\nThey had a king over them, named Abaddon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in\nthe Greek, both of which signified the Destroyer. The Saracens\nacknowledged the authority of Mohammed during the whole period of their\nconquests; not only recognizing him as their prophet and king during his\nlifetime, but his successors, after his death, considered and called\nthemselves Mohammed\u2019s _Caliphs_, or _Vicars_.\n\nTheir mission was not against the grass, green things, and trees, but had\nexpress reference to the men who had _not_ the seal of God in their\nforeheads. The antithesis here expressed, shows that by the former were\nsymbolized the servants of God, and that these locust-warriors were\nparticularly commissioned against infidels and apostates. Christians were\nnot to be molested; and provision was made for their protection, in the\ncircular letter which Abubekir sent to the Arabian tribes, A. D. 633. He\nsaid:\n\n\n    \u201c \u2018Remember, that you are always in the presence of God, on the\n    verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of\n    paradise: avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your\n    brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your\n    troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves\n    like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be\n    stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy _no\n    palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn_. Cut down no fruit-trees,\n    nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When\n    you make any covenant, or article, stand to it, and be as good as\n    your word. As you go on, you will find some _religious persons_\n    who live in retired monasteries, and propose to themselves to\n    serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor\n    destroy their monasteries; and you will find another sort of\n    people that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have _shaven\n    crowns_; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter\n    _till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute_.\u2019 \u201d\n\n\nAt this epoch, the Greek church at Constantinople had been preserved from\nthe reproach of image worship, and still later it made strenuous efforts\nagainst it; but the churches of the north of Africa, and the Asiatic\nportion of the Eastern empire, had become greatly debased, and worshipped\nsaints and images. And while the territories of these were speedily\nsubverted to Mohammedanism, and became a part of the Arabian empire, the\neast of Europe was wonderfully preserved from their inroads.\n\nTheir power was not to kill, but to torment men five months. To kill,\nsymbolically, according to the significance of the second seal, p. 60, is\nto compel men to apostasize; and they could not be in a condition to force\ntheir religion on the men of the eastern empire, without first subjecting\nit by force of arms.\n\nThe time of this torment was limited to five prophetic months. In one\nhundred and fifty years from the _Hegira_ the Saracen empire had ceased to\nbe aggressive. In 762 Bagdad, the city of peace, was founded on the\nTigris, by Al-Mansur, who died in 774. \u201cFrom this time,\u201d says ROTTICK,\n\u201cthe Arabian history assumes an entirely different character.\u201d It was no\nlonger progressive; the proud Saracen empire became dismembered, and three\nindependent and hostile Caliphates, and several fragments of kingdoms,\nwere formed from its ruins. In 841, the reigning Caliph at Bagdad,\ndistrusting the spirit of his own troops, hired a body of fifty thousand\nTurkish soldiers, which he distributed in his dominions. These accelerated\nthe ruin of the Caliphate, and, in time, the whole of the Saracen\nterritory became subject to the Tartar rule, which had become Mohammedan,\nand also aimed to subject the eastern empire.\n\nThe declaration that \u201cone woe is past,\u201d v. 12, implies an interval between\nthat and the woe following. In a corresponding manner, the crusaders from\nEurope, like the successive overflowing of a mighty river, restrained the\nTartars from the conquest of Constantinople, which had now consented to\nimage worship, till the sounding of:\n\n\n\nThe Sixth Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice out of the four\n    horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel\n    having the trumpet, Loose the four messengers bound near the great\n    river Euphrates. And the four messengers were loosed, prepared for\n    an hour, and day, and month, and year, to slay the third part of\n    men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred\n    thousand thousand: I heard the number of them. And thus I saw on\n    the horses in the vision, and those, who sat on them, having red,\n    blue and yellow breast-plates: and the heads of the horses were\n    like the heads of lions; and fire, and smoke, and brimstone issued\n    from their mouths. By these three plagues the third part of men\n    was killed; by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,\n    which issued from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in\n    their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails having heads were\n    like serpents, and they injure with them. And the rest of the men,\n    who were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the\n    works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and\n    idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood:\n    which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; nor did they repent of\n    their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,\n    nor of their thefts.\u201d\u2014Rev. 9:13-21.\n\n\nThe great river, the Euphrates,\u2014waters being a symbol of people,\n(17:15)\u2014must symbolize those who sustain a relation to the Roman\nhierarchy, as its defenders and supporters; analogous to that sustained by\nthe river Euphrates to the city of Babylon; which was situated on, and\ndrew its wealth and support from it.\n\nThe angels bound near the Euphrates, must then be those powers, which,\napproaching and attacking the Roman Empire, were _restrained_ from\neffecting its conquest and enforcing the profession of Mohammedanism.\nTheir being loosed, signifies the removal of those restraints. Mr. Lord\nsuggests that they symbolize leaders of the four armies of the Tartars,\nwhich successively overran the surrounding provinces. He says:\n\n\u201cThe first horde were the Seljukians, who invaded the Eastern empire about\nthe middle of the eleventh century, under Togrul Beg. He suddenly overran,\nwith myriads of cavalry, the frontier, from Taurus to Arzeroum, and spread\nit with blood and devastation. Alp Arslan, his successor, soon renewed the\ninvasion, conquered Armenia and Georgia, penetrated into Cappadocia and\nPhrygia, and scattered detachments over the whole of lesser Asia. His\ntroops being subsequently driven back, he renewed the war, and recovered\nthose provinces. His descendants, and others of the race, soon after\nextended their conquests, and established the kingdoms in the east of\nPersia and Syria, and Roum, in lesser Asia, which they maintained through\nmany generations, and made their sway a scorpion scourge to the idolatrous\ninhabitants. The Christians were allowed the exercise of their religion on\nthe conditions of tribute and servitude, but were compelled to endure the\nscorn of the victors, to submit to the abuse of their priests and bishops,\nand to witness the apostasy of their brethren, the compulsory circumcision\nof many thousands of their children, and the subjection of many thousands\nto a debasing and hopeless slavery.\n\n\u201cThe second army was that of the Moguls, who, in the thirteenth century,\nafter the conquest of Persia, passed the Euphrates, plundered and\ndevastated Syria, subdued Armenia, Iconium, and Anatolia, and extinguished\nthe Seljukian dynasty. Another army advancing to the west, devastated the\ncountry on both sides of the Danube, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia,\nHungary, Austria, and spread them with the ruins of their cities and\nchurches, and the bones of their inhabitants. This horde had been prepared\nfor this invasion by vast conquests in the East.\n\n\u201cThe third were the Ottomans, who in the beginning of the fourteenth\ncentury conquered Bithynia, Lydia, Ionia, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, and in\nthe following century Constantinople itself, and have maintained their\nempire to the present time. They were released from restraint on the one\nhand by the decay of the Mogul Khans, to whom they had been subject, and\non the other by the dissensions and weakness of the Greeks.\n\n\u201cThe last was that of the Moguls under Tamerlane, who in the beginning of\nthe fifteenth century overran Georgia, Syria, and Anatolia, and spread\nthem with slaughter and desolation. He also had been prepared for this\nincursion by his previous victories and conquests.\u201d\u2014_Ex. Apoc._, pp. 225,\n226.\n\nThese armies, the number of which is literally \u201cmyriads of myriads,\u201d were\nnot all subsequent to the time when they had power to subject the Eastern\nRoman empire; but may be the four, from the fact that the Mohammedan power\nwas extended by these armies, which till this time had been restrained\nfrom accomplishing the subjugation of Constantinople.\n\nThe restraints being removed, they were now to have power to kill, by\ncompelling the third part of men to embrace the doctrines of\nMohammed,\u2014evident reference being had to the men of the eastern empire;\nthe conquest of which was now to be effected, the dial of heaven having\nindicated the arrival of the predicted epoch.\n\nIn 1449 Constantine Deacoses, being entitled to the throne of\nConstantinople by the death of John Paleologus, did not venture to take\npossession till he had sent ambassadors and gained the consent of Amurath,\nthe Turkish Sultan. From this fact, Ducas, the historian, counts\nPaleologus as the last Greek emperor\u2014for he did not consider as such, a\nprince who did not dare to reign without permission of his enemy. Amurath\ndied and was succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by MAHOMET II., who set his\nheart on Constantinople, and made preparations for besieging the city. The\nsiege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, and ended in the taking of the\ncity, and death of the last of the Constantines, on the 16th of May\nfollowing, when the eastern city of the C\u00e6sars became the seat of the\nOttoman empire; and its \u201creligion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem\nconquerors.\u201d Thus the two-horned beast (13:11), became merged in, and\nidentified with the false prophet, 16:13, and 19:20.\n\nThe description of the horses, and those who sat on them (v. 17), is\nstrikingly emblematic of the Turkish warriors who subjugated\nConstantinople. Says Dr. Keith: \u201cThe breast-plates of the horsemen, in\nreference to the more destructive implements of war, might then, for the\nfirst time, be said to be fire, and jacinth, and brimstone. The musket had\nrecently supplied the place of the bow. _Fire_ emanated from their\nbreasts. _Brimstone_, the flame of which is _jacinth_, was an ingredient\nboth of the _liquid fire_ and of gunpowder.... A new mode of warfare was\nat that time introduced, which has changed the nature of war itself, in\nregard to the form of its instrument of destruction; and sounds and sights\nunheard of and unknown before, were the death-knell and doom of the Roman\nempire. Invention outrivalled force, and a new power was introduced, that\nof musketry as well as of artillery, in the art of war, before which the\nold Macedonian phalanx would not have remained unbroken, nor the Roman\nlegions stood. That which JOHN saw \u2018in the vision,\u2019 is read in the history\nof the times.\u201d\n\nBy these three, the fire, smoke, and brimstone, were the third part of men\nkilled (v. 18), and by these was the conquest of Constantinople effected.\nSays Gibbon: \u201cAt the request of Mahomet II., Urban produced a piece of\nbrass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude. A measure of\ntwelve palms was assigned to the bore, and the stone bullet weighed about\nsix hundred pounds. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for\nthe first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of\nastonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued that the cannon would be\ndischarged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit\nof a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of the gunpowder, was driven\nabout a mile, and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom\ndeep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a frame\nor carriage of thirty wagons was linked together, and drawn along by a\ntrain of sixty oxen; two hundred men, on both sides, were stationed to\npoise or support the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty workmen marched\nbefore to smooth the way and repair the bridges, and near two months were\nemployed in a laborious journey of a hundred and fifty miles.\n\n\u201cIn the siege, the incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied\nwith the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon.\nTheir small arms discharged at the same time five or even ten balls of\nlead of the size of a walnut, and according to the closeness of the ranks,\nand the force of the powder, several breast-plates and bodies were\ntranspierced by the same shot. But the Turkish approaches were soon sunk\ninto trenches, or covered with ruins. Each day added to the science of the\nChristians, but their inadequate stock of gunpowder was wasted in the\noperation of each day. Their ordnance was not powerful either in size or\nnumber, and if they possessed some heavy cannon, they feared to plant them\non the walls, lest the aged structure should be shaken and overthrown by\nthe explosion. The same destructive secret had been revealed to the\nMoslems, by whom it was employed with the superior energy of zeal, riches,\nand despotism. The great cannon of MAHOMET was flanked by two fellows\nalmost of equal magnitude: the long order of the Turkish artillery was\npointed against the walls: fourteen batteries thundered at once on the\nmost accessible places, and of one of these it is ambiguously expressed\nthat it was mounted with one hundred and thirty guns, or that it\ndischarged one hundred and thirty bullets.\u201d\n\nThe conquest of Constantinople being accomplished, they were to have power\nto kill men during an hour, day, month, and year of prophetic time\u2014_i.e._\nthree hundred and ninety-one years, fifteen days. If reckoned from the\nconquest of the city, this would extend to June 1844. Whether any\nparticular act has transpired to mark the precise point of its\ntermination, may not be important; but it is interesting to consider that\nwithin a few years the Mohammedan government has formally granted\npermission for the full enjoyment of the Protestant religion; and has\nrenounced the right of punishing by death, apostates from Islamism.\n\nIn August 1843, an Armenian, who had become a Mussulman and subsequently\nreturned to the religion of his fathers, was beheaded at Constantinople.\nThe Christian powers of Europe immediately remonstrated, and it was hoped\nthat the law against apostates from Mohammedanism would be permitted to\nbecome a dead letter. In a few months, however, a firman issued from the\ngovernment ordering the decapitation of a young man near Brooza, who was\nput to death for having promised in a passion, but had afterwards refused,\nto become a Mohammedan. Lord Aberdeen, the British Secretary of Foreign\nAffairs, then demanded of the Turkish Sultan that the Porte should not\ninsult and trample on Christianity, \u201cby treating as a criminal any person\nwho embraces it;\u201d but should \u201crenounce, absolutely and without\nequivocation, the barbarous practice which has called forth the\nremonstrance now addressed to it.\u201d To this communication the following\nanswer was made early in 1844: \u201cThe Sublime Porte engages to take\neffectual measures to prevent, henceforward, the execution and putting to\ndeath of the Christian who is an apostate.\u201d On the 15th of November, 1847,\nfor the first time, a firman was issued recognizing Protestant Christians\nas a distinct community, forbidding any molestation or interference \u201cin\ntheir temporal or spiritual concerns,\u201d and permitting them \u201cto exercise\nthe profession of their creed in security.\u201d This coming from the Vizier,\ndid not necessarily survive a change of ministry; but in November, 1850, a\nfirman was issued from the Sultan himself, _establishing_ the policy of\nthe empire in respect to Protestants, and confirming them in all needed\ncivil and religious privileges. Thus has the Mohammedan government\nformally and forever renounced the power it had so long wielded, of\ncausing spiritual death by compelling men to apostatize from Christianity.\n\nThe rest of the men not killed, must be those in portions of the Roman\nterritory not included in the eastern third. The Roman Catholics in the\nwestern parts, were not reformed by the judgments inflicted on the east.\nThey continued to worship the canonized dead, and to bow down to images of\nthe saints. Under this trumpet, a mighty movement was to be there\neffected, which was symbolized by the descent of:\n\n\n\nThe Rainbow Angel.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed\n    with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was\n    like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his\n    hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea,\n    and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a\n    lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their\n    voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I\n    was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal\n    up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them\n    not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the\n    land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for\n    ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the\n    earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it,\n    that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of\n    the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be\n    finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And\n    the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and\n    said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the\n    angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to\n    the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said\n    to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter,\n    but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little\n    book from the angel\u2019s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth\n    sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And\n    he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people,\n    and nations, and tongues, and kings.\u201d\u2014Rev. 10:1-11.\n\n\nThis angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of\nmen, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the\nsymbol.\n\nHis descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and\nthe fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired\norigin of his utterances. His \u201ceyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like\nunto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,\u201d would not be given to\none who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths.\n\nThe _open book_ in the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the\nfulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a\nclosed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access\nto them.\n\nHis _position_\u2014one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land\u2014attests\nthe universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch.\n\nHis lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the\ngreat truths, at which the whole world would be startled.\n\nThe _singleness_ of his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the\ntruth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds.\n\nThe _responsive thunders_, unlike the single voice of the angel, are\nmultitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Their\n_following_ so immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity\nof their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are\nresponsive.\n\nJOHN\u2019S _readiness to write_ what the seven thunders uttered, shows that\nwhat they uttered was _professedly_ in harmony with the truths previously\nannounced, and that men would be liable to be deceived, by their\npromulgation.\n\nHis being _forbidden_ by the cloud-robed angel, to write what they\nuttered\u2014while he was commanded to \u201cseal not the sayings of the prophecy of\nthis book\u201d (22:10),\u2014shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired,\nand constituted no part of \u201cthe word of GOD, and of the testimony of JESUS\nCHRIST,\u201d which JOHN bare record of.\n\nThe _subsequent oath_ of the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that \u201cthe\ntime is not yet,\u201d shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their\nform manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great\nevent foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders had _antedated_ and\npresented in an _unscriptural_ form.\n\nHis further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of\nthe \u201cseventh trumpet,\u201d and that then the mystery of GOD should be finished\nin the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great\nevent, the time of which was \u201cnot yet,\u201d\u2014_i.e._, under the sixth trumpet,\nwas the coming of the kingdom of GOD\u2014the fifth universal empire; that at a\nperiod anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would\nbe proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and\nthat when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the\nheaven-inspired truths, with the denial that the time had arrived, and by\narguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet.\n\nThe command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were\nsuch as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer\u2019s\ntaste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement\nthat they were to prophesy _again_ before many nations and peoples and\ntongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the\nGospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands.\n\nAll of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation of\nLUTHER in the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths\nthen promulgated, of which \u201cjustification by faith\u201d was the cardinal one,\nelectrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle\nthe passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous\nerrors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom of\nGOD in _this world_, and _before the resurrection_, by putting to death\nthe ungodly and sparing only the saints.\n\nAs in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or\nto mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the\nReformation there were false reformers. THOMAS MUNZER, and others, in\n1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to make physical\nwar on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denounced LUTHER, also, with the same\nviolence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he\ntook possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the\nhouses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various\nexcesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss\nof from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him,\nteaching that GOD spake to them in person, instructing them how to act.\nThey professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside both LUTHER\nand the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the\nlatter was in their view insufficient for man\u2019s instruction, who could\nonly be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately\ndevastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then\nthe kingdom of GOD would commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those\nwho adhered to LUTHER, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony\nagainst such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new\nrevelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be\noverthrown by the personal advent of CHRIST, and not by the sword of man.\nThe following extracts are from MR. LORD:\n\n\u201cThe pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner\ndenounced by Melancthon. \u2018The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have\nboasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and\nascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy\nextraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and\ndesigned merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into\ndebauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New\nJerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was\nformerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated\nthe new Jerusalem.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of\nthe immediate establishment of Christ\u2019s millennial kingdom. He regarded\nthe term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy,\nand held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the\nresurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass\nbefore that event. \u2018God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and\nkingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies\nhave passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the\nfourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and\nhas certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon\ndecline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to\nlife.\u2019 He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand\nyears were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the\nlaw, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show\nthat four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene\nbefore the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the\nestablishment of the kingdom of the saints. \u2018It is known that Christ was\nborn about the end of the fourth millenary,(1) and one thousand five\nhundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in\n1542], far from the end.\u2019\n\n\u201cThese views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to\nbe repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven\nyears from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published\nhis \u2018Clavis Apocalyptica,\u2019 in which he showed from the coincidence of the\nperiods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the\nRedeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be\nexpected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of\nthe ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still\nto revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy\nadvanced, the catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time.\nMany recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having\nreached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian\npowers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next\ncentury.\u201d\u2014_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 238-240.\n\nAll the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an\nexpectation of the immediate establishment of CHRIST\u2019S kingdom. That the\nseven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the\nresponse of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the\nsolemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that \u201c_the time\nshould not yet be_;\u201d but that \u201cin the days of the voice of the seventh\nangel, when he delays to sound,(2) the secret of GOD will be finished, as\nhe hath announced to his servants the prophets.\u201d Why such an annunciation\nat this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which\nwould exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the\nimmediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus did PAUL correct the\nThessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to\nbe shaken in mind, as that the day of the LORD was then impending, 2 Th.\n2:2.\n\nThe Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened to the common people. Before,\nit was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It\nwas translated by LUTHER into their own language, and thus made\naccessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled\nall who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted\non the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the\nhoney-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of\nthe Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and\nheresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions,\nand fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the\nunderstanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture,\nwere fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the\nbook. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings\nwhich has gone forth into many lands.\n\nThe re\u00f6rganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized.\n\n\n\nThe Measuring Reed, Temple, &c.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was\n    said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and\n    those who worship in it. But the court which is without the\n    temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the\n    Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two\n    months.\u201d\u2014Rev. 11:1, 2.\n\n\nThese symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish\nworship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian\ndispensation.\n\nTo measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and\nproportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to\nwhich it should conform.\n\nThe temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is \u201cbuilt upon\nthe foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being\nthe Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together,\ngroweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,\u201d Eph. 2:20, 21.\n\nAt the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the\nscrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the\nscriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin, \u201cas God sitting in\nthe temple of God,\u201d (2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church\nrelationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New\nTestament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the\nchurch,\u2014its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its\nmembership,\u2014their mutual relation to God, and to each other.\n\nThe altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,\u2014the\n\u201caltar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,\u201d Heb.\n13:10. The great question, of justification by faith in the death of\nChrist, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental\nprinciples of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines\nof the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as\ncontrary to Bible teachings.\n\nThe worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule,\nare Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give\nevidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy\nGhost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The\nPapists required only baptism and confirmation.\n\nThe court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access,\nand beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were\nthere permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the\nGentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the\nouter court, must be the congregation\u2014the nominal worshippers who throng\nthe outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers.\nSuch were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian\nworship.\n\nThe holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace\nthe church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under\nfoot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would\nsubsist, should, during the period specified, be under the control of\nthose who worship only in the outer court.\n\nThe forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the\nthousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time\nand times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of\nRev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve\nhundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of\nProtestant writers.\n\nThis period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the\nsubjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to\ncontinue during the time predicted,\u2014notwithstanding the re\u00e4djustment of\nthe temple-worship,\u2014when Christians should cease to be responsible to any\nhuman tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith.\n\nDuring the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in\nsackcloth, was to be given to:\n\n\n\nChrist\u2019s Two Witnesses.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will\n    prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in\n    sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands,\n    standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to\n    injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their\n    enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be\n    killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in\n    the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to\n    turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as\n    often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their\n    testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will\n    make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And\n    their dead body _will lie_ on the wide street of the great city,\n    which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord\n    was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues,\n    and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and\n    will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those,\n    who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and\n    send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented\n    those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half\n    the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their\n    feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a\n    great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they\n    ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And\n    in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of\n    the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men\n    were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to\n    the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third\n    woe cometh quickly.\u201d\u2014Rev. 11:3-14.\n\n\nThe two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by\nan elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the \u201ctwo olive-trees, and\nthe two candlesticks.\u201d Therefore, they are not two living men, as some\nsuppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their\nnature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and\ncandlesticks which symbolize them.\n\nCandlesticks symbolize churches. Thus the Saviour said to John: \u201cThe seven\ncandlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,\u201d 1:20. When \u201cmen\nlight a candle,\u201d they put \u201cit on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto\nall that are in the house,\u201d Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not\noriginate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a\nbeneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be \u201cthe light\nof the world,\u201d and is required to let her light \u201cshine before men,\u201d _Ib._\nvs. 14-16,\u2014_i.e._ She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in\nso doing, she becomes a _witness_ for Jesus.\n\nThe church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is\nsymbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of\nits existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called\n\u201ca great cloud of witnesses,\u201d Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, \u201cgive all the prophets\nwitness,\u201d Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age.\nUnder the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of\nhimself. He said to his disciples, \u201cYe shall be witnesses unto me, both in\nJerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts\nof the earth,\u201d (_Ib._ 1:8); and they said, \u201cWe are his witnesses,\u201d _Ib._\n5:32. \u201cWe are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen\nbefore of God,\u201d (_Ib._ 10:39-41);\u2014\u201chis witnesses unto the people,\u201d _Ib._\n13:31. They and their successors have \u201ctestified and preached the word of\nthe Lord,\u201d (_Ib._ 8:25), overcoming \u201cby the word of their testimony,\u201d\n(Rev. 12:11),\u2014many of them being \u201cslain for the word of God, and for the\ntestimony which they held,\u201d 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized\nby the two candlesticks, is thus a _witness_ of Jesus.\n\nThe two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a\nrelation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to\nthe candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses are _the_ two\nolive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous\nsymbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are\npresented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the\nvision, wherein Zechariah beheld \u201ca candlestick all of gold, with a bowl\nupon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the\nseven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it,\none upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side\nthereof,\u201d Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the\ncandlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet: \u201cWhat are these, my\nLord?\u201d (_Ib._ v. 4); \u201cWhat are these two olive-trees upon the right side\nof the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two\nolive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out\nof themselves?\u201d _Ib._ vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to\nsupply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light.\nThe oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The\nlight committed to the church, is the truth of God\u2019s word. And thus the\nangel explains the meaning of the olive-trees: \u201cThis is the word of the\nLord unto Zerubbabel,\u201d (_Ib._ v. 6); \u201cThese are the two anointed ones\n[_mar_, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,\u201d _Ib._ v.\n14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that\nthis vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is\nexplanatory of the witnesses.\n\nThe Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ: \u201cSearch the\nScriptures,\u201d said the Saviour, speaking of those then written; \u201cthey are\nthey which _testify_ [or bear witness] of me,\u201d (John 5:39); and of the New\nTestament, he said: \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all\nthe world for a _witness_ unto all nations,\u201d Matt. 24:4. Like two\nolive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the\nOld, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of\nChrist. They stand on either side of him,\u2014the one beginning with the\ncreation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types and\nshadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of\nChrist, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his\nsecond coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the\ntemple the two cherubim, which Solomon made \u201cof _olive-tree_,\u201d and whose\nwings met over the ark of the covenant: \u201cHe set the cherubim within the\ninner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that\nthe wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub\ntouched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst\nof the house,\u201d 1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the\nchurch are Christ\u2019s two witnesses.\n\nTo prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the\nReformation, they were to prophesy _again_ before many peoples, and\nnations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to\ndo this, that the necessary power was to be given them.\n\nSackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being\nthus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in\na despised and oppressed condition.\n\nThe one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to\nIsrael, after the evil report of the twelve spies: \u201cYour children shall\nwander in the wilderness forty _years_ ... after the number of the _days_\nwhich ye searched the land,\u201d Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel, \u201cThis shall\nbe a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the\niniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the\nyears of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three\nhundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie\nagain on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of\nJudah forty days: I have appointed thee _each day for a year_,\u201d Ezek.\n4:3-6.\n\nThis period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole\ntime in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their\nprophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began\nto be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the\nestimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer\npermitted to preach the gospel in its purity.\n\nIn A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring\nhim to be \u201cthe head of all the holy churches,\u201d and subjecting to his\ncontrol \u201call the priests of the whole East.\u201d By the edicts and mandates of\nJustinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope\nreceived the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities among the\ncivilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right\nof the Pope to the title of \u201cUniversal Bishop,\u201d and date it from A. D.\n533. p. 200.\n\nWith this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was\npermitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged\nto seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and\npersecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in\nsackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy\nwas broken.\n\nFire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery\njudgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they\nshut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in\naccordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which,\nin various places, are thus symbolized.\u2014See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c.\n\nThe finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the\nsackcloth period,\u2014twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533; _i.e._ in\n1793,\u2014if the former date is correct.\n\nThe beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a\nsubsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise\nout of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will\nshow that it symbolized the civil power of the Roman empire in its divided\nform.\u2014See p. 169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done\nby any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more\nprominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled\nthe greater portion of the whole.\n\nTo war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush\nthem; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts.\n\nTo kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause\nthem to apostatize\u2014producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the\nScriptures, it can only denote their prohibition.\n\nThe great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the\nRoman hierarchy:\u2014symbolized by Babylon, and \u201cspiritually called Sodom and\nEgypt.\u201d By being thus \u201c_spiritually_ called Sodom,\u201d some understand that\nit is a \u201cspiritual Sodom,\u201d &c., which would be a contradiction of terms;\nothers understand that it is called _figuratively_ by those names, and\ndeduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use\nof the word \u201c_spiritually_,\u201d it is believed, will not sanction any such\nmeaning. It occurs only in two other passages:\u2014in Rom. 8:7, to be\n\u201cspiritually minded,\u201d is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the\nSpirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things \u201cspiritually discerned,\u201d signifies that\nthey are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is\ncalled by the Spirit, \u201cSodom and Egypt;\u201d and is so called because of her\nlicentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage.\nTo crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6.\n\nIn 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal\nsupremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the\ngovernment, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of\nthe Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also\nwas made for it in Rome, in _all_ the book establishments of that city,\nand the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of\nParis were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the\nnation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly\napostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:\u2014\n\n\u201cOn the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of\nParis, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a \u2018grand\nfestival,\u2019 dedicated to \u2018Reason and Truth,\u2019 was celebrated instead of\ndivine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been\ndesecrated, and been named, \u2018the Temple of Reason;\u2019 a pyramid was erected\nin the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed, \u2018To\nPhilosophy.\u2019 The torch of \u2018Truth\u2019 was on the altar of \u2018Reason,\u2019 spreading\nlight, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at\nthis burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand f\u00eate was\nordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a\npageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was\ndisplayed in the \u2018Temple of Reason.\u2019 In June another festival was\nordered\u2014to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb\nexhibition was the \u2018general festival,\u2019 in honor of the republic. It was\ndistinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than\nthe former. Robespierre acted the \u2018high-priest of Reason\u2019 on the day, and\nmade himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of\npower,\u2014actual sovereign of France.\u201d\n\nThe dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that\nprohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the\nchurch showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the\nconspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on\nthem. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the\nRoman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the\nextermination of the Bible and Christianity.\n\nThe French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:\u2014\n\n\u201cA very remarkable and _prophetic_ distinction of this period, was the\nspirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and\nall the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and\nshows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under\nthe most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency,\nvariety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of\nperpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn\ntill night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearly _eight hundred\npersons_, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all\npossessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris\nalone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open,\nfilled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the\n\u2018triumph of reason.\u2019 \u201d\n\nIn Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a\nprocession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the\nsupposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the\nterrors of God\u2019s word, and the church would no more torment them.\n\n\u201cAfter three days and a half,\u201d would be that number of years from the\nsuppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th day of June,\n1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious\nworship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the\nmemorable report on the _Revision of the Laws Relative to Religious\nWorship_, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire\nedifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and\nsubjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt\nany religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the\ndismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses\nwere again in a position to resume their testimony.\n\nThey were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above\ntheir former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great\nefforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and\nother benevolent societies, which have caused the _Scriptures_ to be\ntranslated into nearly all known languages, and carried by the _living\npreacher_ to the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire\nuttered his famous prediction\u2014that \u201cthe time would arrive when the Bible\nwould be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,\u201d\u2014is now used for\na Bible depository, and is \u201cpiled to the ceiling with that rare old book.\u201d\nCopies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered\nbroadcast over the earth. The other witness,\u2014the church, has since then,\nalso, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the\nnumber of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have\npenetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its\nwonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have \u201cprophesied [or\ntestified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and\nkings,\u201d 10:11.\n\nThe same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch\nwas to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the\nApocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which\nChristianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished\nthe monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of\nterror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no\nman of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children\nwere dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations\nread to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds\nwithout a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one\nthousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,\u2014and\nthroughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated\nat over one million,\u2014a number hardly credible, and which might well be\nsymbolized by seven thousand\u2014a perfect number. Well might the remnant be\naffrighted, and hasten to give glory to the GOD of heaven, by the\nrestoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in\nsuch dire calamities.\n\nThe tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman\nhierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of\nreligion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was\none of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would\nbe the fall of one-tenth of that city.\n\nThus passed the second woe\u2014the prelude to the third woe, which cometh\nquickly.\n\n\n\nThe Seventh Trumpet.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in\n    heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world hath become the kingdom\n    of our Lord, and of his Anointed; and he will reign for ever and\n    ever. And the twenty-four elders, who sat before God on their\n    thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We thank\n    thee, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, because thou\n    hast taken to thyself thy great power, and reigned. And the\n    nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come, and the season of the\n    dead, when they should be judged, and a reward should be given to\n    thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who\n    fear thy name, small and great; and when thou shouldest destroy\n    those, who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in\n    heaven, and the ark of his covenant in his temple appeared, and\n    there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an\n    earthquake, and great hail.\u201d\u2014Rev. 11:15-19.\n\n\nThe seventh, like the preceding trumpets, marks an epoch from which an era\ndates. \u201cThe days of the voice of the seventh angel\u201d (10:7), are indicative\nof a period of time to follow its sounding, in which will be fulfilled the\nevents predicted of that era.\n\nThe voices in heaven, which immediately follow its sounding, are prophetic\nutterances of events then to transpire; and are distinct from the response\nof the elders. When Christ \u201cshall be revealed from heaven,\u201d he will be\naccompanied \u201cwith his mighty angels,\u201d 2 Thess. 1:7. He will descend \u201cwith\na shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,\u201d (1\nThess. 4:16); and the shout is evidently that of the attending angels,\nsymbolized by those voices, which will announce the revolution which is to\nbe made in the empire of the earth, and of the substitution of the kingdom\nof God in the place of human governments.\n\nThe kingdom here established, is the long promised consummation, foretold\nby prophets, and anticipated by saints of every age. It is that predicted\nby Daniel, when he says: \u201cIn the days of these kings shall the GOD of\nheaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom\nshall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and\nconsume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.\u201d Dan. 2:44. He\nalso \u201csaw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came\nwith the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they\nbrought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory,\nand a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:\nhis dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and\nhis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.... And the kingdom and\ndominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall\nbe given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an\neverlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.\u201d _Ib._\n7:13, 14, 27. It is that referred to in the simple petition, \u201cThy kingdom\ncome\u201d (Matt. 6:10), which was to be the great object of our prayer till\nthe final consummation; which the disciples thought was to appear\nimmediately, when they journeyed towards, and were nigh to, Jerusalem, and\nwhich misapprehension the Saviour corrected by the parable of a nobleman\ngoing into a far country to receive for himself kingly authority, and to\nreturn, Luke 20:12. It is that respecting which they inquired, as the\nSAVIOUR was about to be taken from them, if he would at that time restore\nit to Israel, (Acts 1:6); and to which the apostle refers, when he\ndeclares to TIMOTHY that the Lord JESUS CHRIST will judge the living and\nthe dead at his appearing and kingdom, 2 Tim. 4:1.\n\n\u201cThy kingdom come! Thus, day by day\nWe lift our hands to God and pray;\nBut who has ever duly weighed\nThe meaning of the words he said?\u201d\n\nThis kingdom is to be an eternal kingdom: \u201cHe will reign for ever and\never.\u201d This is in accordance with the declaration in Daniel, that \u201cthe\nsaints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom\nforever, even for ever and ever,\u201d Dan. 7:18. To its eternity Nathan\ntestifies when he says to David, \u201cThy house and thy kingdom shall be\nestablished forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever,\u201d\n2 Sam. 7:16. Though this was spoken to David, it was to be fulfilled in\nChrist; for we read in Luke (1:32, 33), \u201cHe shall be great, and shall be\ncalled the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the\nthrone of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob\nforever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.\u201d It is predicted in\nIsaiah, that \u201cUnto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the\ngovernment shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called\nWonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince\nof Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no\nend; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to\nestablish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even\nforever,\u201d Isa. 9:6, 7. To the Son the Father saith, \u201cThy throne, O God, is\nfor ever and ever,\u201d (Heb. 1:8); and the blood-washed throng ascribe to him\n\u201cglory and dominion for ever and ever,\u201d 1:5, 6.\n\n\u201cThy kingdom come! O day of joy,\nWhen praise shall every tongue employ;\nWhen hate and strife and war shall cease,\nAnd man with man shall be at peace.\nJesus shall reign on Zion\u2019s hill,\nAnd all the earth with glory fill;\nHis word shall Paradise restore,\nAnd sin and death afflict no more.\nGod\u2019s holy will shall then be done\nBy all who live beneath the sun;\nFor saints shall then as angels be,\nAll changed to immortality.\u201d\n\nThe four-and-twenty elders,\u2014symbolizing those who are redeemed \u201cout of\nevery kindred and tongue and people and nation,\u201d 5:8, 9,\u2014at the\nestablishment of the kingdom, are to be made \u201ckings and priests,\u201d and are\nto \u201creign on the earth,\u201d 5:10. They are \u201csaints of the Most High,\u201d who are\nto \u201ctake the kingdom,\u201d and possess it \u201cforever.\u201d With the announcement of\nits establishment, they immediately respond with glad hosannas, which\nspontaneously and unitedly burst forth from the enraptured hosts of the\nransomed ones, as they find themselves clothed upon with immortality, and\nin the joyful presence of their Lord. They are raised from the dead at\nthis epoch; or are among the living who will then be translated, as says\nthe apostle:\n\n\u201cBehold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be\nchanged, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, _at the last\ntrump_,\u201d\u2014the last of the seven;\u2014\u201cfor the trumpet shall sound, and the dead\nshall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.\u201d\n\nThe nations who are angry, will be the nations out from whom the righteous\nare taken, and who are left to the recompense of their reward;\u2014\u201cwhen the\nLord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in\nflaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the\ngospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting\ndestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his\npower; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired\nin all them that believe,\u201d 2 Thess. 1:7-10.\n\nThe heathen had raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. The kings of\nthe earth had set themselves, and the rulers taken counsel against the\nLord, and against his anointed. Now the time of their anger is to end: the\ntime for the exercise of the wrath of Jehovah upon them, has arrived, and\nthey are filled with fear, consternation, and shame. The time has come\nwhen the dead are to be avenged,\u2014when those who had been slain for the\nword of God, and for the testimony which they held, whose souls under the\naltar during the fifth seal, cried with a loud voice, saying,\n\n\u201cHow long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood\non them that dwell on the earth?\u201d (6:10) find their expectations answered,\nand the destroyers, or perverters of the earth, in like manner perverted\nand destroyed. This winds up the kingdom of Satan on earth; his reign\nterminates, and his subjects are banished. The absence of all the wicked,\nwith the transfiguration of all the righteous living and resurrection of\nthe just, leave for subjects only those who have passed the period of\ntheir probation, and are introduced into the everlasting kingdom of God.\n\nThe opening of the temple in heaven, and the presentation of the Ark of\nthe Covenant, symbolize the unfolding of the mystery, in which the\nadministration of God may have been shrouded, making apparent all which\nmay have been inexplicable in his dealings with men; and rendering evident\nthe verity of his promises to his chosen ones.\n\nThe voices, lightnings, thunders, earthquake, and hail, are appropriate\nsymbols of the plagues which will fall upon the wicked. These are\nfearfully depicted in the Scriptures. God says to Job, \u201cHast thou seen the\ntreasures of hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble,\nagainst the day of battle and war,\u201d 38:22, 23. Judgment then will be laid\n\u201cto the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep\naway the refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be\nheard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of\nhis anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering, and\ntempest, and hailstones,\u201d Isa. 28:17.\n\nThis prepares the way for the purification of the earth as foretold by\nPeter (2 Pet. 3:12, 13), the restitution of all things (3:21), the new\nheavens and new earth (21:1), the descent of the saints (21:2), and the\nkingdom of God on the earth, 21:3. Assuming the correctness of the view\nhere given, how near to the time now present does it seem to fix the\nconsummation!\n\n    \u201cSo shall the world go on,\nTo good malignant, to bad men benign,\nUnder her own weight groaning: till the day\nAppear, of respiration to the just,\nAnd vengeance to the wicked; at return\nOf him\u2014thy Saviour and thy Lord:\nLast in the clouds from heaven, to be revealed\nIn glory of the Father, to dissolve\nSatan, with his perverted world; then raise\nFrom the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,\nNew heavens, new earth, ages of endless date,\nFounded in righteousness, and peace, and love,\nTo bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.\u201d\u2014_Milton._\n\n\u201cThe world shall burn, and from her ashes spring\nNew heavens and earth, wherein the just shall dwell,\nAnd after all their tribulations long,\nSee golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,\nWith joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.\u201d\u2014_Ib._\n\n\n\n\nThe Woman and Dragon.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the\n    sun, and the moon was under her feet, and on her head a crown of\n    twelve stars; and she, being with child, cried, travailing in\n    birth, and pained to be delivered. And another sign appeared in\n    heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten\n    horns, and seven diadems on his heads. And his tail dragged the\n    third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and\n    the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to be delivered,\n    to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth\n    a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and\n    her child was snatched up to God, and to his throne. And the woman\n    fled into the desert, where she hath a place there prepared of\n    God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and\n    sixty days.\u201d\u2014Rev. 12:1-6.\n\n\nWith this chapter commences a new series of events, extending through the\nentire gospel dispensation; the former series being terminated by the\nevents of the last trumpet.\n\nThe heaven, where these great \u201cwonders\u201d are exhibited, must symbolize the\ntheatre of their fulfilment\u2014the station to be occupied by the agents\nsymbolized, which must be as conspicuous as heaven is relatively high\nabove the earth.\n\nThe woman, according to the use of the symbol in other places, must be a\nrepresentative of the church. As the harlot on a scarlet-colored beast\n(17:3), is a symbol of a corrupt and apostate church, so a virtuous woman\nis a chosen symbol of the true church.\n\nThe \u201cJerusalem which is above is the mother\u201d of all true Christians (Gal.\n4:26); she is also \u201cthe bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife\u201d (21:9); and \u201cthe remnant\nof _her seed_,\u201d are those \u201cwhich keep the commandments of God, and have\nthe testimony of Jesus Christ,\u201d v. 17. Her robe of light, her position\nabove the moon, and her crown of stars, indicate her greatness and glory.\n\nThe epoch symbolized, as appears from the relative position of the woman\nand dragon, is evidently just prior to the first advent of the Messiah,\nwhen his coming was eagerly anticipated and ardently desired by the\nchurch, and the Roman power had thereby been excited to jealousy.\n\nThe church is the same in all ages, comprising only the true people of\nGod; all of whom will have part in the first resurrection, 20:6. The\nJewish church was continued by the breaking off of unbelieving branches,\nand the grafting in of believing Gentiles with believing Jews, who alike\npartake of the root and fatness of the same olive-tree, Rom. 11:17.\n\nPrevious to the first advent, the Jewish church occupied a high political\nposition, above that of the inferior officers of state, and was in the\nenjoyment of imperial favor. Patriarchs and prophets\u2014the messengers of the\nchurch\u2014were stars in her crown of rejoicing, 1:20. From the utterance of\nthe prediction that the woman\u2019s seed should bruise the serpent\u2019s head\n(Gen. 3:15), the coming of the promised deliverer was the great desire of\nthe church. Even Eve exclaimed, at the birth of her first-born\n(_literally_), \u201cI have gotten _the_ man from the Lord,\u201d Gen. 4:1. For his\ncoming,\n\n\u201cKings and prophets waited long\nBut died without the sight.\u201d\n\nThey \u201cinquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that\nshould come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of\nChrist which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the\nsufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,\u201d 1 Pet. 1:10, 11.\n\u201cMany righteous men desired\u201d to see his day (Matt. 13:17); Abraham\nrejoiced and was made glad at its prospect, when in the distant future\n(John, 8:56); and Hezekiah lamented that because of death he should not\nsee \u201cthe Lord in the land of the living,\u201d Isa. 38:11.\n\nThe seventy weeks indicated to the Jews the time of \u201cthe Messiah, the\nPrince,\u201d Dan. 9:26-27. When these were near their termination, to the\npious and devout Simeon who was \u201cwaiting for the consolation of Israel,\u201d\nit \u201cwas revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he\nhad seen the Lord\u2019s Christ,\u201d Luke 2:25, 26. And the opinion was so\ngeneral, that when the _Baptist_ preceded him, \u201cthe people were in\nexpectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were\nthe Christ or no,\u201d Luke 3:15. This expectation is testified to by the\nJewish historians Philo and Josephus; and it was that which so troubled\nHerod, when wise men came, saying, \u201cWhere is he that is born King of the\nJews?\u201d Matt. 2:1-3.\n\nThe belief that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea,\nwas not confined to Palestine, but extended to Egypt, Rome, Greece, and\nwherever the Jews were scattered abroad. Says Suetonius, a Roman\nhistorian: \u201cAn ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the\nEast, that the Fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea, who\nshould attain universal empire.\u201d And Tacitus, another Roman historian,\nsays: \u201cMany were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of\ntheir priests, that at that very time the East should prevail, and that\nsome one should proceed from Judea, and possess the dominion.\u201d\n\nThe great red dragon sustains a relation to the woman, analogous to that\nsustained by the nondescript beast (of Dan. 7:7), to the saints of the\nMost High; and his position respecting the man-child is like that of the\nexceeding great horn (Dan. 8:9), to the Prince of princes, Dan. 8:25. Like\nthe beast referred to, the dragon has ten horns; and its characteristics\nindicate that it also symbolizes the Roman empire,\u2014\u201cthe fourth kingdom\nupon earth,\u201d Dan. 7:23. The dragon is a monster serpent. \u201cThat old\nserpent\u201d who seduced Eve (Gen. 3:5), \u201ccalled the devil\u201d (Matt. 4:1-12),\nand \u201cSatan\u201d (2 Cor. 2:11), \u201cwho deceiveth the whole world,\u201d is an\nappropriate representative of Rome.\n\nThe \u201chead\u201d of a beast, sustains a relation to the beast analogous to that\nof the government to the people of an empire. It is that by which the\nbeast is directed and governed. When distinguished from the body of the\nbeast (Dan. 7:11), according to the analogy, it must be understood as a\nsymbol of the directing and controlling power, in the kingdom indicated by\nthe beast. Several heads on the same beast, on this principle, must\nindicate the several forms of government to which the nation is subject.\nAs these cannot be contemporary, like the divisions of a kingdom\nrepresented by the horns, they must be successive. To suppose they\nrepresent different governments, destroys the analogy, and makes them\nseparate beasts, instead of heads of the same beast; and no government can\nbe subject to more than one head at the same time.\n\nThe \u201cseven heads\u201d of the dragon, then, symbolize the directing and\ncontrolling powers which ruled the Roman empire,\u2014the seven successive\nforms of government under which it existed. Rome was founded about B. C.\n753, from small beginnings, on the summit of Mount Palatine, and gradually\nincreased in extent, till it spread over seven hills: the Palatine,\nCapitoline, Aventine, Esquiline, C\u0153lius, and Quirinalia; and its\npopulation of about three thousand in the time of Romulus, increased to\nabout two millions in the time of Augustus C\u00e6sar.\n\nPrevious to the subversion of the empire, Rome existed under different\nforms of government, as follows:\u2014\n\n1. _Kingly._\u2014The first government established was a monarchy, and lasted\ntwo hundred and forty-four years, under seven kings, viz., Romulus, Numa,\nTullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquin Priscus, Servius Tullius, and\nTarquin the Proud, who was afterwards expelled from the throne. This was\ndenominated the infancy of the Roman empire.\n\n2. _Consular._\u2014In B. C. 509, the constitution of Rome was remodelled, and\nthe executive power committed to two consuls, to be elected annually. This\ncommenced the \u201cCommonwealth of Rome.\u201d\n\n3. _Dictatorial._\u2014The office of dictator was the highest known in Rome,\nand was only resorted to in cases of emergency. He was elected for six\nmonths only, and usually resigned his authority, which, for the time, was\nnearly absolute, as soon as he had effected the object for which he was\nchosen.\n\n4. _Decemviral._\u2014In B. C. 451, the government was so changed, that,\ninstead of the two consuls, the government was committed to ten men, to be\nchosen annually, and jointly exercise the sovereign power. After two years\nthe decemvirs were banished, and the consular government was restored.\n\n5. _Tribunitial._\u2014In B. C. 426, Rome having become a military state,\nmilitary tribunes were substituted for the consular power, till B. C. 366,\nwhen the latter was again restored.\n\n6. _Pagan Imperial._\u2014With the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, the Roman\nCommonwealth terminated; and Augustus C\u00e6sar united in his own person not\nonly the offices of Consul, Tribune, &c., but also that of _Supreme\nPontiff_,\u2014the head of the pagan hierarchy. This last office, says Gibbon,\n\u201cwas constantly exercised by the emperors.\u201d Thus were united the highest\ncivil and ecclesiastical powers of the state.\n\n7. _Christian Imperial._\u2014In A. D. 312, the government was revolutionized,\nby the accession of Constantine to the throne. He effected important\nchanges in the relations of the people to the monarch, opposed idolatry,\nand by the introduction of Christianity, effected a political change in\nthe laws and administration of the empire. This continued, with a slight\ninterruption under Julian the Apostate, till the subversion of the Western\nempire, A. D. 476.\n\nMr. Elliott, in explanation of the first five heads, says: \u201cI adopt, with\nthe most entire satisfaction, that generally-received Protestant\ninterpretation, which, following the authoritative statement of Livy and\nTacitus (the latter great historian, St. John\u2019s own contemporary),\nenumerates kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes, as\nthe first five constitutional heads of the Roman city and commonwealth;\nthen as the sixth, the Imperial head, commencing with Octavian.\u201d\u2014_Hor\u00e6\nApoca._, vol. III., p. 106, 4th ed.\n\nThose heads are shown to symbolize seven forms of government, by the\nexplanation that \u201cthey are seven mountains where the woman sits on them\n[mountains also symbolizing governments], and are seven kings,\u201d 17:9, 10.\nAnd they are shown to be successive, by the fact that, when John wrote,\nthe first five had passed away, one only then existed,\u2014the Pagan\nImperial,\u2014and the other head was then in the future, 17:10.\n\nThe \u201cten horns\u201d also symbolize kings, or dynasties; but, unlike the heads,\ninstead of being successive, they are contemporaneous. According to the\nexplanation, they had received no kingdom when John wrote, and were all to\nexercise power at the same time: \u201cThe ten horns which thou didst see, are\nten kings who have not yet received a kingdom; but they receive power as\nkings, one hour with the wild beast,\u201d 17:12. These will be more\nparticularly noticed in connection with the thirteenth chapter, and there\nshown to be the ten contemporaneous governments which succeeded to the\ndominion, on the subversion of the Western Empire. See p. 169.\n\nThe \u201cseven crowns\u201d on the heads of the dragon, indicate that the acts here\nsymbolized, would be fulfilled during the period when the sovereignty of\nRome should be vested in the forms of government symbolized by the heads,\nand not during that symbolized by the horns.\n\nThe woman appeared in the symbolic heavens anterior to the dragon. Prior\nto the birth of Christ, the church was conspicuous and honored. The\nsacrifices which smoked on Jewish altars, were offered to Jehovah. The\nsubjects of the divine government conducted their service with all the\nsplendor imparted by the Jewish ritual. Royalty was an appendage of the\nnation: the sceptre did not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from\nbetween his feet, till Shiloh came, Gen. 49:10. By an alliance with the\nRomans, B. C. 135, Rome took its position in the presence of the woman.\n\nThe first act of the dragon was by a sweep of its tail to draw down\none-third of the stars, and to cast them to the earth. This was before the\nbirth of the man-child. After Rome attained the supremacy, Judea\nproportionably suffered. Her glory was measurably dimmed by many\nindignities before her subjugation to Rome was consummated. Jerusalem was\nrepeatedly besieged. At one time (B. C. 94) Alexander Jann\u00e6us slew six\nthousand persons on account of their meeting in the temple at the feast of\ntabernacles. In B. C. 63, Judea was conquered by Pompey, the Roman\ngeneral. In B. C. 54, Crassus plundered the temple of Jerusalem. In B. C.\n37, Jerusalem was taken, after a siege of six months. Various other\ndifficulties occurred between Judea and Rome, previous to the Saviour\u2019s\nadvent, on account of which she was greatly depressed and humbled, so that\nit might with propriety be said that one-third of her stars were cast to\nthe ground. This depression was one great reason why the church within her\nborders looked so earnestly for a Deliverer.\n\nThe Man-child is the one \u201cwho was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,\u201d\naccording to the prediction of Christ in the second Psalm; which proves\nits reference to the Saviour.\n\nThe purpose of the dragon to destroy the child of the woman as soon as it\nshould be born, in accordance with the view here taken, would symbolize\nthe purpose of the Roman power, by the agency of Herod the Roman governor\nin Judea, to destroy the infant Saviour. \u201cWhen he had gathered all the\nchief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them\nwhere Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem, in\nJudea: for thus it is written by the prophet.\u201d And Herod \u201csent forth and\nslew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts\nthereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had\ndiligently inquired of the wise men,\u201d Matt. 2:1-16. Thus Rome sought to\nslay the Saviour as soon as he was born; but Joseph took the child and\nfled into Egypt. Afterwards Christ was crucified by Roman soldiers, and\ndeposited in the tomb, arising again the third day.\n\nHis being caught up to God and to his throne, symbolizes his resurrection\nfrom the dead, and ascension from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9), to the\nright hand of the Majesty on high; \u201cwhom the heaven must receive until the\ntimes of restitution of all things,\u201d _Ib._ 3:21.\n\nThe flight of the woman into the wilderness, denotes her descent from the\nconspicuous position she had occupied, and the dispersion of the church.\nWith the crucifixion of Christ, Judaism was no longer the casket in which\nthe church was enshrined. It left its place in the moral heavens, and the\nfollowers of Christ were scattered abroad, Acts 8:1-4. Thus she virtually\nfled into the wilderness\u2014into the condition, where, subsequently, she was\nto be nourished for 1260 prophetic days.\n\nIt is objected to the application of the man-child to the Saviour, that it\nshould be prophetic, and not retrospective. This objection would be\nequally valid to the application of the symbolic heads, against which it\nis never urged. That which is retrospective, to be appropriately\nsymbolized, must be in harmony with, and explanatory of other parts. Thus,\nby the man-child and previous travail of the woman, she is identified, and\nher relation to the dragon established. No other subject could fulfil the\nconditions of the symbol, for of no other was it predicted: \u201cThou art my\nSon; this day have I begotten thee.\u2014Ask of me, and I shall give thee the\nheathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for\nthy possession.\u2014Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash\nthem in pieces like a potter\u2019s vessel,\u201d Psa. 2:8-10.\n\n\n\n\nThe War in Heaven.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd a war took place in heaven: Michael and his angels fought\n    with the dragon;, and the dragon fought and his angels, and he\n    prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And\n    the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the Devil,\n    and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the\n    earth, and his angels were cast out with him.\u201d\u2014Rev. 12:7-9.\n\n\nThe churches,\u2014which on the persecution subsequent to the Pentecostal\nseason were scattered abroad, and went everywhere preaching the word (Acts\n8:4),\u2014afterwards had rest, and were multiplied, _Ib._ 9:31. They were thus\nenabled again to act a conspicuous part, as symbolized by the contest\nbetween Michael and the dragon.\n\nThe contest symbolized, is a religious one; for the dragon is overcome \u201cby\nthe word of their testimony,\u201d v. 11.\n\nMichael and his angels, then, must symbolize the body of Christ,\u2014the\napostles, and their successor, under the guidance of the Lord,\u2014who\nconstituted an army of religious teachers. With the arrows of truth they\nassailed the idolatrous combinations of their opponents. Under the first\nseal, they are represented by a mounted warrior, with bow and crown, going\nforth conquering and to conquer, 6:2. See p. 58.\n\nThe dragon, with the appendages of heads, horns, and diadems, was seen to\nbe a symbol of the Roman government. Divested of those, it would simply\nrepresent the Pagan hierarchy with which the contest was waged. The\nheathen priests and their adherents, thus warred with the preachers of\nChristianity.\n\nIts prevailing not, shows the relative success of the two parties. The\nstruggle continued from the day of Pentecost till the accession of\nConstantine. The church waded through bloody scenes of bitter persecution,\nwhich, instead of diminishing, greatly added to her numbers\u2014\u201cthe blood of\nthe martyrs\u201d proving \u201cthe seed of the church.\u201d\n\nThe heathen priests were not deficient in logic, philosophy, and artful\nsophistry, by which to defend their mythology. They exhausted these, and\nthen resorted to persecution, torture, and death; yet they prevailed not.\nWith the weapons of truth, the teachers of Christianity successfully\nassailed those antiquated forms of error,\u2014overcoming \u201cby the blood of the\nLamb, and by the word of their testimony.\u201d \u201cThey loved not their lives\nunto the death,\u201d but freely gave themselves for Christ, till, in time, the\ncurrent of popular favor ceased to flow in the direction of paganism. The\naccession of Constantine to the throne, put an end to the dragonic period\nof Rome; the Pagan service gave place to the worship of Jehovah. The rites\nof heathenism were no longer the religion of the state, and its ministers\nwere displaced from the exalted position they had so long occupied. Their\nplace was no longer in the symbolic heavens, but in a less conspicuous\nstation.\n\nThe casting out of the dragon, would then be this expulsion of the pagan\nhierarchy from its national importance, and the dejection of the\npriesthood and their adherents to the earth,\u2014below their former high\nstation,\u2014and to the sea, among the unsettled tribes and nations outside of\nRome. This being a religious and not a political event, it does not\nimmediately affect Rome\u2019s nationality. That it is not the overthrow of a\nkingdom, but of religious rites, is shown by the rejoicings which\nfollowed.\n\n\n\n\nRejoicings of the Victors.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the\n    salvation and the strength, and the Kingdom of or God, and the\n    power of his Anointed: for the accuser of our brethren it cast\n    out, who accused them before our God day and night. And they\n    overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their\n    testimony; and they loved not their lives to death. On this\n    account, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye who dwell in them.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    12:10-12.\n\n\nThe loud voice is heard in the symbolic heaven from which the Dragon had\nbeen cast. By the displacement of the Pagan hierarchy, and the\nsubstitution of Christianity under Constantine, the adherents of the\nlatter succeeded to the place of the former, and rejoiced over them.\n\nA loud voice symbolizes the utterance of the thoughts and feelings of an\ninterested multitude. The nature of the voice indicates the nature of the\nutterance\u2014whether it be one of expectation, fear, warning, or instruction.\nThis voice is expressive of the then prevalent expectation, that, with the\ndisplacement of Paganism commenced the establishment of the Kingdom of God\non earth. This belief was not necessarily well founded;\u2014its _existence_\nonly being symbolized.\n\nOn the triumph of Constantine over Licinius, Eusebius says:\u2014\u201cThere were\nilluminations everywhere. They who were before dejected looked on one\nanother with joyful aspects and smiles, and with choirs and hymns through\nthe cities and country, gave honor first to God, the Supreme Ruler of all,\nas they were taught, and then to the pious emperor and his children.\u201d Says\nMr Lord:\n\n\u201cEusebius represents the victors at the precipitation of Maxentius and his\nattendants into the Tiber, as saying, like Moses at the overthrow of the\nEgyptians in the Red Sea: \u2018Let us sing to the Lord, for he is signally\nglorified. Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord my helper\nand defender was with me unto salvation. Who, O Lord, is like to thee\namong gods? Who is like to thee, glorified by the holy, admirable in\npraise, doing wonders? Constantine entered Rome in triumph, hymning these\nand similar passages to God, the author of the victory.\u2019 And on the fall\nof Licinius he represents the church as uniting in thanksgiving for the\ndeliverance, and congratulations at the overthrow of idolatry, and\nestablishment of Christ\u2019s kingdom; and devotes the tenth book of his\nhistory to the edicts of the emperor by which the church was nationalized\nand endowed, and to the restoration of the temples, and the public\nrejoicings at their dedication. \u2018Let thanks be given by all to the\nAlmighty Ruler of the universe, and to Jesus Christ, our Saviour and\nRedeemer, through whom we pray that peace from external foes may be\nuninterruptedly preserved to us, and tranquillity of mind.\u2019\n\n\u201c \u2018Let us sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things.\nHis right hand has saved him and his holy arm. The Lord has made known his\nsalvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the presence of the\nnations. We may now appropriately respond to the inspired command to sing\na new song, inasmuch as after such direful spectacles and narrations we\nnow have the happiness to see and celebrate what many holy men before us\nand the martyrs for God desired to see on earth, and did not see, and to\nhear, and have not heard. But advancing more rapidly they attained far\nsuperior gifts in heaven, being caught up to the paradise of celestial\njoy; while we acknowledge the gifts we enjoy are greater than we deserve,\nand contemplate with wonder the largeness of the divine bounty. Admiring\nand adoring with all our souls, we testify to the truth of the prophet\u2019s\nwords, \u201cCome and see the works of the Lord, what wonders he has wrought in\nthe earth, abolishing wars to the ends of the world. The bow he has\nbroken, he has dashed the arms, the shield he has burned in the fire.\u201d\nRejoicing at the manifest fulfilment of these predictions to us, we go on\nwith our history.\u2019 He goes on accordingly to represent the whole\npopulation, freed from the domination of the tyrants, and relieved from\noppression, as acknowledging the only true God and protector of the pious,\nand these especially who had placed their hope in Christ, as filled with\ninexpressible joy; the ministers everywhere delivering commemorative\naddresses, and the whole multitude offering praises and thanksgiving to\nGod.\n\n\u201cLactantius also: \u2018Let us celebrate the triumph of God with gladness; let\nus commemorate his victory with praise; let us make mention in our prayers\nday and night of the peace which, after ten years of persecution, he has\nconferred on his people.\u2019 \u201d\u2014_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 343-4.\n\nMultitudes actually supposed the long-predicted kingdom of God was now\nbeing established. Says Mr. Elliott:\n\n\u201cCan we wonder, then, at the exultation that was felt at this time by\nmany, perhaps by most, that bore the Christian name: or at their\nhigh-raised expectations as to the future happy destiny of the Roman, now\nthat it had been changed into the Christian, nation? It seemed to them as\nif it had become God\u2019s covenanted people, like Israel of old: and the\nexpectation was not unnatural,\u2014an expectation strengthened by the\nremarkable tranquillity which, throughout the extent of the now re\u00fcnited\nempire, followed almost immediately on Constantine\u2019s establishment of\nChristianity,\u2014that not only the temporal blessings of the ancient Jewish\ncovenant would thenceforth in no small measure attach to them, but even\nthose prophesied of as appertaining to the latter day. Hence on the medals\nof that era the emblem of the ph\u0153nix, all radiant with the rising\nsunbeams, to represent the empire as now risen into new life and hope, and\nits legend which spoke of the happy restoration of the times. Hence, in\nforgetfulness of all former prognostications of Antichrist and fearful\ncoming evils, the reference by some of the most eminent of their bishops\nto the latter-day blessedness, as even then about fulfilling. The state of\nthings was such, Eusebius tells us, that it looked like \u2018the very image of\nthe kingdom of Christ.\u2019 The city built by the emperor at Jerusalem, beside\nthe new and magnificent Church of the Holy Sepulchre,\u2014the sacred capital,\nas it were, to the new empire,\u2014might be, perhaps, he suggested, the New\nJerusalem, the theme of so many prophecies. Yet again, on occasion of the\nopening of the new church at Tyre, he expressed in the following glowing\nlanguage, not his own feelings only, but those, we may be sure, of not a\nfew of the congregated Christian ministers and people that heard him:\n\u2018What so many of the Lord\u2019s saints and confessors before our time desired\nto see, and saw not, and to hear, and heard not, that behold now before\nour eyes! It was of us the prophet spake when he told how the wildernesses\nand solitary places should be glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as\nthe lily. Whereas the church was widowed and desolate, her children have\nnow to exclaim to her, Make room, enlarge thy borders! the place is too\nstrait for us. The promise is fulfilling to her, In righteousness shalt\nthou be established: all thy children shall be taught of God: and great\nshall be the peace of thy children.\u2019 \u201d\u2014_Hor\u00e6 Apoc._, v. i., pp. 230-1.\n\nThey rejoiced over the downfall of the dragon as over \u201cthe Accuser of our\nbrethren, who accused them before our God day and night.\u201d The phrase \u201cour\nbrethren,\u201d proves that those who unite in this song are the living saints\non the earth. The reference to Satan as an Accuser bears a close\nresemblance to Zech. 3:1, where Joshua, as a symbol of the people of\nIsrael, is represented as standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan\nstanding at his right hand to resist him.\u2014\u201c\u05e9\u05d8\u05df Satan signifies an\n_adversary_. \u05e8\u05e9\u05d8\u05e0\u05d5 _lesiteno_, to be his adversary or accuser.\u201d\u2014_Dr.\nClark._\n\nSatan\u2019s most common work is to invent false accusations against those\nwhose efforts tend to frustrate his designs. The Christians had endured\nfalse accusations and bitter persecutions, and therefore rejoiced the more\nover the defeat of the Pagans.\n\n\n\n\nThe Flight of the Woman.\n\n\n    \u201cWoe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea! for the\n    devil is come to you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that\n    he hath but a short season.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when the dragon saw that he was cast out into the earth, he\n    persecuted the woman, who brought forth the male child. And two\n    wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly\n    into the desert, into her place, where she is nourished for a\n    time, and times, and half a time, from the presence of the\n    serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a river,\n    after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the\n    river. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened its\n    mouth and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his\n    mouth. And the dragon was enraged against the woman, and went away\n    to make war with the remnant of her seed, that keep the\n    commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    12:12-17.\n\n\nThe rejoicing of Christians, according to this symbolization, is\nafterwards followed by renewed triumphs of the Pagans over them. The\nhatred of the Pagan worshippers to Christianity, is strikingly evinced;\nbut it is manifested in a manner different from the former contest.\n\nWhen the church sought only to overcome by \u201cthe blood of the Lamb, and by\nthe word of their testimony,\u201d it was owned of Christ; but as it became\nproud and worldly, and cared more for popular favor than for purity of\nfaith and practice, the true church which the woman symbolized, was\nrepresented only by those who continued faithful to their profession.\nHistorians inform us that with the success of Constantine, the visible\nchurch became speedily corrupt. As it became popular, unconverted men\nsought to be enrolled as members. The Pagans, instead of approaching as\nenemies, came as professed friends. As a profession of Christianity was\nalone necessary for admission to the church, multitudes sought connection\nwith it. This caused a condition of things, of which Dr. Milner thus\nspeaks:\u2014\u201cIn the general appearance of the church, we cannot see much of\nthe spirit of godliness. External piety flourished. But faith, love,\nheavenly-mindedness appear very rare. The doctrine of real conversion was\nvery much lost, and external baptism placed in its stead: and the true\ndoctrine of justification by faith, and true practical use of a crucified\nSaviour for troubled consciences were scarcely to be seen at this time.\nSuperstition and self-righteousness were making vigorous shoots; and the\nreal gospel of Christ was hidden from the men that professed it.\u201d\n\nTo the same effect is the report of Mosheim:\u2014Of the life and morals of the\nprofessing Christians of the fourth century, he says: \u201cGood men were, as\nbefore, mixed with bad; but the bad were by degrees so multiplied, that\nmen truly holy and devoted to God appeared more rarely; and the pious few\nwere almost oppressed by the vicious multitude.\u201d Of their doctrines he\nsays: \u201cFictions, of early origin\u201d (about saint veneration and relics, a\npurifying fire, celibacy, &c., &c.), \u201cnow so prevailed as in course of\ntime almost to thrust true religion aside, or at least to exceedingly\nobscure and tarnish it.\u201d\n\nSays Mr Lord:\u2014\u201cConstantine and his successors introduced a flood of false\ndoctrines, superstitions and idolatries, into the church, which were\nincompatible with a pure worship, and swept all who yielded to their\nimpulse to the gulf of apostasy. Such were the veneration of the cross,\nand ascription to it of miraculous powers, the homage of relics, the\ninvocation of saints, the conversion of religion into gorgeous ceremonies,\nthe encouragement of celibacy, and the arrogation of the throne and\nprerogatives of God by civil and ecclesiastical rulers. These falsehoods,\nfollies, and impieties, introduced or adopted by the emperors, encouraged\nby their example, sanctioned by their laws, and enforced by the penalties\nof excommunication, imprisonment, the forfeiture of civil rights,\nbanishment, and death, came armed with an overpowering force to all who\nwere not fortified against them by the special aids of the divine spirit,\nand like a resistless torrent bore away the great mass of the\nchurch.\u201d\u2014_Exp. of Apoc._, p. 350.\n\nWith the accession of multitudes of unworthy members, and the prevalence\nof false doctrines, the true church would have been speedily overwhelmed\nhad not the people of God been sustained from such deleterious influences.\nTo the woman, therefore, were given two wings of a great eagle that she\nmight escape. Wings are symbolic of power of flight\u2014for succor, or escape.\nThe four-winged leopard of Daniel used his speed to approach and demolish\nthe enemy; the woman, to escape hers. The church of old was sustained in\nlike manner. Thus God said to Israel, \u201cYe have seen what I did unto the\nEgyptians, and how I bare you on eagles\u2019 wings, and brought you to\nmyself.\u201d\u2014Ex. 19:4.\n\nOn the introduction of new rites and doctrines into the church, multitudes\nwithdrew from the public assemblies, and worshipped apart. They retired\nfrom the observation of their rulers and lived secluded for a long period.\n\nSome may inquire for the historical evidence of the _time_ when such a\nbody withdrew. This, from the nature of the case, it may be difficult to\ngive. If the withdrawal of the true worshippers had been an occurrence of\nso much notoriety as to be prominently historically noticed, it might have\ndefeated their withdrawal. It is sufficient that the prophecy makes such a\nwithdrawal necessary; and that at a later period such a body was found\nexisting as predicted. See p. 198. Says Mr. Lord:\n\n\u201cHer retreat into her place from the face of the serpent, denotes that the\nscene of her residence was unknown to the rulers. The anger of the serpent\nindicates their continued disposition to destroy her, if in their power;\nwhile its going on to make war with such of her seed as had not retreated\nto the desert, denotes that they continued, after her disappearance, to\npersecute the isolated individuals that from time to time dissented from\nthe corrupt church, and professed the pure faith.\n\n\u201cAs it was by spiritual aids that the true worshippers were enabled to\nresist the temptations and force by which the rulers endeavored to\nconstrain them to apostasy, and to fly to the desert, no specific record\nof those aids is to be sought on the page of history. The only evidence\nthat we can ask or possess, that they were conferred, is presented in the\nfact that a body of dissentients from the corrupt church were in a latter\nage found in a secluded scene, who had survived the endeavors of the\nrulers of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and following centuries, to compel all\ntheir subjects to conformity, and who have continued to maintain a\nseparate existence, and offer an unidolatrous worship to the present time.\n\n\u201cAnd such a body were the Waldenses, inhabiting the eastern valleys of the\nCottian Alps. They are known, from the testimony of cotemporary Catholics\nand their own authors, to have existed there as early as the eleventh\ncentury. It was then, and is now, claimed by themselves, and admitted by\ntheir enemies, that they had subsisted there from a much earlier age.\nThese were a Christian church, having the Scriptures of the Old and New\nTestaments, regarding them as a revelation from God, and making them the\nrule of their faith; having a ministry of their own, holding religious\nassemblies, professing and teaching the doctrines of the gospel, and\ncelebrating the sacraments.\n\n\u201cThey were distinguished for the simplicity and purity of their lives. It\nwas asserted by them, and repeated by the Catholics, that they were\ninduced to retreat to the secluded valleys which they inhabit, to escape\nthe despotism of the rulers and the corruptions and tyranny of the church,\nsoon after its nationalization by Constantine. They have continued to\nsubsist there to the present time, as a separate and evangelical\nchurch.\u201d\u2014_Exp. Apoc._, pp. 348, 349, 359.\n\nSays Mr. Elliott:\u2014\u201cI must not pass on without pressing on the reader\u2019s\nnotice this notable pre-figuration of the seclusion of Christ\u2019s church in\nthe wilderness, as the true and fittest answer to the Romish\nanti-Protestant taunt, \u2018Where was your religion before Luther?\u2019\nProtestants have not duly, as it seems to me, applied the answer here\ngiven. For the wilderness-life necessarily, as I must repeat,\u2014and that on\nBossuet\u2019s own showing,\u2014implies the _invisibility_ of her who lives in it.\nAnd consequently, instead of the long previous invisibility of a church\nlike the Lutheran, or Anglican Reformed, of the sixteenth century, in\nrespect of doctrine and worship, being an argument against, it is an\nargument for it. The Romish church, which never knew the predicted\nwilderness-life, could not, for this very reason, be the woman of the 12th\nApocalyptic chapter; that is, could not be the true church of Christ.\n\n\u201cFor 1260 prophetic days, then, or years, she was to disappear from men\u2019s\nview in the Roman world. Is it asked how her vitality was preserved?\nDoubtless in her children, known to God, though for the most part unknown\nto men; just like the 7000 that Elijah knew not of, who had not bowed the\nknee to Baal; some, it might be, in monasteries, some in the secular walks\nof life; but all alike insulated in spirit from those around them, and as\nregards the usual means of grace, spiritually destitute and desolate; even\nas in a barren and dry land, where no water is.\u2014Besides whom, some few\nthere were of her children,\u2014some very few,\u2014prepared, like Elijah of old,\nto act a bolder part, and stand forth, under special commission from God,\nas Christ\u2019s witnesses before Christendom.\u201d\u2014_Hor\u00e6 Apoc._, pp. 55-57.\n\nThe flood of water cast out after the woman, is an appropriate symbol of\nthe various tribes which subsequently overran the Western empire. Waters\nsymbolize peoples, 17:15; and by hordes of barbarian Huns, Goths, and\nVandals, Rome was inundated as by a flood, in the 5th century; and in A.\nD. 476 its government was entirely subverted.\n\nSuch an irruption of barbarians might be expected to extirpate\nChristianity from the earth; but help came from an unexpected quarter. The\nwoman had retired to her secure retreat, and the earth swallowed up the\nflood. Those barbarous tribes were absorbed by, and mixed with, the\nprevious population of the empire, and constituted the clay ingredient\nwith the iron, in the feet of the metallic image.\u2014Dan. 2:41. They rapidly\nassimilated to the character and habits of the previous inhabitants; and\nultimately adopted the forms of government and religion which for a time\nthey subverted; and within the limits of the Western empire, in the place\nof the Imperial head, constituted ten contemporary kingdoms. These were a\ncontinuation of the former government, and were symbolized by:\n\n\n\n\nThe Ten-Horned Beast.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I was standing on the sand of the sea, and saw a wild beast\n    ascending out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on\n    his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names of reviling. And the\n    wild beast, which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like\n    those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion: and the\n    dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority.\n    And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his\n    deadly wound was healed: and all the world admired and followed\n    the beast. And they worshipped the dragon, for he gave power to\n    the wild beast: and they worshipped the wild beast, saying, Who is\n    like the wild beast, and who is able to make war with him?\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    18:1-4.\n\n\nThe sea, from which this beast emerged, is evidently the turbulent state\nof anarchy, to which the people of the fourth kingdom had been reduced, on\nits subversion. And the beast which came up out of the sea, represents the\nforms of government which then arose.\n\nIts heads and horns synchronize with those of the dragonic monster, which\nhad preceded it, and disappeared from the view of the revelator. And they\ndoubtless symbolize the same forms of government. See pp. 145-148.\n\nThe ten crowns encircling its horns, indicate that an era is foreshadowed,\nwhen the sovereignty of the kingdom shall have been transferred from the\nforms of government symbolized by the heads,\u2014which had before been\nencircled by the crowns,\u2014to that represented by the horns. There is great\nunanimity among Protestant writers, in regarding these as the first ten\nkingdoms which existed in the western empire arising during the period of\nits decline, viz:\n\n1. The Huns in Hungary, from A. D. 356.\n\n2. The Ostrogoths in Mysia, from A. D. 377. They invaded Italy, and\nconquered the Heruli in 493; and were defeated in 538 by Justinian, when\nthe Pope was placed in quiet possession of the capital of Rome.\n\n3. The Visigoths in Pannonia, from A. D. 378 to 408, when they removed to\nthe south of France till 585. They then removed to, and subjugated Spain.\n\n4. The Franks in France, from A. D. 407.\n\n5. The Vandals in Spain, from A. D. 407 till 427, when they removed to\nAfrica, and continued an independent kingdom till subjugated by Justinian\nin 533.\n\n6. The Suevi and Alans in Gascoigne and Spain, from 407 till 585.\n\n7. The Burgundians in Burgundy, from A. D. 407 till 524, when they became\nsubject for a time to the Franks; but afterwards they arose again to an\nindependent kingdom.\n\n8. The Heruli, who advanced into Italy under Attila, and in 476 terminated\nthe imperial rule by the dethronement of Agustulus. They were in turn\nconquered by the Ostrogoths in A. D. 493.\n\n9. The Saxons and Angles in Britain from about A. D. 450. And,\n\n10. The Lombards in Germany, from A. D. 483.\n\nThe name of blasphemy, on the heads of this beast, identifies it as the\nsuccessor and representative of the persecuting power which sought the\nlife of the Man-child, (12:4), and caused the woman to flee to the\nwilderness, 12:14.\n\nIts characteristics resemble those of the lion, bear, and leopard, of\nDaniel\u2019s vision (Dan. 7:4-6), which respectively symbolized the\nBabylonian, Medo-Persian, and Grecian kingdoms. These mark it as their\nsuccessor\u2014synchronizing with Daniel\u2019s ten-horned nondescript beast, (Dan.\n7:7); which was the fourth kingdom that should exist on the earth, and the\nten horns of which, symbolized the same ten-fold partition of the Roman\nempire.\n\nHis power, seat, and great authority being given by the dragon, is another\nevidence that it is a continuation of that fourth kingdom succeeding to\nits sovereignty. The laws of the ancient empire were generally adopted by\nthe ten kingdoms, which assumed and exercised the prerogatives of ancient\nRome. Says Bossuet: \u201cWhoever carefully examines the laws of the Theodosian\nand Justinian codes against heretics, will see that they are the source of\nthe decrees against them, that the church, aided by the edicts of princes,\nenacted in the third and fourth Lateran councils.\u201d\n\nThe head, which was as it were wounded to death, would indicate that under\nthe government symbolized by that head, the life of the beast had become\napparently extinct. This was the case when the empire was subverted. In\nthe succession of the previous forms of government, the empire itself was\nnot in any particular peril. They gave place, each to its successor,\nwithout any subversion of the government. But when the seventh head ceased\nto exercise sovereignty, the beast itself was apparently dead. The wound,\nhowever, did not prove mortal. The beast still lived. Its sovereignty was\nperpetuated by the decemregal governments; which constituted the eighth\nform of government\u2014symbolized by the beast that was, is not, and yet is\nagain in existence and will continue till the day of perdition, 17:11;\n19:20.\n\nThey worshipped the dragon and beast, by regarding the latter as a\ncontinuation of the former power, and regarding the sovereign power of\nRome as unparalleled and invincible\u2014as is shown by the questions: \u201cWho is\nlike unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?\u201d Those combined\ngovernments were regarded by their subjects with wonder and veneration.\nSays Mr. Lord: \u201cThe serfs and common people, sunk for ages to the most\ndegraded vassalage, revered the monarchs, the various ranks of nobles, and\ntheir armed followers, as a superior race, while poets and historians\ncelebrated their warlike exploits, and philosophers and priests justified\ntheir usurpations, and eulogized the wisdom and benignity of their rule.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Mouth of the Beast.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and\n    revilings; and power was given to him to make war forty-two\n    months. And he opened his mouth in reviling against God, to revile\n    his name, and his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And\n    it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome\n    them: and power was given him over every tribe, and people, and\n    tongue, and nation. And all, who dwell on the earth, will worship\n    him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the slain\n    Lamb, from the foundation of the world. If any one hath an ear,\n    let him hear. If any one leadeth into captivity, he will go into\n    captivity: if any one killeth by the sword, he must be killed with\n    the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    13:5-10.\n\n\nThe mouth of the beast, must symbolize the agency by which utterance is\ngiven to the great things and blasphemies which are spoken by it. Its\nlikeness to the mouth of the lion, shows its resemblance to the Babylonian\nworship of the dead. Moses was \u201cnot eloquent,\u201d\u2014he was \u201cslow of speech and\nof a slow tongue,\u201d and the Lord said to him, Aaron \u201cshall be thy spokesman\nunto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of _a\nmouth_,\u201d Ex. 4:10, 16. As Aaron was a mouth to Moses, so did the Papacy\nbecome a mouth-piece for the Roman kingdoms. It was the agency by which\nthe people were taught; and through which utterance was given to the\nblasphemies of the beast. It fills a place analogous to that of the image\nafterwards symbolized, which also had like power to speak blasphemies. See\np. 188.\n\nThe beast had power to continue to utter blasphemies by the mouth given to\nit, forty-two months. This identifies the mouth with that of the \u201clittle\nhorn\u201d (Dan. 7:25), of which it was said, \u201cHe shall speak great words\nagainst the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall\nbe given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of\ntime\u201d\u2014_i.e._ 1260 prophetic days.\n\n1. This mouth uttered blasphemy against God by claiming to be Christ\u2019s\nvicegerent\u2014usurping the prerogatives of the Almighty. The Pope claimed\nthat he was \u201cJudge, as God\u2019s Vicar, and could himself be judged by none.\u201d\nIn A. D. 799, a Roman council declined to hear accusations against the\nPope, declaring that \u201che who was Judge of all men, was above being judged\nby any other than himself.\u201d Febroni wrote of the Pope: \u201cHe is the Prince\nof princes and Lord of lords. He is, as it were, a God on earth. He is\nabove right, superior to law, superior to the canons. He can do all things\nagainst right, and without right. He is able to free from obligation in\nmatters of positive right, without any cause, and they who are so released\nare safe in respect to God.\u201d Assuming such prerogatives, and the power to\nforgive sins, the Holy name of God was blasphemed.\n\n2. He blasphemed the tabernacle of God by \u201cexalting himself above all that\nis called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the\n_temple_ of God, showing himself that he is God,\u201d 2 Thess. 2:2. The Pope\nclaimed to be the head of the church and that from himself was derived the\nauthority of all bishops and other clergy. He usurped the powers in the\nchurch, which only Christ, its Supreme Head and Lawgiver can exercise.\n\n3. Those in heaven were blasphemed, by the ascription to them of the\nattributes and prerogatives of God; and by representing them as being well\npleased with the bestowal on them of divine honors. Saint-worship by the\nPapists and demon-worship by the Pagans are alike. They both ascribe the\nsame attributes to the spirits of the departed,\u2014all the gods of the\nheathen being the ghosts of their departed heroes. A revival of this\nblasphemy, is subsequently symbolized by the frog-like spirits which\nemerge from the mouths of the beast, the dragon, and false prophet,\n16:13,\u2014see p. 255.\n\nIn connection with and in obedience to this mouth, the beast warred with\nthe saints, and overcame them. Dissenters from the Papacy were subjected\nto unheard of cruelties and persecutions. And they whose names were not\nwritten in the book of life, sustained their rulers in these oppressive\nacts. In paying more deference to the edicts of government than to the\nrequirements of Jehovah, they blasphemously bestowed on the beast an\nhomage which was due only to God.\n\nThe revelator being shown what was to be endured by the saints during a\nlong period of oppression, now receives an annunciation to which all were\nto listen,\u2014all who had ears to hear. It was the announcement, that \u201cif any\none leadeth into captivity, he will go into captivity: if any one killeth\nwith the sword, he must be killed with the sword.\u201d Most commentators have\nconsidered this as applicable to the fate of the wild beast,\u2014that its end\nwas to be effected by the sword and captivity, as it had in the same way\ntyrannized over the saints. Mr. Lord offers some reasons for supposing\nthat it was a caution to the saints not to resist with the sword the\nattacks of enemies, nor to retaliate by making captives of the subjects of\nthe beast who should fall into their power. He says:\n\n\u201cThe prediction that he who led into captivity should himself become a\ncaptive, and he that slew with the sword be himself slain, had a signal\nfulfilment in the slaughter and vassalage of all those who attempted to\ndeliver themselves by force from the religious tyranny of the European\nmonarchs.\n\n\u201cThe Albigenses were nearly exterminated by the cruel armies against which\nthey attempted to defend themselves, and the small number that remained\nafter the devastation of their fields, the conflagration of their cities,\nand the promiscuous slaughters to which they were subjected, were either\nforced to conform to the Catholic church, or driven into other lands. The\nWaldenses perished in far greater numbers by the sword, in their struggles\nfor preservation and freedom, than by the fires of martyrdom; and sunk,\nafter their contests, to a still more hopeless vassalage to their\npersecutors. The resort to the sword by the Bohemians and the Huguenots of\nFrance, to defend their religious freedom, resulted, after vast\nslaughters, in their defeat and helpless subjection to the tyranny from\nwhich they endeavored to extricate themselves. And the Protestants of\nSwitzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain, who\nsucceeded in delivering themselves from the dominion of their ancient\ntyrants, instead of securing thereby their religious liberty, only placed\nthemselves, by the nationalization of their churches, under the tyranny of\nProtestant rulers in place of Catholics.\u201d\u2014_Exp. of Apoc._ p. 384.\n\nIn this was to be exhibited the patience and faith of the saints, who,\namid all their persecutions, made a wonderful manifestation of these. Of\nthe many thousands put to death, or subjected to satanic cruelties for\ntheir faith, only a very few apostatized. Says Mr. Lord:\n\n\u201cOf those who, under the insupportable agonies and distraction of the\nscourge and the rack, recanted, or promised a recantation, a large\nproportion immediately on being released from the sufferings which had\novercome them, abjured their retractions, re-professed with redoubled\nenergy the faith of Christ, and met without faltering the hideous death to\nwhich they were immediately hurried. Such is their uniform history in\nwhatever age they fell, or to whatever nation or rank they\nbelonged.\u201d\u2014_Exp. of Apoc._, p. 385.\n\nIf there was no other evidence of their constancy, faith, and patience,\nthe horrid instruments of torture which were resorted to to terrify them,\ntestify to their adherence to their principles, which required such\nengines for their subversion.\n\nThe end of this beast, will be effected by his being cast alive into the\nlake of fire and brimstone, when the Lord shall make war with him, 19:20.\nThis is also the end of Daniel\u2019s fourth beast, whose body is to be given\nto the burning flame (Dan. 7:11), and of the scarlet-colored beast on\nwhich the woman was seated, which is to go into perdition, 17:8.\n\n\n\n\nThe Two-Horned Beast.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw another wild beast ascending out of the earth, and he\n    had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. And he\n    exerciseth all the power of the first wild beast, in his sight,\n    and causeth the earth and those, who dwell in it, to worship the\n    first wild beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performeth\n    great signs, so that he causeth fire to come down from heaven into\n    the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth those, who dwell\n    on the earth, by means of the signs which it was given him to\n    perform in the sight of the wild beast; saying to those, who dwell\n    on the earth, that they should make an image to the wild beast,\n    that had the wound by a sword, and did live.\u201d\u2014Rev. 13:11-14.\n\n\nThe coming up of another beast must symbolize the rise of another\ngovernment. As the two-horned beast exercises its power before (\u03b5\u03bd\u03c9\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd)\n_i.e._ _in the presence_, of the first beast, it is a contemporary power,\nand must necessarily symbolize a kingdom outside of the territory of the\nten-horned beast. Within that territory it would be one of the horns of\nthat beast; but a separate beast requires a separate territory. As it\narises out of the earth, while it is outside of the territory occupied by\nthe ten kingdoms, it must exist within that occupied by the _former_ Roman\nempire, and commence its existence during a period of settled government.\n\nAll the forms of Roman government symbolized by the dragon, were also\nsymbolized by the wild beast; and as the deadly wound of the former was\nhealed in the latter, the two constitute one beast. As that is called the\n\u201cfirst beast,\u201d the rise of the kingdom symbolized by the two-horned beast\nmust have been subsequent to the commencement of the Roman empire. And as\nit caused those who dwell on the earth to worship that beast after its\ndeadly wound was healed, it must have arisen anterior to the healing of\nthat wound; and, consequently, before the succession of the ten kingdoms\nto the sovereignty of Rome, with which it held an intimate relation.\n\nThe only kingdom which has arisen within the geographical locality, and at\nthe epoch required by these conditions of the symbol, is the Eastern Roman\nempire; which, consequently, is the government represented by the\ntwo-horned beast.\n\nThe imperial heads of Rome date from the battle of Actium, B. C. 31; but\nthe Eastern empire was not commenced, till A. D. 324, when Constantine\nremoved the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople. Rome was, previous\nto that removal, the undisputed queen of nations, and Constantine was\nwithout a rival. Why he should abandon Rome, the citadel and throne of the\nC\u00e6sars, for an obscure corner of Thrace, has never been satisfactorily\nexplained. Says Dr. Croly: \u201cThe change of government to Constantinople\nstill perplexes the historian. It was an act in direct repugnance to the\nwhole course of the ancient prejudices.\u201d\n\nThe indifference with which Constantine viewed the country of the C\u00e6sars,\nwas regarded by Gibbon as the cause of removal.\n\nHe transferred the customs and forms of the Roman government, and there\nexercised all the powers of the empire,\u2014the Italians still obeying the\nedicts which he condescended to address from Constantinople to the Senate\nand people of Rome. The western division continued dependent on the\neastern head, till the death of Theodosius, A. D. 395. His two sons,\nArcadius and Honorius, \u201cwere saluted by the unanimous consent of mankind,\nas the lawful emperors of the East, and of the West,\u201d\u2014the European\nboundary being \u201cnot very different from that which separates the Germans\nfrom the Turks.\u201d\u2014Gibbon, v. 2, p. 199. Gibbon calls this \u201cthe final and\npermanent division of the Roman empire.\u201d But its existence as a beast more\nproperly dates from the removal of Constantine.\n\nIts two horns like a lamb, must symbolize two divisions of the kingdom.\nThese may be contemporary, like those symbolized by the ten horns (17:12),\nor successive, like the two horns of the ram, Dan. 8:3, 20. From the\nhistory of the Eastern empire, the latter is the more probable; and its\nhistorical resemblance to the government symbolized by the ram, may be the\nreason of the comparison to \u201chorns like a lamb.\u201d As Persia was a\ngovernment outside of Media, and succeeded to its sovereignty, so did the\nkingdom of the Turks originate outside of the Eastern empire, and at\nlength come in, occupy its territory, and succeed to its sovereignty, A.\nD. 1253. With this view, the horns would symbolize the kings of Eastern\nRome and of Turkey. See pp. 99-104.\n\nIts dragon-like speech shows it to be a blasphemous, persecuting power,\nlike that which persecuted the woman, 12:17. Though the Greek empire\nclaimed to be Christian, a successor of Constantine, Julian the Apostate,\nrenounced Christianity, endeavored to restore the Pagan service in\nConstantinople, and \u201cdeclared himself the _implacable enemy of Christ_.\u201d\nHe assumed the character of Supreme Pontiff, and thus placed himself at\nthe head of the Pagan worship. He labored incessantly to restore and\npropagate those dragonic rites, and even thought to disprove the\npredictions of Christ by rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. \u201cHe affected\nto pity the unhappy Christians, as mistaken in the most important object\nof their lives; but his pity was degraded by contempt, his contempt was\nembittered by hatred; and the sentiments of Julian were expressed in a\nstyle of sarcastic wit which inflicts a deep and deadly wound whenever it\nissues from the mouth of a sovereign.\u201d And he intimated that they might\nhave occasion \u201cto dread, not only confiscation and exile, but fire and the\nsword.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon._\n\nThe successors of Julian, though Christian in name, issued cruel and\ntyrannical edicts. Valens embraced Arianism, and bitterly persecuted the\nOrthodox party. Justinian established Catholicism by arms. Theodosius\nproscribed Paganism by the infliction of severe penalties. Marcian and Leo\n\u201cenforced, with arms and edicts, the symbols of their faith,\u201d and it was\ndeclared that \u201cthe decrees of the synod of Chalcedon might be lawfully\nsupported, even with blood.\u201d And after the accession of the Mohammedan\npower, religious intolerance towards dissenting creeds was still more\nrigidly enforced.\n\nThe Eastern empire exercised all the power of the Western. The original\norganization of its government was the same, and it had the same titles\nand prerogatives. Gibbon says of Julian: \u201cThe spirit of his\nadministration, and his regard for the place of his nativity, induced him\nto confer on the senate of Constantinople the same honors, privileges, and\nauthority which were still enjoyed by the senate of ancient Rome.\u201d\n\nIt caused worship to be bestowed on the first beast, by extending to the\nLatin rulers that aid which enabled them to perpetuate their system of\ntyranny, to legislate over the laws and subjects of Jehovah, and to claim\nthe obedience which only God can demand. The arms of Justinian, both in\nthe East and West, caused the Roman name to be respected, and its favor\nsought for.\n\nThe wonders to be performed by it, may be as yet involved in some\nobscurity. But by these it is identified as the power which afterwards\nbecame the seat of the False Prophet. When the \u201cbeast\u201d is taken, \u201cthe\nfalse prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived\nthem that had the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image,\u201d\nis cast with him \u201cinto a lake of fire burning with brimstone,\u201d 19:20. This\nidentifies the two-horned beast as the Mohammedan kingdom. It also proves\nthat the Romanic Turkish government will continue till the Second Advent.\n\nAmong the wonders it would perform, making fire come down from heaven is\nspecified. John does not intimate that he saw, in vision, fire thus\ndescend. The fact is spoken of; and therefore it is not necessarily\nsymbolic, but may refer to literal fire. Gibbon, in speaking of \u201cthe\nnovelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the _Greek fire_,\u201d for\nwhich the Eastern empire was so famous, says:\n\n\u201cThe important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame\nwas imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis, in Syria, who deserted\nfrom the service of the caliph to that of the emperor. The skill of a\nchemist and engineer was equivalent to the succor of fleets and armies;\nand this discovery or improvement of the military art was fortunately\nreserved for the distressful period, when the degenerate Romans of the\nEast were incapable of contending with the warlike enthusiasm and youthful\nvigor of the Saracens. The historian who presumes to analyze this\nextraordinary composition, should suspect his own ignorance and that of\nhis Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and, in\nthis instance, so jealous of the truth. From their obscure, and perhaps\nfallacious hints, it should seem that the principal ingredient of the\nGreek fire was the _naphtha_, or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and\ninflammable oil, which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as\nit comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by\nwhat methods, or in what proportions, with sulphur, and with the pitch\nthat is extracted from evergreen firs. From this mixture, which produced a\nthick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame,\nwhich not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burned with\nequal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being\nextinguished, it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and\nsand, urine, or vinegar, were the only remedies that could damp the fury\nof this powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks, the\n_liquid_, or _maritime_ fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was\nemployed with equal effect by sea and land, in battles or in sieges. It\nwas either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or launched in\nred-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted\nround with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil;\nsometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of a\nmore ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through long tubes of\ncopper, which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped\ninto the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of\nliquid and consuming fire. This important art was preserved at\nConstantinople, as the palladium of the state; the galleys and _artillery_\nmight occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome; but the composition on\nthe Greek fire was concealed with the most jealous scruple, and the terror\nof the enemies was increased and prolonged by their ignorance and\nsurprise. In the treatise of the administration of the empire, the royal\nauthor suggests the answers and excuses that might best elude the\nindiscreet curiosity and importunate demands of the barbarians. They\nshould be told that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by an\nangel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred\ninjunction, that this gift of _heaven_, this peculiar blessing of the\nRomans should never be communicated to any foreign nation; that the prince\nand subject were alike bound to religious silence under the temporal and\nspiritual penalties of treason and sacrilege; and that the impious attempt\nwould provoke the sudden and supernatural vengeance of the God of the\nChristians. By these precautions the secret was confined, above four\nhundred years, to the Romans of the East; and at the end of the eleventh\ncentury, the Pisans, to whom every sea and every art were familiar,\nsuffered the effects, without understanding the composition, of the Greek\nfire. It was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mohammedans;\nand, in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt, they retorted an invention,\ncontrived against themselves, on the heads of the Christians. A knight,\nwho despised the swords and lances of the Saracens, relates, with\nheartfelt sincerity, his own fears and those of his companions, at the\nsight and sound of the mischievous engine that discharged a torrent of the\nGreek fire, the _feu Gregeois_, as it is styled by the more early of the\nFrench writers. It came flying through the air, says Joinville, like a\nwinged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with the\nreport of thunder, and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of\nnight was _dispelled by this deadly illumination_.\u201d\u2014_Hist. Rome_, vol.\nIII., pp. 465-467.\n\nIts use is thus described by the same author, when the Greeks turned its\npower against the Saracens, at the siege of Constantinople, A. D. 718:\n\n\u201cThe Greeks would gladly have ransomed their religion and empire, by a\nfine or assessment of a piece of gold on the head of each inhabitant of\nthe city; but the liberal offer was rejected with disdain, and the\npresumption of Moslemah was exalted by the speedy approach and invincible\nforce of the natives of Egypt and Syria. They are said to have amounted to\neighteen hundred ships: the number betrays their inconsiderable size; and\nof the twenty stout and capacious vessels, whose magnitude impeded their\nprogress, each was manned with no more than one hundred heavy-armed\nsoldiers. This huge armada proceeded on a smooth sea and with a gentle\ngale, towards the mouth of the Bosphorus; the surface of the strait was\nover-shadowed, in the language of the Greeks, with a moving forest, and\nthe same fatal night had been fixed by the Saracen chief for a general\nassault by sea and land. To allure the confidence of the enemy, the\nemperor had thrown aside the chain that usually guarded the entrance of\nthe harbor: but while they hesitated whether they should seize the\nopportunity or apprehend the snare, the ministers of destruction were at\nhand. The fireships of the Greeks were launched against them: the Arabs,\ntheir arms and vessels, were involved in the same flames, the disorderly\nfugitives were dashed against each other, or overwhelmed in the waves; and\nI no longer find a vestige of the fleet, that had threatened to extirpate\nthe Roman name.\u201d\u2014_Ib._, p. 464.\n\nIt deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by its miracles. This deception\nresulted in the creation of:\n\n\n\n\nThe Image of the Beast.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd it was given to him to give breath to the image of the wild\n    beast, that the image of the wild beast should even speak, and to\n    cause, that as many as would not worship the image of the wild\n    beast, should be killed. And he causeth all, the small and the\n    great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to\n    receive a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead. And that\n    no one might buy or sell, but he, who had the mark, the name of\n    the wild beast, or the number of his name.\u201d\u2014Rev. 13:15-18.\n\n\nThis new creation is not another beast, but the image of one. An image is\nonly the _likeness_ of something. As the beast symbolizes a political\npower, its image must symbolize some analogous power of a different\nnature; and this likeness can only be found in a religious government.\n\n1. The beast which received its death-wound (v. 14), was the form of\ngovernment to which the image was made, _i.e._, the imperial. Of this the\nRoman hierarchy was a perfect counterpart. It was an ecclesiastical\ngovernment, co\u00ebxtensive in its authority with the political power of the\nempire. And, like the officers of the civil, there was a regular gradation\nof rank in the subordinates of the religious government. The head of the\nformer was an emperor, chosen by an electoral college,\u2014the senators of\nRome.(3) The head of the latter was a Pope, chosen in a similar manner by\nthe college of Cardinals,\u2014the ecclesiastical senators of the religious\nempire. Each of those bodies constituted the highest deliberative and\nlegislative body in its respective government. The empire had its\ngovernors of provinces, appointed by the imperial head; and the spiritual\nrule of the church was, in like manner, sustained by diocesan bishops who,\nin their respective provinces, were governors in spiritual matters and\ncreatures of the Pope. Subordinate offices in the state and church, also,\nsingularly corresponded.\n\n2. The religious customs of the empire, as well as its political, were\nlikewise imitated by the papacy. Rome deified her heroes; the papacy\ncanonized her saints. The ghosts of the departed were the gods of the\nheathen; and the papists supplicate the dead. The Pagans burned incense to\ntheir gods; the Papists burn incense in their religious ceremonies. The\nancient heathen sprinkled themselves with \u201choly water;\u201d the Papists use\nthe same material in a similar manner. Lactantius says of the Pagans, they\n\u201clight up candles to God as if he lived in the dark; and do they not\ndeserve to pass for madmen who offer lamps to the author and giver of\nlight?\u201d This custom is imitated by the Papists in the use of wax candles\non their altars.\n\nThe ancient Romans prostrated themselves before images of wood and stone;\nand Jerome tells us that \u201cby idols were to be understood the images of the\ndead.\u201d In Catholic Rome, worshippers prostrated themselves before images\nof departed saints. The old Roman Pantheon, which was dedicated by Agrippa\n\u201cto Jove, _and all the gods_,\u201d was re-consecrated by Pope Boniface IV.,\nabout A. D. 610, \u201c_to the blessed Virgin and all the saints_.\u201d As in the\nold pagan temple, any stranger could find the god of his own country; so\nin its re-consecrated state, each country could find its patron saint.\nOther temples were changed and re-consecrated in the same manner. The\nancient statue of Jupiter stands now as the statue of St. Peter. The\npagans had their vestal virgins; the Papists their nuns.\n\nDr. Middleton, who visited Rome in 1729, says:\n\n\u201cNothing, I found, concurred so much with my original intention of\nconversing with the ancients; or so much helped my imagination, to find\nmyself wandering about in old heathen Rome, as to observe and attend to\ntheir religious worship; all whose ceremonies appear plainly to have been\ncopied from the rituals of primitive Paganism: as if handed down by an\nuninterrupted succession from the priests of old, to the priests of new\nRome, whilst each of them readily explained, and called to mind some\npassages of a classic author, where the same ceremony was described, as\ntransacted in the same form and manner, and in the same place where I now\nsaw it executed before my eyes.\u201d\u2014_Dowl. Hist. of Rom._, p. 114.\n\nSays Mr. Lord:\n\n\u201cAfter a struggle of more than four centuries, the ecclesiastics of all\nthe hierarchies in the empire were united in one vast organization, with\nthe pontiff as their supreme legislative and judicial head, and a single\necclesiastical government was established over the whole Roman church,\nafter the model of the civil government of the ancient empire under\nConstantine and his successors. It is, accordingly, denominated by\nCatholics themselves a monarchy. \u2018All Catholic doctors agree in this, that\nthe ecclesiastical government committed to men by God is a\nmonarchy.\u2019\u2014_Bellarmini de Rom. Pont._, lib. i., c. v. Bellarmine devotes\nhis first book \u2018of the Pontiff\u2019 to prove that such is and ought to be its\ngovernment. \u2018If the monarchical is the best form of government, as we have\nshown, and it is certain that the church of God instituted by Christ its\nhead, who is supremely wise, ought to be governed in the best manner, who\ncan deny that its rule ought to be monarchical?\u2019\u2014_Ib._, i., c. ix., p.\n527.\n\n\u201cThe canonists are accustomed, accordingly, to denominate the Pope a king.\n\n\u201cThe pontiffs were as absolutely the legislative and judicial head of this\necclesiastical kingdom, as the emperors from Constantine to Augustulus\nwere of the civil empire, and imposed whatever laws they pleased on\nsubordinate ecclesiastics and on the church by decrees, in the same manner\nas those emperors enacted laws by edicts. The decrees, bulls of\ncanonization, sentences, charters, and other legislative and judicial acts\nof the pontiffs, from Gregory VII., in 1073, to Benedict XIV., in 1757,\ncollected in the Bullarium Magnum, fill nineteen folios. Many others are\ncontained in the decretals and councils.\n\n\u201cThey appointed to all ecclesiastical offices throughout the empire, as\nthe Christian emperors appointed to all civil and military offices in\ntheir dominions.\n\n\u201cThey exacted oaths of fidelity from all whom they advanced to important\noffices; as the emperors exacted engagements of fidelity from their civil\nmagistrates.\n\n\u201cThey established courts in which all violations of their laws were tried,\nand a tribunal at the capital for the decision of appeals. There were\ngradations of rank in the hierarchy, like those of the magistrates of the\ncivil empire. The hierarchies, as nationalized by Constantine, were formed\nin each patriarchate, after the model of the civil government in the\nprovinces. The hierarchy of the western kingdoms, under the Pope, was\nformed after that pattern; having archbishops or metropolitans at the head\nof the clergy of each nation, or large district, and bishops, abbots, and\na long catalogue of subordinate ranks, under each metropolitan.\n\n\u201cThey levied taxes for their support on ecclesiastics and laics.\n\n\u201cThey inflicted ecclesiastical penalties on the violators of their laws;\nexclusion from communion, suspension from office, deposition,\nexcommunication, and a sentence of eternal death.\u201d\u2014_Exp. of Apoc._, pp.\n429-432.\n\nThese, with many other striking resemblances, demonstrate that the Roman\nhierarchy, in all its great features, was a counterpart to imperial\nRome\u2014an image of, and belonging to, the seven-headed, ten-horned monster,\nwhose deadly wound was healed.\n\nLife was to be given to this image by the two-horned beast. The papal\nhierarchy is created when its supremacy over other churches is declared\nand _sustained_; and the power by which this is done, is that which gives\nlife to it. This was done, according to the following history, by the\nEastern empire.\n\nThe power of the papacy, symbolized by the image, had been predicted in\nDaniel under the symbol of \u201ca Little Horn,\u201d that came up among the\nprevious \u201cten horns,\u201d before whom \u201cthere were three of the first horns\nplucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes\nof man, and a mouth speaking great things,\u201d Dan. 7:8. These horns were\nthus explained to Daniel: \u201cThe fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom\nupon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the\nwhole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten\nhorns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another\nshall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he\nshall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most\nHigh, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change\ntimes and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and\ntimes and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall\ntake away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And 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, whose\nkingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey\nhim.\u201d _Ib._ vs. 23-27.\n\nWhen Paul spoke of the second coming of Christ, in his first epistle to\nthe Thessalonians, they understood that it was an event then imminent. The\napostle, in his second epistle, corrects this impression, by referring to\nthe foregoing prediction in Daniel, which must be previously fulfilled. He\nassures them that \u201cthe day of Christ\u201d \u201cshall not come, except there be\u201d an\napostasy, or \u201ca falling away first, and that Man of Sin,\u201d or the lawless\none, \u201cbe revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself\nabove all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God,\nsitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye\nnot, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye\nknow what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the\nmystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let,\nuntil he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed,\nwhom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall\ndestroy with the brightness of his coming,\u201d 2 Thess. 2:2-8.\n\nThe uniform application of these predictions to the Papacy, by Protestant\nwriters, renders it unnecessary to argue this point. That power began\nearly to be manifested, but its full development was \u201clet,\u201d _i.e._,\nhindered, by the continuance of the Western empire, which had to be taken\nout of its way. Tertullian, near the close of the second century, in\nexpounding those words, says: \u201cWho can this be but the Roman state, the\ndivision of which into ten kingdoms will bring on Antichrist?\u201d And he\ngives as a reason why the Christians of his time prayed for the Roman\nempire: that _the greatest calamity hanging over the world was retarded by\nthe continuance of it_. Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century applied\nthe passage in the same manner, and says:\n\n\u201cThus the predicted Antichrist will come when the times of the Roman\nempire shall be fulfilled, and the consummation of the world shall\napproach. Ten kings of the Romans shall arise together, in different\nplaces indeed, but they shall reign at the same time. Among these the\neleventh is Antichrist, who, by magical and wicked artifice, shall seize\nthe Roman power.\u201d A large number of the ancient fathers interpreted this\ntext in the same manner.\n\nIn A. D. 257, 1260 years before the time of Luther, Stephen, Bishop of\nRome, began to act the pope in good earnest,\u2014excommunicating those who\ndissented from the doctrines of Rome.\n\nIn 312, 1260 years before the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572,\nConstantine became Emperor of Rome, embraced Christianity, and terminated\nthe last and bloodiest of the Pagan persecutions\u2014that of Diocletian, which\nhad continued ten years. Constantine undertook to remodel the church, in\nconformity to the government of the state, and the unhallowed union of the\ntwo resulted in the dignities of patriarchs, exarchs, archbishops, canons,\nprebendaries, &c., which he endowed with wealth and worldly honors.\n\nWhile paganism was superseded by Christianity under Constantine, its\nceremonies were not suppressed. The senate was still pagan; and \u201cthe\ntitle, the ensigns, and the prerogatives of Sovereign Pontiff, which had\nbeen instituted by Numa, and assumed by Augustus, were accepted, without\nhesitation, by seven Christian emperors.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon_, v. 2, p. 183. Gratian\nbecame emperor, A. D. 376, and was the first who refused the pontifical\nrobe. In 378, he invested Theodosius with the Empire of the East; under\ntheir rule paganism was \u201cwholly extirpated,\u201d and the senate was suddenly\nconverted.\u2014_Ib._ That which hindered was thus taken out of the way. In\n378, also, Gratian refusing the office, Damasus, the Bishop of Rome, was\n\u201cdeclared Pontifix Maximus,\u201d(4) and made \u201cthe sole judge in religious\nmatters.\u201d All who would not adhere to the religion \u201cprofessed by the\nPontiff Damasus, and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria,\u201d were declared\nheretics.\u2014_Gibbon_, v. 2, p. 156. Damasus, by virtue of his power,\nintroduced the worship of the saints, and of Mary, \u201cthe mother of\nGod,\u201d\u2014excommunicating those who dissented. Thus the apostasy, by adopting\nthe gods of the heathen, and the name of the heathen pontiff, began to be\nset up, and the excommunicated church disappeared in the wilderness.\n\nIn the ninth century a document was produced, which claimed to be a deed\nof gift from Constantine to the Pope, dated A. D. 324, ceding him the city\nof Rome and all Italy, with the crown, the mitre, &c.; but the forgery of\nthis has been fully exposed. With the removal of the capital of the world\nto Constantinople, the empire began to decline; but the church augmented\nas fast. A provisional synod at Sardica, in A. D. 344, and a decree of the\nEmperor Valentinian III., in 445, had acknowledged the Bishop of Rome as\nthe primate of the five patriarchs, and as the last tribunal of appeal\nfrom the other bishops; but the edicts of the Pope were often disregarded\nand opposed, and he continued subject to the civil power till the\nsubversion of the Western empire by Odoacer, King of the Heruli, in A. D.\n476.\n\nThe ten kingdoms which had arisen on the ruins of the Western empire (p.\n169), had nearly all embraced Christianity, corrupted by Arianism. And the\nbarbarians transferred to their Christian instructors, the profound\nsubmission and reverence which they were accustomed to yield to the\nteachers of paganism,\u2014many of the rites and ceremonies of which had been\nincorporated into the Catholic service. Ecclesiastical courts were\nestablished, in which were tried all questions relating to character,\noffice, or property of the clergy; and thus they became nearly independent\nof the civil judges.\n\nThe Heruli, which was the first of the ten horns plucked up, were\nconquered by the Ostrogoths, in A. D. 493, when all Italy submitted to\nTheodoric. He fixed his capital at Ravenna, which left the Pope the only\nPrince of Rome; and the Romans, for protection, were forced to pay more\ndeference to him.\n\nAbout A. D. 500, two Popes were simultaneously elected, when Theodoric\ngave the papal chair to Symmachus. Gross crimes being alleged against him\nby the defeated party, the king summoned a council in A. D. 503 to\ninvestigate the charges; and he was acquitted. The other party being\ndissatisfied, Ennodius, Bishop Ticonum, drew up an apology for the Pope\nand council, in which, for the first time, the Pope was styled a \u201cJudge in\nthe place of God, and Vicegerent of the Most High;\u201d and \u201csubject to no\nearthly tribunal.\u201d Thus did the Lawless One attempt, \u201cas God,\u201d to \u201csit in\nthe temple of God.\u201d\n\nIn A. D. 533, Justinian, Emperor at Constantinople, being about to attack\nthe Vandals in Africa, and wishing first to settle the religious disputes\nof his capital in which he felt a great interest, he submitted the\ncontroversy to the primate of Rome. To induce a decision in his own favor,\nor to give force to it, he acknowledged the Bishop of Rome the Chief of\nthe whole Ecclesiastical body of the empire; and thus addressed him, in a\nletter sent by two distinguished prelates:\u2014\n\n\n    \u201cJustinian, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant emperor,\n    consul, &c., to John, the most holy Archbishop of our city of\n    Rome, and patriarch.\n\n\n    \u201cRendering honor to the Apostolic chair, and to your Holiness, as\n    has been always and is our wish, and honoring your blessedness as\n    a father; we have hastened to bring to the knowledge of your\n    Holiness all matters relating to the state of the churches. It\n    having been at all times our great desire to preserve the unity of\n    your Apostolic chair, and the constitution of the holy churches of\n    God which has obtained hitherto, and still obtains.\n\n\n    \u201cTherefore we have made no delay in subjecting and uniting to your\n    Holiness all the priests of the whole East.\n\n\n    \u201cFor this reason we have thought fit to bring to your notice the\n    present matters of disturbance; though they are manifest and\n    unquestionable, and always firmly held and declared by the whole\n    priesthood according to the doctrine of your Apostolic chair. For\n    we cannot suffer that anything which relates to the state of the\n    Church, however manifest and unquestionable, should be moved,\n    without the knowledge of your Holiness, who are The Head of all\n    the Holy Churches, for in all things, as we have already declared,\n    we are anxious to increase the honor and authority of your\n    Apostolic chair.\u201d\n\n\nSays Dr. Croly:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe emperor\u2019s letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533.\nFor, in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been\nalready despatched, and repeats his decision, that all affairs touching\nthe church shall be referred to the Pope, \u2018head of all bishops, and the\ntrue and effective corrector of heretics.\u2019\n\n\u201cIn the same month of the following year, 534, the Pope returned an answer\nrepeating the language of the emperor, applauding his homage to the See,\nand adopting the titles of the imperial mandate. He observes that, among\nthe virtues of Justinian, \u2018one shines as a star, his reverence for the\nApostolic chair, to which he has subjected and united all the churches, it\nbeing truly the head of all; and was testified by the rules of the\nfathers, the laws of the princes, and the declarations of the emperor\u2019s\npiety.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe authenticity of the title receives unanswerable proof from the edicts\nin the \u2018Novell\u00e6\u2019 of the Justinian code.\n\n\u201cThe preamble of the 9th states that \u2018as the elder Rome was the founder of\nthe laws, so was it not to be questioned that in her was the supremacy of\nthe pontificate.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe 131st, on the ecclesiastical titles and privileges, chapter II.\nstates: \u2018We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome is\nthe first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of\nConstantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank after the holy\nApostolic chair of the elder Rome.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe supremacy of the Pope had by those mandates and edicts received the\nfullest sanction that could be given by the authority of the master of the\nRoman world. However worthless the motives, the act was done, authentic\nand unquestionable, sanctioned by all the forms of state, and never\nabrogated,\u2014the act of the first potentate in the world. If the supremacy\nover the church of God had been for man to give, it might have been given\nby the unrivalled sovereignty of Justinian.\n\n\u201cFrom this era the church of Rome dates the earthly acknowledgment of her\nclaim. Its heavenly authority is referred to the remoter source of the\napostles.\u201d\u2014_Apoc._, pp. 14-16, 30, 31.\n\nThe war against the Vandals was vigorously prosecuted by Belisarius,\nJustinian\u2019s general, and resulted in their conquest the same year. Thus\nwas the second of the first ten divisions of the empire subjugated: the\nsecond horn was plucked up.\n\nRome was still in possession of an Arian monarch, who was the bitter enemy\nof the Catholic church. Intelligence of the success of Belisarius in\nAfrica reached the emperor, Dec. 16th, A. D. 533. \u201cImpatient to abolish\nthe temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, without\ndelay, _to the full establishment of the Catholic church_.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon_,\nHarpers\u2019 ed., v. 3, p. 67. Belisarius proceeded to the conquest of Italy,\nwhich he effected, and marched on to Rome. Only 4000 soldiers were\nstationed for its defence; and they could not oppose the wishes of the\nRomans, who voluntarily submitted. Seized with a momentary enthusiasm,\n\u201cthey furiously exclaimed that the apostolic throne should no longer be\nprofaned by the triumph or toleration of Arianism; that the tombs of the\nC\u00e6sars should no longer be trampled on by the savages of the north; and\nwithout reflecting that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople,\nthey fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era of\nfreedom and prosperity. The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the senate\nand people, invited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary\nallegiance, and to enter the city.\u201d Thus was \u201cthe city, after sixty years\u2019\nservitude delivered from the yoke of the barbarians,\u201d Dec. 10, A. D. 536.\nAnd \u201cthe Catholics prepared to celebrate, without a rival, the approaching\nfestival of the nativity of Christ.\u201d\u2014_Ib._ p. 80.\n\nIn the winter, the Ostrogoths made preparations, and besieged Rome with an\narmy of 150,000 fighting men. Pope Sylverius was suspected of treachery,\nand on proof that he had communicated with the enemy, he was banished by\nBelisarius. At the emperor\u2019s command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the\nchoice of a new bishop, and elected \u201cdeacon Virgilius, who had purchased\nthe papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold.\u201d\u2014_Ib._ p. 85.\nAs he had obtained the papal seat by fraud, it was claimed that he was not\nthe lawful Pope; but in A. D. 538, he was owned as such by the 5th General\nCouncil, and the whole Christian world.\u2014See Bowers\u2019 _Hist. Popes_, v. 2,\np. 374. In March of this year (538),\u2014after \u201cone year and nine days\u201d\u2014the\nOstrogoths raised the siege of Rome, and burned their tents\u2014one-third of\ntheir number having perished under its walls. The arms of Justinian\ntriumphed, and the Catholic hierarchy was established. The third horn had\nbeen plucked up by the fall of the third of the first ten divisions of\nRome.\n\nThe Bishop of Constantinople did not submit willingly to the Primacy of\nRome. On the death of Justinian, the supremacy of the Pope was utterly\ndenied; and, in A. D. 588, John, Bishop of Constantinople, himself assumed\nthe coveted title of \u201cUniversal Bishop.\u201d The Roman bishop, Gregory the\nGreat, indignant at this usurpation, denounced him as a \u201cusurper, aiming\nat supremacy over the whole church,\u201d and declared that whoever claims such\nsupremacy \u201chas the pride and character of _Antichrist_.\u201d\n\nBoniface succeeded to the Roman See, and in the following year, A. D. 606,\nonly two years after Gregory\u2019s death, applied to Phocas,\u2014who had ascended\nthe throne of Constantinople by the murder of the Emperor Mauritius,\u2014for\nthe same blasphemous title, with the privilege of continuing it to his\nsuccessors. His request was granted, the Eastern Bishop was forbidden its\nuse, and the Primate of Rome was again acknowledged as \u201cUniversal Bishop,\u201d\nand the unrivalled \u201cHead of all the churches.\u201d This title has been worn by\nall the succeeding Popes; \u201cbut the highest authority,\u201d says Dr. Croly,\n\u201camong the civilians and annalists of Rome, spurn the idea that Phocas was\nthe founder of the supremacy of Rome. They ascend to Justinian as the only\nlegitimate source, and rightly date the title from the memorable year\n533.\u201d\u2014_Apoc._ p. 117.\n\nIn A. D. 730, Emperor Leo issued an edict for the destruction of all\nimages used in religious worship. From that time the Pope scorned his\nauthority, and acted in defiance of the emperor\u2019s will, who found himself\nunable to compel the Pope to obey the edict.\n\nThe Papacy thus defied all human authority; but did not as yet attempt the\nexercise of political power.\n\nIn A. D. 756, Pepin, the usurper of the crown of France, compelled the\nKing of Lombardy to cede the exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope, \u201cto be\nforever held and possessed by St. Peter and his lawful successors in the\nSee of Rome.\u201d The Pope had now become a temporal prince, and one of the\nkings of the earth. In A. D. 774, Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin,\nconfirmed the former gift, and in addition, subjugated the Lombards, and\nannexed a large portion of their kingdom and the Duchy of Rome to the\nRoman See. In A. D. 817, Louis the Pious, granted \u201cSt. Peter\u2019s patrimony\u201d\nto the Pope and his successors, \u201cin their own right, principality, and\ndominion, unto the end of the world.\u201d Hence, as a temporal prince, the\nPope wears a triple crown.\n\nIn A. D. 800, Charlemagne was solemnly crowned and proclaimed emperor by\nthe Pope, having reduced under his sway nearly the whole of Europe. From\nthis time the Popes claimed superiority to all kings and emperors,\nreceived homage from them, and exercised all the rights of sovereignty;\nbut they were nominally dependent on the Emperors of the West till A. D.\n1278, when the Emperor Rudolph released the people of the Papal States\nfrom all allegiance they might still owe to the imperial crown. This act\nwas confirmed by the electors and princes of the empire. The Popes, in the\ngreatness of their power, crowned and uncrowned kings at their pleasure,\nabsolved subjects from all allegiance to their rulers, excommunicated\nwhoever they would, and compelled secular princes to put to death\nheretics.\n\nIn A. D. 1294, Boniface VIII. became Pope. From his accession Hallam dates\nthe decline of the Papacy, which, for \u201cmore than two centuries, had been\non throne of the earth, and reigned despot of the world.\u201d\u2014_Dowling_. This\nwas 1260 years from the death of Peter,\u2014the earliest time from which they\ncan date. His bull of excommunication against Philip of France, being\ndisregarded by that monarch, who adroitly made the Pope his prisoner, his\nrage brought on a fever, which caused his death. Only a few succeeding\npontiffs claimed, and none attempted to enforce, the prerogatives\nexercised by the preceding Popes. For seventy years the successors of\nBoniface resided at Avignon, in France, and paid great deference to the\nmonarch of that country. After this was the Western schism, which divided\nthe church for forty years,\u2014two rival Popes claiming the mitre, and\nthundering out their anathemas against each other. These events greatly\nweakened the Papacy. About this time appeared Wickliffe and Huss, and\nJerome of Prague; and still later, in 1517, Martin Luther, in opposition\nto the Papal pretensions, published his Thesis against Indulgences, 1260\nyears from the time of the arrogance of Pope Stephen.\n\nIn A. D. 1572, 1260 years from the removal of Constantine from Rome to\nConstantinople, occurred the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew, when in\none day 5000 Protestants were murdered in Paris, and in the same\nproportion in other parts of France. The persecutions of the Papists\ncontinued till near the close of the last century; and as late as\nNovember, 1781, a woman was burned alive by the Inquisition in Spain.\n\nIn 1793, 1260 years from Justinian\u2019s letter to the Pope, the Papal church,\nwith all religion, was entirely suppressed in France. And in 1798, which\nwas the same length of time from the establishment of the papacy, by the\nconquest of the Ostrogoths,\u2014the plucking up of the last of the three horns\nin 538, Gen. Berthier entered Rome, compelled the Pope to flee, and\nterminated the Papal government.\n\nThe temporal power was afterwards restored; but in 1848, twelve hundred\nand sixty years from 588 when John assumed the title of Universal Bishop,\nthe Pope again fled from his throne. Two years subsequently, he was again\nrestored.\n\n\u201cFlacius, in his \u2018Catalogue of Witnesses,\u2019 represented the twelve hundred\nand sixty days as having commenced in 606;\u201d and Scott, and several others,\nreckon them from the same epoch.\n\n4. The image had power to speak. It thus filled the office of the \u201cmouth,\u201d\nwhich was given to the ten-horned beast (v. 5), which synchronizes with\nthe view taken of that appendage, p. 172.\n\n5. It should _cause_ the infliction of death on those who should refuse to\nworship. The worship it would exact, is doubtless of the kind bestowed on\nthe wild beast, 13:4. The Papal hierarchy claimed to be infallible and\ninvincible, and to have power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven;\nthose who refused to recognize its claims, if incorrigible, were punished\nwith death.\n\nThe Image was not to put to death, but would _cause_ them to be killed.\nThe symbolization corresponds with the fulfilment in this particular. The\necclesiastical officials punished rebellious subjects, by delivering them\nover to the civil arm; which punished heretics according to the will of\nthe Papacy. \u201cLucius III. and Innocent III. by formal decrees required them\nto be seized, condemned, and delivered by the civil magistrates, to be\ncapitally punished; and enjoined the princes and magistrates to execute on\nthem the sentences denounced by the canon and civil laws.\u201d\u2014_Lord\u2019s Exp. of\nApoc._, p. 434. This is substantiated by Bellarmini and other writers.\nCivil rulers, who refused to enforce the decrees of the councils, were\nanathematized, excommunicated, and often deprived of their political\npower. When the Papacy has been reminded of the numbers killed and\notherwise punished for alleged heresy, she has replied that the civil\npower, and not the church, has done this! She, however, has caused the\nkings of the earth to execute her wishes.\n\n6. The image would cause all to receive the _mark_ of the Beast. A mark is\na token of recognition. Slaves, soldiers, and the devotees of various\ngods, were thus identified on their hands or foreheads, both before and\nafter the time of St. John\u2014slaves by the name of the Emperor on their\nforehead, and soldiers by his name on their hand. Mr. Elliott proves this\nby quotations from Valerius, Maximus, \u00c6lian, Ambrose, and others. The\ndevotees of particular gods gained admittance to the secret meetings of\nthe worshippers of their respective deity, by a _mark_ by which they\nidentified each other. At the present day the Hindoos are marked on the\nforehead by the hieroglyphic of the god they are consecrated to.\n\nThe mark of the beast, is its _name_, or the _number_ of its name. The\nancients often used numbers to indicate names. \u201cAmong the Pagans, the\nEgyptian mystics spoke of Mercury, or Thouth, under the number 1218,\nbecause the Greek letters composing the name Thouth, when estimated\naccording to their numerical value, together made up that number. By\nothers, Jupiter was invoked under the mystical number 717; because the\nletters of \u1f29 \u0391\u03a1\u03a7\u0397, _the beginning_, or _first origin_, which was a\ncharacteristic title of the supreme deity worshipped as Jupiter, made up\nthat number: and Apollo under the number 608, as being that of \u03b7\u03c5\u03c2, or\n\u03c5\u03b7\u03c2, words expressing certain solar attributes. Again, the\npseudo-Christian or semi-pagan Gnostics, from St. John\u2019s time downwards,\naffixed to their gems and amulets, of which multitudes remain even to the\npresent day, the mystic word \u03c3\u03b2\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03b1\u03be, or \u03b1\u03b2\u03c1\u03b1\u03be\u03b1\u03c2, under the idea of some\nmagic virtue attaching to its number 365, as being that of the days of the\nannual solar circle; and equal moreover with that of \u039c\u03b5\u03b9\u03b8\u03c1\u03b1\u03c2, or Mithras,\nthe Magian name for the sun, whom they identified also with Christ. Once\nmore, the Christian fathers themselves fell into the same fancies, and\ndoctrine of mysteriousness in certain verbal numbers. For example, both\nBarnabas and Clement of Alexandria speak of the virtue of the number 318\nas being that of \u0399\u0397\u03a4 the common abbreviation for Jesus crucified; and\npartly ascribe to its magical virtue the victory which Abraham gained with\nhis 318 servants over the Canaanitish kings. Similarly Tertullian refers\nthe victory of Gideon, with his 300 men, to the circumstance of that being\nthe precise number of \u03a4, the sign of the cross. In the name of Adam, St.\nCyprian discerned a mysterious numeral affinity to certain characteristics\nin the life and history of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Iren\u00e6us notes\nthe remarkable number 888 of the name \u0399\u03b7\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, Jesus. And in the\npseudo-Sibylline verses, written by Christians about the end, probably, of\nthe second century, and consequently not long after Iren\u00e6us, we find\nenigmas proposed of precisely the same characters as that in the text;\u2014the\nnumber being given, and the name required.\u201d\u2014_Elliott\u2019s Hor\u00e6 Apoc._, vol.\niii., pp. 204-6.\n\nThe \u201cnumber of the beast\u201d is indicated in the text by the Greek letters\n\u201c\u03c7\u03be\u03c2\u201d which were severally used to represent the numbers 600, 60 and 6,\nmaking 666. As the name of the beast is equivalent to this number, the\nletters in it will represent numbers which amount to six hundred\nthreescore and six.\n\nAfter the division of the Roman empire, the western kingdom adopted for\nitself the name of the Latin kingdom; and its subdivisions were called the\nLatin kingdoms. The church connected with those kingdoms was also\nemphatically called the Latin church. Says Dr. More: \u201cThey Latinize\neverything. Mass, prayers, hymns, litanies, canons, decretals, bulls, are\nconceived in Latin. The Papal councils speak in Latin. Women pray in\nLatin. The Scriptures are read in no other language under the Papacy than\nLatin. In short, all things are Latin.\u201d The Council of Trent declared the\nLatin Vulgate to be the only authentic version of the Scriptures; and\ntheir doctors have preferred it to the Hebrew and Greek text, written by\nprophets and apostles.\n\nThis Latin kingdom is the only one that ever corresponded to the\ncharacteristics of the beast. And its name\u2014_Latinos_ in the Greek, and\n_Romiith_ in the Hebrew\u2014is equivalent to the required number.\n\n\u201cThe Greek and Hebrew letters composing the words \u05e8\u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05d9\u05ea,\n_Romiith_\u2014\u05e8\u05de\u05e2\u05e0\u05d5\u05e9, _Romanus_\u2014\u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, _Latinos_, each of them making in\nnumerals exactly 666, plainly point out not only his name, and the number\nof his name, but also the _mark_ of his _name_; as for example:\n\nin \u05e8 \u05d5 \u05de \u05d9 \u05d9 \u05ea _Romiith_; so likewise\n400 10 10 40 6 200 = 666\n\u05e8 \u05de \u05e2 \u05e0 \u05d5 \u05e9 _Romanus_; and also\n300 6 50 70 40 200 = 666\nthe Greek \u03bb \u03b1 \u03c4 \u03b5 \u03b9 \u03bd \u03bf \u03c2 _Latinos_,\n30 1 300 5 10 50 70 200 = 666.\n\nin each of which the exact mark is contained.\n\n\u201cIt therefore evidently appears, that each name is both a mark and a\nnumber; a mark, when viewed as made up of so many letters, therefore\ncalled the mark of his name; a number, when viewed as made up of so many\nnumerals, then called the number of his name. But when considered merely\nas a name, derived from _Romiith_, a Roman, or _Romulus_, the founder of\nRome, a name common among men, it may then be properly called the _mark,\nor number of a man_.\u201d\u2014_Fleming\u2019s Rise and Fall of Papacy._\n\nTo receive the mark of the beast, would be an acknowledgment of subjection\nto it. The connection of the beast and its image was so intimate, that\nsubmission to the one, was virtual submission to the other. To submit to\nthe rites of the church modelled after the wild beast, to profess its\nfaith, and to honor its authority, would be a reception of its mark. And\nall persons were compelled to do this, and give evidence of submission to\nits authority on the peril of their lives.\n\n7. Those who should refuse the mark of the beast, were to be prohibited\nfrom buying and selling. The Lateran Council under Pope Alexander II.,\npassed an act forbidding any to harbor heretics in their houses or to\ntrade with them. The Synod of Tours passed a law that no one should assist\nthem, \u201cno, not so much as to exercise commerce with them in _selling_ or\n_buying_.\u201d(5)\u2014_Elliott._ In 1179, the third Lateran Council sentenced\ncertain heretics, \u201ctheir defenders and harborers, to an anathema, and\nforbid, under an anathema, that any should presume to keep them in their\nhouse, or on their lands, sustain them, or transact any business with\nthem.\u201d\u2014_Lord._ \u201cIt was just the same fearful penalty of interdict from\nbuying and selling, traffic and intercourse, that had been inculcated long\nbefore by the Pagan Dragon\u2019s representative Diocletian, against the early\nChristians.\u201d\u2014_Elliott._\n\nSo exact a correspondence between the wild beast and the Western kingdoms,\nthe two-horned beast and the Eastern empire, and the image to the wild\nbeast and the Roman Hierarchy, makes the symbolization of this chapter\nvery intelligible. These three agencies will severally continue till the\nend of the world. The latter will be destroyed by the brightness of\nChrist\u2019s coming (2 Thess. 2:8), and the two former will then be taken and\n\u201ccast alive into the lake of fire,\u201d 19:20.\n\nThe vision would have been defective without a representation of the end\nof those who refuse to worship the beast, or its image, or to receive\ntheir mark, and who, although warred against and overcome by the beast,\nshould maintain their integrity to Christ. Accordingly the revelator has a\nview of:\n\n\n\n\nThe Redeemed on Mount Zion.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I looked, and behold a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with\n    him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the\n    name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice\n    from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of\n    loud thunder: and the voice which I heard was like that of harpers\n    playing with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song\n    before the throne, and before the four living beings, and the\n    elders: and no one could learn the song except the hundred and\n    forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are\n    they, who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These\n    are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goeth. These were\n    redeemed from among men, the first fruit to God and to the Lamb.\n    And in their mouth no lie was found for they are faultless.\u201d\u2014Rev.\n    14:1-5.\n\n\nThe Lamb is shown by the connection to be Christ,\u2014here called by one of\nhis metaphorical names.\n\nThe Mount Zion, doubtless, symbolizes the place where, in the\nregeneration, the Lord will reign with his saints\u2014_i.e._ in the new earth.\n\u201cThe Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,\u201d Micah 4:7.\u2014\u201cAnd they sung\na new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the\nseals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy\nblood out of every kindred and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast\nmade us kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,\u201d 5:9,10.\u2014\u201cAnd\nI saw a new heavens and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first\nearth were passed away.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven,\nsaying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with\nthem, and they shall, be his people, and God himself shall be with them\nand be their God,\u201d 21:1-3.\n\nThe names of Mount Zion, and Jerusalem, were both used to denote the city\nwhich the Lord chose above all the goodly places of earth to put his name\nthere. It is proper to designate the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, by\nall the names which were applied to the old. The king is to be set upon\nthe holy hill of Zion\u2014\u201cWalk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the\ntowers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces,\u201d Psa.\n48:12, 13. \u201cWhen the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory,\u201d\n_Ib._ 102:16. \u201cFor the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his\nhabitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired\nit,\u201d _Ib._ 132:13, 14. \u201cFor the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort\nall her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her\ndesert like the garden of the Lord; and joy and gladness shall be found\ntherein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.... Therefore the redeemed\nof the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting\njoy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and\nsorrow and mourning shall flee away.\u201d Isa. 51:3-11. \u201cAwake, awake, put on\nthy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy\ncity; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised\nand the unclean.... How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him\nthat bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good\ntidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, \u2018Thy God\nreigneth!\u2019 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together\nshall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring\nagain Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of\nJerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed\nJerusalem.\u201d _Ib._ 52:1-9. \u201cAnd the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto\nthem that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.\u201d _Ib._ 59:20.\n\nThe standing of the Lamb on Mount Zion, symbolizes an epoch when Christ\nshall assume a corresponding relation to his people. He there appears in\nperson; and \u201cwhen Christ who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye\nalso appear with him in glory,\u201d Col. 3:4. It will not be till he shall\nhave judged \u201cthe quick and the dead at his appearing,\u201d (2 Tim. 4:1), that\n\u201cthe redeemed from among men\u201d will \u201cfollow the Lamb whithersoever he\ngoeth.\u201d\n\nThe 144,000, who are with Christ, correspond with the number which are\nsealed, \u201cof all the tribes of the children of Israel,\u201d (7:4); and they are\ndoubtless the same persons, who, under the sixth seal, are designated,\namong all denominations of Christians, by the mark of the living God. They\nare there shown to be the godly, who shall be alive on the earth at\nChrist\u2019s coming and shall then be changed, and, with the risen dead,\ncaught up to meet him in the air.\n\nThe sealing process there symbolized, is here shown to be the inscribing\nof the Father\u2019s name on their foreheads. The subjects of the beast and its\nimage, receive its mark; but the children of God and the Lamb, are\ndesignated instead, by the name of the Father.\n\nThe voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, with the voice of\nharpers, is the singing of the new song which none but the 144,000 could\nlearn. Those who are translated at Christ\u2019s coming, will be favored above\nall, save two, who will have lived on the earth, insomuch as they will\nhave been redeemed from the earth without being subjected to death.\n\nThese sing in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders,\nwho symbolize those who also are redeemed from among men and will reign on\nthe earth, 5:8-10. Consequently those must symbolize the resurrected dead,\nwith whom the 144,000 will be ushered into the Lord\u2019s presence, 1 Thess.\n4:16, 17. The two bodies of the redeemed, are therefore both represented\nwith the Lord on Mount Zion.\n\nTheir not being defiled with women, probably implies that they were not\nguilty of idolatry, which is represented by that figure, Ezek. 16:15. They\nhad not submitted to the wiles of the woman seated on the scarlet-colored\nbeast, (17:3); had not worshipped the beast or its image (14:9), and had\nbeen true to their Divine Sovereign.\n\nThey follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. All the redeemed will\ndoubtless thus follow the Lamb, for of all the \u201cgreat multitude which no\nman could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues,\u201d\nwho stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed \u201cwith white\nrobes, and palms in their hands,\u201d (7:9)\u2014it was said: \u201cThe Lamb which is in\nthe midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living\nfountains of water,\u201d 7:17.\n\nThose who are redeemed from among men, are called the \u201cfirst fruits unto\nGod and to the Lamb.\u201d They are not necessarily first fruits of the\nredeemed, to distinguish them from others of the redeemed, but are first\nfruits of the race: \u201cOf his own will begat he us with the word of truth,\nthat we should be a kind of _first fruits_ of his creatures,\u201d James 1:18.\nBy his resurrection from the dead, Christ became \u201cthe first fruits of them\nthat slept,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:20. And at his coming there is to be a \u201cfirst\nresurrection\u201d (20:6), when the bodies of the saints will \u201cbe fashioned\nlike unto his glorious body\u201d (Phil. 3:21), and thus become the first\nfruits with their risen Head. Those who come up at the second resurrection\nwill not attain to that beatific state.\n\nThey are faultless, and without guile. They are not perfect by reason of\nany inherent goodness in themselves; for \u201call we like sheep have gone\nastray ... and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all,\u201d Isa. 53:6.\nThe redeemed church will be faultless, because its members will be\nsanctified and cleansed by the blood of Christ. Such will constitute \u201ca\nglorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ... holy\nand without blemish,\u201d Eph. 5:27. While \u201cthe nations of them which are\nsaved shall walk in the light\u201d of the New Jerusalem, and shall \u201cbring\ntheir glory and honor into it,\u201d there \u201cshall in no wise enter into it\nanything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh\na lie: but they which are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life,\u201d 21:24-27.\n\n\u201cThere awaiteth at the end\nSuch a home, and such a Friend,\nSuch a crown, and such a throne,\nSuch a harp of heavenly tone,\nSuch companions, such employ,\nSuch a world of hallowed joy!\u201d\u2014_Bunyan._\n\n\n\n\nThe Angel of the Everlasting Gospel.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the\n    everlasting good news to preach to those dwelling on the earth,\n    and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying\n    with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of\n    his judgment is come: and worship him who made the heaven, and the\n    earth, and the sea, and fountains of water!\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:6, 7.\n\n\nThe era symbolized by the flight of this angel, has been applied, by\ndifferent writers to the epoch of the Reformation, to that of modern\nmissions, &c. The view here taken, is that it synchronizes with the\npreaching of the gospel to the Gentiles.\n\nThe angel flying through the midst of heaven, doubtless symbolizes a body\nof men conspicuous for their position, energetic in their movements,\nextensive in their operations, and urgent in their proclamation,\u2014whose\nteachings correspond with this announcement of the angel.\n\nThe message they bear is that of the everlasting gospel \u03b5\u03c5\u03b1\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd,\n(_evangelion_)\u2014which is, literally, the good news, the glad tidings; that\nwhich brings \u201clife and immortality to light,\u201d 2 Tim. 1:10. It is a message\nwhich foreshadows the resurrection and coming judgment at Christ\u2019s\nappearing; and is therefore called \u201cthe gospel of the kingdom,\u201d (Matt.\n4:23);\u2014the good news of the glorious kingdom of the Son of God.\n\nIt is the preaching of the _everlasting_ gospel which is thus symbolized.\nIt is no _new_ gospel; for, \u201cthe Scripture foreseeing that God would\njustify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto\nAbraham,\u2014saying: In thee shall all nations be blessed,\u201d Gal. 3:8. And not\nAbraham alone, but all the fathers \u201cdid eat the same spiritual meat, and\ndid all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual\nRock that followed them: and that rock was Christ,\u201d 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. Of\nthis gospel the Jewish nation and a few proselytes, were for ages the sole\nrecipients. \u201cUnto them were committed the oracles of God.\u201d Rom. 3:2. To\nthem pertained \u201cthe adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the\ngiving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,\u201d Rom. 9:4.\nBut the time had been foretold when the Gentiles should come to their\nlight, and kings to the brightness of their rising, Isa. 60:3.\n\nWith the coming of Christ, and his rejection of that nation, the gospel,\nwas no longer to be confined within its former narrow limits. The Savior\nsaid to his disciples: \u201cGo ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing\nthem in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;\nteaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and\nlo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,\u201d Matt. 28:19, 20.\n\u201cGo ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that\nbelieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall\nbe damned,\u201d Mark 16:15, 16. \u201cThen opened he their understanding that they\nmight understand the Scriptures, and he said unto them, Thus it is\nwritten, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the\nthird day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in\nhis name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,\u201d Luke 24:45-47.\n\nThe fulfilment of those predictions and commands could not be more\nbeautifully and appropriately symbolized, than by an angel flying \u201cin the\nmidst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that\ndwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and\npeople.\u201d It could be no other gospel: for Paul testified: \u201cThough we, or\nan angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we\nhave preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I\nnow again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have\nreceived, let him be accursed,\u201d Gal. 1:8, 9.\n\nIn accordance with the divine command, to preach the gospel to all the\nnations, beginning at Jerusalem, the apostles began their mission; and\nwhen the Jews rejected their message, they turned to the Gentiles, and\nwent everywhere preaching the word \u201caccording to the revelation of the\nmystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made\nmanifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the\ncommandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the\nobedience of faith,\u201d Rom. 16:25, 26.\n\nThe first converts to the faith, comprised \u201cParthians, and Medes, and\nElamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia,\nin Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of\nLibya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and\nArabians,\u201d Acts 2:9-12. When the Jews contradicted and blasphemed, \u201cPaul\nand Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God\nshould first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and\njudge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the\nGentiles,\u201d Acts 13:46. Afterwards Paul, in writing to the Colossians,\nrefers to the gospel as that \u201cwhich was preached to every creature which\nis under heaven,\u201d Col. 1:23.\n\nThis gospel was to be preached to those who dwell on the earth, and also\nto all nations. The symbolic earth of the Apocalypse, being generally\nadmitted to be the Roman empire under a quiet government, its fulfilment\nwould require an early introduction of the gospel there. Accordingly we\nfind, within thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ, a flourishing\nchurch existing in the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which Paul\naddressed one of his most able letters. In it, he thanks God that their\n\u201cfaith is spoken of throughout all the world,\u201d Rom. 1:8. The apostle had\nthen \u201cfully preached the gospel of Christ\u201d from Jerusalem \u201cround about\n[the coast of the Mediterranean] unto Illyricum,\u201d (Rom. 16:19);\u2014a country\non the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice. He afterwards visited Rome, and is\nsupposed to have preached the gospel as far west as Spain. The apostles\nspread Christianity throughout the Roman empire. Palestine, Syria,\nNatolia, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, Italy, and the northern\ncoast of Africa, contained societies of Christians in the first century.\nIn the second century societies existed, and Christ was worshipped, among\nthe Germans, Spaniards, French, Celts, and Britons, and many other nations\nin Europe, and almost throughout the whole east. In the fourth century\nChristianity had become the prevailing religion of the empire.\n\nIn later times the gospel which began to be preached at Jerusalem, has\nbeen extended to more distant countries, and is still finding its way to\nevery tribe and people that have not before heard its joyful sound. Thus\nhas the light of the gospel nearly encircled the globe, having been, in\none age or another, proclaimed in every known country\u2014fulfilling the words\nof the Saviour: \u201cAnd this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all\nthe world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,\u201d\nMatt. 24:14. \u201cAnd the gospel must first be published among all nations,\u201d\nMark 13:10. It would not follow from these predictions that it must be\npreached at the _same time_ to all nations, any more than the light of day\nshines on all parts of the earth at once: but all must have been illumined\nby it before the end.\n\nIn accordance with this view, those who are finally redeemed to God \u201cout\nof every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation\u201d (5:9), are those who\nwill \u201chave washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the\nLamb\u201d (7:14), in consequence of this universal extension of the gospel.\n\nThe command to fear and give glory to God, and to worship the Creator of\nall things implies that it was to be proclaimed to worshippers of false\ngods, and was not a mere proclamation addressed to _actual Christians_.\nThe Gentiles to whom the apostles preached _were_ actual worshippers of\nsuch, and needed to be taught the worship of the _true_ God. While Paul\nwas at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city\nwholly given to idolatry. \u201cThen Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and\nsaid, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too\nsuperstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an\naltar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye\nignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and\nall things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth,\ndwelleth not in temples made with hands,\u201d Acts 17:22-24. \u201cYe know that ye\nwere Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led,\u201d 1\nCor. 12:2. \u201cFor they themselves show us of what manner of entering in we\nhad unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and\ntrue God: and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the\ndead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come,\u201d 1 Thess.\n1:9, 10.\n\nThe great motive, to be held forth to induce men to turn from the worship\nof idols to that of God, was the certainty of the approaching judgment. In\naccordance with this, the apostles make constant references to it. The\nCorinthians are exhorted to \u201ccome behind in no gift; waiting for the\ncoming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end,\nthat ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d 1 Cor. 1:7,\n8. As Paul \u201creasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,\nFelix trembled,\u201d Acts 24:25. He said to the impenitent Romans, that they\nwere \u201ctreasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and\nrevelation of the righteous judgment of God,\u201d Rom. 2:5. The first things\nwhich were presented in all their teachings were \u201cthe foundation of\nrepentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of\nbaptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and\nof eternal judgment,\u201d Heb. 6:1, 2. Thus \u201cEnoch also, the seventh from\nAdam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten\nthousand of his saints,\u201d Jude 14, 15.\n\nAs Christ was to judge the world \u201cat his appearing and kingdom\u201d (2 Tim.\n4:1), a reference to his coming always involved a consideration of the\nhour of his judgment; and his appearing was a great incentive to holiness.\n\u201cFor our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the\nSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d Phil. 3:20. And \u201cwhen Christ, who is our\nlife, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory,\u201d Col.\n3:4. \u201cFor what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye\nin the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?\u201d 1 Thess. 2:19.\n\u201cTo the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before\nGod, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his\nsaints,\u201d _Ib._ 3:13. \u201cFor if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,\neven so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this\nwe say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and\nremain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are\nasleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with\nthe voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in\nChrist shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be\ncaught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:\nand so shall we ever be with the Lord,\u201d _Ib._ 4:14-17. \u201cAnd to you who are\ntroubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven\nwith his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know\nnot God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d 2 Thess.\n1:7, 8.\n\nNot only the apostles, but their successors, in succeeding ages, have\nconstantly made reference to the judgment, as the motive to holiness.\nBeginning in the days of the apostles, the same gospel has been continued\nby a succession of men to the present time; and those who are now\npreaching, or who support those who so preach the everlasting gospel, in\nconnection with the warning of approaching judgment, must be regarded as\nbelonging to the same body of men symbolized by the angel flying in the\nmidst of heaven.\n\nCommencing in the apostolic age, sections of the globe were evangelized\u2014in\nAsia and Africa, that have never received the gospel since, either under\nthe reformers or by modern missionaries. But beginning with the\ndispensation of the gospel to the Gentiles, its fulfilment is found in\nChina, in Tartary, in Japan, in Egypt, and Ethiopia, and in lands so\nremote that no one can say it has not been almost universally promulgated.\n\n\n\n\nThe Angel announcing the Fall of Babylon.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd another angel, a second, followed, saying, She is fallen!\n    Babylon the great is fallen! She made all nations drink of the\n    wine of the wrath of her fornication!\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:8.\n\n\nThis angel, like the former, must symbolize a body of religious teachers.\nThe former resulted in the spread of Christianity. This announces the fall\nof a corrupt hierarchy.\n\nBabylon being regarded as a symbol of the Roman church, her fall must be\nunderstood to be her loss of power, as mistress of the kings of the earth;\nand synchronizes with her displacement from her position on the beast, as\nsymbolized in the 17th chapter. The epoch of her fall, and consequently of\nthe flight of this angel, is that of the Reformation, when the corruptions\nof the Papal See were first exposed, and it was denounced as the\nApocalyptic harlot. The argument for this application is given in the\nexposition of Rev. 18:1, which is a repetition of the symbol here given,\np. 300.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wrath-denouncing Angel.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud\n    voice, If any one worship the wild beast and his image, and\n    receive his mark on his forehead, or on his hand, even he will\n    drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out\n    unmingled into the cup of his wrath; and he will be tormented with\n    fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the\n    presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for\n    ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night, who worship the\n    wild beast and his image, and whoever receiveth the mark of his\n    name!\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:9-11.\n\n\nThe cry of this angel synchronizes with the \u201cvoice from heaven\u201d (18:4),\nand follows the discovery of the corruptions of Romanism.\u2014See the\nexposition of that Scripture, p. 307.\n\nThe worship of the beast consisted in a regard for it, equivalent to\nsaying, \u201cWho is like unto the beast? and, Who is able to make war with\nhim?\u201d 13:4. To worship, is to manifest homage and respect. To worship any\ninferior object, is to bestow on it the confidence and affection which is\ndue only to God. It is to trust in it, as invincible, able to protect, and\ninfallible in judgment. Thus to regard any civil or ecclesiastical\norganization, is to substitute it for Him, by whom the powers that be are\nordained (Rom. 13:1), who giveth the kingdom to whomsoever he will (Dan.\n4:17), and by whom alone, kings reign, and princes decree justice, Prov.\n8:15.\n\nWhenever any civil or ecclesiastical enactment conflicts with the\nrequisitions of Jehovah, that power is worshipped, which is obeyed in\npreference to the other: \u201cKnow ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves\nservants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey?\u201d Rom. 6:16. The\nworship of God is incompatible with obedience to any power which compels a\nviolation of His laws. Due obedience to government is commanded, when no\nquestion of conscience is involved. When it is, no forcible resistance to\nthe execution of the law is permitted; but while God is obeyed, the\npenalty of the law is to be meekly endured.\n\nThe early Christians chose death, rather than to deny their Saviour at the\ncommand of Jewish Sanhedrim or Roman emperor. When Peter and John were\ncommanded \u201cnot to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus,\u201d their\nanswer was, \u201cWhether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you\nmore than unto God, judge ye; for we cannot but speak the things which we\nhave seen and heard,\u201d Acts 4:19, 20. In like manner, the Christians living\nat the epoch of this angel, were to be similarly tried, which is implied\nin the command, not to worship.\n\nSo soon as the reformers were placed in direct conflict with the Church of\nRome, her anathemas were hurled against all who assented not to her\nmummeries. And the power of the civil arm was also brought into exercise\nto compel obedience to her commands. Those who maintained their integrity,\ndid so in opposition to the requirements of the church and state; while\nthose who submitted to the state as invincible, or to the church as\ninfallible, extended to the beast or its image that homage and regard\nwhich was due to God. They thus acknowledged themselves the servants of\nhim whom they obeyed, and subjected themselves to the wrath of God.\n\nThe smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have\nno rest, day nor night, who worship the beast and his image. While the\nrighteous enter into rest, the wicked are like the troubled sea which\ncannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, Isa. 57:20.\n\n\n\n\nThe Harvest of the Earth.\n\n\n    \u201cHere is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the\n    commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice\n    from heaven, saying, Write, Happy the dead who die in the Lord,\n    from henceforth! Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from\n    their toils; and their works go with them. And I looked, and\n    behold, a white cloud, and one was seated on the cloud like the\n    Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a\n    sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying\n    with a loud voice to him seated on the cloud, Thrust forth thy\n    sickle and reap: for the hour is come for thee to reap; for the\n    harvest of the earth is ripe. And he, who sat on the cloud, cast\n    his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:12-16.\n\n\nThe announcement that here are they who keep the commandments of God,\nimplies that, at the epoch symbolized, they are to be the subjects of\nspecial notice. By the voice from heaven, they are shown to include all of\nthe dead who have died in the Lord; and their being blessed from\nthenceforth, indicates that they will at that epoch enter upon their\neternal reward.\n\nThe \u201crest\u201d of the righteous, is at the advent of Christ:\u2014\u201cTo you who are\ntroubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,\u201d\n2 Thess. 1:6. \u201cThere remaineth a rest for the people of God,\u201d Heb. 4:9.\n\nOn hearing the voice from heaven, the revelator looked, and beheld on a\ncloud \u201cone like the Son of man.\u201d In Ezek. 1:26, \u201cthe likeness as the\nappearance of a man,\u201d upon \u201cthe likeness of the throne,\u201d is explained to\nbe \u201cthe appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.\u201d In Dan.\n7:13, \u201cone like the Son of man,\u201d who comes to the Ancient of days, is\nevidently a symbol of Christ. In Rev. 1:13, \u201cone like unto the Son of\nman,\u201d is the one who was alive, was dead, and is alive forevermore. The\nsame symbol repeated, must here also be a representative of Christ.\n\nHis position on a cloud, indicates the arrival of the period when he is to\nbe manifested in mid-heaven: \u201cBehold he cometh with clouds; and every eye\nshall see him,\u201d 1:7. \u201cOne like the Son of man came with the clouds of\nheaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before\nhim. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all\npeople, nations, and languages should serve him,\u201d Dan. 7:13, 14. \u201cAnd they\nshall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and\ngreat glory. And he shall send his angels, with a great sound of a\ntrumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,\nfrom one end of heaven to the other,\u201d Matt. 24:30, 31.\n\nThe epoch of this manifestation, according to the above, is that of the\nlast trump, the second advent, and the first resurrection. \u201cAt the last\ntrump ... the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be\nchanged,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:52. \u201cFor the Lord himself shall descend from heaven\nwith a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God;\nand the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and\nremain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the\nLord in the air,\u201d 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.\n\nHis \u201cgolden crown\u201d indicates that he is now to take to himself his great\npower, and to reign, \u201cwhen the kingdoms of this world become our Lord\u2019s\nand his Christ\u2019s,\u201d 11:15, 17. Crowns are symbols of sovereignty. As such,\nthey respectively denoted the periods, when the forms of government,\nsymbolized by the heads of the beast (12:3) and its horns (13:1), bore\nrule. Now the diadem is to be transferred from them, to encircle the brow\nof earth\u2019s rightful Sovereign.\n\nThe sharp sickle in his hand, indicates that the time of harvest has\narrived; and the act of reaping, the gathering of the harvest. There are\ntwo gatherings symbolized, corresponding to the two classes of persons who\nare to be gathered. \u201cThe dead in Christ shall rise first,\u201d and will be\n\u201ccaught up to meet the Lord in the air,\u201d before the wicked are gathered, 1\nThess. 4:16, 17. \u201cI will come again, and receive you unto myself,\u201d said\nthe Saviour, John 14:5. The Lord of the harvest directs its gathering, but\neffects it by the instrumentality of angels: \u201cHe shall send his angels,\nand shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the\nuttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven,\u201d Mark 13:27.\nWhen thus gathered, they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, where\nthe Lord of the harvest sits. This is the separation of the righteous and\nwicked, who were to \u201cgrow together till the harvest,\u201d which, says the\nSaviour, \u201cis the end of the world,\u201d Matt. 13:39.\n\nMr. Lord suggests, that it is inconsistent with the dignity of Christ, to\nbe notified by an angel when to begin his work; and therefore dissents\nfrom the application of the symbol to him. It may not, however, be\nnecessary to consider the cry of the angel, as one of command. The angel\nmay be a messenger from the Ancient of days, announcing the epoch of the\nresurrection. Or he may symbolize a body of men, who will be ardently\npraying for the return of the nobleman to take his kingdom.\n\nThe harvest is spoken of in distinction from the gathering of the vine,\nand in contrast with it. Men harvest what they prize,\u2014their grain and\nfruits. They do not harvest briers and thorns. They cut or reap both; but\nthe act of reaping is not expressive of the destiny of what is reaped.\nThis is indicated by the disposition made, and the terms applied; the one\nis gathered into the garner of the Lord; but the other is given to the\nconsuming fire.\n\nThe righteous being caught up to meet the Lord at his coming, the\ndestruction of the wicked, which must precede the regeneration of the\nearth and descent of the saints, is next symbolized.\n\n\n\n\nThe Reaping of the Vine.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd another angel came out of the temple in heaven, he also\n    having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar,\n    who had power over the fire, and called with a loud shout to him\n    who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and\n    cut off the clusters of the vine of the earth; for its grapes are\n    ripe. And the angel cast in his sickle into the earth, and cut off\n    the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of\n    the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city,\n    and blood came out of the wine-press, even to the bridles of the\n    horses, for the distance of one thousand six hundred\n    furlongs.\u201d\u2014Rev. 14:17-20.\n\n\nThe wicked also are gathered by the instrumentality of angels: said the\nSaviour, \u201cAs therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so\nshall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his\nangels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,\nand them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire:\nthere shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,\u201d Matt. 13:40-42. In the\nparable of the tares, the Saviour said, \u201cLet both grow together until the\nharvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye\ntogether first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but\ngather the wheat into my barn.\u201d Thus the tares were to be gathered\n_first_\u2014not before the righteous are gathered, but before the wheat is\nplaced in the garner: the new earth being the garner where the righteous\nare _finally_ to be gathered, they cannot be placed there till the wicked\nhave been gathered out. \u201cThen shall the righteous shine forth as the sun\nin the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,\u201d\nMatt. 13:30, 43.\n\nThe disposition of the vine, its being trodden down, and the great\npresence of blood flowing, symbolize the awful judgments to overtake the\nwicked, after the escape of the righteous, when they are gathered into\nbundles and burned. Thus Isaiah prophesied: \u201cWho is this that cometh from\nEdom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his\napparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in\nrighteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel,\nand thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat? I have trodden\nthe wine-press alone: and of the people there was none with me: for I will\ntread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood\nshall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For\nthe day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come,\u201d\nIsa. 63:1-4.\n\nBefore the destruction of the old world by the deluge, Noah was secure in\nthe ark. Before the destruction of Sodom, Lot is removed to a place of\nsafety. So before the destruction of the vine of the earth, the righteous\nare caught up to the Lord in the air, where they are symbolized, in the\nfollowing chapter, as:\n\n\n\n\nThe Victors on the Sea of Glass.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful, seven\n    angels having the seven last plagues; for by these, the wrath of\n    God is completed. And I saw as it were a transparent sea mingled\n    with fire; and those who had obtained the victory over the wild\n    beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name,\n    standing on the transparent sea, having harps of God. And they\n    sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the\n    Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God\n    Almighty; just and true are thy ways, king of nations! Who should\n    not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art\n    holy; for all nations will come and worship before thee; for thy\n    judgments are manifested.\u201d Rev. 15:1-4.\n\n\nThis appears to close the vision commencing with the sixth verse of the\n14th chapter, and to be independent of the remaining portion of the 15th\nchapter.\n\nThese \u201cseven angels,\u201d in the subsequent vision, discharge the contents of\nthe vials of God\u2019s wrath; but the epoch here presented is evidently\nsubsequent to that fulfilment; for the imitation of the \u201cSong of Moses,\u201d\nmust follow the infliction of the judgments which call forth that song of\nrejoicing. They had here completed the wrath of God, the manner of which\nact is subsequently shown in a separate vision.\n\nThe \u201csea of glass,\u201d must represent an elevation above the earth. For those\nstationed there had gotten the victory over the beast and his image, had\nescaped the wrath to be poured on those who worshipped those powers\n(14:9), had been gathered when the harvest of the earth was reaped\n(14:16), being then caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17),\nand now, the clusters of the vine of the earth having been gathered and\ncast into the wine-press of the wrath of God (14:19), they rejoice above\nthe fires of earth, witnesses of the manifestations of God\u2019s judgments.\nThey have come out of all their tribulations, and evidently synchronize\nwith the palm-bearing multitude (Rev. 7:9), the hundred and forty-four\nthousand on Mount Zion (14:1), and the multitude in heaven who sing\nAlleluia over the judgment of the great harlot, 19:1.\n\n\u201cThe song of Moses,\u201d was that sung by the Israelites when the Egyptians\nhad perished in the waters of the Red Sea, and they were safely encamped\non its further shore. The Lord had triumphed gloriously over the enemies\nof Israel, had buried the horse and his rider in the sea, and was about to\nplant his people in the mountain of his inheritance,\u2014in the place which he\nhad made for them to dwell in,\u2014in the sanctuary which he had established,\nEx. 15:1-21. The analogy requires that when this corresponding song is\nsung, the ransomed of the Lord shall have correspondingly witnessed the\noverthrow of the adversaries of Jehovah, and shall themselves have escaped\nfrom the perils of the many waters which had threatened to engulf them.\n\nThe judgments of God being manifested on the nations of the ungodly, there\nare none remaining, only \u201cthe nations of them which are saved,\u201d 21:24. As\nthese will all walk in the light of the new Jerusalem, those on the sea of\nglass may well sing:\n\n\u201cGreat and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty!\nJust and true are thy ways, thou King of saints!\nWho shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?\nFor thou only art Holy:\nFor all nations shall come and worship before thee;\nFor thy judgments are made manifest.\u201d\n\nIn accordance with the foregoing view, this synchronizes with the \u201cnew\nsong\u201d sung by those who are redeemed from every nation, kindred, tongue\nand people (5:9), who are afterwards seen standing with the Lamb on Mount\nZion, 14:3.\n\n\n\n\nThe Angels with the Seven Vials.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd after this, I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the\n    testimony in heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of\n    the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure white linen,\n    and girded around the breasts with golden girdles. And one of the\n    four living beings gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls\n    filled with the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And\n    the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from\n    his power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven\n    plagues of the seven angels were completed.\u201d Rev. 15:5-8.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I heard a loud voice out of the temple saying, to the seven\n    angels, Depart, and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the\n    earth.\u201d Rev. 16:1.\n\n\n\u201cThe temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven,\u201d must symbolize\nheaven itself. It corresponds with the tabernacle \u201cafter the second\nveil,\u201d\u2014called \u201cthe holiest of all,\u201d where the tables of the covenant were\ndeposited by the command of Moses, Heb. 9:1-5. There, the \u201ccherubims of\nglory\u201d over-shadowed the mercy-seat,\u2014a type of the presence-chamber of the\nAlmighty. Consequently, when it is symbolized as being opened in heaven,\nthe angels who come out are divinely commissioned executors of God\u2019s\npurposes.\n\nThe \u201cseven angels,\u201d are the ministers of the divine vengeance,\u2014the\nrectitude of their character and the dignity of their office, being\nsymbolized by their \u201cwhite robes\u201d and \u201cgolden girdles.\u201d\n\nThe period of time symbolized by the pouring out of the vials, must be\nanterior to the second advent; for in the analogous instances of God\u2019s\njudgments, he visits his enemies with plagues previous to the deliverance\nof his children. Thus were the ancient Egyptians visited, before the\nIsraelites escaped from their power, Ex. 5-11.\n\nThe deliverance of the vials to the angels by one of the four \u201cliving\ncreatures,\u201d indicates that the intelligences in the divine presence, which\nare thus symbolized, are cognizant of God\u2019s design, and acquiesce in his\npurpose to visit the subjects of his wrath with these plagues.\n\nBy these being called \u201cthe vials of God\u2019s wrath,\u201d we learn that their\ninfliction is not corrective, but judicial;\u2014that they are not agents of\nmercy, but of vengeance.\n\nThe filling of the temple with the smoke of God\u2019s glory, to the exclusion\nof all persons during the pouring out of the vials, shows that during that\nperiod, there will be no intercession with God for him to refrain from the\nexecution of the purposes thus symbolized. They are inevitable; and there\nwill be no supplication for their suspension. When Moses had finished the\ntype of the \u201cHoliest of all,\u201d a \u201ccloud covered the tent of the\ncongregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses\nwas not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud\nabode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle,\u201d Ex.\n40:34, 35. It was only when Moses could enter the tabernacle, that he\ncould there commune with God face to face, Ex. 33:9, 11.\n\nThe voice from the temple to the seven angels, shows that the acts\ncommanded are the subjects of divine appointment,\u2014the angels simply\ndesignating the commencement of the several judgments.\n\n\n\n\nThe First Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the first went away, and poured out his bowl on the earth;\n    and there came an evil and sore ulcer on the men who had the mark\n    of the beast, and on those worshipping his image.\u201d Rev. 16:2.\n\n\nThe \u201cearth,\u201d in the Apocalypse, symbolizes a quiet and settled government\n(13:11), in distinction from one politically agitated, which is symbolized\nby waters, 13:1; 17:15.\n\nThose who receive the contents of the first vial, being the worshippers of\nthe \u201cbeast\u201d and its \u201cimage\u201d (13:15), it is certain that the governments on\nwhich it is poured, are subservient to the church of Rome and within the\nboundaries of the ten kingdoms.\n\nThe effect of the vial is \u201ca noisome and grievous sore;\u201d and the only\nthings analogous, are mental maladies. Therefore the results symbolized\nmust be noxious principles and opinions, which fill the mind with rancor\nand hate,\u2014producing strife, alienation and contention.\n\nThe _epoch_ here symbolized, in the very unanimous opinion of most\njudicious writers, corresponds with the commencement of the agitations\nwhich preceded the outbreak of the first French revolution, about A. D.\n1785. Commencing in France, and extending with more or less virulence\nthroughout the ten kingdoms, there was excited an intense uneasiness of\nthe people respecting their relation to their rulers. They regarded\nthemselves as insupportably oppressed and degraded, and were exasperated\nto madness against their respective governments. This, under the next\nvial, resulted in the overthrow of the French monarchy, and in attempted\nrevolutions in other kingdoms.\n\n\n\n\nThe Second Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea; and it\n    became like the blood of a dead person; and every living creature\n    in the sea died.\u201d Rev. 16:8.\n\n\nThe first vial having excited political agitations in previously quiet\ngovernments, they are now more fitly symbolized by the \u201csea\u201d than by the\n\u201cearth.\u201d And on such the second vial is poured.\n\nAs the sea symbolizes a people agitated and disquieted, the living things\nin it, must symbolize those who live on and are sustained by the people.\nConsequently, the waters becoming blood, and the death of the things\nliving in the waters, symbolize the shedding of the blood of the people,\nand the slaughter, by them, of their rulers and superiors.\n\nThe epoch symbolized, would therefore correspond with the actual outbreak\nof the French revolution, to which the agitations produced by the previous\nvial had goaded on the excited people. In their riots and insurrections,\nhistory records the destruction of large numbers of the populace; and\nthese exterminated the members of the royal family, and all persons of\nrank and influence. A million of people, according to Alison, perished in\nthe civil war of La Vendee alone; and thousands of the nobility and\npersons of distinction were ruthlessly slaughtered throughout France,\nwhose rivers were discolored with the blood of the slain.\n\n\n\n\nThe Third Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the\n    fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel\n    of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Thou, who art, and wast\n    holy, because thou hast inflicted these judgments; for they have\n    poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given\n    them blood to drink: they are worthy! And I heard one from the\n    altar, saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are\n    thy judgments!\u201d Rev. 16:4-7.\n\n\nMr. Lord justly remarks that \u201cRivers and fountains of waters, are to a\nsea, what smaller exterior communities and nations are to a great central\npeople.\u201d As the French nation was the sea, the \u201crivers and fountains\u201d\nsymbolize contiguous or more remote communities surrounding it. These are\nsaid to have become blood, without its being specified that the living\nthings in them perished, as in the sea. Accordingly, while the greater\nportion of Europe continued, with little interruption, for twenty years\nfrom 1792, to be deluged with war and bloodshed, the nobles and rulers of\nthe other nations were not exterminated, as in France.\n\nThe nations thus overwhelmed with blood, were those which had sanctioned\nthe shedding of the blood of the saints; consequently their retribution\nwas just.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fourth Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun; and it was\n    given him to burn men with fire. And men were burned with great\n    heat, and reviled the name of God, who had power over these\n    plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.\u201d Rev. 16:8, 9.\n\n\nThe influence of the sun on the earth and sea, is analogous to that of a\ngovernment on the subjects of its rule. As the right degree of light and\nheat is conducive to vegetation, and the excessive action of the sun\u2019s\nrays will scorch and destroy; so a genial government is a blessing to the\npeople, while its arbitrary and tyrannical acts are often insupportably\noppressive.\n\nWith the overthrow of the French monarchy under the second vial, there\narose new rulers in France, who usurped despotic powers, and subjected the\ngoverned to most oppressive exactions. The rich were impoverished, the\nnation was robbed, the business of the country was paralyzed, the\nobnoxious were slain, every species of misery and wickedness abounded, the\nmales were subjected to military conscription, and hundreds of thousands\nof them were sent to subjugate surrounding nations. The countries they\ninvaded were also devastated, and oppressed, and robbed by impoverishing\ntaxations. These continued, though in a milder form, under the imperial\nrule, and all parts of the Roman earth felt the scorching effects of the\ndevouring heat of French usurpation. But when Napoleon passed beyond the\nboundaries of the Roman empire, he was met and driven back by the snow and\nfrost of the Almighty.\n\nNotwithstanding the oppressions to which the people were subjected, and\nthe exactions under which they groaned, they made no recognition of God\u2019s\nsovereignty. They saw not that this chastisement was from Him. They did\nnot deprecate his wrath, nor acknowledge his righteousness, but still\ncontinued to be infidels and apostates. They continued to blaspheme the\nname of God, who had power over these plagues, and repented not to give\nhim glory.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fifth Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild\n    beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues\n    through pain, and reviled the God of heaven, because of their\n    pains and their ulcers, and repented not of their deeds\u201d Rev.\n    16:10, 11.\n\n\nThe beast, here spoken of, is the same seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast\nthat ascended out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), symbolizing the Roman empire in\nits divided form. Consequently the seat or throne of the beast would be\nthe ruling power which exercised and controlled the government of these\nkingdoms. Just previous to this epoch, Napoleon had reached the summit of\nhis power; and the subversion of his throne, with the restoration of the\nBourbon dynasty in 1814 and 1815, is evidently here symbolized. Napoleon\nhad become the idol of France, which worshipped at the shrine of his\nglory. With his fall, their sun was stricken from its firmament, and the\nkingdom was darkened.\n\nThe change being effected by foreign arms, the chagrin and mortification\nof his adherents was natural and expected. They were filled with pain and\nanguish at this termination of all their hopes. The re-imposition on them\nof the Bourbon line, revived all their former hatred towards their rulers\nand sense of oppression, symbolized by the ulcers of the first vial. They\ncontinued still a nation of infidels, performing the same works of\nblasphemy against God; and again and again have they risen in rebellion\nagainst their government.\n\n\n\n\nThe Sixth Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the\n    Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings\n    from the rising of the sun might be prepared.\u201d Rev. 16:12.\n\n\nThis symbol resembles a like prediction respecting ancient Babylon: \u201cA\ndrought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up,\u201d (Jer. 50:38); and\n\u201cI will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry,\u201d Jer. 51:36. Ancient\nBabylon was situated on the river Euphrates, which contributed to the\nwealth and greatness of the city, and was a means of its defence. The\nkings of Media and Persia, from the east of Babylon, subjugated it by\ndiverting from the city the waters of the river, and entering by its\nunprotected bed. The turning of the waters into other channels, fulfilled\nthe prediction that it should be dried up.\n\nWaters, when used as a symbol, are explained to be \u201cpeoples, nations,\u201d\n&c., Rev. 17:15. In the 17th chapter of the Apocalypse, the angel informs\nthe revelator that he will show him \u201cthe judgment of the great harlot who\nsitteth on many waters,\u201d (17:1); which implies that he had already seen a\nvision to that effect. He is then shown a woman on a scarlet-colored beast\n(v. 3), who is spoken of as sitting \u201con many waters\u201d (v. 1), and on seven\nmountains (v. 10), and who is affirmed to be the \u201cgreat city, which\nreigneth over the kings of the earth,\u201d v. 18. Under the seventh vial, the\n\u201cgreat city,\u201d which is \u201cgreat Babylon,\u201d is divided into three parts\n(16:19); and the inference is, that the harlot and ancient Babylon are\nanalogous symbols of the same organized agency; and, that the city was\nhere exhibited on the great river Euphrates.\n\nAs a woman clothed with sunbeams and crowned with stars (Rev. 12:1), and a\ncity illuminated with the glory of God (Rev. 21:10), are each symbols of\nthe true church, corresponding symbols of opposite moral characteristics\nare appropriate representatives of a corrupt and apostate church. As\nJerusalem was the seat of the ancient church, so was Babylon the seat of\nher oppressors. The former is addressed as a woman, and told to put on her\n\u201cbeautiful garments,\u201d (Isa. 52:1); and Babylon is called the \u201cdaughter of\nthe Chaldeans,\u201d and \u201cthe lady of kingdoms,\u201d (Isa. 47:5): so that a woman,\nand a city of corresponding character, may, interchangeably, symbolize the\nsame object. Consequently, the \u201cBabylon,\u201d and the \u201charlot\u201d of the\nApocalypse, both symbolize the corrupt Roman hierarchy.\n\nAncient Babylon is described as a harlot, and is addressed as one who\n\u201cdwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures,\u201d (Jer. 51:13); whose\nend was to come by her waters being dried up, 51:36. That city sustained a\nrelation to the waters on which it was situated, analogous to that held by\nthe Roman Catholic church to the people who support and defend her\npretensions. Their alienation and withdrawal from her support, must\ntherefore be symbolized by the drying up of the great river Euphrates,\nwhich becomes diverted into other channels. This is now apparently being\nfulfilled in the marked alienation of feeling from the church of Rome,\nwhich is evident throughout the ten kingdoms. During the last twenty\nyears, the hold of that community on the affection of her supporters in\nEurope, has been constantly becoming weaker and weaker. Infidel principles\nhave been extensively propagated. Her cathedrals have been comparatively\ndeserted; and her existence has been endured more as a matter of\nexpediency than of affection. At the present moment, probably, the mass of\nthe people have little confidence in her pretensions; but it will require\na more marked withdrawal from her support than has yet been witnessed, to\nfulfil, in all its significance, the meaning conveyed in the symbol.\n\nThe \u201ckings of the east,\u201d whose way is to be thus prepared, are doubtless\nher enemies, who, having produced the desired alienation from her support,\nwill take advantage of her defenceless position, and hasten her ruin; as\nthe kings of Media and Persia, in like manner, subjugated old Babylon.\n\nUnder the operation of the sixth vial, and, according to the fulfilment of\nthe preceding symbols, corresponding with the present time, are to be\ndeveloped:\n\n\n\n\nThe Unclean Spirits.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth\n    of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of\n    the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons,\n    performing signs, that go forth to the kings of the whole world,\n    to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.\u201d\n    Rev. 16:13, 14.\n\n\nThe \u201cdragon,\u201d \u201cbeast,\u201d and \u201cfalse prophet,\u201d being regarded as symbols: the\nfirst, of the Roman empire previous to its subversion by the northern\nbarbarians; the second of the ten kingdoms which subsequently arose; and\nthe third, of the eastern Roman empire\u2014now the Mohamedan power; the mouths\nof each, from which the frog-like spirits emerge, are next to be\nconsidered.\n\nTo the wild beast was given \u201ca mouth, speaking great things and\nblasphemies,\u201d the power of which was \u201cto continue forty and two months,\u201d\nRev. 13:5. The agreement of this with the corresponding appendages of\nDaniel\u2019s \u201clittle horn\u201d (Dan. 7:8), makes it evident that a \u201cmouth\u201d is a\nsymbol of an ecclesiastical organization existing in a political one,\u2014that\nit symbolizes the agency by which the people are taught, and is\nrepresentative of ecclesiastics, who are the mouthpiece of the nation in\nall matters of faith and worship, p. 172.\n\nThe religion of Rome imperial, when symbolized by the dragon, was\nPaganism; that of the ten kingdoms, was the Papacy; and that of the\neastern empire, is Mohammedanism. From these three, then, emerge the\n\u201cunclean spirits.\u201d Diverse as their origin appears, they have no marked\nindividual peculiarities. Being alike in their characteristics, they must\nsymbolize some common agency:\u2014a combination of religious teachers, whose\nviews harmonize in a system of belief common to Paganism, Catholicism, and\nMohammedanism.\n\nThe character of these teachers, is shown by the declaration that \u201cthey\nare the spirits of _devils_ working miracles.\u201d\n\nThere are two words rendered devils in the New Testament, viz.: \u03b4\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd\n(_daimonion_) or \u03b4\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd (_daimoon_), and \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03b2\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2 (_diabolus_). The latter\nsignifies the Devil, or Satan, who is the same as Beelzebub the prince of\nthe _demons_, Matt. 12:25. He it was by whom Jesus was tempted in the\nwilderness, (Matt. 4:1-11); who sowed the tares in the field, (Matt,\n13:39); and for whom, with his angels, the final punishment for the wicked\nis prepared, Matt. 25:41.\n\nThe word here, is _daimoon_. It is used, in different forms, sixty-five\ntimes by our Lord and his apostles; and on no occasion do they hint that\nthey use the word in a sense different from its then accepted\nsignification; to learn which, recourse must be had to the testimony of\nthe Pagan, Jewish, and Christian writers of those times.(6)\n\nHESIOD taught that, \u201cThe spirits of departed mortals become _demons_ when\nseparated from their earthly bodies;\u201d and PLUTARCH, that \u201cThe demons of\nthe Greeks were the _ghosts_ and _genii_ of departed men.\u201d \u201cAll Pagan\nantiquity affirms,\u201d says Dr. CAMPBELL, \u201cthat from Titan and Saturn, the\npoetic progeny of C\u0153lus and Terra, down to \u00c6sculapius, Proteus, and Minos,\nall their _divinities_ were the _ghosts_ of dead men; and were so regarded\nby the most erudite of the Pagans themselves.\u201d\n\nAmong the Pagans, the term _demon_, as often represented a good as an evil\nspirit; but among the Jews, it generally, if not universally, denoted an\nunclean, malign, or wicked spirit. Thus JOSEPHUS says: \u201cDemons are the\nspirits of wicked men.\u201d PHILO says that \u201cThe souls of dead men are called\ndemons.\u201d \u201cThe notion,\u201d says Dr. LARDNER, \u201cof demons, or the souls of dead\nmen, having power over living men, was universally prevalent among the\nheathen of these times [the first two centuries], and believed by many\nChristians.\u201d JUSTIN MARTYR speaks of \u201cthose who are seized by the souls of\nthe dead, whom we call _demons_ and madmen.\u201d Ignatius quotes the words of\nChrist to Peter thus: \u201cHandle me and see; for I am not a _daimoon\nasomaton_,\u2014a disembodied demon,\u201d\u2014_i.e._ a spirit without a body.\n\nThe foregoing is evidence of the New Testament signification of the word\n_daimoon_, here improperly rendered devils,\u2014spirits of which, the\nfrog-like agencies are affirmed to be.\n\nDemon worship is a characteristic of the three religions referred to. As\nalready shown, all Pagans regarded their gods as the ghosts of dead men;\nand the Bible speaks of them as devils, _i.e._ _demons_. Moses says of\nthem, \u201cEven their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to\ntheir gods,\u201d (Deut. 12:31); while the Psalmist affirms that \u201cthey\nsacrificed their sons and their daughters unto _devils_,\u201d Ps. 106:37.\n\u201cThey sacrificed unto _devils_, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to\nnew gods that came newly up,\u201d Deut. 32:17. Jeroboam \u201cordained him priests\nfor the high places, and for the _devils_,\u201d 2 Chron. 11:15. \u201cThe things\nwhich the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to _devils_, and not to God:\nand I would not that ye should have fellowship with _devils_. Ye cannot\ndrink the cup of the Lord and the cup of _devils_; ye cannot be partakers\nof the Lord\u2019s table, and of the table of _devils_,\u201d\u2014_i.e._ of _demons_.\n\nOf the same kind are the gods of the heathen now. In the Youth\u2019s\nDay-Spring, for June, a missionary describing the alarm and grief of the\nAfricans on the Gaboon river, at the near prospect of a death in their\nvillage, says: \u201cThe room was filled with women, who were weeping in the\nmost piteous manner, and calling on the _spirits of their fathers and of\nothers who were dead_, and upon all spirits in whom they believe, Ologo,\nNjembi, Abambo, and Mbwini, to save the man from death. These spirits\ncould not help them, but they knew of none mightier, and so called on\nthem.\u201d Mr. White, a Wesleyan missionary, says: \u201cThere is a class of people\nin New Zealand, called Eruku, or priests. These men pretend to have\nintercourse with departed spirits, ... by which they are able to kill by\nincantation any person on whom their anger may fall.\u201d The Sandwich\nIslanders, when they found that Christians supposed they worshipped the\nimages of their gods, were much amused, and said \u201cWe are not such fools.\u201d\nThey used the idol as an aid to fix their minds on their divinity. Some of\nthem supposed their divinity was a spirit residing in their idol.\n\nThe Mohammedans, while they recognize God, are also \u201ctaught by the Koran\nto believe the existence of an intermediate order of creatures, which they\ncall Jin, or genii;\u201d some of which are supposed to be good and others bad,\nand capable of communicating with men, and rewarding or punishing them.\nThe 72d chapter of the Koran consists of a pretended communication from\nthe genii to Mohammed. They are made to say: \u201cThere are some among us who\nare upright, and there are some among us who are otherwise;\u201d and speaking\nof men: \u201cIf they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with\nabundance of rain,\u201d _i.e._ will grant them plenty of good things. Thus\nthey are recognized as dispensers of good. They bear a striking\nresemblance to the spirits which now pretend to communicate with men! All\nwho are familiar with Arabian romances know how frequently genii, fairies,\n&c., figure as agents in the execution of wonderful exploits.\n\nThe Romanists also pretend to communicate with _demons_,\u2014_i.e._ with\ndeparted spirits. They deify the Virgin Mary, and supplicate the\nintercessions of many departed saints; and some they supplicate, whose\nclaim to saintship is somewhat equivocal. Their teachings in this\nparticular, Protestants generally recognize as the subject of the\nfollowing prediction: \u201cNow the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the\nlatter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing\nspirits, and doctrines of devils,\u201d\u2014_demons_, 1 Tim. 4:1.\n\nDemon-worship being common to Paganism, Mohammedanism, and Popery, when\nthe frog-like agency emerges from them, the conditions of the symbol seem\nto require that it shall originate with, but shall pass beyond and outside\nthe influence of those religions. The agency thus symbolized, was to \u201cgo\nforth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world.\u201d Its fulfilment\nrequires a wonderful and an alarming increase of those who teach and\nbelieve these doctrines; and as they are to work miracles, whereby the\nworld will be deceived, their teachings are to be accompanied by\nextraordinary phenomena, which will be unexplainable by any of the known\nlaws of science. The spirits of the departed are to be recognized by them\nas authoritative teachers, who are to be reverenced and obeyed. They will\nbe regarded as communicating with mortals, as unveiling the hidden things\nof the invisible state, and as performing acts requiring the exercise of\nphysical power. The former are evident from the analogy which exists\nbetween this and demon-worship; and the latter, from the ascription to\nthem of miraculous acts.\n\nThe existence of demoniacal intelligences, capable of communicating with\nand acting on mortals, appears to be in accordance with the teachings of\nthe Saviour and apostles. Demoniacal possessions are clearly distinguished\nfrom all diseases; and demons are shown, by the admissions of the New\nTestament, to be actual intelligences, capable of physical power. When the\nfame of Christ \u201cwent throughout all Syria, they brought unto him all sick\npeople that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which\nwere possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those which\nhad the palsy; and he healed them,\u201d Matt. 4:24. \u201cWhen the unclean spirit\nis gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and\nfindeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I\ncame out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.\nThen goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked\nthan himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of\nthat man is worse than the first,\u201d Matt. 12:43-45. \u201cAnd as they went out,\nbehold they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.(7) And when\nthe devil was cast out, the dumb spake; and the multitudes marvelled,\nsaying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth\nout devils,(8) through the prince of the devils,\u201d Matt. 9:32-34. \u201cAnd when\nthey were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling\ndown to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic,\nand sore vexed, for oft-times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the\nwater. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.\nThen Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how\nlong shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to\nme. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him; and the child\nwas cured from that very hour,\u201d Matt. 17:14-18. \u201cAnd there was in their\nsynagogue a man with an unclean spirit: and he cried out, saying, Let us\nalone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come\nto destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus\nrebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the\nunclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of\nhim. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among\nthemselves, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with what\nauthority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him!\u201d\nMark 1:23-27. \u201cAnd when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met\nhim out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling\namong the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because\nthat he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had\nbeen plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither\ncould any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the\nmountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But\nwhen he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a\nloud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the\nMost High God! I adjure thee, by God, that thou torment me not. (For he\nsaid unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.) And he asked\nhim, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we\nare many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of\nthe country. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine\nfeeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine,\nthat we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the\nunclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran\nviolently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand),\nand were choked in the sea,\u201d Mark 5:2-13.\n\nIn all these instances, the demons are recognized as actual intelligences,\nperforming given acts. Without the admission of this, it will be difficult\nto explain the meaning of a large class of scriptures. It cannot for a\nmoment be supposed that the inspired writers would be permitted to use\nlanguage which should directly mislead the common mind.\n\nAmong the miracles which the apostles wrought, \u201cunclean spirits, crying\nwith a loud voice, came out of many possessed with them, and many taken\nwith palsies, and that were lame, were healed,\u201d Acts 8:7. \u201cAnd God wrought\nspecial miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought\nunto the sick handkerchiefs, or aprons, and the diseases departed from\nthem, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond\nJews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits,\nthe name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul\npreacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the\npriests, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know,\nand Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was,\nleaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that\nthey fled out of that house naked and wounded. And many that believed,\ncame and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used\ncurious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all\nmen: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand\npieces of silver,\u201d Acts 19:11-16, 18, 19.\n\nThe necromancy, divination, and witchcraft, forbidden in the Old Testament\nand practised by the heathen of those times, were all of a similar\ncharacter. A necromancer was one who had, or pretended to have\ncommunication with the dead,\u2014who sought \u201cfor the living to the dead,\u201d(9)\nIsa. 8:19. They practised divination in divers ways, but usually admitted\ntheir dependence on familiar spirits,\u2014the spirits of the departed,\u2014demons.\n\u201cThe king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the\ntwo ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with\nimages, he looked in the liver. At his right hand was the divination for\nJerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to\nlift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the\ngates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. And it shall be unto them as\nfalse divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he\nwill call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken,\u201d Ezek.\n21:21-23. They observed times, _i.e._ they regarded some as lucky, and\nothers as unlucky times for the commencement of any work,\u2014recognizing\ndistinctions which God had not made. The heathen divinities were regarded\nas more propitious at some times than others. It is enumerated among the\nsins of Manasseh, that he \u201cmade his sons pass through the fire, and\nobserved times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and\nwizards,\u201d 2 Kings 21:6.\n\nThey practised various arts, whereby they thought to protect themselves\nfrom evil, and to pry into the secrets of futurity. Because of these\nthings, ancient Babylon was suddenly overwhelmed,\u2014\u201cfor the multitude of\nthy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.\u201d These\ncould not save, as they supposed. Therefore God said to them: \u201cStand now\nwith thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein\nthou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit,\nif so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy\ncounsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly\nprognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come\nupon thee,\u201d Isa. 47:12, 13. All these practices were forbidden by God, who\nsaid: \u201cNeither shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times,\u201d Lev. 19:26.\n\nThose who consulted with familiar spirits were termed wizards and\nwitches,\u2014the practice of which was also expressly forbidden. To make\nwitchcraft a mere pretence, is to impute to Jehovah the making of laws\nagainst pretences and nonentities. To suppose that he would legislate\nagainst, and inflict capital punishment, because of mere pretences, is\nincredible! God said to Moses, \u201cThou shalt not suffer a witch to live,\u201d\nEx. 22:18. And to the Jews he said, \u201cRegard not them that have familiar\nspirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord\nyour God,\u201d Lev. 19:31. \u201cAnd the soul that turneth after such as have\nfamiliar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will\neven set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his\npeople.\u201d \u201cA man, also, or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is\na wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones:\ntheir blood shall be upon them,\u201d Lev. 20:6,27. When Egypt was to be\ndestroyed, they were left to \u201cseek to the idols, and to charmers, and to\nthem that have familiar spirits, and to wizards,\u201d Isa. 19:3.\n\nThe manner in which the familiar spirit spoke, was by \u201cpeeping,\u201d\n\u201cmuttering,\u201d whispering out of the dust, &c. God said to Ariel, \u201cAnd thou\nshalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech\nshall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a\nfamiliar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of\nthe dust,\u201d Isa. 29:4. \u201cAnd when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them\nthat have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:\n(should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead!) to\nthe law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it\nis because there is no light in them,\u201d Isa. 8:19, 20.\n\nSaul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of\nthe land; but when he \u201cinquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not,\nneither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his\nservants, Seek a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her,\nand inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman\nthat hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put\non other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the\nwoman by night: and he said, I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar\nspirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman\nsaid unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut\noff those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards out of the land;\nwherefore, then, layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And\nSaul sware unto her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall\nno punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom\nshall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the\nwoman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul,\nsaying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said\nunto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto\nSaul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What\nform is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with\na mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his\nface to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast\nthou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore\ndistressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed\nfrom me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams:\ntherefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I\nshall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the\nLord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath\ndone to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of\nthine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: because thou\nobeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedest his fierce wrath upon\nAmelek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day.\nMoreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the\nPhilistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord\nalso shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.\nThen Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid,\nbecause of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him,\u201d 1 Sam.\n28:6-20.\n\nMicaiah \u201csaw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven\nstanding by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who\nshall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one\nsaid on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth\na spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And\nthe Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I\nwill be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou\nshalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore,\nbehold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy\nprophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee,\u201d 1 Kings\n22:19-23.\n\nWhen Paul was in the house of Lydia, he says, \u201cIt came to pass, as we went\nto prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, met us,\nwhich brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying: the same followed\nPaul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most\nhigh God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many\ndays. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command\nthee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the\nsame hour,\u201d Acts 16:16-18.\n\nBy sorcery, enchantment, &c., they performed wonders, or _miracles_,\neither real or pretended. \u201cThere was a certain man called Simon, which\nbeforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of\nSamaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave\nheed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power\nof God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had\nbewitched them with sorceries,\u201d Acts 8:9-11. When \u201cAaron cast down his rod\nbefore Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, then\nPharaoh also called the wise men, and the sorcerers: now the magicians of\nEgypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast\ndown every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron\u2019s rod\nswallowed up their rods,\u201d Ex. 7:10-12. When Aaron turned the water of the\nriver to blood, \u201cthe magicians did so with their enchantments,\u201d v. 22. In\nlike manner they \u201cbrought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,\u201d 8:7. But when\nAaron changed the dust to lice, the magicians attempted the same with\ntheir enchantments, \u201cbut they could not,\u201d Ex. 8:18. These sorcerers who\nwithstood Moses, we learn by Paul, were \u201cJannes and Jambres,\u201d 2 Tim. 3:8.\nThey belonged to an ancient profession in Egypt; for, when Pharaoh dreamed\nhis dreams, he first \u201csent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and\nall the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was\nnone that could interpret them unto Pharaoh,\u201d Gen. 41:8. In like manner\nNebuchadnezzar \u201ccommanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and\nthe sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they\ncame, and stood before the king,\u201d Dan. 2:2.\n\nThese things were practised to some extent in Judah, but were all put away\nby Josiah. \u201cMoreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards,\nand the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in\nthe land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might\nperform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah\nthe priest found in the house of the Lord,\u201d 2 Kings 23:24.\n\nThe acts and influences of demoniacal agencies are apparent from the\nforegoing; and the symbolization under the sixth seal, seems to indicate a\nrevival of those teachings and manifestations at the present time. Within\na few years, the curiosity of the community has been excited, and large\nnumbers of persons greatly interested, in various phenomena, known as\nMesmerism, Animal-Magnetism, Clairvoyance, Pathetism, Neurology,\nPsychology, Biology, Electro-Biology, &c. &c. Similar manifestations have\nbeen before exhibited, but not in modern times to the extent now\nwitnessed. These were regarded as harmless phenomena and independent of\nany supernatural agency, till audible sounds were heard communicating\nintelligible responses. Then the claim was set up that these are caused by\ndeparted spirits.\n\nThese sounds were first heard near Rochester, New York, in 1847; and, at\nthe present time (1852), they are affirmed to exist in hundreds of places\nin this country, and other sections of the globe. They are audible raps,\nthe cause of which, aside from the hypothesis of spiritual agency, has\nnever been satisfactorily accounted for. By these raps, unimpeached and\ncredible witnesses testify that correct answers have been given to\nquestions, the facts respecting which were known to no one at the time of\nanswering. Since then, furniture has been seen to move about the room, and\nother _wonders_, or miracles, been performed, by invisible agency, at the\ncommand of mediums to attending spirits,\u2014_i.e._ to _demons_. Mediums have\nwritten on paper, as they profess, involuntarily, lengthy communications,\nin poetry and prose, the subjects of which they claim to have been\nignorant of, while the pen they held was moved independent of their own\nwill. These exhibitions have been attested by hundreds of credible\nwitnesses.\n\nBy such manifestations large numbers of persons have given their adherence\nto these real or pretended agencies as truthful and reliable\nintelligences; whose responses they receive with the same credence that we\ndo the revelations of scripture. \u201cCircles\u201d are extensively formed, who\nhave sittings, at stated times, to receive communications from the spirits\nof the departed; and these are enforced by miracles, audible sounds, the\nexercise of physical power, &c.\n\nThe reality and the credibility of these agencies are separate questions.\nTheir reality is shown by their identity with similar manifestations of\nformer times. The Bible affirms the existence of such: \u201cFor we wrestle not\nagainst flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,\nagainst the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual\nwickedness in high places;\u201d or \u201cwicked spirits\u201d in \u201cheavenly places,\u201d as\nthe _margin_ reads, Eph. 6:12.\n\n1. The familiar spirits of old responded in a manner similar to these.\nThey did \u201cpeep\u201d and \u201cmutter;\u201d their speech was low out of the dust; they\nspoke out of the ground, and whispered; or, as in the margin, did \u201cpeep\u201d\nor \u201cchirp\u201d out of the dust. These \u201crap\u201d and mutter. They respond from\nbeneath chairs, tables and floors.\n\n2. They exercised similar physical powers. They threw down and tare the\npersons they possessed. They turned the swine into the sea, &c. These\nclaim that chairs and tables, are lifted and moved at will by an invisible\nagency.\n\n3. They made similar pretensions to credibility. Simon Magus gave out\n\u201cthat himself was some great one;\u201d and these, that they utter divine\ntruths.\n\n4. Similar regard was bestowed on those, which is claimed for these. To\nSimon \u201cthey all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This\nman is the great power of God.\u201d Yet \u201che had bewitched them with\nsorceries.\u201d Similar claims by, and regard for these modern pretenders to\nthe same art, do not relieve them from the suspicion of a like agency.\n\u201cFor such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves\ninto the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is\ntransformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his\n_ministers_ also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose\nend shall be according to their works,\u201d 2 Cor. 11:13-15.\n\n5. Both have given utterance to some truths. The legion of demons who were\ncast out of the man into a herd of swine, acknowledged Jesus to be \u201cthe\nSon of the Most High God;\u201d and the pythonic spirit which so grieved Paul,\ndeclared the apostles to be \u201cthe servants of the Most High God, which show\nunto us the way of salvation.\u201d Such communications with the invisible\nworld being forbidden, their _credibility_ is disproved.\n\nThey claim that spirits of the departed are brought into direct and\nintelligent communication with the living, who desire to interrogate them.\nWhat more was claimed by the necromancers of old? Said Saul to the woman\nof Endor: \u201cDivine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom\nI shall name unto thee,\u201d 1 Sam. 28:8.\n\nThey claim that not all, but only those persons are mediums who are\npeculiarly susceptible to spiritual influences. Wherein, then, admitting\ntheir claims, do the \u201cmediums\u201d differ from those of old, who divined by a\nfamiliar spirit?\n\nTheir responses are frequently disproved by facts; and themselves admit\nthe existence of unreliable spirits, which communicate like them. They\ngive contradictory responses, and mutually criminate each other; but their\n_reality_ is not disproved by any discrepancy, or want of truthfulness in\ntheir responses; for if they are spirits, none but unclean spirits would\nrespond in a forbidden manner.\n\nThese spirits are to be discredited, because they preach a different\ngospel from that preached by Paul, who says: \u201cI marvel that ye are so soon\nremoved from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another\ngospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and\nwould pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from\nheaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let\nhim be accursed,\u201d Gal. 1:6-9. \u201cIf any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ,\nlet him be Anathema, Maran-atha.\u201d 1 Cor. 16:22. Said John, \u201cBeloved,\nbelieve not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:\nbecause many false prophets are gone out into the world,\u201d 1 John 4:1. Also\nIsaiah said, \u201cAnd when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have\nfamiliar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not\na people seek unto their God? To the law and to the testimony: if they\nspeak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in\nthem,\u201d Isa. 8:19, 20.\n\nBecause of these practices, the nations were driven out from before the\nchildren of Israel. And with the _miracles_ to be wrought, the frog-like\nspirits are to go forth to \u201cthe whole world to gather them to the battle\nof that great day of God Almighty.\u201d\n\nIn the time of Abraham, \u201cthe iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full,\u201d\n(Gen. 15:16); but in four hundred years they had practised all the\nabominations for which they were to be destroyed, and the practice of\nwhich God has expressly forbidden. He said to Israel, in the wilderness,\n\u201cWhen thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou\nshalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nation. There shall\nnot be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass\nthrough the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an\nenchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits,\nor a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an\nabomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy\nGod doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the\nLord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto\nobservers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God\nhath not suffered thee so to do,\u201d Deut. 18:9-14.\n\nSimilar pernicious practices and dangerous heresies, are to prepare the\nway for the final destruction of the nations who reject the claims of\nJehovah. Peter declares that \u201cthere shall be false teachers among you, who\nprivily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that\nbought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall\nfollow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be\nevil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words\nmake merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not,\nand their damnation slumbereth not,\u201d 2 Pet. 2:1-3. And Paul says of that\nwicked: \u201cWhose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and\nsigns, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness\nin them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that\nthey might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong\ndelusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who\nbelieved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,\u201d 2 Thess.\n2:9-12.\n\n\u201cThe battle of that great day of God Almighty,\u201d it would seem, must\ncommence by a conflict of opinions. Mind will war with mind, and puny man\nwill stoutly contend against the truths of the Almighty. In this revival\nof demon-worship, the old gods of the heathen are to be set up against the\nclaims of Jehovah. His declarations are to be made to give place to\n\u201cdoctrines of demons.\u201d The teachings of God and of these spirits are to be\nbrought into direct conflict.\n\nThe followers of the spirits have baptized their new theological dogmas,\n\u201cThe Harmonial Philosophy,\u201d of which _Reason_ is the final umpire.\nRevelation no longer speaks to them in tones of authority. From the Bible,\nit is claimed, \u201cthe seal of infallibility must be broken away, before a\nnew light and beauty can enliven and embellish the mystical disclosures of\nany seer, prophet, or evangelist.\u201d So writes Andrew Jackson Davis, the\nPoughkeepsie seer, one of the leaders of this new school, who complains\nthat \u201cowing to the dogmatism of infallibility, the Bible is taught\nnow-a-days as it was nearly four centuries ago.\u201d\u2014_Review of Dr. Bushnell_,\np. 10.\n\nThe Scriptures are, with those of his faith, only \u201cthe _paper and ink_\nrelics of Christianity,\u201d (_Ib._, p. 21); which they regard as \u201ca\nfoundation as impermanent as the changeful sand\u201d (_Ib._ p. 24), and not\nadapted \u201cto the wants or requirements of the nineteenth century,\u201d _Ib._ p.\n26. They reject Him, whom they style \u201cthe cruel and capricious God\ngenerally worshipped by the Bible Christians,\u201d _Ib._ p. 47. \u201cThe Jewish\nGod,\u201d says Davis, \u201cis cruel, capricious and tyrannical,\u201d whose \u201ckingdom is\nmore despotic, and more contracted in principle, than the present\ngovernment of the Russian empire,\u201d _Ib._ p. 61. He adds, \u201cThe Old\nTestament idea of a Deity is the outgrowth of the despotic stage of human\nmental development,\u201d and \u201ca superannuated monotheistic conception,\u201d _Ib._\np. 62. In their opinion, \u201cthe developments of republicanism, and of mental\nhappiness among men, depend very much upon the _absence_ of these\ndogmatical compilations, or fossil relics, of an old Hebrew and Chaldean\ntheology,\u201d _Ib._ p. 70. With them \u201cthe Bible account of creation is a very\ninteresting _myth_,\u2014mainly a plagiarism from the early traditions and\ncosmological doctrines of the ancient Persians and Chaldeans;\u201d and,\ninstead of being \u201ca divine revelation of truth,\u201d is \u201ca pagan relic, which\nshould no more command serious respect than the ancient doctrines of\nFetichism,\u201d _Ib._ p. 90.\n\nThese \u201cHarmonial Philosophers\u201d are antagonistic to the teachings of\nJehovah in nearly all their theological notions. They scout the idea that\nany actual evil exists in the universe. They deny the existence of the\ndevil, and of evil spirits. \u201cEverything,\u201d says Davis, \u201cis forever\nprogressing in goodness and perfection,\u201d _Ib._ p. 180. The salvation of\nall men, is with them as certain as the operation of fixed laws. They\nrecognize no Saviour and no atonement in their system of faith. The\nteachings of spirits, and \u201ca certain organization of labor, capital and\ntalent,\u201d they fancy, \u201cwill effect the desired cure\u201d for all actual or\nsupposed ills, _Ib._ p. 178. They recognize no responsibility in the\nsinner, but attribute his wrong-doings to ignorance and accident; and\ntheir laws of right, are the dictates of their own wisdom.\n\nTheir system is essentially Pantheistic, all things being regarded by them\nas a part and parcel of Deity. They argue that \u201cevery object which has an\nexistence in the universe must be in its nature good and pure, on the\nprinciple that the effect must partake of the nature of the cause, and the\nstream must be the corresponding emanation of the fountain from which it\nflows.\u201d\u2014_Elements of Spiritual Philosophy_, p. 55. They teach that human\nspirits are \u201cformed primarily from the animating essences that pervade the\ncreation,\u2014which essences,\u201d they say, \u201care the breath and presence of the\nDivinity;\u201d and hence they argue, \u201cthat there are no spirits which are\nintrinsically evil in their nature, and none which do not present in their\ninward depths the reflection of divine purity,\u201d _Ib._ p. 56. Going still\nfurther, they claim that there is no existing \u201csource of positive evil,\u201d\n\u201cno principle of this nature in the human spirit,\u201d and that consequently\n\u201cthere can be no evil designs to emanate from such a source,\u201d _Ib._ p. 60.\n\nThese assertions are put forth authoritatively; for the \u201cElements of\nSpiritual Philosophy\u201d are attested by witnesses to be \u201cwritten by Spirits\nof the Sixth Circle, R. P. Ambler, Medium.\u201d And if they are met by the\ndeclarations written by those who spake as they were moved by the Holy\nGhost, they reply: \u201cThe Christian who deifies his Bible is as much an\nidolater as the heathen who burns his incense before his household image.\nIt is surely attributing to the book what the Pagan attributes to his\nimage.\u201d\u2014_Shekinah, April No._, p. 251. Christianity, they denominate,\n\u201clearned scepticism, baptized in the name of Jesus,\u201d &c., _Ib._, p. 301.\nThus are they warring against the word of God, and placing themselves in\ndirect conflict with the Almighty.\n\nThis warfare is not only avowed to be against the God of the Bible, but is\nrecognized by themselves as _the last great conflict __ previous to the\nmillennium_. They regard this subject as \u201cthe great question of the age,\nwhich is destined to convulse and divide Protestantism, and around which\nall other religious controversies must necessarily revolve.\u201d\u2014_Davis\u2019\nReview of Bushnell_, page 3. The millennium which is to be thus ushered\nin, they regard as a period when \u201cevery one that desires will be able to\nhold direct intercourse and conversation with the spirit\nworld.\u201d\u2014_Spiritual Tel., Vol. 1, No. 1._ Says Davis: \u201cThe thunders of a\nstupendous reformation are soon to issue from the now open mouth of the\nProtestant church. The supernatural faith,\u201d _i.e._ a belief in the\nauthenticity of Scripture, \u201cwill be shaken, as a reed in the tempest. New\nchannels will be formed for the inflowing of new truths, and then a\nlong-promised era will steal upon the religious and political\nworld.\u201d\u2014_Review of Bushnell_, p. 187.\n\nIn another place he says: \u201cYou may be assured of the truth of this\n_approaching crisis_. The world must recognize it, because it will be\naccompanied with _war_; for politics are inseparably connected, all over\nthe world, with religious systems. Religion will develop reason; but\npolitics will impel the masses to _unsheath the sword, and to stain the\nbosom of Nature with blood_! Friends of progress! be not discouraged; for\nthe FINAL CRISIS must come; _then the strange interregnum_,\u201d _Ib._ p. 217.\n\u201cProtestantism as now constructed will first decay; because it is to be\ndivided into two,\u2014the smallest party will go back into Catholicism; the\nother will go forward into Rationalism. And then, after a succession of\neventful years, a political revolution will hurl the Catholic\nsuperstructure to the earth, and the prismatic bow of promise will span\nthe heavens. The children of earth will then be comparatively free and\nhappy! for the _millennial_ epoch will have arrived; and there will be\nsomething like a realization of peace on earth, and good will toward all\nmen!\u201d _Ib._ p. 221.\n\nSuch are their delusive hopes, while setting themselves against the Lord,\nand against his Anointed. The Bible teaches that multitudes will be\ndeceived by them, and, if it were possible, some of the elect; and hence:\n\n\n\n\nThe Admonition.\n\n\n    \u201cBehold, I come like a thief. Happy is he who watcheth, and\n    keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.\u201d\n    Rev. 16:15.\n\n\n\u201cThe day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the\nheavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt\nwith fervent heat,\u201d 2 Pet. 3:10. The Saviour said to his disciples:\n\u201cWatch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,\u201d Matt.\n24:42. Says Paul: \u201cYourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so\ncometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, peace and safety,\nthen sudden destruction cometh, ... and they shall not escape; but ye,\nbrethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a\nthief,\u201d 1 Thess. 5:1-6.\n\nThus will the day of the Lord come, as a thief, on those who are careless\nand indifferent to its approach; but it will not thus overtake those who\nwatch, and keep their garments. Because so many will be deceived by the\nstrange performances of the spirits of demons, and their miracles so\ndelude the multitude, Christ\u2019s coming will be to them sudden and\nunexpected. Therefore the greater necessity for watchfulness. While this\nis a predicted means for lulling the world to sleep, it is given to the\nChristian as an indication of the near coming of Christ, whose advent\nsynchronizes with the outpouring of the seventh vial. The blessing\npronounced on those who watch, is an intimation that the people of God\nwill be expecting Christ\u2019s advent, while others will be taken by surprise:\n\u201cunto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin\nunto salvation,\u201d Heb. 9:28. \u201cFor the grace of God that bringeth salvation\nhath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness, and\nworldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this\npresent world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing\nof the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ,\u201d Titus 2:11-13.\n\nThose who keep their garments, are those who have not \u201cdefiled\u201d them with\nsin, (3:4); they will walk with Christ in white, being worthy; \u201cfor the\nfine linen\u201d in which they are to be arrayed \u201cis the righteousness of\nsaints,\u201d 19:8. To be destitute of this, is to be unclothed; and hence the\nSaviour says: \u201cI counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment, that thou\nmayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,\u201d\n3:18. The intimation is clear, that to be deceived by the unclean spirits,\nis to lose those robes of righteousness, and to be found naked at Christ\u2019s\nappearing.\n\n\n\n\nThe Success of the Spirits.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd they gathered them into a place called in Hebrew Armageddon.\u201d\n    Rev. 16:16.\n\n\nBefore the coming of the Lord, and as a preparation for that event, the\nnations are to be thus gathered. Armageddon is the name of a valley at the\nfoot of Mount Megiddo, famous for its bloody slaughters. It fitly\nsymbolizes the final gathering of the nations. The enemies of God will\nmarshal for the final conflict. The powers of darkness will fancy\nthemselves on the verge of victory; and then will be poured out:\n\n\n\n\nThe Seventh Vial.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the seventh poured out his bowl on the air; and there came a\n    loud voice from the temple [of heaven], from the throne, saying,\n    It is done! And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders;\n    and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were\n    on the earth, so mighty and so great an earthquake. And the great\n    city became three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and\n    great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of\n    the wine of his furious wrath. And every island fled, and the\n    mountains were no more. And vast hail, weighing a talent, fell\n    from heaven on men; and men reviled God because of the plague of\n    the hail; for the plague thereof was exceedingly great.\u201d Rev.\n    16:17-21.\n\n\nThe atmosphere is not limited, like a river, or portion of the earth, to a\ngiven locality, but encircles the globe. Consequently the effect of the\nvial poured out on the air, would be universal, and not local like the\neffects of the previous vials. The air is the region of storms. These\nsymbolize the expression of conflicting opinions, and violent outbursts of\npassion; which may be the commencement of that \u201cgreat battle,\u201d for the\npreparation of which the unclean spirits went forth under the sixth vial,\nto gather the people, and which terminates by the slaying of the remnant\nwith the sword of the Lord, 19:21.\n\nAn earthquake is a symbol of a political revolution. As this is to be\ngreater than all preceding ones, it must extend to all nations. It is\nduring the earthquake, that the cities fall and the mountains and islands\nflee away. This commotion evidently synchronizes with the \u201ctime of\ntrouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same\ntime,\u201d when God\u2019s \u201cpeople shall be delivered, every one that shall be\nfound written in the book,\u201d Dan. 12:1.\n\n\u201cIt is done,\u201d is a declaration indicating the completion of the work\nsymbolized. It marks the termination of the events of the seventh vial,\nwhich are described in the verses following:\n\n\u201cThe great city\u201d is \u201cBabylon,\u201d (14:8); which \u201creigneth over the kings of\nthe earth,\u201d (17:8); and which John had seen sitting \u201cupon many waters,\u201d\n17:1. This was doubtless seen when he saw the waters of the symbolic\nEuphrates being dried up, 16:12. Babylon, being a symbol of the Roman\nhierarchy, its triple division indicates a like division of the church of\nRome, not geographical, but under different leaders, previous to its\ndestruction.\n\n\u201cThe cities of the nations,\u201d must symbolize other hierarchies, analogous\nto that of Rome, of which there are the Greek church, in Russia and\nGreece, the Arminian and Syrian churches, and other corrupt nationalized\nestablishments. All such will become disconnected, like Babylon, with the\ngovernments by which they are sustained.\n\n\u201cGreat Babylon\u201d then comes into remembrance to drink the cup of the wine\nof the fierceness of God\u2019s wrath. Because her sins have reached unto\nheaven, \u201cGod hath remembered her iniquities,\u201d 18:5. This synchronizes with\nher destruction, symbolized in Rev. 18:8-23. As the Papacy continues till\nChrist\u2019s coming (Dan. 7:21, and 2 Thess. 2:3-8), this epoch must\nsynchronize with that event, when he comes to receive his chosen ones.\n\nWith the destruction of Babylon, occurs the subversion of all national\nauthority. As ecclesiastical hierarchies are symbolized by cities, the\n\u201cmountains\u201d and \u201cislands\u201d on which they are situated must symbolize the\nlarger and smaller governments; and their removal from their places, their\nsubversion in the great moral \u201cearthquake\u201d which is to overwhelm them.\nThis synchronizes with the sixth seal, when they are all \u201cremoved out of\ntheir places,\u201d (6:14); and it leaves the inhabitants of earth in a state\nof anarchy. It is at this time that the kings and great men of the earth\nbecome aware that the great day of God\u2019s wrath is come, 6:15-17. With this\ntime of trouble, comes the deliverance of God\u2019s people, (Dan. 12:1); who\nshall be caught up together \u201cto meet the Lord in the air,\u201d 1 Thess. 4:17.\nTo them the Lord has said, \u201cThou shalt not be afraid for the terror by\nnight; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that\nwalketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A\nthousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but\nit shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and\nsee the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my\nrefuge, even the Most High, thy habitation,\u201d Ps. 91:5-9.\n\nThe removal of the saints leaves the wicked exposed to the vengeance of\nGod\u2019s wrath, of which a terrific hail-storm on their defenceless heads, is\nan expressive symbol. The Lord said, by Isaiah: \u201cJudgment also will I lay\nto the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep\naway the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.\nAnd your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with\nhell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,\nthen ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it\nshall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by\nnight: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the\nbed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering\nnarrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up\nas in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he\nmay do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange\nact. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for\nI have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption even determined upon\nthe whole earth,\u201d Isa. 28:17-22.\n\nThis must synchronize with the final conflict, (symbolized in Rev.\n19:19-21): also with the casting of the vine of the earth into the\nwine-press of God\u2019s wrath (14:19), and terminates the battle of\n\u201cArmageddon,\u201d\u2014the \u201cbattle of that great day of God Almighty,\u201d 16:14.\n\n\n\n\nThe Judgment of the Harlot.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and\n    talked with me, saying, Come here; I will show thee the judgment\n    of the great harlot who sitteth on many waters; with whom the\n    kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants\n    of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her\n    fornication.\u201d Rev. 17:1, 2.\n\n\nThe Roman hierarchy had been frequently referred to in the preceding\nvisions; but an institution, so interwoven with the history of the\nnations, required a more full and minute symbolization.\n\nThe subject of this vision is announced to the revelator, by one of the\nangels who had the seven vials;\u2014very probably, the seventh. The harlot is\nidentified as one \u201cthat sitteth upon many waters.\u201d Ancient Babylon was\nthus addressed: \u201cO thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in\ntreasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness,\u201d Jer.\n51:13. She is also described as \u201cThe well-favored _harlot_, the mistress\nof witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families\nthrough her witchcrafts,\u201d Nahum 3:4. Therefore the harlot whose judgment\nis to be more minutely shown, is the city of the previous vision, which\nreceived the cup of the wine of God\u2019s wrath (16:19), and which probably\nwas shown to John on the waters of the Euphrates, (16:12); for the\nreference indicates that she had been thus previously exhibited,\u2014the\nwaters on which she was seated, being the people, nations, &c., which\nsustained and defended her idolatries, 17:15. In the vision now to be\nshown John, the Roman hierarchy is symbolized by Babylon; but it is first\nexhibited as:\n\n\n\n\nA Woman on a Scarlet-Colored Beast.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd he carried me away in spirit into a desert: and I saw a woman\n    seated on a crimson-colored wild beast, full of names of reviling,\n    having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in\n    purple and crimson, and decked with gold and precious stones and\n    pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and\n    the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead a name was\n    written, A SECRET: BABYLON, THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS\n    AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken\n    with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses\n    of Jesus; and when I saw her I wondered greatly.\u201d Rev. 17:3-6.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the angel said to me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee\n    the secret of the woman, and of the wild beast that carrieth her,\n    which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. The wild beast which\n    thou didst see, was, and is not, and will ascend out of the abyss,\n    and go into destruction; and those who dwell on the earth will\n    wonder, (whose names were not written in the book of life from the\n    foundation of the world,) as they behold the wild beast that was\n    and is not, and will be. And here is the mind having wisdom. The\n    seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth, and\n    they are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is and the other is\n    not yet come; and when he cometh he must remain a little while.\n    And the wild beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth,\n    and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction. And the ten horns\n    which thou didst see are ten kings, who have not yet received a\n    kingdom; but they receive power as kings, one hour, with the wild\n    beast. These have one mind, and will give their power and strength\n    to the wild beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb\n    will overcome them; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings;\n    and those with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.\u201d Rev.\n    17:7-14.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd he saith to me, The waters which thou didst see, where the\n    harlot sitteth, are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues.\n    And the ten horns which thou didst see, and the wild beast, these\n    will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and\n    will eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God hath put it\n    into their hearts to perform his purpose, and to agree, and give\n    their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God shall be\n    fulfilled. And the woman whom thou didst see is the great city,\n    which reigneth over the kings of the earth.\u201d Rev. 17:15-18.\n\n\nThat the woman and city symbolize the same, is shown by the declaration\nthat she is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth,\nv. 18. She is also thus indicated by the name of \u201cBabylon,\u201d on her\nforehead, and the golden cup in her hand: \u201cBabylon hath been a golden cup\nin the Lord\u2019s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have\ndrunken of her wine; therefore are the nations mad,\u201d Jer. 51:7. In like\nmanner has the church of Rome intoxicated the nations.\n\n\u201cThe scarlet-colored beast\u201d on which the woman is seated, is evidently the\nsame beast that John saw \u201crise out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten\nhorns,\u201d 13:1. The Roman empire had been symbolized by \u201ca great red\ndragon,\u201d which also had seven heads and ten horns. In that vision, crowns\nwere on the heads of the beast, (12:3); which indicated that Rome, during\nthe period thus represented, existed under the forms of government\nsymbolized by the heads. These heads, the angel affirms, are the seven\nmountains on which the woman sitteth, (v. 9); and also that they are seven\nkings (v. 10), or forms of government. Mountains also symbolize\ngovernments, (16:20); and as the heads and mountains are the same, they\nmust alike symbolize the seven forms of government under which Rome\nexisted previous to its subversion by the northern barbarians,\u2014viz.: 1,\nthe kingly; 2, consular; 3, dictatorial; 4, decemviral; 5, tribunitial; 6,\npagan-imperial; and 7, Christian-imperial. At the time of the explanation\nof this vision to John, the \u201cfive\u201d first-named forms had passed away; or,\nas the angel says, had \u201cfallen,\u201d v. 10. One then was:\u2014Rome then existed\nunder its pagan-imperial, or sixth head. The other, the\nChristian-imperial, had not then come; but after it came, and had\ncontinued for a time, the Roman empire was subverted by the irruptions of\nnorthern barbarians. Thus \u201cthe beast was;\u201d and then, was not for a season.\nBut afterwards it emerged again from the sea (13:1), under an \u201ceight\u201d\nform, which was of the previous seven, 17:11. When it re\u00e4ppears, its\ncrowns are not upon its heads, but encircle its horns, (13:1); indicating\nthat those governments have the ascendency, which are symbolized by the\n\u201cten horns;\u201d and which, according to the angel, are \u201cten kings,\u201d which had\nnot received their kingdom at the time of the vision, v. 12. These were to\nbe kings in \u201cone,\u201d or the same hour with the beast, and must therefore be\ncontemporary kingdoms, while the forms symbolized by the heads, are\nevidently successive. They constitute the government of Rome, in its\neighth, or decem-regal form; and symbolize the ten kingdoms which arose\nafter and out of the subversion of imperial Rome. Under this form, the\nbeast goes into perdition, (v. 11):\u2014they continue under various\ncombinations, till the end of the world, when they will war with and be\novercome by the Lamb (v. 14), in the great battle of Armageddon, 19:19-21.\n\nThe ten contemporary kingdoms have one mind, (v. 13): they perpetuate the\nkingdom of the beast, by adopting similar laws, pursuing the same line of\npolicy, and assuming the same powers that the empire exercised.\n\nThe \u201cnames of blasphemy\u201d which cover the beast, symbolize its arrogating\nthe right to dictate in matters of faith and religious worship, and to\npunish those who dissent from its creed. The Roman hierarchy was supported\nby legal enactments against heretics in all of the ten kingdoms. Those who\ndissented from the church were delivered over to the power of the civil\narm, which punished by imprisonment, confiscation of goods, bodily\ntorture, and death. The exercise of such power, was a blasphemous\nusurpation of the prerogatives of Christ, and an assumption of authority\nover the legislation of God.\n\nOn this beast the woman is seated. As its rider, she guides it, and is\nsustained by it. She is its directing power; and while she is thus seated,\nthere is no reference to crowns encircling either heads or horns. All rule\nfor a time is subservient to her control. Thus were the ten kingdoms\nobedient to the Roman hierarchy,\u2014sustaining, and being controlled by it.\nShe crowned their kings, and dethroned them at her pleasure. The religion\nof the church was enforced by the sword of the state; and thus did the\nkings of the earth commit fornication with her,\u2014the idolatries of the\nchurch being sanctioned by them.\n\nThe superb attire of the woman, and the costly gems with which she is\ndecked, denote the wealth, luxury, and regal splendor of the hierarchy\nwhich she symbolizes. The cup, and its abominations in her hand, denote\nthe false doctrines with which she would seduce the nations. Her names\ndescribe her nature, and identify her with Babylon; and her intoxication\nwith blood, indicates her blood-thirsty, persecuting character, and the\ndelight with which she would exult over the slaughter of the saints.\n\nThe Roman hierarchy was not, however, _always_ to retain her supremacy\nover the nations. She was in due time to _fall_ from the position\nsymbolized by the woman seated on the beast; and the kings of the earth\nwere to hate and burn with fire, her whom they had recognized as their\nmistress, and to whose control they had submitted. The governments which\nhave sustained her pretensions, were to cast her off contemptuously. This\nhas been in progress of fulfilment from the days of Martin Luther, since\nwhich her control of the ten kingdoms has been only limited and partial.\nMany of her ecclesiastical estates have been confiscated, and she has been\ndeprived of her prerogatives in many countries. There may, perhaps, be\nhereafter a more complete fulfilment of this prediction. It is symbolized\nin the following chapter, by:\n\n\n\n\nThe Fall of Babylon.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd after this, I saw another angel descending from heaven,\n    having great power; and the earth was enlightened by his glory.\n    And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, She is fallen: Babylon\n    the great is fallen, and is become a dwelling of demons, and a\n    prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and\n    hateful bird, for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the\n    fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed\n    fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become\n    rich through the abundance of her luxury.\u201d Rev. 18:1-3.\n\n\nThis announcement of the fall of the city, synchronizes with the same\nsymbolization in the 14th chapter: \u201cAnd there followed another angel,\nsaying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made\nall nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,\u201d 14:8. The\nangel, proclaiming her fall, doubtless symbolizes a body of men, who shall\ngive utterance to corresponding declarations.\n\nThe _epoch_ of this utterance is shown by the identity of this angel with\nthat of Rev. 10:1-3. They thus correspond: They both descend from heaven:\nthe one is a mighty angel, and the other has great power; the one is\nenveloped with a robe of cloud, his head is arched with the rainbow, his\nface is like the sun, and his feet like fire, and he stands on both earth\nand sea; the other is so glorified, and occupies a position so\nconspicuous, that the earth is enlightened with his glory; and the one\ncries \u201cwith a loud voice as when a lion roareth,\u201d while the other cries\n\u201cmighty with a strong voice.\u201d Thus their position, manner and\nconspicuousness, are alike. What was uttered by the angel of the tenth\nchapter, is not revealed; but the fall of Babylon being announced in the\neighteenth, it follows that it was the subject of the angel\u2019s utterance in\nthe tenth.\n\nAs the messenger of the tenth chapter appears subsequent to the sixth, and\nbefore the seventh trumpet; and as, after this epoch, there were to be\nprophesyings \u201c_again_, before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and\nkings\u201d (10:11), it follows that the _time_ then symbolized must be at an\nepoch _anterior_ to the end of the world. A corresponding reason\u2014namely,\nthe command to come out of Babylon, and the fulfilment of her plagues and\nsorrows, which are to intervene between the cry of the angel announcing\nher fall and the time of her actual destruction\u2014proves that the mighty\nangel of the 18th of Revelation must also be at an _epoch_ having a\nconsiderable period between it and the end.\n\nIt follows, that when John saw the angel of the eighteenth chapter, and\n\u201cthe earth was lightened with his glory,\u201d it did not symbolize a _literal_\nbut a _moral_ light,\u2014_the light of truth_. And as the enlightening of the\nearth by its promulgation, pre-supposes a previous state of corresponding\nmoral _darkness_, it must, as in the tenth chapter, symbolize an _epoch_,\nprominent in the history of the world, as a time when the _darkness_ of\nignorance, error and superstition, began rapidly to disappear before the\nspread of the _light_ of truth and knowledge.\n\nThese considerations point to the epoch of the REFORMATION, when the\nmidnight _darkness_ of the _dark ages_ began to be scattered before the\nuprising and onward progress of truth and knowledge. Then appeared a body\nof religious teachers, aided by the newly discovered art of printing, who\nso brought the Scriptures out from their obscurity, opposed the\npretensions of the Papal hierarchy, and, by the clear teachings of the\nword, so secured the spread of gospel light and liberty, that they might\nappropriately be symbolized by an angel coming down from heaven, and\nenlightening the earth with his glory. The descent from heaven would\nsymbolize the heavenly origin of the doctrines promulgated. His mighty\npower, and the strong voice with which he proclaimed his cry, would\nsymbolize the greatness and earnestness of the movement, and the mighty\nresults to be effected by it. This symbolization, twice given, could only\nbe fulfilled by some great and mighty movement, like the Reformation.\n\nThe fall of Babylon is distinct from and anterior to its destruction, and\nmust correspond with the fall of the woman from her position on the\nbeast;\u2014she is no longer to be the director of, and to be sustained by, the\ncivil power. The cry of the angel, announcing her fall, as Mr. Elliot\nremarks, seems to be anticipative, and not retrospective. The\ndenunciations of the Papacy by the reformers were of a character to fulfil\nthis symbolization.\n\nThe year 1300, during the pontificate of Boniface VIII., may be regarded\nas marking the highest eminence to which the Papal power ever attained.\nFrom this period the dominion of the Roman Pontiffs appeared to be\ngradually undermined. Twenty-four years after this date, John Wickliffe\nwas born, who, together with his followers, made more vigorous attacks\nupon Babylon itself. Some of these declared Rome to be mystical Babylon,\nand the Pope and church there to be Antichrist. These heralds announced\nthe fall of mystical Babylon, as the ancient prophets had done that of\nliteral Babylon, long before the event.\u2014Jer. 51:7, 8. Antichrist and\nBabylon are identified in prophecy. In 1518, Luther first suspected their\napplication to the Papacy; and, writing to his friend Link, on sending him\na copy of the acts just published of the conference at Augsburg, he says:\n\u201cMy pen is ready to give birth to things much greater. _I know not myself\nwhence these thoughts come to me._ I will send you what I write, that you\nmay see if I have well conjectured in believing that the _Antichrist_ of\nwhom St. Paul speaks now reigns in the court of Rome.\u201d\n\nAt first, Luther and his companions sought only the reformation of that\nchurch. They had no idea of dissolving their own connection with it. But\nwhen the thunders of the Vatican were hurled at them, and they found\nthemselves excommunicated as heretics, they came to the conclusion that\nthe church of Rome was _the Babylon of the Apocalypse_. Immediately upon\nthis conviction, they began to cry, \u201cBabylon is fallen!\u201d\n\nIn 1520 appeared a famous book, by Luther, on the \u201c_Babylonish Captivity\nof the Church_,\u201d in which he attacked Rome with great skill and courage.\nIn Switzerland and England the reformers considered themselves as\nfulfilling this message of the Apocalyptic angel. Elliot says, \u201cThey\n_seized on this very prophecy for application; and, for the first time_,\nupon grounds of evidence sound and tenable, concluded on the fact of\nprogress having been made up to it, in the evolution of the great mundane\ndrama, and on their own chronological place being already far advanced\nunder the sixth trumpet, and in near expectancy of the seventh trumpet, of\nthe Apocalyptic prophecy.\u201d\n\nThese denunciations against Mystic Babylon, and protestations against all\nher idolatrous ceremonies and superstitious appendages, were given, by the\ngreat body of the reformers, within the very bounds of her empire. They\nresulted in her loss of power, and of control over the princes of Europe.\nIn 1526, the other monarchs becoming jealous of the power of Charles V.,\nEmperor of Germany, \u201cPope Clement VII. placed himself at the head of a\nleague of the principal states of Italy against him; but their\nill-directed efforts were productive of new misfortunes. Rome was taken by\nstorm, by the troops of the constable, sacked, and the Pope himself made\nprisoner. Charles V. publicly disavowed the proceedings of the constable,\nwent into mourning with his court, and carried his hypocrisy so far as to\norder prayers for the deliverance of the Pope. On restoring the holy\nfather to liberty, he demanded a ransom of four hundred thousand crowns of\ngold, but was satisfied with a quarter of that sum.\u201d\u2014_Ency. Am._, v. 3. p.\n76.\n\nAll the Protestant princes of Germany denied the assumptions of the Pope;\nand the powers of western and northern Europe, one after another, denied\ntheir allegiance to him. In 1798, Pius VI. was taken prisoner by the\nFrench, under Gen. Berthier, and died in exile. When Berthier entered\nRome, many of the cardinals \u201cfled from the city on the wings of terror;\u201d\nbut those who remained \u201cwere disposed still to uphold the authority of the\nPontiff.\u201d Finally, however, \u201cwith melancholy voice, they pronounced their\nabsolute renunciation of the temporal government.\u201d\u2014_Life of Pius VI._ His\nsuccessor resumed his position. But in 1848 Pius IX. fled from his own\nsubjects, and was only restored by French arms. Thus gradually the\nBabylonish _woman_ became unseated, and fell from her position on the\nbeast; and, instead of guiding and directing the civil power, now only\nexists by sufferance. As a city, also, her supremacy was gone. Being no\nlonger the mistress of the nations, or the ruling city, the Papal See is\nin the condition of ancient Babylon when becoming a dependency of the\nMedes and Persians.\n\nAfter the fall of ancient Babylon, it became gradually more and more\ndeserted, until there was a literal fulfilment of the words of Isaiah:\n\u201cWild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full\nof doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance\nthere. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate\nhouses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces,\u201d Isa. 13:21, 22. In like\nmanner the apocalyptic Babylon, after her fall, and the withdrawal of\nProtestants from her communion, was to become the receptacle of\ncorresponding spirits. Her members were to be more impious than before,\nand were to adhere more closely than ever to her idolatrous practices. The\ncontrast between these and true Christians would also be more apparent\nfrom the separation which succeeds her fall, in obedience to:\n\n\n\n\nThe Voice From Heaven.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her,\n    my people, that ye partake not of her sins, and that ye receive\n    not of her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God\n    hath remembered her iniquities! Reward her even as she rendered to\n    you, and double to her according to her works, in the cup which\n    she hath poured out, pour out double to her. By as much as she\n    hath glorified herself, and lived luxuriously, so much torment and\n    mourning give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and\n    am not a widow, and shall see no mourning. On this account, her\n    plagues will come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and\n    she will be burned up with fire; for strong is the Lord God, who\n    judgeth her.\u201d\u2014Rev. 18:4-8.\n\n\nSo long as the true character of the apostate church was unperceived, she\nwould contain many good, as well as a multitude of bad members. The voice\nfrom heaven, indicates an epoch when there should be a widely extended and\nmarked separation between these two classes. Till the time of that\nseparation should be indicated, the children of God would be justified in\ncontinuing members of her communion; but not subsequently. The condition\nof Babylon, at the time of her fall, indicates that the separation must\ntake place in near connection with that event; and the cry must\nsynchronize with that of the third angel in Rev. 14:9,\u2014which symbolized a\nbody of men who should insist on such a separation from the Papacy as that\nhere symbolized.\n\nAfter the discovery that the church of Rome was the Babylon of the\nApocalypse, the reformers began to call on the people of God to desert her\ncommunion; and the formation of the reformed churches was the consequence.\nThis was preached wherever the Reformation extended, and has been\ncontinued to the present time. The Protestant churches have proclaimed\nconnection with Romanism, an obstacle to salvation; and have called on its\nChristian members to come out from her abominations. Even the name\n\u201cProtestant,\u201d was given because of their protestation against the\ncorruptions of the Papal See.\n\nAfter the fall of ancient Babylon, and before her destruction, the people\nwere, in like manner, commanded to forsake her. Said Jeremiah: \u201cFlee out\nof the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in\nher iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord\u2019s vengeance; he will render\nunto her a recompense. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for\nher; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have\nhealed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every\none into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is\nlifted up even to the skies,\u201d Jer. 51:6, 8, 9. And Isaiah said: \u201cGo ye\nforth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing\ndeclare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The\nLord hath redeemed his servant Jacob,\u201d Isa. 48:20. \u201cDepart ye, depart ye,\ngo ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of\nher; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord,\u201d Isa. 52:11.\n\nSins reaching to heaven, indicate great wickedness. Thus God said to\nJonah: \u201cGo to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their\nwickedness is come up before me,\u201d Jonah 1:2. And he said of old Babylon:\n\u201cHer judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies,\u201d\nJer. 51:9.\n\n\n\n\nThe Destruction of Babylon.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and\n    lived luxuriously with her, will weep and wail for her, when they\n    see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off through the fear\n    of her torment, saying, Woe! woe! that great city, Babylon, that\n    mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come! And the\n    merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her; for no one\n    buyeth their merchandise any more; the merchandise of gold, and\n    silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and\n    purple, and silk, and crimson, and all thine wood, and all kinds\n    of vessels of ivory, and all kinds of vessels of most precious\n    wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and\n    fragrant ointment, and incense, and myrrh, and frankincense, and\n    wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep,\n    and horses, and chariots, and bodies, and souls of men. And the\n    autumnal fruit of thine appetite\u2019s desire is departed from thee,\n    and all things dainty and sumptuous are destroyed from thee, and\n    thou wilt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things,\n    who were enriched by her, will stand afar off, through the fear of\n    her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe! woe! that great\n    city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and crimson, and\n    adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for in one\n    hour such great wealth is destroyed. And every pilot, and every\n    one sailing to any place, and sailors, and as many as trade by\n    sea, stood afar off, and cried, when they saw the smoke of her\n    burning, saying, What city is like the great city? And they cast\n    dust on their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying,\n    Woe! woe! the great city by which all who had ships on the sea,\n    were made rich through her precious merchandise! for in one hour\n    she is desolated.\u201d Rev. 18:9-20.\n\n\n    \u201cRejoice over her, O heaven, and ye saints and apostles and\n    prophets; for God hath avenged you on her!\u201d Rev. 18:20.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd a strong angel took up a stone like a great mill-stone, and\n    cast it into the sea, saying, Thus violently, will Babylon, the\n    great city, be cast down, and be no more at all. And the voice of\n    harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, will be heard\n    no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of any art, will be\n    found any more in thee; and the sound of a mill-stone will be\n    heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a lamp will shine\n    no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the\n    bride will be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were\n    the nobles of the earth; for by thy sorcery all nations were\n    deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of\n    saints, and of all those slain on the earth.\u201d Rev. 18:21-24.\n\n\nThe punishment of Babylon is proportioned to her wickedness, and is to be\ninflicted partially by the kings of the earth, and partially by other\nagencies. The kings were to hate, and burn her with fire, (17:16); and\nwere also, when they should see the smoke of her burnings, to bewail and\nlament for her, 18:9. The former passage indicates their agency in her\nimpoverishment, and has been fulfilled in the confiscation of her property\nin France and England, the spoliation of churches and religious houses,\nwherever the arms of Napoleon extended; the dethronement of the Pope, by\nGen. Berthier, in 1798; the refusal of some of the powers to permit her to\nnominate, within their limits, the candidates for ecclesiastical\npreferment, &c. She is thus made to feel her widowhood,\u2014her divorce from\nthe secular arm,\u2014and has mourned the loss of her most devoted children,\nwho have forsaken her communion.\n\nHer final destruction is, however, to be _entire_. She is totally to\ndisappear, like the sinking of a millstone in the sea. She is to be\n_utterly_ burned with fire; but the lamentation of the kings over her\nburning, indicates that her destruction is to be completed by other\ninstrumentality than theirs. Probably the multitude are to be incensed\nagainst her, and will so manifest their hatred that the governments will\nneither join in it, nor attempt to resist it, for fear that the same\ntorment will be inflicted on them, 18:10. But her existence is terminated\nby the brightness of Christ\u2019s coming, 2 Thess. 2:8. Her destruction\nprecedes that of the kings of the earth, who mourn her end. The merchants\nof the earth, the captains, sailors, &c., symbolize those who bear a\nrelation to the hierarchy, analogous to that sustained by such to a great\ncommercial emporium. They are those who have the control of her\npreferments, benefices and revenues,\u2014who traffic in her indulgences, and\nthereby become themselves enriched. And these articles of traffic are\nsymbolized by the merchandise which, after her destruction, no man would\nbuy.\n\nThe commerce of this ecclesiastical city, has been immense,\u2014particularly\nin indulgences. The sale of these was reduced to a system, says D\u2019Aubign\u00e9,\nby \u201cthe celebrated and scandalous Tariff of Indulgences,\u201d which went\nthrough more than forty editions. The least delicate ears would be\noffended by an enumeration of all the horrors it contains. Incest, if not\ndetected, was to cost five groats; and six, if it was known. There was a\nstated price for murder, infanticide, adultery, perjury, burglary, &c.\nPolygamy cost six ducats; sacrilege and perjury, nine; murder, eight; and\nwitchcraft, two ducats.\n\nThe penances of various kinds which were imposed as a punishment for sin,\nmight also be compounded for money.\n\nTetzel, one of Rome\u2019s travelling merchants, told the people of Germany\nthat for \u201ca quarter of a florin\u201d they might \u201creceive letters of\nindulgence,\u201d by means of which they might \u201cintroduce into paradise a\ndivine and immortal soul, without its running any risk.\u201d _Hist. Ref._, pp.\n56, 242.\n\nHe also said \u201cIndulgences avail not only for the living but for the dead.\nWith twelve groats you can deliver your father from purgatory.\u201d \u201cAt the\nvery instant,\u201d said he, \u201cthat the money rattles at the bottom of the\nchest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies, liberated to heaven.\u201d\nThis is but a specimen of her vile traffic.\n\nResponding to the command, are heard the voices of much people in heaven,\n\n\n\n\nRejoicing Over Babylon\u2019s Destruction.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd after this, I heard a loud voice of a mighty crowd in heaven,\n    saying, Praise ye Jehovah! The salvation, and the glory, and the\n    power of our God! For true and righteous are his judgments; for he\n    hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her\n    fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her\n    hand! And again they said, Praise ye Jehovah! And her smoke\n    ascendeth for ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the\n    four living beings fell down and worshipped God, who sat on the\n    throne, saying, So be it! Praise ye Jehovah!\u201d Rev. 19:1-4.\n\n\nDaniel, in vision, saw the same persecuting power symbolized by a \u201cLittle\nHorn,\u201d having \u201ceyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great\nthings;\u201d and he beheld, \u201cand the same Horn made war with the saints, and\nprevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was\ngiven to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints\npossessed the kingdom,\u201d Dan. 7:8, 21, 22. And Paul testified of \u201cthat\nWicked\u201d who was to be revealed, that he was the \u201cMan of Sin,\u201d \u201cwhom the\nLord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with\nthe brightness of his coming,\u201d 2 Thess. 2:3-8. The destruction of that\nwhich was thus symbolized and predicted, must, consequently, be at the\nepoch of Christ\u2019s second coming and of the establishment of the kingdom of\nGod.\n\nIt is also at the epoch anticipated by \u201cthe souls of them that were slain\nfor the word of God and for the testimony which they held,\u201d who, from\nunder the altar, on the opening of the \u201cfifth seal,\u201d \u201ccried with a loud\nvoice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and\navenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?\u201d 6:9, 10. The epoch\nwhich they anticipated not having then arrived, \u201cwhite robes were given\nunto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest\nyet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their\nbrethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled\u201d\n(6:11),\u2014_i.e._, till their number should be filled up. As the destruction\nof that hierarchy, in which \u201cwas found the blood of prophets and of saints\nand of all that were slain upon the earth\u201d (18:24), had just been\nsymbolized (in the 18th chap.), and as these rejoicings are because God\n\u201chath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her\nfornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand\u201d\n(19:2), it follows that the epoch here symbolized is that to which the\nsaints were to wait, and that they are now to be crowned with their\nreward.\n\nAs the destruction of Babylon is a little anterior to that of the beast\nand false prophet (19:20), and is to be destroyed by the brightness of\nChrist\u2019s coming (2 Thess. 2:8), at a time when the kingdom is to be given\nto the saints of the Most High (Dan. 7:22), it explains how it is that the\nkingdom is set up in the days of the kings symbolized by the divided toes\nof Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s image: symbolic of the same as the horns of the beast\nin Dan. 7:7, 24, and Rev. 17:3, 12, 16; for \u201cin the days of these kings\nshall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed,\nand the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in\npieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever,\u201d Dan.\n2:44.\n\nThe kingdom is therefore commenced previous to the descent of the Lord to\nthe earth, by the saints being caught up to meet him in the air. \u201cFor the\nLord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the\narchangel and the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first;\nthen we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them\nin the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with\nthe Lord,\u201d 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.\n\nThis epoch, then, is that of the sounding of the seventh trumpet; for \u201cin\nthe days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound,\nthe mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants\nthe prophets,\u201d 10:7. This mystery Paul thus explains: \u201cNow this I say,\nbrethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither\ndoth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: We\nshall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the\ntwinkling of an eye, _at the last trump_: for the trumpet shall sound, and\nthe dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed,\u201d 1 Cor.\n15:50-54. This \u201csaying\u201d was thus written by Isaiah,\u2014\u201cHe will swallow up\ndeath in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all\nfaces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the\nearth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo,\nthis is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the\nLord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his\nsalvation,\u201d Isa. 25:8, 9. It follows, then, that the voices heard in\nheaven, shouting \u201cAlleluia,\u201d and ascribing \u201csalvation, and glory, and\nhonor, and power, unto the Lord our God\u201d (v. 1), synchronize with those\nheard when \u201cthe seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in\nheaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our\nLord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.\u2014And the\nfour and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon\ntheir faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God\nAlmighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to\nthee thy great power, and hast reigned: And the nations were angry, and\nthy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged,\nand that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to\nthe saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest\ndestroy them which destroy the earth,\u201d Rev. 11:15-18.\n\nThe time of the dead being come that they should be judged, and the saints\nrewarded, is another evidence that this epoch is that of the second advent\nand kingdom of Christ, \u201cwho shall judge the quick and the dead at his\nappearing and kingdom,\u201d 2 Tim. 4:1. Consequently it must synchronize with\nthat of:\n\n\n\n\nThe Marriage of the Lamb.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye\n    his servants, and ye that fear him, both the small and the great!\n    And I heard a voice like that of a great crowd, and like the voice\n    of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying,\n    Praise ye Jehovah! for the Lord God Almighty reigneth. Let us\n    rejoice and exult, and give glory up him: for the marriage of the\n    Lamb hath come, and his wife hath prepared herself! And it was\n    granted to her to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: (for\n    the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.) And he saith\n    to me, Write, Happy are those called to the marriage-supper of the\n    Lamb. And he saith to me, These are the true words of God. And I\n    fell before his feet to worship him. And he saith to me, See thou\n    do it not: I am thy fellow-servant and one of thy brethren, who\n    have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of\n    Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\u201d Rev. 19:5-10.\n\n\nThe marriage of the Lamb is at the epoch when \u201cthe kingdoms of this world\nare to become our Lord\u2019s and his Christ\u2019s\u201d\u2014when the Lord God Almighty\ntakes to himself his great power and reigns, 11:15, 17. Therefore, in\nconnection, are heard the mighty thunderings, saying, \u201cAlleluia; for the\nLord God Omnipotent reigneth,\u201d 9:16. This scripture, then, corresponds\nwith that in Matt. 24:30, 31, when \u201cthey shall see the Son of Man coming\nin the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he shall send his\nangels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his\nelect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.\u201d For,\n\u201cwhen the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with\nhim, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall\nbe gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another as a\nshepherd divideth his sheep from the goats\u2014the one on his right hand and\nthe other on his left,\u201d Matt. 25:31, 32. Those on his right, we learn from\n1 Cor. 15:51, and 1 Thess. 4:16, 17, are the elect, gathered by the angels\nfrom all parts under heaven, who are caught up to meet the Lord in the\nair\u2014and those on the left are consequently the living wicked, who are to\nbe slain by the sword which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lamb,\n19:21.\n\n_The wife_ who \u201chath made herself ready,\u201d is shown by the foregoing\nscriptures to be, undoubtedly, the church triumphant\u2014the redeemed, who\nhave been raised out from among the dead, and the living saints, caught up\ntogether to meet the Lord in the air; to welcome him in his coming to\nreign. These constitute the bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife; for as \u201cthe husband is\nthe head of the wife,\u201d even so \u201cChrist is the head of the church,\u201d Eph.\n5:23. He \u201cloved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might\nsanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he\nmight present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,\nor any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish,\u201d Eph.\n5:25-27. This accords with God\u2019s ancient promises to his people. Thus\nIsaiah saith: \u201cThy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of hosts is his name,\nand thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the Lord of the whole earth shall\nhe be called,\u201d Isa. 54:5. Also Hosea: \u201cAnd it shall be at that day, saith\nthe Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi,\u201d my husband; \u201cand shalt call me no\nmore Baali,\u201d my Lord. \u201cAnd I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness,\nand in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even\nbetroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord,\u201d Hos.\n2:16, 19. Thus is the church \u201cespoused to one husband,\u201d to be presented\n\u201cas a chaste virgin to Christ,\u201d 2 Cor. 11:2.\n\nThe epoch of this presentation being here symbolized, it synchronizes with\nthat part of the parable of the \u201cten virgins which took their lamps and\nwent forth to meet the Bridegroom,\u201d when, the Bridegroom having come,\n\u201cthey that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was\nshut\u201d\u2014those left without, afterwards crying in vain for admittance, Matt.\n25:10. The wife had been made ready by its having been \u201cgranted that she\nshould be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white\u2014[_mar._ \u2018bright\u2019]; for\nthe fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,\u201d 19:8. Such were the\n\u201cwhite robes\u201d given to those who cried from under the altar (6:11), and\nwho afterwards, at an epoch synchronizing with the marriage of the Lamb,\nappeared, \u201ca great multitude which no man could number, of all nations,\nand kindreds, and people, and tongues,\u201d who \u201cstood before the throne, and\nbefore the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and\ncried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon\nthe throne, and unto the Lamb,\u201d 7:9, 10. These were they of whom one of\nthe elders asked, saying, \u201cWhat are these which are arrayed in white\nrobes? and whence came they?\u201d and who was answered: \u201cThese are they which\ncame out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them\nwhite in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of\nGod, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the\nthrone shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst\nany more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb\nwhich is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them\nunto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from\ntheir eyes,\u201d 7:13-17. These had complied with the condition to the\npromise: \u201cHe that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment;\nand I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will\nconfess his name before the Father and before his holy angels,\u201d 3:5.\n\u201cThese are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were\nredeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb,\u201d\n14:4.\n\n\u201cBlessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb,\u201d\n19:9. Truly are they blessed; for \u201cthey shall hunger no more, neither\nthirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat,\u201d 7:16.\nThey attain the promised blessing: \u201cBlessed and holy is he that hath part\nin the first resurrection,\u201d 20:6. \u201cAnd God shall wipe away all tears from\ntheir eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,\nneither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed\naway,\u201d 21:4. So entranced was the apocalyptic seer at these symbols of the\nglorified redeemed, that he fell at his feet to worship the angel who\nshowed him these things. But his fellow servant shrank back from the\nreception of homage, and pointed to God as the only object of adoration.\n\nThe union of the saints to Christ in the clouds of heaven being\nsymbolized, they receive the gracious welcome: \u201cCome, ye blessed of my\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the\nworld,\u201d Matt. 25:34. But first it is necessary to redeem the \u201cpurchased\npossession\u201d (Eph. 1:14), to reconquer the revolted province, which, since\nthe fall, has been subject to \u201cthe god of this world\u201d (2 Cor. 4:4), the\n\u201cprince of the power of the air\u201d (Eph. 2:2), to rescue it from the\ndominion of the usurper, and deliver it from its present mis-rule \u201cup to\nGod the Father\u201d (1 Cor. 15:24), who will bestow it on One who is worthy to\nwear its crown. For when Daniel saw that \u201cthe judgment was set and the\nbooks were opened,\u201d he also \u201csaw in the night visions, and, behold, one\nlike the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient\nof days, and they brought him near before him; and there was given him\ndominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and\nlanguages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion,\nwhich shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be\ndestroyed,\u201d Dan. 7:10, 13, 14. He comes, then, to dispossess the usurper,\nand to take possession of his kingdom. The next representation, then,\nsymbolizes the coming of:\n\n\n\n\nThe King and his Armies.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse: and he who\n    sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he\n    judgeth and maketh war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on\n    his head were many diadems; and he had a name written which no one\n    knew except himself. And he was clothed with a garment dipped in\n    blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies in\n    heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white\n    and clean. And from his mouth goeth forth a sharp sword, that he\n    may smite the nations with it: and he will rule them with a rod of\n    iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the furious wrath of God,\n    the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name\n    written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.\u201d Rev. 19:11-16.\n\n\nAccording to the significance of symbolic language, Christ is here\nrepresented as coming personally. The heavens open and he appears in\nresplendent majesty, in accordance with the predictions respecting his\nsecond advent. When the clouds of heaven had received the ascending\nSaviour, the shining ones who stood by said to the gazing disciples, \u201cThis\nsame Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like\nmanner as ye have seen him go into heaven,\u201d Acts 1:11. \u201cAnd they shall see\nthe Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,\u201d\nMatt. 24:30. \u201cBehold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him,\nand they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail\nbecause of him,\u201d Rev. 1:7.\n\nThe white horse of the King, and those of his armies, are symbols of the\npomp and grandeur of their descent, and show that they will triumph in\nvictory.\n\nThe names ascribed to the descending Monarch are applicable only to\nChrist. He was \u201cthe Faithful and True Witness\u201d who commanded John to write\n\u201cto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans,\u201d (3:14); for he who\ncommanded John to \u201cwrite in a book and send it unto the seven churches\u201d of\nAsia (1:11), was the One whom John saw \u201cin the midst of the seven\ncandlesticks, like unto the Son of man\u201d (1:13), and who announced himself\nas \u201cthe Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,\nwhich is, and which was, and which is to come\u2014the Almighty,\u201d 1:8. \u201cThe\nWord of God,\u201d was the \u201cWord\u201d that was \u201cin the beginning,\u201d that \u201cwas with\nGod,\u201d and that \u201cwas God,\u201d the same that was \u201cin the beginning with God,\u201d\nand which \u201cwas made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the\nglory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,\u201d\nJohn 1:1-14. Jesus is \u201cthe Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the\nworld,\u201d (_Ib._, 29); and \u201cthe Lamb\u201d \u201cis Lord of lords and King of kings,\u201d\n17:14. It is \u201cJesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first\nbegotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth,\u201d (1:5);\nand he alone is possessed of that incomprehensible \u201cName\u201d which no man\nknoweth, and which he hath promised to write on \u201chim that overcometh,\u201d\n3:12.\n\nThat the visible and personal coming of Christ, and not any providential\ninterposition, is here symbolized, is self-evident. For, while no created\nobject can adequately symbolize Him, it would derogate from the dignity of\nhis character and position to be a symbol of some inferior object. In all\nmere providential interpositions, foreshown by symbolic imagery, the\npredicted events are represented by corresponding acts of symbolic agents.\nWar between nations is symbolized by beasts, representatives of the\nnations, contending with each other. (See Dan. 8th chap.) Pestilence and\nfamine are symbolized by analogous results, and not by Christ\u2019s appearing.\nWhen, therefore, he is seen coming in person, it must symbolize his\npersonal advent.\n\nHis eyes \u201cas a flame of fire,\u201d show his identity with the one \u201clike unto\nthe Son of man\u201d in the \u201cmidst of the seven candlesticks\u201d (1:13), the\nauthor of the message to \u201cthe church in Thyatira;\u201d which \u201cthings saith the\nSon of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like\nunto fine brass,\u201d 2:18.\n\nHis \u201cmany crowns\u201d are symbols of his sovereignty. Rome undivided and\nmistress of the world, when symbolized by the seven-headed and ten-horned\ndragon, is represented with the crowns on the heads, which were the seven\nsuccessive kinds of government by which its sovereignty was enforced,\n12:3, and 17:9, 10. But when its imperial had given place to its\ndecem-regal form, and it is to be shown under the government of ten\ncontemporaneous kingdoms, \u201cthe crowns,\u201d the symbols of sovereignty, are\nrepresented as encircling the \u201chorns\u201d of the beast, 13:1. So, when \u201cthe\nKing of kings\u201d cometh, to take to himself his great power, and to reign,\nand \u201cthe kingdoms of this world are become those of our Lord and of his\nChrist\u201d (11:15, 17), He, \u201cthe head of all principality and power\u201d (Col.\n2:10), at whose name \u201cevery knee should bow\u201d (Phil. 2:9), is shown the\nwearer of \u201cmany crowns.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome, then, and, added to thy many crowns,\nReceive yet one, the crown of all the Earth,\nThou who alone art worthy! It was thine\nBy ancient covenant, ere nature\u2019s birth;\nAnd thou hast made it thine by purchase since,\nAnd overpaid its value with thy blood.\u201d\n          _Cowper\u2019s Task._\n\nHis \u201cvesture dipped in blood\u201d is symbolic of his coming to tread \u201cthe\nwine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God\u201d (19:15), when he\nshall \u201csmite the nations,\u201d and \u201crule them with a rod of iron,\u201d (_Ib._)\nThus Isaiah prophesied: \u201cWho is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed\ngarments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in\nthe greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to\nsave. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him\nthat treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of\nthe people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger,\nand trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my\ngarments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in\nmy heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was\nnone to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine\nown arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will\ntread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I\nwill bring down their strength to the earth,\u201d Isa. 63:1-6.\n\nThe \u201carmies\u201d which follow him, symbolize the attending saints and angels\nwho will accompany his advent. They are all \u201cclothed in fine linen, white\nand clean,\u201d which constituted the wedding garments of those who were\ncalled to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and which was worn by those who\nhad washed their robes, and made them white in his blood, (7:14); \u201cfor the\nfine linen is the righteousness of saints,\u201d 19:8. The righteous being\ncaught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17), \u201cwhen\nChrist, who is our life shall appear,\u201d they will \u201cappear with him in\nglory,\u201d (Col. 3:4); so that \u201cthe Lord my God shall come and all the saints\nwith thee,\u201d Zech. 14:5. \u201cEnoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of\nthese, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to\nexecute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them\nof all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all\ntheir hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,\u201d Jude\n14, 15.\n\nNot only saints, but angels also, will attend his coming. For \u201cwhen the\nSon of man shall come in his glory,\u201d there will be \u201call the holy angels\nwith him,\u201d Matt. 25:31. \u201cHe cometh in the glory of his Father, with the\nholy angels,\u201d Mark 8:38. \u201cThe Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven\nwith his mighty angels,\u201d 2 Thess. 1:7.\n\nThe \u201csharp sword,\u201d going out of his mouth, must be a symbol of his word.\nHe speaks, and it is done, Psa. 33:9. \u201cFor the word of God is quick and\npowerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the\ndividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is\na discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,\u201d Heb. 4:12. As \u201che\nshall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of\nhis lips shall he slay the wicked,\u201d (Isa. 11:4); and as \u201cthe Lord shall\nconsume\u201d \u201cthat Wicked\u201d one \u201cwith the spirit of his mouth\u201d (2 Thess. 2:8),\nit follows that the sword proceeding out of his mouth is a symbol of the\nwords he shall speak for their destruction; for with it he smites the\nnations, 19:15. And this he does when he comes to \u201crule them with a rod of\niron\u201d (_Ib._) and tread them in \u201cthe wine-press\u201d of the wrath of God. This\nbrings us to the object of his coming, which is to \u201cjudge and make war,\u201d\n19:11.\n\nAnd first, \u201cTo judge.\u201d This proves, that Christ\u2019s second advent is here\nsymbolized; for, as before quoted, he is to \u201cjudge the quick and the dead\nat his appearing and kingdom,\u201d 2 Tim. 4:1. This is at the sounding of the\nseventh trumpet, for then is \u201cthe time of the dead that they should be\njudged,\u201d 11:18. \u201cWith righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove\nwith equity for the meek of the earth,\u201d when he \u201cshall smite the earth\nwith the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay\nthe wicked,\u201d Isa. 11:4. \u201cLet the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be\nglad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful,\nand all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice\nbefore the Lord: for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the\nworld with righteousness, and the people with truth,\u201d Psa. 96:11-13. He\ncometh \u201cto execute judgment upon all,\u201d Jude 15.\n\nTo \u201cmake war.\u201d That this is another object of his coming, is shown by:\n\n\n\n\nThe Final Conflict.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud\n    voice, saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven,\n    Come! gather yourselves to the great supper of God; that ye may\n    eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh\n    of the mighty, and the flesh of the horses, and of those who sit\n    on them, and the flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and\n    great. And I saw the wild beast, and the kings of the earth, and\n    their armies, gathered to make war with him, who sat on the horse,\n    and with his army. And the wild beast was taken, and with him the\n    false prophet, who wrought signs in his sight, with which he had\n    deceived those who received the mark of the wild beast, and those\n    who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake\n    of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were slain with the\n    sword of him who sat on the horse, which sword goeth forth from\n    his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh.\u201d Rev.\n    19:17-21.\n\n\nThe contest being between the Lord and his armies on the one part, and the\nwicked nations on the other, the angel seen standing in the sun and\nperforming an important act in connection with the Lord\u2019s army, must\nrepresent one of his attending angels; for the acts to be performed are to\nbe by their instrumentality: \u201cIn the end of this world, the Son of man\nshall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all\nthings that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a\nfurnace of fire,\u201d Matt. 13:40-42.\n\nHis crying to the fowls of heaven to come and sup on the bodies of the\nslain, is indicative of the certainty of victory and of the entire\noverthrow of those who war against the Lamb. As birds gather on fields of\nslaughter to feast on the slain, so a cry to \u201call the fowls of heaven\u201d is\nexpressive of the extent and thoroughness of the destruction to be\ninflicted. It is the same cry which is made in Ezekiel, 39:17, when the\narmies of Gog are slain on the mountains of Israel. The beast and the\nkings of the earth symbolize the various governments in the world. The\n\u201cbeast\u201d is that which had seven heads and ten horns (13:1, and 17:3), and\nwas a symbol of Rome in its decem-regal form. It was said of this beast,\nit shall \u201cgo into perdition,\u201d (17:8); so that under some manifestation, it\nmust continue till the end of the world: the earth being \u201creserved unto\nfire against the day of judgement, and perdition of ungodly men,\u201d 2 Pet.\n3:7. As only in its divided form, the Roman empire continues till then,\nthe beast is here significant of the divisions represented by its ten\nhorns\u2014the governments of modern Europe. \u201cThese shall war with the Lamb,\nand the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords and King of\nkings; and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful,\u201d\n17:14.\n\n\u201cThe false prophet,\u201d which is taken with the beast, is described as the\none \u201cthat wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that\nhad received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image,\u201d v.\n20. This identifies him as the two-horned beast of Rev. 13. (13:11-17).\nThe two-horned beast being a representative of the Eastern Roman empire,\nwhen that was subverted by the Turks it became the seat of the false\nprophet,\u2014the Mahometan hierarchy.\n\nThe kings of the earth must be the remaining governments which are not\nrepresented by those two. By their subsequently warring with the Lamb, it\nfollows that the previous resurrection and translation of the saints does\nnot produce a cessation of all government. Those events may not be\napparent to all eyes; or they may serve only to madden the unbelieving,\nand to make them more desperate in their infidelity.\n\nThey gather their armies to war against the Lamb. They resist his\nauthority. They will not have Him to reign over them. They are instigated\nto oppose him by \u201cunclean spirits like frogs\u201d (16:13), which are the\nspirits of devils [_demons_, understood by the Jews to be spirits of the\nwicked dead] working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth\nand of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of\nGod Almighty, _Ib._ v. 14. This is when Christ is to \u201ccome as a thief;\u201d\nand they are to be gathered \u201cinto a place called in the Hebrew tongue\nArmageddon,\u201d 16:15, 16. This was the name of the valley at the foot of\nMount Megiddo (Judg. 5:19), which was famous as a valley of slaughter. In\nit Jehu fought against Ahaziah and Joram, and slew both the kings of\nIsrael and Judah, 2 Kings 9:27. It was afterwards memorable for the death\nof king Josiah, when Pharaoh-necho fought against him, (2 Kings 23:29); so\nthat the mourning as \u201cin the valley of Megiddon,\u201d became a proverbial\nexpression in Israel for great mourning, Zech. 12:11,12. It is therefore\nsignificantly applied to the final battle.\n\nThus do \u201cthe kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take\ncounsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed;\u201d but \u201cHe that\nsitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.\u201d\nFor the decree has gone forth: \u201cI shall give thee the heathen for thine\ninheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou\nshalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a\npotter\u2019s vessel,\u201d Ps. 2:2-9. In this victory the saints, also, have a\npart; for it is written: \u201cHe that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto\nthe end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them\nwith a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to\nshivers: even as I received of my Father,\u201d 2:26, 27.\n\nAs thus predicted, in this final conflict the nations are smitten, 19:15.\nThose symbolized by the beast and false prophet are cast alive into the\nburning flame; _i.e._, the individuals constituting the bodies of those\nbeasts are cast therein: their governments cease when taken by the Lamb\nand his armies. This is in accordance with what Daniel saw, who \u201cbeheld,\neven till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the\nburning flame,\u201d Dan. 7:11.\n\n\u201cThe remnant\u201d also are slain; so that there are none left alive on the\nearth of all the wicked. Thus Daniel interpreted to king Nebuchadnezzar\nhis dream: \u201cThou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which\nsmote the image [representing the governments of earth] upon his feet,\nthat were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron,\nthe clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together,\nand became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind\ncarried them away, that no place was found for them,\u201d Dan. 2:34, 35. It\nwill \u201cbreak in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms\u201d (_Ib._), according\nto the prediction: \u201cThe nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall\nperish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted,\u201d Isa. 60:12. \u201cAnd this\nshall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people which\nhave fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they\nstand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,\nand their tongues shall consume away in their mouth,\u201d Zech. 14:12. \u201cFor,\nbehold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud,\nyea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh\nshall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them\nneither root nor branch,\u201d Mal. 4:1. \u201cBehold, the day of the Lord cometh,\ncruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he\nshall destroy the sinners thereof out of it,\u201d Isa. 13:9. Thus will the\nSaviour come \u201cin flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God,\nand obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished\nwith everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the\nglory of his power, when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be\nadmired in all them that believe in that day,\u201d (2 Thess. 1:8-10): saying\nto the nations on his left, \u201cDepart from me ye cursed, into everlasting\nfire, prepared for the devil and his angels,\u201d Matt. 25:41. Thus will he\n\u201cgather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do\niniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be\nwailing and gnashing of teeth,\u201d _Ib._, 13:41, 42. The destruction of all\nthe wicked from the earth is followed by:\n\n\n\n\nThe Binding of Satan.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the\n    abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the\n    old serpent, who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand\n    years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a\n    seal over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till\n    the thousand years were completed; and after that, he must be\n    loosed a short time.\u201d Rev. 20:1-3.\n\n\nThe angel descending from heaven, must be a representative of his own\norder; for at this epoch there are no other orders of beings for him to be\na representative of. He therefore symbolizes the angels who are\ncommissioned to \u201cgather out of his kingdom all things that offend,\u201d Matt.\n13:41.\n\nThe \u201ckey,\u201d \u201cpit,\u201d and \u201cchain,\u201d symbolize the instruments of restraint and\nconfinement to which Satan is to be subjected; and his being bound and\nconfined symbolize his restraint.\n\nThe \u201cDragon\u201d is expressly called \u201cthat old serpent, which is the Devil and\nSatan.\u201d With the appendages of heads and horns\u2014symbols of political\nsovereignty\u2014he is used in Rev. 12:3, as a symbol of the Roman civil power,\nunder Pagan rule; and in verse 7, when divested of political insignia, of\nthe pagan hierarchy. But now, as the beast, another symbol of Roman civil\nrule, has been cast into \u201cthe lake of fire and brimstone,\u201d and the\n\u201cremnant\u201d are \u201cslain with the sword\u201d (19:21), there are no analogous\npowers remaining on earth for him to be a representative of, and\nconsequently he is here represented as a symbol of himself.\n\nOf his identity there can be no question: He is \u201cthat Old Serpent,\u201d who,\nbeing \u201cmore subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had\nmade\u201d (Gen. 3:1), \u201cbeguiled Eve through his subtlety,\u201d 2 Cor. 11:3. He is\nalso the Devil, by whom our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness, (Matt.\n4:1-12); and the Satan, whose working is \u201cwith all power and signs and\nlying wonders,\u201d 2 Thess. 2:9. He is our adversary the devil, who, \u201cas a\nroaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour,\u201d (1 Pet. 5:8); and\nagainst whom we are to guard continually, \u201clest Satan should get an\nadvantage of us,\u201d 2 Cor. 2:11.\n\nCo\u00ebval with the fall, the promise was given that his head should in due\ntime be bruised, and he is not ignorant of his doom; for when the legion\nsaw the Saviour about to dispossess them of the two men among the tombs,\nthey recognized him as \u201cthe Son of God,\u201d and cried, \u201cArt thou come hither\nto torment us before _the time_?\u201d (Matt. 8:29); \u201cand they besought him,\nthat he would not command them to go out into the _deep_,\u201d\u2014the _pit_, or\n_abyss_, Luke 8:31. The epoch when he should be there confined, is also\nshown by Isaiah to be when \u201cthe Lord cometh out of his place to punish the\ninhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,\u201d when \u201cthe earth also shall\ndisclose her blood, and no more cover her slain,\u201d Isa. 26:21. For \u201cin that\nday the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish\nleviathan [the dragon], the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked\nserpent,\u201d _Ib._ 27:1. This synchronizes with the slaying of the remnant\nwith the sword, when Satan is bound and cast into the _abyss_, to continue\nthere a thousand years.\n\nHis being bound and confined must symbolize his dejection to a position\nwhere he can have no possible influence over the nations during the time\nhe is bound. It can be no _partial_ restraint, as some theologians hold;\nfor that is contrary to the conditions of the symbolic representation. His\nrestraint is full, complete, and entire. Consequently his influence, for\nthe time being, will have entirely ceased. The period of his confinement,\ntherefore, cannot be one of partial exemption from sin; but the living\nwill be perfectly free from all its contagious influences. He is to\ndeceive the nations _no more_, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled.\n\n\u201cThe nations\u201d who are freed from his influences, and also those whom he is\nsubsequently to deceive, are not, necessarily, organized political bodies,\nunder civil rulers, as they now exist. The original term, \u03b5\u03b8\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, is\ndefined by Robinson to be \u201ca multitude, people, race, belonging and living\ntogether.\u201d At this epoch, the national organizations having disappeared,\nand the people constituting them being translated or slain, the only\nnations remaining will be \u201cthe nations of them which are saved\u201d (21:24),\nover whom the influence of Satan will have ceased forever; and those\nconstituting \u201cthe rest of the dead\u201d (20:5), who will not live again till\nthe end of the thousand years\u2014at the very time when Satan is to be loosed\nfrom his prison to go out to deceive them, 20:7, 8.\n\n\n\n\nThe Cleansing of the Earth.\n\n\nThere is, in the Apocalypse, no symbolic representation of the act of the\ncleansing of the earth, yet various scriptures show that it is at the\nepoch of the second advent, and of the establishment of the kingdom of\nGod. If so, it follows the destruction of the wicked and the binding of\nSatan, while the raised and transfigured saints\u2014constituting \u201cthe\nbride\u201d\u2014are still with the Lord in the clouds of heaven (19:7-9), where\nthey were caught up to meet him in the air, 1 Thess. 4:17.\n\nA restoration of the earth, in connection with the first resurrection, is\nin accordance with the testimony of scripture, and was the opinion of the\nancients. We read in Isaiah: \u201cBehold, I create new heavens and a new\nearth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind,\u201d Isa.\n65:17.\n\n\u201cAs for my opinion,\u201d saith R. Menasse, a Jewish Rabbi, \u201cI think that after\nsix thousand years, the world shall be destroyed, upon one certain day, or\nin one hour; that the arches of heaven shall make a stand as immovable;\nthat there will be no more generation or corruption; and that all things\nby the resurrection shall be renovated, and return to a better condition.\u201d\nHe also assures us that \u201cthis, without doubt, is the opinion of the most\nlearned Aben Ezra,\u201d who looked for it in the new earth of Isa. 65:17.\n\n\u201cMan shall be restored in that time, namely, in the days of the Messiah,\nto that state in which he was before the first man sinned.\u201d\u2014_R. Moses\nNachmanides in Duet. \u00a7 45._\n\n\u201cAlthough all things were created perfect, yet when the first man sinned,\nthey were corrupted, and will not again return to their congruous state\ntill PHEREZ (_i.e._, the MESSIAH) comes.\u201d \u201cThere are six things which\nshall be restored to their primitive state, viz.: the splendor of man, his\nlife, the height of his stature, the fruits of the earth, the fruits of\nthe trees, and the luminaries, (the sun, moon, and stars.)\u201d\u2014_R. Berakyah_,\nin the _name of R. Samuel\u2014Bereshith Rabba, Fol. 11, Col. 3_.\n\n\u201cIn that time (_i.e._, of the Messiah) the whole work of creation shall be\nchanged for the better, and shall return into its perfect and pure state,\nas it was in the time of the first man, before he had sinned.\u201d\u2014_R. Becai,\nin Shilcan Orba, Fol. 9, Col. 4, p. 360._\n\n\u201cTheopompus, who flourished three hundred and forty years B. C., relates\nthat the Persian Magi taught that the present state of things would\ncontinue 6000 years; after which _hades_, or death, would be destroyed,\nand men would live happy,\u201d &c. \u201cThe opinion of the ancient Jews, on this\nhead, may be gathered from the statement of one of their Rabbins, who\nsaid, \u2018The world endures 6000 years, and in the thousand, or millennium\nthat follows, the enemies of God would be destroyed.\u2019 It was in like\nmanner a tradition of the house of Elias, a holy man, who lived about B.\nC. 200, that the world was to endure 6000 years, and that the righteous,\nwhom God should raise up, would not be turned again into dust. That, by\nthis resurrection, he meant a resurrection prior to the millennium, is\nmanifest from what follows.... It is worthy of remark, that the two\nancient authors, whose words have just been quoted, speak of the seventh\nmillennium as \u2018that day\u2019\u2014the day in which God will renew the world, and in\nwhich he alone shall be exalted.\u201d\u2014_Dis. on Mill. by Bishop Russell, Prof.\nEccl. Hist. in the Scottish Epis. Ch._\n\n\u201cThe Divine institution of a sabbatical, or seventh year\u2019s solemnity among\nthe Jews, has a plain typical reference to the seventh chiliad, or\nmillenary of the world, according to the well known tradition among the\nJewish doctors, adopted by many in every age of the Christian Church, that\nthis world will attain to its limit at the end of 6000 years.\u201d\u2014_Mede._\n\n\u201cThe observance of the Sabbath is essential to the faith; for such only as\nobserve the Sabbath confess that the earth will be renewed: because He who\ncreated it out of nothing will renew it.\u201d\u2014_David Kimchi, on Isa. 55:5,\nquoted by Mede._\n\n\u201cIn as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years it is\nperfected; for if the day of the Lord be as it were a 1000 years, and in\nsix days those things that are made were finished, it is manifest that the\nperfecting of those things is in the 6000th year, when anti-Christ,\nreigning 1260 years, shall have wasted all things in the world, ... then\nshall the Lord come from heaven in the clouds, with the glory of his\nFather.\u201d _Iren\u00e6us, Bish. of Lyons, A. D. 178._\n\n\u201cIn six thousand years, the Lord will bring all things to an end, ... when\niniquity shall be no more, all things being renewed by the Lord.\u201d\u2014_Epst.\nof Barnabas, sec. 14, 15._\n\n\u201cLet philosophers know, who number thousands of years, ages since the\nbeginning of the world, that the 6000th year is not yet concluded or\nended. But that number being fulfilled, of necessity there must be an end,\nand the state of human things must be transformed into that which is\nbetter.\u201d\u2014_Lactantius, B. of Divine Inst., A. D. 310._\n\nThomas Burnet (Theory of Earth, Lon. 1697) states \u201cthat it was the\nreceived opinion of the primitive church from the days of the apostles to\nthe council of Nice, that this earth would continue 6000 years, when the\nresurrection of the just, and conflagration of the earth, would usher in\nthe millennium and reign of Christ on earth.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod\u2019s blessing the Sabbath day, and resting on it from all his works, was\na type of that glorious rest that the saints shall have when the six days\nof this world are fully ended.... He will finish the toil and travail of\nhis saints, with the burden of the beasts and the curse of the ground, and\nbring all into rest for a thousand years.... None ever saw this world as\nit was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see\nit until the manifestation of the children of God; _i.e._, until the\nredemption or resurrection of the saints.\u201d\u2014_John Bunyan\u2019s Works, vol. 6,\npp. 301, 329._\n\n\u201cI expect with Paul a reparation of _all_ the evils caused by sin, for\nwhich he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing.\u201d\u2014_John\nCalvin, in his __\u201c__Institutes.__\u201d_\n\nThe reformation of the earth \u201cnever was, nor yet shall be, till the\nrighteous King and Judge appear for the restoration of all things.\u201d\u2014_John\nKnox._\n\n  \u201cThe groans of nature in this nether world,\nWhich heaven has heard for ages, have an end.\nForetold by prophets, and by poets sung,\nWhose fire was kindled at the prophet\u2019s lamp,\nThe time of rest, the promised Sabbath, comes:\nSix thousand years of sorrow have well nigh\nFulfilled their tardy and disastrous course\nOver a sinful world; and what remains\nOf this tempestuous state of human things,\nIs merely as the working of a sea\nBefore a calm, that rocks itself to rest;\nFor HE, whose car the winds are, and the clouds\nThe dust that waits upon his sultry march,\nWhen sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot,\nShall visit earth in mercy; shall descend,\nPropitious, in his chariot paved with love;\nAnd what his storms have blasted and defaced\nFor man\u2019s _revolt_, shall with a smile _repair_.\u201d\n      _Cowper\u2019s Task._\n\nThe above are only a few of many extracts which might be made, showing the\nfaith of the church in past ages; but which are of no weight, only as they\nare in accordance with the harmony of scriptural testimony.\n\nWhen man sinned, this earth was cursed for his sake. The Lord said to him,\n\u201cCursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the\ndays of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee,\nand thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt\nthou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou\ntaken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,\u201d Gen. 3:17-19.\n\nSuch was the curse to which the whole creation was subjected because man\nsinned. \u201cFor the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but\nby reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,\u201d Rom. 8:20. And this\nhope is for a removal of the curse thus inflicted, and a restoration of\nall things to their original condition.\n\nAs the earth was subjected to the curse at the time when man was made\nsubject to death, the removal of the former would naturally be expected at\nthe epoch of the fulfillment of the promise to the just: \u201cI will ransom\nthem from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death I\nwill be thy plagues; O grave I will be thy destruction,\u201d Hos. 13:14. And\nthus Paul testifies: \u201cFor the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth\nfor the manifestation of the sons of God, ... Because the creature itself,\nalso, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious\nliberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation\ngroaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but\nourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we\nourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the\nredemption of our body,\u201d Rom. 8:19, 21-23.\n\nThe removal of the curse removes also its consequences. Thus it is\npromised: \u201cInstead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of\nthe briar shall come up the myrtle tree,\u201d Isa. 55:13. \u201cThe inhabitant\nshall not say I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven\ntheir iniquity,\u201d Isa. 33:24. \u201cHe will swallow up death in victory; and the\nLord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his\npeople will he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken\nit,\u201d Isa. 25:8. \u201cFor behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,\u201d Isa.\n65:17. \u201cAnd there shall be no more curse,\u201d Rev. 22:3. \u201cFor the Lord shall\ncomfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her\nwilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and\ngladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody,\u201d\nIsa. 51:3.\n\nThe removal of the curse is called \u201cthe regeneration\u201d (Matt. 19:28), \u201cthe\ntimes of refreshing,\u201d and of \u201crestitution;\u201d which Peter places at the\nadvent of Christ: \u201cwhom the heavens must receive until the times of\nrestitution(10) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all\nhis holy prophets since the world began,\u201d Acts 3:21. He also places it at\n\u201cthe perdition of ungodly men,\u201d which must synchronize with the epoch when\nthe beast \u201cgoeth into perdition\u201d (17:11), and \u201cthe remnant\u201d are \u201cslain\nwith the sword,\u201d (19:21); \u201cwhen the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from\nheaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them\nthat know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d\n2 Thess. 1:7, 8. Says Peter: \u201cThe heavens and the earth, which are now, by\nthe same word [\u2018whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with\nwater, perished\u2019 v.6] are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the\nday of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord\nwill come, as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass\naway with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,\nthe earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up....\nNevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new\nearth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,\u201d _i.e._, \u201crighteous\npersons\u201d\u2014_Horsely_, 2 Pet. 3:7-13. This harmonizes with the day that\n\u201ccometh that shall burn as an oven,\u201d when \u201call the proud, yea, and all\nthat do wickedly\u201d shall be burned up, and become \u201cashes under the soles\u201d\nof those on whom \u201cshall the Sun of righteousness arise,\u201d (Mal. 4:1-3);\nwhich must be the time intervening between the resurrection of the\nrighteous and that of the wicked. This also harmonizes with the testimony\nof our Saviour, that when, \u201cin the end of this world,\u201d He \u201cshall send\nforth his angels and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and\nthem which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; ...\n_then_ shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their\nFather,\u201d Matt. 13:40-43.\n\nThe earth being cleansed, and all things made new, it will have been\nprepared for the \u201cdwelling\u201d of \u201crighteous persons\u201d (2 Pet. 3:13),\nwho,\u2014having \u201cput on incorruption\u201d (1 Cor. 15:53), and been \u201ccaught up ...\nin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air\u201d (1 Thess. 4:17), where,\nconstituting \u201cthe bride,\u201d \u201cthe Lamb\u2019s wife,\u201d they were \u201ccalled unto the\nmarriage supper of the Lamb\u201d (19:7-9),\u2014will descend from heaven to take\npossession. Thus John writes, that one of the angels said to him: \u201cCome\nhither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb\u2019s wife. And he carried me\naway in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me that\ngreat city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,\u201d 21:9,\n10.\n\n\u201cLo, what a glorious sight appears\n  To our believing eyes:\nThe earth and seas are passed away,\n  And the old rolling skies!\n\nFrom the third heaven where God resides,\n  That holy, happy place,\nThe New Jerusalem comes down\n  Adorned with shining grace.\n\nAttending angels shout for joy,\n  And the bright armies sing,\nMortals, behold the sacred seat\n  Of your descending King.\u201d\u2014_Watts._\n\n\n\n\nThe Kingdom given to the Saints at the resurrection of the just.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given\n    for them: and I saw the persons of those beheaded for the\n    testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those, who had\n    not worshipped the wild beast, nor his image, nor had received the\n    mark on their forehead, or on their hand; and they lived and\n    reigned with Christ the thousand years. But the rest of the dead\n    lived not until the thousand years were completed. This is the\n    first resurrection. Happy and holy is he, who bath part in the\n    first resurrection: on such, the second death hath no power, but\n    they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him\n    a thousand years!\u201d Rev. 20:4-6.\n\n\n\u201cThrones\u201d are symbols of power. As the saints are to reign with Christ on\nthe renewed earth, in obedience to the invitation: \u201cCome ye blessed of my\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the\nworld,\u201d (Matt. 25:34); their being inducted into the kingdom is symbolized\nby their being seated on thrones. Thus they sing in the \u201cnew song,\u201d\naddressed to Christ: \u201cThou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy\nblood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast\nmade us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,\u201d\n5:9, 10. In the first chapter, also, all who ascribe praises to \u201cHim that\nloved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,\u201d also add: \u201cand\nhath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father,\u201d 1:5, 6.\n\nAll the saints being thus exalted to kingly and priestly dignity,\nsymbolizes the exalted rank they are to hold in the new creation\u2014the\nsymbols of their station being taken from the most exalted offices known\non earth. Thus God said to ancient Israel: \u201cYe shall be unto me a kingdom\nof priests, and a holy nation,\u201d (Ex. 19:6); and the Christian church is\naddressed as \u201ca chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a\npeculiar people,\u201d 1 Pet. 2:9.\n\nThe time when the saints shall reign on the earth is in connection with\nthe destruction of the \u201clittle horn\u201d of Daniel\u2019s \u201cfourth beast,\u201d which, as\nhe saw, \u201cmade war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the\nAncient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most\nHigh, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom,\u201d Dan. 7:21,\n22. \u201cThe saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the\nkingdom forever, even forever and ever,\u201d _Ib._ v. 18. \u201cAnd the kingdom and\ndominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be\ngiven to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an\neverlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,\u201d _Ib._ v.\n27. \u201cAnd they shall reign forever and ever,\u201d 22:5. Thus the Saviour said:\n\u201cFear not, little flock; for it is your Father\u2019s good pleasure to give you\nthe kingdom,\u201d Luke 12:32.\n\nThose who receive the kingdom are symbolized by the souls of martyrs, &c.,\nliving again and reigning with Christ. The symbol includes, with the\nmartyred saints, those who had stood aloof from the worship of the beast\nand his image, and those who had not received his mark; who are shown by a\nparallel scripture to represent all who are redeemed to God \u201cout of every\nkindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,\u201d 5:9, 10. Some of these were\nsymbolized, under the fifth seal, as crying from under the altar in\nanticipation of this day, 6:9. Now, with \u201ctheir fellow servants,\u201d they\nreceive their reward.\n\nThe souls of the departed living again, can only symbolize those who have\nbeen subjected to death, and are again raised. Consequently they are the\nsubjects of a real resurrection. And this is shown by the explanation of\nthe symbol, which affirms that, \u201cThis is the first resurrection.\u201d\n\nIt is denied by many that a literal resurrection is here taught; but in so\ndoing they deny the faith of the church in its best and purest ages. In\nthe first two centuries after Christ, there was not an individual, who\nbelieved in any resurrection of the dead whose name or memory has survived\nto the present time, who denied that the resurrection of the just is here\ntaught.\n\nEusebius, who opposed this view, quotes Papias, who he admits was a\ndisciple of St. John and a companion of Polycarp, as saying that \u201cafter\nthe resurrection of the dead the kingdom of Christ shall be established\ncorporeally on this earth.\u201d And Jerome, another opposer, quotes from him\nthat \u201che had the apostles for his authors; and that he considered what\nAndrew, what Peter said, what Philip, what Thomas said, and other\ndisciples of the Lord.\u201d\n\nPolycarp was another of John\u2019s disciples; and Iren\u00e6us testifies in an\nepistle to Florinus, that he had seen Polycarp, \u201cwho related his\nconversation with John and others who had seen the Lord, and how he\nrelated their sayings, and the things he had heard of them concerning the\nLord, both concerning his miracles and doctrine, as he had received them\nfrom the Lord of life; all of which Polycarp related agreeable to the\nscriptures.\u201d Following such a teacher, Iren\u00e6us taught that at the\nresurrection of the just, the meek should inherit the earth; and that then\nwould be fulfilled the promise which God made to Abraham.\n\nJustin Martyr, born A. D. 89, says that, \u201cA certain man _among us_, whose\nname is John, being one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in that\nRevelation which was shown him, prophesied that those who believe in our\nChrist shall fulfil a thousand years at Jerusalem.\u201d He affirms that\nhimself \u201cand many others are of this mind\u201d\u2014\u201cthat Christ shall reign\npersonally on earth;\u201d and that \u201call who were accounted orthodox so\nbelieved.\u201d\n\nTertullian, about A. D. 180, says it was a custom for Christians to pray\nthat they might have part in the first resurrection. And Cyprian, about\n220, says that Christians \u201chad a thirst for martyrdom that they might\nobtain a better resurrection.\u201d\n\nMosheim assures us that the opinion \u201cthat Christ was to come and reign\n1000 years among men,\u201d had, before the time of Origen, about the middle of\nthe 3d century, \u201cmet with no opposition.\u201d And it is the testimony of\necclesiastical historians, that the first who opposed it, seeing no way of\navoiding the meaning of the words in Rev. 20th, denied the authenticity of\nthe Apocalypse, and claimed that it was written by one Cerenthus, a\nheretic, for the very purpose of sustaining what they called \u201chis fiction\nof the reign of Christ on earth.\u201d This doctrine is not _now_ evaded in\nthis way, but by spiritualizing the language of the Apocalypse, and thus\nfinding a meaning in it which is not expressed by any of the admitted laws\nof language. Theologians who thus reason make the first resurrection the\nconversion of the world. But those who are affirmed to be raised, are\npersons who have lived and are dead. If the resurrection is a mere\nmetaphor, then the martyrs must have metaphorically died, and must have\ncomprised only those who had been previously converted and were fallen\naway. The rest of the dead must then be understood as persons morally\ndead, which would be inconsistent with the idea of a converted world.\nThose who were raised being those who were previously converted, they must\nhave been literally dead, and the only resurrection predicable of such is\na literal resurrection.\n\nThe Bible teaches such a resurrection of the righteous prior to that of\nthe wicked. Thus the Psalmist says of them: \u201cLike sheep they are laid in\nthe grave; death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion\nover them in the morning.\u201d But of himself he says: \u201cBut God will redeem my\nsoul from the power of the grave,\u201d Psa. 49:14, 15. Of the wicked Isaiah\ntestifies: \u201cThey are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they\nshall not rise,\u201d _i.e._ with the righteous; but to Zion he says: \u201cThy dead\nmen shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and\nsing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and\nthe earth shall cast out her dead,\u201d Isa. 26:14, 19. To the same import is\nthe prophecy of Daniel, respecting the time when Michael shall stand up,\nand \u201cthy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written\nin the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall\nawake, some, [the awakened, shall be] to everlasting life, and some, [the\nunawakened, shall be] to shame and everlasting contempt,\u201d Dan. 12:1, 2.\nSuch, according to Prof. Bush, is the precise rendering of the original.\n\nThe New Testament also teaches a resurrection of the just, in distinction\nfrom that of the wicked. Paul says, while all are to be made alive, that\nit will be \u201cevery man in his own order,\u201d or band\u2014\u201cChrist the first fruits;\nafterwards they that are Christ\u2019s at his coming,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:23. None\nothers are spoken of as being raised at that epoch. When the Lord descends\nfrom heaven with a shout, at the trump of God, not the entire mass of the\ndead, but \u201cthe dead in Christ shall rise first,\u201d before the righteous\nliving are changed, 1 Thess. 4:16. In accordance with this priority in the\nresurrection of the righteous, Paul teaches that the worthies who died in\nfaith \u201caccepted not deliverance, that they might obtain _a better_\nresurrection,\u201d (Heb. 11:13); and himself, he says, counted all things loss\nfor Christ, \u201cif by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the\ndead,\u201d (Phil. 3:11); which is \u201cthe resurrection from among the dead\u201d\u2014it\nbeing a resurrection to which some will not attain. Thus also the Saviour\ntaught: while \u201cthey that have done good shall come forth _at_ [as it is\nliterally] the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil at the\nresurrection of damnation\u201d (John 5:29), the two are not co-etaneous; for\nthe righteous shall be \u201crecompensed at the resurrection _of the just_,\u201d\nLu. 14:14. That must be the resurrection of which those are the subjects\nwho receive the kingdom; for \u201cflesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom\nof God,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:50. While \u201cthe children of this world marry and are\ngiven in marriage,\u201d \u201cthey which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that\nworld, and the resurrection _from_ the dead, neither marry, nor are given\nin marriage; neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the\nangels, and are the children of God, being the children of the\nresurrection,\u201d Lu. 20:34-36.\n\nThe children of the resurrection thus include all who attain unto that\nworld, which, consequently, the wicked do not obtain, and of which the\nrighteous dead and the living saints are made equal subjects, according to\nPaul\u2019s \u201cmystery:\u201d \u201cWe shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in\na moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet\nshall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be\nchanged,\u201d _i.e._, to the same incorruptible state to which the dead are\nraised, (1 Cor. 15:50-54); so that all the righteous will alike \u201cbear the\nimage of the heavenly\u201d (v. 49) when they \u201cshall be caught up together\u201d (1\nThess. 4:16) \u201cto meet the Lord in the air.\u201d\n\nThe resurrection state is that to which the ancients looked for the\nrestoration of Israel.\n\nRabbi Eliezer the great, supposed to have lived just after the second\ntemple was built, applied Hosea 14:8 to the pious Jews, who seemed likely\nto die without seeing the glory of Israel, saying: \u201cAs I live, saith\nJehovah, I will raise you up, in the resurrection of the dead; and I will\ngather you with all Israel.\u201d\n\nThe Sadducees are reported to have asked Rabbi Gamaliel, the preceptor of\nPaul, whence he would prove that God would raise the dead, who quoted\nDeut. 9:21: \u201cWhich land the Lord sware that he would give to your\n_fathers_.\u201d He argued, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had it not, and as God\ncannot lie, that they must be raised from the dead to inherit it.\n\nRabbi Simai, though of later date, argues the same from Ex. 6:4, insisting\nthat the law asserts in this place the resurrection from the dead, when it\nsaid: \u201cAnd also I have established my covenant with them, to give them the\nCanaan;\u201d for, he adds, \u201cit is not said to _you_, but to them.\u201d\n\nMennasseh Ben Israel says: \u201cIt is plain that Abraham and the rest of the\npatriarchs did not possess that land; it follows, therefore, that they\nmust be raised in order to enjoy the promised good, as otherwise the\npromises of God would be vain and false.\u201d\u2014_De Resurrec. Mort., L. i., c.\n1. \u00a7 4._\n\nRabbi Saahias Gaion, commenting on Dan. 12:2, says: \u201cThis is the\nresuscitation of the dead Israel, whose lot is eternal life, and those who\nshall not awake are the forsakers of Jehovah.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the world to come,\u201d says the Sahar, fol. 81, \u201cthe blessed God will\nvivify the dead and raise them from their dust, so that they shall be no\nmore an earthly structure.\u201d\n\nThus \u201cAbraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should\nafter receive for an inheritance ... sojourned in the land of promise, as\nin a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the\nheirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath\nfoundations, whose builder and maker is God,\u201d Heb. 11:8-10. While he dwelt\nin that land, God \u201cgave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to\nset his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to _him_ for a\npossession, and to his seed after him,\u201d Acts 7:5. This was also true of\nall those \u201cwho died in faith, not having received the promises, but having\nseen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and\nconfessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,\u201d\u2014desiring \u201ca\nbetter country, that is, a heavenly\u201d (Heb. 11:13-16), \u201cnot accepting\ndeliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection\u201d (v. 35), \u201cGod\nhaving provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not\nbe made perfect,\u201d v. 40.\n\nWhen the promises are thus made good to Israel, all who are of the faith\nof Abraham will participate in the same promises. For \u201cChrist hath\nredeemed us from the curse of the law ... that the blessing of Abraham\nmight come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.\u201d \u201cAnd if ye be Christ\u2019s,\nthen are ye Abraham\u2019s seed, and heirs according to the promise,\u201d Gal.\n3:13, 14, 29. So the Saviour said to the Jews: \u201cMany shall come from the\neast and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in\nthe kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom [unregenerate Jews]\nshall be cast into outer darkness,\u201d Matt. 8:11, 12. And then, as the\nSaviour said to the twelve: \u201cYe which have followed me, in the\nregeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye\nalso shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,\u201d\nMatt. 19:28.\n\n\u201cThe rest of the dead,\u201d who live not again till the thousand years are\nended, must be the wicked dead; for, the righteous being raised, no other\ndead ones remain. They include all the wicked, who have died in all ages,\nand \u201cthe remnant\u201d who \u201care slain with the sword\u201d (19:21), when the kingdom\nis cleansed from all things that offend.\n\n\u201cThe thousand years\u201d to intervene between the two resurrections, are\nregarded by some as a symbol of 360,000 years. There seems to be no\nnecessity for such an interpretation. When time is symbolized, it is\nalways proportioned to the duration of the other symbols used. Thus, in\nDan. 8th, when beasts symbolize kingdoms, it would have been incongruous\nto have specified the duration of the vision in literal years; for beasts\ndo not continue during centuries, as the kingdoms symbolized by them have\ndone. But days are proportioned to years, as beasts are to kingdoms; so\nthat there is a fitness in symbolizing the years foreshadowed in that\nvision, by 2300 days; between which measure of time and the duration of\nthe existence of beasts, there is a perfect congruity.\n\nIn the 4th of Daniel, where the cutting down of a tree is used to\nsymbolize the loss of the king\u2019s reason, there is no such disproportion\nbetween the duration of man\u2019s existence and that of a tree, as there is\nbetween the life of a beast and that of an empire. And therefore there is\nno incongruity if the time specified is a symbol of literal time, _i.e._,\nif a time is used to symbolize a year. In this case, the seven years could\nnot have been symbolized by seven days; for there is no marked\ndisproportion between the duration of the other symbols in connection, and\nthe things symbolized; and had days been used, days must have been\nunderstood in the fulfilment.\n\nThere might be either 1000 years, or 360,000, between the first and second\nresurrections, without conflicting with any other Scripture. But there is\nno disproportion between the other symbols and the things symbolized,\u2014the\nliving again of the martyrs in vision, and their actual resurrection; and\ntherefore the 1000 years need not, by any parallel usage or law of\nlanguage, be understood, to be other than a literal thousand.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wicked Raised, and Satan Loosed\n\n\n    \u201cAnd when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be loosed\n    out of his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the\n    four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to\n    battle: the number of whom is like the sand of the sea. And they\n    ascended on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of\n    the saints, and the beloved city: and fire descended from God out\n    of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them,\n    was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the wild\n    beast and the false prophet are, and will be tormented day and\n    night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him\n    who sat on it; from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away,\n    and a place was not for them. And I saw the dead, the small and\n    the great, standing before God; and the books were opened: and\n    another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead\n    were judged from the things written in the books, according to\n    their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it; and death and the\n    pit gave up the dead in them: and they were judged every one\n    according to their works. And death and the pit were cast into the\n    lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And\n    whoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into\n    the lake of fire.\u201d Rev. 20:7-15.\n\n\nVerses 11-15 contain the record of the symbolization John saw, of what was\nto transpire at the end of the thousand years; while verses 7-10 appear to\nbe explanatory of events which would then be fulfilled. This explanation,\nprevious to the exhibition of the symbolization, is appropriate in the\nconnection, and makes more forcible the fact that \u201cthe rest of the dead\nlived not again until the thousand years were finished.\u201d\n\nAs the rest of the dead live not till the end of the thousand years, they\ncome forth at \u201cthe resurrection of damnation,\u201d at the end of a thousand\nyears of the reign of the saints on the earth, and at the epoch when Satan\nwas to be loosed from his prison. As all who had part in the first\nresurrection were to be exempted from the power of the second death, the\nnations who are then deceived by Satan, must be the nations composing the\nrest of the dead, who live again at that epoch.\n\nTheir number \u201cas the sand of the sea,\u201d and their coming from \u201cthe four\nquarters of the earth,\u201d show that they are no obscure people, living\nunknown to the saints; and their existence can only be accounted for by\nthe event of a resurrection of the wicked.\n\nTheir names, \u201cGog and Magog,\u201d\u2014those applied to the ancient enemies of\nIsrael, (Ezek. 38:38),\u2014are appropriate titles to designate the subjects of\nthe second resurrection.\n\nThey encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city\u2014showing that\nthe city descends at the commencement of the thousand years\u2014but there is\nno battle: before they are permitted to harm the saints, fire from heaven\ndevours them; and the devil that thought to lead them against the holy\ncity, is cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet\nwere cast at the commencement of the millennium.\n\nIn connection with the resurrection of the wicked, is their judgment\u2014not\nfollowing necessarily in the precise order of the record. The \u201csmall and\ngreat\u201d who stand before God, are not small and large persons, but those\nfrom all stations and ranks in society. The king and the beggar equally\nreceive according to their deserts: They are the bond and the free, the\nhigh and the low, the rich and the poor, including those who fought\nagainst the Lamb, and were overcome by Him, 19:18.\n\nThe open books symbolize the record of their evil deeds, for which they\nare to be judged. And the \u201cbook of Life\u201d is opened to symbolize that the\nnames of those who are judged are not there recorded, and that\nconsequently they are justly condemned. To \u201chim that overcometh,\u201d the\nSaviour promised \u201cI will not blot his name out of this book of life,\u201d 3:3.\n\nThe sea, death, and hell giving up their dead, indicates that all of the\n\u201crest of the dead\u201d are here resurrected, and that none are left out from\namong whom these are raised, as these were, from whom came forth the\nsubjects of the first resurrection.\n\nThe casting of death and hell into the lake of fire, symbolizes the\ncasting in of those who were within their domains; and \u201cthe lake of fire,\u201d\nsymbolizes the place into which\u2014the impenitent are consigned\u2014which is the\n\u201csecond death.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe New Creation.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and\n    the first earth were passed away; and the sea was no more. And I\n    saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven, from\n    God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.\u201d Rev. 21:1, 2.\n\n\nThe new heaven and new earth are symbols of the new order of things. The\nold heavens and earth having been dissolved, their elements melting with\nfervent heat (2 Pet. 3:12), the \u201cnew heavens and the new earth, wherein\ndwelleth righteousness,\u201d for which Peter looked, succeed to their place.\nSo much more resplendent are these than the former, that those \u201cshall not\nbe remembered, nor come into mind,\u201d _i.e._, to be desired, Isa. 65:17.\nThis is the eternal state in which we are commanded to be \u201cglad and\nrejoice forever,\u201d when God shall \u201ccreate Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her\npeople a joy.\u201d Then \u201cthe voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,\nnor the voice of crying.\u201d There \u201cthe elect shall long enjoy the work of\ntheir hands;\u201d for \u201cas the days of a tree, are the days of my people,\u201d\nsaith the Lord; who has also declared that, \u201cas the new heavens and the\nnew earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, so shall your seed\nand your name remain,\u201d Isa. 66:22.\n\nThe sea is now \u201cno more,\u201d in the same sense that the first heavens and\nearth are passed away\u2014all having disappeared in the conflagration, and\ngiven place to the \u201crestitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of\nall the holy prophets,\u201d Acts 3:21. Whether the new creation will comprise\nboth sea and dry land, as was first created (Gen. 1:10), is not here\ndecided; but there is no reason to suppose that this characteristic of the\noriginal creation will be forever obliterated.\n\nThe new Jerusalem descends, adorned as a bride for her husband. She is\nshown in the 19th chapter to be \u201carrayed in fine linen, clean and white\u201d\u2014a\nsymbol of \u201cthe righteousness of the saints.\u201d As the corrupt Roman\nhierarchy was symbolized by an adulterous woman (17:3), and also by the\ncorrupt city of Babylon (18:2), so symbols of an opposite character\u2014a\nchaste bride, and the new Jerusalem\u2014are chosen representatives of the\nchurch triumphant, whose Maker is her husband.\n\nMr. Lord very justly remarks: \u201cThe descent of the city is to take place at\nthe commencement of the millennium, manifestly from the representation\nthat the marriage of the Lamb was come, and that his wife had prepared\nherself, immediately after the destruction of great Babylon, (19:7, 8);\nfrom the exhibition of the risen and glorified saints, as seated on\nthrones, and reigning with Christ during the thousand years; and from the\nrepresentation of the beloved city as on earth at the revolt of Gog and\nMagog, after the close of the thousand years.\u201d\u2014\u201c_Ex. Apoc._\u201d p. 529.\n\n\u201cJerusalem, my happy home,\n  O how I long for thee;\nWhen shall my sorrows have an end?\n  Thy joys when shall I see?\n\n\u201cWhen shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls\n  And pearly gates behold!\nThy bulwarks with salvation strong,\n  And streets of shining gold?\n\n\u201cO when, thou city of my God,\n  Shall I thy courts ascend,\nWhere congregations ne\u2019er break up,\n  And Sabbaths have no end?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nThe Tabernacle of God with Men.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd I heard a loud voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the\n    tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and\n    they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, even\n    their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and\n    there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor\n    will there be any more pain: for the former things are passed\n    away. And he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things\n    new. And he said, Write, for these words are faithful and true.\n    And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the\n    beginning and the end. I will give to him, who thirsteth, from the\n    fountain of the water of life freely. He, who overcometh, will\n    inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he will be my\n    son. But the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and\n    murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all\n    liars, will have their part in the lake burning with fire and\n    brimstone, which is the second death.\u201d Rev. 21:3-8.\n\n\nThe utterances of the \u201cgreat voice out of heaven\u201d are not what John saw,\nbut are what he heard; and are therefore to be interpreted, not by the\nlaws of symbols, but by those of tropes and literal language.\n\nThe \u201ctabernacle of God with men\u201d is explained in the same connection to be\nhis \u201cdwelling with them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen our Saviour was incarnate, and vouchsafed to dwell amongst the\nchildren of men, the same phrase is used by this same author, _Eskeenoose_\n(John 1:14), \u2018The Word was made flesh, and tabernacled amongst us: and we\nbeheld his glory,\u2019 etc. We read it, he dwelt amongst us: but rendered more\nclosely, it is, he set his tabernacle amongst us. And that which the\nHebrews call the _Shekinah_, or divine presence (Maimon, Mor. Nev. par. 1,\nchap. 25), comes from a word of the like signification, and found with the\nGreek word here used. Therefore there will be a _Shekinah_ in that kingdom\nof Christ.\u201d\u2014_Tho. Burnett._\n\nWhen Israel first entered the wilderness, God entered into a _covenant_\nwith them (Ex. 19:3-8), in consequence of which he said to Moses, \u201cLet\nthem make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,\u201d (Ex. 25:8)\u2014the\npattern of which was shown Moses in the mount; and when completed \u201cthe\nglory of the Lord filled the tabernacle\u201d (Ex. 40:34), and there \u201cthe Lord\ntalked with Moses,\u201d Ex. 33:9. Thus did God dwell among them while they\nwere in a probationary state; but he indicated a more intimate connection\nwith them, by promising, if they were obedient to his statutes in all\nthings, that \u201cI will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not\nabhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall\nbe my people,\u201d Lev. 26:11, 12. This promise was not fulfilled to the Jews,\nbecause of their sins; but Paul quotes it (2 Cor. 6:16), and applies it as\na promise still to be made good to the church of Christ. Thus, the \u201cWord\u201d\nthat \u201cwas God,\u201d who was made flesh and tabernacled among us at his\nincarnation, is again to come and dwell with us in his human tabernacle,\nas at his first advent. Then will God enter into a new covenant with his\npeople, as he has said: \u201cBehold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I\nwill make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of\nJudah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in\nthe day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of\nEgypt, which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them,\nsaith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the\nhouse of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in\ntheir inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God,\nand they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his\nneighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall\nall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the\nLord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no\nmore,\u201d Jer. 31:31-34.\n\nAs the saints, before the resurrection of \u201cthe rest of the dead,\u201d \u201creign\nwith Christ 1000 years,\u201d (20:4); it follows that during that period the\ntabernacle of God is with men, when he dwells among them, which is an\nadditional evidence that \u201cthe restitution of all things\u201d (Acts 3:21) is at\nthe commencement of the millennium.\n\nThis is a tearless state\u2014all tears being then wiped from every eye. Isaiah\npredicted, when \u201cHe will swallow up death in victory,\u201d that \u201cthe Lord God\nwill wipe away tears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people\nshall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.\nAnd it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for\nhim, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we\nwill be glad and rejoice in his salvation,\u201d Isa. 25:8, 9. The commencement\nof the tearless state is thus placed by Isaiah at the resurrection, and at\nthe appearance of Christ; which is confirmed by Paul, in his inspired\ncommentary on the same, who affirms that at the last trump, \u201cwhen this\ncorruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put\non immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,\nDeath is swallowed up in victory,\u201d 1 Cor. 15:54. This state was also\npromised to the entire company \u201cwhich came out of great tribulation, and\nhave washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\nTherefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night\nin his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.\nThey shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun\nlight on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the\nthrone, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of\nwaters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,\u201d Rev. 7:14-17.\n\nThere shall then \u201cbe no more death\u201d\u2014for that \u201clast enemy shall be\ndestroyed\u201d (1 Cor. 15:26), and there shall be nothing to \u201churt nor\ndestroy, in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.\u201d Death will have been\nswallowed up in victory, (Isa. 25:8)\u2014the redeemed having been ransomed\n\u201cfrom the power of the grave,\u201d Hos. 13:14. \u201cNeither can they die any more:\nfor they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the\nchildren of the resurrection,\u201d Luke 20:36.\n\nAfter the destruction of death, there shall be \u201cneither sorrow, nor\ncrying, neither shall there be any more pain.\u201d This was to be when \u201cthe\nransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and\neverlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and\nsorrow and sighing shall flee away,\u201d Isa. 35:10. And one of these songs\nwas to be: \u201cThou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out\nof every kindred and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto\nour God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,\u201d Rev. 5:9,10.\n\nThen, everything which distinguishes the present world from that, will\nhave passed away; for all things will be created anew. These words,\nuttered by Him who is the \u201cAlpha and Omega,\u201d are no rhetorical flourishes,\nnor mere figures of speech, but contain the exact and literal truth, and\nare not to be set aside as unmeaning figures. For He who sat upon the\nthrone has declared: \u201cThese words are true and faithful.\u201d Faithful is He\nwho hath promised, and he will surely make good his words\u2014bestowing on the\nrighteous the inheritance of all things; and on the wicked, their fearful\ndoom.\n\n\n\n\nThe New Jerusalem.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd there came to me one of the seven angels, who had the seven\n    bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying,\n    Come, I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he\n    carried me away in spirit to a vast and high mountain, and shewed\n    me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,\n    having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone,\n    like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a wall vast and\n    high, and having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and\n    names written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve\n    tribes of the sons of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the\n    north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west,\n    three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and\n    on them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And\n    he, who talked with me, had a golden measuring-reed to measure the\n    city, and its gates, and its wall. And the city lieth square, and\n    the length is as much as the breadth: and he measured the city\n    with the measuring-reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length, and\n    the breadth, and the height of it are equal. And he measured its\n    wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of\n    a man, that is, of the angel. And the structure of its wall was\n    jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. And the\n    foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind\n    of precious stone. The first foundation was a jasper; the second,\n    a sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the\n    fifth, a sardonyx; the sixth, a sardius; the seventh, a\n    chrysolite; the eighth, a beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a\n    chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.\n    And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was\n    of one pearl; and the wide street of the city was pure gold, like\n    transparent glass.\u201d Rev. 21:9-21.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,\n    proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of\n    its wide street, and on each side of the river, was the tree of\n    life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit monthly,\n    and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.\n    And there will be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the\n    Lamb will be in it; and his servants will serve him: and they will\n    see his face; and his name will be on their foreheads. And there\n    will be no night there; and they have no need of the light of a\n    lamp, nor of the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them\n    light: and they will reign forever and ever.\u201d Rev. 22:1-5.\n\n\nObjects of great interest, of which only a passing glance was permitted in\nprevious visions, are again and again presented, until their relative\nglory is sufficiently manifested. Thus the new earth was considered worthy\nof being the subject of a special vision; and now the Bride, the Lamb\u2019s\nwife, although before referred to, is again made the subject of a special\nvision, under the symbol of a city, explained to be the bride.\n\nThe descent of the city, to harmonize with corresponding scriptures, has\nbeen shown to be at the commencement of the millennium, when those who are\ncalled to the marriage supper of the Lamb descend from the clouds of\nheaven, to receive \u201can inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that\nfadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ... ready to be revealed in\nthe last time,\u201d 1 Pet. 4:5.\n\n\u201cThe glory of the Lord,\u201d which is the light of the city, is explained to\nbe \u201cthe Lamb\u201d (21:23), which \u201cis the light thereof.\u201d \u201cIn him was life, and\nthe life was the light of men.\u201d \u201cThat was the true light which lighteth\nevery man that cometh into the world,\u201d John 1:4, 9. In Him dwelleth all\nthe fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9), so that as the Holy Shekineh\nillumined the pathway of ancient Israel, the nations of the redeemed will\nwalk in the light of His glory.\n\nThe gates of the city correspond with the number of the tribes of Israel;\nand the \u201cnames of the apostles\u201d are in its foundations. Thus Paul affirms\nthat the \u201cfellow citizens\u201d of \u201cthe household of God\u201d are built upon the\nfoundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the\nchief corner-stone, Eph. 2:20.\n\nThe dimensions of the city are in length equal to the breadth\u2014and 1500\nmiles in circumference, or 375 miles square. The length is in all parts\nequal; and so is the breadth, and the height,\u2014the latter being 216 feet.\n\nIts splendor is fully equal to all that inspiration has recorded\nrespecting those on whom the Lord will have \u201ceverlasting kindness;\u201d and to\nwhom he saith: \u201cO thou afflicted, tossed with the tempest, and not\ncomforted! behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy\nfoundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy\ngates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy\nchildren shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy\nchildren. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far\nfrom oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall\nnot come near thee,\u201d Isa. 54:11-14. \u201cTherefore thy gates shall be open\ncontinually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto\nthee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For\nthe nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those\nnations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto\nthee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the\nplace of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The\nsons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and\nall they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy\nfeet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy\nOne of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man\nwent through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many\ngenerations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck\nthe breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour\nand thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold,\nand for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron:\nI will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness.\nViolence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction\nwithin thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates\nPraise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness\nshall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an\neverlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down;\nneither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine\neverlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people\nalso shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the\nbranch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A\nlittle one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; I the\nLord will hasten it in his time,\u201d Isa. 60:11-22.\n\n  O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true,\nScenes of accomplish\u2019d bliss! which who can see,\nThough but in distant prospect, and not feel\nHis soul refresh\u2019d with foretaste of the joy?\nRivers of gladness water all the Earth,\nAnd clothe all climes with beauty. The reproach\nOf barrenness is past. The fruitful field\nLaughs with abundance; and the land, once lean,\nOr fertile only in its own disgrace,\nExults to see its thistly curse repeal\u2019d.\nThe various seasons woven into one,\nAnd that one season an eternal spring,\nThe garden fears no blight, and needs no fence;\nFor there is none to covet: all are full.\nThe lion, and the libbard, and the bear,\nGraze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon\nTogether, or all gambol in the shade\nOf the same grove, and drink one common stream.\nAntipathies are none. No foe to man\nLurks in the serpent now: the mother sees,\nAnd smiles to see, her infant\u2019s playful hand\nStretch\u2019d forth to dally with the crested worm,\nTo stroke his azure neck, or to receive\nThe lambent homage of his arrowy tongue.\nAll creatures worship man, and all mankind\nOne Lord, one Father. Error has no place;\nThat creeping pestilence is driv\u2019n away:\nThe breath of Heav\u2019n has chas\u2019d it. In the heart\nNo passion touches a discordant string,\nBut all is harmony and love. Disease\nIs not: the pure and uncontaminate blood\nHolds its due course, nor fears the frost of age.\nOne song employs all nations; and all cry,\n\u201cWorthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!\u201d\nThe dwellers in the vales and on the rocks\nShout to each other, and the mountain-tops\nFrom distant mountains catch the flying joy;\nTill, nation after nation taught the strain,\nEarth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round.\nBehold the measure of the promise fill\u2019d!\nSee Salem built, the labor of a God!\nBright as a sun the sacred city shines:\nAll kingdoms and all princes of the Earth\nFlock to that light; the glory of all lands\nFlows into her; unbounded is her joy,\nAnd endless her increase. Thy rams are there,\nNebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there:\nThe looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind,\nAnd Saba\u2019s spicy groves, pay tribute there.\nPraise is in all her gates; upon her walls,\nAnd in her streets, and in her spacious courts,\nIs heard salvation. Eastern Java there\nKneels with the native of the farthest west;\nAnd \u00c6thiopia spreads abroad the hand,\nAnd worships. Her report has travel\u2019d forth\nInto all lands. From ev\u2019ry clime they come\nTo see thy beauty, and to share thy joy,\nO Sion! an assembly such as Earth\nSaw never, such as Heav\u2019n stoops down to see.\n  Thus Heav\u2019nward all things tend. For all were once\nPerfect, and all must be at length restor\u2019d,\nSo God has greatly purpos\u2019d: who would else\nIn his dishonor\u2019d works himself endure\nDishonor, and be wrong\u2019d without redress.\nHaste then, and wheel away a shatter\u2019d world,\nYe slow-revolving seasons! we would see\n(A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet)\nA world that does not dread and hate his laws,\nAnd suffer for its crime; would learn how fair\nThe creature is, that God pronounces good,\nHow pleasant in itself what pleases him.\u2014_Cowper._\n\n\n\n\nFinal Admonitions.\n\n\n    \u201cAnd he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the\n    Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to\n    shew his servants the things, which must shortly take place. And\n    behold, I come quickly: happy is he, who keepeth the words of the\n    prophecy of this book. And I John saw and heard these things. And\n    when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet\n    of the angel who shewed me these things. And he saith to me, See\n    thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and one of thy brethren\n    the prophets, and one of those, who keep the words of this book:\n    worship God. And he saith to me, Seal not up the words of the\n    prophecy of this book: for the season is near. He, who is unjust,\n    let him be unjust still: and he, who is filthy, let him be filthy\n    still: and he, who is righteous, let him perform righteousness\n    still: and he, who is holy, let him be holy still. Behold, I come\n    quickly; and my reward is with me, to give each one as his work\n    shall be. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,\n    the beginning and the end. Happy are those, who do his\n    commandments, that they may have the privilege of the tree of\n    life, and may enter through the gates into the city. For without\n    are the Sodomites, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the\n    murderers, and the idolaters, and whoever loveth and practiseth\n    falsehood. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify to you these\n    things in the congregations. I am the root and the offspring of\n    David, the bright morning-star. And the Spirit and the bride say,\n    Come! And let him, who heareth, say, Come! And let him, who\n    thirsteth, come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life\n    freely.\n\n\n    \u201cI testify to every one, who heareth the words of the prophecy of\n    this book, If any one shall add to these things, God will add to\n    him the plagues written in this book: and if any one shall take\n    away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take\n    away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, and\n    from the things written in this book. He, who testifieth these\n    things, saith, Surely I come quickly. So be it, come, O Lord\n    Jesus!\n\n\n    \u201cThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.\u201d Rev.\n    22:6-21.\n\n\nWith the representation of the city, the symbols of the Apocalypse are\nterminated. What follows are the words of Christ. The import of these is\nguarded by his declaration that they are \u201ctrue and faithful.\u201d There is a\nreality and definiteness in them, which will not admit of their being\nadded to, or taken from. So that any attempt to fritter away their\nmeaning, will be followed by the curses written in the book, and a loss of\nthe blessings therein promised.\n\nThe command not to seal this prophecy, is in contrast with the close of\nDaniel\u2019s prophecy, which was \u201cclosed up and sealed till the time of the\nend,\u201d Dan. 12:9. The Apocalypse, as its name imports, being an \u201cunveiling\u201d\nof the obscurities of Daniel, the seal from the former was removed\u2014the\ntime of the end, in that sense, being equivalent to the last days, or the\ngospel dispensation.\n\nThe time was \u201cat hand,\u201d when the great series of predicted events was to\ncommence. As he that was unjust was to be unjust still, and he that was\nrighteous was thus to remain, it follows that the visions therein\nrecorded, continue down to the close of probation; and that the new earth\nis one of everlasting reward, wherein is to be fulfilled the promise:\n\u201cBlessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth,\u201d Matt. 5:3.\n\nIn this connection the Saviour answers the question, which so perplexed\nthe Pharisees: If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Matt.\n22:45. Being the Root from whence David sprang, and in his humanity\nDavid\u2019s offspring, he was both his Lord and son.\n\nThe invitation appended is one of the most endearing that it is possible\nto conceive of, and the threats are the most terrific. These are given for\nthe admonition of all; and yet how many will turn away from the study of\nthe book, which commences with a blessing on him \u201cthat readeth, and they\nthat hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are\nwritten therein,\u201d (1:3); and closes with an invitation for all to come and\n\u201ctake of the water of life freely.\u201d It is no mystical record, and there is\nnothing equivocal in its predictions. Neither is it to be fulfilled in the\ndistant future; for \u201cHe which testifieth these things saith: Surely I come\nquickly.\u201d And shall not every one who loves his Lord respond, \u201cEven so;\ncome, Lord Jesus.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Church has waited long\n  Her absent Lord to see;\nAnd still in loneliness she waits,\n  A friendless stranger she.\nAge after age has gone,\n  Sun after sun has set,\nAnd still, in weeds of widowhood,\n  She weeps, a mourner yet.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe whole creation groans,\n  And waits to hear that voice\nThat shall restore her comeliness,\n  And make her wastes rejoice.\nCome, Lord, and wipe away\n  The curse, the sin, the stain,\nAnd make this blighted world of ours\n  Thine own fair world again.\nCome, then, Lord Jesus, come!\u201d\n\n_Rev. H. A. Bonar_, (_Eng._)\n\n\n\n\nTHE OLD EARTH.\n\n\nOld Mother EARTH is wan and pale,\n  Her face is wrinkled sore;\nHer locks are blanched, her heart is cold,\n  Her garments stiff with gore;\nWith furrowed brow and dim sad eyes,\n  With trembling steps and slow,\nShe marks the course that first she trod\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nThe Earth is old, the Earth is cold,\n  She shivers and complains;\nHow many Winters fierce and chill\n  Have racked her limbs with pains!\nDrear tempests, lightning, flood and flame\n  Have scarred her visage so,\nThat scarce we deem she shone so fair,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nYet comely was the youthful Earth,\n  And lightly tripped along\nTo music from a starry choir,\n  Whose sweet celestial song\nThrough Nature\u2019s temple echoed wild,\n  And soft as streamlets flow,\nWhere sister spheres replied with her,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nAnd many happy children there\n  Upon her breast reclined,\nThe young Earth smiled with aspect fair,\n  The heavens were bright and kind;\nThe azure cope above her head\n  In love seemed bending low,\nO happy was the youthful Earth,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nAlas! those children of the Earth\n  With hate began to burn,\nAnd Murder stained her beauteous robe,\n  And bade the young Earth mourn.\nAnd ages, heavy ages, still\n  Have bowed with gathering woe\nThe form of her whose life was joy,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nOld Earth! drear Earth! thy tender heart\n  Bewails thy chosen ones;\nThou look\u2019st upon the myriad graves\n  That hide their gathered bones;\nFor them, by day and night, thy tears\n  Unceasingly must flow;\nDeath chilled the fountain-head of life\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nOld Earth! old Earth! above thy head\n  The heavens are dark and chill,\nThe sun looks coldly on thee now,\n  The stars shine pale and still;\nNo more the heavenly symphonies\n  Through listening ether flow,\nWhich swelled upon creation\u2019s ear,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nWeep not in bitter grief, O Earth!\n  Weep not in hopelessness!\nFrom out the heavens \u201ca still small voice\u201d\n  Whispers returning peace.\nThy tears are precious in the sight\n  Of ONE who marks their flow,\nWho purposes of mercy formed,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nThy days of grief are numbered all,\n  Their sum will soon be told:\nThe joy of youth, the smile of God,\n  Shall bless thee as of old;\nShall shed a purer, holier light\n  Upon thy peaceful brow,\nThan beamed upon thy morning hour\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nThy chosen ones shall live again,\n  A countless, tearless throng,\nTo wake creation\u2019s voice anew,\n  And swell the choral song.\nGo, Earth! go wipe thy falling tears,\n  Forget thy heavy woe:\nHope died not with thy first-born sons,\n  Six thousand years ago!\n\nKNICKERBOCKER.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n    1 The first Advent was, according to the best-settled chronological\n      data, about four thousand one hundred and twenty years from\n      creation.\n\n    2 See margin of Whiting\u2019s Testament. Lord has it, \u201cwhen he can be\n      ready to sound.\u201d\n\n    3 The constitutional language was, \u201cBy the authority of the senate,\n      and consent of the soldiers.\u201d\u2014_Gibbon_, vol. I., p. 44.\n\n    4 This is given on the authority of the London Quarterly Journal of\n      Prophecy, for 1852, p. 330, which states that the edict will be\n      found in the \u201cTheodosian Code, XVII. to XX.\u201d\n\n    5 \u201cUbi cogniti fuerint illius h\u00e6resis sectatores, ne receptaculum iis\n      quisquam in terra sua pr\u00e6bere pr\u00e6sumat: sed nec in venditione aut\n      emptione aliqua cum iis omnino commercium habeatur.\u201d\u2014_Hard._, vi.\n      ii. 1597.\n\n    6 The following philological law or canon of criticism is universally\n      admitted, and all dictionaries, grammars, and translations, are\n      formed in accordance with it:\n\n      \u201cEvery word not specially explained or defined in a particular\n      sense, by any standard writer of any particular age and country, is\n      to be taken and applied in the current or commonly received\n      signification of that country and age in which the writer lived and\n      wrote.\u201d\u2014_Campbell._\n\n    7 This possession by demons is similar to the mode by which pretended\n      spirits claim that they communicate through mediums. One of them,\n      purporting to be the spirit of a departed son of Adin Ballou, in\n      answer to the question, by his father, \u201cCan you describe how you are\n      able to write through a medium?\u201d says, \u201cI feel as though I enter\n      into her for the time being, or as if my spirit entered into her. I\n      am disencumbered of my spiritual form, and take hers. More than one\n      spirit can enter the medium at once. The mediums all go into the\n      trance by means of several spirits entering the body at one\n      time.\u201d\u2014_Spiritual Telegraph, May 8, 1852._\n\n    8 The word is _demon_ or _demons_ in all the instances referred to.\n\n    9 Necromancy is derived from the Greek words _nekros_, dead, and\n      _mantis_, a diviner. The Greek, _Necromantia_, is defined: \u201cThe\n      revealing future events by communication with the dead; necromancy.\u201d\n      And Nekromantis: \u201cOne who reveals future events by communication\n      with the dead; a necromancer.\u201d\n\n   10 This is in the Syriac, \u201cUntil the fulness of the time of all\n      things.\u201d Iren\u00e6us says, \u201cTill the time of the exhibition or disposal\n      of all things;\u201d and \u0152cumenius, \u201cTill the time of all things does\n      come to an end;\u201d and we have the suffrage of Thesychius and\n      Phavorinus, that \u201c\u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 is \u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03c9\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2, \u2018the consummation\u2019 of\n      a thing.\u201d\u2014_Whitby._","title":"A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":93489}