{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42251/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42251","id":"gutenberg_42251","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42251","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Revelation -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"The\n Expositor's Bible\n\n Edited by\n W. Robertson Nicoll, D.D., LL.D.\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n THE EXPOSITORS' BIBLE\n\n _Edited by_ W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, D.D., LL.D.\n\n _New and Cheaper Edition. Printed from original plates\n Complete in every detail. Uniform with this volume_\n\n Price 50 cents per volume. (If by mail add 10 cents postage)\n\n\n OLD TESTAMENT VOLUMES\n\n GENESIS. By Rev. Prof. Marcus Dods, D.D.\n\n EXODUS. By Very Rev. G. A. Chadwick, D.D., Dean of Armagh.\n\n LEVITICUS. By Rev. S. H. Kellogg, D.D.\n\n NUMBERS. By Rev. R. A. Watson, D.D.\n\n DEUTERONOMY. By Rev. Prof. Andrew Harper, B.D.\n\n JOSHUA. By Rev. Prof. W. G. Blaikie, D.D., LL.D.\n\n JUDGES AND RUTH. By Rev. R. A. Watson, D.D.\n\n FIRST SAMUEL. By Rev. Prof. W. G. Blaikie, D.D., LL.D.\n\n SECOND SAMUEL. By same author.\n\n FIRST KINGS. By F. W. Farrar, D.D., Dean of Canterbury.\n\n SECOND KINGS. By same author.\n\n FIRST AND SECOND CHRONICLES. By Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett.\n\n EZRA, NEHEMIAH, and ESTHER. By Rev. Prof. W. F. Adeney.\n\n JOB. By Rev. R. A. Watson, D.D.\n\n PSALMS. In 3 vols. Vol. I., Chapters I.-XXXVIII.; Vol. II.,\n Chapters XXXIX.-LXXXIX; Vol. III., Chapters XC-CL. By Rev.\n Alexander Maclaren, D.D.\n\n PROVERBS. By Rev. R. F. Horton, D.D.\n\n ECCLESIASTES. By Rev. Samuel Cox, D.D.\n\n SONG OF SOLOMON and LAMENTATIONS. By Rev. Prof. W. F. Adeney.\n\n ISAIAH. In 2 vols. Vol. I., Chapters I.-XXXIX.; Vol. II., Chapters\n XL-LXVI. By Prof. George Adam Smith, D.D., LL.D.\n\n JEREMIAH. Chapters I.-XX. With a Sketch of his Life and Times. By\n Rev. C. J. Ball.\n\n JEREMIAH. Chapters XXI.-LII. By Rev. Prof. W. H. Bennett.\n\n EZEKIEL. By Rev. Prof. John Skinner.\n\n DANIEL. By F. W. Farrar, D.D., Dean of Canterbury.\n\n THE TWELVE (Minor) PROPHETS. In 2 vols. By Rev. George Adam Smith,\n D.D., LL.D.\n\n\n NEW TESTAMENT VOLUMES\n\n ST. MATTHEW. By Rev. J. Monro Gibson, D.D.\n\n ST. MARK. By Very Rev. G. A. Chadwick, D.D., Dean of Armagh.\n\n ST. LUKE. By Rev. Henry Burton.\n\n GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. In 2 vols. Vol. I., Chapters I.-XI.; Vol. II.,\n Chapters XII-XXI. By Rev. Prof. Marcus Dods, D.D.\n\n THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. In 2 vols. By Rev. Prof. G. T. Stokes,\n D.D.\n\n ROMANS. By Rev. Handley C. G. Moule, D.D.\n\n FIRST CORINTHIANS. By Rev. Prof. Marcus Dods, D.D.\n\n SECOND CORINTHIANS. By Rev. James Denney, D.D.\n\n GALATIANS. By Rev. Prof. G. G. Findlay, D.D.\n\n EPHESIANS. By same author.\n\n PHILIPPIANS. By Rev. Principal Robert Rainy, D.D.\n\n COLOSSIANS and PHILEMON. By Rev. Alexander Maclaren, D.D.\n\n THESSALONIANS. By Rev. James Denney, D.D.\n\n PASTORAL EPISTLES. By Rev. A. Plummer, D.D.\n\n HEBREWS. By Rev. Principal T. C. Edwards, D.D.\n\n ST. JAMES and ST. JUDE. By Rev. A. Plummer, D.D.\n\n ST. PETER. By Rev. Prof. J. Rawson Lumby, D.D.\n\n EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. By Rt. Rev. W. Alexander, Lord Bishop of\n Derry.\n\n REVELATION. By Prof. W. Milligan, D.D.\n\n INDEX VOLUME TO ENTIRE SERIES.\n\n\n _New York_: HODDER & STOUGHTON, _Publishers_\n\n\n\n\n THE\n BOOK OF REVELATION\n\n\n\n\n\n BY\n WILLIAM MILLIGAN, D.D.\n\n PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY AND BIBLICAL CRITICISM IN THE UNIVERSITY\n OF ABERDEEN. AUTHOR OF \"THE RESURRECTION\n OF OUR LORD,\" ETC.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n HODDER & STOUGHTON\n NEW YORK\n GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n PREFATORY NOTE.\n\n\nIn ordinary circumstances one who undertakes to comment upon a book of\nthe New Testament may be justly expected to make every effort to\nexplain each successive clause and each difficult expression of the\nbook on which he writes. My aim in the following Commentary is rather\nto catch the general import and object of the Revelation of St. John\nconsidered as a whole. The latter purpose indeed cannot be attained\nunless the commentator has himself paid faithful attention to the\nformer; but it is not necessary that the results of these inquiries\nshould in every case be presented to the English reader. To him this\nbook is for the most part a perplexity and enigma, and he would only\nbe embarrassed by a multitude of details. It seemed well, therefore,\nto treat the book in its sections and paragraphs rather than verse by\nverse; and this is the course pursued in the following pages. The\ntranslation used is for the most part that of the Revised Version. An\nexamination of the words and clauses of the book, conducted upon a\nplan different from that here adopted, and much more minute in its\ncharacter, will be found in the Author's Commentary on the Apocalypse,\nin the Commentary upon the books of the New Testament edited by\nProfessor Schaff and published by Messrs. Clark, Edinburgh. The\nprinciples upon which the Author has proceeded have been fully\ndiscussed in his Baird Lectures.\n\n THE UNIVERSITY, ABERDEEN,\n _May 1889_.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n PAGE\n\n THE PROLOGUE 1\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n THE CHURCH ON THE FIELD OF HISTORY 21\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n ANTICIPATIONS OF THE CHURCH'S VICTORY 65\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n THE SEALED ROLL OPENED 86\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n CONSOLATORY VISIONS. THE SEALING AND THE PALM-BEARING\n MULTITUDE 111\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n THE FIRST SIX TRUMPETS 132\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n RENEWED CONSOLATORY VISION. THE LITTLE BOOK 157\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n A SECOND CONSOLATORY VISION. THE MEASURING OF THE\n TEMPLE AND THE TWO WITNESSES. THE SEVENTH\n TRUMPET 168\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n THE FIRST GREAT ENEMY OF THE CHURCH 196\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n THE SECOND AND THIRD GREAT ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH 217\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n RENEWED CONSOLATORY VISIONS. THE LAMB ON THE MOUNT\n ZION AND THE HARVEST AND VINTAGE OF THE WORLD 238\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n THE SEVEN BOWLS 259\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n THE BEAST AND BABYLON 277\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n THE FALL OF BABYLON 303\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n THE PAUSE OF VICTORY AND JUDGMENT OF THE BEAST AND\n THE FALSE PROPHET 316\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n JUDGMENT OF SATAN AND OF THE WICKED 335\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n THE NEW JERUSALEM 360\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n THE EPILOGUE 375\n\n\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n _THE PROLOGUE._\n\n REV. i.\n\n The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show unto\n His servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and\n He sent and signified it through His angel unto His servant John;\n who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus\n Christ, even of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that\n readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep\n the things which are written therein: for the season is at hand\n (i. 1-3).\n\n\nThe first chapter of Revelation introduces us to the whole book, and\nsupplies in great measure the key by which we are to interpret it. The\nbook is not intended to be a mystery in the sense in which we commonly\nunderstand that word. It deals indeed with the future, the details of\nwhich must always be dark to us; and it does this by means of figures\nand symbols and modes of speech far removed from the ordinary simplicity\nof language which marks the New Testament writers. But it is not on that\naccount designed to be unintelligible. The figures and symbols employed\nin it are used with perfect regularity; its peculiar modes of speech are\nsupposed to be at least not unfamiliar to the reader; and it is taken\nfor granted that he understands them. The writer obviously expects that\nhis meaning, so far from being obscured by his style, will be thereby\nillustrated, enforced, and brought home to the mind, with greater than\nordinary power. The word _Revelation_ by which he describes to us the\ngeneral character of his work is of itself sufficient to show this.\n\"Revelation\" means the uncovering of that which has hitherto been\ncovered, the drawing back of a veil which has hung over a person or\nthing, the laying bare what has been hitherto concealed; and the book\nbefore us is a revelation instead of a mystery.\n\nAgain, the book is a _revelation of Jesus Christ_; not so much a\nrevelation of what Jesus Christ Himself is, as one of which He is the\nAuthor and Source. He is the Head of His Church, reigning supreme in\nHis heavenly abode. He is the Eternal Son, the Word without whom was\nnot anything made that was made, and who executes all the purposes of\nthe Father, \"the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.\"[1] He is at\nthe same time \"Head over all things to the Church.\"[2] He regulates\nher fortunes. He controls in her behalf the events of history. He\nfills the cup which He puts into her hand with prosperity or\nadversity, with joy or sorrow, with victory or defeat. Who else can\nimpart a revelation so true, so weighty, and so precious?\n\nYet again, the revelation to be now given by Jesus Christ is one\n_which God gave Him_, the revelation of the eternal and unchangeable\nplan of One who turneth the hearts of kings as the rivers of water,\nwho saith and it is done, who commandeth and it stands fast.\n\nFinally, the revelation relates to things that _must shortly come to\npass_, and thus has all the interest of the present, and not merely of\na far-distant future.\n\nSuch is the general character of that revelation which Jesus Christ\n_sent and signified through His angel unto His servant John_. And\nthat Apostle faithfully recorded it for the instruction and comfort of\nthe Church. Like his Divine Master, with whom throughout all this book\nbelievers are so closely identified, and who is Himself _the Amen, the\nfaithful and true witness_,[3] the disciple whom He loved stands forth\nto bear witness of _the word of God_ thus given him, of _the testimony\nof Jesus_ thus signified to him, _even of all things that he saw_. He\nplaces himself in thought at the end of the visions he had witnessed,\nand re-traces for others the elevating pictures which had filled, as\nhe beheld them, his own soul with rapture.\n\nTherefore may he now, ere yet he enters upon his task, pronounce a\nblessing upon those who shall pay due heed to what he is to say. Does\nhe think of the person by whom the apostolic writings were read aloud\nin the midst of the Christian congregation? then, _Blessed is he that\nreadeth_. Does he think of those who listen? then, Blessed are _they\nthat hear the words of the prophecy_. Or, lastly, does he think not\nmerely of reading and hearing, but of that laying up in the heart to\nwhich these were only preparatory? then, Blessed are they that _keep\nthe things which are written therein, for the season_, the short\nseason in which everything shall be accomplished, _is at hand_.\n\nThe Introduction to the book is over; and it may be well to mark for a\nmoment that tendency to divide his matter into three parts which\npeculiarly distinguishes St. John, and to which, as supplying an\nimportant rule of interpretation, we shall often have occasion to\nrefer. There are obviously three parts in the Introduction,--the\nSource, the Contents, and the Importance of the revelation: and each\nof these is again divided into three. Three persons are mentioned when\nthe Source is spoken of,--God, Jesus Christ, and the servants of\nJesus; three when the Contents are referred to,--the Word of God, the\nTestimony of Jesus, and All things that he saw; and three when the\nImportance of the book is described,--He that readeth, They that hear,\nand They that keep the things written therein.\n\n John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you, and\n peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and\n from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and from Jesus\n Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and\n the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loveth us, and\n loosed us from our sins in His blood; and He made us to be a\n kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father; to Him be the glory\n and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with the\n clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him; and\n all the tribes of the earth shall wail over Him. Even so, Amen. I am\n the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord, God, which is and which was\n and which is to come, the Almighty (i. 4-8).\n\nFrom the Introduction we pass to the Salutation, extending from ver. 4\nto ver. 8. Adopting a method different from that of the fourth Gospel,\nwhich is also the production of his pen, the writer of Revelation\nnames himself. The difference is easily explained. The fourth Gospel\nis original not only in its contents but its form. The Apocalypse is\nmoulded after the fashion of the ancient prophets, and of the numerous\napocalyptic authors of the time; and it was the practice of both these\nclasses of writers to place their names at the head of what they\nwrote. The fourth Gospel was also intended to set forth in a purely\nobjective manner the glory of the Eternal Word made flesh, and that\ntoo in such a way that the glory exhibited in Him should authenticate\nitself, independently of human testimony. The Apocalypse needed a\nvoucher from one known and trusted. It came through the mind of a man,\nand we naturally ask, Who is the man through whom it came? The enquiry\nis satisfied, and we are told that it comes from _John_. In telling us\nthis St. John speaks with the authority which belongs to him.\nBy-and-by we shall see him in another light, occupying a position\nsimilar to ours, and standing on the same level with us in the\ncovenant of grace. But at this moment he is the Apostle, the\nEvangelist, the Minister of God, a consecrated priest in the Christian\ncommunity who is about to pronounce a priestly blessing on the Church.\nLet the Church bow her head and reverently receive it.\n\nThe Salutation is addressed _to the seven churches which are in Asia_.\nOn this point it is enough to say that by the Asia spoken of we are to\nunderstand neither the continent of that name, nor its great western\ndivision Asia Minor, but only a single district of the latter, of\nwhich Ephesus, where St. John spent the later years of his life and\nministry, was the capital. There the aged Apostle tended all those\nportions of the flock of Christ that he could reach, and all the\nchurches of the neighbourhood were his peculiar care. We know that\nthese were in number more than seven. We know that to no church could\nthe Apostle be indifferent. The conclusion is irresistible, that here,\nas so often in this book as well as in other parts of Scripture, the\nnumber seven is not to be literally understood. Seven churches are\nselected, the condition of which appeared most suitable to the purpose\nwhich the Apostle has in view; and these seven represent the Church of\nChrist in every country of the world, down to the very end of time.\nThe universal Church spreads itself out beneath his gaze; and before\nhe instructs he blesses it.\n\nThe blessing is, _Grace to you, and peace_; grace first, the Divine\ngrace, in its enlightening, quickening, and beautifying power; and\nthen peace, peace with God and man, peace that in the deep recesses of\nthe heart remains undisturbed by outward trouble, the peace of which\nit is said by Him who is the Prince of peace, \"Peace I leave with you;\nMy peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let\nnot your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.\"[4]\n\nThe source of the blessing is next indicated,--the Triune God, the\nthree Persons of the glorious Trinity, the Father, the Holy Spirit,\nand the Son. Probably we should have thought of a different order; but\nthe truth is that it is the Son, as the manifestation of the Godhead,\nwho is mainly in the Apostle's mind. Hence the peculiarity of the\nfirst designation, _Him which is, and which was, and which is to\ncome_, a designation specially applicable to our Lord. Hence also the\npeculiarity of the second designation, _The seven Spirits which are\nbefore His throne_; not so much the Spirit viewed in His individual\npersonality, in the eternal relations of the Divine existence, as that\nSpirit in the manifoldness of His operation in the Church, the Spirit\nof the glorified Redeemer,--not one therefore, but seven. Hence,\nagain, the peculiar designation of Christ, _Jesus Christ, who is the\nfaithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the\nkings of the earth_; not so much the Son in His metaphysical relation\nto the Godhead, as in attributes connected with His redemptive work.\nAnd hence, finally, the fact that when these three Persons have been\nnamed, the Seer fills up the remaining verses of his Salutation with\nthoughts, not of the Trinity, but of Him who has already redeemed us,\nand who will in due time come to perfect our salvation.\n\nNow, therefore, the Church, reflecting upon all that has been done, is\ndone, and shall be done for her, is able to raise the song of\ntriumphant thanksgiving, _Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from\nour sins in His blood, and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests\nunto His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever\nand ever. Amen._ In these words the possession of complete redemption\nis implied. The true reading of the original is not that of our\nAuthorised Version, \"Unto Him that washed,\" but \"Unto Him that loosed\"\nus from our sins. We have received not merely the pardon of sin, but\ndeliverance from its power. \"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the\nsnare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we are escaped.\"[5] The\nchains in which Satan held us captive have been snapped asunder and we\nare free. Again, this loosing has taken place \"in\" rather than \"by\"\nthe blood of Christ, for the blood of Christ is living blood, and in\nthat life of His we are enfolded and enwrapped, so that it is not we\nthat live, but Christ that liveth in us. Once more they who are thus\nspoken of are \"a kingdom, priests unto His God and Father,\" the former\nbeing the lower stage, the latter the higher. The word \"kingdom\" has\nreference, less to the splendour of royalty than to victory over foes.\nChristians reign in conquering their spiritual enemies; and then, in\npossession of the victory that overcometh the world, they enter into\nthe innermost sanctuary of the Most High and dwell in the secret of\nHis Tabernacle. There their great High Priest is one with \"His God and\nFather,\" and there they also dwell with His Father and their Father,\nwith His God and their God.\n\nThe statement of these verses, however, reveals not only what the\nChristian Church is to which the Apocalypse is addressed; it reveals\nalso what the Lord is from whom the revelation comes. He is indeed the\nSaviour who died for us, the witness faithful unto death: but He is\nalso the Saviour who rose again, who is the firstborn of the dead, and\nwho has ascended to the right hand of God, where He lives and reigns\nin glory everlasting. It is the glorified Redeemer from whom the book\nof His revelation comes; and He has all power committed to Him both in\nheaven and on earth. More particularly, He is \"the ruler of the kings\nof the earth.\" This is not a description of such honour as might be\ngiven by a crowd of loyal nobles to a beloved prince. It rather gives\nexpression to a power by which \"the kings of the earth,\" the\npotentates of a sinful world, are subdued and crushed.\n\nLastly, the Salutation includes the thought that He who is now hidden\nin heaven from our view, will yet appear in the glory that belongs to\nHim. He is the Lord who \"is to come\"; or, as it is expanded in the\nwords immediately following the doxology, _Behold, He cometh with the\nclouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him; and\nall the tribes of the earth shall wail over Him. Even so, Amen._ It is\nof importance to ask what the glory is in which the glorified Lord is\nthus spoken of as coming. Is it that of one who shall be the object of\nadmiration to every eye, and who, by the revelation of Himself, shall\nwin all who behold Him to godly penitence and faith? The context\nforbids such an interpretation. The tribes \"of the earth\" are like its\nkings in ver. 5, the tribes of an ungodly world, and the \"wailing\" is\nthat of chap. xviii. 9, where the same word is used, and where the\nkings of the earth weep and wail over the fall of guilty Babylon,\nwhich they behold burning before their eyes. The tones of that\njudgment which is to re-echo throughout the book are already heard:\n\"Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the\nking's Son. He shall judge the people with righteousness, and Thy poor\nwith judgment\"; \"Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily,\nHe is a God that judgeth in the earth.\"[6]\n\nAnd now the glorified Redeemer Himself declares what He is: _I am the\nAlpha and the Omega, saith the Lord, God, which is and which was and\nwhich is to come, the Almighty._ It will be observed that after the\nword \"Lord\" we have interposed a comma not found in either the\nAuthorised or the Revised Version.[7] On various other occasions we\nshall have to do the same, and the call to do so arises partly from\nthe connexion of the thought, partly from St. John's love of that\ntripartite division of an idea which has been already spoken of. The\nformer does not lead us to the Father; it leads us, on the contrary,\nto the Son. He it is Who has been described immediately before, and\nwith Him the description which follows is to be occupied. No doubt the\nthought of God, of the Father, lies immediately behind the words. No\ndoubt also \"the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the\nFather doing\"; yet \"what things soever He doeth, these the Son also\ndoeth in like manner.\"[8] By the Son the Father acts. In the Son the\nFather speaks. The Son is the manifestation of the Father. The same\nDivine attributes, therefore, which are to be seen in the Father, are\nto be seen in the Son. Let us hear Him as He seals His intimations of\ncoming judgment with the assurance that He is God, who has come who is\nand who is to come, the Almighty.\n\n I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and\n kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is\n called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I\n was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great\n voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book,\n and send it to the seven churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna,\n and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto\n Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice\n which spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden\n candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a\n Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt\n about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And His head and His\n hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were as\n a flame of fire; and His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it\n had been refined in a furnace; and His voice as the voice of many\n waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His\n mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was\n as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at\n His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying,\n Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the living One; And I\n became dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the\n keys of death and of Hades. Write therefore the things which thou\n sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come\n to pass hereafter; the mystery of the stars which thou sawest upon\n My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars\n are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks\n are seven churches (i. 9-20).\n\nAfter the Introduction and Salutation, the visions of the book begin,\nthe first being the key to all that follow. The circumstances amidst\nwhich it was given are described, not merely to satisfy curiosity, or\nto afford information, but to establish such a connexion between St.\nJohn and his readers as shall authenticate and vivify its lessons.\n\n_I John_, he begins, _your brother and partaker with you in the\ntribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the\nisle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of\nJesus._ It is no longer only the Apostle, the authoritative messenger\nof God, who speaks; it is one who occupies the same ground as other\nmembers of the Church, and is bound to them by the strong deep tie of\ncommon sorrow. The aged and honoured Evangelist, \"the disciple whom\nJesus loved,\" is one with them, bears the same burden, drinks the same\ncup, and has no higher consolation than they may have. He is their\n\"brother,\" a brother in adversity, for he is a partaker with them of\nthe \"tribulation\" that is in Jesus. The reference is to outward\nsuffering and persecution; for the words of the Master were now\nliterally fulfilled: \"A servant is not greater than his lord. If they\npersecuted Me they will also persecute you;\" \"Yea, the hour cometh,\nthat whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto\nGod.\"[9] The scorn, the hatred, the persecution of the world! for such\nas were exposed to these things was the Apocalypse written, by such\nwas it understood; and if, in later times, it has often failed to make\nits due impression on the minds of men, it is because it is not\nintended for those who are at ease in Zion. The more Christians are\ncompelled to feel that the world hates them, and that they cannot be\nits friends, the greater to them will be the power and beauty of this\nbook. Its revelations, like the stars of the sky, shine most brightly\nin the cold, dark night.\n\n\"Tribulation\" is the chief thing spoken of, but the Apostle, with his\nlove of groups of three, accompanies it with other two marks of the\nChristian's condition in the world,--the \"kingdom\" and \"patience\" that\nare in Jesus. St. John therefore was in tribulation. He had been\ndriven from Ephesus, we know not why, and had been banished to Patmos,\na small rocky island of the ?ean Sea. He had been banished for his\nfaith, for his adherence to \"the word of God and the testimony of\nJesus,\" the former expression leading our thoughts to the revelation\nof the Old Testament, the latter to that of the New; the former to\nthose prophets, culminating in the Baptist, of whom the same Apostle\nwho now writes tells us in the beginning of his Gospel, that they\n\"came for witness, that they might bear witness of the light;\"[10] the\nlatter to \"the true light, even the light which lighteth every man\ncoming into the world.\"[11] Driven from the society of his friends and\n\"children,\" we cannot doubt that St. John would be drawn even more\nclosely than was his wont to the bosom of his Lord; would feel that he\nwas still protected by His care; would remember the words uttered by\nHim in the most sublime and touching moment of His life, \"And I am no\nmore in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to Thee.\nHoly Father, keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me\";[12] and\nwould share the blessed experience of knowing that, on every spot of\nearth however remote, and amidst all trials however heavy, he was in\nthe hands of One who stills the tumults of the people as well as the\nwaves of the sea beating upon the rock-bound coast of Patmos.\n\nAnimated by feelings such as these, the Apostle knew that, whatever\nappearances to the contrary might present themselves, the time now\npassing over his head was the time of the Lord's rule, and not of\nman's. No thought could be more inspiring, and it was the preparation\nin his soul for the scene which followed.\n\n_I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great\nvoice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and\nsend it to the seven churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto\nPergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,\nand unto Laodicea._ The _Lord's day_ here referred to may have been\nthe Sunday, the first day of the Christian week, the day commemorative\nof that morning when He who had been \"crucified through weakness, yet\nlived through the power of God.\"[13] If so, there was a peculiar\nfitness in that vision, now to be granted, of the risen and glorified\nRedeemer. But it seems doubtful if this is the true interpretation.\nProof is wanting that the first day of the week had yet received the\nname of \"The Lord's Day,\" and it is more in accordance with the\nprophetic tone of the book before us, to think that by St. John the\nwhole of that brief season which was to pass before the Church should\nfollow her Lord to glory was regarded as \"The Lord's Day.\" Whichever\ninterpretation we adopt, the fact remains that, meditating in his\nlonely isle upon the glory of his Lord in heaven and the contrasted\nfortunes of His Church on earth, St. John passed into a state of\nspiritual ecstasy. Like St. Paul, he was caught up into the third\nheavens; but, unlike him, he was permitted, and even commanded, to\nrecord what he heard and saw.[14]\n\n_And I heard behind me_, he says, _a great voice as of a trumpet,\nsaying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven\nchurches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto\nThyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea._\nWe need not dwell now upon these churches. We shall meet them again.\nThey are \"the seven churches which are in Asia\" already spoken of in\nver. 4; and they are to be viewed as representative of the whole\nChristian Church in all countries of the world, and throughout all\ntime. In their condition they represented to St. John what that Church\nis, in her Divine origin and human frailty, in her graces and defects,\nin her zeal and lukewarmness, in her joys and sorrows, in the\nguardianship of her Lord, and in her final victory after many\nstruggles. Not to Christians in these cities alone is the Apocalypse\nspoken, but to all Christians in all their circumstances: \"He that\nhath an ear, let him hear.\" The Apostle heard.\n\n_And I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And having turned I\nsaw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one\nlike unto a Son of man._ It was a splendid vision which was thus\npresented to his eyes. The golden candlestick, first of the Tabernacle\nand then of the Temple, was one of the gorgeous articles of furniture in\nGod's holy house. It was wrought, with its seven branches, after the\nfashion of an almond tree, the earliest tree of spring to hasten (whence\nalso it was named) into blossom; and, as we learn from the\nelaborateness and beauty of the workmanship, from the symbolical numbers\nlargely resorted to in its construction, and from the analogy of all the\nfurniture of the Tabernacle, it represented Israel when that people,\nhaving offered themselves at the altar, and having been cleansed in the\nlaver of the court, entered as a nation of priests into the special\ndwelling-place of their heavenly King. Here, therefore, the seven golden\ncandlesticks, or as in ver. 4 the one in seven, represent the Church, as\nshe burns in the secret place of the Most High.\n\nBut we are not invited to dwell upon the Church. Something greater\nattracts the eye,--He who is \"like unto a Son of man.\" The expression\nof the original is remarkable. It occurs only once in any of the other\nbooks of the New Testament, in John v. 27, although there, both in the\nAuthorised and Revised versions, it is unhappily translated \"the Son\nof man.\" It is the humanness of our Lord's Person more than the Person\nHimself, or rather it is the Person in His humanness, to which the\nwords of the original direct us. Amidst all the glory that surrounds\nHim we are to think of Him as man; but what a man!\n\n_Clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts\nwith a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white as white\nwool, white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet\nlike unto burnished brass as if it had been refined in a furnace; and\nHis voice as the voice of many waters. And He had in His right hand\nseven stars; and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and\nHis countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength._ The particulars\nof the description indicate the official position of the Person spoken\nof, and the character in which He appears. (1) He is a priest, clothed\nwith the long white garment reaching to the feet that was a\ndistinguishing part of the priestly dress, but at the same time so\nwearing the girdle at the breasts, not at the waist, as to show that He\nwas a priest engaged in the active service of the sanctuary. (2) He is a\nking, for, with the exception of the last mentioned particular, all the\nother features of the description given of Him point to kingly rather\nthan to priestly power, while the prophetic language of Isaiah, as he\nlooks forward to Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, language which we may well\nsuppose to have been now in the Seer's thoughts, leads to the same\nconclusion: \"And I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with\nthy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand.\"[15] The\n\"Son of man,\" in short, here brought before us in His heavenly glory, is\nboth Priest and King.\n\nNot only so. It is even of peculiar importance to observe that the\nattributes with which the Priest-King is clothed are not so much those\nof tenderness and mercy as those of power and majesty, inspiring the\nbeholder with a sense of awe and with the fear of judgment. Already we\nhave had some traces of this in considering ver. 7: now it comes out in\nall its force. That hair of a glistering whiteness which, like snow on\nwhich the sun is shining, it almost pains the eye to look upon; those\neyes penetrating like a flame of fire into the inmost recesses of the\nheart; those feet which like metal raised to a white heat in a furnace\nconsume in an instant whatever they tread upon in anger; that voice loud\nand continuous, like the sound of the mighty sea as it booms along the\nshore; that sword sharp, two-edged, issuing from the mouth, so that no\none can escape it when it is drawn to slay; and lastly, that countenance\nlike the sun in the height of a tropical sky, when man and beast cower\nfrom the irresistible scorching of his beams,--all are symbolical of\njudgment. Eager to save, the exalted High Priest is yet also mighty to\ndestroy. \"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them\nin pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye Kings; be\ninstructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and\nrejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish\nfrom the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all\nthey that put their trust in Him.\"[16]\n\nThe Apostle felt all this; and, believer as he was in Jesus, convinced\nof his Master's love, and one who returned that love with the warmest\naffections of his heart, he was yet overwhelmed with terror. _And when\nI saw Him_, he tells us, _I fell at His feet as one dead._ In\ncircumstances somewhat similar to the present, a somewhat similar\neffect had been produced upon other saints of God. When Isaiah beheld\nthe glory of the Lord he cried, \"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I\nam a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of\nunclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of\nhosts.\"[17] When Ezekiel beheld a vision of the same kind, he tells us\nthat he \"fell upon his face.\"[18] When the angel Gabriel appeared to\nDaniel in order to explain the vision which had been shown him, the\nprophet says, \"I was afraid, and fell upon my face.\"[19] Here the\neffect was greater than in any of these instances, corresponding to\nthe greater glory shown; and the Apostle fell at the feet of the\nglorified Lord as one \"dead.\" But there is mercy with the Lord that He\nmay be feared; and _He laid His right hand upon me_, adds St. John,\n_saying, Fear not_: and then follows in three parts that full and\ngracious declaration of what He is, in His eternal pre-existence, in\nthat work on behalf of man which embraced not only His being lifted on\nhigh upon the cross, but His Resurrection and Ascension to His\nFather's throne, and in the consummation of His victory over all the\nenemies of our salvation,--1. _I am the First and the Last, and the\nLiving One_; 2. _And I became dead, and behold, I am alive for\nevermore_; 3. _And I have the keys of death and of Hades_.\n\nA few more words are spoken by the glorified Person who thus appeared\nto St. John, but at this point we may pause for a moment, for the\nvision is complete. It is the first vision of the book, and it\ncontains the key-note of the whole. As distinguished from the fourth\nGospel, in which Jesus clothed as He is with His humanity is yet\npre-eminently the Son of God, the Saviour while here retaining His\nDivinity is yet pre-eminently a Son of man. In other words, He is not\nmerely the Only Begotten who was from eternity in the bosom of the\nFather: He is also Head over all things to His Church. And He is this\nas the glorified Redeemer who has finished His work on earth, and now\ncarries it on in heaven. This work too He carries on, not only as a\nHigh Priest \"touched with the feeling of our infirmities,\" but as One\nclothed with judgment. He is a man of war, and to Him the words of the\nPsalmist may be applied:\n\n \"Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O Mighty One,\n Thy glory and Thy majesty.\n And in Thy majesty ride prosperously,\n Because of truth and meekness and righteousness:\n And Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things.\n Thine arrows are sharp;\n The peoples fall under Thee;\n They are in the heart of the King's enemies.\"[20]\n\nYet we cannot separate the body of Christ from the head, who is Son of\nman as well as Son of God. With the Head the members are one, and they\ntoo therefore are here contemplated as engaged in a work of judgment.\nWith their Lord they are opposed by an ungodly world. In it they also\nstruggle, and war, and overcome. The tribulation, and the kingdom and\npatience \"in Jesus,\"[21] are their lot; but living a resurrection life\nand escaped from the power of death and Hades, salvation has been in\nprinciple made theirs, and they have only to wait for the full\nmanifestation of that Lord with whom, when He is manifested, they also\nshall be manifested in glory.[22]\n\nThus we are taught what to expect in the book of Revelation. It will\nrecord the conflict of Christ and His people with the evil that is in\nthe world, and their victory over it. It will tell of struggle with\nsin and Satan, but of sin vanquished and Satan bruised beneath their\nfeet. It will be the story of the Church as she journeys through the\nwilderness to the land of promise, encountering many foes, but more\nthan conqueror through Him that loved her, and often raising to heaven\nher song of praise, \"Sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed\ngloriously, the horse and his rider He hath cast into the sea.\"[23]\n\nNow then we are prepared to listen to the closing words of the\nglorious Person who had revealed Himself to St. John, as He repeats\nHis injunction to him to write, and gives him some explanation of what\nhe had seen: _Write, therefore, the things which thou sawest, and the\nthings which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;\nthe mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest upon My right hand,\nand the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of\nthe seven churches; and the seven candlesticks are seven churches._\nThe golden candlesticks and the stars, the churches and the angels of\nthe churches, will immediately meet us when we proceed to the next two\nchapters of the book. Meanwhile it is enough to know that we are about\nto enter upon the fortunes of that Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in\nthe world which embraces within it the execution of the final purposes\nof the Almighty, and the accomplishment of His plans for the\nperfection and happiness of His whole creation.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] John v. 19; Heb. xiii. 8.\n\n[2] Eph. i. 22.\n\n[3] Chap. iii. 14.\n\n[4] John xiv. 27.\n\n[5] Psalm cxxiv. 7.\n\n[6] Psalm lxxii. 1, 2; lviii. 11.\n\n[7] Compare the Greek text of Westcott and Hort.\n\n[8] John v. 19.\n\n[9] John xv. 20; xvi. 2.\n\n[10] John i. 7.\n\n[11] John i. 9.\n\n[12] John xvii. 11.\n\n[13] 2 Cor. xiii. 4.\n\n[14] Compare 2 Cor. xii. 4.\n\n[15] Isa. xxii. 21; comp. also ver. 22 with Rev. iii. 7.\n\n[16] Psalm ii. 9-12.\n\n[17] Isa. vi. 5.\n\n[18] Ezek. i. 28.\n\n[19] Dan. viii. 17.\n\n[20] Psalm xlv. 3-5.\n\n[21] Ver. 9.\n\n[22] Col. iii. 4.\n\n[23] Exod. xv. 1.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n _THE CHURCH ON THE FIELD OF HISTORY._\n\n REV. ii., iii.\n\n To the angel of the church in Ephesus write; These things saith He\n that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in\n the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and\n thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and\n didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they are not, and\n didst find them false; and thou hast patience and didst bear for My\n name's sake, and hast not grown weary. But I have this against thee,\n that thou didst leave thy first love. Remember therefore from whence\n thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I come\n to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou\n repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the\n Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear\n what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to\n him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise\n of God. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things\n saith the first and the last, which became dead, and lived again: I\n know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the\n blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but are\n a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the things which thou art about to\n suffer: behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison,\n that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be\n thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. He\n that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the\n churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.\n And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write; These things saith\n He that hath the sharp two-edged sword: I know where thou dwellest,\n even where Satan's throne is: and thou holdest fast My name, and\n didst not deny My faith, even in the days of Antipas My witness, My\n faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I\n have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that\n hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a\n stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things\n sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication. So hast thou also\n some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner.\n Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make\n war against them with the sword of My mouth. He that hath an ear,\n let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that\n overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give\n him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no\n one knoweth but he that receiveth it. And to the angel of the church\n in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath His\n eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like unto burnished\n brass: I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and\n patience, and that thy last works are more than the first. But I\n have this against thee, that thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel, which\n calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth My\n servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to\n idols. And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth\n not to repent of her fornication. Behold, I do cast her into a bed,\n and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,\n except they repent of her works. And I will kill her children with\n death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth\n the reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of you according\n to your works. But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira,\n as many as have not this teaching, which know not the deep things of\n Satan, as they say; I cast upon you none other burden. Howbeit that\n which ye have, hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and he\n that keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give authority\n over the nations: and as a shepherd he shall tend them with a\n sceptre of iron, as the vessels of the potter are they broken to\n shivers; as I also have received of My Father: and I will give him\n the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit\n saith to the churches. And to the angel of the church in Sardis\n write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and\n the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou\n livest, and thou art dead. Be thou watchful, and stablish the things\n that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of\n thine fulfilled before My God. Remember therefore how thou hast\n received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou\n shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know\n what hour I will come upon thee. But thou hast a few names in Sardis\n which did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with Me in\n white; for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed\n in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the\n book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and\n before His angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the\n Spirit saith to the churches. And to the angel of the church in\n Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy, He that is\n true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall\n shut, and that shutteth, and none openeth: I know thy works (behold,\n I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that\n thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and didst not deny\n My name. Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them which say\n they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make\n them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have\n loved thee. Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also\n will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come\n upon the whole inhabited earth, to try them that dwell upon the\n earth. I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one\n take thy crown. He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the\n temple of My God, and he shall come no more forth: and I will write\n upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the\n new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine\n own new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit\n saith to the churches. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea\n write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness,\n the Beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou\n art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So because\n thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of\n My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches,\n and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched\n one, and miserable and poor and blind and naked: I counsel thee to\n buy of Me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and\n white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame\n of thy nakedness be not made manifest, and eyesalve to anoint thine\n eyes, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I reprove and\n chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the\n door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will\n come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. He that\n overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as\n I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne. He that\n hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches\n (ii., iii.).\n\n\nThe fortunes of the Church are to be traced in the Revelation of St.\nJohn; and the first thing necessary therefore is that we shall learn\nwhat the Church is. To accomplish this is the leading aim of the second\nand third chapters of the book. An object precisely similar appears to\ndetermine the arrangement of the fourth Gospel. The Introduction or\nPrologue of that Gospel is found in chap. i. 1-18; and there can be no\ndoubt that we meet there, in brief and compendious form, the ideas\nafterwards illustrated and enforced by its selection of incidents from\nthe life of Jesus. After the Prologue follows a section, extending from\nchap. i. 19 to chap. ii. 11, in which it is obvious that that struggle\nof Jesus with the world, together with His victory over it, which it is\nthe chief purpose of the Evangelist to relate, has not yet begun. The\nquestion thus arises, What is the aim of that section? and the answer\nis, that it is to set forth the Redeemer with whom the Gospel is to be\noccupied as He enters upon the field of history. Thus also here. The\nfirst chapter of Revelation is the Introduction or Prologue of the book,\ncontaining the ideas to be afterwards illustrated in the history of the\nChurch. The struggle of the Church with the world does not yet begin,\nnor will it begin until we come to chap. vi. In the meantime we are to\nsee in chaps. ii. and iii. that Body of Christ the struggle and victory\nof which are to engage our thoughts.\n\nThese chapters consist of seven epistles addressed to the churches of\nthe seven cities of Asia named in chap. i. 11, and now written to in\nthe same order, beginning with Ephesus and ending with Laodicea. Each\nepistle contains much that is peculiar to it, but we shall fail to\nunderstand the picture presented by the two chapters as a whole if we\nlook only at the individual parts. General considerations, therefore,\nregarding the seven epistles first demand our notice.\n\nEach epistle, it will be observed, is addressed to the \"angel\" of the\nchurch named. The object of this commentary, as explained in the\nprefatory note, renders an examination of the meaning of the word\n\"angel\" here used a point of subordinate importance. A few remarks,\nhowever, can hardly be avoided. The favourite interpretations of the\nterm are two: that the \"angels of the churches\" are either the guardian\nangels to whom they were severally committed, or their bishops or chief\npastors. Both interpretations may be unhesitatingly rejected. For as to\nthe first, there is a total absence of proof that it was either a Jewish\nor an early Christian idea that each Christian community had its\nguardian angel; and as to the second, if there was, as there seems to\nhave been, in the synagogues of the Jews, an official known as the\n\"angel\" or \"messenger,\" he occupied an altogether inferior position, and\npossessed none of the authoritative control here ascribed to the several\n\"angels\" mentioned. Besides this, both interpretations are set aside by\nthe single consideration that, keeping in view what has been said of the\nnumber seven in its relation to the number one, the seven angels, like\nthe seven churches, must be capable of being regarded as a unity. But\nthis cannot be the case with seven guardian angels, for such a universal\nguardianship can be predicated of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Head\nof the Church, alone. Nor can seven bishops or chief pastors be\nreasonably resolved into one universal bishop or the moderator of one\nuniversal presbytery. The true idea seems to be that the \"angels\" of the\nchurches are a symbolical representation in which the _active_, as\ndistinguished from the passive, life of the Church finds expression. To\nSt. John every person, every thing, has its angel. God proclaims and\nexecutes His will by angels.[24] He addresses even the Son by an\nangel.[25] The Son acts and reveals His truth by an angel.[26] The\nwaters have an angel.[27] Fire has an angel.[28] The winds have an\nangel.[29] The abyss has an angel.[30] On all these occasions the\n\"angel\" is interposed when the persons or things spoken of are\nrepresented as coming out of themselves and as taking their part in\nintercourse or in action. In like manner the \"angels of the churches\"\nare the churches themselves, with this mark of distinction only,--that,\nwhen they are thus spoken of, they are viewed not merely as in\npossession of inward vigour, but as exercising it towards things\nwithout.\n\nThe interpretation now given is confirmed by the fact that the\n\"angels,\" as appears from the words of chap. i. 20, \"The seven stars\nare the angels of the seven churches,\" are not different from the\n\"stars,\" for it is the province of the star, instead of hiding itself\nin some secret chamber, to shine, and from its place in the firmament\nto shed light upon the earth. The uniformity of treatment, too, which\nmust be claimed for the number seven when used both with the churches\nand the stars, is thus rendered possible; for if the former may\nrepresent the universal Church in what she _is_, the latter will\nrepresent the same Church in what she _does_. Thus, then, in the seven\n\"golden candlesticks\" and in the seven \"stars\" or \"angels\" we have a\ndouble picture of the Church; and each of the two figures employed\npoints to a different aspect of her being. It is possible also that\nthe double designation may have been chosen in conformity with a rule,\noften observed in the Apocalypse, which leads the writer to speak of\nthe same thing, first under an emblem taken from Judaism, and then\nunder one from the wider sphere of the great Gentile Church. The\n\"golden candlestick\" burning in the secret of God's Tabernacle gives\nthe former, the \"star\" shining in the firmament the latter.\n\nSuch then being the case, the seven epistles being addressed to the\nseven churches, and not to any individual in each, the following\nparticulars with regard to them ought to be kept in view:--\n\n1. They are intended to set before us a picture of the universal\nChurch. At first sight indeed it may seem as if they were only to be\nlooked at individually and separately. The different churches are\naddressed by name. In what is said of each there is nothing out of\nkeeping with what we may easily suppose to have been its condition at\nthe time. There is as much reason to believe that each epistle\ncontains an actual historical picture as there is to believe this in\nthe case of the epistles of St. Paul to Rome, or Corinth, or Ephesus,\nor Philippi. Any other supposition would convey a false idea of the\nprinciples upon which the Apocalypse is framed, would destroy the\nreality of the Apostle's writing, and would compel us to think that\nhis words must have been unintelligible to those for whom, whatever\ntheir further application, they were primarily designed. The question,\nhowever, is not thus exhausted; for it is perfectly possible that both\ncertain churches and certain particulars in their state may have been\nselected rather than others, because they afforded the best typical\nrepresentation of the universal Church. Several reasons may satisfy\nus that this was actually done.\n\n(1) We have good ground for believing that, besides these seven\nchurches of Asia, there were other churches in existence in the same\ndistrict at the time when the Apostle wrote. One of the early fathers\nspeaks of churches at Magnesia and Tralles. It is also possible that\nthere were churches at Coloss?and Hierapolis, although these cities\nhad suffered from an earthquake shortly after the days of St. Paul.\nYet St. John addressed himself not to seven, but to \"the seven\nchurches which are in Asia,\" as if there were no more churches in the\nprovince.[31] More, however, there certainly were; and he cannot\ntherefore have intended to address them all. He makes a selection,\nwithout saying that he does so; and it is a natural supposition that\nhis selection is designed to represent the universal Church.\n\n(2) Importance must be attached to the number seven. Every reader of\nthe book of Revelation is familiar with the singular part played by\nthat number in its structure, and with the fact that (unless chap.\nxvii. 9 be an exception) it never means that numeral alone. It is the\nnumber of unity in diversity, of unity in that manifoldness of\noperation which alone entitles it to the name of unity. Such\nexpressions, therefore, as the \"seven Spirits of God\" or the \"seven\neyes of the Lamb,\" are evidently symbolical. The same idea must be\ncarried through all the notices of the number, unless there be\nsomething in the context clearly leading to a different conclusion.\nNothing of that kind exists here. Were these two chapters indeed out\nof harmony with the rest of the book, or had they little or no\nrelation to it, it might be urged that they were simply historical,\nand that no deeper meaning was to be sought in them than that lying on\nthe surface. We have already seen, however, that their connexion with\nthe other chapters is of the closest kind; and we cannot therefore\navoid bringing them under the scope of the same principles of\ninterpretation as are elsewhere applicable. Their number--seven--must\nthus be regarded as typical of unity, and the seven churches as\nrepresentative of the one universal Church.\n\n(3) The nature of the call to the hearers of each epistle to give heed\nto the words addressed to them leads to the same conclusion. Had each\nepistle been designed only for those to whom it was immediately sent,\nthat call would probably have been addressed to them alone. Instead of\nthis it is couched in the most general form: _He that hath an ear, let\nhim hear what the Spirit saith to the churches._\n\n(4) The character in which the Saviour speaks to each of the seven\nchurches is always taken from the vision of the Son of man beheld by St.\nJohn in the first chapter of his book. It is true that in the case of\none or two of the particulars mentioned this is not at once apparent;\nbut in that of by far the larger number it is so clear that we are\nentitled to infer the existence of some secret link of connexion in the\nmind of the sacred writer even when it may not be distinctly perceptible\nto us. The descriptions, too, of the epistles are no doubt fuller and\nmore elaborate than those of the vision; but this circumstance is easily\naccounted for when we remember that the seven different delineations of\nour Lord contained in the second and third chapters are in the first\nchapter combined in one. Keeping these considerations in view, the main\npoint is incontestable that the germ of the epistolary description is\nto be found in every case in the preliminary vision.\n\nThus to the first church--that of Ephesus--Jesus introduces Himself as\n_He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in\nthe midst of the seven golden candlesticks_[32]; and the description\nis evidently that of chap. i. 12, 13, 16, where the Seer beheld \"seven\ngolden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like\nunto a Son of man; and He had in His right hand seven stars.\" To the\nsecond--the church of Smyrna--Jesus introduces Himself with the words,\n_These things saith the first and the last, which became dead, and\nlived again_[33]; and the description is taken from chap. i. 17, 18:\n\"I am the first and the last, and the Living One; and I became dead,\nand behold, I am alive for evermore.\" To the third--the church of\nPergamum--the introduction is, _These things saith He that hath a\nsharp two-edged sword_[34]; and the original of the description is\nfound in chap. i. 16: _and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp\ntwo-edged sword_. To the fourth--the church of Thyatira--the Saviour\nbegins, _These things saith the Son of God, who hath His eyes like a\nflame of fire, and His feet are like unto burnished brass_[35]; and we\nsee the source whence the words are drawn when we read in chap. i. 14,\n15, \"And His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto\nburnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace.\" Of the\nlatter part of the salutation to the fifth church--that of\nSardis--which runs, _These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits\nof God, and the seven stars_,[36] it is unnecessary to speak; but the\nfirst part is more difficult to trace. Comparing chap. v. 6 and chap.\niv. 5, we learn that the seven Spirits of God are the possession of\nthe Redeemer, and that they are symbolized by seven lamps burning\nbefore the throne of God. Turning now to chap. i., we find the Seer\nspeaking in ver. 4 of \"the seven Spirits which are before the throne,\"\nthose very spirits which in chap. v. 6 he tells us that the Redeemer\n\"hath.\" This latter thought therefore he is accustomed to associate\nwith them; and though in chap. i. 4 he does not expressly say that the\nseven Spirits there referred to are the possession of Jesus, this view\nof them is obviously a part of his general conception of the matter.\nIn chap. i. 4, therefore, the source of the words addressed to Sardis\nis to be found. To the sixth church--that of Philadelphia--it is said,\n_These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the\nkey of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth,\nand none openeth_[37]; and we can have no difficulty in recognising\nthe germ of the extended description in chap. i. 14, 18, where we are\ntold that Jesus Christ, in token of His holiness, hath \"His head and\nHis hair white as white wool, white as snow,\" and that He hath \"the\nkeys of death and of Hades.\" Lastly, we have the introductory address\nto the seventh church--that of Laodicea--_These things saith the Amen,\nthe faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of\nGod_[38]; and the origin of it is to be seen in chap. i. 5, where we\nare told of \"Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the\nfirst-born of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.\" Each\nsalutation of the seven epistles is thus part of the description of\nthe Son of man in the first chapter of the book; and it is a\nlegitimate inference that the contents of the epistles are, like the\nsalutations, only portions of one whole.\n\n(5) Many expressions are to be met with in the seven epistles which\nfind their explanation only in those later chapters of the book where\na reference to the Church universal cannot be denied. The _tree of\nlife_ of the first epistle meets us again, more fully spoken of, in\nthe description of the new Jerusalem.[39] The _second death_ mentioned\nin the second epistle is not explained till judgment upon the Church's\nenemies is complete.[40] The writing upon believers of the _new name_,\npromised in the third epistle, is almost unintelligible until we\nbehold the hundred and forty-four thousand upon Mount Zion.[41] The\n_authority over the nations_, and more especially the gift of _the\nmorning star_, referred to in the fourth epistle, cannot be\ncomprehended until we are introduced to the vision of the thousand\nyears and the last utterances of the glorified Redeemer.[42] The\n_white garments_ of the fifth epistle can hardly be rightly understood\nuntil we see the white-robed company standing before the throne and\nbefore the Lamb.[43] The mention in the sixth epistle of _the city of\nMy God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My\nGod_, remains a mystery until we actually witness her descent.[44]\nAnd, finally, the _sitting in Christ's throne_ of the seventh epistle\nis only elucidated by the reign of the thousand years with Him.[45]\n\n(6) It is worthy of notice that the descriptions of our Lord given in\nthe first and last epistles have a wider application than to the\nchurches of Ephesus and Laodicea, to which they are immediately\naddressed, thus making it evident that, while each of these epistles\nhas its own place in the series, it is at the same time treated as the\nfirst or last member of a group which is to be regarded as a whole.\n\nTo the church of Ephesus the Saviour describes Himself as _He that\nholdeth the seven stars in His right hand, He that walketh in the\nmidst of the seven golden candlesticks_[46]; and the description has\nno more reference to Ephesus than to any other of the churches named.\nIn like manner to the church of Laodicea He describes Himself as _the\nAmen, the Witness faithful and true, the Beginning of the creation of\nGod_.[47] The first of these appellations is no doubt derived from\nIsa. lxv. 16, where we have twice repeated in the same verse the\nformula \"God Amen;\" and the meaning of the name as applied to Jesus\nis, not that all the Divine promises shall be accomplished by Him, but\nthat He is Himself the fulfilment of every promise made by the\nAlmighty to His people. The second appellation reminds us of John\nxviii. 37, where Jesus replies to Pilate's question in the words, \"To\nthis end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world,\nthat I should bear witness unto the truth.\" His whole mission is\nsummed up by Him in the idea of \"witnessing.\" He is the perfect, the\ntrue, the real Witness to eternal truth in its deepest sense, in its\nwidest and most comprehensive range. The third appellation, again,\ncannot be limited to the thought of the mere material creation, as if\nequivalent to the statement that by the Word were all things made. It\nwould thus fail to correspond with the two appellations preceding it,\nwhich undoubtedly apply to the work of redemption, while at the same\ntime the addition of the words \"of God\" would be meaningless or\nperplexing. Let us add to this that in chap. i. 5, immediately after\nJesus has been called the \"faithful Witness,\" He is described as the\n\"first-begotten of the dead,\" and we shall not be able to resist the\nconviction that the words before us refer primarily to the new\ncreation, the Christian Church, that redeemed humanity which has its\ntrue life in Christ. It may not indeed be necessary to exclude the\nthought of the material universe; but, in so far as it is alluded to,\nit is only as redeemed, in its ideal condition of rest and glory, when\nthe new Jerusalem has come down out of heaven, and when the Church's\nenemies have been cast into the lake of fire.[48] The three\nappellations, it will be observed, have thus a general rather than a\nspecial aspect; and the salutation containing them is to be\ndistinguished from the salutations of the other epistles, all of\nwhich, with the exception of the last, exhibit the closest possible\nconnexion with the contents of the epistles to which they respectively\nbelong. It is no mere fancy, therefore, when we say that we have in\nthis a proof that the first and last epistles are not simply members\nof a continuous series, the last of which may leave the first far\nbehind, but that they are binding terms which gather up all the\nmembers of the series and group them into one.\n\n(7) It ought to be noticed that all the cities to which the seven\nepistles are addressed were situated beyond the boundaries of the Holy\nLand, and that the Christian Church in each was certainly composed, at\nleast in large measure, of Gentile converts. These churches cannot\ntherefore represent the Jewish Church alone, but must embody that wider\nidea of the Christian Church which was brought in when the middle wall\nof partition between Jews and Gentiles was broken down, and when both\nwere reconciled in one body by the Cross, becoming one Church in the Son\nand in the Father. Were we dealing with the Jewish-Christian Church, we\nshould unquestionably find it located in Jerusalem or in some of the\ncities of Palestine. When we are taken to heathen soil, and to churches\nknown to have been at least for the most part Gentile, it is a proof\nthat we have before us that great Gentile Church in the very conception\nof which lies the thought of universality.\n\n(8) The view now taken is confirmed by the general nature of the\nApocalypse. That book is symbolical. It begins with a symbolical\nrepresentation in the first chapter. Symbolism, by the admission of\nall, is resumed in the fourth chapter, and is continued from that\npoint to the end. Now it is certainly possible that between these two\ngroups of symbols a passage only strictly historical might be\nintroduced. But if there be reason on independent grounds to think\nthat here also we have facts used at least to a certain extent to\nserve a higher than a simply historic thought, it cannot fail to be\nallowed that the general unity of the book is thus preserved, and that\na completeness is lent to it which we are entitled to expect, but\nwhich would be otherwise wanting.\n\nThe seven churches then of chaps. ii. and iii. are thus intended to\nrepresent the one universal Church. The Seer selects such particular\nchurches of Asia and such special features of their condition as\nafford the best illustration of that state of God's kingdom in the\nworld which is to be the great subject of his prophetic words. He is\nto keep in view throughout all his revelation certain aspects of the\nChurch in herself and in her relation to the world. But these aspects\nwere not merely in the bosom of the future. Still less are they an\nideal picture drawn from the resources of the writer's own\nimagination. To his enlightened eye, looking abroad over that part of\nthe world in which his lot was cast, they were also present, one in\none church, another in another. St. John therefore groups them\ntogether. They are \"the things which are,\" and they are types of \"the\nthings which shall come to pass hereafter.\"[49]\n\nThe universalism of the Apocalypse is from the first apparent.\n\n2. A second characteristic of the epistles addressed to the seven\nchurches demands our notice, for these epistles are clearly divisible\ninto two portions, the first consisting of the first three, the second\nof the other four. Every inquirer admits the fact, the proof resting\nupon the difference of place assigned in the two portions to the call,\n_He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the\nchurches_. In the first three this call comes in as a central part of\nthe epistle, immediately before the promise to _him that\novercometh_[50]; in the last four it closes the epistle.[51] There is\na still more interesting difference, though the Authorised English\nVersion conceals it from view. According to the best attested\nreadings of the original, the second and third epistles--those to\nSmyrna and Pergamum--omit the words, found in all the others, _I know\nthy works_. The circumstance is at least remarkable, and it seems to\nadmit of only one explanation. In the mind of the writer the first\nthree epistles were so closely associated together--more closely\nperhaps than even the seven or the last four--that these words\noccurring in the first epistle were thought by him to extend their\ninfluence over the second and third, much in the same way as the\ndescription of the exalted Lord in the same epistle sent its voice\nforward, and that in the last epistle its voice backward, through the\nrest. At all events, it is impossible not to see that the first three\nepistles and likewise the last four, to whatever extent they form\nparts of one whole, constitute in each case a special unity. What, we\nhave now to ask, is the ground of the distinction? In what light is\nthe Church viewed in each of the two portions spoken of?\n\nThere are two aspects of the Church which may be said to pervade the\nwhole Apocalypse: first, as she is in herself, in her own true nature;\nand secondly, as she is engaged in, and affected by, a struggle with\nthe world. The distinction between the two may be traced in the\ngrouping of which we speak. The first three epistles lead us to the\nthought of the Church in the former, the remaining four to the thought\nof her in the latter, aspect. In the first three she is the pure bride\nof Christ; in the last four she has yielded to the influences of the\nworld, and the faithful remnant within her is separated from her\nprofessing but unfaithful members.\n\nThe numbers into which the two portions of the seven epistles are\ndistributed illustrate this. Three is the number of the Divine; four,\nas appears from many passages of this book, is the number of the world.\nThe simple fact that we have a group of three as distinguished from one\nof four epistles is sufficient to lead to the impression that, in one\nway or another the thought of the Divine is more closely associated with\nthe former, and the thought of the world with the latter.\n\nThis impression is confirmed when we look at the contents of the\nepistles. Let us take the first three, and we shall find that in not\none of them is a contrast drawn between the whole Church and any\nfaithful remnant within her borders, that in not one of them is the\nChurch represented as yielding to the influences of the world. No\ndoubt she has evil in her midst; and evil always springs from the\nworld, not from God. But she is not yet conscious of the sin by which\nshe is surrounded. She has not yet begun to traffic with the world, to\naccommodate herself to it, or to lust after what it bestows. The great\ncharge against the church in Ephesus is that she has left her first\nlove.[52] She has passed out of the bright and joyous feelings which\nmarked the time of her espousals to the heavenly Bridegroom. But from\nsin the Church as she actually exists in the world can never be wholly\nfree; and, so far in particular as the Nicolaitans are concerned, she\nshares in Ephesus the feelings of her Lord, and views them with the\nhatred which they deserve. No reproach is directed against the church\nin Smyrna. She is rather the object of her Lord's perfect confidence;\nand He is only preparing trial for her in correspondence with the law\nby which He trains His people: \"Every branch that beareth fruit, He\ncleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.\"[53] Remarks of a similar\nkind apply to the church in Pergamum. There is no charge against the\nchurch there that she is allowing the world to gain dominion over her.\nShe has certainly persons in her midst who hold the teaching of the\nNicolaitans, but they are few in number; they are no more than\n\"some,\"[54] and she lends them no countenance. On the contrary, though\ndwelling in the place where Satan has his throne, she has remained\ntrue to her Lord, and has been purified in the fires of persecution\nthen raging even unto death. In none of the three cases is the church\nperfect, but in none is she really faithless to her trust. She is in\ndanger; she needs to be perfected by suffering[55]; by suffering she\nis perfected: but she knows that he who will be the friend of the\nworld is the enemy of God, and the enemies of God are her enemies.\n\nWhen we turn to the second group of the seven epistles, we at once\nbreathe a different atmosphere; and the contrast is rendered more\nstriking by the fact that in the first of the four we have the very\nsins spoken of which have already twice crossed our path in the\nepistles to Ephesus and to Pergamum. According to the best critical\nreading of chap. ii. 20, the charge against Thyatira is, \"_Thou\nsufferest_\" (Thou lettest alone; thou toleratest) \"_thy wife\nJezebel_.\" Jezebel was a heathen princess, the first heathen queen who\nhad been married by a king of the northern kingdom of Israel. She was\ntherefore peculiarly fitted to represent the influences of the world;\nand the charge against Thyatira is thus that, in the persons not of a\nfew only, but of her united membership, she tolerated the world, with\nits heathen thoughts and practices. She knew it to be the world that\nit was; but notwithstanding this she was content to be at peace, or\neven to ally herself, with it. The church in Sardis is not less\nblameable. There are a few names in her that have not defiled their\ngarments; but the church _as a whole_ has deeply sinned. She has\nreproduced the Pharisaic type with which the Gospels have made us\nacquainted, substituting the outward for the inward in religion, and\nthen yielding to the sins of the flesh to which she has thus given the\nsupremacy. The church in Philadelphia, like that in Smyrna, is not\nblamed, and it is well that there should be one church even in the\nmidst of the world of which this can be said; yet even Philadelphia\nhas only _a little power_,[56] while the exhortation, _Hold fast that\nwhich thou hast_,[57] appears to indicate that she has been losing\nmuch. Lastly, no one can mistake the willing identification of herself\nwith the world on the part of the church in Laodicea. She says that\nshe is _rich_, that she has _gotten riches_, that she has _need of\nnothing_.[58] Her members are well-to-do and in easy circumstances,\nand they have found so much comfort in their worldly goods that they\nhave become blind to the fact that man needs something better and\nhigher for his portion. In all these four churches, in short, we have\nan entirely different relation between the Church and the world from\nthat set before us in the first three. There is not simply danger of\ndecay within, and the need of trial with the benefit resulting from\nit. There is actual conflict with the world; sometimes, it may be, a\nvictory over it, at other times a yielding to its influences and an\nadoption of its spirit. In the first three churches all, or all with\nfew exceptions, are on the side of Christ; in the last four the\n\"remnant\" alone is true to Him.\n\nAttention to the promises _to him that overcometh_ in the different\nepistles seems to confirm what has been said. There is a marked contrast\nbetween the tone of these promises as they are given in the two groups\nof epistles; and even where a certain amount of similarity exists, the\npromises in the second group will be found to be fuller and richer than\nin the first. At Ephesus, at Smyrna, and at Pergamum \"he that\novercometh\" is rewarded much, as one still in a simple and childlike\nstate would be. The first promise made to him is that he shall _eat of\nthe tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God_[59]; the second, that\nhe shall _not be hurt of the second death_[60]; the third, that he shall\n_eat of the hidden manna_, and be like the high-priest in the innermost\nrecesses of the sanctuary.[61] All is quiet. The appeal of Him who\npromises is to the gentler susceptibilities of the soul. The privileges\nand enjoyments spoken of are adapted to the condition of those who have\nnot yet experienced the struggle of life.\n\nWhen we turn to the second group of epistles there is a different\ntone. We enter upon rewards conceived in bolder and more manly\nfigures. The first promise now is, _He that overcometh, and he that\nkeepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the\nnations: and as a shepherd he shall tend them with a sceptre of iron;\nas the vessels of the potter are they broken to shivers_.[62] This is\nthe reward of victory after well-fought fields. The warrior thus\ncrowned must have braved the strife and won with difficulty. The\nsecond promise is not less marked in its character. _He that\novercometh_ shall not simply, as in the case of Smyrna, receive the\nreward of not being \"hurt of the second death;\" he shall be _arrayed\nin white garments_, and Jesus will _confess his name before His\nFather, and before His angels_.[63] The third promise is at least a\nlarge extension of that given to Pergamum, for of _him that_ now\n_overcometh_ it is said, _I will make him a pillar in the temple of My\nGod, and he shall come no more forth_--that is, shall come no more\nforth to a struggle with the world similar to that in which he has\nbeen engaged--_and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the\nname of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out\nof heaven from My God, and Mine own new name_.[64] Finally, the fourth\npromise is the noblest of all: _He that overcometh, I will give to him\nto sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down\nwith My Father in His throne._[65] All the promises of the second\ngroup of epistles are clearly distinguished in tone and spirit from\nthose of the first group. They presuppose a fiercer struggle, a hotter\nconflict; and they are therefore full of a more glorious reward.\n\nSuch seems to be the relation to one another of the two groups into\nwhich the seven epistles naturally divide themselves. In the first\ngroup the Church has stood firm against the world. She is full of toil\nand endurance; in her poverty she is rich; and the troubles of the\nfuture she does not fear. She holds fast the name of Christ, and\nopenly confesses Him. Seeds of evil are indeed within her, which will\ntoo soon develop themselves; but she has the Divine life within her\nin as much perfection as can be expected amidst the infirmities of our\npresent state. She walks with God and hears His voice in her earthly\nparadise. In the second group the evil seed sown by the enemy has\nsprung up. The Church tolerates the sins that are around her, makes\nher league with the world, and yields to its influence. She rallies\nindeed at times to her new and higher life, but she finally submits to\nthe world and is satisfied with its goods. There are many faithful\nones, it is true, in her midst. As in the Jewish Church there was a\n\"remnant according to the election of grace,\" so in her there are\nthose who listen to the Saviour's voice and follow Him. Yet they are\nthe smaller portion of her members, and they shall eventually come\nforth out of her. It is the same sad story which has marked all the\nprevious dispensations of the Almighty with His people, and which will\ncontinue to be repeated until the Second Coming of the Lord. That\nstory culminates in this book of the Revelation of St. John, when the\nbride, allying herself with the world, becomes a harlot, and when the\nSeer hears \"another voice out of heaven, saying, Come forth, My\npeople, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that\nye receive not of her plagues.\"[66]\n\nWe have considered the epistles contained in these chapters as a unity\nrepresentative of the universal Church in the two main aspects of her\ncondition in the world; but before leaving them it will be well to\nlook at them individually, and to mark the peculiar condition of each\nChurch addressed.\n\n1. The first epistle is that to Ephesus, the central or metropolitan\ncity of the district to which all the seven churches belonged, and with\nwhich the almost unanimous voice of antiquity associates the later years\nof the pastorate of St. John himself. Hence, in part at least, as we\nhave already seen, the general nature of the salutation with which the\nglorified Lord presents Himself to that church. He does not merely hold\nits star in His right hand, nor does He merely walk in the midst of it\nalone. _He holdeth the seven stars in His right hand. He walketh in the\nmidst of the seven golden candlesticks._ He is present in every part of\nHis Church on earth. To every part of it He says, \"Lo, I am with you\nalway, even unto the consummation of the age.\"[67]\n\nThe church at Ephesus is faithful as a whole. _I know_, is the language\nof her Lord to her, _thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou\ncanst not bear evil men, and didst try them which call themselves\napostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; and thou hast\npatience and didst bear for My name's sake, and hast not grown weary_.\nThe tribute is a noble one. The church is not only working, but toiling,\nin her Master's service; she is firm amidst trial, whether from within\nor from without; she views with abhorrence all workers of iniquity; she\ntries, only in order to reject, those pretended messengers of Christ who\nwould have preached another gospel than that the power of which she\nknew. Amidst all the speciousness of their claims, she had \"found\" them\nfalse. Then she turned again to her steadfast endurance until it became\na settled principle in her life, and it could be said to her, with the\nstrong force of the word in the writings of St. John, that she \"had\" it.\nThe spirit of all this, too, had been found in the \"name\" of Jesus, the\nrevelation of the love and grace of God given her in Him. Finally, she\nhad not grown weary. Seven marks of faithfulness appear to be mentioned;\nand, if so, the fourth--her judgment of false teachers--occupies the\ncentral position. Nor does it seem fanciful to say this when we notice\nthat of all the seven points the fourth is the only one returned to, and\nthat in a more specific form, at a later point in the epistle: _But this\nthou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also\nhate._ In other words, doctrinal faithfulness was the peculiar\ndistinction of the Ephesian church. She knew that the revelation of God\nin Christ must be kept pure, or toil would lose its spring, patience its\nencouragement, shrinking from evil men its intensity, and perseverance\nits support. Therefore she valued the doctrinal truth which had been\ncommitted to her, and held fast the \"form of sound words\" which she had\nreceived, for the sake of the life to which it led.\n\nAmidst all this the church at Ephesus was not wholly what she _ought_\nto have been. _I have this against thee_, had to be said to her, _that\nthou didst leave thy first love_; and she needed words of exhortation\nand warning: _Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and\nrepent, and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move\nthy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent._ The church had\ndeclined from the bright and joyous feelings of her first condition.\nMight her very zeal for the purity of Christian doctrine have had\nanything to do with this? It is not impossible. Eager defence of truth\nagainst error, notwithstanding its importance, is apt to shift the\ncentre of the soul's inner life. The strifes of theologians and the\ncry \"First purity, then peace,\" translated into \"Purity without\npeace,\" have been in every age the scandal and the weakness of the\nChurch. Well might even David speak of it as one of the most signal\ninstances of God's goodness to them that fear Him, \"Thou shalt keep\nthem secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues;\"[68] and\nnever, alas! have tongues been sharper or more contentious than in the\nmaintenance of the faith. There is something without which even zeal\nfor truth may be but a scorching and devouring flame; and that is the\n\"first love,\" the love ever fresh and tender for Him who first loved\nus, the love which teaches us to win and not to alienate, to raise and\nnot to crush, those who may only be mistaken in their views, and are\nnot determined enemies of God.\n\nPossessed of this spirit, we shall _overcome_; and the first love will\nmeet its first reward. _To him that overcometh_, says the Lord,\nrecalling the blessedness of Eden, _will I give to eat of the tree of\nlife, which is in the Paradise of God_.\n\n2. The second epistle is that to Smyrna, a rich, prosperous, and\ndissolute city, and largely inhabited by Jews bitterly opposed to\nChrist and Christianity. Here therefore persecution of those leading\nthe pure and holy life of the Gospel might be peculiarly expected, as\nindeed it also peculiarly appeared. The church at Smyrna thus becomes\nthe type of a suffering church, the representative of that condition\nof things foretold in the words of Christ, and constantly fulfilled in\nthe history of His people, \"A servant is not greater than his lord. If\nthey have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.\"[69]\n\nIt will be observed that at Smyrna the church is still faithful, and\nthat against her no word of reproach is uttered. Hence the aspect under\nwhich the Redeemer presents Himself to that church is purely animating\nand consolatory, the same as that which, in the introductory vision in\nchap. i., followed the action of the Lord when He laid His right hand\nupon the Apostle, who had fallen to the ground as dead, and when He said\nto him, \"Fear not.\"[70] So now: _These things saith the first and the\nlast, which became dead, and lived again._ Death and resurrection are\nthe two great divisions of the work of Christ on our behalf, and the\nGospel is summed up in them. Just as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians\nwhen he would remind them of the substance of his preaching in their\nmidst, \"For I declared unto you first of all that which also I received,\nhow that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that\nHe was buried, and that He hath been raised on the third day according\nto the Scriptures,\"[71] in like manner here the same two facts include\nall the truth which Smyrna held fast, and with which come the life that\nconquers sin and the joy that triumphs over sorrow.\n\nThe state of the church is then described: _I know thy tribulation,\nand thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them which\nsay they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan._\nTribulation, persecution, the blasphemy of men calling themselves the\nonly people of God and denying to Christians any portion in His\ncovenant, are alone alluded to, though the church is at the same time\ncheered with the remark that if she had no share in worldly wealth\nand splendour, she was _rich_. \"God had chosen them that were poor as\nto the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He\npromised to them that love Him.\"[72]\n\nThe church then was in the midst of suffering. Was not that enough; and\nshall she not be told that her sufferings were drawing to an end, that\nthe night of weeping was gone by, and that the morning of joy was about\nto dawn? So we might think; but God's thoughts are not as our thoughts,\nnor His ways as our ways, and we are like children bathing on the shore,\n\n Buried a wave beneath;\n The second wave succeeds before\n We have had time to breathe.\n\nHow often does it happen in the Christian's experience that one burden\nis laid upon another, and that one wave succeeds another, till he\nseems left desolate and alone upon the earth. Yet even then he has no\nassurance that his sufferings are at a close. The consolation afforded\nto him is, not that there shall be a short campaign, but only that,\nwhether long or short, he shall be more than conqueror through Him\nthat loved him. Thus our Lord does not now say to His church at\nSmyrna, Fear none of those things that thou art suffering, but _Fear\nnot the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is\nabout to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye\nshall have tribulation ten days_. It is hardly necessary to say to any\nintelligent reader of the Apocalypse that the \"ten days\" here spoken\nof are neither ten literal days, nor ten years, nor ten successive\npersecutions of indefinite length. In conformity with the symbolical\nuse of numbers in this book, \"ten days\" expresses no more than a time\nwhich, though troubled, shall be definite and short, a time which may\nbe otherwise denoted by the language of St. Peter when he says of\nbelievers that \"now for _a little while_ they have been put to grief\nin manifold temptations.\"[73] Encompassed by affliction, therefore,\nthose who are thus tried have only to be _faithful unto death_, or to\nthe last extremity of martyrdom. He who died and lived again will\nbestow upon them _the crown of life_, the crown of the kingdom,\nincorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. _He that overcometh shall not\nbe hurt of the second death._\n\n3. The third epistle is that to Pergamum, a city at the time devoted\nto the worship of ?culapius, the god of medicine, and in particular\nlargely engaged with those parts of medical science which are occupied\nwith inquiries into the springs of life. That the wickedness of the\ncity was both greater and more widespread than was common even in the\ndark days of heathenism is borne witness to by the fact that the first\nwords addressed to it by Him _that hath the sharp two-edged sword_\nwere these: _I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan's throne\nis._ The word \"throne\" (not, as in the Authorised Version, \"seat\") is\nintentionally selected by the Seer; and its use affords an\nillustration of one of his principles of style, the remembrance of\nwhich is not unfrequently of value in interpreting his book.\nEverywhere it is his wont to see over against the good its mocking\ncounterpart of evil, over against the light a corresponding darkness.\nThus because God occupies a throne Satan does the same; and inasmuch\nas in Pergamum sin was marked by a refinement of greater than ordinary\ndepth, Satan might be said to have his \"throne\" there. This\ncircumstance, combined with the promise to the Church contained in the\nseventeenth verse, _To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the\nhidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a\nnew name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it_, may\nhelp us to understand the main thought of this epistle as\ndistinguished from the others. We have seen reason to believe that\nthere was some secret mystery of evil in the city; and, contrasted\nwith this, we have now the promise of a secret mystery of life to the\nfaithful church. The Church then in the secret of her Divine\npreservation is here before us. She lives a life the springs of which\nno one sees, a life that is hid with Christ in God.\n\nIt will be observed, accordingly, that, whatever may be said against the\ncondition of the city, nothing is said against the church within it.\nThere is no hint that she has yielded to the influences of the world.\nShe has certainly evil-doers in her midst; but these, though in her, are\nnot of her: and the Christianity of the great majority of her members\nremains sound and sweet. Let us listen to the words of commendation:\n_And thou holdest fast My name, and didst not deny My faith, even in the\ndays of Antipas My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you,\nwhere Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou\nhast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to\ncast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things\nsacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also some\nthat hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner. Repent\ntherefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make war against\nthem with the sword of My mouth._ Those who are described in these words\nas \"holding the teaching of Balaam\" and those who are here called \"the\nNicolaitans\" are the same, denoted in the first instance by a\ndescription taken from the history of Balaam in the Old Testament, and\nin the second by a word formed in Greek after the fashion of Balaam's\nname in Hebrew. That the church in her corporate capacity had not\nyielded to the sinfulness referred to is manifest from this, that they\nwho had done so are described as \"some,\" and that in the threatening of\nthe sixteenth verse it is not said, I will war against \"thee,\" but I\nwill war against \"them.\" The sin therefore found in the bosom of the\nchurch was not, as we shall find it to have been at Thyatira, with her\nconsent. She failed, not because she encouraged it, but because she did\nnot take more vigorous steps for its extinction. She did not\nsufficiently realize the fact that she was a part of the Body of Christ,\nand that, if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it.\nBelievers in her community were too easily satisfied with working out\ntheir own salvation, and thought too little of presenting the whole\nchurch \"as a pure virgin to Christ.\"[74] Therefore it was that, even\namidst much faithfulness, they needed to repent, to feel more deeply\nthan they did that \"a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,\"[75] and\nthat in the Church of the Lord Jesus we are to a large extent\nresponsible, not only for our own, but for our neighbours', sins. By\nkeeping up the Christian tone of the whole Church the tone of each\nmember of the Church is heightened.\n\nWe thus reach the close of the first three epistles \"to the churches;\"\nand we see that, while each is accommodated to the particular\ncircumstances of the Christian community to which it is sent, the three\ntaken together present to us the three leading considerations upon\nwhich, when we think of Christ's Church in this world, we naturally\ndwell. First, she is in the main true to her Divine Master, even when\ncompelled to confess that she has left her first love. Secondly, she is\nexposed for her further cleansing to many trials. Lastly, she is\nsustained by the unseen influences of Divine love and grace. She eats of\nthe hidden manna. She has within her breastplate a white, glistering\nstone, upon which is inscribed the new name which no man knoweth saving\nhe that receiveth it. She dwells, like the high-priest of old at the\nmoment of his greatest dignity and honour, in the secret place of the\nMost High. She abides under the shadow of the Almighty. As a child she\nhas entered into the garden of the Lord; and yet, in all the simplicity\nof her childhood, she is both king and priest.\n\nSuch is the Church of Christ in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. Happy\ndays of innocence and bliss! We may well linger over them for a\nlittle. Too soon will they pass away, and too soon will the Church's\nconflict with the world and her yielding to it begin.\n\n4. With the fourth epistle we enter upon the second group of epistles,\nwhere the Church is brought before us less as she is in herself, than as\nshe fails to maintain her true position in the world, and as that\nseparation between a faithful remnant and the whole body which meets us\nat every step of her history, throughout both the Old Testament and the\nNew, begins to show itself. Now therefore there is a change of tone.\n\nThe first of the four, the fourth in the series of seven, is that to\nThyatira; and to the church there the Lord presents Himself in all the\npenetrating power of those eyes that as a flame of fire search the\ninmost recesses of the heart, and in all the resistless might of those\nfeet that are as \"pillars of fire:\"[76] _These things saith the Son of\nGod, who hath His eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like\nunto burnished brass._\n\nThe commendation of the church follows, what is good being noted\nbefore defects are spoken of: _I know thy works, and thy love and\nfaith and ministry and patience, and that thy last works are more than\nthe first._ The commendation is great. There was not only grace, but\ngrowth in grace, not only work, but work in Christ's cause abounding\nmore and more. Yet there was also failure. To understand this it is\nnecessary, as already noticed, to adopt the translation of the Revised\nVersion, founded on the more correct reading of the later critical\neditions of the Greek. Even in that version, too, the translation,\ngiven in the margin, of one important expression has to be substituted\nfor that of the text. Keeping this in view, the Saviour thus addresses\nThyatira: _But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest_ (that\nthou toleratest, that thou lettest alone) _thy wife Jezebel, which\ncalleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth My\nservants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.\nAnd I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to\nrepent of her fornication. Behold, I do cast her into a bed, and them\nthat commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they\nrepent of her works. And I will kill her children with death; and all\nthe churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and\nhearts: and I will give unto each one of you according to your works._\nIn these words \"Jezebel\" is clearly a symbolical name. It is\nimpossible to think that the \"angel\" of the church was the chief\npastor, and that the woman named Jezebel, spoken of as she is, was his\nwife. We have before us the notorious Jezebel of Old Testament\nhistory. Her story is so familiar to every one that it is unnecessary\nto dwell on it; and we need only further call attention to the fact\nthat the sentence in which her name is mentioned is complete in\nitself. The sin of the church at Thyatira was that she \"suffered\" her.\nIn other words, the church tolerated in her midst the evil of which\nAhab's wife was so striking a representative. She knew the world to be\nwhat it was; but, instead of making a determined effort to resist it,\nshe yielded to its influences. She repeated the sin of the Corinthian\nChurch: \"It is actually reported that there is fornication among\nyou.... And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that\nhad done this deed might be taken away from among you.\"[77] The world,\nin short, was in the church, and was tolerated there. Of the\nthreatened punishment, the \"bed\" of tribulation and sorrow instead of\nthat of guilty pleasure, nothing need be said. It is of more\nconsequence to observe the change in the manner of address which meets\nus after that punishment has been described: _But to you I say, to the\nrest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, which\nknow not the deep things of Satan, as they say; I cast upon you none\nother burden. Howbeit that which ye have, hold fast till I come._ For\nthe first time in these epistles we meet with those who are spoken of\nas \"the rest,\" the remnant, who are to be carefully distinguished from\nthe great body of the Church's professing members. The world has\npenetrated into the Church; the Church has become conformed to the\nworld: and the hour is rapidly approaching when the true disciples of\nJesus will no longer find within her the shelter which she has\nhitherto afforded them, and when they will have to \"come forth out of\nher\" in her degenerate condition.[78] It is a striking feature of\nthese apocalyptic visions, which has been too much missed by\ncommentators. We shall meet it again and again as we proceed. In the\nmeantime it is enough to say that the moment of withdrawal has not yet\ncome. The faithful \"rest,\" who had rejected the false teaching and\nshunned the sinful life, are to continue where they were; and the Lord\nwill _cast upon them none other burden_. Well for them that they had\nsuch a promise! Their burden of suffering was heavy enough already.\nHard to contend with under any circumstances, suffering rises nearer\nto the height of the sufferings of Christ when the Christian is\n\"wounded,\" not by open foes, but \"in the house of his friends.\" \"It\nwas not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it:\nneither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;\nthen I would have hid myself from him: but it was thou, a man mine\nequal, my companion, and my familiar friend. We took sweet counsel\ntogether; we walked in the house of God with the throng.\"[79]\n\nThe trial was great; so also is the consolation: _And he that\novercometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I\ngive authority over the nations: and as a shepherd he shall tend them\nwith a sceptre of iron, as the vessels of the potter are they broken\nto shivers; as I also have received of My Father: and I will give him\nthe morning star._ It was a heathen element that clouded the sky of\nthe church at Thyatira. That element, nay _the nations_ out of which\nit springs, shall be crushed beneath the iron sceptre of the King who\nshall \"reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients\ngloriously.\"[80] The clouds shall disappear; and Jesus, \"the bright,\nthe morning star,\"[81] having given Himself to His people, He and they\ntogether shall shine with its clear but peaceful light when it appears\nin the heavens, the harbinger of day.\n\n5. The fifth epistle is that to Sardis, and in the superscription He\nwho sends it describes Himself as One _that hath the seven Spirits of\nGod, and the seven stars_. Both expressions have already met us, the\nformer in chap. i. 4, the latter in chap. ii. 1. A different word from\nthat used in the address to Ephesus is indeed used here to indicate\nthe relation of the Lord to these stars or angels of the churches.\nThere the glorified Lord \"holdeth the seven stars in His right hand;\"\nhere He \"hath\" them. Like every other change, even of the slightest\nkind, in this book, the difference is instructive. To \"hold\" them is\nto hold them fast for their protection; to \"have\" them is to have them\nfor a possession, to have them not only outwardly and in name, but\ninwardly and in reality, as His own. Thus Christ \"hath\" the Holy\nSpirit, who in all His varied or sevenfold influences is, as He\nproceedeth from the Father and the Son, not only God's, but His. Thus\nalso Christ \"hath\" the seven stars or churches, here spoken of in\nimmediate connexion with the Spirit, and therefore viewed chiefly in\nthat spirituality of feeling and of life which ought to be the great\nmark distinguishing them from the world. It was the mark in which\nSardis failed. Let her take heed to Him with whom she has to do.\n\n_I know_, are the words addressed to her, _thy works, that thou hast a\nname that thou livest, and thou art dead. Be thou watchful, and stablish\nthe things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no\nworks of thine fulfilled before My God. Remember therefore how thou hast\nreceived and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou\nshalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what\nhour I will come upon thee._ The world had been tolerated in Thyatira,\nthe first of the last four churches; in Sardis, the second, it is more\nthan tolerated. Sardis has substituted the outward for the inward. She\nhas been proud of her external ordinances, and has thought more of them\nthan of living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. True piety has\ndeclined; and, as a natural consequence, sins of the flesh, alluded to\nin the immediately following words of the epistle, have asserted their\nsupremacy. More even than this, Sardis had a _name_ that she lived while\nshe was dead. She was renowned among men. The world looked, and beheld\nwith admiration what was to it the splendour of her worship; it\nlistened, and heard with enthusiasm the music of her praise. And the\nchurch was pleased that it should be so. Not in humility, lowliness, and\ndeeds of self-sacrificing love did she seek her \"name,\" but in what the\nworld would have been equally delighted with though the inspiring soul\nof it all had been folly or sin. A stronghold had been established by\nthe world in Sardis.\n\nYet there also the Good Shepherd had His little flock, and there again\nwe meet them. _But thou hast a few names in Sardis which did not\ndefile their garments._ These were to Sardis what \"the rest\" were to\nThyatira. They were the \"gleanings left in Israel, as the shaking of\nan olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough,\nfour or five in the outmost branches of a fruitful tree.\"[82] They\nwere the \"new wine found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it\nnot; for a blessing is in it.\"[83] To them therefore great promises\nare given: _They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He\nthat overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in\nno wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his\nname before My Father, and before His angels._ It is the glorified\nLord who, as the High-priest of His Church, \"walketh\" in the midst of\nthe golden candlesticks; and, as priests, these shall _walk with_ Him\nin a similar glory. Upon earth they were despised, but beyond the\nearth they shall be openly acknowledged and vindicated. They shall be\narrayed in those garments of glistering purity which were with\ndifficulty kept white in the world, but which in the world to come\nDivine favour shall keep free from every stain.\n\n6. The sixth epistle is to Philadelphia; and the remarkable circumstance\nconnected with this church is that, though spoken of as having but \"a\nlittle power,\" it is not seriously blamed. In this respect it resembles\nthe church at Smyrna in the first group of these seven epistles. What\nhas mainly to be noticed, however, is that it is not simply, like that\nat Smyrna, a suffering church. It has been engaged in an earnest and hot\nstruggle with the world, as the superscription, the commendation, and\nthe promises of the epistle combine to testify.\n\nThe superscription is, _These things saith He that is holy, He that is\ntrue, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall\nshut, and that shutteth, and none openeth_. The figure is taken from\nthe Old Testament; and both there and here the context shows us that\nit is neither the key of knowledge, nor the key of discipline, nor the\nkey of the treasures of the kingdom that is spoken of, but the key of\npower to open the Lord's house as a sure refuge from all evil, and to\npreserve safe for ever those who are admitted to it. \"I will call My\nservant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,\" says the Almighty by His prophet,\n\"and I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy\ngirdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall\nbe a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of\nJudah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder;\nand he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none\nshall open.\"[84] Whoever be our adversaries, we know that in the\nhollow of the Lord's hand we are safe.\n\nThe commendation of the epistle tells the same tale: _I know thy works\n(behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can shut),\nthat thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and didst not\ndeny My name._ The Church had \"a little power,\" and she had shown this\nin the struggle.\n\nSo also with the promises: _Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan,\nof them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold,\nI will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that\nI have loved thee. Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I\nalso will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come\nupon the whole inhabited earth, to try them that dwell upon the earth.\nI come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy\ncrown. He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of\nMy God, and he shall no more come forth: and I will write upon him the\nname of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem,\nwhich cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name._\nHow fierce the struggle of Philadelphia had been with the world we\nlearn from these words, in which the enemies of the Church--\"Jews\"\nthey call themselves, the people of God, but \"they are not\"--are\nbrought before us like vanquished nations at her feet, as she sits in\nthe heavenly places, paying homage to her against whom they had so\nlong, but vainly, struggled. It is impossible not to see the\ndifference between this church and that at Smyrna. No doubt there had\nbeen \"blasphemy of them which say they are Jews\" in the latter case,\nbut worse trials were only spoken of as about to come. Here the trials\nhave come, and the church has risen triumphantly above them. Therefore\nwill the Lord admit her to His heavenly mansions, and will make her a\npillar in His Father's house, whence she shall come forth no more. He\nHimself \"went forth\" from His Father that He might be the Captain of\nour salvation and might die on our behalf. He returned to His Father,\nand never again \"comes forth\" as He came in the days of His flesh.\nHaving died once, He dieth no more; and they who have borne His cross\nshall wear, when victors in His cause, His crown of victory.\n\n7. The seventh epistle is to Laodicea, and here there can be no doubt\nthat we have the picture of a church in which the power of the world\ncarries almost all before it. The church is addressed by Him who\ndescribes Himself as _the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the\nBeginning of the creation of God_, upon which immediately follows a\ncharge as to her condition in which there is no redeeming point. Only\nlater do we see that there is hope. _I know thy works, that thou art\nneither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So because thou\nart lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of My\nmouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and\nhave need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one,\nand miserable and poor and blind and naked: I counsel thee to buy of\nMe gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white\ngarments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy\nnakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes,\nthat thou mayest see. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be\nzealous therefore, and repent._ To interpret the boasting of the\nchurch given in these words as if it referred to spiritual rather than\nmaterial riches is entirely to mistake the meaning. Worldly wealth is\nin the writer's view. The members of the church generally have aimed\nat riches, and have gotten them. Possession of riches has also been\nfollowed by its usual effects. The seen and the temporal have usurped\nin their minds the place of the unseen and the eternal. Perhaps they\nhave even regarded their worldly prosperity as a token of the Divine\nfavour, and are soothing themselves with the reflection that they\nhave made the best of both worlds, when they have really sacrificed\neverything to one world, and that the lower of the two. The last\npicture of the Church is the saddest of all.\n\nYet is Laodicea not altogether without hope. _Behold_, says He whose\nevery word is truth, _I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear\nMy voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with\nhim, and he with Me_. Even in Laodicea there are some who, inasmuch as\nthey have fought the hardest battle, shall be welcomed to the highest\nreward. _He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in\nMy throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His\nthrone._ Beyond that neither hope nor imagination can rise.\n\nThe epistles to the seven churches are over. They present the Church to\nus as she appears on the field of history. They set before us the\nleading characteristics of her condition partly as she was in \"Asia\" at\nthe moment when the Apostle wrote, partly as she shall be throughout all\ntime and on the widest, as well as the narrowest, scale. These\ncharacteristics may be shortly summed up as--in the first group of\nthree, love to the Redeemer, yet love liable, and even beginning, to\ngrow cold; persecution and trials of many kinds; preservation by the\nsecret grace of God and in the hidden life: in the second group of four,\nyielding on the part of the majority to sins associated with unchristian\ndoctrine; formalism in religion; weakness in the midst of trial, even\nthough not accompanied by faithlessness; and lukewarmness, springing\nfrom a preference of the things of time to those of eternity. To these\ncharacteristics, however, have to be added, as more or less\naccompanying them, many of the active graces of the Christian life:\nlabour, and patience, and faith, and charity, and works, whatever makes\nthe Christian Church a light in the world and the object of her Lord's\ncare and watchfulness. In reading the seven epistles, we behold a lively\npicture of the Church of Christ in her graces and in her failings, in\nher strength and in her weakness, in her joys and in her sorrows, in her\nfalls under the influence of temptation and in her returns to the path\nof duty. The characteristics thus spoken of are not peculiar to any\nparticular age, but may mark her at one time less, at another more, at\none time individually, at another in combination. Taken as a whole, they\npresent her to us in her Divine ideal marred by human blemishes; we are\nprepared to acknowledge the necessity, the wisdom, and the mercy of the\ntrials that await her; and we learn to anticipate with gladness her\nfinal and glorious deliverance.\n\nOne brief concluding remark ought to be made. The epistles now\nconsidered ought to be sufficient in themselves to show that the\nApocalypse is not a series of visions intended only to illustrate one\nor two ideas which had taken a strong hold of the Apostle's mind, or\none or two great principles of the Divine government in general. St.\nJohn starts from the realities around him as much as any writer of the\nNew Testament. It is true that he sees in them _eternal_ principles at\nwork, and that he rises to the thought of ideal good and of ideal\nevil; but he is not on that account less true to fact, less impressed\nby fact. On the contrary, his very depth of insight into the meaning\nof the facts makes him what he is. He who would write a philosophy of\nhistory is not less, but more, dependent upon the facts of history\nthan he to whom a fact is valuable simply in its individual and\nisolated form. It is _the present_ therefore that stirs the writer of\nthis book, but stirs him the more because he beholds in it principles\nand issues connected with Him who was, and is, and is to come, the\ncovenant-keeping God, the Judge of _men_, the unchangeable I AM.\n\nHence also the mistake sometimes made of thinking that the purpose of\nunfolding the principles of the Divine government could not be a\nsufficient motive to St. John to write.[85] Every cruelty to the\nsaints of God which he witnessed, every cry of oppression which he\nheard, supplied a motive. We may not feel these things now, but the\niron of them entered into the soul of the disciple whom Jesus loved.\nWe need more prophets like him to make it ring in the ears of selfish\nwealth and of ease indifferent to the ills festering around it, \"For\nthe spoiling of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I\narise, saith the Lord.\"[86]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[24] Chaps. vii. 2; viii. 2; xiv. 6, 8, 9; xv. 1, 6.\n\n[25] Chap. xiv. 15.\n\n[26] Chaps. i. 1; xx. 1; xxii. 6.\n\n[27] Chap. xvi. 5.\n\n[28] Chap. xiv. 18.\n\n[29] Chap. vii. 1.\n\n[30] Chap. ix. 11.\n\n[31] Chap. i. 4.\n\n[32] Chap. ii. 1.\n\n[33] Chap. ii. 8.\n\n[34] Chap. ii. 12.\n\n[35] Chap. ii. 18.\n\n[36] Chap. iii. 1.\n\n[37] Chap. iii. 7.\n\n[38] Chap. iii. 14.\n\n[39] Chaps. ii. 7; xxii. 2, 14.\n\n[40] Chaps. ii. 11; xx. 14.\n\n[41] Chaps. ii. 17; xiv. 1.\n\n[42] Chaps. ii. 26, 28; xx. 4, 5; xxii. 16.\n\n[43] Chaps. iii. 5; vii. 9, 14.\n\n[44] Chaps. iii. 12; xxi. 2, 10.\n\n[45] Chaps. iii. 21; xx. 4. Comp. Trench, _The Seven Epistles_, p. 37.\n\n[46] Chap. ii. 1.\n\n[47] Chap. iii. 14.\n\n[48] Comp. Rom. viii. 21, 22; James i. 18.\n\n[49] Chap. i. 19.\n\n[50] Chap. ii. 7, 11, 17.\n\n[51] Chaps. ii. 29; iii. 6, 13, 22.\n\n[52] Chap. ii. 4.\n\n[53] John xv. 2.\n\n[54] Chap. ii. 14, 15.\n\n[55] Comp. Heb. ii. 10.\n\n[56] Chap. iii. 8.\n\n[57] Chap. iii. 11.\n\n[58] Chap. iii. 17.\n\n[59] Chap. ii. 7.\n\n[60] Chap. ii. 11.\n\n[61] Chap. ii. 17.\n\n[62] Chap. ii. 26, 27.\n\n[63] Chap. iii. 5.\n\n[64] Chap. iii. 12.\n\n[65] Chap. iii. 21.\n\n[66] Chap. xviii. 4.\n\n[67] Matt. xxviii. 20.\n\n[68] Ps. xxxi. 20.\n\n[69] John xv. 20.\n\n[70] Chap. i. 17.\n\n[71] 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.\n\n[72] James ii. 5.\n\n[73] 1 Pet. i. 6.\n\n[74] 2 Cor. xi. 2.\n\n[75] 1 Cor. v. 6.\n\n[76] Chap. x. 1.\n\n[77] 1 Cor. v. 1, 2.\n\n[78] Comp. chap. xviii. 4.\n\n[79] Ps. lv. 12-14.\n\n[80] Isa. xxiv. 23.\n\n[81] Chap. xxii. 16.\n\n[82] Isa. xvii. 6.\n\n[83] Isa. lxv. 8.\n\n[84] Isa. xxii. 21, 22.\n\n[85] Dods, _Introduction to New Testament_, p. 244.\n\n[86] Ps. xii. 5.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n _ANTICIPATIONS OF THE CHURCH'S VICTORY._\n\n REV. iv., v.\n\n\nWe have seen in considering the first chapter of the Apocalypse that\nthe book as a whole is to be occupied with the Church's struggle in\nthe world; and in the second and third chapters the Church herself has\nbeen placed before us as she occupies her position upon the field of\nhistory. But the struggle has not yet begun, nor will it begin until\nwe reach the sixth chapter. Chaps. iv. and v. are therefore still to\nbe regarded as in a certain measure introductory. They form a\nseparate--the third--section of the book; and the first questions that\nmeet us in connexion with them are, What is their relation to the main\npurpose of the author? What is their leading conception? and Why are\nthey placed where they are?\n\nIn answering these questions, we are aided by the strictly parallel\nstructure of the fourth Gospel. The Prologue of that book, contained\nin chap. i. 1-18, suggests the object which the writer has in view.\nThe next section--chap. i. 19-ii. 11--places before us the Redeemer\nwhose glory he is to describe. The struggle of the Son of God with the\nworld does not begin till we come to chap. v. Between chap. ii. 12 and\nchap. iv. 54 there is thus a considerable interval, in which we have\nthe cleansing of the Temple and the victory of Jesus over the unbelief\nof the Jew Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the king's officer of\nGalilee, who was probably a Gentile. In this intervening space the\nleading thought seems to be that of victory, not indeed of victory\n_in_ the struggle, but of victory which prepares us _for_ it, and\nfills the mind with hope _before_ it begins. In like manner the two\nchapters upon which we are about to enter are occupied with songs of\nvictory. Catching their spirit, we shall boldly accompany the Church\ninto the struggle which follows, and shall be animated by a joyful\nconfidence that, whatever her outward fortunes, He that is with her is\nmore than they that be with her enemies.[87]\n\nWhile such is the general conception of the third and fourth chapters\nviewed as one, we have further to ask whether, subordinate to their\nunited purpose, there is not a difference between them. Such a\ndifference there appears to be; and words of our Lord in the fourth\nGospel, spoken upon an occasion which had deeply impressed itself upon\nthe mind of the Evangelist, may help us to determine what it is. In\nthe fourteenth chapter of that Gospel Jesus encourages His Apostles as\nHe sends them forth to fight His battle in the world. \"Let not,\" He\nsays, \"your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in Me.\"\nThe section of the Apocalypse upon which we are about to enter\nembraces a similar thought in both its parts. Chap. iv. conveys to the\nChurch the assurance that He who is the ultimate source of all\nexistence is on her side; chap. v. that she may depend upon Christ and\nHis redeeming work. The two chapters taken together are a cry to the\nChurch from her glorified Head, before she enters into the\ntribulation that awaits her, \"Let not your heart be troubled: believe\nin God, believe also in Me.\"\n\n After these things I saw and, behold, a door opened in heaven, and\n the first voice which I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with\n me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things\n which must come to pass hereafter. Straightway I was in the Spirit:\n and, behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and One sitting upon\n the throne; and He that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and\n a sardius; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an\n emerald to look upon. And round about the throne were\n four-and-twenty thrones: and upon the thrones I saw four-and-twenty\n elders sitting, arrayed in white garments, and on their heads crowns\n of gold. And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and\n thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the\n throne, which are the seven Spirits of God (iv. 1-5).\n\nThe _first voice_ here spoken of is the voice of chap. i. 10: \"And I\nheard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet;\" and it is well to\nremember that that voice introduced the vision of a Son of man who,\nwhile both King and Priest, was King and Priest in judgment. It is\nimpossible to doubt that the sound of the same voice is intended to\nindicate the same thing here, and that the King whom we are about to\nbehold is One who has \"prepared His throne for judgment.\"[88]\n\nThe Seer is introduced to a scene which we first recognise as the\nglorious audience-chamber of a great King. Everything as yet speaks of\nroyalty, and of royal majesty, power, and judgment. The _jasper stone_\nas we learn from a later passage of this book, in which it is said to\nbe \"clear as crystal,\"[89] was of a bright, sparkling whiteness; and\nit fitly represents the holiness of Him of whom the seraphim in Isaiah\ncry one to another, \"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,\"[90] and\nwho in this very chapter is celebrated by the unresting cherubim with\nthe words, \"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord, God, the Almighty, which\nwas and which is and which is to come.\" The _sardius_, again, was of a\nfiery red colour, and can denote nothing but the terror of the\nAlmighty's wrath. _Out of the throne_ also--not merely out of the\natmosphere surrounding it, but out of the throne itself--_proceed\nlightnings and voices and thunders_, always throughout the Apocalypse\nemblems of judgment; while the use of the word _burn_ in other parts\nof the same book, and the fact that what the Seer beheld was not so\nmuch lamps as torches, leads to the belief that these torches as they\nburned before the throne sent out a blazing and fierce rather than a\ncalm and soft light. It is true that the _rainbow round about the\nthrone_ points to the Divine covenant of grace and promise, and that\nits _emerald_ greenness, absorbing, or at least throwing into the\nshade, its other and varied hues, tells with peculiar force of\nsomething on which the eye loves, and does not fear, to rest. But the\nmercy of God does not extinguish His righteousness and judgment.\nDifferent as such qualities may seem to be, they are combined in Him\nwith whom the Church and the world have to do. In the New Testament\nnot less than in the Old the Almighty reveals Himself in the awakening\nterrors of His wrath as well as in the winning gentleness of His love.\nSt. Peter speaks of our Lord as not only the chief corner-stone laid\nin Zion, elect, precious, so that he that believeth on Him shall not\nbe put to shame, but as a stone of stumbling and rock of offence;[91]\nand when the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews gives us his\nloftiest description of the privileges of the Christian Church, he\ncloses it with the words, \"Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot\nbe shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service\nwell-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a\nconsuming fire.\"[92] So also here. Would we conceive of God aright,\neven after we have been brought into the full enjoyment of all the\nriches of His grace and love, we must think of Him as represented by\nthe jasper and the sardius as well as by the emerald.\n\nThe _four-and-twenty elders_ occupying _thrones_ (not seats) around\nthe throne are to be regarded as representatives of the glorified\nChurch; and the number, twice twelve, seems to be obtained by\ncombining the number of the patriarchs of the Old Testament with that\nof the Apostles of the New.\n\nThe description of the heavenly scene is now continued:--\n\n And before the throne, as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal\n and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four\n living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first\n creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and\n the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature\n was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, having\n each one of them six wings, are full of eyes round about and\n within; and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy,\n holy, is the Lord, God, the Almighty, which was and which is and\n which is to come (iv. 6-8).\n\nUp to this point we have been beholding a royal court; in the words\nnow quoted the priestly element comes in. The _glassy sea_ naturally\nleads the thoughts to the great brazen laver known as the brazen sea\nwhich stood in the court of Solomon's temple between the altar and\nthe sanctuary, and at which the priests cleansed themselves before\nentering upon the discharge of their duties within the precincts of\nGod's holy house. The resemblance is not indeed exact; and were it not\nfor what follows, there might be little upon which to rest this\nsupposition. We know, however, from many examples, that the Seer uses\nthe figures of the Old Testament with great freedom; and as the Temple\nsource of the _living creatures_ next introduced to us cannot be\nmistaken, it becomes the more probable that the brazen sea of the same\nbuilding, whatever be the actual meaning of the figure--a point that\nwill meet us afterwards--suggests the \"glassy sea.\"\n\nWhen we turn to the \"living creatures,\" there can be no doubt whatever\nthat we are in the midst of Temple imagery. These are the cherubim, two\nof which, fashioned in gold, were placed above the mercy-seat in the\nholy of holies, so that, inasmuch as that mercy-seat was regarded as\npeculiarly the throne of God, Israel was invited to think of its King as\n\"sitting between the cherubim.\"[93] These figures, however, were not\nconfined to that particular spot, nor were they fashioned only in that\nparticular way, for the curtain and the veil which formed the sides of\nthe Most Holy Place were wrought with cherubim of cunning work,[94] so\nthat one entering that sacred spot was surrounded by them. In the midst\nof the cherubim spoken of in these verses we are thus in the midst of\nTemple figures and of priestly thoughts. It is impossible here to trace\nthe history of the cherubim throughout the Bible; and we must be content\nwith referring to two points connected with them, of importance for the\ninterpretation of this book: the representative nature of the figures\nand the aspect under which we are to see them.[95]\n\nAs to the first of these, the human element in the cherubim is at once\nintelligible. It can be nothing but man; while the fact that they occupy\nso large a position in the most sacred division of the Tabernacle is\nsufficient to prove that man, so represented, is thought of as redeemed\nand brought to the highest stage of spiritual perfection. The other\nelements referred to certainly do not indicate either new qualities\nadded to humanity, or an intensification of those already possessed by\nit, as if we might cherish the prospect of a time when the physical\nqualities of man shall equal in their strength those of the animals\naround him, when he shall possess the might of the lion, the power of\nthe ox, and the swiftness of the eagle. They represent rather the\ndifferent departments of nature as these are distributed into the\nanimate and inanimate creation. Taking the \"living creatures\" together\nin all their parts, they are thus an emblem of man, associated on the\none hand with the material creation, on the other with the various\ntribes of animals by which it is inhabited, but all redeemed,\ntransfigured, perfected, delivered from the bondage of corruption, and\nbrought into \"the liberty of the glory of the children of God.\"[96] They\nhave a still wider and more comprehensive meaning than the \"twenty-four\nelders,\" the latter setting before us only the Church, but the former\nall creation, glorified.\n\nThe second point above mentioned--the aspect worn by the living\ncreatures--demands also a few remarks, for the view commonly\nentertained upon it seems to be erroneous. Misled by the mention of\nthe _calf_, which is supposed to be the ox, and not the bull-calf,\ninterpreters have allowed the mode in which they understood this\nparticular to rule their interpretation of the others. It has been\nregarded as the emblem of endurance and of patient labour rather than\nof power and rage; while, following the same line of thought, the\n_eagle_ has been treated as the king of birds soaring in the blue\nvault of heaven rather than as hastening (like the vulture) to his\nprey.[97] The whole conception of the cherubim has thus been modified\nand shaped in the minds of men under a form altogether different from\nthat in which it is really presented to us in Scripture. The cherubim\nof the Old Testament and the \"living creatures\" of the New are\nsupposed to represent \"majesty and peerless strength,\" \"patient and\nproductive industry,\" and \"soaring energy and nimbleness of action.\"\nIn reality they rather represent qualities that strike terror into the\nhearts of men and suggest the idea of an irresistibly destructive\nforce. With this view all that is elsewhere said of them corresponds.\nThey are not simply spoken of as partakers of the favour of God. They\nare instruments in the execution of His wrath. When our first parents\nwere driven from the garden of Eden, they were placed \"at the east of\nthe garden,\" along with \"a flaming sword which turned every way, to\nkeep the way of the tree of life.\"[98] When we are introduced to them\nin Ezekiel, it is said that \"their appearance was like burning coals\nof fire, like the appearance of torches: it went up and down among the\nliving creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went\nforth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the\nappearance of a flash of lightning.\"[99] Similar associations are\nconnected with them throughout the Apocalypse. The opening of each of\nthe first four seals, the four that deal with judgments upon the\nearth, is immediately followed by a voice, \"as it were the noise of\nthunder,\" from one of the four living creatures, saying, Come.[100]\nOne of them gives to the seven angels \"seven golden bowls full of the\nwrath of God.\"[101] And after the destruction of Babylon, when her\nsmoke is ascending up for ever and ever, and the voice of much people\nin heaven calls for praise to Him who hath avenged the blood of His\nservants at her hand, they \"fall down and worship God that sitteth on\nthe throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah.\"[102] There can be little doubt,\nthen, as to the meaning of these four living creatures. They are\nsharers of the Almighty's holiness, and of that holiness in its more\nawful form, as a holiness that cannot look on sin but with abhorrence.\nThey are the vicegerents of His kingdom. They are assessors by His\nside. Their aspect is not that of the sweetness associated with the\nword \"cherub,\" but that of sternness, indignant power, and judgment.\nThus also it is that in the Tabernacle they looked toward the\nmercy-seat.[103] By what they saw there they were restrained from\nexecuting wrath upon the guilty. That mercy-seat, sprinkled with the\nblood of atonement, told them of pardon and of a new life for the\nsinner. Their sternness was softened; mercy rejoiced over judgment;\nand the storm-wind upon which God flew swiftly, when \"He rode upon a\ncherub, and did fly,\"[104] sank into a calm.\n\nThe Seer has beheld the audience-chamber of the Godhead in itself. He\nhas seen also the Divine Being who is there clothed with majesty, and\nthose who wait upon Him. He next passes to another thought:--\n\n And when the living creatures shall give glory and honour and thanks\n to Him that sitteth on the throne, to Him that liveth for ever and\n ever, the four-and-twenty elders shall fall down before Him that\n sitteth on the throne, and shall worship Him that liveth for ever\n and ever, and shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying,\n Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the\n honour and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because\n of Thy will they were, and were created (iv. 9-11).\n\nIn his beautiful comments upon the Revelation Isaac Williams says,\n\"The four living creatures, or the Church of the redeemed, give\nthanksgiving to God for their redemption; and then the twenty-four\nelders fall down and attribute all glory to God alone, inasmuch as\nprophets, Apostles, and all the ministering priesthood, rejoicing in\nthe salvation of the elect, attribute it not to their own\ninstrumentality, but to God.\"[105] In thus interpreting the passage,\nhowever, that commentator can hardly be regarded as correct. It is\ntrue that the living creatures are the representatives of redeemed\ncreation, and the twenty-four elders representatives of the glorified\nChurch. But in the song of praise here put into their mouths they have\nnot yet advanced to the thought of salvation. That is reserved for the\nnext chapter. Here they think of creation, with all its wonders; of\nthe heavens which declare God's glory, and the firmament which shows\nforth His handiwork; of sun, and moon, and stars in their manifold and\nresplendent glories; of the mountains and the valleys; of the rivers\nand the fountains of waters; of the rich exuberance of vegetable life,\nwhich covers the earth with a gorgeous carpet of every hue; and of all\nthose animals upon its surface which \"run races in their mirth:\" and\nfor them they praise. To God all creatures owe their origin. In Him\nthey live, and move, and have their being. Because of His will they\n_were_--let the reading be considered and remembered: \"were,\" not\n\"are\"--because of His will they were in His idea from eternity; and\nwhen the appointed moment came, they _were created_. Wherefore let\nthem praise. We are reminded of the Psalms of the Old Testament,\nthough it is ours to put into their words a still deeper and richer\nmeaning than they possessed when first uttered by the Psalmist:--\n\n Praise ye the Lord.\n Praise ye the Lord from the heavens:\n Praise Him in the heights.\n Praise ye Him, all His angels:\n Praise ye Him, all His host.\n Praise ye Him, sun and moon\n Praise Him, all ye stars of light.\n Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens,\n And ye waters that be above the heavens.\n Let them praise the name of the Lord:\n For He commanded, and they were created\n He hath also established them for ever and ever:\n He hath made a decree which shall not pass away.\n Praise the Lord from the earth,\n Ye dragons, and all deeps:\n Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour;\n Stormy wind fulfilling His word:\n Mountains, and all hills;\n Fruitful trees, and all cedars:\n Beasts, and all cattle;\n Creeping things, and flying fowl:\n Kings of the earth, and all peoples;\n Princes, and all judges of the earth:\n Both young men, and maidens;\n Old men, and children:\n Let them praise the name of the Lord:\n For His name alone is exalted;\n His glory is above the earth and heaven.[106]\n\nSuch then in chap. iv. is the call addressed by the Seer to the Church\nbefore she enters upon her struggle, a call similar to that of Jesus\nto His disciples, \"Believe in God.\"\n\nThe fifth chapter continues the same general subject, but with a\nreference to Christ the Redeemer rather than God the Creator:--\n\n And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a roll\n of a book written within and on the back, close sealed with seven\n seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice,\n Who is worthy to open the roll, and to loose the seals thereof?\n And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was\n able to open the roll, or to look thereon. And I wept much,\n because no one was found worthy to open the roll, or to look\n thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold,\n the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath\n overcome to open the roll, and the seven seals thereof (v. 1-5).\n\nWe can easily form to ourselves a correct idea of the outward form of\nthe symbol resorted to in these words. The same symbol is used by the\nprophet Ezekiel, and in circumstances in some respects precisely\nanalogous to those of the Seer. Ezekiel had just beheld his first\nvision of the cherubim. \"And when I looked,\" he says, \"behold, an hand\nwas put forth unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and He\nspread it before me; and it was written within and without.\"[107] In\nboth cases it is not a \"book,\" but a _roll_, like the sacred rolls of\nthe synagogue, that is presented to the prophet's eye, the difference\nbeing that in the Apocalypse we read of the roll being _close sealed\nwith seven seals_. This addition is due to the higher, more sublime,\nand more momentous nature of the mysteries contained in it. That it is\n_written within and on the back_, so that there is no space for\nfurther writing, shows that it contains the whole counsel of God with\nregard to the subject of which it treats. It is the word of Him who is\nthe Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last; and the seven seals\nare so fastened to the roll that one of them may be broken at a time,\nand no more of the contents disclosed than belonged to that particular\nseal. What also the contents of the roll are we learn from the\ncontents of the seals as they are successively disclosed in the\nfollowing chapters. As yet the Seer does not know them. He knows only\nthat they are of the deepest interest and importance; and he looks\nanxiously around to see if any one can be found who may break the\nseals and unfold their mysteries. No such person can be discovered\neither _in heaven_, _or on the earth_, _or under the earth_. No one\nwill even dare to look upon the roll; and the sorrow of the Seer was\nso deepened by this circumstance that he _wept much_.\n\nAt that moment one of the elders, the representatives of the glorified\nChurch, advanced to cheer him with the tidings that what he so much\ndesired shall be accomplished. One who had had a battle to fight and a\nvictory to win had _overcome_, not only to look upon the roll, but to\n_open it and to loose the seven seals thereof_, so as to make its\ncontents known. _This was the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the\nRoot of David_. The description is taken partly from the law and\npartly from the prophets, for is not this \"He of whom Moses in the\nlaw, and the prophets, did write\"?[108]; the former in the blessings\npronounced by the dying patriarch Jacob upon his son Judah: \"Judah is\na lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped\ndown, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him\nup?\"[109]; the latter in such words as those of Isaiah, \"And there\nshall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a Branch out\nof his roots shall bear fruit;\"[110] while, in the language alike of\nthe prophet and of the Seer, the words set forth the Messiah, not as\nthe root out of which David sprang, but as a shoot which, springing\nfrom him, was to grow up into a strong and stately tree. In Him the\nconquering might of David, the man of war, and of Judah, \"chosen to be\nthe ruler,\"[111] comes forth with all the freshness of a new youth. He\nis \"the mystery which hath been hid from all ages and generations, but\nnow hath been manifested to the saints.\"[112] In Him \"the darkness is\npassing away, and the true light already shineth.\"[113] \"After two\ndays will He revive us: on the third day He will raise us up, and we\nshall live before Him. And let us know, let us follow on to know, the\nLord: His going forth is sure as the morning; and He shall come unto\nus as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.\"[114] Thus\nthen was it now. Like Daniel of old, the Seer had wept in order that\nhe might understand the vision; and the elder said to him, _Weep not_.\n\nThe eagerly desired explanation follows:--\n\n And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living\n creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as\n though it had been slaughtered, 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 He hath taken it out of the right hand of\n Him that sat on the throne (v. 6, 7).\n\nA strange and unlooked-for spectacle is presented to the Seer. He had\nbeen told of a lion; and he beholds a lamb, nay not only a lamb, the\nemblem of patience and of innocence, but, as we learn from the use of\nthe word _slaughtered_ (not \"slain,\" as in both the Authorised and\nRevised Versions), a lamb for sacrifice, and that had been sacrificed.\nNor can we doubt for a moment, when we call to mind the Gospel of St.\nJohn and its many points of analogy with the Apocalypse, what particular\nlamb it was. It was the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb beheld in our Lord by the\nBaptist when, pointing to Jesus as He walked, he said to his disciples,\n\"Behold the Lamb of God,\"[115] and again beheld by the writer of the\nfourth Gospel on the Cross, when in the fact that the soldiers broke not\nthe legs of Jesus, as they broke those of the malefactors hanging on\neither side of Him, he traced the fulfilment of the Scripture, \"A bone\nof Him shall not be broken.\"[116] This therefore was the true Lamb \"that\ntaketh away the sin of the world,\" the Lamb that gives us His flesh to\neat, so that in Him we may have eternal life.[117]\n\nThe Lamb has _seven horns_, the emblem of perfected strength, and _seven\neyes_, which are explained to be the Spirit of God, sent forth in all\nHis penetrating and searching power, so that none even in the very ends\nof the earth can escape His knowledge. Further the Lamb is _standing as\nthough it had been slaughtered_, and there never has been a moment's\nhesitation as to the interpretation of the figure. The words \"as though\"\ndo not mean that the slaughtering had been only in appearance. It had\nbeen real. The Saviour, pierced with cruel wounds, \"bowed His head\" on\nCalvary, \"and gave up His spirit.\"[118] \"The first and the last and the\nLiving One became dead,\"[119] and had been laid in the tomb in the\ngarden. But He had risen from that tomb on the third morning; and,\n\"behold, He is alive for evermore.\"[120] He had ascended to the right\nhand of the Majesty on high; and there He \"stands,\" living and acting in\nall the plenitude of endless and incorruptible life.\n\nOne thing more has to be noticed: that this Lamb is the central figure\nof the scene before us, _in the midst of the throne and of the living\ncreatures, and of the elders_. To Him all the works of God, both in\ncreation and redemption, turn. To Him the old covenant led; and the\nprophets who were raised up under it searched \"what time or what\nmanner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto,\nwhen it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories\nthat should follow them.\"[121] From Him the new covenant flowed, and\nthose who under it are called to the knowledge of the truth recognise\nin Him their \"all and in all.\"[122] The Lamb slaughtered, raised from\nthe grave, ascended, being the impersonation of that Divine love which\nis the essence of the Divine nature, is the visible centre of the\nuniverse. He is \"the image of the invisible God, the First-born of\nall creation: for in Him were all things created, in the heavens and\nupon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones,\nor dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things have been\ncreated through Him, and unto Him: and He is before all things, and in\nHim all things consist. And He is the Head of the Body, the Church:\nwho is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead; that in all things\nHe might have the pre-eminence. For it was the good pleasure of the\nFather that in Him should all the fulness dwell; and through Him to\nreconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood\nof His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or\nthings in the heavens.\"[123]\n\nSuch is the Lamb; and He now comes, _and hath taken the roll out of\nthe right hand of Him that sat on the throne_. Let us note the words\n\"hath taken.\" It is not \"took.\" St. John sees the Lamb not only take\nthe roll, but keep it. It is His,--His as the Son, in whom dwelleth\nall the fulness of the Godhead bodily; His by right of the victory He\nhas won; His as the First-born of all creation and the Head of the\nChurch. It is His to keep, and to unfold, and to execute, \"who is over\nall, God blessed for ever. Amen.\"[124]\n\nTherefore is He worthy of all praise, and to Him all praise is given:--\n\n And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the\n four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one\n a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of\n the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art Thou to\n take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain,\n and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and\n tongue, and people, and nation; and madest them to be unto our God\n a kingdom and priests: and they reign over the earth (v. 8-10).\n\nIt is not necessary to dwell upon the figures that are here employed,\nthe _harp_, as connected with the Temple service, being the natural\nemblem of praise, and the _bowls full of incense_ the emblem of prayer.\nBut it is of importance to observe the _universality_ of the praises and\nthe prayers referred to, for as the language used here of these _men of\nevery tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation_, when they are said to\nhave been made _a kingdom and priests unto our God_, is the same as that\nof chap. i. 6, we seem entitled to conclude that, even from its very\nearliest verses, the Apocalypse has the universal Church in view.\n\nThe song sung by this great multitude, including even the\nrepresentatives of nature, now \"delivered from the bondage of\ncorruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God,\"[125]\nis wholly different from that of chap. iv. It is a _new song_, for it\nis the song of the \"new creation;\" and its burden, it will be\nobserved, is not creation, but redemption by the blood of the Lamb, a\nredemption through which all partaking of it are raised to a higher\nglory and a fairer beauty than that enjoyed and exhibited before sin\nhad as yet entered into the world, and when God saw that all that He\nhad made was good.\n\nThe song was sung, but no sooner was it sung than it awoke a\nresponsive strain from multitudes of which we have not yet heard:--\n\n And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the\n throne and the living creatures and the elders: and the number was\n ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands; saying\n with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to\n receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour,\n and glory, and blessing (v. 11, 12).\n\nThese are the angels, who are not within the throne, but _round about\nthe throne and the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders_.\nTheir place is not so near the throne, so near the Lamb. \"For not unto\nangels did He subject the inhabited earth to come, whereof we\nspeak.\"[126] He subjected it to man, to Him first of all who, having\ntaken upon Him our human nature, and in that nature conquered, was\n\"crowned with glory and honour,\" but then also to the members of His\nBody, who shall in due time be exalted to a similar dignity and shall\n_reign over the earth_. Yet angels rejoice with man and with creation\nredeemed and purified. They \"desire to look into\"[127] these things:\n\"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner\nthat repenteth.\"[128] He who was God manifested in flesh \"appeared\"\nafter His resurrection \"to angels;\"[129] and, although they have not\nbeen purchased with the blood of the slaughtered Lamb, their hearts\nare filled with livelier ecstasy and their voices swell out into\nlouder praise while the \"manifold wisdom of God is made known\" to them\nin their heavenly places.[130]\n\nEven this is not all. There is a third stage in the ascending scale, a\nthird circle formed for the widening song:--\n\n And everything which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under\n the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard\n I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb,\n be the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion,\n for ever and ever (v. 13).\n\nWhat a sublime conception have we here before us! The whole universe,\nfrom its remotest star to the things around us and beneath our feet,\nis one,--one in feeling, in emotion, in expression; one in heart and\nvoice. Nothing is said of evil. Nor is it thought of. It is in the\nhands of God, who will work out His sovereign purposes in His own good\ntime and way. We have only to listen to the universal harmony, and to\nsee that it move us to corresponding praise.\n\nIt did so now:--\n\n And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down\n and worshipped (v. 14).\n\nThe redeemed creation is once more singled out for special mention. At\nchap. iv, 8, 10, they began the song; now we return to them that they\nmay close it. All creation, man included, cries, _Amen_. The glorified\nChurch has her heart too full to speak. She can only fall down and\nworship.\n\nThe distinction between chap. iv. and chap. v. must now be obvious, even\nwhile it is allowed that the same general thought is at the bottom of\nboth chapters. In the one the Church when about to enter on her struggle\nhas the call addressed to her: \"Believe in God.\" In the other that call\nis followed up by the glorified Redeemer: \"Believe also in Me.\"\n\nHaving listened to the call, there is no enemy that she need fear, and\nno trial from which she need shrink. She is already more than\nconqueror through Him that loved her. As we enter into the spirit of\nthese chapters we cry,--\n\n \"God is our refuge and strength,\n A very present help in trouble.\n Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,\n And though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas;\n Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,\n Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.\n There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of\n God,\n The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.\n God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:\n God shall help her, and that right early.\n The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved:\n He uttered His voice, the earth melted.\n The Lord of hosts is with us;\n The God of Jacob is our refuge.\"[131]\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[87] Comp. 2 Chron. xxxii. 7, 8.\n\n[88] Ps. ix. 7.\n\n[89] Chap. xxi. 11.\n\n[90] Isa. vi. 3.\n\n[91] 1 Pet. ii. 6, 8.\n\n[92] Heb. xii. 28, 29.\n\n[93] Ps. xcix. 1.\n\n[94] Exod. xxvi. 1.\n\n[95] Comp. _Bible Educator_, vol. iii., p. 290, where the writer has\ndiscussed this subject at some length.\n\n[96] Rom. viii. 21.\n\n[97] Job ix. 26.\n\n[98] Gen. iii. 24.\n\n[99] Ezek. i. 13, 14.\n\n[100] Chap. vi. 1, 3, 5, 7.\n\n[101] Chap. xv. 7.\n\n[102] Chap. xix. 4.\n\n[103] Exod. xxv. 20.\n\n[104] Ps. xviii. 10.\n\n[105] _The Apocalypse, with Notes and Reflections_, p. 69.\n\n[106] Ps. cxlviii. 1-3.\n\n[107] Ezek. ii. 9, 10.\n\n[108] John i. 45.\n\n[109] Gen. xlix. 9.\n\n[110] Isa. xi. 1.\n\n[111] 1 Chron. xxviii. 4.\n\n[112] Col. i. 26.\n\n[113] 1 John ii. 8.\n\n[114] Hos. vi. 2, 3.\n\n[115] John i. 36.\n\n[116] John xix. 36.\n\n[117] The point now spoken of has been doubted. A full discussion of\nit by the present writer will be found in _The Expositor_ for July and\nAugust, 1877.\n\n[118] John xix. 30.\n\n[119] Chap. i. 18.\n\n[120] Chap. i. 18.\n\n[121] 1 Pet. i. 11\n\n[122] Col. iii. 11.\n\n[123] Col. i. 15-20.\n\n[124] Rom. ix. 5.\n\n[125] Rom. viii. 21.\n\n[126] Heb. ii. 5.\n\n[127] 1 Pet. i. 12.\n\n[128] Luke xv. 10.\n\n[129] 1 Tim. iii. 16.\n\n[130] Eph. iii. 10.\n\n[131] Ps. xlvi. 1-7.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n _THE SEALED ROLL OPENED._\n\n REV. vi.\n\n\nWith the sixth chapter of the Apocalypse the main action of the book\nmay be said properly to begin. Three sections of the seven into which\nit is divided have already passed under our notice. The fourth\nsection, extending from chap. vi. 1 to chap. xviii. 24, is intended to\nbring before us the struggle of the Church, the judgment of God upon\nher enemies, and her final victory. No detail of historical events in\nwhich these things are fulfilled need be looked for. We are to be\ndirected rather to the sources whence the trials spring, and to the\nprinciples by which the victory is gained. At this point in the\nunfolding of the visions it is generally thought that there is a\npause, an interval of quietness however brief, and a hush of\nexpectation on the part both of the Seer himself and of all the\nheavenly witnesses of the wondrous drama. But there seems to be no\nfoundation for such an impression in the text; and it is more in\nkeeping alike with the language of this particular passage and with\nthe general probabilities of the case to imagine that the \"lightnings\nand voices and thunders,\" spoken of in chap. iv. 5 as proceeding out\nof the throne, continue to re-echo over the scene, filling the hearts\nof the spectators with that sense of awe which they are naturally\nfitted to awaken. We have to meet the Lord in judgment. We are to\nbehold the Lamb as \"the Lion of the tribe of Judah;\" and when He so\nappears, \"the mountains flow down at His presence.\"[132]\n\nThe Lamb then, who had, in the previous chapter, taken the book out of\nthe hand of Him that sat upon the throne, is now to open it, part by\npart, seal by seal:--\n\n And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard\n one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of\n thunder, Come (vi. 1).\n\nParticular attention ought to be paid to the fact that the true\nreading of the last clause of this verse is not, as in the Authorised\nVersion, \"Come and see,\" but simply, as in the Revised Version,\n_Come_. The call is not addressed to the Seer, but to the Lord\nHimself; and it is uttered by one of the four living creatures spoken\nof in chap. iv. 6, who are \"in the midst of the throne and round about\nthe throne,\" and who in ver. 8 of the same chapter are the first to\nraise the song from which they never rest, saying, \"Holy, holy, holy,\nis the Lord, God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to\ncome.\" The word _Come_ therefore embodies the longing of redeemed\ncreation that the Lord, for the completion of whose work it waits,\nwill take to Him His great power and reign. Not so much for the\nperfecting of its own happiness, or for deliverance from the various\ntroubles by which it is as yet beset, and not so much for the\nmanifestation of its Lord in His abounding mercy to His own, does the\ncreation delivered from the bondage of corruption wait, as for the\nmoment when Christ shall appear in awful majesty, King of kings and\nLord of lords, when He shall banish for ever from the earth the sin by\nwhich it is polluted, and when He shall establish, from the rising of\nthe sun to the going down of the same, His glorious kingdom of\nrighteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.\n\nThis prospect is inseparably associated with the Second Coming of Him\nwho is now concealed from our view; and therefore the cry of the whole\nwaiting creation, whether animate or inanimate, to its Lord is _Come_.\nThe cry, too, and that not only in the case of the first living\ncreature, but (according to a rule of interpretation of which in this\nbook we shall often have to make use) in the case of the three that\nfollow, is uttered _with a voice of thunder_; and thunder is always an\naccompaniment and symbol of the Divine judgments.\n\nNo sooner is the cry heard than it is answered:--\n\n And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat thereon had a\n bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth\n conquering, and to conquer (vi. 2).\n\nFew figures of the Apocalypse have occasioned more trouble to\ninterpreters than that contained in these words. On the one hand, the\nparticulars seem unmistakeably to point to the Lord Himself; but, on the\nother hand, if the first rider be the glorified Redeemer, it is\ndifficult to establish that harmonious parallelism with the following\nriders which appears to be required by the well-ordered arrangement of\nthe visions of this book. Yet it is clearly impossible to regard the\nfirst rider as merely a symbol of war, for the second rider would then\nconvey the same lesson as the first; nor is there anything in the text\nto establish a distinction, frequently resorted to, by which the first\nrider is thought to denote foreign, and the second civil, war. Every\nattempt also to separate the white horse of this vision from that of the\nvision at chap. xix. 11 fails, and must fail. Probably it is enough to\nsay that not one of the four riders is a person. Each is rather a cause,\na manifestation of certain truths connected with the kingdom of Christ\nwhen that kingdom is seen to be, in its own nature, the judgment of the\nworld. Even war, famine, and death and Hades, which follow, are not\nliterally these things. They are simply used, as scourges of mankind, to\ngive general expression to the judgments of God. Thus also under the\nfirst rider the cause rather than the person of Christ is introduced to\nus, in the earliest stage of its victorious progress, and with the\npromise of its future triumph. The various points of the description\nhardly need to be explained. The colour of the horse is _white_, for\nthroughout these visions that colour is always the symbol of heavenly\npurity. The rider has a _crown given_ him, a crown of royalty. He has in\nhis hand a _bow_, the instrument of war by which he scatters his enemies\nlike stubble.[133] Finally, he _comes forth conquering and to conquer_,\nfor his victorious march knows no interruption, and at last leaves no\nfoe unvanquished. In the first rider we have thus the cause of Christ in\nits essence, as that cause of light which, having already drawn to it\nthe sons of light, has become darkness to the sons of darkness. By the\nopening of the first Seal we learn that this cause is in the world, that\nthis kingdom is in the midst of us, and that they who oppose it shall be\noverwhelmed with defeat.\n\nThe interpretation now given of the first rider as one who rides forth\nto judgment on a sinful world is confirmed by what is said of the three\nthat follow him. In them too we have judgment, and judgment only, while\nthe three judgments spoken of--war, famine, and death--are precisely\nthose with which the prophets in the Old Testament and the Saviour\nHimself in the New have familiarised our thoughts.[134] They are not to\nbe literally understood. Like all else in the visions of St. John, they\nare used symbolically; and each of them expresses in a general form the\ncalamities and woes, the misfortunes and sorrows, brought by sinful men\nupon themselves through rejection of their rightful King.\n\nThe second Seal is now broken, and the second rider follows:--\n\n And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living\n creature saying, Come. And another horse came forth, a red horse:\n and to him that sat thereon it was given to take peace from the\n earth, and that they should slaughter one another: and there was\n given unto him a great sword (vi. 3, 4).\n\nThe second horse is _red_, the colour of blood, for it is the horse of\nwar: and slaughter follows it as its rider passes over _the earth_;\nthat is, not over the earth in general, but over the ungodly. Two\nthings in this vision are particularly worthy of notice. In the first\nplace, the war spoken of is not between the righteous and the wicked,\nbut among the wicked alone. The wicked _slaughter one another_. All\npersons engaged in these internecine conflicts have cast aside the\noffers of the Prince of peace; and, at enmity with Him who is the only\ntrue foundation of human brotherhood, they are also at enmity among\nthemselves. Of the righteous nothing is yet said. We are left to\ninfer that they are safe in their dwellings, in peaceable habitations,\nand in quiet resting-places.[135] By-and-by we shall learn that they\nare not only safe, but surrounded with joy and plenty. In the second\nplace, the original word translated \"slay\" both in the Authorised and\nRevised Versions deserves attention. It is a sacrificial term, the\nsame as that found in chap. v. 6, where we read of the \"slaughtered\nLamb;\" and here therefore, as there, it ought to be rendered, not\n\"slay,\" but \"slaughter.\" The instant we so translate, the whole\npicture rises before our view in a light entirely different from that\nin which we commonly regard it. What judgment, nay what irony of\njudgment, is there in the ways of God when He visits sinners with the\nterrors of His wrath! The very fate which men shrink from accepting in\nthe form of a blessing overtakes them in the form of a curse. They\nthink to save their life, and they lose it. They seek to avoid that\nsacrifice of themselves which, made in Christ, lies at the root of the\ntrue accomplishment of human destiny; and they are constrained to\nsubstitute for it a sacrifice of an altogether different kind: they\nsacrifice, they slaughter, one another.\n\nThe third Seal is now broken, and the third rider follows:--\n\n And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living\n creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold a black horse; and he\n that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. And I heard as it were\n a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A\n measure of wheat for a penny (or a silver penny), and three\n measures of barley for a penny; and the oil and the wine hurt thou\n not (vi. 5, 6).\n\n\nThe third living creature cries as the two before it had done; and a\nthird horse comes forth, the colour of which is _black_, the colour of\ngloom and mourning and lamentation. Nor can there be any doubt that this\ncondition of things is produced by scarcity, for the figure of the\nbalance and of measuring bread by weight is on different occasions\nemployed in the Old Testament to express the idea of famine. Thus among\nthe threatenings denounced upon Israel should it prove faithless to\nGod's covenant we read, \"And when I have broken the staff of your bread,\nten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you\nyour bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be\nsatisfied.\"[136] And so also when Ezekiel would describe the miseries of\nthe coming siege of Jerusalem he exclaims, \"Moreover He said unto me,\nSon of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and\nthey shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink\nwater by measure, and with astonishment: that they may want bread and\nwater, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their\niniquity.\"[137] To give out corn by weight instead of measure was thus\nan emblem of scarcity. The particulars of the scarcity here described\nare obscured to the English reader by the unfortunate translation, both\nin this passage and elsewhere, and in the Revised as well as the\nAuthorised Version, of the Greek _denarius_ by the English _penny_. That\ncoin was of the value of fully eightpence of our money, and was the\nrecognised payment of a labourer's full day's work.[138] In ordinary\ncircumstances it was sufficient to purchase eight of the small\n\"measures\" now referred to, so that when it could buy one \"measure\"\nonly, the quantity needed by a single man for his own daily food, it is\nimplied that wheat had risen eight times in price, and that all that\ncould be purchased by means of a whole day's toil would suffice for no\nmore than one individual's sustenance, leaving nothing for his other\nwants and the wants of his family. No doubt _three measures of barley_\ncould be purchased for the same sum, but barley was a coarser grain, and\nto be dependent upon it was in itself a proof that there was famine in\nthe land. Again, as in the previous judgment, the words of the figure\nare not to be literally understood. What we have before us is not famine\nin its strict sense, but the judgment of God under the form of famine;\nand this second judgment is climactic to the first. Men say to\nthemselves that they will live at peace with one another, and sow, and\nreap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. But in doing this\nthey are mastered by the power of selfishness; the too eager pursuit of\nearthly interests defeats its end; and, under the influence of deeper\nand more mysterious laws than the mere political economist can discover,\nfields that might have been covered with golden harvests lie desolate\nand bare.\n\nNothing has yet been said of the last clause of this judgment: _The\noil and the wine hurt thou not._ The words are generally regarded as a\nlimitation of the severity of the famine previously described, and as\na promise that even in judging God will not execute all His wrath. The\ninterpretation can hardly be accepted. Not only does it weaken the\nforce of the threatening, but the meaning thus given to the figure is\nentirely out of place. Oil and wine were for the mansions of the rich\nnot for the habitations of the poor, for the feast and not for the\nsupply of the common wants of life. Nor would a sufferer from famine\nhave found in them a substitute for bread. The meaning of the words\ntherefore must be looked for in a wholly different direction. \"Thou\npreparest a table before me,\" says the Psalmist, \"in the presence of\nmine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth\nover.\"[139] This is the table the supply of which is now alluded to.\nIt is prepared for the righteous in the midst of the struggles of the\nworld, and in the presence of their enemies. Oil is there in abundance\nto anoint the heads of the happy guests, and their cups are so filled\nwith plenty that they run over. In the words under consideration,\naccordingly, we have no limitation of the effects of famine. The\n\"wine\" and the \"oil\" alluded to express not so much what is simply\nrequired for life as the plenty and the joy of life; and, thus\ninterpreted, they are a figure of the care with which God watches over\nHis own people and supplies all their wants. While His judgments are\nabroad in the earth they are protected in the hollow of His hand. He\nhas taken them into His banqueting house, and His banner over them is\nlove. The world may be hungry, but they are fed. As the children of\nIsrael had light in their dwellings while the land of Egypt lay in\ndarkness, so while the world famishes the followers of Jesus have all\nand more than all that they require. They have \"life, and that\nabundantly.\"[140] Thus we learn the condition of the children of God\nduring the trials spoken of in these visions. Under the second Seal we\ncould only infer from the general analogy of this book that they were\nsafe. Now we know that they are not only safe, but that they are\nenriched with every blessing. They have oil that makes the face of man\nto shine, and bread that strengtheneth his heart.[141]\n\nThe fourth Seal is now broken, and the fourth rider follows:--\n\n And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the\n fourth living creature saying, Come. And I saw, and behold a pale\n horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death; and Hades\n followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over\n the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine,\n and with death, and by the wild beasts of the earth (vi. 7, 8).\n\nThe colour of the fourth horse is _pale_; it has the livid colour of a\ncorpse, corresponding to its rider, whose name, Death, is in this case\ngiven. _Hades followed with him_, not after him, thus showing that a\ngloomy and dark region beyond the grave is his inseparable attendant,\nand that it too is an instrument of God's wrath. In chap. i. 18 these\ntwo dire companions had also been associated with one another; and it\nis important to notice the combination, as the fact will afterwards\nthrow light upon one of the most difficult visions of the book.\n\"Death\" is not neutral death, that separation between soul and body\nwhich awaits every individual of the human family until the Saviour\ncomes. It is death in the deeper meaning which it so often bears in\nScripture, and especially in the writings of St. John,--death as\njudgment. In like manner Hades is not the neutral grave where the rich\nand the poor meet together, where the wicked cease from troubling, and\nwhere the weary are at rest. It is the region occupied by those who\nhave not found life in Christ; and, not less than death, it is\njudgment. \"Death\" and \"Hades\" then are the culminating judgments of\nGod upon _the earth_, that is, upon the wicked; and they execute their\nmission in a fourfold manner: by _the sword, and famine, and death,\nand the wild beasts of the earth_. The world, the symbolical number of\nwhich is four, instead of blessing such as submit themselves to its\nsway, turns round upon them with all the powers at its command and\nkills them. The wicked \"are sunk down in the pit that they made: in\nthe net which they hid is their own foot taken.\"[142]\n\nIt is not easy to say why authority is given death and Hades over no\nmore than _the fourth part_ of the earth, when we might rather have\nexpected that their dominion would be extended over the whole. The\nquestion may be asked whether it is possible so to understand the Seer\nas to connect a \"fourth part\" of the earth, not with all the\ninstruments together, but with each separate instrument of judgment\nafterwards named--one fourth to be killed with the sword, a second\nwith famine, a third with death, and a fourth by wild beasts. Should\nsuch an idea be regarded as untenable, the probability is that a\nfourth part is mentioned in order to make room for the climactic rise\nto a \"third part\" afterwards met under the trumpet judgments.\n\nThe end of the first four Seals has now been reached, and at this point\nthere is an obvious break in the hitherto harmonious progress of the\nvisions. No fifth rider appears when the fifth Seal is broken, and we\npass from the material into the spiritual, from the visible into the\ninvisible, world. That the transition is not accidental, but\ndeliberately made, appears from this, that the very same principle of\ndivision marks the series of the trumpets at chap. ix. 1, and of the\nbowls at chap. xvi. 10. We have thus the number seven divided into its\ntwo parts four and three, while in chaps. ii. and iii. we had it divided\ninto three and four. The difference is easily accounted for, three being\nthe number of God, or the Divine, and therefore taking precedence when\nwe are concerned with the existence of the Church, four being the number\nof the world, and therefore coming first when judgment on the world is\ndescribed. It is of more consequence, however, to note the fact than to\nexplain it, for it helps in no small degree to illustrate that\nartificial structure of the Apocalypse which is so completely at\nvariance with the supposition that it describes in its successive\nparagraphs the successive historical events of the Christian age.\n\nPassing then into a different region of thought, the fifth Seal is now\nbroken:--\n\n And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the\n souls of them that had been slaughtered for the word of God, and\n for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a great\n voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost Thou\n not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?\n And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was said\n unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until\n their fellow-servants also and their brethren, which should be\n killed even as they were, should be fulfilled (vi. 9-11).\n\nThe vision contained in these words is unquestionably a crucial one\nfor the interpretation of the Apocalypse, and it will be necessary to\ndwell upon it for a little. The minor details may be easily disposed\nof. By the consent of all commentators of note, the _altar_ referred\nto is the brazen altar of sacrifice, which stood in the outer court\nboth of the Tabernacle and the Temple; the _souls_, or lives, seen\nunder it are probably seen under the form of blood, for the blood was\nthe life: and the law of Moses commanded that when animals were\nsacrificed the blood should be poured out \"at the bottom of the altar\nof burnt-offering, which is before the tabernacle of the\ncongregation;\"[143] while the _little time_ mentioned in ver. 11 can\nmean nothing else than the interval between the moment when the souls\nwere spoken to and that when the killing of their brethren should be\nbrought to a close.\n\nThe main question to be answered is, Whom do these \"souls\" represent?\nAre they Christian martyrs, suffering perhaps at the hands of the Jews\nbefore the fall of Jerusalem, perhaps at the hands of the world to the\nend of time? Or are they the martyrs of the Old Testament\ndispensation, Jewish martyrs, who had lived and died in faith? Both\nsuppositions have been entertained, though the former has been, and\nstill is, that almost universally adopted. Yet there can be little\ndoubt that the latter is correct, and that several important\nparticulars of the passage demand its acceptance.\n\n1. Let us observe how these martyrs are designated. They had been\nslain _for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held_.\nBut that is not the full expression of _Christian_ testimony. As we\nread in many other passages of the book before us, Christians have\n\"the testimony _of Jesus_.\"[144] The addition needed to bring out the\nChristian character of the testimony referred to is wanting here. No\ndoubt the saints of old looked forward to the coming of the Christ;\nbut the testimony \"of Jesus\" is the testimony pertaining to Him as a\nSaviour come, in all the glory of His person and in all the\ncompleteness of His work. It is a testimony embracing a full knowledge\nof the Messiah, and the inference is natural and legitimate that it is\nnot ascribed to the souls under the altar, because they neither had\nnor could have possessed it.\n\n2. The cry of these \"souls\" is worthy of notice, _How long, O Master,\nthe holy and the true_, where the word \"Master,\" applied also in Acts\niv. 24 and Jude 4[145] to God as distinguished from Christ, corresponds\nbetter to the spirit of the Old than of the New Testament dispensation.\n\n3. The time at which the martyrs had been killed belongs not to the\npresent or the future, but to the past. Like all the other Seals, the\nfifth is opened at the very beginning of the Christian era; and no\nsooner is it opened than the souls are seen. It is true that the Seer\nmight be supposed to transport himself forward into the future, and,\nat some point of Christian history more or less distant, to console\nChristian martyrs who had already fallen with the assurance that they\nhad only to wait _a little time_, until such as were to be their later\ncompanions in martyrdom should have shared their fate. But such a\nsupposition is inconsistent with the fact that St. John in the\nApocalypse always thinks of the Christian age as one hardly capable of\nbeing divided; while, as we shall immediately see more clearly, it\nwould make it impossible to explain the consolation afforded by the\nbestowal of the _white robe_.\n\n4. The altar under which the blood is seen may help to confirm this\nconclusion, for that blood is not preserved in the inner sanctuary, in\nthat \"heaven\" which is the ideal home of all the disciples of Jesus:\nit lies beneath the altar of the outer court.\n\n5. The main argument, however, in favour of the view now contended\nfor, is to be found in the act by which these souls were comforted:\n_And there was given them to each one a white robe._ The white robe,\nthen, they had not obtained before; and yet that robe belongs during\nhis life on earth to every follower of Christ. Nothing is more\nfrequently spoken of in these visions than the \"white robe\" of the\nredeemed, and it is obviously theirs from the first moment when they\nare united to their Lord. It is the robe of the priesthood, and at\ntheir very entrance upon true spiritual life they are priests in Him.\nIt is the robe with which the faithful remnant in Sardis had been\narrayed before they are introduced to us, for they had not \"defiled\"\nit; and the emphasis in the promise there given, \"They shall walk with\nMe in white,\" appears to lie upon its first rather than its second\nclause.[146] Again, the promise to every one in that church that\n\"overcometh\" is that he \"shall be arrayed in white garments;\"[147] and\nit is beyond dispute that the promises of the seven epistles belong to\nthe victory of faith gained in this world, not less than to the\nperfected reward of victory in the world to come. In like manner the\nLaodicean church is exhorted to buy of her Lord \"white garments\" that\nshe may be clothed, as well as \"gold\" that she may be enriched, and\n\"eyesalve\" that she may see[148]; and, as the two latter purchases\nrefer to her present state, so also must the former. When, too, the\nLord is united in marriage to His Church, it is said that \"it was\ngiven unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright\nand pure;\" and that fine linen is immediately explained to be \"the\nrighteous acts of the saints.\"[149]\n\nPutting all these passages together, we are distinctly taught that in\nthe language of the Apocalypse the \"white robe\" denotes that perfect\nrighteousness of Christ, both external and internal, which is bestowed\nupon the believer from the moment when he is by faith made one with\nJesus. It is that more perfect justification of which St. Paul spoke at\nAntioch in Pisidia when he said to the Jews, \"By Him every one that\nbelieveth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be\njustified by the law of Moses.\"[150] It had been longed for by the\nsaints of the Old Testament, but had never been fully bestowed upon them\nuntil Jesus came. David had prayed for it: \"Purge me with hyssop, and I\nshall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;\"[151] Isaiah\nhad anticipated it when he looked forward to the acceptable year of the\nLord: \"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my\nGod; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath\ncovered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh\nhimself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her\njewels;\"[152] and Ezekiel had celebrated it as the chief blessing of\nGospel times: \"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall\nbe clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I\ncleanse you.... And ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. I\nwill also save you from all your uncleannesses.\"[153] But while thus\nprayed for, anticipated, and greeted from afar, the fulness of blessing\nbelonging to the New Testament had not been actually received under the\nOld. \"He that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than\nJohn.\"[154] As we are taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews, even Abel,\nEnoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all those heroes of faith\nwho had subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,\nstopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the\nedge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war,\nturned to flight armies of aliens--even \"these all, having had witness\nborne to them through their faith, _received not the promise_: God\nhaving provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they\nshould not be made perfect.\"[155] At death they were not made perfect.\nThey passed rather into a holy rest where they waited until, like\nAbraham, who had \"rejoiced that he should see Christ's day,\" they \"saw\nit and were glad.\"[156] Then the \"white robe\" was given them. They were\nraised to the level of that Church which, now that Jesus had come,\nrejoiced in Him with \"a joy unspeakable and glorified.\"[157]\n\nThese considerations appear sufficient to decide the point. The souls\nunder the altar of the fifth Seal are the saints, not of Christianity,\nbut of Judaism. It is true that all of them had not been literally\n\"slaughtered.\" But it is a peculiarity of this book, of which further\nproof will be afforded as we proceed, that it regards all true\nfollowers of Christ as martyrs. Christ was Himself a Martyr; His\ndisciples \"follow\" Him: they are martyrs. Christ's Church is a martyr\nChurch. She dies in her Master's service, and for the world's good.\n\nOne point more ought to be noticed before we leave this Seal. The\nlanguage of these souls under the altar is apt to offend when they\napparently cry for vengeance upon their murderers: _How long dost Thou\nnot avenge?_ Yet it is enough to say that so to interpret their cry is\nto do injustice to the whole spirit of this book Strictly speaking, in\nfact, they do not themselves cry. It is their blood that cries; it is\nthe wrong done to them that demands reparation. In so far as they may\nbe supposed to cry, they have in view, not their enemies as persons,\nbut the evil that is in them, and that manifests itself through them.\nAt first it may seem difficult to draw the distinction; but if we\npause over the matter for a little, the difficulty will disappear.\nNever do we pity the sinner more, or feel for him with a keener\nsympathy, than when we are most indignant at sin and most earnest in\nprayer and effort for its destruction. The more anxious we are for the\nlatter, the more must we compassionate the man who is enveloped in\nsin's fatal toils. When we long therefore for the hour at which sin\nshall be overtaken by the just judgment of God, we long only for the\nestablishment of that righteous and holy kingdom which is inseparably\nbound up with the glory of God and the happiness of the world.\n\nFor this kingdom then the saints of the Old Testament, together with\nall their \"brethren\" under the New Testament, who like them are\nfaithful unto death, now wait; and the opening of the sixth Seal tells\nus that it is at hand:--\n\n And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great\n earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the\n whole moon became as blood; and the stars of the heaven fell unto\n the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs, when she is\n shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as a scroll\n when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved\n out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the princes,\n and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every\n bondman and free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks\n of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks,\n Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the\n throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of their\n wrath is come; and who is able to stand? (vi. 12-17).\n\nThe description is marked by almost unparalleled magnificence and\nsublimity, and any attempt to dwell upon details could only injure the\ngeneral effect. The real question to be answered is, To what does it\napply? Is it a picture of the destruction of Jerusalem or of the final\nJudgment? Or may it even represent every great calamity by which a\nsinful world is overtaken? In each of these senses, and in each of\nthem with a certain degree of truth, has the passage been understood.\nEach is a part of the great thought which it embraces. The error of\ninterpreters has consisted in confining the whole, or even the\nprimary, sense to any one of them. The true reference of the passage\nappears to be to the Christian dispensation, especially on its side of\njudgment. That dispensation had often been spoken of by the prophets\nin a precisely similar way; and the whole description of these verses,\nalive with the rich glow of the Eastern imagination, is taken partly\nfrom their language, and partly from the language of our Lord in the\nmore prophetic and impassioned moments of His life.\n\nThus it was that Joel had announced the purpose of God: \"And I will\nshow wonders in the heavens and the earth, blood, and fire, and\npillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon\ninto blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come,\"\nand again, \"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars\nshall withdraw their shining;\"[158] while, apart altogether from the\nimmediately preceding and following words, which prove the\ninterpretation above given to be correct, this announcement of Joel\nwas declared by St. Peter on the day of Pentecost to apply to the\n_introduction_ of that kingdom of Christ which, in the gift of\ntongues, was at that moment exhibited in power.[159] In like manner we\nread in the prophet Haggai, \"For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet\nonce, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the\nearth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all\nnations.\"[160] While, again, without our needing to dwell on the\nconnexion in which the words occur, we find the writer of the Epistle\nto the Hebrews applying the prophecy to the circumstances of those to\nwhom he wrote at a time when they had heard the voice that speaketh\nfrom heaven, and had received the kingdom that cannot be moved.[161]\nThe prophet Malachi also, whose words have been interpreted for us by\nour Lord Himself, describes the day of Him whom the Baptist was to\nprecede and to introduce as the day that \"burneth as a furnace,\" as\n\"the great and terrible day of the Lord.\"[162] This aspect, too, of\nany great era in the history of a land or of a people had always been\npresented by the voice of prophecy in language from which the words\nbefore us are obviously taken. Thus it was that when Isaiah described\nthe coming of a time at which the mountain of the Lord's house shall\nbe established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above\nthe hills, and all nations shall flow into it, he mentions, among its\nother characteristics, \"And they shall go into the holes of the\nrocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for\nthe glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the\nearth.\"[163] When the same prophet details the burden of Babylon which\nhe saw, he exclaims, \"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both\nwith wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation, and to\ndestroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the\nconstellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be\ndarkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to\nshine;\"[164] and again, when he widens his view from Babylon to a\nguilty world, \"For the Lord hath indignation against all the nations,\nand fury against all their hosts.... And all the host of heaven shall\nbe dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:\nand all their host shall fade away, as the leaf falleth from off the\nvine, and as a fading fig from the fig tree.\"[165] Many other passages\nof a similar kind might be quoted from the Old Testament; but, without\nquoting further from that source, it may be enough to call to mind\nthat when our Lord delivered His discourse upon the last things He\nadopted a precisely similar strain: \"_Immediately_ after the\ntribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon\nshall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and\nthe powers of the heavens shall be shaken.\"[166]\n\nHighly coloured, therefore, as the language used under the sixth Seal\nmay appear to us, to the Jew, animated by the spirit of the Old\nTestament, it was simply that in which he had been accustomed to express\nhis expectation of any new dispensation of the Almighty, of any striking\ncrisis in the history of the world. Whenever he thought of the Judge of\nall the earth as manifesting Himself in a greater than ordinary degree,\nand as manifesting Himself in that truth and righteousness which was the\nglorious distinction of His character, he took advantage of such figures\nas we have now before us. To the fall of Jerusalem therefore, to every\ngreat crisis in human history, and to the close of all, they may be\nfittingly applied. In the eloquent language of Dr. Vaughan, \"These words\nare wonderful in all senses, not least in this sense: that they are\nmanifold in their accomplishment. Wherever there is a little flock in a\nwaste wilderness; wherever there is a Church in a world; wherever there\nis a power of unbelief, ungodliness, and violence, throwing itself upon\nChrist's faith and Christ's people and seeking to overbear, and to\ndemolish, and to destroy; whether that power be the power of Jewish\nbigotry and fanaticism, as in the days of the first disciples; or of\npagan Rome, with its idolatries and its cruelties, as in the days of St.\nJohn and of the Revelation; or of papal Rome, with its lying wonders and\nits antichristian assumptions, in ages later still; or of open and\nrampant atheism, as in the days of the first French Revolution; or of a\nsubtler and more insidious infidelity, like that which is threatening\nnow to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect; wherever and\nwhatever this power may be--and it has had a thousand forms, and may be\ndestined yet to assume a thousand more--then, in each successive\ncentury, the words of Christ to His first disciples adapt themselves\nafresh to the circumstances of His struggling servants; warn them of\ndanger, exhort them to patience, arouse them to hope, assure them of\nvictory; tell of a near end for the individual and for the generation;\ntell also of a far end, not for ever to be postponed, for time itself\nand for the world; predict a destruction which shall befall each enemy\nof the truth, and predict a destruction which shall befall the enemy\nhimself whom each in turn has represented and served; explain the\nmeaning of tribulation, show whence it comes, and point to its\nswallowing up in glory; reveal the moving hand above, and disclose, from\nbehind the cloud which conceals it, the clear definite purpose and the\nunchanging loving will. Thus understood, each separate downfall of evil\nbecomes a prophecy of the next and of the last; and the partial\nfulfilment of our Lord's words in the destruction of Jerusalem, or of\nSt. John's words in the downfall of idolatry and the dismemberment of\nRome, becomes itself in turn a new warrant for the Church's expectation\nof the Second Advent and of the day of judgment.\"[167]\n\nWhile, however, the truth of these words may be allowed, it is still\nnecessary to urge that the primary application of the language of the\nsixth Seal is to no one of such events in particular, but to something\nwhich includes them all. In other words, it applies to the Christian\ndispensation, viewed in its beginning, its progress, and its end,\nviewed in all those issues which it produces in the world, but\nespecially on the side of judgment.\n\nNor ought such dark and terrible figures to startle us, as if they\ncould not be suitably applied to a dispensation of mercy, of grace\nthat we cannot fathom, of love that passeth knowledge. The Christian\ndispensation is not effeminacy. If it tells of abounding compassion\nfor the sinner, it tells also of fire, and hail, and vapour of smoke\nfor the sin. If it speaks at one time in a gentle voice, it speaks at\nanother in a voice of thunder; and, when the latter is rightly\nlistened to, the air is cleared as by the whirlwind.\n\nAlthough, therefore, the language of the prophets and of this passage\nmay at first sight appear to be marked by far too great a measure both\nof strength and of severity to make it applicable to the Gospel age, it\nis in reality neither too strong nor too severe. It is at variance only\nwith the verdict of that superficial glance which is satisfied with\nlooking at phenomena in their outward and temporary aspect, and which\ndeclines to penetrate into the heart of things. So long as man is\ncontent with such a spirit, he is naturally enough unstirred by any\npowerful emotion; and he can only say that words of prophetic fire are\nwords of exaggeration and of false enthusiasm. But no sooner does he\ncatch that spirit of the Bible which brings him into contact with\neternal verities than his tone changes. He can no longer rest upon the\nsurface. He can no longer dismiss the thought of mighty issues at stake\naround him with the reflection that \"all the world's a stage, and all\nthe men and women on it only players.\" When from the shore he looks out\nupon the mass of waters stretching before him, he thinks not merely of\nthe light waves rippling at his feet and losing themselves in the sand,\nbut of the unfathomed depths of the ocean from which they come, and of\nthose mysterious movements of it which they indicate. He sees sights, he\nhears sounds, which the common eye does not see, and the common ear does\nnot hear. The slightest motion of the soil speaks to him of earthquakes;\nthe handful of snow loosened from the mountain-side, of avalanches; the\nsimplest utterance of awe, of a cry that the mountains and the hills\nare falling. The great does not become to him little; but the little\nbecomes great. There is thus no exaggeration in the strength or even in\nthe severity of prophetic figures. The prophet has passed from the world\nof shadows, flitting past him and disappearing, into the world of\nrealities, Divine, unchangeable, and everlasting.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[132] Isa. lxiv. 1.\n\n[133] Isa. xli. 2.\n\n[134] Ezek. vi. 11; Matt. xxiv. 6-8.\n\n[135] Isa. xxxii. 18.\n\n[136] Lev. xxvi. 26.\n\n[137] Ezek. iv. 16, 17.\n\n[138] Comp. Matt. xx. 2.\n\n[139] Ps. xxiii. 5.\n\n[140] John x. 10.\n\n[141] Ps. civ. 15.\n\n[142] Ps. ix. 15.\n\n[143] Lev. iv. 7.\n\n[144] Comp. chaps. i. 2, 9; xi. 7; xii. 11, 17; xix. 10.\n\n[145] Margin of Revised Version.\n\n[146] Chap. iii. 4.\n\n[147] Chap. iii. 5.\n\n[148] Chap. iii. 18.\n\n[149] Chap. xix. 8.\n\n[150] Acts xiii. 39.\n\n[151] Ps. li. 7.\n\n[152] Isa. lxi. 10.\n\n[153] Ezek. xxxvi. 25-29.\n\n[154] Matt. xi. 11.\n\n[155] Heb. xi. 39, 40.\n\n[156] John viii. 56.\n\n[157] 1 Pet. i. 8 (R.V., margin).\n\n[158] Joel ii. 30, 31; iii. 15.\n\n[159] Acts ii. 16-21.\n\n[160] Haggai ii. 6, 7.\n\n[161] Heb. xii. 25-29.\n\n[162] Mal. iv. 1, 5; Mark ix. 11-13.\n\n[163] Isa. ii. 19.\n\n[164] Isa. xiii. 9, 10.\n\n[165] Isa. xxxiv. 2, 4.\n\n[166] Matt. xxiv. 29.\n\n[167] _Lectures on the Revelation_, p. 170.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n _CONSOLATORY VISIONS._\n\n REV. vii.\n\n\nSix of the seven Seals have been opened by the \"Lamb,\" who is likewise\nthe \"Lion of the tribe of Judah.\" They have dealt, in brief but\npregnant sentences, with the whole history of the Church and of the\nworld throughout the Christian age. No details of history have indeed\nbeen spoken of, no particular wars, or famines, or pestilences, or\nslaughters, or preservations of the saints. Everything has been\ndescribed in the most general terms. We have been invited to think\nonly of the principles of the Divine government, but of these as the\nmost sublime and, according to our own state of mind, the most\nalarming or the most consolatory principles that can engage the\nattention of men. God, has been the burden of the six Seals, is King\nover all the earth. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a\nvain thing? Why do they exalt themselves against the sovereign Ruler\nof the universe, who said to the Son of His love, when He made Him\nHead over all things for His Church, \"Thou art My Son; this day have I\nbegotten Thee;\" \"Rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies\"?[168]\nListening to the voice of these Seals, we know that the world, with\nall its might, shall prevail neither against the Head nor against the\nmembers of the Body. Even when apparently successful it shall fight a\nlosing battle. Even when apparently defeated Christ and they who are\none with Him shall march to victory.\n\nWe are not to imagine that the Seals of chap. vi. follow one another in\nchronological succession, or that each of them belongs to a definite\ndate. The Seer does not look forward to age succeeding age or century\ncentury. To him the whole period between the first and the second coming\nof Christ is but \"a little time,\" and whatever is to happen in it \"must\nshortly come to pass.\" In truth he can hardly be said to deal with the\nlapse of time at all. He deals with the essential characteristics of the\nDivine government in time, whether it be long or short. Shall the\nrevolving years be in our sense short, these characteristics will\nnevertheless come forth with a clearness that shall leave man without\nexcuse. Shall they be in our sense long, the unfolding of God's eternal\nplan will only be again and again made manifest. He with whom we have to\ndo is without beginning of days or end of years, the _I am_,\nunchangeable both in the attributes of His own nature, and in the\nexecution of His purposes for the world's redemption. Let us cast our\neyes along the centuries that have passed away since Jesus died and rose\nagain. They are full of one great lesson. At every point at which we\npause we see the Son of God going forth conquering and to conquer. We\nsee the world struggling against His righteousness, refusing to submit\nto it, and dooming itself in consequence to every form of woe. We see\nthe children of God following a crucified Redeemer, but preserved,\nsustained, animated, their cross, like His, their crown. Finally, as we\nrealize more and more deeply what is going on around us, we feel that\nwe are in the midst of a great earthquake, that the sun and the moon\nhave become black, and that the stars of heaven are falling to the\nearth; yet by the eye of faith we pierce the darkness, and where are all\nour adversaries? Where are the kings and the potentates, the rich and\nthe powerful _of the earth_, of an ungodly and persecuting world? They\nhave hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and\nwe hear them say to the mountains and to the rocks, \"Fall on us, and\nhide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the\nwrath of the Lamb: for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is\nable to stand?\"\n\nWith the beginning of chap. vii. we might expect the seventh Seal to\nbe opened; but it is the manner of the apocalyptic writer, before any\nfinal or particularly critical manifestation of the wrath of God, to\npresent us with visions of consolation, so that we may enter into the\nthickest darkness, even into the valley of the shadow of death,\nwithout alarm. We have already met with this in chaps. iv. and v. We\nshall meet with it again. Meanwhile it is here illustrated:--\n\n After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the\n earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow\n on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another\n angel ascend from the sun-rising, having the seal of the living God:\n and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was\n given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth,\n neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the\n servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of\n them which were sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand,\n sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of\n Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben, twelve\n thousand; of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand; of the tribe of\n Asher, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand;\n of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Simeon,\n twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; of the\n tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand; of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve\n thousand; of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; of the tribe of\n Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand (vii. 1-8).\n\nAlthough various important questions, which we shall have to notice,\narise in connexion with this vision, there never has been, as there\nscarcely can be, any doubt as to its general meaning. In its main\nfeatures it is taken from the language of Ezekiel, when that prophet\nforetold the approaching destruction of Jerusalem: \"He cried also with a\nloud voice in mine ears, saying, Cause them that have charge over the\ncity to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his\nhand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which\nlieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand;\nand one man among them was clothed with fine linen, with a writer's\ninkhorn by his side.... And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst\nof the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the\nforeheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations\nthat be done in the midst thereof.... And, behold, the man clothed with\nlinen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I\nhave done as Thou hast commanded me.\"[169] Preservation of the faithful\nin the midst of judgment on the wicked is the theme of the Old Testament\nvision, and in like manner it is the theme of this vision of St. John.\nThe _winds_ are the symbols of judgment; and, being in number _four_ and\nheld by _four angels standing at the four corners of the earth_, they\nindicate that the judgment when inflicted will be universal. There is no\nplace to which the ungodly can escape, none where they shall not be\novertaken by the wrath of God. \"He that fleeth of them,\" says the\nAlmighty by His prophet, \"shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of\nthem shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence shall\nMine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring\nthem down: and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will\nsearch and take them out thence; and though they be hid from My sight in\nthe bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall\nbite them.\"[170]\n\nIn the midst of all this the safety of the righteous is secured, and\nthat in a way, as compared with the way of the Old Testament,\nproportionate to the superior greatness of their privileges. They are\nmarked as God's, not by a man out of the city, but by an _angel\nascending from the sun-rising_, the quarter whence proceeds that light\nof day which gilds the loftiest mountain-tops and penetrates into the\ndarkest recesses of the valleys. This angel, with his _great voice_,\nis probably the Lord Himself appearing by His angel. The mark\nimpressed upon the righteous is more than a mere mark: it is a\n_seal_--a seal similar to that with which Christ was \"sealed;\"[171]\nthe seal which in the Song of Songs the bride desires as the token of\nthe Bridegroom's love to her alone: \"Set me as a seal upon Thine\nheart, as a seal upon Thine arm;\"[172] the seal which expresses the\nthought, \"The Lord knoweth them that are His.\"[173] Finally, this seal\nis impressed _on the forehead_, on that part of the body on which the\nhigh-priest of Israel wore the golden plate, with its inscription,\n\"Holiness to the Lord.\" Such a seal, manifest to the eyes of all, was\na witness to all that they who bore it were acknowledged by the\nRedeemer before all, even before His Father and the holy angels.[174]\n\nWhen we turn to the numbers sealed, every reader who reflects for a\nmoment will allow that they must be symbolically, and not literally,\nunderstood. Twelve thousand out of each of twelve tribes, in all _a\nhundred and forty and four thousand_, bears upon its face the stamp of\nsymbolism. It is more difficult to answer the question, Who are they?\nAre they Jewish Christians, or are they the whole multitude of God's\nfaithful people belonging to the Church universal, but indicated by a\nfigure taken from Judaism?\n\nThe question now asked is of greater than ordinary importance, for\nupon the answer given to it largely depends the solution of the\nproblem whether the author of the fourth Gospel and the author of the\nApocalypse are the same. If the first vision of the chapter relating\nto those sealed out of the tribes of Israel speak only of Jewish\nChristians, and the second vision, beginning at ver. 9, of \"the great\nmultitude which no man could number,\" speak of Gentile Christians, it\nwill follow that the writer exhibits a particularistic tendency\naltogether at variance with the universalism of the author of the\nfourth Gospel. Gentile Christians will be, as they have been called,\nan \"appendix\" to the Jewish-Christian Church; and the followers of\nJesus will fail to constitute one flock all the members of which are\nequal in the sight of God, occupy the same position, and enjoy the\nsame privileges. The first impression produced by the vision of the\nsealed is undoubtedly that it refers to Jewish Christians, and to them\nalone. Many considerations, however, lead to the wider conclusion\nthat, under a Jewish figure, they include all the followers of Christ,\nor the universal Church. Some of these at least ought to be noticed.\n\n1. We have not yet found, and we shall not find in any later part of\nthe Apocalypse, a distinction drawn between Jewish and Gentile\nChristians. To the eye of the Seer, the Church of the Lord Jesus\nChrist is one. There is in it neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian,\nScythian, bond, nor free. He recognises in it in its collective\ncapacity the Body of Christ, all the members of which occupy the same\nrelation to their Lord, and stand equally in grace. He knows indeed of\na distinction between the Jewish Church, which waited for the coming\nof the Lord, and the Christian Church, which rejoiced in Him as come;\nbut he knows also that when Jesus did come the privileges of the\nlatter were bestowed upon those in the former who had looked onward to\nChrist's day, and that they were arrayed in the same \"white robe.\"\nUnder all the six Seals, accordingly, embracing the whole period of\nthe Gospel dispensation, there is not a single word to suggest the\nthought that the Christian Church is divided into two parts. The\nstruggle, the preservation, and the victory belong equally to all. A\nsimilar remark may be made on the epistles to the seven churches,\nwhich unquestionably contain a representation of that Church the\nfortunes of which are to be afterwards described. In these epistles\nChrist walks equally in the midst of every part of it; and promises\nare made, not in one form to one member and in another to another, but\nalways in precisely the same terms to \"him that overcometh.\" It would\nbe out of keeping with this were we now, when a similar topic of\npreservation is on hand, to be introduced to a Jewish-Christian as\ndistinguished from a Gentile-Christian Church.\n\n2. It is the custom of the Seer to heighten and spiritualize all\nJewish names. The Temple, the Tabernacle, the Altar, Mount Zion, and\nJerusalem are to him the embodiments of ideas deeper than those\nliterally conveyed by them. Analogy therefore might suggest that this\nalso would be the case with the word \"Israel.\" Nay, it would even be\nthe more natural so to use that word, because it is so often used in\nthe same spiritual sense in other parts of the New Testament: \"But\nthey are not all Israel which are of Israel;\" \"And as many as shall\nwalk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel\nof God.\"[175] Nor need we be startled by that employment of the word\n_tribes_, which may seem to give more precision to the idea that\nJewish Christians are designated by the term, for St. John, in his\npeculiar way of looking at men, beheld \"tribes\" not only among the\nJews, but among all nations: \"And all the tribes of the earth shall\nmourn over Him.\"[176] In chap. xxi. 12, too, the \"twelve tribes\"\nplainly include all believers.\n\n3. The enumeration of the tribes of Israel given in these verses is\ndifferent from any other enumeration of the kind contained in\nScripture. Thus the tribe of Dan is omitted; and, contrary to the\npractice of at least the later books of the Old Testament, that of\nLevi is inserted; while Joseph also is substituted for Ephraim: and\nthe order in which the twelve are given has elsewhere no parallel.\nPoints such as these may appear trifling, but they are not without\nimportance. No student of the Apocalypse will imagine that they are\naccidental or undesigned. He may not be able to satisfy either himself\nor others as to the grounds upon which St. John proceeded, but that\nthere were grounds sufficient to the Apostle himself for what he did\nhe will not for a moment doubt. One thing may, however, be said. If\nthe changes can be explained at all, it must be by considerations\nspringing out of the heart of the Christian community, and not out of\nany suggested by the relations of the tribes of Judaism to one\nanother. Levi may thus be inserted, instead of standing apart as\nformerly, because in Christ Jesus there was no priestly tribe: all\nChristians were priests; Dan may be omitted because that tribe had\nchosen the serpent as its emblem, and St. John not only felt with\npeculiar power the direct antagonism to Christ of \"the old serpent the\ndevil,\"[177] but had been accustomed to see in the traitor Judas, who\nhad been expelled from the apostolic band, and for whom another\napostle had been substituted, the very impersonation or incarnation of\nSatan[178]; Ephraim also may have been replaced by Joseph because of\nits enmity to Judah, the tribe out of which Jesus sprang; while Judah,\nthe fourth son of Jacob, may head the list because it was the tribe in\nwhich Christ was born.\n\n4. Some of the expressions of the passage are inconsistent with the\nlimitation of the sealed to any special class of Christians. Why, for\nexample, should the holding back of the winds be universal? Would it\nnot have been enough to restrain the winds that blew on Jewish\nChristians, and not the winds of the whole earth? And again, why do we\nmeet with language of so general a character as that of ver. 3:\n\"_till we shall have sealed the servants of our God_\"? This\ndesignation \"servants\" seems to include the whole number, and not some\nonly, of God's children.\n\n5. If God's servants from among the Gentiles are not now sealed, the\nApocalypse mentions no other occasion when they were so. It is true\nthat, according to the ordinary interpretation of the next vision, they\nare admitted to the happiness of heaven; but we may well ask whether, if\nthe sealing be the emblem of preservation amidst worldly troubles, they\nought not also, at one time or another, to have been sealed on earth.\n\n6. The sealed are marked upon their _foreheads_, and in chap. xxii. 4\nall believers are marked in a similar way.\n\n7. We shall meet again this number of a hundred and forty-four\nthousand in chap. xiv.; and, while it can hardly be doubted that the\nsame persons are on both occasions included in it, it will be seen\nthat there at least the whole number of the redeemed is meant.\n\n8. It is worthy of notice that the contrasts of the Apocalypse lead\ndirectly to a similar conclusion. St. John always sees light and\ndarkness standing over against each other, and exhibiting themselves\nin a correspondence which, extending even to minute details, aids the\ntask of the interpreter. Now in many passages of this book we find\nSatan not only marking his followers, but, precisely as here, marking\nthem upon the \"forehead;\"[179] and it is impossible to resist the\nconclusion that the one marking is the antithesis of the other. But\nthis mark is imprinted by Satan upon _all_ his followers, and the\ninference is legitimate that the seal of the living God is in like\nmanner imprinted upon _all_ the followers of Jesus.\n\n9. One more reason may be assigned for this conclusion. If ver. 4,\nwith its \"hundred and forty and four thousand out of every tribe of\nthe children of Israel,\" is to be understood of Jewish Christians\nalone, the contrast between it and ver. 9, with its \"great multitude,\nwhich no man can number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and\npeoples, and tongues,\" makes it necessary to understand the latter of\nGentile Christians alone. It will not do to say that the comprehensive\nenumeration of this verse may include Jewish as well as Gentile\nChristians. Placed over against the very definite statement of ver. 4,\nit can only, according to the style of the Apocalypse, be referred to\npersons who have come out of the heathen world in the fourfold\nconception of its parts. Now, whatever may be the precise\ninterpretation of the second vision of the chapter, it is undeniable\nthat it unfolds a higher stage of privilege and glory than the first.\nIt will thus follow on the supposition now combated that at the very\ninstant when the Apostle is said to be placing Gentile Christians in a\nposition of inferiority to Jewish Christians, and when he is treating\nthe one as simply an \"appendix\" to the other, he speaks of them as the\ninheritors of a far greater \"weight of glory.\" St. John could not be\nthus inconsistent with himself.\n\nThe conclusion from all that has been said, is plain. The vision of\nthe sealing does not apply to Jewish Christians only, but to the\nuniversal Church. When the judgments of God are abroad in the world,\nall the disciples of Christ are sealed for preservation against them.\n\nNotwithstanding what has been said, the reader may still find it\ndifficult to conceive that two pictures of the same multitude should\nbe presented to us drawn on such entirely different lines. What is the\nmeaning of it? he may exclaim. What is the Seer's motive in doing so?\nThe explanation is not difficult. An attentive examination of the\nstructural principles marking the writings of St. John will show that\nthey are distinguished by a tendency to set forth the same object in\ntwo different lights, the latter of which is climactic to the former,\nas well as, for the most part at least, taken from a different sphere.\nThe writer is not satisfied with a single utterance of what he desires\nto impress upon his readers. After he has uttered it for the first\ntime, he brings it again before him, works upon it, enlarges it,\ndeepens it, sets it forth with stronger and more vivid colouring. The\nfundamental idea is the same on both occasions; but on the second it\nis the centre of a circle of wider circumference, and it is uttered in\na more impressive manner. Want of space will not permit the\nillustration of this by an appeal either to the nature of Hebrew\nthought in general, or to the other writings of the New Testament\nwhich owe their authorship to St. John. It must be enough to say that\nthe fourth Gospel bears deep and important traces of this\ncharacteristic, and that difficult passages in it not otherwise\nexplicable seem to be solved by its application.[180] The main point\nto be kept in view is that the principle in question may be traced on\nmany different occasions both in the fourth Gospel and in the\nApocalypse. One of these has indeed already come under our notice in\nthe case of the \"golden candlesticks\" and of the \"stars\" in Chapter I.\nof this book. The two figures relate to the same object, but the\nsecond is climactic to the first, and it is taken from a larger field.\nThe same principle meets us here. The second vision of chap. vii. is\nclimactic to the first, and the field from which it is drawn is\nlarger. The analogy, however, not of the golden candlesticks and of\nthe stars only, but of many other passages of a similar kind, warrants\nthe inference that both the visions relate to the same thing, although\nthe aspect in which it is looked at is in each case different. Any\ndifficulty therefore at first presented by the double picture\ndisappears; while the peculiarity of structure exhibited not only\nhelps to lead us to a Johannine authorship, but tends powerfully to\nestablish the correctness of the interpretation now adopted.\n\nWe are thus entitled to conclude that the hundred and forty-four\nthousand of this first consolatory vision represent not Jewish\nChristians only, but the whole Church of God, and that the number used\nis intended to represent completeness: not one member of the true\nChurch is lost.[181] Twelve, a sacred number, the number of the\npatriarchs, of the tribes of Israel, and of the Apostles of Jesus, is\nfirst multiplied by itself, and then by a thousand, the sign of the\nheavenly in contrast with the earthly. A hundred and forty and four\nthousand is the result.\n\nIt need only further be observed--and the observation will help to\nconfirm what has been said--that St. John did not himself count the\nnumber of the sealed. He _heard the number of them_ (ver. 4). Already\nthey were \"a multitude which no _man_ could number\" (ver. 9). But He\nwho telleth the innumerable stars that sparkle in the midnight sky,\nand who \"bringeth out their host by number,\"[182] could number them.\nHe it was who communicated the number to the Seer.\n\nThe second vision of the chapter follows:--\n\n After these things I saw, and, behold, a great multitude, which no\n man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes, and\n peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the\n Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; and they\n cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God which\n sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels were\n standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four\n living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces,\n and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,\n and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our\n God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,\n saying unto me, These which are arrayed in the white robes, who\n are they, and whence came they? And I said unto him, My lord, thou\n knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of the\n great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them\n white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the\n throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple: and\n He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over\n them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither\n shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat: for the Lamb which\n is in the midst of the throne shall be their Shepherd, and shall\n guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe\n away every tear from their eyes (vii. 9-17).\n\nUpon the magnificence and beauty of this description it is not only\nunnecessary, it would be a mistake, to dwell. Words of man would only\nmar the sublimity and pathos of the spectacle. Neither is it desirable\nto look at each expression of the passage in itself. These expressions\nare better considered as a whole. One point indeed ought to be\ncarefully kept in view: that the _palms_ spoken of in ver. 9 as in the\n_hands_ of the happy multitude are not the palms of victory in any\nearthly contest, but the palms of the Feast of Tabernacles, and that\nupon the thought of that feast the scene is moulded.\n\nThe Feast of Tabernacles, it will be remembered, was at once the last,\nthe highest, and the most joyful of the festivals of the Jewish year. It\nfell in the month of October, when the harvest not only of grain, but of\nwine and oil, had been gathered in, and when, therefore, all the labours\nof the year were past. It was preceded, too, by the great Day of\nAtonement, the ceremonial of which gathered together all the sacrificial\nacts of the previous months, beheld the sins of the people, from their\nhighest to their lowest, carried away into the wilderness, and brought\nwith it the blessing of God from that innermost recess of the sanctuary\nwhich was lightened by the special glory of His presence, and into which\nthe high-priest even was permitted to enter upon that day alone. The\nfeelings awakened in Israel at the time were of the most triumphant\nkind. They returned in thought to the independent life which their\nfathers, delivered from the bondage of Egypt, led in the wilderness;\nand, the better to realize this, they left their ordinary dwellings and\ntook up their abode for the days of the feast in booths, which they\nerected in the streets or on the flat roofs of their houses. These\nbooths were made of branches of their most prized, most fruit-bearing,\nand most umbrageous trees; and beneath them they raised their psalms of\nthanksgiving to Him who had delivered them as a bird out of the snare of\nthe fowler. Even this was not all, for we know that in the later period\nof their history the Jews connected the Feast of Tabernacles with the\nbrightest anticipations of the future as well as with the most joyful\nmemories of the past. They beheld in it the promise of the Spirit, the\ngreat gift of the approaching Messianic age; and, that they might give\nfull expression to this, they sent on the eighth, or great, day of the\nfeast, a priest to the pool of Siloam with a golden urn, that he might\nfill it from the pool, and, bringing it up to the Temple, might pour it\non the altar. This is the part of the ceremonial alluded to in John vii.\n37-39, and during it the joy of the people reached its highest point.\nThey surrounded the priest in crowds as he brought up the water from the\npool, waved their _lulabs_--small branches of palm trees, the \"palms\" of\nver. 9--and made the courts of the Temple re-echo with their song, \"With\njoy shall ye draw water out of wells of salvation.\"[183] At night the\ngreat illumination of the Temple followed, that to which our Lord most\nprobably alludes when, immediately after the Feast of Tabernacles spoken\nof in chap. viii. of the fourth Gospel, He exclaims, \"I am the Light of\nthe world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but\nshall have the light of life.\"[184]\n\nSuch was the scene the main particulars of which are here made use of\nby the apocalyptic Seer to set before us the triumphant and glorious\ncondition of the Church when, after all her members have been sealed,\nthey are admitted to the full enjoyment of the blessings of God's\ncovenant, and when, washed in the blood of the Lamb and clothed with\nHis righteousness, they keep their Feast of Tabernacles.\n\nA most important and interesting question connected with this vision\nhas still to be answered. It may be first asked in the words of Isaac\nWilliams. \"It is whether all this description is of the Church in\nheaven or on earth.\" The same writer has answered his question by\nsaying, \"The fact is that, like the expression 'the kingdom of\nheaven,' and many others of the same kind, it applies to both, and it\nis doubtless intended to do so--in fulness hereafter, but even here in\npart.\"[185] The answer thus given is no doubt correct when the\nquestion is asked in the particular form to which it is a reply. Yet\nwe have still to ask whether, granting it to be so, the _primary_\nreference of the vision is to the Church of Christ during her present\npilgrimage or after that pilgrimage has been completed, and she has\nentered on her eternal rest. To the question so put, the reply usually\ngiven is that the Seer has the latter aspect of the Church in view.\nThe redeemed are sealed on _earth_; they bear their \"palms,\" and\nrejoice with the joy afterwards spoken of, in _heaven_. Much in the\npassage may seem to justify this conclusion. But a recent writer on\nthe subject has adduced such powerful considerations in favour of the\nformer view, that it will be proper to examine them.[186]\n\nAppeal is first made to Matt. xxiv. 13, a passage throwing no light upon\nthe point. It is otherwise with many prophecies of the Old Testament\nnext referred to, which describe the coming dispensation of the Gospel:\n\"They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite\nthem: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the\nsprings of water shall He guide them;\" \"He will swallow up death in\nvictory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces;\" \"And\nit shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations\nwhich came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to\nworship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of\nTabernacles.\"[187] To passages such as these have to be added the\npromises of our Lord as to fountains of living waters even now opened to\nthe believer, that he may drink and never thirst again: \"Jesus answered\nand said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst\nagain: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\nnever thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a\nspringing fountain of water, unto eternal life;\" \"Now on the last day,\nthe great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man\nthirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the\nScripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living\nwater.\"[188] St. John, too, it is urged, teaches us to look for a\nTabernacle Feast on earth[189]; while at the same time throughout all\nhis writings eternal life is set before us as a present possession. Nor\nis this the case only in the writings of St. John. In the Epistle to the\nHebrews we meet the same line of thought: \"Ye are come\" (not Ye shall\ncome) \"unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the\nheavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general\nassembly and Church of the first-born, who are enrolled in heaven.\"[190]\nInfluenced by these considerations, the writer to whom we have referred\nis led, \"though not without some hesitation,\" to conclude that the\nvision of the palm-bearing multitude is to be understood of the Church\non earth, and not of the Church in heaven.\n\nThe conclusion may be accepted without the \"hesitation.\" The colours\non the canvas may indeed at first appear too bright for any condition\nof things on this side the grave. But they are not more bright than\nthose employed in the description of the new Jerusalem in chap. xxi.;\nand, when we come to the exposition of that chapter, we shall find\npositive proof in the language of the Seer that he looks upon that\ncity as one already come down from heaven and established among men.\nNot a few of its most glowing traits are even precisely the same as\nthose that we meet in the corresponding vision of this chapter: \"And I\nheard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle\nof God is with men, and He shall tabernacle with them, and they shall\nbe His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God;\nand He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be\nno more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any\nmore: the first things are passed away.\"[191] If words like these may\nbe justly applied, as we have yet to see that they may and must be, to\none aspect of the Church on earth, there is certainly nothing to\nhinder their application to the same Church now. The truth is that in\nboth cases the description is ideal, and that not less so than the\ndescription of the terrors of the worldly at the opening of the sixth\nSeal. Nor indeed shall we understand any part of the Apocalypse unless\nwe recognise the fact that everything with which it is concerned is\nraised to an ideal standard. Reward and punishment, righteousness and\nsin, the martyrdoms of the Church and the fate of her oppressors, are\nall set before us in an ideal light. The Seer moves in the midst of\nconceptions which are fundamental, ultimate, and eternal. The \"broken\nlights\" which partially illuminate our progress in this world are to\nhim absorbed in \"the true Light.\" The clouds and darkness which\nobscure our path gather themselves together to his eyes in \"the\ndarkness\" with which the light has to contend. Descriptions,\naccordingly, applicable in their fulness to the Church only after the\nglory of her Lord is manifested, apply also to her now, when she is\nthought of as living the life that is hid with Christ in God, the life\nof her exalted and glorified Redeemer. For this conception the colours\nof the picture before us are not too bright.[192]\n\nThe relation in which the two visions of this chapter stand to one\nanother may now be obvious. Although the persons referred to are in both\nthe same, they do not in both occupy the same position. In the first\nthey are only sealed, and through that sealing they are safe. Their Lord\nhas taken them under His protection; and, whatever troubles or perils\nmay beset them, no one shall pluck them out of His hand. In the second\nthey are more than safe. They have peace, and joy, and triumph, their\nevery want supplied, their every sorrow healed. Death itself is\nswallowed up in victory, and every tear is wiped from every eye.\n\nThus also may we determine the period to which both the sealing of\nbelievers and their subsequent enjoyment of heavenly blessing belong.\nIn neither vision are we introduced to any special era of Christian\nhistory. St. John has in view neither the Christians of his own day\nalone, nor those of any later time. As we found that each of the first\nsix Seals embraced the whole Gospel age, so also is it with these\nconsolatory visions. We are to dwell upon the _thought_ rather than\nthe _time_ of preservation and of bliss. The Church of Christ never\nceases to follow in the footsteps of her Lord. Like Him, when faithful\nto her high commission, she never ceases to bear the cross. The\nunredeemed world must always be her enemy; and in it she must always\nhave tribulation. But not less continuous is her joy. We judge wrongly\nwhen we think that the Man of sorrows was never joyful. He spoke of\n\"My peace,\" \"My joy.\"[193] In one of His moments of deepest feeling we\nare told that He \"rejoiced in spirit.\"[194] Outwardly the world\ntroubled Him; and huge billows, raised by its tempestuous winds, swept\nacross the surface of His soul. Beneath, the unfathomed depths were\ncalm. In communion with His Father in heaven, in the thought of the\ngreat work which He was carrying to its completion, and in the\nprospect of the glory that awaited Him, He could rejoice in the midst\nof sorrow. So also with the members of His Body. They bear about with\nthem a secret joy which, like their new name, no man knoweth saving he\nthat receiveth it. As the friend of the bridegroom who standeth and\nheareth him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice, so\ntheir joy is fulfilled.[195] Nor does it ever cease to be theirs while\ntheir Lord is with them; and unless they grieve Him \"lo, He is always\nwith them, even unto the consummation of the age.\"[196] The two\nvisions, therefore, of the sealing and of the palm-bearing multitude\nembrace the whole Christian dispensation within their scope, and\nexpress ideas which belong to the condition of the believer in all\nplaces and at all times.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[168] Ps. ii. 7; cx. 7.\n\n[169] Ezek. ix.\n\n[170] Amos ix. 1-3.\n\n[171] John vi. 27.\n\n[172] Cant. viii. 3.\n\n[173] 2 Tim. ii. 19.\n\n[174] Comp. Luke xii. 8.\n\n[175] Rom. ix. 6; Gal. vi. 16.\n\n[176] Chap. i. 7.\n\n[177] Comp. chap. xii. 9.\n\n[178] John xiii. 2.\n\n[179] Chaps. xiii. 16, 17; xiv. 9; xvi. 2; xix. 20; xx. 4.\n\n[180] The writer has treated this subject at considerable length in\n_The Expositor_ (2nd series, vol. iv.).\n\n[181] Comp. John xvii. 12.\n\n[182] Isa. xl. 26.\n\n[183] Isa. xii. 3.\n\n[184] John viii. 12.\n\n[185] _The Apocalypse_, p. 126.\n\n[186] Professor Gibson, in _The Monthly Interpreter_, vol. ii., p. 9.\n\n[187] Isa. xlix. 10; xxv. 8; Zech. xiv. 16.\n\n[188] John iv. 13, 14; vii. 37, 38.\n\n[189] John i. 14.\n\n[190] Heb. xii. 22, 23.\n\n[191] Chap. xxi. 3, 4.\n\n[192] Comp. on the general thought Brown, _The Second Advent_, chap. vi.\n\n[193] John xiv. 27; xvii. 13.\n\n[194] Luke x. 21.\n\n[195] John iii. 29.\n\n[196] Matt. xxviii. 20.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n _THE FIRST SIX TRUMPETS._\n\n REV. viii., ix.\n\n\nThe two consolatory visions of chap. vii. have closed, and the Seer\nreturns to that opening of the seven Seals which had been interrupted\nin order that these two visions might be interposed.\n\nSix Seals had been opened in chap. vi.; the opening of the seventh\nfollows:--\n\n And when He opened the seventh seal, there followed silence in\n heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels\n which stand before God; and there were given unto them seven\n trumpets. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having\n a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that\n he should give it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the\n golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the\n incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of\n the angel's hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled\n it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and\n there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an\n earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets\n prepared themselves to sound (viii. 1-6).\n\nBefore looking at the particulars of this Seal, we have to determine the\nrelation in which it stands to the Seals of chap. vi. as well as to the\nvisions following it. Is it as isolated, as independent, as those that\nhave come before it; and are its contents exhausted by the first six\nverses of the chapter? or does it occupy such a position of its own\nthat we are to regard the following visions as developed out of it? And\nif the latter be the case, how far does the development extend?\n\nIn answering these questions, it can hardly be denied that if we are\nto look upon the seventh Seal as standing independent and alone, its\ncontents have not the significance which we seem entitled to expect.\nIt is the last Seal of its own series; and when we turn to the last\nmember of the Trumpet series at chap. xi. 15, or of the Bowl series at\nchap. xvi. 17, we find them marked, not by less, but by much greater,\nforce than had belonged in either case to the six preceding members.\nThe seventh Trumpet and the seventh Bowl sum up and concentrate the\ncontents of their predecessors. In the one the judgments of God\nrepresented by the Trumpets, in the other those represented by the\nBowls, culminate in their sharpest expression and their most\ntremendous potency. There is nothing of that kind in the seventh Seal\nif it terminates with the preparation of the Trumpet angels to sound;\nand the analogy of the Apocalypse therefore, an analogy supplying in a\nbook so symmetrically constructed an argument of greater than ordinary\nweight, is against that supposition.\n\nAgain, the larger portion of the first six verses of this chapter does\nnot suggest the contents of the Seal. Rather would it seem as if these\ncontents were confined to the \"silence\" spoken of in ver. 1, and as if\nwhat follows from ver. 2 to ver. 6 were to be regarded as no part of\nthe Seal itself, but simply as introductory to the Trumpet visions.\nEverything said bears upon it the marks of preparation for what is to\ncome, and we are not permitted to rest in what is passing as if it\nwere a final and conclusive scene in the great spectacle presented to\nthe Seer.\n\nFor these reasons the view often entertained that the visions to which\nwe proceed are developed out of the seventh Seal may be regarded as\ncorrect.\n\nIf so, how far does the development extend? The answer invariably\ngiven to this question is, To the end of the Trumpets. But the answer\nis not satisfactory. The general symmetry of the Apocalypse militates\nagainst it. There is then no correspondence between the _last_ Trumpet\nand the _last_ Seal, nothing to suggest the thought of a development\nof the Bowls out of the seventh Trumpet in a manner corresponding to\nthe development of the Trumpets out of the seventh Seal. In these\ncircumstances the only probable conclusion is that _both_ the Bowls\nand the Trumpets are developed out of the seventh Seal, and that that\ndevelopment does not close until we reach the end of chap. xvi.\n\nIf what has now been said be correct, it will throw important light\nupon the relation of the Seals to the two series of the Trumpets and\nthe Bowls taken together; while, at the same time, it will lend us\nvaluable aid in the interpretation of all the three series.\n\nReturning to the words before us, it is said that, at the opening of\nthe seventh Seal, _there followed silence in heaven about the space of\nhalf an hour_. This silence may perhaps include a cessation even of\nthe songs which rise before the throne of God from that redeemed\ncreation the voice of whose praise rests not either day or night.[197]\nYet it is not necessary to think so. The probability rather is that it\narises from a cessation only of the \"lightnings and voices and\nthunders\" which at chap. iv. 5 proceed out of the throne, and which\nare resumed at ver. 5 of the present chapter, when the fire of the\naltar is cast from the angel's censer upon the earth. A brief\nsuspension of judgment is thereby indicated, a pause by and during\nwhich the Almighty would call attention to the manifestations of His\nwrath about to follow. The exact duration of this silence, \"about the\nspace of half an hour,\" has never been satisfactorily explained; and\nthe general analogy of St. John's language condemns the idea of a\nliteral interpretation. We shall perhaps be more in accordance with\nthe spirit in which the Revelation is written if we consider--(1) that\nin that book the half of anything suggests, not so much an actual\nhalf, as a broken and interrupted whole,---five a broken ten, six a\nbroken twelve, three and a half a broken seven; (2) that in the Gospel\nof St. John we find on more than one occasion mention made of an\n\"hour\" by which at one time the actions, at another the sufferings, of\nJesus are determined: \"Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour\nis not yet come;\" \"Father, save Me from this hour: but for this cause\ncame I unto this hour.\"[198] The \"hour\" of Jesus is thus to St. John\nthe moment at which action, having been first resolved on by the\nFather, is taken by the Son; and a \"half-hour\" may simply denote that\nthe course of events has been interrupted, and that the instant for\nrenewed judgment has been delayed. Such an interpretation will also be\nin close correspondence with the verses following, as well as with\nwhat we have seen to be the probable meaning of the \"silence\" of ver.\n1. Preparation for action, rather than action, marks as yet the\nopening of the seventh Seal.\n\nThat preparation is next described.\n\nSt. John saw _seven trumpets_ given to _the seven angels which stand\nbefore God_. In whatever other respects these seven angels are to be\ndistinguished from the hosts of angels which surround the throne, the\ncommission now given shows that they are angels of a more exalted order\nand a more irresistible power. They are in fact the expression of the\nDivine Judge of men, or rather of the mode in which He chooses by\njudgment to express Himself. We are not even required to think of them\nas numerically seven, for seven in its sacred meaning is the number of\nunity, though of unity in the variety as well as the combination of its\nagencies. The \"seven Spirits of God\" are His one Spirit; the \"seven\nchurches,\" His one Church; the \"seven horns\" and \"seven eyes\" of the\nLamb, His one powerful might and His one penetrating glance. In like\nmanner the seven Seals, the seven Trumpets, and the seven Bowls embody\nthe thought of many judgments which are yet in reality one. Thus also\nthe angels here are seven, not because literally so, but because that\nnumber brings out the varied forms as well as the essential oneness of\nthe action of Him to whom the Father has given \"authority to execute\njudgment, because He is a Son of man.\"[199]\n\nAs yet the seven trumpets have only been given to the seven angels.\nMore has to pass before they put them to their lips and sound. Another\nangel is seen who _came and stood over the altar, having a golden\ncenser_ in his hand. At the opening of the fifth Seal we read of an\n\"altar\" which it was impossible not to identify with the great brazen\naltar, the altar of burnt-offering, in the outer court of the\nsanctuary. Such identification is not so obvious here; and perhaps a\nmajority of commentators agree in thinking that the altar now spoken\nof is rather the golden or incense altar which had its place within\nthe Tabernacle, immediately in front of the second veil. To this altar\nthe priest on ordinary occasions, and more particularly the\nhigh-priest on the great Day of Atonement, brought a censer with\nburning frankincense, that the smoke of the incense, as it rose into\nthe air, might be a symbol to the congregation of Israel that its\nprayers, offered according to the Divine will, ascended as a sweet\nsavour to God. It is possible that this may be the altar meant; yet\nthe probabilities of the case rather lead to the supposition that\nallusion is made to the altar of sacrifice in the Tabernacle court;\nfor (1) when the Seer speaks here and again in ver. 5 of \"the altar,\"\nand in ver. 3 of \"the golden altar,\" he seems to distinguish between\nthe two. (2) The words _fire of the altar_ are in favour of the same\nconclusion. According to the ritual of the Law, it was from the brazen\naltar that fire was taken in order to kindle the incense,[200] while\nat the same time fire continually burned upon that altar, but not upon\nthe altar within the Tabernacle. (3) The thought represented by the\nsymbolism seems to be that the sufferings of the saints gave efficacy\nto their prayers, and drew down the answer of Him who says, \"Call upon\nMe in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee, and thou shalt\nglorify Me.\"[201] (4) The words of ver. 3, _the prayers of all the\nsaints_, and the similar expression in ver. 4, remind us of the\nprayers of the fifth Seal, now swelled by the prayers of those New\nTestament saints who have been added to \"the blessed fellowship\" of\nthe Old Testament martyrs. These prayers, it will be remembered, rose\nfrom beneath the altar of burnt-offering; and it is natural to think\nthat the same altar is again alluded to in order to bring out the idea\nof a similar martyrdom. What we see, therefore, is an angel taking the\nprayers and adding to them much incense, so that we may behold them as\nthey ascend up before God and receive His answer.\n\nFurther, it ought to be observed that the prayers referred to are for\njudgment upon sin. There is nothing to justify the supposition that\nthey are partly for judgment upon, partly for mercy to, a sinful\nworld. They are simply another form of the cry, \"How long, O Master,\nthe holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them\nthat dwell on the earth?\"[202] They are a cry that God will vindicate\nthe cause of righteousness.[203]\n\nThe cry is heard, for the angel takes of the fire of the altar on\nwhich the saints had been sacrificed as an offering to God, and casts\nit into the earth, that it may consume the sin by which it had been\nkindled. The _lex talionis_ again starts to view; not merely\npunishment, but retribution, the heaviest of all retribution, because\nit is accompanied by a convicted conscience, retribution in kind.\n\nEverything is now ready for judgment, and _the seven angels which had\nthe seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound_:--\n\n And the first sounded, and there followed 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 all green grass was burnt up (viii. 7).\n\nTo think, in interpreting these words, of a literal burning up of a\nthird part of the \"earth,\" of the \"trees,\" and of the \"green grass,\"\nwould lead us astray. Comparing the first Trumpet with those that\nfollow, we have simply a general description of judgment as it affects\nthe _land_ in contradistinction to the sea, the rivers and fountains\nof water, and the heavenly bodies by which the earth is lighted. The\npunishment is drawn down by a guilty world upon itself when it rises\nin opposition to Him who at first prepared the land for the abode of\nmen, planted it with trees pleasant to the eye, cast over it its\nmantle of green, and pronounced it to be very good. Of every tree of\nthe garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, might\nour first parents eat; while grass covered the earth for their cattle,\nand herb for their service. All nature was to minister to the wants of\nman, and in cultivating the garden and the field he was to find light\nand happy labour. But sin came in. Thorns and thistles sprang up on\nevery side. Labour became a burden, and the fruitful field was changed\ninto a wilderness which could only be subdued by constant, patient,\nand often-disappointed toil. This is the thought--a thought often\ndwelt upon by the prophets of the Old Testament--that is present to\nthe Seer's mind.\n\nOne of the plagues of Egypt, however, may also be in his eye. When the\nAlmighty would deliver His people from that land of their captivity, \"He\nsent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the\nLord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire\nmingled with the hail, very grievous.... And the hail smote throughout\nall the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast;\nand the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the\nfield.\"[204] That plague the Seer has in his mind; but he is not content\nto use its traits alone, terrible as they were. The sin of a guilty\nworld in refusing to listen to Him who speaks from heaven is greater\nthan was the sin of those who refused Him that spake on earth, and their\npunishment must be in proportion to their sin. Hence the plague of Egypt\nis magnified. We read, not of hail and fire only, but of _hail and fire\nmingled with_ (or rather _in_) _blood_, so that the blood is the outward\nand visible covering of the hail and of the fire. In addition to this,\nwe have the herbs and trees of the field, not merely smitten and broken,\nbut utterly consumed by fire. What is meant by the \"third part\" of the\nearth and its products being attacked it is difficult to say. The\nprobability is that, as a whole consists of three parts, partial\ndestruction only is intended, yet not destruction of a third part of the\nearth, leaving two-thirds untouched; but a third part of the earth and\nof its produce is everywhere consumed.\n\nThe second Trumpet is now blown:--\n\n And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain\n burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the\n sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures\n which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part\n of the ships was destroyed (viii. 8, 9).\n\nAs the first Trumpet affected the land, so the second affects _the\nsea_; and the remarks already made upon the one destruction are for\nthe most part applicable to the other. The figure of removing a\nmountain from its place and casting it into the sea was used by our\nLord to express what beyond all else it was impossible to accomplish\nby mere human power: \"Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and\ndoubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even\nif ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the\nsea, it shall be done.\"[205] In so speaking, our Lord had followed the\nlanguage of the prophets, who were accustomed to illustrate by the\nthought of the removal of mountains the greatest acts of Divine power:\n\"What art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become\na plain;\" \"Therefore will we not fear, though the mountains be carried\ninto the midst of the seas.\"[206]\n\nEven the figure of a \"burnt mountain\" is not strange to the Old\nTestament, for the prophet Jeremiah thus denounces woe on Babylon:\n\"Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which\ndestroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out Mine hand upon thee,\nand roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain.\"[207]\n\nThe plagues of Egypt, too, are again taken advantage of by the Seer,\nfor in the first of these Moses \"lifted up the rod, and smote the\nwaters that were in the river; ... and all the waters that were in the\nriver were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died;\nand the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of\nthe river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.\"[208]\nHere, however, the plague is extended, embracing as it does not only\nthe river of Egypt, but the sea, with all the ships that sail upon it,\nand all its fish. Again also, as before, the \"third part\" is not to be\nthought of as confined to one region of the ocean, while the\nremaining two-thirds are left untouched. It is to be sought everywhere\nover the whole compass of the deep.\n\nThe third Trumpet is now blown:--\n\n And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great\n star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the\n rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the\n star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became\n wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made\n bitter (viii. 10, 11).\n\nThe third Trumpet is to be understood upon the same principles and in\nthe same general sense as the two preceding Trumpets. The figures are\nagain such as meet us in the Old Testament, though they are used by\nthe Seer in his own free and independent way. Thus the prophet Isaiah,\naddressing Babylon in his magnificent description of her fall,\nexclaims, \"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the\nmorning!\"[209] and thus also the prophet Jeremiah denounces judgment\nupon rebellious Israel: \"Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the\nGod of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with\nwormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.\"[210] The bitter\nwaters of Marah also lived in the recollections of Israel as the\nfirst, and not the least terrible, punishment of the murmuring of\ntheir fathers against Him who had brought them out into what seemed\nbut a barren wilderness, instead of leaving them to quench their\nthirst by the sweet waters of the Nile.[211] Thus the waters which the\nworld offers to its votaries are made bitter, so bitter that they\nbecome wormwood itself, the very essence of bitterness. Again the\n\"third part\" of them is thus visited, but this time with a feature\nnot previously mentioned: the destruction of human life,--_many men\ndied of the waters_. Under the first Trumpet only inanimate nature was\naffected; under the second we rose to creatures that had life; under\nthe third we rise to \"many men.\" The climax ought to be noticed, as\nillustrating the style of the Apostle's thought and aiding us in the\ninterpretation of his words. A similar climax may perhaps also be\nintended by the agents successively employed under these Trumpets:\nhail and fire, a great mountain burning, and a falling star.\n\nThe fourth Trumpet is now blown:--\n\n And 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; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day\n should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like\n manner (viii. 12).\n\nThis Trumpet offers no contradiction to what was previously\nsaid,--that the first four members of the three series of Seals, of\nTrumpets, and of Bowls deal with the material rather than the\nspiritual side of man, with man as a denizen of this world rather than\nof the next.[212] The heavenly bodies are here viewed solely in their\nrelation to earth and its inhabitants. As to the judgment, it rests,\nlike those of the first and second Trumpets, upon the thought of the\nEgyptian plague of darkness: \"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch\nout thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land\nof Egypt, even darkness that may be felt. And Moses stretched forth\nhis hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land\nof Egypt three days: they saw not one another, neither rose any from\nhis place for three days: but all the children of Israel had lights in\ntheir dwellings.\"[213] The trait of the Egyptian plague alluded to in\nthis last sentence is not mentioned here; and we have probably,\ntherefore, no right to say that it was in the Seer's thoughts. Yet it\nis in a high degree probable that it was; and at all events his\nobvious reference to that plague may help to illustrate an important\nparticular to be afterwards noticed,--that all the Trumpet judgments\nfall directly upon the world, and not the Church. As under the first\nthree Trumpets, the third part of the light of sun, and moon, and\nstars is alone darkened.\n\nThe first four Trumpets have now been blown, and we reach the line of\ndemarcation by which each series of judgments is divided into its\ngroups of four and three. That line is drawn in the present instance\nwith peculiar solemnity and force:--\n\n And I saw, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with\n a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth by\n reason of the other voices of the three angels who are yet to\n sound (viii. 13).\n\nAttention ought to be paid to the fact that the cry uttered in\n_mid-heaven_, and thus penetrating to the most distant corners of the\nearth, proceeds from an _eagle_, and not, as in the Authorised Version,\nfrom an \"angel;\" and the eagle is certainly referred to for the purpose\nof adding fresh terror to the scene. If we would enter into the Seer's\nmind, we must think of it as the symbol of rapine and plunder. To him\nthe prominent characteristic of that bird is not its majesty, but its\nswiftness, its strength, and its hasting to the prey.[214]\n\nThus ominously announced, the fifth Trumpet is now blown:--\n\n And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star out of heaven fallen\n unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the well of\n the abyss. And he opened the well of the abyss; and there went up\n a smoke out of the well, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the\n sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the well.\n And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth: and power\n was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it\n was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the\n earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such\n men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was\n given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be\n tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a\n scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek\n death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die,\n and death fleeth from them. And the shapes of the locusts were\n like unto horses prepared for war, and upon their heads as it were\n crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as faces of men. And\n they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the\n teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates\n of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots\n of many horses rushing to war. And they have tails like unto\n scorpions, and stings: and in their tails is their power to hurt\n men five months. They have over them as king the angel of the\n abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he\n hath the name Apollyon (ix. 1-11).\n\nSuch is the strange but dire picture of the judgment of the fifth\nTrumpet; and we have, as usual, in the first place, to look at the\nparticulars contained in it. As in several previous instances, these\nare founded upon the plagues of Egypt and the language of the\nprophets. In both these sources how terrible does a locust plague\nappear! In Egypt--\"And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine\nhand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up\nupon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that\nthe hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of\nEgypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day,\nand all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the\nlocusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and\nrested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before\nthem there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be\nsuch. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land\nwas darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the\nfruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any\ngreen thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all\nthe land of Egypt.\"[215] Darker even than this is the language of the\nprophet Joel. When he sees locusts sweeping across a land, he\nexclaims, \"The land was as the garden of Eden before them, and behind\nthem a desolate wilderness;\"[216] and from their irresistible and\ndestructive ravages he draws not a few traits of the dread events by\nwhich the coming of the day of the Lord shall be accompanied: \"The\nappearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so\nshall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains\nshall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the\nstubble, as a strong people set in battle array.... They shall run\nlike mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they\nshall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their\nranks.... They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon\nthe wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at\nthe windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the\nheavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the\nstars shall withdraw their shining.\"[217]\n\nIt is no doubt true that in the description before us the qualities\nof its locusts are preternaturally magnified, but that is only what we\nmight expect, and it is in keeping with the mode in which other\nfigures taken from the Old Testament are treated in this book. There\nis a probability, too, that each trait of the description had a\ndistinct meaning to St. John, and that it represents some particular\nphase of the calamities he intended to depict. But it is hardly\npossible now to discover such meanings; and that the Seer had in view\ngeneral evil as much at least as evil in certain special _forms_ is\nshown by the artificiality of structure marking the passage as a\nwhole. For the description of the locusts is divided into three parts,\nthe first general, the second special, the third the locust-king. The\nspecial characteristics of the insects, again, are seven in number:\n(1) _upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold_; (2) _and\ntheir faces were as faces of men_; (3) _and they had hair as the hair\nof women_; (4) _and their teeth were as the teeth of lions_; (5) _and\nthey had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron_; (6) _and the\nsound of their wings was as the sound of many chariots_; (7) _and they\nhave tails like unto scorpions, and stings_.\n\nWhether the period of _five months_, during which these locusts are said\nto commit their ravages, is fixed on because the destruction caused by\nthe natural insect lasts for that length of time, or for some other\nreason unknown to us, it is difficult to determine. There is a want of\nproof that a locust-plague generally continues for the number of months\nthus specified, and it is otherwise more in accordance with the style of\nthe Apocalypse to regard that particular period of time as simply\ndenoting that the judgment has definite limits.\n\nOne additional particular connected with the fifth Trumpet ought to be\nadverted to. It will be noticed that the _well of the abyss_ whence\nthe plague proceeds is opened by a _star fallen_ (not \"falling\") _out\nof heaven_, to which _the key of the well was given_. We have here one\nof those contrasts of St. John a due attention to which is of such\nimportance to the interpreter. This \"fallen star\" is the contrast and\ncounterpart of Him who is \"the bright, the morning star,\" and who \"has\nthe keys of death and of Hades.\"[218]\n\nAt this point the sixth angel ought to sound; but we are now in the\nmidst of the three last woes, and each is of so terrible an import\nthat it deserves to be specially marked. Hence the words of the next\nverse:--\n\n The first Woe is past; behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter\n (ix. 12).\n\nThis warning given, the sixth Trumpet is now blown:--\n\n And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of\n the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth\n angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound\n at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed,\n which had been prepared for the hour, and day, and month, and\n year, that they should kill the third part of men. And the number\n of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten\n thousand; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in\n the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of\n fire, and of hyacinth, and of brimstone. By these three plagues\n was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and\n the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power\n of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their\n tails are like unto serpents, and with them they do hurt. And the\n rest of mankind which were not killed with these plagues repented\n not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship\n demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of\n stone, and of wood: which can neither see, nor hear nor walk: and\n they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of\n their fornication, nor of their thefts (ix. 13-21).\n\nThere is much in this Trumpet that is remarkable even while we confine\nourselves to the more outward particulars contained in it. Thus we are\nbrought back by it to the thought of those prayers of the saints to\nwhich all the Trumpets are a reply, but which have not been mentioned\nsince the blowing of the Trumpets began.[219] Once more we read of\n_the golden altar which was before God_, in His immediate presence. On\nthat altar the prayers of all the saints had been laid, that they\nmight rise to heaven with the much incense added by the angel, and\nmight be answered in God's own time and way. The voice heard from _the\nfour horns_ of this altar--that is, from the four projecting points at\nits four corners, representing the altar in its greatest\npotency--shows us, what we might have been in danger of forgetting,\nthat the judgment before us continues to be an answer of the Almighty\nto His people's prayers. Again it may be noticed that in the judgment\nhere spoken of we deal once more with a _third part_ of the class upon\nwhich it falls. Nothing of the kind had been said under the fifth\nTrumpet. The inference to be drawn from these particulars is\nimportant. We learn that, however distinct the successive members of\nany of the three series of the Seals, the Trumpets, or the Bowls may\nseem to be, they are yet closely connected with one another. Though\nseven in number, there is a sense in which they are also one; and any\ncharacteristic thought which appears in a single member of the series\nought to be carried through all its members.[220]\n\nThe judgment itself is founded, as in the others already considered,\nupon thoughts and incidents connected with Old Testament history.\n\nThe first of these is the river Euphrates. That great river was the\nboundary of Palestine upon the northeast. \"In the same day the Lord made\na covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land,\nfrom the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates;\"[221]\nand in the days of Solomon this part of the covenant appears to have\nbeen fulfilled, for we are told that \"Solomon reigned over all kingdoms\nfrom the river\" (that is, the Euphrates) \"unto the land of the\nPhilistines, and unto the border of Egypt.\"[222] The Euphrates, however,\nwas not only the boundary between Israel and the Assyrians. It was also\nIsrael's line of defence against its powerful and ambitious neighbour,\nwho had to cross its broad stream before he could seize any part of the\nPromised Land. By a natural transition of thought, the Euphrates next\nbecame a symbol of the Assyrians themselves, for its waters, when they\nrose in flood, overflowed Israel's territory and swept all before them.\nThen the prophets saw in the rush of the swollen river a figure of the\nscourge of God upon those who would not acknowledge Him: \"The Lord spake\nalso unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters\nof Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; now\ntherefore behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the\nriver, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and\nhe shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: and\nhe shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall\nreach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill\nthe breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel.\"[223] When accordingly the\nEuphrates is here spoken of, it is clear that with the river as such we\nhave nothing to do. It is simply a symbol of judgment; and _the four\nangels which had been bound at it_, but were now _loosed_, are a\ntoken--four being the number of the world--that the judgment referred\nto, though it affects but a third part of men, reaches men over the\nwhole surface of the globe. When _the hour, and the day, and the month,\nand the year_--that is, when the moment fixed in the counsels of the\nAlmighty--come, the chains by which destruction has been kept back shall\nbe broken, and the world shall be overwhelmed by the raging stream.\n\nThe second Old Testament thought to be noted in this vision is that of\n_horses_. To the Israelite the horse presented an object of terror\nrather than admiration, and an army of horsemen awakened in him the\ndeepest feelings of alarm. Thus it is that the prophet Habakkuk,\ndescribing the coming judgments of God, is commissioned to exclaim,\n\"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for\nI will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it\nbe told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty\nnation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess\nthe dwelling-places that are not theirs. They are terrible and\ndreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of\nthemselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are\nmore fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread\nthemselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as\nthe eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence: their\nfaces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the\ncaptivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the\nprinces shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every\nstronghold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.\"[224] Like the\nlocusts of the previous vision, the \"horses\" now spoken of are indeed\nclothed with preternatural attributes; but the explanation is the\nsame. Ordinary horses could not convey images of sufficient terror.\n\nThe last two verses of chap. ix., which follow the sixth Trumpet,\ndeserve our particular attention. They describe the effect produced\nupon the men who did not perish by the previous plagues, and they help\nto throw light upon a question most intimately connected with a just\ninterpretation of the Apocalypse. The question is, Does the Seer, in\nany of his visions, anticipate the conversion of the ungodly? or does\nhe deal, from the beginning to the end of his descriptions, with\nrighteousness and sin in themselves rather than with righteous persons\nwho may decline from the truth or sinful persons who may own and\nwelcome it? The question will meet us again in the following chapters\nof this book, and will demand a fuller discussion than it can receive\nat present. In the meantime it is enough to say that, in the two\nverses now under consideration, no hint as to the conversion of any\nungodly persons by the Trumpet plagues is given. On the contrary, the\n\"men\"--that is, the two-thirds of the inhabitants of the earth or of\nthe ungodly world--who were not killed by these plagues repented\nneither of their irreligious principles nor of their immoral lives.\nThey went on as they had done in the grossness of their idolatries and\nin the licentiousness of their conduct. They were neither awakened nor\nsoftened by the fate of others. They had deliberately chosen their own\ncourse; and, although they knew that they were rushing against the\nthick bosses of the Almighty's buckler, they had resolved to persevere\nin it to the end.\n\nTwo brief remarks on these six Trumpet visions, looked at as a whole,\nappear still to be required.\n\n1. No attempt has been made to interpret either the individual objects\nof the judgments or the instruments by which judgment is inflicted. To\nthe one class belong the \"earth,\" the \"trees,\" the \"green grass,\" the\n\"sea,\" the \"ships,\" the \"rivers and fountains of the waters,\" the\n\"sun,\" the \"moon,\" and the \"stars;\" to the other belong the details\ngiven in the description first of the \"locusts\" of the fifth Trumpet\nand then of the \"horses\" of the sixth. Each of these particulars may\nhave a definite meaning, and interpreters may yet be successful in\ndiscovering it. The object kept in view throughout this commentary\nmakes any effort to ascertain that meaning, when it is doubtful if it\neven exists, comparatively unimportant. We are endeavouring to catch\nthe broader interpretation and spirit of the book; and it may be a\nquestion whether our impressions would in that respect be deepened\nthough we saw reason to believe that all the objects above mentioned\nhad individual force. One line of demarcation certainly seems to\nexist, traced by the Seer himself, between the first four and the two\nfollowing judgments, the former referring to physical disasters\nflowing from moral evil, the latter to the more dreadful\nintensification of intellectual darkness and moral corruption visited\nupon men when they deliberately choose evil rather than good. Further\nthan this it is for our present purpose unnecessary to go.\n\n2. The judgments of these Trumpets are judgments on _the world_ rather\nthan the Church. Occasion has been already taken to observe that the\nstructure of this part of the Apocalypse leads to the belief that both\nthe Trumpets and the Bowls are developed out of the Seals. Yet there\nis a difference between the two, and various indications in the\nTrumpet visions appear to confine them to judgments on the world.\n\nThere is the manner in which they are introduced, as an answer to the\nprayers of \"all the saints.\"[225] It is true, as we shall yet see, that\nthe degenerate Church is the chief persecutor of the people of God. But\nagainst her the saints cannot pray. To them she is still the Church.\nThey remember the principle laid down by their Lord when He spoke of His\nkingdom in the parable of the tares: \"Let both grow together until the\nharvest.\"[226] God alone can separate the false from the true within her\npale. There is a sense in which the Church can never be overthrown, and\nthere is not less a sense in which the world shall be subdued. Only for\nthe subjugation of the world, therefore, can \"all the saints\" pray; and\nthe Trumpets are an answer to their prayers.\n\nAgain, the three Woe-Trumpets are directed against \"them that dwell on\nthe earth.\"[227] But, as has been already said, it is a principle of\ninterpretation applicable to all the three series of the Seals, the\nTrumpets, and the Bowls, that traits filling up the picture in one\nmember belong also to the other members of the group, and that the\njudgments, while under one aspect seven, are under another one. The\nthree Woes therefore fall upon the same field of judgment as that\nvisited by the plagues preceding them. In other words, all the six\nplagues of this series of visions are inflicted upon \"them that dwell\non the earth;\" and that is simply another form of expression for the\nungodly world.\n\nAgain, under the fifth Trumpet the children of God are separated from\nthe ungodly, so that the particulars of that judgment do not touch\nthem. The locusts are instructed that _they should not hurt the grass\nof the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only such\nmen as have not the seal of God in their foreheads_.[228]\n\nAgain, the seventh Trumpet, in which the series culminates, and which\nembodies its character as a whole, will be found to deal with judgment\non the world alone: \"The nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath\ncame, and the time of the dead to be judged,\" ... and \"the time to\ndestroy them that destroy the earth.\"[229]\n\nFinally, the description given at the end of the sixth Trumpet of those\nwho were hardened rather than softened by the preceding judgments leads\ndirectly to the same conclusion: _And the rest of mankind which were not\nkilled by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that\nthey should not worship devils, and the idols of gold, and of silver,\nand of brass, and of stone, and of wood._[230]\n\nThese considerations leave no doubt that the judgments of the Trumpets\nare judgments on the world. The Church, it is true, may also suffer\nfrom them, but not in judgment. They may be part of her trial as she\nmixes with the world during her earthly pilgrimage. Trial, however, is\nnot judgment. To the children of God it is the discipline of a\nFather's hand. In the midst of it the Church is safe, and it helps to\nripen her for the fulness of the glory of her heavenly inheritance.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[197] Chap. iv. 8.\n\n[198] John ii. 4; xii. 27.\n\n[199] John v. 27.\n\n[200] Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, INCENSE.\n\n[201] Ps. l. 15.\n\n[202] Chap. vi. 10.\n\n[203] Comp. p. 103.\n\n[204] Exod. ix. 23-25.\n\n[205] Matt. xxi. 21.\n\n[206] Zech. iv. 7; Ps. xlvi. 2.\n\n[207] Jer. li. 25.\n\n[208] Exod. vii. 20, 21.\n\n[209] Isa. xiv. 12.\n\n[210] Jer. ix. 15.\n\n[211] Exod. xv. 23.\n\n[212] Comp. p. 97.\n\n[213] Exod. x. 21-23.\n\n[214] Comp. Job ix. 26.\n\n[215] Exod. x. 12-15.\n\n[216] Joel ii. 3.\n\n[217] Joel ii. 4-10.\n\n[218] Chaps. xxii. 16; i. 18.\n\n[219] Vers. 3-5.\n\n[220] Comp. p. 268.\n\n[221] Gen. xv. 18.\n\n[222] 1 Kings iv. 21.\n\n[223] Isa. viii. 5-8.\n\n[224] Hab. i. 5-10.\n\n[225] Chap. viii. 3.\n\n[226] Matt. xiii. 30.\n\n[227] Chap. viii. 13.\n\n[228] Chap. ix. 4.\n\n[229] Chap. xi. 18.\n\n[230] Chap. ix. 20.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n _FIRST CONSOLATORY VISION._\n\n REV. x.\n\n\nAt the point now reached by us the regular progress of the Trumpet\njudgments is interrupted, in precisely the same manner as between the\nsixth and seventh Seals, by two consolatory visions. The first is\ncontained in chap. x., the second in chap. xi. 1-13. At chap. xi. 14\nthe series of the Trumpets is resumed, reaching from that point to the\nend of the chapter.\n\n And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed\n with a cloud: and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was\n as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his\n hand a little book-roll open: and he set his right foot upon the\n sea, and his left upon the earth: and he cried with a great voice,\n as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered\n their voices. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I\n was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal\n up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them\n not. And the angel which I saw standing upon the sea and upon the\n earth lifted up his right hand to heaven, and sware by Him that\n liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven, and the things\n that are therein, and the earth, and the things that are therein,\n and the sea, and the things that are therein, that there shall be\n time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,\n when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God,\n according to the good tidings which He declared to His servants\n the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it\n again speaking with me, and saying, Go, take the book-roll which\n is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and\n upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that\n he should give me the little book-roll. And he saith unto me, Take\n it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy\n mouth it shall be sweet as honey. And I took the little book-roll\n out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth\n sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.\n And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples,\n and nations, and tongues, and kings (x. 1-11).\n\nMany questions of deep interest, and upon which the most divergent\nopinions have been entertained, meet us in connexion with this passage.\nTo attempt to discuss these various opinions would only confuse the\nreader. It will be enough to allude to them when it seems necessary to\ndo so. In the meantime, before endeavouring to discover the meaning of\nthe vision, three observations may be made; one of a general kind, the\nother two bearing upon the interpretation of particular clauses.\n\n1. Like almost all else in the Revelation of St. John, the vision is\nfounded upon a passage of the Old Testament. \"And when I looked,\" says\nthe prophet Ezekiel, \"behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll\nof a book was therein.... Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, eat what\nthou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I\nopened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that roll. And He said unto me,\nSon of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll\nthat I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for\nsweetness. And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house\nof Israel, and speak with My words unto them.\"[231]\n\n2. In one expression of ver. 6 it is doubtful whether the translation of\nthe Authorised and Revised Versions, or the marginal translation of the\nlatter, ought to be adopted, whether we ought to read, \"There shall be\ntime\" or \"There shall be delay\" no longer. But the former is not only\nthe natural meaning of the original; it would almost seem, from the use\nof the same word in other passages of the Apocalypse,[232] that it is\nemployed by St. John to designate the whole Christian age. That age is\nnow at its very close. The last hour is about to strike. The drama of\nthe world's history is about to be wound up. \"For the Lord will execute\nHis word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.\"[233]\n\n3. The last verse of the chapter deserves our attention for a moment:\n_And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples, and\nnations, and tongues, and kings._ Although prophecy itself is spoken of\nin several passages of this book,[234] we read only once again of\nprophesying: when it is said in chap. xi. 3 of the two witnesses that\nthey shall prophesy. A comparison of these passages will show that both\nwords are to be understood in the sense of proclaiming the righteous\nacts and judgments of the Almighty. The prophet of the Apocalypse is not\nthe messenger of mercy only, but of the just government of God.\n\nFrom these subordinate points we hasten to questions more immediately\nconcerning us in our effort to understand the chapter. Several such\nquestions have to be asked.\n\n1. Who is the angel introduced to us in the first verse of the vision?\nHe is described as _another strong angel_; and, as the epithet \"strong\"\nhas been so used only once before--in chap. v. 2, in connexion with the\nopening of the book-roll sealed with seven seals--we are entitled to\nconclude that this angel is said to be \"another\" in comparison with the\nangel there spoken of rather than with the many angels that surround the\nthrone of God. But the \"strong angel\" in chap. v. is distinguished both\nfrom God Himself, and from the Lamb. In some sense, therefore, a similar\ndistinction must be drawn here. On the other hand, the particulars\nmentioned of this angel lead directly to the conclusion not only that he\nhas Divine attributes, but that he represents no other than that Son of\nman beheld by St. John in the first vision of his book. He is _arrayed\nwith a cloud_; and in every passage of the Apocalypse where mention is\nmade of such investiture, or in which a cloud or clouds are associated\nwith a person, it is with the Saviour of the world as He comes to\njudgment.[235] Similar language marks also the other books of the New\nTestament.[236] _The rainbow was upon his head_; and the definite\narticle employed takes us back, not to the rainbow spoken of in the book\nof Genesis, or to the rainbow which from time to time appears, a\nwell-known object, in the sky, but to that of chap. iv. 3, where we have\nbeen told, in the description of the Divine throne, that \"there was a\nrainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look upon.\" The words\n_his face was as the sun_ do not of themselves prove that the reference\nis to chap. i. 16, where it is said of the One like unto a son of man\nthat \"His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength;\" but the\npropriety of this reference is made almost indubitable by the mention of\n_his feet as pillars of fire_, for this last circumstance can only be an\nallusion to the trait spoken of in chap. i. 15, \"And His feet like unto\nfine brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace.\" The combination of\nthese particulars shows how close is the connexion between the \"strong\nangel\" of this vision and the Divine Redeemer; and the explanation of\nboth the difference and the correspondence between the two is to be\nfound in the remark previously made that in the Apocalypse the \"angel\"\nof any person or thing expresses that person or thing in action.[237]\nHere, therefore, we have the action of Him who is the Head, and King,\nand Lord of His Church.\n\n2. In what character does the Lord appear? As to the answer to this\nquestion there can be no dubiety. He appears in judgment. The rainbow\nupon His head is indeed the symbol of mercy, but it is sufficiently\naccounted for by the fact that He is Saviour as well as Judge. So far\nis the Apocalypse from representing the ideas of judgment and mercy as\nincompatible with each other that throughout the whole book the most\nterrible characteristic of the former is its proceeding from One\ndistinguished by the latter. If even in itself the Divine wrath is to\nbe dreaded by the sinner, the dread which it ought to inspire reaches\nits highest point when we think of it as \"the wrath of the Lamb.\" The\nother features of the description speak directly of judgment: the\n\"cloud,\" the \"sun,\" the \"pillars of fire.\"\n\n3. What notion are we to form of the contents of the _little\nbook-roll_? They are certainly not the same as those of the book-roll\nof chap. v., although the word here used for the roll, a diminutive\nfrom the other, may suggest the idea that there is an intimate\nconnexion between the two books, and that the second, like the first,\nis full of judgment. Other circumstances mentioned lead to the same\nconclusion. Thus the _great voice, as a lion roareth_, cannot fail to\nremind us of the voice of \"the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah\" in\nchap. v. The thought of _the seven thunders_ which _uttered their\nvoices_ deepens the impression, for in that number we have the general\nconception of thunder in all the varied terrors that belong to it;\nand, whatever the particulars uttered by the thunders were--a point\ninto which it is vain to inquire, as the writing of them was\nforbidden--their general tone must have been that of judgment. But\nthese thunders are a response to the strong angel as he was about to\ntake action with the little book,--\"_when he cried_, the seven\nthunders uttered their voices,\"--and the response must have been\nrelated to the action. It is clear, therefore, that the contents of\nthe little book cannot have been tidings of mercy to a sinful world;\nand that that book cannot have been intended to tell the Seer that,\nnotwithstanding the opposition of the powers of darkness, the Church\nof Christ was to make her way among the nations, growing up from the\nsmall seed into the stately tree, and at last covering the earth with\nthe shadow of her branches. Even on the supposition that a conception\nof this kind could be traced in other parts of the Apocalypse, it\nwould be out of keeping with the particulars accompanying it here. We\nmay without hesitation conclude that the little book-roll has thus the\ngeneral character of judgment, although, like the larger roll of chap.\nv., it may also include in it the preservation of the saints.\n\nWe are thus in a position to inquire what the special contents of the\nlittle book-roll were. Before doing so one consideration may be kept\nin view.\n\nCalling to mind the symmetrical structure of the Apocalypse, it seems\nnatural to expect that the relation to one another of the two\nconsolatory visions falling between the Trumpets and the Bowls will\ncorrespond to that of the two between the Seals and the Trumpets. The\ntwo companies, however, spoken of in these two latter visions, are the\nsame, the hundred and forty and four thousand \"out of every tribe of the\nchildren of Israel\" being identical with the great multitude \"out of\nevery nation;\" while the contents of the second vision are substantially\nthe same as those of the first, though repeated on a fuller and more\nperfect scale. Now we shall shortly see that the second of our present\nconsolatory visions--that in chap. xi.--brings out the victory and\ntriumph of _a faithful remnant_ of believers within a degenerate, though\nprofessing, Church. How probable does it become that the first\nconsolatory vision--that in chap. x.--will relate to the same remnant,\nthough on a lower plane alike of battle and of conquest!\n\nThus looked at, we have good ground for the supposition that the\nlittle book-roll contained indications of judgment about to descend on\na Church which had fallen from her high position and practically\ndisowned her Divine Master; while at the same time it assured the\nfaithful remnant within her that they would be preserved, and in due\nseason glorified. The little book thus spoke of the hardest of all the\nstruggles through which believers have to pass: that with foes of\ntheir own household; but, so speaking, it told also of judgment upon\nthese foes, and of a glorious issue for the true members of Christ's\nBody out of toil and suffering.\n\nWith this view of the contents of the little book-roll everything that\nis said of it appears to be in harmony.\n\n1. We thus at once understand why it is named by a diminutive form of\nthe word used for the book-roll in chap. v. The latter contained the\nwhole counsel of God for the execution of His plans both in the world\nand in the Church. The former has reference to the Church alone. A\nsmaller roll therefore would naturally be sufficient for its tidings.\n\n2. The action which the Seer is commanded to take with the roll\nreceives adequate explanation. He was to _take it_ out of the hand of\nthe strong angel and to _eat it up_. The meaning is obvious, and is\nadmitted by all interpreters. The Seer is in his own actual experience\nto assimilate the contents of the roll in order that he may know their\nvalue. The injunction is in beautiful accord with what we otherwise\nknow of the character and feelings of St. John. The power of Christian\nexperience to throw light upon Christian truth and upon the fortunes\nof Christ's people is one of the most remarkable characteristics of\nthe fourth Gospel. It penetrates and pervades the whole. We listen to\nthe expression of the Evangelist's own feelings as he is about to\npresent to the world the image of his beloved Master, and he cries,\n\"_We_ beheld His glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the\nFather;\" \"Of His fulness _we_ all received, and grace for grace.\"[238]\nWe notice his comment upon words of Jesus dark to his fellow-Apostles\nand himself at the time when they were spoken, and he says, \"When\ntherefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that\nHe spake this; and they believed the word which Jesus had said.\"[239]\nFinally, we hear him as he remembers the promise of the Spirit of\ntruth, who was to instruct the disciples, not by new revelations of\nthe Divine will, but by unfolding more largely the fulness that was to\nbe found in Christ: \"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He\nshall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from\nHimself; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak:\nand He shall declare unto you the things that are to come. He shall\nglorify Me: for He shall take of Mine, and shall declare it unto\nyou.\"[240] Everywhere and always Christian experience is the key that\nunlocks what would otherwise be closed, and sheds light upon what\nwould otherwise be dark. To such experience, accordingly, the contents\nof the little roll, if they were such as we have understood them to\nbe, must have appealed with peculiar power. In beholding judgment\nexecuted on the world, the believer might need only to stand by and\nwonder, as Moses and Israel stood upon the shore of the Red Sea when\nthe sea, returning to its bed, overwhelmed their enemies. They were\nsafe. They had neither part nor lot with those who were sinking as\nlead in the mighty waters. It would be otherwise when judgment came\nupon the Church. Of that Church believers were a part. How could they\nexplain the change that had come over her, the purification that she\nneeded, the separation that must take place within what had hitherto\nbeen to all appearance the one Zion which God loved? In the former\ncase all was outward; in the latter all is inward, personal,\nexperimental, leading to inquiry and earnest searchings of heart and\nprayer. A book containing these things was thus an appeal to\nChristian experience, and St. John might well be told to \"eat it up.\"\n\n3. The effect produced upon the Seer by eating the little roll is also\nin accord with what has been said. _It shall make thy belly bitter_,\nit was said to him, _but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey_; and\nthe effect followed. _It was in my mouth_, he says, _sweet as honey:\nand when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter_. Such an effect\ncould hardly follow the mere proclamation of judgment on the world.\nWhen we look at that judgment in the light in which it ought to be\nregarded, and in which we have hitherto regarded it--as the\nvindication of righteousness and of a Divine and righteous order--the\nthought of it can impart nothing but joy. But to think that the Church\nof the living God, the bride of Christ, shall be visited with\njudgment, and to be compelled to acknowledge that the judgment is\ndeserved; to think that those to whom so much has been given should\nhave given so little in return; to think of the selfishness which has\nprevailed where love ought to have reigned, of worldliness where there\nought to have been heavenliness of mind, and of discord where there\nought to have been unity--these are the things that make the\nChristian's reflections \"bitter;\" they, and they most of all, are his\nperplexity, his burden, his sorrow, and his cross. The world may\ndisappoint him, but from it he expected little. When the Church\ndisappoints him, the \"foundations are overturned,\" and the honey of\nlife is changed into gall and wormwood.\n\nCombining the particulars which have now been noticed, we seem\nentitled to conclude that the little book-roll of this chapter is a\nroll of judgment, but of judgment relating less to the world than to\nthe Church. It tells us that that sad experience of hers which is to\nmeet us in the following chapters ought neither to perplex nor\noverwhelm us. The experience may be strange, very different from what\nwe might have expected and hoped for; but the thread by which the\nChurch is guided has not passed out of the hands of Him who leads His\npeople by ways that they know not into the hands of an unsympathizing\nand hostile power. As His counsels in reference to the world, and to\nthe Church in her general relation to it, contained in the great\nbook-roll of chap. v., shall stand, so the internal relations of the\ntwo parts of His Church to each other, together with the issues\ndepending upon them, are equally under His control. If judgment falls\nupon the Church, it is not because God has forgotten to be gracious,\nor has in anger shut up His tender mercies, but because the Church has\nsinned, because she is in need of chastisement, and because she must\nbe taught that only in direct dependence upon the voice of the Good\nShepherd, and not in the closest \"fold\" that can be built for her, is\nshe safe. Let her \"know\" Him, and she shall be known of Him even as He\nis known of the Father.[241]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[231] Ezek. ii. 9; iii. 4.\n\n[232] Comp. chaps. vi. 11; xx. 3.\n\n[233] Rom. ix. 28.\n\n[234] Comp. chaps. i. 3; xxii. 7, 10, 18, 19.\n\n[235] Chaps. i. 7; xiv. 14-16. In chap. xi. 12 \"the cloud\" is the\nwell-known cloud in which Christ ascended, and in which He comes to\njudgment.\n\n[236] Matt. xxiv. 30; Mark xiii. 26; Luke xxi. 27; 1 Thess. iv. 17.\n\n[237] Comp. p. 25.\n\n[238] John i. 14, 16.\n\n[239] John ii. 22.\n\n[240] John xvi. 13, 14.\n\n[241] Comp. John x. 1-15.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n _SECOND CONSOLATORY VISION AND THE SEVENTH\n TRUMPET._\n\n REV. xi.\n\n\nFrom the first consolatory vision we proceed to the second:--\n\n And there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod: and one said,\n Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that\n worship therein. And the court which is without the temple cast\n without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the\n nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and\n two months (xi. 1, 2).\n\nVarious points connected with these verses demand examination before any\nattempt can be made to gather the meaning of the vision as a whole.\n\n1. What is meant by the _measuring_ of the Temple? As in so many other\ninstances, the figure is taken from the Old Testament. In the prophet\nZechariah we read, \"I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold\na man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest\nthou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the\nbreadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.\"[242] To the same\neffect, but still more particularly, the prophet Ezekiel speaks: \"In the\nvisions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a\nvery high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.\nAnd He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose\nappearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his\nhand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.... And behold a\nwall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a\nmeasuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an handbreadth, so he\nmeasured,\"[243] whereupon follows a minute and lengthened description of\nthe measuring of all the parts of that Temple which was to be the glory\nof God's people in the latter days. From these passages we not only\nlearn whence the idea of the \"measuring\" was taken, but what the meaning\nof it was. The account given by Ezekiel distinctly shows that thus to\nmeasure expresses the thought of preservation, not of destruction. That\nthe same thought is intended by Zechariah is clear from the words\nimmediately following the instruction given him to measure: \"For I,\nsaith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be\nthe glory in the midst of her;\"[244] while, if further proof upon this\npoint were needed, it is found in the fact that the measuring of this\npassage does not stand alone in the Apocalypse. The new Jerusalem is\nalso measured: \"And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden\nreed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.\nAnd he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits,\naccording to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.\"[245] When God\ntherefore measures, He measures, not in indignation, but that the object\nmeasured may be in a deeper than ordinary sense the habitation of His\nglory.\n\n2. What is meant by _the temple, the altar_, and the _casting without\nof the court which is without the temple_? In other words, are we to\ninterpret these objects and the action taken with the latter literally\nor figuratively? Are we to think of the things themselves, or of certain\nspiritual ideas which they are used to represent? The first view is not\nonly that of many eminent commentators; it even forms one of the chief\ngrounds upon which they urge that the Herodian temple upon Mount Moriah\nwas still in existence when the Apocalyptist wrote. He could not, it is\nalleged, have been instructed to \"measure\" the Temple if that building\nhad been already thrown down, and not one stone left upon another. Yet,\nwhen we attend to the words, it would seem as if this view must be set\naside in favour of a figurative interpretation. For--\n\n(1) The word \"temple\" misleads. The term employed in the original does\nnot mean the Temple-buildings as a whole, but only their innermost\nshrine or sanctuary, that part known as the \"Holy of holies,\" which\nwas separated from every other part of the sacred structure by the\nsecond veil. No doubt, so far as the simple act of measuring was\nconcerned, a part might have been as easily measured as the whole. But\ncloser attention to what was in the Seer's mind will show that when he\nthus speaks of the _naos_ or shrine he is not thinking of the Temple\nat Jerusalem at all, but of the Tabernacle in the wilderness upon\nwhich the Temple was moulded. The nineteenth verse of the chapter\nmakes this clear. In that verse we find him saying, \"And there was\nopened the temple\" (the _naos_) \"of God that is in heaven, and there\nwas seen in His temple\" (His _naos_) \"the ark of His covenant.\" We\nknow, however, that the ark of the covenant _never had_ a place in\nthe Temple which existed in the days of Christ. It had disappeared at\nthe destruction of the first Temple, long before that date. The Temple\nspoken of in the nineteenth verse is indeed said to be \"in heaven;\"\nand it may be thought that the ark, though not on earth, might have\nbeen seen there. But no reader of the Revelation of St. John can doubt\nthat to him the sanctuary of God on earth was an exact representation\nof the heavenly sanctuary, that what God had given in material form to\nmen was a faithful copy of the ideas of His spiritual and eternal\nkingdom. He could not therefore have placed in the original what, if\nhe had before his mind the Temple at Jerusalem, he knew had no\nexistence within its precincts; and the conclusion is irresistible\nthat when he speaks of a _naos_ that was to be measured he had turned\nhis thoughts, not to the stone building upon Mount Moriah, but to its\nancient prototype. On this ground alone then, even could no other be\nadduced, we seem entitled to maintain that a literal interpretation of\nthe word \"temple\" is here impossible.\n\n(2) Even should it be allowed that the sanctuary and the altar might\nbe measured, the injunction is altogether inapplicable to the next\nfollowing clause: _them that worship therein_. And it is peculiarly so\nif we adopt the natural construction, by which the word \"therein\" is\nconnected with the word \"altar.\" We cannot literally speak of persons\nworshipping \"in\" an altar. Nay, even though we connect \"therein\" with\n\"the temple,\" the idea of measuring _persons_ with a rod is at\nvariance with the realities of life and the ordinary use of human\nlanguage. A figurative element is thus introduced into the very heart\nof the clause the meaning of which is in dispute.\n\n(3) A similar observation may be made with regard to the words _cast\nwithout_ in ver. 2. The injunction has reference to the outer court of\nthe Temple, and the thought of \"casting out\" such an extensive space\nis clearly inadmissible. So much have translators felt this that both\nin the Authorised and Revised Versions they have replaced the words\n\"cast without\" by the words \"leave without.\" The outer court of the\nTemple could not be \"cast out;\" therefore it must be \"left out.\" The\ninterpretation thus given, however, fails to do justice to the\noriginal, for, though the word employed does not always include actual\nviolence, it certainly implies action of a more positive kind than\nmere letting alone or passing by. More than this. We are under a\nspecial obligation in the present instance not to strip the word used\nby the Apostle of its proper force, for we shall immediately see that,\nrightly interpreted, it is one of the most interesting expressions of\nhis book, and of the greatest value in helping us to determine the\nprecise nature of his thought. In the meanwhile it is enough to say\nthat the employment of the term in the connexion in which it here\noccurs is at variance with a simply literal interpretation.\n\n(4) It cannot be denied that almost every other expression in the\nsubsequent verses of the vision is figurative or metaphorical. If we\nare to interpret this part literally, it will be impossible to apply\nthe same rule to other parts; and we shall have such a mixture of the\nliteral and metaphorical as will completely baffle our efforts to\ncomprehend the meaning of the Seer.\n\n(5) We have the statement from the writer's own lips that, at least in\nspeaking of Jerusalem, he is not to be literally understood. In ver. 8\nhe refers to \"the great city, which _spiritually_ is called Sodom and\nEgypt.\" The hint thus given as to one point of his description may be\naccepted as applicable to it all.\n\nWe conclude, therefore, that the \"measuring,\" the \"temple\" or _naos_,\nthe \"altar,\" the \"court which is without,\" and the \"casting without\"\nof the latter are to be regarded as figurative.\n\n3. Our third point of inquiry is, What is the meaning of the figure?\nThere need be no hesitation as to the things first spoken of: \"the\ntemple, the altar, and them that worship therein.\" These, the most\nsacred parts of the Temple-buildings, can only denote the most sacred\nportion of the true Israel of God. They are those disciples of Christ\nwho constitute His shrine, His golden altar of incense whence their\nprayers rise up continually before Him, His worshippers in spirit and\nin truth. These, as we have already often had occasion to see, shall\nbe preserved safe amidst the troubles of the Church and of the world.\nIn one passage we have been told that they are numbered[246]; now we\nare further informed that they are measured.\n\nIt is more difficult to explain who are meant by \"the court which is\nwithout the temple.\" But three things are clear. First, they are a\npart of the Temple-buildings, although not of its inner shrine.\nSecondly, they belong to Jerusalem; and Jerusalem, notwithstanding its\ndegenerate condition, was still the city of God, standing to Him in a\nrelation different from that of the \"nations,\" even when it had sunk\nbeneath them and had done more to merit His displeasure. Thirdly, they\ncannot be the Gentiles, for from them they are manifestly\ndistinguished when it is said that the outer court \"hath been given\nunto _the nations_: and the holy city shall they tread under foot\nforty and two months.\"[247] One conclusion alone remains. The \"court\nthat is without\" must symbolize the faithless portion of the Christian\nChurch, such as tread the courts of the house of God, but to whom He\nspeaks as He spoke to Jerusalem of old: \"Bring no more vain oblations;\nincense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the\ncalling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the\nsolemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul\nhateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them.\"[248]\n\nThe correctness of the sense thus assigned to this part of the vision is\npowerfully confirmed by what appears to be the true foundation of the\nsingular expression already so far spoken of, \"cast without.\" Something\nmust lie at the bottom of the figure; and nothing seems so probable as\nthis: that it is the \"casting out\" which took place in the case of the\nman blind from his birth, and the opening of whose eyes by Jesus is\nrelated in the fourth Gospel. Of that man we are told that when the Jews\ncould no longer answer him \"they cast him out.\"[249] The word is the\nsame as that now employed, and the thought is most probably the same\nalso. Excommunication from the synagogue is in the Seer's mind, not a\ntemporal punishment, not a mere worldly doom, but a spiritual sentence\ndepriving of spiritual privileges misunderstood and abused. Such a\ncasting out, however, can apply only to those who had been once within\nthe courts of the Lord's house or to the faithless members of the\nChristian Church. They, like the Jews of old, would \"cast out\" the\nhumble disciples whom Jesus \"found\";[250] and He cast them out.\n\nIf the explanation now given of the opening verses of this chapter be\ncorrect, we have reached a very remarkable stage in these apocalyptic\nvisions. For the first time, except in the letters to the\nchurches,[251] we have a clear line of distinction drawn between the\nprofessing and the true portions of the Church of Christ, or, as it\nmay be otherwise expressed, between the \"called\" and the\n\"chosen.\"[252] How far the same distinction will meet us in later\nvisions of this book we have yet to see. For the present it may be\nenough to say that the drawing of such a distinction corresponds\nexactly with what we might have been prepared to expect. Nothing can\nbe more certain than that in the things actually around him St. John\nbeheld the mould and type of the things that were to come. Now\nJerusalem, the Church of God in Israel, contained two classes within\nits walls: those who were accomplishing their high destiny and those\nby whom that destiny was misunderstood, despised, and cast away. Has\nit not always been the same in the Christian Church? If the world\nentered into the one, has it not entered as disastrously into the\nother? That field which is \"the kingdom of heaven\" upon earth has\nnever wanted tares as well as wheat. They grow together, and no man\nmay separate them. When the appropriate moment comes, God Himself will\ngive the word; angels will carry off the tares, and the great\nHusbandman will gather the wheat into His garner.\n\n4. One question still remains: What is the meaning of the _forty and\ntwo months_ during which the holy city is to be trodden under foot of\nthe nations? The same expression meets us in chap. xiii. 5, where it\nis said that \"there was given to the beast authority to continue forty\nand two months.\" But forty and two months is also three and a half\nyears, the Jewish year having consisted of twelve months, except when\nan intercalary month was inserted among the twelve in order to\npreserve harmony between the seasons and the rotation of time. The\nsame period is therefore again alluded to in chap. xii. 14, when it is\nsaid of the woman who fled into the wilderness that she is there\nnourished for \"a time, and times, and half a time.\" Once more, we read\nin chap. xi. 3 and in chap. xii. 6 of a period denoted by \"a thousand\ntwo hundred and threescore days;\" and a comparison of this last\npassage with ver. 14 of the same chapter distinctly shows that it is\nequivalent to the three and a half times or years. Three and a half\nmultiplied by three hundred and sixty, the number of days in the\nJewish year, gives us exactly the twelve hundred and sixty days. These\nthree periods, therefore, are the same. Why the different designations\nshould be adopted is another question, to which, so far as we are\naware, no satisfactory reply has yet been given, although it may be\nthat, for some occult reason, the Seer beholds in \"months\" a suitable\nexpression for the dominion of evil, in \"days\" one appropriate to the\nsufferings of the good.\n\nThe ground of this method of looking at the Church's history is found in\nthe book of Daniel, where we read of the fourth beast, or the fourth\nkingdom, \"And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and\nshall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times\nand laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times\nand the dividing of time.\"[253] The same book helps us also to answer\nthe question as to the particular period of the Church's history denoted\nby the days, or months, or years referred to, for in another passage the\nprophet says, \"And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:\nand in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the\noblation to cease.\"[254] The three and a half years therefore, or the\nhalf of seven years, denote the whole period extending from the\ncessation of the sacrifice and oblation. In other words, they denote the\nChristian era from its beginning to its close, and that more especially\non the side of its disturbed and broken character, of the power\nexercised in it by what is evil, of the troubles and sufferings of the\ngood. During it the disciples of the Saviour do not reach the\ncompleteness of their rest; their victory is not won. Ideally it is so;\nit always has been so since Jesus overcame: but it is not yet won in the\nactual realities of the case; and, though in one sense every heavenly\nprivilege is theirs, their difficulties are so great, and their\nopponents so numerous and powerful, that the true expression for their\nstate is a broken seven years, or three years and a half. During this\ntime, accordingly, the holy city is represented as trodden under foot by\nthe nations. They who are at ease in Zion may not feel it; but to the\ntrue disciples of Jesus their Master's prophecy is fulfilled, \"In the\nworld ye shall have tribulation.\"[255]\n\nThe vision now proceeds:--\n\n And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy\n a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.\n These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing\n before the Lord of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them,\n fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and\n if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be\n killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not\n during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the\n waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every\n plague, as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have\n finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss\n shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And\n their dead body lies in the street of the great city, which\n spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was\n crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and\n nations do men look upon their dead body three days and an half, and\n suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they that\n dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry: and they shall\n send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them\n that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and an half the\n breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their\n feet; and great fear fell upon them which beheld them. And they\n heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.\n And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld\n them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth\n part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven\n thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to\n the God of heaven (xi. 3-13).\n\nThe figures of this part of the vision, like those of the first part,\nare drawn from the Old Testament. That the language is not to be\nliterally understood hardly admits of dispute, for, whatever might\nhave been thought of the \"two witnesses\" had we read only of them, the\ndescription given of their persons, or of their person (for in ver. 8,\nwhere mention is made of their _dead body_--not \"bodies\"--they are\ntreated as one), of their work, of their death, and of their\nresurrection and ascension, is so obviously figurative as to render it\nnecessary to view the whole passage in that light. The main elements\nof the figure are supplied by the prophet Zechariah. \"And the angel\nthat talked with me,\" says the prophet, \"came again, and waked me, as\na man that is wakened out of sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou?\nAnd I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with\na bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven\npipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two\nolive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other\nupon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that\ntalked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?... Then he answered\nand spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto\nZerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,\nsaith the Lord of hosts Who art thou, O great mountain? before\nZerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the\nheadstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it....\nThen answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees\nupon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?\nAnd I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive\nbranches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out\nof themselves? And he answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what\nthese be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two\nanointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.\"[256] In\nthese words indeed we read only of one golden candlestick, while now\nwe read of two. But we have already found that the Seer of the\nApocalypse, in using the figures to which he had been accustomed, does\nnot bind himself to all their details; and the only inference to be\ndrawn from this difference, as well as from the circumstance already\nnoted in ver. 8, is that the number \"two\" is to be regarded less in\nitself than as a strengthening of the idea of the number one. This\ncircumstance further shows that the two witnesses cannot be divided\nbetween the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, as if the one\nwitness were the former and the other the latter. Both taken together\nexpress the idea of witnessing, and to the full elucidation of that\nidea belong also the olive tree and the candlestick. The witnessing is\nfed by perpetual streams of that heavenly oil, of that unction of the\nSpirit, which is represented by the olive tree; and it sheds light\naround like the candlestick. The two witnesses, therefore, are not two\nindividuals to be raised up during the course of the Church's history,\nthat they may bear testimony to the facts and principles of the\nChristian faith. The Seer indeed may have remembered that it had been\nGod's plan in the past to commission His servants, not singly, but in\npairs. He may have called to mind Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb,\nElijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, or he may have thought of\nthe fact that our Lord sent forth His disciples two by two. The\nprobability, however, is that, as he speaks of \"witnessing,\" he\nthought mainly of that precept of the law which required the testimony\nof two witnesses to confirm a statement. Yet he does not confine\nhimself to the thought of two individual witnesses, however eminent,\nwho shall in faithful work fill up their own short span of human life\nand die. The witness he has in view is that to be borne by all\nChrist's people, everywhere, and throughout the whole Christian age.\nFrom the first to the last moment of the Church's history in this\nworld there shall be those raised up who shall never fail to\n_prophesy_, or, in other words, to testify to the truth of God as it\nis in Jesus. The task will be hard, but they will not shrink from it.\nThey shall be _clothed in sackcloth_, but they shall count their robes\nof shame to be robes of honour. They shall occupy the position of Him\nwho, in the days of His humiliation, was the \"faithful and true\nWitness.\" Nourished by the Spirit that was in Him, they shall, like\nHim, be the light of the world,[257] so that God shall never be left\nwithout some at least to witness for Him.\n\nHaving spoken of the persons of the two witnesses, St. John next\nproceeds to describe the power with which, amidst their seeming\nweakness, their testimony is borne; and once more he finds in the most\nstriking histories of the Old Testament the materials with which his\nglowing imagination builds.\n\nIn the first place, _fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth\ntheir enemies_, so that these enemies are _killed_ by the manifest\njudgment of God, and even, in His righteous retribution, by the very\ninstrument of destruction they would have themselves employed. Elijah\nand the three companions of Daniel are before us, when at the word of\nElijah fire descended out of heaven, and consumed the two captains and\ntheir fifties,[258] and when the companions of Daniel were not only left\nunharmed amidst the flames, but when the fire leaped out upon and slew\nthe men by whom they had been cast into the furnace.[259] This fire\nproceeding out of the mouth of the two witnesses is like the sharp\ntwo-edged sword proceeding out of the mouth of the Son of man in the\nfirst vision of the book.[260] In the second place, the witnesses _have\nthe power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their\nprophecy_. Elijah is again before us when he exclaimed in the presence\nof Ahab, \"As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there\nshall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word,\" and\nwhen \"it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.\"[261]\nFinally, when we are told that the witnesses _have power over the waters\nto turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as\noften as they shall desire_, we are reminded of Moses and of the plagues\ninflicted through him upon the oppressors of Israel in Egypt.\n\nThe three figures teach the same lesson. No deliverance has been\neffected by the Almighty for His people in the past which He is not\nready to repeat. The God of Moses, and Elijah, and Daniel is the\nunchangeable Jehovah. He has made with His Church an everlasting\ncovenant; and the most striking manifestations of His power in bygone\ntimes \"happened by way of example, and were written for our\nadmonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.\"[262]\n\nHence, accordingly, the Church _finishes her testimony_.[263] So was\nit with our Lord in His high-priestly prayer and on the Cross: \"I\nglorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou\nhast given Me to do;\" \"It is finished.\"[264] But this \"finishing\" of\ntheir testimony on the part of the two witnesses points to more than\nthe end of the three and a half years viewed simply as a period of\ntime. Not the thought of time alone, but of the completion of\ntestimony, is present to the Seer's mind. At every moment in the\nhistory of Christ's true disciples that completion is reached by some\nor others of their number. Through all the three and a half years\ntheir testimony is borne with power, and is finished with triumph, so\nthat the world is always without excuse.\n\nHaving spoken of the power of the witnesses, St. John next turns to the\nthought of their evil fate. _The beast that cometh up out of the abyss\nshall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them._ This\n\"beast\" has not yet been described; but it is a characteristic of the\nApostle, both in the fourth Gospel and in the Apocalypse, to anticipate\nat times what is to come, and to introduce persons to our notice whom we\nshall only learn to know fully at a later point in his narrative. That\nis the case here. This beast will again meet us in chap. xiii. and chap.\nxvii., where we shall see that it is the concentrated power of a world\nmaterial and visible in its opposition to a world spiritual and\ninvisible. It may be well to remark, too, that the representation given\nof the beast presents us with one of the most striking contrasts of St.\nJohn, and one that must be carefully remembered if we would understand\nhis visions. Why speak of its \"coming up out of the abyss\"? Because the\nbeast is the contrast of the _risen_ Saviour. Only after His\nresurrection did our Lord enter upon His dominion as King, Head, and\nGuardian of His people. In like manner only after a resurrection\nmockingly attributed to it does this beast attain its full range of\ninfluence. Then, in the height of its rage and at the summit of its\npower, it sets itself in opposition to Christ's witnesses. It cannot\nindeed prevent them from accomplishing their work; they shall finish\ntheir testimony in spite of it: but, when that is done, it shall gain an\napparent triumph. As the Son of God was nailed to the Cross, and in that\nhour of His weakness seemed to be conquered by the world, so shall it\nbe with them. They shall be overcome and killed.\n\nNor is that all, for their _dead body_ (not _dead bodies_[265]) is\ntreated with the utmost contumely. It lies in the broad open street of\n_the great city_, which the words _where also their Lord was\ncrucified_ show plainly to be Jerusalem. But Jerusalem! In what aspect\nis she here beheld? Not as \"the holy city,\" \"the beloved city,\" the\nZion which God had desired for His habitation, and of which He had\nsaid, \"This is My rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired\nit,\"[266] but degenerate Jerusalem, Jerusalem become as Sodom for its\nwickedness, and as Egypt for its oppression of the Israel of God. The\nlanguage is strong, so strong that many interpreters have deemed it\nimpossible to apply it to Jerusalem in any sense, and have imagined\nthat they had no alternative but to think of Rome. Yet it is not\nstronger than the language used many a time by the prophets of old:\n\"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law\nof our God, ye people of Gomorrah. How is the faithful city become an\nharlot! ... righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.\"[267]\n\nIf, however, this city be Jerusalem, what does it represent? Surely, for\nreasons already stated, neither the true disciples of Jesus, nor the\nheathen nations of the world. We have the degenerate Church before us,\nthe Church that has conformed to the world. That Church beholds the\nfaithful witnesses for Christ the Crucified lie in the open way. Their\nwounds make no impression upon her heart, and draw no tear from her\neyes. She even invites the world to the spectacle; and the world,\nalways eager to hear the voice of a degenerate Church, responds to the\ninvitation. It \"looks,\" and obviously without commiseration, upon the\nprostrate, mangled form that has fallen in the strife. This it does for\nthree days and a half, the half of seven, a broken period of trouble;\nand it will not suffer the dead body to be laid in a tomb. Nay, the\nworld is not content even with its victory. After victory it must have\nits triumph; and that triumph is presented to us in one of the most\nwonderful pictures of the Apocalypse, when _they that dwell on the\nearth_--that is, the men of the world--_from among the peoples and\ntribes and tongues and nations_, having listened to the degenerate\nChurch's call, make high holiday at the thought of what they have done.\nThey _rejoice over the dead bodies, and make merry: and they send gifts\none to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on\nthe earth_. We are reminded of Herod and Pilate, who, when the Jewish\ngovernor sent Jesus to his heathen brother, \"became friends that very\nday.\"[268] But we are reminded of more. In the book of Nehemiah we find\nmention of that great feast of Tabernacles which was observed by the\npeople when they heard again, after long silence, the book of the law,\nand when \"there was very great gladness.\" In immediate connexion with\nthis feast, Nehemiah said to the people, \"Go your way, eat the fat, and\ndrink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is\nprepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for\nthe joy of the Lord is your strength\"[269]; while it constituted a part\nalso of the joyful ceremonial of the feast of the dedication of the\nTemple that the Jews made the days of the feast \"days of feasting and\njoy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the\npoor.\"[270] Taking these passages into account, and remembering the\ngeneral style and manner of St. John, we can have no hesitation in\nrecognising in the festival of these verses the world's Feast of\nTabernacles, the contrast and the counterpart of the Church's feast\nalready spoken of in the second consolatory vision of chap. vii.\n\nIf so, what a picture does it present!--the degenerate Church inviting\nthe world to celebrate a feast over the dead bodies of the witnesses\nfor Christ, and the world accepting the invitation; the former\naccommodating herself to the ways of the latter, and the latter\nwelcoming the accommodation; the one proclaiming no unpleasant\ndoctrines and demanding no painful sacrifices, the other hailing with\nsatisfaction the prospect of an easy yoke and of a cheap purchase of\neternity as well as time. The picture may seem too terrible to be\ntrue. But let us first remember that, like all the pictures of the\nApocalypse, it is ideal, showing us the operation of principles in\ntheir last, not their first, effect; and then let us ask whether we\nhave never read of, or ourselves seen, such a state of things actually\nrealized. Has the Church never become the world, on the plea that she\nwould gain the world? Has she never uttered smooth things or\nprophesied deceits in order that she might attract those who will not\nendure the thought of hardness in religious service, and would rather\nembrace what in their inward hearts they know to be a lie than bitter\ntruth? Such a spectacle has been often witnessed, and is yet witnessed\nevery day, when those who ought to be witnesses for a living and\npresent Lord gloze over the peculiar doctrines of the Christian faith,\ndraw as close as possible the bonds of their fellowship with\nunchristian men, and treat with scorn the thought of a heavenly life\nto be led even amidst the things of time. One can understand the\nworld's own ways, and, even when lamenting that its motives are not\nhigher, can love its citizens and respect their virtues. But a far\nlower step in declension is reached when the Church's silver becomes\ndross, when her wine is mixed with water, and when her voice no longer\nconvicts, no longer \"torments them that dwell on the earth.\"\n\nIn the midst of all their tribulation, however, the faithful portion\nof the Church have a glorious reward. They have suffered with Christ,\nbut they shall also reign with Him. After all their trials in life,\nafter their death, and after the limited time during which even when\ndead they have been dishonoured, they live again. _The breath of life\nfrom God entered into them._ Following Him who is the first-fruits of\nthem that sleep, they _stood upon their feet_.[271] They _heard a\ngreat voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither_. They _went\nup into heaven in the cloud_; and there they sit down with the\nconquering Redeemer in His throne, even as He overcame and sat down\nwith His Father in His throne.[272] All this, too, takes place in the\nvery presence of their enemies, upon whom _great fear fell_. Even\nnature sympathizes with them. Having waited for the revealing of the\nsons of God, and in hope that she also shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of\nGod,[273] she hails their final triumph. _There was a great\nearthquake, the tenth part of the city_ (that is, of Jerusalem) _fell;\nand there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons._ It is\nunnecessary to say that the words are figurative and symbolical,\ndenoting in all probability simply judgment, but judgment restrained.\n\nThe last words of the vision alone demand more particular attention:\n_The rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven._ The\nthought is the same as that which met us when we were told at the\nclose of the sixth Trumpet that \"the rest of mankind which were not\nkilled with these plagues repented not.\"[274] There is no repentance,\nno conversion. There is terror; there is alarm; there is a tribute of\nawe to the God of heaven who has so signally vindicated His own cause;\nbut there is nothing more. Nor are we told what may or may not follow\nin some future scene. For the Seer the final triumph of good and the\nfinal overthrow of evil are enough. He can be patient, and, so far as\npersons are concerned, can leave the issue in the hands of God.\n\nThe two consolatory visions interposed between the sixth and seventh\nTrumpets are now over, and we cannot fail to see how great an advance\nthey are upon the two visions of a similar kind interposed between the\nsixth and seventh Seals. The whole action has made progress. At the\nearlier stage the Church may be said to have been hidden in the hollow\nof the Almighty's hand. In the thought of the \"great tribulation\"\nawaiting her she has been sealed, while the peace and joy of her new\ncondition have been set before us, as she neither hungers nor thirsts,\nbut is guided by her Divine Shepherd to green pastures and to\nfountains of the waters of life. At this later stage she is in the\nmidst of her conflict and her sufferings. She is in the heat of her\nwarfare, in the extremity of her persecuted state. From the height on\nwhich we stand we do not look over a quiet and peaceful plain, with\nflocks of sheep resting in its meadows; we look over a field where\narmed men have met in the shock of battle. There is the stir, the\nexcitement, the tumult of deadly strife for higher than earthly\nfreedom, for dearer than earthly homes. There may be temporary repulse\nand momentary yielding even on the side of the good, but they still\npress on. The Captain of their salvation is at their head; and foot by\nfoot fresh ground is won, until at last the victory is sounded, and we\nare ready for the seventh Trumpet.\n\nBefore it sounds there is a warning similar to that which preceded the\nsounding of the fifth and sixth[275]:--\n\n The second Woe is past; behold, the third Woe cometh quickly (xi.\n 14).\n\nThese words are to be connected with the close of chap. ix., all that is\ncontained in chaps. x. and xi. 1-13 being, as we have seen, episodical.\n\nThe seventh Trumpet is now sounded:--\n\n And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in\n heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the\n kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for\n ever and ever. And the four-and-twenty elders, which sit before\n God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,\n saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord, God, the Almighty, which art\n and which wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst\n reign. And the nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath came,\n and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their\n reward to Thy servants the prophets, both the saints and them\n that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them\n that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God\n that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His\n covenant: and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders,\n and an earthquake, and great hail (xi. 15-19).\n\n1. By _the kingdom of the world_ here spoken of is meant, that dominion\nover the world as a whole has become the possession of our Lord and of\nHis Christ; and it is to be His for ever and ever. There is no\ncontradiction between this statement of St. John and that of St. Paul\nwhen, speaking of the Son, the latter Apostle says, \"And when all things\nhave been subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be\nsubjected to Him that did subject all things unto Him, that God may be\nall in all.\"[276] The \"kingdom\" thus spoken of by St. Paul is that\nexercised by our Lord in subduing His enemies, and it must necessarily\ncome to an end when there are no more enemies to subdue. The kingdom\nhere referred to is Christ's dominion as Head and King of His Church,\nand of that dominion there is no end. Of more consequence perhaps is it\nto observe that when it is said in the words before us, _The kingdom of\nthe world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ_, there\nis nothing to lead to the supposition that this \"kingdom\" becomes\nChrist's by the conversion of the world. The meaning simply is that evil\nhas been finally and for ever put down, that good is finally and for\never triumphant. No inference can be drawn as to the fate of wicked\npersons further than this: that they shall not be found in \"the new\nheavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.\"[277] Were\nadditional proof needed upon this point, it would be supplied by the\nfact that in almost the next following words we read of _the nations\nbeing roused to wrath_. These are the wicked upon whom judgment falls;\nand, instead of being converted, they are roused to the last and highest\noutburst of the wickedness which springs from despair.\n\n2. The song of the four-and-twenty elders. We have already had occasion\nto notice that song of the representatives of redeemed creation in which\nthe four living creatures celebrated \"the Lord, God, the Almighty, which\nwas and which is and which is to come.\"[278] The song now before us,\nsung by the representatives of the glorified Church, is cast in\nprecisely the same mould of three ascriptions of praise to _the Lord_.\nBut in the third member there is an important difference, the words \"and\nwhich is to come\" being omitted. The explanation is that the Lord is\ncome. The present dispensation is at its close.\n\n3. The events of the close are next described. It is _the time of the\ndead to be judged_, and the time _to give reward_ to God's faithful\nservants, to whatever part of mankind they have belonged, and whatever\nthe position they have filled in life. The whole family of man is\ndivided into two great classes, and for the one there is judgment, for\nthe other reward.\n\n4. Before passing on it may be well to call attention to one or two\nparticulars in these verses which, though not specially connected with\nthat general meaning of the passage which it is the main object of\nthis commentary to elicit, may help to throw light upon the style of\nthe Apostle and the structure of his work.\n\n(1) Thus it is important to observe his use of the word _prophets_.\nThe persons spoken of are obviously in contrast with \"the nations\" and\n\"the dead to be judged,\" and they must include all who are faithful\nunto death. Already we have seen that every true follower of Christ is\nin St. John's eyes a martyr, and that when he thinks of the martyrs of\nthe Church he has a far wider circle in view than that of those who\nmeet death by the sword or at the stake.[279] To his ideal conceptions\nof things the martyr spirit makes the martyr, and the martyr spirit\nmust rule in every disciple of the Crucified. In like manner the\nprophetic spirit makes the prophet, and of that spirit no true\nfollower of Him in whom prophecy culminated can be devoid. In this\nvery chapter we have read of \"prophesying\" as the work of the two\nwitnesses who are a symbol of the whole Christian Church, and who\nprophesy through the thousand two hundred and threescore days of her\npilgrimage. We are not therefore to suppose that those here called\n\"prophets\" are either prophets in the stricter sense of the word, or\ncommissioned ministers of Christ. All Christ's people are His\n\"servants the prophets,\" and the idealism of St. John distinctly\nappears in the designation given them.\n\n(2) The next following clause, which we have translated in a manner\nslightly different from that of both the Authorised and the Revised\nVersions, is not less important: _both the saints and them that fear\nThy name_, instead of \"and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy\nname.\" It is the manner of St. John to dwell in the first instance\nupon one characteristic of the object of which he speaks, and then to\nadd other characteristics belonging to it, equally important, it may\nbe, in themselves, but not occupying so prominent a place in the line\nof thought which he happens to be pursuing at the moment. An\nillustration of this is afforded in John xiv. 6, where the words of\nJesus are given in the form, \"I am the Way, and the Truth, and the\nLife.\" The context shows that the emphasis rests wholly on Jesus as\n\"the Way,\" and that the addition of the words \"the Truth, and the\nLife,\" is only made to enhance and complete the thought. Here in like\nmanner the contents of what is involved in the term \"the prophets\" are\ncompleted by a further statement of what the prophets are. They are\n\"the saints and they that fear God's name.\" The twofold structure of\nthis statement, however, again illustrates the manner of St. John.\n\"The saints\" is, properly speaking, a Jewish epithet, while every\nreader of the Acts of the Apostles is familiar with the fact that\n\"they that fear God\" was a term applied to Gentile proselytes to\nJudaism. We have thus an instance of St. John's method of regarding\nthe topic with which he deals from a double point of view, the first\nJewish, the second Gentile. He is not thinking of two divisions of the\nChurch. The Church is one; all her members constitute one Body in\nChrist. But looked at from the Jewish standpoint, they are \"the\nsaints;\" from the Gentile, they are those that \"fear Thy name.\"\n\n(3) The verses under consideration afford a marked illustration of St.\nJohn's love of presenting judgment under the form of the _lex\ntalionis_. The nations were \"roused to wrath,\" and upon them God's\n\"wrath came.\" They had \"destroyed the earth,\" and God would \"destroy\"\nthem. In studying the Apocalypse, all peculiarities of style or\nstructure ought to be present to the mind. They are not unfrequently\nvaluable guides to interpretation.\n\nThe seventh Trumpet has sounded, and the end has come. A glorious\nmoment has been reached in the development of the Almighty's plan; and\nthe mind of the Seer is exalted and ravished by the prospect. Yet he\nbeholds no passing away of the present earth and heavens, no\ntranslation of the reign of good to an unseen spiritual and hitherto\nunvisited region of the universe. It would be out of keeping with the\nusual phraseology of his book to understand by _heaven_, in which he\nsees the ark of God's covenant, a locality, a place \"beyond the clouds\nand beyond the tomb.\" His employment of the contrasted words \"earth\"\nand \"heaven\" throughout his whole series of visions rather leads to\nthe supposition that by the latter we are to understand that region,\nwherever it may be, in which spiritual principles alone bear sway. It\nmay be here; it may be elsewhere; it seems hardly possible to say: but\nthe more the reader enters into the spirit of this book, the more\ndifficult will he find it to resist the impression that St. John\nthinks of this present world as not only the scene of the great\nstruggle between good and evil, but also, when it has been cleansed\nand purified, as the seat of everlasting righteousness. These in the\npresent instance are striking words: \"to destroy them that destroy the\nearth.\" Why not destroy the earth itself if it is only to be burned\nup? Why speak of it in such terms as lead almost directly to the\nsupposition that it shall be preserved though its destroyers perish?\nWhile, on the other hand, if God at first pronounced it to be \"very\ngood;\" if it may be a home of truth, and purity, and holiness; and if\nit shall be the scene of Christ's future and glorious reign,--then\nmay we justly say, Woe to them that destroy the habitation, the\npalace, now preparing for the Prince of peace.\n\nHowever this may be, it was a fitting close to the judgments of the\nseven Trumpets that the \"temple\" of God--that is, the innermost shrine\nor sanctuary of His temple--should be opened. There was no need now\nthat God should be \"a God that hideth Himself.\"[280] When earth had in\nit none but the pure in heart, why should they not see Him?[281] He\nwould dwell in them and walk in them.[282] The Tabernacle of the Lord\nwould be again with men.[283]\n\nWhen too the shrine was opened, what more appropriate spectacle could\nbe seen than \"the ark of His covenant,\" the symbol of His\nfaithfulness, the pledge of that love of His which remains unchanged\nwhen the mountains depart and the hills are removed? The\ncovenant-keeping God! No promise of the past had failed, and the past\nwas the earnest of the future.\n\nNor need we wonder at the _lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and\nthe earthquake, and the great hail_ that followed. For God had\n\"promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth\nonly, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth\nthe removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are\nmade, that those things which are not shaken may remain.\"[284]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[242] Zech. ii. 1, 2.\n\n[243] Ezek. xl. 2-5.\n\n[244] Zech. ii. 5.\n\n[245] Chap. xxi. 15, 17.\n\n[246] John vii. 4.\n\n[247] Ver. 2.\n\n[248] Isa. i. 13, 14.\n\n[249] John ix. 34.\n\n[250] John ix. 35.\n\n[251] Chaps. ii. 24; iii. 1, 4.\n\n[252] Comp. Matt. xxii. 14.\n\n[253] Dan. vii. 25.\n\n[254] Dan. ix. 27.\n\n[255] John xvi. 33.\n\n[256] Zech. iv.\n\n[257] John viii. 12. Comp. Matt. v. 14.\n\n[258] 2 Kings i. 10, 12.\n\n[259] Dan. iii. 22.\n\n[260] Chap. i. 16.\n\n[261] 1 Kings xvii. 1; James v. 17.\n\n[262] 1 Cor. x. 11.\n\n[263] Ver. 7.\n\n[264] John xvii. 4; xix. 30.\n\n[265] See margin of R.V.\n\n[266] Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14.\n\n[267] Isa. i. 10, 21.\n\n[268] Luke xxiii. 12.\n\n[269] Neh. viii. 10.\n\n[270] Esther ix. 22.\n\n[271] Comp. chap. v. 6.\n\n[272] Chap. iii. 21.\n\n[273] Rom. viii. 19, 21.\n\n[274] Chap. ix. 20.\n\n[275] Chaps. viii. 13; ix. 12.\n\n[276] 1 Cor. xv. 28.\n\n[277] 2 Pet. iii. 13.\n\n[278] Chap. iv. 8.\n\n[279] Comp. p. 102.\n\n[280] Isa. xlv. 15.\n\n[281] Matt. v. 8.\n\n[282] 2 Cor. vi. 16.\n\n[283] Chap. xxi. 3.\n\n[284] Heb. xii. 26, 27.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n _THE FIRST GREAT ENEMY OF THE CHURCH._\n\n REV. xii.\n\n\nThe twelfth chapter of the Revelation of St. John has been felt by\nevery commentator to be one more than usually difficult to interpret,\nand that whether we look at it in relation to its special purpose, or\nto its position in the structure of the book. If we can satisfy\nourselves as to the first of these two points, we shall be better able\nto form correct notions as to the second.\n\nTurning then for a moment to chap. xiii., we find it occupied with a\ndescription of two of the great enemies with which the Church has to\ncontend. These are spoken of as \"a beast\" (ver. 1) and \"another beast\"\n(ver. 11), the latter being obviously the same as that described in\nchap. xix. 20 as \"the false prophet that wrought the signs\" in the\nsight of the former. At the same time, it is evident that these two\nbeasts are regarded as enemies of the Church in a sense peculiar to\nthemselves, for the victorious Conqueror of chap. xix. makes war with\nthem, and \"they twain are cast into the lake of fire that burneth with\nbrimstone.\"[285] This fate next overtakes, in chap. xx. 10, \"the\ndragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan,\" so that no\ndoubt can rest upon the fact that to St. John's view the great enemies\nof the Church are three in number. When, accordingly, we find two of\nthem described in chap. xiii., and chap. xii. occupied with the\ndescription of another, we are warranted in concluding that the main\npurpose of the chapter is to set before us a picture of this last.\n\nThus also we are led to understand the place of the chapter in the\nstructure of the book. We have already seen that the seven Trumpets\nare occupied with judgments on the world. The seven Bowls, forming the\nnext and highest series of judgments, are to be occupied with\njudgments on the degenerate members of the Church. It is a fitting\nthing, therefore, that we should be able to form a clear idea of the\nenemies by which these faithless disciples are subdued, and in\nresisting whom the steadfastness of the faithful remnant shall be\nproved. To describe them sooner was unnecessary. They are the friends,\nnot the enemies, of the world. They are the enemies only of the\nChurch. Hence the sudden transition made at the beginning of chap.\nxii. There is no chronological relation between it and the chapters\nwhich precede. The thoughts embodied in it refer only to what follows.\nThe chapter is obviously divided into three parts, and the bearing of\nthese parts upon one another will appear as we proceed.\n\n And a great sign was seen in heaven; a woman arrayed with the sun,\n and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve\n stars: and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in\n birth, and in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another\n sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads\n and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems. And his tail\n draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them\n into the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman that was\n about to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might\n devour her child. And she was delivered of a son, a man-child, who\n as a shepherd shall tend all the nations with a sceptre of iron:\n and her child was caught up unto God, and unto His throne. And the\n woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of\n God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and\n threescore days (xii. 1-6).\n\nIn the first chapter of the book of Genesis we read, \"And God made two\ngreat lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light\nto rule the night: He made the stars also.\"[286] Sun, and moon, and\nstars exhaust the Biblical notion of the heavenly bodies which give\nlight upon the earth. They therefore, taken together, clothe this\nwoman; and there is no need to search for any recondite meaning in the\nplace which they severally occupy in her investiture. She is simply\narrayed in light from head to foot. In other words, she is the perfect\nemblem of light in its brightness and purity. The use of the number\n_twelve_ indeed suggests the thought of a bond of connexion between\nthis light and the Christian Church. The tribes of Israel, the type of\nGod's spiritual Israel, were in number twelve; our Lord chose to\nHimself twelve Apostles; the new Jerusalem has \"twelve gates, and at\nthe gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the\nnames of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.\"[287]\n\nBut though the light is thus early connected with the thought of the\nChristian Church, and though the subsequent portion of the chapter\nconfirms the connexion, the woman is not yet to be regarded as, in the\nstrictest sense, representative of that community or Body historically\nviewed. By-and-by she will be so. In the meantime a comparison of\nver. 6 with ver. 14, where her fleeing into the wilderness and her\nnourishment in it for precisely the same period of time as in ver. 6\nare again mentioned, together with what we have already seen to be a\npeculiarity of St. John's mode of thought, forbids the supposition.\nThe Apostle would not thus repeat himself. We are entitled therefore\nto infer that at the opening of the chapter he deals less with actual\nhistory than with the \"pattern\" of that history which had existed from\nall eternity in the mount. Hence also it would seem that the birth of\nthe child, though undoubtedly referring to the birth of Jesus, is not\nthe actual birth. It, too, is rather the eternal \"pattern\" of that\nevent. Similar remarks apply to the _dragon_, who is not yet the\nhistorical Satan, and will only be so in the second paragraph, at ver.\n9. The whole picture, in short, of these verses is one of the _ideal_\nwhich precedes the actual, and of which the actual is the counterpart\nand realization.\n\nThe resemblance, accordingly, borne by the first paragraph of this\nchapter (vers. 1-6) to the first paragraph of the fourth Gospel (vers.\n1-5), is of the most striking kind. In neither is there any account of\nthe actual birth of our Lord. In both (and we shall immediately see\nthis still more fully brought out in the apocalyptic vision) we are\nintroduced to Him at once, not as growing up to be the Light of the\nworld, but as already grown up and as perfect light. In both we have\nthe same light and the same darkness, and in both the same contrariety\nand struggle between the two. Nor does the comparison end here. We\nhave also the same singular method of expressing the deliverance of\nthe light from the enmity of the darkness. In John i. 5, correctly\ntranslated, we read \"The light shineth in the darkness, and the\ndarkness _overcame_ it not,\" the thought being rather negative than\npositive, rather that of preservation than of victory. In the\nApocalypse we read, _And her child was caught up unto God, and unto\nHis throne_, the idea being again that of preservation rather than of\nvictory.\n\nSuch is the general conception of the first paragraph of this chapter.\nThe individual expressions need not detain us long. The woman's raiment\nof light has been already spoken of. Passing therefore from that, it\nneed occasion no surprise that He who is Himself the Giver of light\nshould be represented as the _Son_ of light. God \"is light, and in Him\nis no darkness at all.\"[288] Jesus, as the Son of God, is thus also the\nSon of light. No doubt the conception is continued even after we behold\nthe woman in her actual, not her ideal, state. Jesus is still her\nSon.[289] Yet there is a true sense in which we may describe our Lord\nnot only as the Foundation, but also as the Son, of the Church. He is\n\"the First-born among many brethren,\"[290] the elder Brother in a common\nFather's house. He is begotten by the power of the Holy Spirit[291]; and\nthey that believe in His name are \"born, not of blood, nor of the will\nof the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\"[292] So close indeed\nin the teaching of St. John is the identification of Christ and His\npeople, that whatever is said of Him may be said of them, and what is\nsaid of them may be said of Him. Human thought and language fail to do\njustice to a relation so profound and mysterious. But it is everywhere\nthe teaching of the beloved disciple--in his Gospel, in his Epistles,\nin his Revelation--although the Church may not fully understand it until\nshe has lived herself more into it than she has done. Her \"life\" will\nthen bring her \"light.\"[293]\n\nThe dragon of the passage is _great_ and _red_: \"great\" because of the\npower which he possesses; \"red,\" the colour of blood, because of the\nferocity with which he destroys men: \"He was a murderer from the\nbeginning;\" \"Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother;\" \"And I saw\nthe woman\" (that is, the woman who rode upon the scarlet-coloured beast)\n\"drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs\nof Jesus.\"[294] The dragon has further _seven heads_,--seven, the number\nof completeness, so that he possesses everything to enable him to\nexecute his plans; and _ten horns_, the emblem at once of his strength\nand of his rule over all the kingdoms of the world. Upon the heads, too,\nare _seven diadems_, a word different from that which had been employed\nfor the woman's \"crown\" in the first verse of the chapter. Hers is a\ncrown of victory; the diadems of the dragon are only marks of royalty,\nand may be worn, as they will be worn, in defeat. The dragon's _tail_,\nagain, like the tails of the locusts of the fifth Trumpet and of the\nhorses of the sixth, is the instrument with which he destroys[295]; and\n_the third part of the stars of heaven_ corresponds to \"the third part\"\nmentioned in each of the first four Trumpets. The figure of _casting the\nstars into the earth_ is taken from the prophecy of Daniel, in which it\nis said of the \"little horn\" that \"it waxed great, even to the host of\nheaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the\nground, and stamped upon them.\"[296]\n\nThe dragon next takes up his position _before the woman which was\nabout to be delivered, that when she was delivered he might devour her\nchild_; and the first historical circumstances to which the idea\ncorresponds, and in which it is realized, may be found in the effort\nof Pharaoh to destroy the infant Moses. Pharaoh is indeed often\ncompared in the Old Testament to a dragon: \"Thou didst divide the sea\nby Thy strength: Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters;\"\n\"Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee,\nPharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his\nrivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for\nmyself.\"[297] The power, and craft, and cruelty of the Egyptian king\ncould hardly have been absent from the Seer's mind when he employed\nthe figure of the text. But he was certainly not thinking of Pharaoh\nalone. He remembered also the plot of Herod to destroy the Child\nJesus.[298] Pharaoh and Herod--men quailed before them; yet both were\nno more than instruments in the hands of God. Both worked out His\n\"determinate counsel and foreknowledge.\"[299]\n\nThe child is born, and is described in language worthy of our notice. He\nis _a son, a man-child_; and the at first sight tautological information\nappears to hint at more than the mere sex of the child. He is already\nmore than a child: he is a man. There is a similar emphasis in the words\nof our Lord when He said to His disciples in His last consolatory\ndiscourse, \"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her\nhour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no\nmore the anguish, for the joy that _a man_ is born into the world.\"[300]\nFrom the first the child is less a child than a man, strong, muscular,\nand vigorous, who _as a shepherd shall tend all the nations with a\nsceptre of iron_. Strange that we should be invited to dwell on this\nideal aspect of the Son's work rather than any other! No doubt the words\nare quoted from the second Psalm. This, however, only removes the\ndifficulty a step further back. Why either there or here should the\nshepherd work of the Messiah be connected with an iron sceptre rather\nthan a peaceful crook? The explanation is not difficult. Both the Psalm\nand the Apocalypse are occupied mainly with the victory of Christ over\nHis adversaries. His friends have already been secured in the possession\nof a complete salvation. It remains only that His foes shall be finally\nput down. Hence the \"sceptre of iron.\" Strange also, it may be thought,\nthat in this ideal picture we should find no \"pattern\" of the life of\nour Lord on earth, of His labours, or sufferings, or death; and that we\nshould only be invited to behold Him in His incarnation and ascension\ninto heaven! But again the explanation is not difficult. Over against\nSatan stands, not a humbled merely, but a risen and glorified, Redeemer.\nThe process by which He conquered it is unnecessary to dwell upon.\nEnough that we know the fact.\n\nThe woman's child being thus safe, _the woman_ herself _fled into the\nwilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God_, and where she shall\nbe nourished by heavenly sustenance. Thus Israel wandered forty years,\nfed with the manna that fell from heaven and the water that flowed from\nthe smitten rock.[301] Thus Elijah fled to the brook Cherith, and\nafterwards to the wilderness, where his wants were supplied in the one\ncase by the ravens, in the other by an angel.[302] And thus was our Lord\nupheld for forty days by the words that proceeded out of the mouth of\nGod.[303] This wilderness life of the Church, too, continues during the\nwhole Christian era, during the whole period of witnessing.[304] Always\nin the wilderness so long as her Lord is personally absent, she eats\nheavenly food and drinks living water.\n\nSuch is the first scene of this chapter; and, glancing once more over\nit, it would seem as if its chief purpose were to present to us the\ntwo great opposing forces of light and darkness, of the Son and the\ndragon, considered in themselves.\n\nThe second scene follows:--\n\n And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels going forth to\n war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels: and\n they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in\n heaven. And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he\n that is called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole\n inhabited earth: he was cast down into the earth, and his angels\n were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven,\n saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom\n of our God, and the authority of His Christ: for the accuser of\n our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day\n and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,\n and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not\n their life even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye\n that tabernacle in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea!\n because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath,\n knowing that he hath but a short season (xii. 7-12).\n\nIf our conception of the first six verses of the chapter be correct,\nit will be evident that the idea often entertained, that the verses\nfollowing them form a break in the narrative which is only resumed at\nver. 13, is wrong. There is no break. The progress of the thought is\ncontinuous. The combatants have been set before us, and we have now\nthe contest in which they are engaged. This consideration also helps\nus to understand the personality of Michael and the particular\nconflict in the Seer's view.\n\nFor, as to the first of these two points, it is even in itself\nprobable that the Leader of the hosts of light will be no other than\nthe Captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The\ndragon leads the hosts of darkness. The Son has been described as the\nopponent against whom the enmity of the dragon is especially directed.\nWhen the war begins, we have every reason to expect that as the one\nleader takes the command, so also will the other. There is much to\nconfirm this conclusion. The name Michael leads to it, for that word\nsignifies, \"Who is like God?\" and such a name is at least more\nappropriate to a Divine than to a created being. In the New Testament,\ntoo, we read of \"Michael the archangel\"[305]--there seems to be only\none, for we never read of archangels[306]--and an archangel is again\nspoken of in circumstances that can hardly be associated with the\nthought of any one but God: \"The Lord Himself shall descend from\nheaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the\ntrump of God.\"[307] Above all, the prophecies of Daniel, in which the\nname Michael first occurs, may be said to decide the point. A person\nnamed Michael there appears on different occasions as the defender of\nthe Church against her enemies,[308] and once at least in a connexion\nleading directly to the thought of our Lord Himself: \"And at that\ntime shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the\nchildren of Thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as\nnever was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that\ntime Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found\nwritten in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the\nearth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and\neverlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the\nbrightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness\nas the stars for ever and ever.\"[309] These considerations justify the\nconclusion that the Michael now spoken of is the representative of\nChrist; and we have already seen, in examining the vision of the\n\"strong angel\" in chap. x., that such a mode of speaking is in perfect\nharmony with the general method of St. John.\n\nLight is thus thrown also upon the second point above mentioned: the\nparticular conflict referred to in these verses. The statement that\n_there was war in heaven_, and that when the dragon was defeated he\nwas _cast down into the earth_, might lead us to think of an earlier\nconflict between good and evil than any in which man has part: of that\nmentioned by St. Peter and St. Jude, when the former consoles the\nrighteous by the thought that \"God spared not angels when they sinned,\nbut cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to\nbe reserved unto judgment,\"[310] and when the latter warns sinners to\nremember that \"angels which kept not their own principality, but left\ntheir proper habitation, He hath kept in everlasting bonds under\ndarkness unto the judgment of the great day.\"[311] The circumstances,\nhowever, of the war, lead rather to the thought of a conflict in\nwhich the Son, incarnate and glorified, takes His part. For _this_\n\"Son\" is the opponent of the dragon introduced to us in the first\nparagraph of the chapter. \"Heaven\" is not so much a premundane or\nsupramundane locality as the spiritual sphere within which believers\ndwell even during their earthly pilgrimage, when that pilgrimage is\nviewed upon its higher side. And the means by which the victory is\ngained--for the victors _overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the\nword of their testimony_--distinctly indicate that the struggle\nreferred to took place after the work of redemption had been\ncompleted, not before it was begun.\n\nSeveral other passages of the New Testament are in harmony with this\nsupposition. Thus it was that when the seventy returned to our Lord with\njoy after their mission, saying, \"Lord, even the demons are subject unto\nus in Thy name,\" He, beholding in this the pledge of His completed\nvictory, exclaimed, \"I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from\nheaven.\"[312] Thus it was that when charged with casting out demons by\nBeelzebub, the prince of the demons, our Lord pointed out to His\naccusers that His actions proved Him to be the Conqueror, and that the\nkingdom of God was come unto them: \"When the strong man fully armed\nguardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than\nhe shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole\narmour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.\"[313] To the same\neffect are all those passages where our Lord or His Apostles speak, not\nof a partial, but of a complete, victory over Satan, so that for His\npeople the great enemy of man is already judged, and overthrown, and\nbruised beneath their feet: \"Now is a judgment of this world: now shall\nthe prince of this world be cast out;\" \"And when He\" (the Advocate) \"is\ncome, He will convince the world of judgment, because the prince of this\nworld hath been judged;\" \"Since then the children are sharers in flesh\nand blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that\nthrough death He might bring to nought him that had the power of death,\nthat is, the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death\nwere all their lifetime subject to bondage;\" \"Whatsoever is begotten of\nGod overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the\nworld, even our faith;\" \"We know that whosoever is begotten of God\nsinneth not; but He that was begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil\none toucheth him not.\"[314]\n\nIn passages such as these we have the same thought as that before us\nin this vision. Satan has been cast out of heaven; that is, _in his\nwarfare against the children of God he has been completely\noverthrown_. Over their higher life, their life in a risen and\nglorified Redeemer, he has no power. They are for ever escaped from\nhis bondage, and are free. But he has been _cast down into the earth,\nand his angels with him_; that is, over the _men of the world_ he\nstill exerts his power, and they are led captive by him at his will.\nHence, accordingly, the words of the _great voice_ heard in heaven\nwhich occupy all the latter part of the vision, words which distinctly\nbring out the difference between the two aspects of Satan now adverted\nto,--(1) his impotence as regards the disciples of Jesus who are\nfaithful unto death: _Rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them_;\n(2) his mastery over the ungodly: _Woe for the earth and for the sea!\nfor the devil is gone down unto you in great wrath, knowing that he\nhath but a short season._ Although, therefore, the fall of the angels\nfrom their first estate may be remotely hinted at, the vision refers\nto the spiritual contest begun after the resurrection of Jesus; and we\nask our readers only to pay particular regard to the double relation\nof Satan to mankind which is referred to in it: his subjection to the\nrighteous and the subjection of the wicked to him. One phrase only may\nseem inconsistent with this view. In ver. 9 Satan is described as _the\ndeceiver of the whole inhabited earth_, for that, and not \"the whole\nworld,\" is the true rendering of the original.[315] \"The whole\ninhabited earth\" cannot be the same as \"the earth.\" The latter is\nsimply the wicked; the former includes all men. But the words describe\na characteristic of Satan in himself, and not what he actually\neffects. He _is_ the deceiver of the whole inhabited earth. He lays\nhis snares for all. He tempted Jesus Himself in the wilderness, and\nmany a time thereafter during His labours and His sufferings. The\nvision gives no ground for the supposition that God's children are not\n_attacked_ by him. It assures us only that when the attack is made it\nis at the same instant foiled. There is a battle, but Christians\nadvance to it as conquerors; before it begins victory is theirs.[316]\n\nOne other expression of these verses may be noted: the _short season_\nspoken of in ver. 12. This period of time is not to be looked at as if\nit were a brief special season at the close of the Christian age,\nwhen the wrath of Satan is aroused to a greater than ordinary degree\nbecause the last hour is about to strike. The _great wrath_ with which\nhe goes forth is that stirred in him by his defeat through the death,\nresurrection, and ascension of our Lord. It was roused in him when he\nwas \"cast into the earth,\" and from that moment of defeat therefore\nthe \"short season\" begins.\n\nThe third paragraph of the chapter follows:--\n\n And when the dragon saw that he was cast down into the earth, he\n persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And there\n were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she\n might fly into the wilderness, unto her place, where she is\n nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of\n the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman\n water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by\n the stream. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened\n her mouth, and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of\n his mouth. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went\n away to make war with the rest of her seed, which keep the\n commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus; and he stood\n upon the sand of the sea (xii. 13-xiii. 1_a_).\n\nWe have already seen that the woman introduced to us in the first\nparagraph of this chapter is the embodiment and the bearer of light.\nShe is there indeed set before us in her ideal aspect, in what she is\nin herself, rather than in her historical position. Now we meet her in\nactual history, or, in other words, she is the historical Church of\nGod in the New Testament phase of her development. As such she has a\nmission to the world. She is \"the sent\" of Christ, as Christ was \"the\nsent\" of the Father.[317] In witnessing for Christ, she has to reveal\nto the children of men what Divine love is. But she has to do this in\nthe midst of trouble. This world is not her rest; and she must bear\nthe Saviour's cross if she would afterwards wear His crown.\n\nPersecuted, however, she is not forsaken. She had given her _the two\nwings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, unto\nher place_--the place prepared of God for her protection. There can be\nlittle doubt as to the allusion. The \"great eagle\" is that of which\nGod Himself spoke to Moses in the mount: \"Ye have seen what I did unto\nthe Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you\nunto Myself;\"[318] and that alluded to by Moses in the last song\ntaught by him to the people: \"As an eagle stirreth up her nest,\nfluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,\nbeareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there\nwas no strange god with him.\"[319] The same eagle was probably in view\nof David when he sang, \"How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God!\ntherefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy\nwings;\"[320] while it was also that on the wings of which the members\nof the Church draw continually nearer God: \"They mount up with wings\nas eagles.\"[321] To the woman then there was given a \"refuge from the\nstorm,\" a \"covert from the heat,\" of trial, that she might abide in\nit, nourished with her heavenly food, _for a time, and times, and half\na time_. Of this period we have already spoken. It is the same as that\nof the three and a half years, the \"forty-two months,\" the \"thousand\ntwo hundred and threescore days.\" It is thus the whole period of the\nChurch's militant history upon earth. During all of it she is\npersecuted by Satan; during all of it she is preserved and nourished\nby the care of God. At first sight indeed it may seem as if this\nshelter in the wilderness were incompatible with the task of\nwitnessing assigned to her. But it is one of the paradoxes of the\nposition of the children of God in this present world that while they\nare above it they are yet in it; that while they are seated \"in the\nheavenly places\" they are exposed to the storms of earth; that while\ntheir life is hid with Christ in God they witness and war before the\neyes of men. The persecution and the nourishment, the suffering and\nthe glory, run parallel with each other. One other remark may be made.\nThere is obviously an emphasis upon the word \"two\" prefixed to\n\"wings.\" Though founded upon the fact that the wings of the bird are\ntwo in number, a deeper meaning would seem to be intended; and that\nmeaning is suggested by the fact that the witnesses of chap. xi. were\nalso two. The protection extended corresponds exactly to the need for\nit. The \"grace\" of God is in all circumstances \"sufficient\" for His\npeople.[322] No temptation can assail them which He will not enable\nthem to endure, or out of which He will not provide for them a way of\nescape.[323] Therefore may they always take up the language of the\nApostle and say, \"Most gladly will I rather glory in my weaknesses,\nthat the strength of Christ may spread a tabernacle over me. Wherefore\nI take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in\npersecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak,\nthen am I strong.\"[324]\n\nThe woman fled into the wilderness, but she was not permitted to flee\nthither without a final effort of Satan to overwhelm her; and in the\nmanner in which this effort is made we again recognise the language of\nthe Old Testament. There the assaults of the ungodly upon Israel are\nfrequently compared to those floods of waters which, owing to the\nsudden risings of the streams, are in the East so common and so\ndisastrous. Isaiah describes the enemy as coming in \"like a\nflood.\"[325] Of the floods of the Euphrates and the destruction which\nthey symbolized we have already spoken[326]; and in hours of\ndeliverance from trouble the Church has found the song of triumph most\nsuitable to her condition in the words of the Psalmist, \"If it had not\nbeen the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then\nthey had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against\nus: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our\nsoul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the\nLord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.\"[327] The main\nreference is, however, in all probability to the passage of Israel\nacross the Red Sea, for then, says David, calling to mind that great\ndeliverance in the history of his people, and finding in it the type\nof deliverances so often experienced by himself, \"the sorrows of death\ncompassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.... In my\ndistress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God.... He sent\nfrom above, He took me. He drew me out of many waters.\"[328]\n\nThe most remarkable point to be noticed here is, however, not the\ndeliverance itself, but the method by which it is accomplished. To\nunderstand this, as well as the wrath of Satan immediately afterwards\ndescribed, it is necessary to bear in mind that twofold element in the\nChurch the existence of which is the key to so many of the most\nintricate problems of the Apocalypse. The Church embraces both true and\nfalse members within her pale. She is the \"vine\" of our Lord's last\ndiscourse to His disciples, some of the branches of which bear much\nfruit, while others are only fit to be cast into the fire and\nburned.[329] The thought of these latter members is in the mind of St.\nJohn when he tells us, in a manner so totally unexpected, that _the\nearth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up\nthe river which the dragon cast out of his mouth_. He is thinking of the\nnominal members of the Church, of the merely nominal Christianity which\nshe has so often exhibited to the world. That Christianity the world\nloves. When the Church's tone and life are lowered by her yielding to\nthe influence of the things of time, then the world, \"the earth,\" is\nready to hasten to her side. It offers her its friendship, courts\nalliance with her, praises her for the good order which she introduces,\nby arguments drawn from eternity, into the things of time, and swallows\nup the river which the dragon casts out of his mouth against her. When\nChrist's disciples are of the world, the world loves its own.[330] They\nare helping \"the earth\" to do its work. Why should the earth not\nrecognise and welcome the assistance given it by foolish foes as well as\nfriends? Therefore it helps the woman.\n\nBut side by side with this aspect of the Church which met the\napprobation of \"the earth,\" the dragon saw that she had another aspect\nof determined hostility to his claims; and he _waxed wroth_ with her.\nShe had within her not only degenerate but true members, not only\nworldly professors, but those who were one with her Divine and\nglorified Lord. These were _the rest of her seed, which keep the\ncommandments of God and the testimony of Jesus_. They were the \"few\nnames in Sardis which did not defile their garments,\"[331] \"the\nremnant according to the election of grace,\"[332] \"the seed which the\nLord hath blessed.\"[333] Such disciples of Jesus the dragon could not\ntolerate, and he _went away to make war_ with them. Thus is the\npainful distinction still kept up which marks all the later part of\nthe Apocalypse. The spectacle was one over which St. John had mourned\nas he beheld it in the Church of his own day: \"They went out from us,\nbut they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have\ncontinued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest\nthat not all are of us. Little children, it is the last hour.\"[334] It\nwas a spectacle which he knew would be repeated so long as the Church\nof Christ was in contact with the world; and he notes it now.\n\nOne other point ought to be noticed in connexion with these verses. The\nhelping of the woman by the earth seems to be the Scripture parallel to\nthe difficult words of St. Paul when he says in writing to the\nThessalonians, \"And now ye know that which restraineth to the end that\nhe may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness\ndoth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be\ntaken out of the way.\"[335] This \"restraining\" power, generally, and in\nall probability correctly, understood of the Roman State, is \"the\nearth\" of St. John helping the woman because it is helped by her.\n\nWe have been introduced to the first great enemy of the Church of\nChrist. It remains only that he shall take up his position on the field.\nThe next clause therefore which meets us, and which ought to be read,\nnot as the first clause of chap. xiii., but as the last of chap. xii.,\nand in which the third person ought to be substituted for the first,\ndescribes him as doing so: _And he stood upon the sand of the sea_, upon\nthe shore between the earth and the sea, where he could so command them\nboth as to justify the \"Woe\" already uttered over both in the twelfth\nverse of the chapter. There we leave him for a time, only remarking that\nwe are not to think of ocean lying before us in a calm, but of the\nrestless and troubled sea, raised into huge waves by the storm-winds\ncontending upon it for the mastery and dashing its waves upon the beach.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[285] Chap. xix. 20.\n\n[286] Gen. i. 16.\n\n[287] Chap. xxi. 12.\n\n[288] 1 John i. 5.\n\n[289] Comp. ver. 17.\n\n[290] Rom. viii. 29.\n\n[291] Matt. i. 20.\n\n[292] John i. 13.\n\n[293] Comp. John i. 4.\n\n[294] John viii. 44; 1 John iii. 12; Rev. xvii. 6\n\n[295] Chap. ix. 10, 19.\n\n[296] Dan. viii. 10.\n\n[297] Ps. lxxiv. 13; Ezek. xxix. 3.\n\n[298] Matt. ii. 16.\n\n[299] Acts ii. 23.\n\n[300] John xvi. 21.\n\n[301] 1 Cor. x. 3, 4.\n\n[302] 1 Kings xvii. 6; xix. 5.\n\n[303] Matt. iv. 4.\n\n[304] Chap. xi. 3.\n\n[305] Jude 9.\n\n[306] Brown, _The Book of Revelation_, p. 69.\n\n[307] 1 Thess. iv. 16.\n\n[308] Dan. x. 13, 21.\n\n[309] Dan. xii. 1-3.\n\n[310] 2 Pet. ii. 4.\n\n[311] Jude 6.\n\n[312] Luke x. 17, 18.\n\n[313] Luke xi. 21, 22.\n\n[314] John xii. 31; xvi. 11; Heb. ii. 14, 15; 1 John v. 4, 18.\n\n[315] Comp. R.V. (margin).\n\n[316] Comp. 1 John v. 4.\n\n[317] John xx. 21.\n\n[318] Exod. xix. 3, 4.\n\n[319] Deut. xxxii. 11, 12.\n\n[320] Ps. xxxvi. 7.\n\n[321] Isa. xl. 31.\n\n[322] 2 Cor. xii. 9.\n\n[323] 1 Cor. x. 13.\n\n[324] 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.\n\n[325] Isa. lix. 19.\n\n[326] Comp. p. 150.\n\n[327] Ps. cxxiv. 2-6.\n\n[328] Ps. xviii. 4-16.\n\n[329] John xv. 5, 6.\n\n[330] John xv. 19.\n\n[331] Chap. iii. 4.\n\n[332] Isa. lxi. 9.\n\n[333] Rom. xi. 5.\n\n[334] 1 John ii. 18, 19.\n\n[335] 2 Thess. ii. 6, 7.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n _THE SECOND AND THIRD GREAT ENEMIES OF THE\n CHURCH._\n\n REV. xiii.\n\n\nWe have seen that the main purpose of chap. xii. was to introduce to\nour notice the dragon, or Satan, the first great enemy of the Church.\nThe object of chap. xiii. is to make us acquainted with her second and\nthird great enemies, and thus to enable us to form a distinct\nconception of the powerful foes with which the followers of Christ\nhave to contend. The two enemies referred to are respectively styled\n\"a beast\" (ver. 1) and \"another beast\" (ver. 11), or, as they are\ngenerally termed, the first beast and the second beast. To the word\n\"beast\" must be assigned in both cases its fullest and most pregnant\nsense. The two \"beasts\" are not only beasts, but wild beasts, strong,\nfierce, rapacious, and cruel, even the apparent softness and\ntenderness of the second being associated with those dragon words\nwhich can proceed only from a dragon heart.[336]\n\nThe first is thus described:--\n\n And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and\n seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads\n names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a\n leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as\n the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his\n throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as though\n it had been slaughtered unto death; and the stroke of his death\n was healed: and the whole earth marvelled after the beast. And\n they worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority unto the\n beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the\n beast, and who is able to war with him? And there was given to him\n a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given\n to him authority to continue forty and two months. And he opened\n his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name, and\n His tabernacle, even them that tabernacle in the heaven. And it\n was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome\n them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe, and\n people, and tongue, and nation. And all that dwell on the earth\n shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from\n the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that\n hath been slaughtered. If any one hath an ear, let him hear. If\n any one leadeth into captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any\n one shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed.\n Here is the patience and the faith of the saints (xiii. 1_b_-10).\n\nThe description carries us back to the prophecies of Daniel, and the\nlanguage of the prophet helps us to understand that of the Seer. It is\nthus that the former speaks: \"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my\nvision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven brake forth\nupon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea,\ndiverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's\nwings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted\nup from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a\nman's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like\nto a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in\nhis mouth between his teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour\nmuch flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which\nhad upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four\nheads; and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night\nvisions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong\nexceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in\npieces, and stamped the residue with his feet: and it was diverse from\nall the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered\nthe horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a\nlittle one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by\nthe roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man,\nand a mouth speaking great things.\"[337] These particulars embody the\nprophet's picture of the world-power in four successive phases of its\nmanifestation, until it culminates in the \"little horn;\" and it is not\npossible to doubt that the Seer, while modifying them with\ncharacteristic freedom, finds in them the foundation of his figure.\n\nIn both cases there is the same origin,--the sea swept by strong winds\nfrom every point of the compass, until the opposing forces rush upon one\nanother, mingle in wild confusion, send up their spray into the air, and\nthen, dark with the reflection of the clouds above and turbid with sand,\nexhaust themselves with one long, sullen roar upon the beach. In both\ncases the same animals are referred to, though in the vision of Daniel\nthey are separated, in that of St. John combined: the leopard, with his\nsudden, cruel spring; the bear, with his slow, relentless brutishness;\nand the lion, with his all-conquering power. Finally, in the case of\nboth mention is made also of \"ten horns,\" which are distinct from the\nlineal succession of the heads. So far, therefore, we can have little\nhesitation in affirming the conclusion arrived at by most commentators\nthat in this _beast coming up out of the sea_ we have an emblem of that\npower of the world which, under the guidance of \"the prince of the\nworld,\" opposes and persecutes the Church of Christ. Several particulars\nregarding it, however, still demand our notice.\n\n1. The horns are not to be thought of as distributed among the heads,\nbut rather as a group by themselves, constituting along with the\nseventh head a manifestation of the beast distinct from that expressed\nby each of the separate heads. In a certain sense the seventh head,\nwith its ten horns, is thus one of the seven, for in them the beast\nexpresses himself. In another sense it is like the \"fourth beast\" of\nthe prophet Daniel: \"diverse from all the beasts that were before it\"\nand even more terrible than they.\n\n2. The seven heads seem most fittingly to represent seven powers of\nthe world by which the children of God had been persecuted in the past\nor were to be persecuted in the future. The supposition has indeed\nbeen often made that they represent seven forms of Roman government or\nseven emperors who successively occupied the imperial throne. But\nneither of these sevens can be definitely fixed by the advocates of\nthe general thought; while the whole strain of the passage suggests\nthat the beast which, in the form now dealt with, unquestionably\nrepresents a world-power conterminous with the whole earth, grows up\ninto this form only in his seventh head and ten horns manifestation.\nThe other heads are rather preparatory to the last than to be ranked\nequally along with it. Making a natural beginning, therefore, with the\noldest persecuting power mentioned in that Bible history of which the\nApocalyptist makes such extensive use, and following the line down to\nthe Seer's time, the seven heads appear to represent the Egyptian,\nAssyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman powers, together\nwith that power, wider even than the Roman, which St. John saw was\nabout to rage in the hurried days of \"the last time\" against the\nsimplicity, purity, holiness, and unworldliness of Christ's little\nflock. Each of these powers is a \"head.\" The last is the concentrated\nessence, the most universal, the most penetrating, influence of them\nall. Taken together, they supply, as no other interpretation does,\nwhat is absolutely essential to a correct understanding of the\nfigure,--the idea of completeness.\n\n3. By such a rendering also we gain a natural interpretation of the\nhead beheld _as though it had been slaughtered unto death; and the\nstroke of his death was healed_. Other renderings fail to afford this,\nfor no successive forms of government at Rome and no successive\nemperors furnish a member of their series of which it may be said that\nit is first slain and then brought back to a life of greater energy\nand more quickened action. Yet without the thought of death and\nresurrection it is impossible to fulfil the conditions of the problem.\nThe head spoken of in ver. 3 had not been merely _wounded_ or\n_smitten_: it had been \"_slaughtered_ unto death;\" and it was not\nmerely his \"deadly wound,\"[338] or even \"his death-stroke:\"[339] it\nwas the \"stroke of his death\" that had been healed. There had been\nactual death and resurrection from death, the contrast and travesty of\nthat death and resurrection which had befallen the Lamb slaughtered\nand raised again.[340] Such a death and resurrection can only be\nfittingly applied to that system of worldly influence, or, in other\nwords, to that \"prince of the world,\" whose power over His people\nJesus was not simply to modify, but to extinguish. The Redeemer of the\nworld came, not to wound or weaken only, but to \"bring to nought,\" him\nthat had the power of death--that is, the devil--and to give perfect\nand eternal freedom to all who would allow the chains in which Satan\nhad bound them to be broken.[341] But the death, if we may so speak,\nof Satan in relation to them was accompanied by his resurrection in\nrelation to the world, over which the great enemy of souls was\nthenceforward to exercise a more irresistible sway than ever. The time\nis that already spoken of in the previous chapter, when the devil went\ndown into the earth, \"having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a\nshort season.\"[342] Nor is there any difficulty in determining to\nwhich of the seven heads of the beast the death and resurrection\nspoken of apply, for a comparison of chap. xvii. 8-11 with the present\npassage shows that it is to the sixth, or Roman, head that St. John\nintends his language to refer.\n\n4. Particular attention must be paid to the fact that it is upon the\nbeast in his _resurrection state_ that we are to dwell, for the whole\nearth marvels after the beast not previously, but subsequently, to the\npoint of time at which the stroke of his death is healed.[343] In that\ncondition, too, he is not thought of as raging only in the Roman\nempire. His influence is universal. Wherever men are he is: _And there\nwas given to him authority over every tribe, and people, and tongue,\nand nation._[344] The fourfold division indicates absolute\nuniversality; and the _whole earth_--that is, all ungodly\nones--worships the beast, even every one whose name has not been\nwritten in the Lamb's book of life.[345] Thus raging with an extent of\npower never possessed by any form of Roman government or any emperor\nof Rome, he rages also throughout all time, from the first to the\nsecond coming of the Lord, for he has _authority given to him to\ncontinue forty and two months_,[346] the period so denoted embracing\nthe whole Christian era from its beginning to its close.[347]\n\n5. Three points more may be noticed before drawing the general\nconclusion to which all this leads. In the first place, the beast is\nthe vicegerent of another power which acts through him and by means of\nhim. _The dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great\nauthority._ The dragon himself does not directly act. He has his\nrepresentative, or vicar, or substitute, in the beast. In the second\nplace, the worship paid by \"the whole earth\" to the beast, when it\ncries, _Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to make war with\nhim?_ is an obvious imitation of the ascriptions of praise to God\ncontained in not a few passages of the Old Testament: \"Who is like\nunto the Lord our God, that hath His seat on high?\"; \"To whom then\nwill ye liken Me, that I should be equal to him? saith the Holy One;\"\n\"Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house\nof Israel.... To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare\nMe, that we may be like?\"[348] In the third place, the beast opens his\nmouth, not only to blaspheme against God, but _against His tabernacle,\neven them that tabernacle in the heaven_,[349] expressions in which\nthe use of the word \"tabernacle\" leads directly to the thought of\nopposition to Him who became flesh and tabernacled among us, and who\nnow spreads His tabernacle over His saints.[350]\n\nThe whole description of the beast is thus, in multiplied particulars,\na travesty of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Head and King, the\nGuardian and Protector, of His people. Like the latter, the former is\nthe representative, the \"sent,\" of an unseen power, by whom all\nauthority is \"given\" him; he has his death and his resurrection from\nthe dead; he has his throngs of marvelling and enthusiastic\nworshippers; his authority over those who own his sway is limited by\nno national boundaries, but is conterminous with the whole world; he\ngathers up and unites in himself all the scattered elements of\ndarkness and enmity to the truth which had previously existed among\nmen, and from which the Church of God had suffered.\n\nWhat then can this first beast be? Not Rome, either pagan or papal;\nnot any single form of earthly government, however strong; not any\nRoman emperor, however vicious or cruel; but the general influence of\nthe world, in so far as it is opposed to God, substituting the human\nfor the Divine, the seen for the unseen, the temporal for the eternal.\nHe is the impersonation of that world of which St. Paul writes, \"We\nreceived, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of\nGod,\"[351] of which St. James speaks when he says, \"Whosoever\ntherefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of\nGod,\"[352] and in regard to which St. John exhorts, \"Love not the\nworld, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the\nworld, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the\nworld, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the\nvain-glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.\"[353]\nThis beast, in short, is the world viewed in that aspect in which our\nLord Himself could say of it that the devil was its prince, which He\ntold His disciples He had overcome, and in regard to which He prayed\nin His high-priestly prayer, \"I pray not that Thou shouldest take them\nout of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them out of the evil\none. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.\"[354]\n\nThe influence of the beast here spoken of is therefore confined to no\nparty, or sect, or age. It may be found in the Church and in the State,\nin every society, in every family, or even in every heart, for wherever\nman is ruled by the seen instead of the unseen or by the material\ninstead of the spiritual, there \"the world\" is. \"Our wrestling is not\nagainst flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the\npowers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual\nhosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.\"[355]\n\nAgainst this foe the true life of the saints will be preserved. Nothing\ncan harm the life that is hid with Christ in God. But the saints may\nnevertheless be troubled, and persecuted, and killed, as were the\nwitnesses of chap. xi., by the beast that _had given unto him to make\nwar with them, and to overcome them_. Such is the thought that leads to\nthe last words of the paragraph with which we are now dealing: _If any\none leadeth into captivity, into captivity he goeth; if any one shall\nkill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed._ In the great law\nof God, the _lex talionis_, consolation is given to the persecuted.\nTheir enemies would lead them into captivity, but a worse captivity\nawaits themselves. They would kill with the sword, but with a sharper\nsword than that of human power they shall themselves be killed. Is there\nnot enough in that to inspire the saints with patience and faith? Well\nmay they endure with unfainting hearts when they remember who is upon\ntheir side, for \"it is a righteous thing with God to recompense\naffliction to them that afflict them,\" and to them that are afflicted\n\"rest\"[356]--rest with Apostles, prophets, martyrs, the whole Church of\nGod, rest never again to be disturbed either by sin or sorrow. _Here is\nthe patience and the faith of the saints._\n\nThe second enemy of the Church, or the first beast, has been described.\nSt. John now proceeds to the third enemy, or the second beast:--\n\n And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two\n horns like unto a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he\n exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight; and\n he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the\n first beast, the stroke of whose death was healed. And he doeth\n great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of\n heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them\n that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given\n him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on\n the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, who hath\n the stroke of the sword, and lived. And it was given unto him to\n give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image\n of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should\n not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he\n causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor,\n and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on\n their right hand, or upon their forehead: and that no man should\n be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the\n name of the beast or the number of his name (xiii. 11-17).\n\nThe first beast came up out of \"the sea\" (ver. 1); the second beast\ncomes up out of _the earth_: and the contrast, so strongly marked,\nbetween these two sources, makes it necessary to draw a clear and\ndefinite line of distinction between the origin of the one beast and\nthat of the other. The \"sea,\" however, both in the Old Testament and\nin the New, is the symbol of the mass of the Gentile nations, of the\nheathen world in its condition of alienation from God and true\nreligious life. In contrast with this, the \"earth,\" as here used, must\nbe the symbol of the Jews, among whom, to whatever extent they had\nabused their privileges, the Almighty had revealed Himself in a\nspecial manner, showing \"His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His\njudgments unto Israel.\"[357] The Jews were an agricultural, not a\ncommercial, people; and upon that great highway along which the\ncommerce of the nations poured they looked with suspicion and dislike.\nHence the sea, in its restlessness and barrenness, became to them the\nemblem of an irreligious world; the land, in its quiet and\nfruitfulness, the emblem of religion with all its blessings. In this\nsense the contrast here must be understood; and the statement as to\nthe different origin of the first and second beasts is of itself\nsufficient to determine that, while the former belongs to a secular,\nthe latter belongs to a religious, sphere. Many other particulars\nmentioned in connexion with the second beast confirm this conclusion.\n\n1. _The two horns like unto a lamb_ are unquestionably a travesty of\nthe \"seven horns\" of the Lamb, so often spoken of in these visions;\nand the description carries us to the thought of Antichrist, of one\nwho sets himself up as the true Christ, of one who, professing to\nimitate the Redeemer, is yet His opposite.\n\n2. The words _And he spoke as a dragon_ remind us of the description\ngiven by our Lord of those false teachers who \"come in sheep's clothing,\nbut inwardly are ravening wolves,\"[358] as well as of the language of\nSt. Paul when he warns the Ephesian elders that after his departing\n\"grievous wolves shall enter in among them, not sparing the flock.\"[359]\n\n3. The function to which this beast devotes himself is religious, not\nsecular. _He maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship\nthe first beast_; and, having persuaded them to make an image to that\nbeast, _it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image\nof the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause\nthat as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be\nkilled_.[360]\n\n4. The great signs and wonders done by this beast, such as making _fire\nto come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men_, are a\nreminiscence of the prophet Elijah at Carmel; while the _signs_ by which\nhe successfully deceives the world take us again to the words of Jesus:\n\"There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show\ngreat signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the\nelect.\"[361] St. Paul's words also, when he speaks of the man of sin,\nmake similar mention of his \"signs:\" \"Whose coming is according to the\nworking of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with\nall deceit of unrighteousness for them that are perishing; because they\nreceived not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.\"[362]\n\n5. Finally, the fact that this beast bears the name of \"the false\nprophet,\"[363] the very term used by St. John when speaking of the\nfalse teachers who had arisen in his day,[364] may surely be accepted\nas conclusive that we have here a symbol of the antichrists of the\nfirst Epistle of that Apostle. Of the antichrists, let it be observed,\nnot of Antichrist as a single individual manifestation. For there is a\ncharacteristic of this beast which leads to the impression that more\nthan one agent is included under the terms of the symbol. The beast\nhas _two horns_. Why two? We may be sure that the circumstance is not\nwithout a meaning, and that it is not determined only by the fact that\nthe animal referred to has in its natural condition the rudiments of\nno more than two. In other visions of the Apocalypse we read of a lamb\nwith \"seven horns,\" and of a head of the beast with \"ten horns,\" the\nnumbers in both cases being symbolical. The \"two horns\" now spoken of\nmust also be symbolical; and thus viewed, the expression leads us to\nthe thought of the two witnesses, of the two prophets of truth, spoken\nof in chap. xi. But these two witnesses represent all faithful\nwitnesses for Christ; and, in like manner, the two horns represent the\nmany perverters of the Christian faith beheld by the Seer springing up\naround him, who, professing to be Apostles of the Lamb, endeavoured\nto overthrow His Gospel.\n\nThese considerations lead to a natural and simple interpretation of what\nis meant by the second beast. The plausible interpretation suggested by\nmany of the ablest commentators on this book, that by the second beast\nis meant \"worldly wisdom, comprehending everything in learning, science\nand art which human nature of itself, in its civilized state, can attain\nto, the worldly power in its more refined and spiritual elements, its\nprophetical or priestly class,\"[365] must be unhesitatingly dismissed.\nIt fails to apprehend the very essence of the symbol. It speaks of a\nsecular and mundane influence, when the whole point of St. John's words\nlies in this,--that the influence of which he speaks is religious. Not\nin anything springing out of the world in its ordinary sense, but in\nsomething springing out of the Church and the Church's faith, is the\nmeaning of the Apostle to be sought.\n\nWas there anything then in St. John's own day that might have\nsuggested the figure thus employed? Had he ever witnessed any\nspectacle that might have burned such thoughts into his soul? Let us\nturn to his Gospel and learn from it to look upon the world as it was\nwhen it met his eyes. What had he seen, and seen with an indignation\nthat penetrates to the core his narrative of his Master's life? He had\nseen the Divine institution of Judaism, designed by the God of Israel\nto prepare the way for the Light and the Life of men, perverted by its\nappointed guardians, and made an instrument for blinding instead of\nenlightening the soul. He had seen the Eternal Son, in all the glory\nof His \"grace\" and \"truth,\" coming to the things that were His own,\nand yet the men that were His own rejecting Him, under the influence\nof their selfish religious guides. He had seen the Temple, which ought\nto have been filled with the prayers of a spiritual worship, profaned\nby worldly traffic and the love of gain. Nay more, he remembered one\nscene so terrible that it could never be forgotten by him, when in the\njudgment-hall of Pilate even that unscrupulous representative of Roman\npower had again and again endeavoured to set Jesus free, and when the\nJews had only succeeded in accomplishing their plan by the argument,\n\"If thou release this man, thou art not C?ar's friend.\"[366] They\nC?ar's friends! They attach value to honours bestowed by C?ar! O\nvile hypocrisy! O dark extremity of hate! Judaism at the feet of\nC?ar! So powerfully had the thought of these things taken possession\nof the mind of the beloved disciple, so deeply was he moved by the\nnarrowness and bigotry and fanaticism which had usurped the place of\ngenerosity and tenderness and love, that, in order to find utterance\nfor his feelings, he had been compelled to put a new meaning into an\nold word, and to concentrate into the term \"the Jews\" everything most\nopposed to Christ and Christianity.\n\nNor was it only in Judaism that St. John had seen the spirit of religion\nso overmastered by the spirit of the world that it became the world's\nslave. He had witnessed the same thing in Heathenism. It is by no means\nimprobable that when he speaks of _the image of the beast_ he may also\nthink of those images of C?ar the worshipping of which was everywhere\nmade the test of devotion to the Roman State and of abjuration of the\nChristian faith. There again the forms and sanctions of religion had\nbeen used to strengthen the dominion of secular power and worldly force.\nBoth Judaism and Heathenism, in short, supplied the thoughts which,\ntranslated into the language of symbolism, are expressed in the\nconception of the second beast and its relation to the first.\n\nYet we are not to imagine that, though St. John started from these\nthings, his vision was confined to them. He thinks not of Jew or\nheathen only at a particular era, but of man; not of human nature only\nas it appears amidst the special circumstances of his own day, but as\nit appears everywhere and throughout all time. He is not satisfied\nwith dwelling upon existing phenomena alone. He penetrates to the\nprinciples from which they spring. And wherever he sees a spirit\nprofessing to uphold religion, but objecting to all the unpalatable\ntruths with which it is connected in the Christian faith, wherever he\nsees the gate to future glory made wide instead of narrow and the way\nbroad instead of straitened, there he beholds the dire combination of\nthe first and second beasts presented in this chapter. The light has\nbecome darkness, and how great is the darkness![367] The salt has lost\nits savour, and is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill.[368]\n\nIn speaking of the subserviency of the second to the first beast, the\nSeer had spoken of _a mark given_ to all the followers of the latter\n_on their right hand, or upon their forehead_, and without which no\none was to be admitted to the privileges of their association or of\nbuying or selling in their city. He had further described this mark\nas being either _the name of the beast or the number of his name_. To\nexplain more fully the nature of this \"mark\" appears to be the aim of\nthe last verse of the chapter:--\n\n Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the\n number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number\n is six hundred and sixty and six (xiii. 18).\n\nTo discuss with anything like fulness the difficult questions\nconnected with these words would require a volume rather than the few\nsentences at the close of a chapter that can be here devoted to it.\nReferring, therefore, his readers to what he has elsewhere written on\nthis subject,[369] the writer can only make one or two brief remarks,\nin order to point out the path in which the solution of the problems\nsuggested by the words must be sought.\n\nIt is indeed remarkable that the Seer should speak at all of \"the\nnumber\" of the name of the beast; that is, of the number which would\nbe gained by adding together the numbers represented by the several\nletters of the name. Why not be content with the name itself?\nThroughout this book the followers of Christ are never spoken of as\nstamped with a number, but either with the name of the Father or the\nSon, or with a new name which no one \"knoweth\" saving he that\nreceiveth it.[370] Now the principle of Antithesis or Contrast, which\nso largely rules the structure of the Apocalypse, might lead us to\nexpect a similar procedure in the case of the followers of the beast.\nWhy then is it not resorted to?\n\n1. St. John may not himself have known the name. He may have been\nacquainted only with the character of the beast, and with the fact,\ntoo often overlooked by inquirers, that to that character its name,\nwhen made known, must correspond. It is not any name, any designation,\nby which the beast may be individualized, that will fulfil the\nconditions of his thought. No reader of St. John's writings can have\nfailed to notice that to him the word \"name\" is far more than a mere\nappellative. It expresses the inner nature of the person to whom it is\napplied. The \"name\" of the Father expresses the character of the\nFather, that of the Son the character of the Son. The Seer, therefore,\nmight be satisfied in the present instance with his conviction that\nthe name of the beast, whatever it be, must be a name which will\nexpress the inner nature of the beast; and he may have asked no more.\nNot only so. When we enter into the style of the Apostle's thought, we\nmay even inquire whether it was possible for a Christian to know the\n_name_ of the beast in the sense which the word \"name\" demands. No man\ncould know the new name written upon the white stone given to him that\novercometh \"but he that receiveth it.\"[371] In other words, no one but\na Christian indeed could have that Christian experience which would\nenable him to understand the \"new name.\" In like manner now, St. John\nmay have felt that it was not possible for the followers of Christ to\nknow the _name_ of Antichrist. Antichristian experience alone could\nteach the name of Antichrist, service of the beast the name of the\nbeast; and such experience no Christian could have. But this need not\nhinder him from giving the number. The \"number\" spoke only of general\ncharacter and fate; and knowledge of it did not imply, like knowledge\nof the \"name,\" communion of spirit with him to whom the name belonged.\n\n2. From this it follows that not the \"name,\" but the \"number\" of the\nname, is of importance in the Apostle's view. The name no doubt must\nhave a meaning which, taken even by itself, would be portentous; but,\naccording to the artificial system of thought here followed, the\n\"number\" is the real portent, the real bearer of the Divine message of\nwrath and doom.\n\n3. This is precisely the lesson borne by the number 666. The number\nsix itself awakened a feeling of dread in the breast of the Jew who\nfelt the significance of numbers. It fell below the sacred number\nseven just as much as eight went beyond it. This last number denoted\nmore than the simple possession of the Divine. As in the case of\ncircumcision on the eighth day, of the \"great day\" of the feast on the\neighth day, or of the resurrection of our Lord on the first day of the\nweek, following the previous seven days, it expressed a new beginning\nin active power. By a similar process the number six was held to\nsignify inability to reach the sacred point and hopeless falling short\nof it. To the Jew there was thus a doom upon the number six even when\nit stood alone. Triple it; let there be a multiple of it by ten and\nthen a second time by ten until you obtain three mysterious _sixes_\nfollowing one another, 666; and we have represented a potency of evil\nthan which there can be none greater, a direfulness of fate than which\nthere can be none worse. The _number_ then is important, not the\n_name_. Putting ourselves into the position of the time, we listen to\nthe words, _His number is six hundred sixty and six_; and we have\nenough to make us tremble. Nay, there is in them a depth of sin and a\nweight of punishment which no one can \"know\" but he who has committed\nthe sin and shared the punishment.\n\nFrom all that has been said it would seem that there is no possibility\nof finding the name of the beast in the name of any single individual\nwho has yet appeared upon the stage of history. It may well be that in\nNero, or Domitian, or any other persecutor of the Church, the Seer\nbeheld a type of the beast; but the whole strain of the chapter\nforbids the supposition that the meaning of the name is exhausted in\nany single individual. No merely human ruler, no ruler over merely a\nportion of the world however large, no ruler who had not died and\nrisen from the grave, and who after his resurrection had not been\nhailed with enthusiasm by \"every tribe, and tongue, and people, and\nnation,\" can be the beast referred to. Whether St. John expected such\na ruler in the future; whether this beast, like the \"little horn\" of\nDaniel, which had \"eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking\ngreat things,\"[372] was not only bestial, but human; or whether in its\nindividuality it was no more than a personification of antichristian\nsin and cruelty, is another and a more difficult question. Yet his\ntendency to represent abstract ideas by concrete images would lead to\nthe latter rather than the former supposition. One thing is clear:\nthat the bestial principle was already working, although it might not\nhave reached its full development. The \"many antichrists\"[373] might\nbe the precursors of a still more terrible Antichrist, but they worked\nin the same spirit and towards the same end. Nor are they to be less\nthe object of alienation and abhorrence to the Christian now than\nwhen they may be concentrated in \"the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus\nshall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the\nmanifestation of His coming.\"[374]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[336] Ver. 11.\n\n[337] Dan. vii. 2-8.\n\n[338] Chap. xiii. 3, A.V.\n\n[339] Chap. xiii. 3, R.V.\n\n[340] Chap. v. 6.\n\n[341] Heb. ii. 14.\n\n[342] Chap. xii. 12.\n\n[343] Vers. 3, 4.\n\n[344] Ver. 7.\n\n[345] Ver. 8.\n\n[346] Ver. 5.\n\n[347] Comp. p. 175.\n\n[348] Ps. cxiii. 5; Isa. xl. 25, xlvi. 3, 5.\n\n[349] Ver. 6.\n\n[350] John i. 14; Rev. vii. 15.\n\n[351] 1 Cor. ii. 12. Comp. Gal. vi. 14.\n\n[352] James iv. 4.\n\n[353] 1 John ii. 15, 16.\n\n[354] John xiv. 30; xvi. 33; xvii. 15, 16.\n\n[355] Eph. vi. 12.\n\n[356] 2 Thess. i. 6, 7.\n\n[357] Ps. cxlvii. 19.\n\n[358] Matt. vii. 15.\n\n[359] Acts xx. 29.\n\n[360] Vers. 12, 15.\n\n[361] Matt. xxiv. 24.\n\n[362] 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.\n\n[363] Comp. chaps. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10.\n\n[364] 1 John iv. 1.\n\n[365] Fairbairn, _On Prophecy_, p. 328.\n\n[366] John xix. 12.\n\n[367] Matt. vi. 23.\n\n[368] Luke xiv. 34, 35.\n\n[369] _The Revelation of St. John: Baird Lectures published by\nMacmillan and Co._, second edition, p. 142, etc., 319, etc.\n\n[370] Comp. chaps. iii. 12; xiv. 1; ii. 17.\n\n[371] Chap. ii. 17. Comp. John i. 31; iv. 32.\n\n[372] Dan. vii. 8.\n\n[373] Comp. 1 John ii. 18.\n\n[374] 2 Thess. ii. 8.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n _THE LAMB ON THE MOUNT ZION AND THE HARVEST\n AND VINTAGE OF THE WORLD._\n\n REV. xiv.\n\n\nThe twelfth and thirteenth chapters of this book were designed to set\nbefore us a picture of the three great enemies of the Church of\nChrist. We have been told of the dragon, the principle and root of all\nthe evil, whether inward or outward, from which that Church suffers.\nHe is the first enemy. We have been further told of the first beast,\nof that power or prince of the world to whom the dragon has committed\nhis authority. He is the second enemy. Lastly, we have been told of\nthat false spirit of religion which unites itself to the world, and\nwhich, even more opposed than the world itself to the unworldly spirit\nof Christianity, makes the relation of God's children to the world\nworse than it might otherwise have been. The picture thus presented is\nin the highest degree fitted to depress and to discourage. The thought\nmore especially of faithlessness in the Church fills the heart with\nsorrow. The saddest feature in the sufferings of Jesus was that He was\n\"wounded in the house of His friends;\" and there is a greater than\nordinary depth of pathos in the words with which the beloved disciple\ndraws to a close his record of his Master's struggle with the Jews:\n\"These things spake Jesus; and He departed, and was hidden from them.\nBut though He had done so many signs before them, yet they believed\nnot on Him: that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled,\nwhich he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath\nthe arm of the Lord been revealed?\"[375]\n\nEven then, however, it was not wholly darkness and defeat, for the\nEvangelist immediately adds, \"Nevertheless even of the rulers many\nbelieved on Him;\" and he closes the struggle with the words of calm\nself-confidence on the part of Jesus, \"The things therefore which I\nspeak, even as the Father hath said unto Me, so I speak.\"[376] Thus also\nis it here, and we pass from the dark spectacle on which our eyes have\nrested to a scene of heavenly light, and beauty, and repose. The reader\nmay indeed at first imagine that the symmetry of structure which has\nbeen pointed out as a characteristic of the Apocalypse is not preserved\nby the arrangement of its parts in the present instance. We are about to\nmeet in the following chapter the third and last series of plagues; and\nwe might perhaps expect that the consolatory visions contained in this\nchapter ought to have found a place between the sixth and seventh Bowls,\njust as the consolatory visions of chap. vii. and of chaps. x. and xi.\nfound their place between the sixth and seventh Seals and the sixth and\nseventh Trumpets. Instead of this the seventh Bowl, at chap. xv. 17,\nimmediately follows the sixth, at ver. 12 of the same chapter; and the\nvisions of encouragement contained in the chapter before us precede all\nthe Bowls. The explanation may be that the Bowls are the last and\nhighest series of judgments, and that when they begin there can be no\nmore pause. One plague must rush upon another till the end is reached.\nThe final judgments brook neither interruption nor delay.\n\nIn this spirit we turn to the first vision of chap. xiv.:--\n\n And I saw, and, behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and\n with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having His name\n and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard\n a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice\n of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice\n of harpers harping with their harps: and they sang as it were a\n new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures,\n and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred\n and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out\n of the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women;\n for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb\n whithersoever He goeth. These were purchased from among men, a\n first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb. And in their mouth was\n found no lie; they are without blemish (xiv. 1-5).\n\nThe scene of the vision is \"the mount Zion,\" that Zion so often spoken\nof both in the Old and in the New Testament as God's peculiar seat, and\nin the eyes of Israel famous for the beauty of its morning dews.[377] It\nis the Zion in which God \"dwells,\"[378] the mount Zion which He\n\"loved,\"[379] and \"out of which salvation comes.\"[380] It is that \"holy\nhill of Zion\" upon which God set the Son as King when He said to Him,\n\"Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.\"[381] It is that Zion,\ntoo, to which \"the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with\nsinging; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.\"[382] Finally,\nit is that home of which the sacred writer, writing to the Hebrews,\nsays, \"Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living\nGod, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the\ngeneral assembly and Church of the first-born, who are enrolled in\nheaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made\nperfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood\nof sprinkling, that speaketh better than that of Abel.\"[383] Upon this\nmount Zion the Lamb--that is, the crucified and risen Lamb of chap.\nv.--stands, firm, self-possessed, and calm.\n\nThere is more, however, than outward beauty or sacred memories to mark\nthe scene to which we are introduced. Mount Zion may be \"beautiful in\nelevation, the joy of the whole earth, on the sides of the north, the\ncity of the great King.\"[384] But there is music for the ear as well\nas beauty for the eye. The mount resounds with song, rich and full of\nmeaning to those who can understand it. A voice is heard from heaven\nwhich seems to be distinguished from the voice of the hundred and\nforty and four thousand to be immediately spoken of. We are not told\nfrom whom it comes; but it is there, _as the voice of many waters, and\nas the voice of a great thunder, and as the voice of harpers harping\nwith their harps_. Majesty and sweetness mark it. It is the music that\nis ever in God's presence, not the music of angels only, or glorified\nsaints, or a redeemed creation. More probably it is that of all of\nthem together. And the song which they sing is _new_, like that of\nchap. v. 9, which is sung by \"the four living creatures and the\nfour-and-twenty elders, who have each one a harp, and golden bowls of\nincense, which are the prayers of the saints.\" That song the Church on\nearth understands, and she alone can understand. It spoke of truths\nwhich the redeemed alone could appreciate, and of joys which they\nalone could value. There is a communion of saints, of all saints on\nearth and of all who fill the courts of the Lord's house on high. Even\nnow the Church can listen with ravished ear to songs which she shall\nhereafter join in singing.\n\nStanding beside the Lamb upon Mount Zion, there are _a hundred and\nforty and four thousand, having the Lamb's name and the name of His\nFather written on their foreheads_, in token of their priestly state.\nWe cannot avoid asking, Are these the same hundred and forty and four\nthousand of whom we have read in chap. vii. as sealed upon their\nforeheads, or are they different? The natural inference is that they\nare the same. To use such a peculiar number of two different portions\nof the Church of God would lead to a confusion inconsistent with the\nusually plain and direct, even though mystical, statements of this\nbook. Besides which they have the mark or seal of God in both cases on\nthe same part of their bodies,--the forehead. It is true that the\ndefinite article is not prefixed to the number; but neither is that\narticle prefixed to the \"glassy sea\" of chap. xv. 1, and yet no one\ndoubts that this is the same \"glassy sea\" as that of chap. iv. Besides\nwhich the absence of the article may be accounted for by the fact that\nthe reference is not _directly_ to the hundred and forty and four\nthousand of chap. vii. 4, but to the innumerable multitude of chap.\nvii. 9.[385] We have already seen, however, that these two companies\nare the same, although the persons composing them are viewed in\ndifferent lights; and the hundred and forty and four thousand here\ncorrespond, not to the first, but to the second, company. They are in\nfull possession of their Christian privileges and joys. They are not\n\"in heaven,\" in the ordinary meaning of that term. They are on earth.\nBut the two companies formerly mentioned meet in them. They are both\nsealed, and in the presence of the Lamb.\n\nThe character of the hundred and forty and four thousand next claims\nour thoughts.\n\n1. They were _not defiled with women, for they are virgins_. The words\ncannot be literally understood, but must be taken in the sense of\nsimilar words of the Apostle Paul, when, writing to the Corinthians,\nhe says, \"For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I\nespoused you to one Husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin\nto Christ.\"[386] Such \"a pure virgin\" were the hundred and forty and\nfour thousand now standing upon the mount Zion. They had renounced all\nthat unfaithfulness to God and to Divine truth which is so often\nspoken of in the Old Testament as spiritual fornication or adultery.\nThey had renounced all sin. In the language of St. John in his first\nEpistle, they had \"the true God, and eternal life.\" They had \"guarded\nthemselves from idols.\"[387]\n\n2. They _follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth_. They shrink from no\npart of the Redeemer's life whether on earth or in heaven. They follow\nHim in His humiliation, labours, sufferings, death, resurrection, and\nascension. They obey the command \"Follow thou Me\"[388] in prosperity\nor adversity, in joy or sorrow, in persecution or triumph. Wherever\ntheir Lord is they also are, one with Him, members of His Body and\npartakers of His Spirit.\n\n3. They are _purchased from among men, a first-fruits unto God and\nunto the Lamb_. _And in their mouth was found no lie; they are without\nblemish._ Upon the fact that they are \"purchased\" it is unnecessary to\ndwell. We have already met with the expression in chap. v. 9, in one\nof the triumphant songs of the redeemed. Nor does it seem needful to\nspeak of the moral qualifications here enumerated, further than to\nobserve that in other parts of this book the \"lie\" is expressly said\nto exclude from the new Jerusalem, and to be a mark of those upon whom\nthe door is shut,[389] while the epithet \"without blemish\" is\nelsewhere, on more than one occasion, applied to our Lord.[390]\n\nThe appellation \"a first-fruits\" demands more notice. The figure is\ndrawn from the well-known offering of \"first-fruits\" under the Jewish\nlaw, in which the first portion of any harvest was dedicated to God,\nin token that the whole belonged to Him, and was recognised as His.\nHence it always implies that something of the same kind will follow\nit, and in this sense it is often used in the New Testament: \"If the\nfirst-fruit is holy, so is the lump;\" \"Ep?etus, who is the\nfirst-fruits of Asia unto Christ;\" \"Now hath Christ been raised from\nthe dead, the first-fruits of them that are asleep;\" \"Ye know the\nhouse of Stephanas, that it is the first-fruits of Achaia.\"[391] In\nlike manner the mention of the hundred and forty and four thousand as\n\"first-fruits\" suggests the thought of something to follow. What that\nis it is more difficult to say. It can hardly be other Christians\nbelonging to a later age of the Church's history upon earth, for the\nend is come. It can hardly be Christians who have done or suffered\nmore than other members of the Christian family, for in St. John's\neyes all Christians are united to Christ, alike in work and martyrdom.\nOnly one supposition remains. The hundred and forty and four thousand,\nas the whole Church of God, are spoken of in the sense in which the\nsame expression is used by the Apostle James: \"Of His own will He\nbrought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of\nfirst-fruits of His creatures.\"[392] Not as the first portion of the\nChurch on earth, to be followed by another portion, but as the first\nportion of a kingdom of God wider and larger than the Church, are the\nwords to be understood. The whole Church is God's first-fruits; and\nwhen she is laid upon His altar, we have the promise that a time is\ncoming when creation shall follow in her train, when \"it shall be\ndelivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory\nof the children of God,\"[393] when \"the mountains and the hills shall\nbreak forth before the Redeemer into singing, and all the trees of the\nfield shall clap their hands.\"[394]\n\nWhy shall nature thus rejoice before the Lord? Let the Psalmist answer:\n\"For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the\nworld with righteousness, and the people with His truth.\"[395] This\nthought may introduce us to the next portion of the chapter:--\n\n And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal\n gospel to proclaim over them that sit on the earth, and over every\n nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people; and he saith with a\n great voice, Fear God, and give Him glory; for the hour of His\n judgment is come: and worship Him that made the heaven, and the\n earth, and sea, and fountains of waters.\n\n And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen, is\n Babylon the great, which hath made all the nations to drink of the\n wine of the wrath of her fornication.\n\n And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great\n voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and\n receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall\n drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled unmixed in\n the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and\n brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence\n of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up unto ages of\n ages: and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the\n beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name.\n Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the\n commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice\n from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the\n Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest\n from their toils; for their works follow with them.\n\n And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw One\n sitting like unto a Son of man, having on His head a golden crown,\n and in His hand a sharp sickle.\n\n And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great\n voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle, and\n reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth\n is fully ripe. And He that sat on the cloud cast His sickle upon\n the earth; and the earth was reaped.\n\n And another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he\n also having a sharp sickle.\n\n And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over\n fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp\n sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the\n clusters of the vine of the earth; for her bunches of grapes are\n ripe. And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered\n the vine of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great\n winepress, of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden\n without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress,\n even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six\n hundred furlongs (xiv. 6-20).\n\nThe first point to be noticed in connexion with these verses is their\nstructure, for the structure is of importance to the interpretation. The\npassage as a whole, it will be easily observed, consists of seven\nparts, the first three and the last three being introduced by an\n\"angel,\" while the central or chief part is occupied with One who, from\nthe description, can be no other than our Lord Himself. In this part it\nis also obvious that the Lord comes to wind up the history of the world,\nand to gather in that harvest of His people which is already fully or\neven overripe. There can be no doubt, therefore, that we are here at the\nvery close of the present dispensation; and, as five out of the six\nparts which are grouped around the central figure are occupied with\njudgment on the wicked, the presumption is that the only remaining part,\nthe first of the six, will be occupied with the same topic.\n\nIn this first part indeed we read of _an eternal gospel proclaimed\nover them that sit on the earth, and over every nation, and tribe, and\ntongue, and people_; and the first impression made upon us is that we\nhave here a universal and final proclamation of the glad tidings of\ngreat joy, in order that the world may yet, at the last moment,\nrepent, believe, and be saved. But such an interpretation, however\nplausible and generally accepted, must be set aside. The light thrown\nupon the words by their position in the series of seven parts already\nspoken of is a powerful argument against it. Everything in the passage\nitself leads to the same conclusion. We do not read, as we ought, were\nthis the meaning, to have read, of \"the,\" but of \"an,\" eternal gospel.\nThis gospel is proclaimed, not \"unto,\" but \"over,\" those to whom it is\naddressed. Its hearers do not \"dwell,\" as in both the Authorised and\nRevised Versions, but, as in the margin of the latter, \"sit,\" on the\nearth, in the sinful world, in the carelessness of pride and\nself-confident security. Thus the great harlot \"sitteth upon many\nwaters;\" and thus Babylon says in her heart, \"I sit a queen, and am no\nwidow, and shall in no wise see mourning.\"[396] There is no\nhumiliation, no spirit of repentance, no preparation for the Gospel,\nhere; while the mention of the \"earth\" and the fourfold division of\nits inhabitants lead us to think of men continuing in their sins, over\nwhom a doom is to be pronounced.[397] Still further, the words put\ninto the mouth of him who speaks \"with a great voice,\" and which\nappear to contain the substance of the gospel thus proclaimed, have in\nthem no sound of mercy, no story of love, no mention of the name of\nJesus. They speak of _fearing God and giving glory to Him_, as even\nthe lost may do,[398] of the _hour_, not even the \"day,\" _of His\njudgment_; and they describe the rule of the great Creator by bringing\ntogether the four things--_the heaven, and the earth, and sea, and\nfountains of waters_--upon which judgment has already fallen in the\nseries of the Trumpets, and is yet to fall in that of the Bowls.[399]\nLastly, the description given of the angel reminds us so much of the\ndescription given of the \"eagle\" in chap. viii. 13 as to make it at\nleast probable that his mission is a similar one of woe.\n\nIn the light of all these circumstances, we seem compelled to come to\nthe conclusion that the \"gospel\" referred to is a proclamation of\njudgment, that it is that side of the Saviour's mission in which He\nappears as the winnowing fan by which His enemies are scattered as the\nchaff, while His disciples are gathered as the wheat. There is no\nintimation here, then, of a conversion of the world. The world stands\nself-convicted before the bar of judgment, to hear its doom.\n\nThe cry of the second angel corresponds to that of the first. It\nproclaims the fall of Babylon and its cause. The deeply interesting\nquestions relating to this city will meet us at a later point. In the\nmeantime it is enough to observe that Babylon is described as _fallen_.\nThe Judge is not only standing at the door: He has begun His work.\n\nThe words of the third angel continue the strain thus begun, and\nconstitute the most terrible picture of the fate of the ungodly to be\nfound in Scripture. The eye shrinks from the spectacle. The heart\nfails with fear when the words are read. That _wine of the wrath of\nGod which is mingled unmixed in the cup of His anger_, that wine into\nwhich, contrary to the usage of the time, no water, no mitigating\nelement, has been allowed to enter; that _torment with fire and\nbrimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of\nthe Lamb_; that _smoke of their torment going up unto ages of ages_;\nthat _no-rest day and night_, of so different a kind from the no-rest\nof which we have read in chap. iv. 8--all present a picture from which\nwe can hardly do aught else than turn away with trembling. Can this be\nthe Gospel of Jesus, the Lamb of God? Can this be a revelation given\nto the disciple whom Jesus loved, and who had entered so deeply into\nhis Master's spirit of tenderness and compassion for the sinner?\n\n1. Let us consider that the words are addressed, not directly to\nsinners, but to the Church of Christ, which is safe from the threatened\ndoom; not to the former that they may be led to repentance, but to the\nlatter that through the thought of what she has escaped she may be\nfilled with eternal gratitude and joy 2. Let us notice the degree to\nwhich sin is here supposed to have developed; that it is not the sin of\nMary in the house of Simon, of the penitent thief, of the Philippian\ngaoler, or of the publicans and harlots who gathered around our Lord in\nthe days of His flesh to listen to Him, but sin bold, determined, loved,\nand clung to as the sinner's self-chosen good, the sin of sinners who\nwill die for sin as martyrs die for Christ and holiness. 3. Let us\nobserve that, whatever the angel may mean, he certainly does not speak\nof never-ending existence in never-ending torment, for the words of the\noriginal unhappily translated both in the Authorised and Revised\nVersions \"for ever and ever\" ought properly to be rendered \"unto ages of\nages;\"[400] and, distinguished as they are on this occasion alone in the\nApocalypse from the first of these expressions by the absence of the\nGreek articles, they ought not to be translated in the same way. 4. Let\nus recall the strong figures of speech in which the inhabitants of the\nEast were wont to give utterance to their feelings, figures illustrated\nin the present instance by the mention of that \"fire and brimstone\"\nwhich no man will interpret literally, as well as by the language of St.\nJude when he describes Sodom and Gomorrah as \"an example of eternal\nfire.\"[401] 5. Let us remember that hatred of sin is the correlative of\nlove of goodness, and that the kingdom of God cannot be fully\nestablished in the world until sin has been completely banished from it.\n6. Above all, let us mark carefully the distinction, so often forced\nupon us in the writings of St. John, between sinners in the ordinary\nsense and the system of sin to which other sinners cling in deadliest\nenmity to God and righteousness; and, as we do all this, the words of\nthe third angel will produce on us another than their first impression.\nSo far as the human being is before us we shall be moved only to\ncompassion and eagerness to save. But his sin, the sin which has\nmastered the Divinely implanted elements of his nature, which has fouled\nwhat God made pure and embittered what God made sweet, the sin which has\nsubjected one created in the nobility of the image of God to the\nmiserable thraldom of the devil, the sin the thought of which we can\nseparate, like the Apostle Paul, from the \"I\" of man's true\nnature[402]--of that sin we can only say, Let the wrath of God be poured\nout upon it unmingled with mercy; let it be destroyed with a destruction\nthe memory of which shall last \"unto ages of ages\" and even take its\nplace amidst the verities sustaining the throne of the Eternal and\nsecuring the obedience and the happiness of His creatures.[403] If a\nminister of Christ thinks that he may gather from this passage, or\nothers similar to it, a commission to go to sinners rather than to sin\nwith \"tidings of damnation,\" he mistakes alike the Master whom he serves\nand the commission with which he has been entrusted.\n\nAt this point, after the thought of that spirit of allegiance to the\nbeast which draws down such terrors upon itself, and before we reach the\ncentral figure of the whole movement, we have some words of comfort\ninterposed. The meaning of the first part of them is similar to that of\nchap. xiii. 10, and need not be further spoken of. The meaning of their\nsecond part, conveying to us the contents of the \"voice from heaven,\"\ndemands a moment's notice. _Blessed_, exclaims the heavenly voice (at\nthe same time prefixing the command _Write_), _are the dead which die in\nthe Lord from henceforth_. It is difficult to determine the precise\npoint of time referred to in the word \"henceforth.\" If it be the moment\nof the end, the moment of the Second Coming of the Lord, then the\npromise must express the glory of the resurrection. But, to say nothing\nof the fact that \"resting from labours\" is too weak to bring out the\nglory of the resurrection state, there is at that instant no more time\nto die in the Lord. The living shall be \"changed.\" It seems better,\ntherefore, to understand the words as a voice of consolation running\nthroughout the whole Christian age. In the view of \"heaven\" the lapse of\ntime is hardly thought of. All is Now. The meaning of \"dying in the\nLord,\" again, must not be regarded as equivalent to the Scriptural\nexpression \"falling asleep in Jesus.\" Not the thought of \"falling\nasleep\" in a quiet Christian home, but of \"dying\" as Jesus died, is in\nthe Seer's mind; and not the thought of rest from work, but of rest from\n_toils_, an entirely different and far stronger word, is in the answer\nof the Spirit. Thus are believers blessed. Their life is a life of toil,\nof hardship, of trial, of persecution, of death; but when they die, they\n\"rest.\" And their \"works\"--that is, their Christian character and\nlife--are not lost. They _follow with them_, and meet them again in the\nheavenly mansions as the record of all that they have done and suffered\nin their Master's cause.\n\nThe first three angels have accomplished their task. We now reach the\nfourth and chief member in this series of seven, and meet with the Lord\nas He comes to take His people to Himself, that where He is, there they\nmay also be. That it is the Lord who is here before us we cannot for a\nmoment doubt. The designation _like unto a Son of man_, the same as that\nof chap. i. 13, itself establishes the fact, which is again confirmed by\nthe mention of the _white cloud_ and of the _golden crown_. _In His\nhand_ He holds _a sharp sickle_, with which to reap. Thus also in\ndifferent passages of the New Testament our Lord speaks of the harvest\nof His people, although in them He acts by His angels and Apostles.[404]\nIn one passage of the Gospel of St. John He acts by Himself.[405] The\nglorified Redeemer is thus ready to complete His work.\n\n_Another angel_ now appears, the first of the second series of three,\nand styled \"another,\" not by comparison with Him who sat on the white\ncloud, and who is exalted far above all angels, but by comparison with\nthe angels previously spoken of at the sixth, eighth, and ninth verses\nof the chapter. This angel is said to come _out from the temple_--that\nis, out of the _naos_, out of the innermost shrine of the temple--and\nthe notice is important, for it shows that he comes from the immediate\npresence of God, and is a messenger from Him. Therefore it is that he\ncan say to the Son, _Send forth Thy sickle, and reap_. \"The Son can do\nnothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing.\"[406] Until\nthe Father gives the sign His \"hour is not yet come;\" and more\nespecially of the hour now arrived Jesus had Himself said, \"But of\nthat day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven,\nneither the Son, but the Father.\"[407] The day, the hour, the moment,\nhas now arrived; and, as usual in this book, the message of the Father\nis communicated by an angel. The intimation that the hour is come is\ngrounded upon the fact that the harvest about to be gathered in is\n_fully ripe_. The Revised Version translates \"overripe;\" but the\ntranslation, though literal, is unhappy, and so far false as it\nunquestionably suggests a false idea. God's time for working is always\nright, not wrong; and it is perfectly legitimate to understand the\nword of the original as meaning simply dry, hard, the soft juices of\nits ripening state absorbed, and the time of its firmness come.[408]\nThus summoned by the message of the Father to the work, the Son enters\nupon it without delay. \"As He hears, He judges.\"[409] _He that sat on\nthe cloud cast His sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped._\n\nThe second angel of the second group of three next appears, having,\nlike Him that sat upon the cloud, \"a sharp sickle;\" and he too waits\nfor the summons to use it.\n\nThis summons is given by the third angel of the second group, of whom\nit is said that he _came out from the altar, he that hath power over\nfire_. The altar of this verse must be that already spoken of in chap.\nviii. 3, where we were told that \"another angel came and stood over\nthe altar, having a golden censer,\" an altar which we have been led to\nidentify with the brazen altar of chap. v. 9, beneath which were found\nthe souls of the Old Testament saints; and the \"fire\" over which this\nangel has power must be the \"fire\" of chap. viii. 5, the fire taken\nfrom that altar to kindle the incense of the prayers of the saints.\nThe angel is thus a messenger of judgment, about to command a final\nand full answer to be given to the prayer that the Almighty will\nfinish His work and vindicate His cause. To this character,\naccordingly, his message corresponds, for _he called with a great\nvoice to him_ (that is, to the second angel) _that had the sharp\nsickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters\nof the vine of the earth; for her bunches of grapes are ripe_. A\nvintage, not a harvest of grain, is here before us; and it is\nimpossible to doubt that it is the purpose of the Seer to draw a broad\nline of distinction between the two. The latter is the harvest of the\ngood; the former is the vintage of the evil: and the propriety of the\nfigure thus used for the evil is easily perceived when we remember\nthat grapes were gathered to be trodden in the winefat, and that the\njuice when trodden out had the colour of blood. The figure was indeed\none already familiar to the prophets: \"Let the nations bestir\nthemselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat\" (that is, The\nLord judges): \"for there will I sit to judge all the nations round\nabout. Put ye in the sickle, for the vintage is ripe: come, tread ye;\nfor the winepress is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is\ngreat;\"[410] \"Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy\ngarments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the\nwinepress alone; and of the people there was no man with Me: yea, I\ntrod them in Mine anger, and trampled them in My fury; and their\nlife-blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My\nraiment. For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and My year of\nredemption is come.\"[411] The figure is here employed in a similar\nmanner, for the angel _gathered the vine_ (not \"the vintage,\" the\nwhole vine being plucked up by the roots) _of the earth, and cast it\ninto the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God. And the\nwinepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from\nthe winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a\nthousand and six hundred furlongs_. In these words we have undoubtedly\nthe judgment of the wicked, and the last portion of them alone need\ndetain us for a moment.\n\n1. What is meant by the statement that the sea of blood thus created\nby the slaughter spoken of reached \"even unto the bridles of the\nhorses\"? The horses are those of chap. xix. 11-16, where we have again\na description of the final victory of Christ over all His enemies, and\nwhere it is again said of Him that \"He treadeth the winepress of the\nfierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.\"[412] The same winepress\nwhich meets us here meets us there. The battle and the victory are the\nsame; and the horses here are therefore those upon which He that is\ncalled Faithful and True, together with His armies that are in heaven,\nrides forth to conquest. The mention of \"the bridles\" of the horses is\nmore uncertain and more difficult to explain, but one passage of the\nOld Testament helps us. In speaking of the glories of the latter day,\nthe prophet Zechariah says, \"In that day shall there be upon the bells\nof the horses (the bells strung along the bridles) HOLY UNTO THE\nLORD.\"[413] The sea of blood reached to, but could not be allowed to\ntouch, these sacred words.\n\n2. What is meant by the space of \"a thousand and six hundred furlongs,\"\nover which the sea extended? To resolve it simply into a large space is\nat variance with the spirit of the Apocalypse; and to imagine that it\nmarks the extent of the Holy Land from Dan to Beersheba is both to\nintroduce an incorrect calculation and to forget who constitute the\nhosts of wickedness that had been engaged in the battle. These were not\nthe inhabitants of Palestine only, but of \"the earth,\" three times\nmentioned in the description. They were \"all the nations\" spoken of by\nthe second angel of the first group, all that worship the beast and his\nimage and receive a mark on their forehead or their hand, referred to by\nthe third angel of the same group. They are thus the wicked gathered\nfrom every corner of the earth. With this idea the figures 1,600\nagree--four, the number of the world, multiplied by itself to express\nintensity, and then by a hundred, the number so often associated with\nevil in this book. Whether \"furlongs,\" literally \"stadia,\" are chosen as\nthe measure of space because, as suggested by Cornelius a Lapide, the\narena or circus in which the martyrs suffered was called \"The\nStadium,\"[414] it may be vain to conjecture. Enough that the sixteen\nhundred furlongs represent the whole surface of the earth upon which the\nwicked \"sit\" at ease, the universal efficacy of the sickle by which they\nare gathered to their doom.\n\nOne other point ought to be more particularly noticed before we close\nthe consideration of this chapter. The harvest of the good is gathered\nin by the Lord Himself, that of the wicked by His angel. The same lesson\nappears to be read in the parables of the tares and of the drawnet. In\nthe former (although allusions in each parable may seem to imply that\nangels take part in both acts) it is said that \"at the end of the world\nthe Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of\nHis kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do\niniquity.\"[415] In the latter we read, \"So shall it be in the end of the\nworld: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the\nrighteous, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.\"[416] In like\nmanner here. The Son of man Himself gathers His own to their eternal\nrest. It is an angel, though commissioned by Him, who gathers the wicked\nto their fate. \"And is there not a beauty and tenderness in this\ncontrast? It is as though that Son of man and Son of God who is the\nJudge of quick and dead, the Judge alike of the righteous and of the\nwicked, loved one half of His office, and loved not the other. It is as\nthough He cherished as His own prerogative the harvest of the earth, and\nwere glad to delegate to other hands the vintage. It is as though the\nministry of mercy were His chosen office, and the ministry of wrath His\nstern necessity. One like unto the Son of man puts forth the sickle of\nthe ingathering; one of created, though it be of angelic, nature is\nemployed to send forth the sickle of destruction.\"[417]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[375] John xii. 36-38.\n\n[376] Vers. 42, 50.\n\n[377] Ps. cxxxiii. 3.\n\n[378] Ps. ix. 11.\n\n[379] Ps. lxxviii. 68.\n\n[380] Ps. xiv. 7.\n\n[381] Ps. ii. 6, 7.\n\n[382] Isa. xxxv. 10.\n\n[383] Heb. xii. 22-24.\n\n[384] Ps. xlviii. 2.\n\n[385] Comp. Lee in _Speaker's Commentary in loc._ The distinction\nbetween the two references is there wrongly given.\n\n[386] 2 Cor. xi. 2.\n\n[387] 1 John v. 20, 21.\n\n[388] John xxi. 22.\n\n[389] Chaps. xxi. 27; xxii. 15.\n\n[390] Heb. ix. 14; 1 Pet. i. 19.\n\n[391] Rom. xi. 16; xvi. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 20; xvi. 15.\n\n[392] James i. 18.\n\n[393] Rom. viii. 21.\n\n[394] Isa. lv. 12.\n\n[395] Ps. xcvi. 13.\n\n[396] Chaps. xvii. 1; xviii. 7.\n\n[397] Comp. chaps. xi. 9; xiii. 7.\n\n[398] Comp. James ii. 19.\n\n[399] Chaps. viii., xv.\n\n[400] They are so rendered in the margin of the Revised Version.\n\n[401] Jude 7 (margin of R.V.).\n\n[402] Rom. vii.\n\n[403] Comp. p. 108.\n\n[404] Matt. ix. 37, 38; xiii. 29, 30.\n\n[405] John xiv. 3.\n\n[406] John v. 19.\n\n[407] Mark xiii. 32.\n\n[408] Comp. the \"dried up\" of the margin of the Revised Version.\n\n[409] John v. 30.\n\n[410] Joel iii. 12, 13.\n\n[411] Isa. lxiii. 2-4.\n\n[412] Ver. 15.\n\n[413] Zech. xiv. 20.\n\n[414] Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 24.\n\n[415] Matt. xiii. 41.\n\n[416] Matt. xiii. 49, 50.\n\n[417] Vaughan, _u. s._, p. 378.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n _THE SEVEN BOWLS._\n\n REV. xv., xvi.\n\n\nNothing can more clearly prove that the Revelation of St. John is not\nwritten upon chronological principles than the scenes to which we are\nintroduced in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the book. We have\nalready been taken to the end. We have seen in chap. xiv. the Son of man\nupon the throne of judgment, the harvest of the righteous, and the\nvintage of the wicked. Yet we are now met by another series of visions\nsetting before us judgments that must take place before the final issue.\nThis is not chronology; it is apocalyptic vision, which again and again\nturns round the kaleidoscope of the future, and delights to behold under\ndifferent aspects the same great principles of the Almighty's\ngovernment, leading always to the same glorious results.\n\nOne other preliminary observation may be made. The third series of\njudgments does not really begin till we reach chap. xvi. Chap. xv. is\nintroductory, and we are thus reminded that the series of the Trumpets\nhad a similar introduction in chap. viii. 1-6. It is the manner of St.\nJohn, who thus in his Gospel introduces his account of our Lord's\nconversation with Nicodemus in chap. iii. by the last three verses of\nchap. ii., which ought to be connected with the third chapter; and\nwho also introduces his narrative regarding the woman of Samaria by\nthe first three verses of chap. iv.\n\nTo introduce chap. xvi. is the object of chap. xv.\n\n And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven\n angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is\n finished the wrath of God (xv. 1).\n\nThe plagues about to be spoken of are \"the last,\" and in them the\nfinal judgments of God upon evil are contained. What they are, and who\nare the special objects of them, will afterwards appear. Meanwhile,\nanother vision is presented to our view:--\n\n And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire; and them that\n come victorious out of the beast, and out of his image, and out of\n the number of his name, standing upon the glassy sea, having harps\n of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and\n the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works,\n O Lord God the Almighty; righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou\n King of the nations. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy\n name? for Thou only art holy: for all the nations shall come and\n worship before Thee; for Thy righteous acts have been made\n manifest (xv. 2-4).\n\nIt can hardly be doubted that the _glassy sea_ spoken of in these\nwords is the same as that already met with at chap. iv. 6. Yet again,\nas in the case of the hundred and forty and four thousand of chap.\nxiv. 1, the definite article is wanting; and, in all probability, for\nthe same reason. The aspect in which the object is viewed, though not\nthe object itself, is different. The glassy sea is here _mingled with\nfire_, a point of which no mention was made in chap. iv. The\ndifference may be explained if we remember that the \"fire\" spoken of\ncan only be that of the judgments by which the Almighty vindicates His\ncause, or of the trials by which He purifies His people. As these,\ntherefore, now stand upon the sea, delivered from every adversary, we\nare reminded of the troubles which by Divine grace they have been\nenabled to surmount. It was otherwise in chap. iv. No persons were\nthere connected with the sea, and it stretched away, clear as crystal,\nbefore Him all whose dealings with His people are \"right.\" The sea\nitself is in both cases the same, but in the latter it is beheld from\nthe Divine point of view, in the former from the human.\n\nThe vision as a whole takes us back to the exodus of Israel from\nEgypt, and hence the mention of _the song of Moses, the servant of\nGod_. The enemies of the Church have their type in Pharaoh and his\nhost as they pursue Israel across the sands which had been laid bare\nfor the passage of the chosen people; the waters, driven back for a\ntime, return to their ancient bed; the hostile force, with its\nchariots and its chosen captains, \"goes down into the depths like a\nstone;\" and Israel raises its song of victory, \"I will sing unto the\nLord, for He hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath\nHe thrown into the sea.\"[418]\n\nThe song now sung, however, is not that of Moses only, the great\ncentre of the Old Testament Dispensation; it is also _the Song of the\nLamb_, the centre and the sum of the New Testament. Both Dispensations\nare in the Seer's thoughts, and in the number of those who sing are\nincluded the saints of each, the members of the one Universal Church.\nNo disciple of Jesus either before or after His first coming is\nomitted. Every one is there from whose hands the bonds of the world\nhave fallen off, and who has cast in his lot with the followers of the\nLamb. Hence also the song is wider in its range than that by which\nthe thought of it appears to have been suggested. It celebrates the\n_great and marvellous works_ of the Almighty in general. It speaks of\nHim as the _King of the nations_, that is, as the King who subdues the\nnations under Him. It rejoices in the fact that His _righteous acts\nhave been made manifest_. And it anticipates the time when _all the\nnations shall come and worship before_ Him, shall bow themselves at\nHis feet, and shall acknowledge that His judgments against sin are not\nonly just in themselves, but are allowed to be so by the very persons\non whom they fall.\n\nA second vision follows:--\n\n And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of\n the testimony in heaven was opened; and there came out from the\n temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, clothed with a\n precious stone pure and lustrous, and girt about their breasts\n with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave\n unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God,\n who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke\n from the glory of God, and from His power: and none was able to\n enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels\n should be finished (xv. 5-8).\n\nThe _temple_ spoken of is, as upon every occasion when the word is used,\nthe shrine or innermost sanctuary, the Holy of holies, the peculiar\ndwelling-place of the Most High; so that the seven angels with the seven\nlast plagues come from God's immediate presence. But this sanctuary is\nnow beheld in a different light from that in which it was seen in chap.\nxi. 19. There it contained the ark of God's covenant, the symbol of His\ngrace. Here the eye is directed to the _testimony_, to the two tables of\nthe law which were kept in the ark, and were God's witness both to the\nholiness of His character and the justice of His government. The giving\nof the law then was in the Seer's mind, and that fact will explain the\nallusions to the Old Testament found in his words. The description of\nthe seven angels, as _clothed with a precious stone pure and lustrous_\n(not with \"fine linen\" as in the Authorised Version) may be explained,\nwhen we attend to the second characteristic of their appearance, _girt\nabout their breasts with golden girdles_. These words take us back to\nthe vision of the Son of man in chap. i., where the same expression\noccurs, and where we have already seen that it points to the priests of\nIsrael, when engaged in the active service of the sanctuary. The angels\nnow spoken of are thus priestly after the fashion of the Lord Himself,\nwho is not merely the Priest but also the High Priest of His people. The\nhigh priest, however, wore a jewelled breastplate; and in correspondence\nwith the nobler functions of the New Testament priesthood, these jewels\nare now extended to the whole clothing of the angels spoken of. A\nsimilar figure for the clothing of the glorified Church meets us in the\nprophecies of Isaiah: \"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall\nbe joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of\nsalvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness; as a\nbridegroom decketh himself (the margin of the Revised Version calling\nattention to the fact that the meaning of the original is \"decketh\nhimself as a priest\") with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself\nwith her jewels;\"[419] while the same figure, though applied to Tyre, is\nemployed by Ezekiel: \"Every precious stone was thy covering.\"[420] The\nseven angels are thus about to engage in a priestly work.\n\nThis work is pointed out to them by _one of the four living\ncreatures_, the representatives of redeemed creation. All creation\nowns the propriety of the judgments now about to be fulfilled.[421]\n\nThese judgments are contained, not in seven \"vials,\" as in the\nAuthorised Version, but in _seven golden bowls_, vessels probably of a\nsaucer shape, of no great depth, and their circumference largest at\nthe rim. They are the \"basins\" of the Old Testament, used for carrying\ninto the sanctuary the incense which had been lighted by fire from the\nbrazen altar. They were thus much better adapted than \"vials\" for the\nexecution of a final judgment. Their contents could be poured out at\nonce and suddenly.\n\nThe bowls have been delivered to the angels, and nothing remains but\nto pour them out. The moment is one of terror, and it is fitting that\neven all outward things shall correspond. _Smoke_, therefore, filled\n_the sanctuary_, and _none was able to enter into it_. Thus, when\nMoses reared up the tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled it,\n\"Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting:\"[422] thus,\nwhen Solomon dedicated the temple and the cloud filled the house of\nthe Lord, \"The priests could not stand to minister by reason of the\ncloud.\"[423] Thus, when Isaiah beheld the glory of the Lord in His\ntemple, and heard the cry of the Seraphim, \"Holy, holy, holy is the\nLord of Hosts,\" \"the foundations of the thresholds were moved at the\nvoice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke;\"[424]\nand thus, above all, when the law was given, \"Mount Sinai was\naltogether on smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and\nthe smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole\nmount quaked greatly.\"[425]\n\nAll due preparation having been made, the Seven Bowls are now poured\nout in rapid and uninterrupted succession. As in the case of the Seals\nand of the Trumpets, they are divided into two groups of four and\nthree; and those of the first group may be taken together:--\n\n And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven\n angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God\n into the earth. And the first went, and poured out his bowl into\n the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men\n which had the mark of the beast, and which worshipped his image.\n And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became\n blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died, even the\n things that were in the sea. And the third poured out his bowl\n into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became\n blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art\n Thou which art and which wast, Thou holy one, because Thou didst\n thus judge: for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets,\n and blood hast Thou given them to drink: they are worthy. And I\n heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord, God, the Almighty, true and\n righteous are Thy judgments. And the fourth poured out his bowl\n upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.\n And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the\n name of the God which hath the power over these plagues; and they\n repented not to give Him glory (xvi. 1-9).\n\nUpon the particulars of these plagues it is unnecessary to dwell. No\nattempt to determine the special meaning of the objects thus visited\nby the wrath of God--the land, the sea, the rivers and fountains of\nthe waters, and the sun--has yet been, or is ever perhaps likely to\nbe, successful; and the general effect alone appears to be important.\nThe chief point claiming attention is the singular closeness of the\nparallelism between them and the Trumpet plagues, a parallelism which\nextends also to the fifth, sixth, and seventh members of the series.\nClose, however, as it is, there is also a marked climax in the later\nplagues, corresponding to the fact that they are \"the last,\" and that\nin them \"the wrath of God is finished.\"[426] Thus the first Trumpet\naffects only the third part of the earth, and the trees, and all green\ngrass: the first Bowl affects _men_.[427] Under the second Trumpet the\n\"third part\" of the sea becomes blood, and the third part of the\ncreatures which are in the sea die, and the third part of the ships\nare destroyed: under the second Bowl, the \"third part\" of the sea is\nexchanged for the whole; the blood assumes its most offensive form,\n_blood as of a dead man_; and not the third part only, but _every\nliving soul died, even the things that were in the sea_.\"[428] Under\nthe third Trumpet the great star falls only upon the \"third part\" of\nthe rivers and fountains, and they become wormwood: under the third\nBowl all the waters are visited by the plague, and they become\nblood.[429] Lastly, under the fourth Trumpet only the \"third part\" of\nsun and moon and stars is smitten: under the fourth Bowl the whole sun\nis affected, and it is _given unto it to scorch men with fire_.[430]\nWith this climactic character of the Bowls as compared with the\nTrumpets may also be connected a striking addition made to the details\nof the third Bowl, to which in the Trumpet series there is nothing to\ncorrespond. _The angel of the waters_, not an angel to whom the\nsmiting of the waters had been entrusted, but the waters themselves\nspeaking through their angel, and _the altar_, that is, the brazen\naltar of chap. vi. 9, respond to the judgments executed. They\nrecognise the true and righteous character of the Almighty, and they\nwelcome this manifestation of Himself to men.\n\nAnother feature of these Bowls will at once strike the reader,--their\ncorrespondence to some of the plagues of Egypt: for in the first we\nsee a repetition, as it were, of that sixth plague by which Pharaoh\nand his people were visited, when Moses sprinkled ashes of the furnace\ntowards heaven, and they became \"a boil breaking forth with blains\nupon man and beast,\"[431] and in the second and third a repetition of\nthe first plague, when Moses lifted up his rod and smote the waters\nthat were in the river, \"and all the waters that were in the river\nwere turned to blood.\"[432] The fourth Bowl reminds us of the terror\nof the appearance of the Son of man in chap. i. 16, when \"His\ncountenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.\"\n\nOne other characteristic of these plagues ought to be noticed. It\ncomes to view no doubt only under the fourth, yet, as we shall\nimmediately see, it is not to be confined to it. The plagues had no\nsoftening or converting power. On the contrary, as at chap. ix. 20,\n21, the impiety of the worshippers of the beast was only aggravated by\ntheir sufferings; and, instead of turning to Him who had power over\nthe plagues, they blasphemed His name.\n\nFrom the first group of Bowls we turn to the second, embracing the\nlast three in the series of seven:--\n\n And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and\n his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,\n and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and\n their sores; and they repented not of their works (xvi. 10, 11).\n\nThe transition from the realm of nature to the spiritual world,\nalready marked at the introduction of the fifth Seal and of the fifth\nTrumpet, is here again observable; but, as in the case of the sixth\nTrumpet, the spiritual world alluded to is that of the prince of\ndarkness. With darkness he is smitten. That there is a reference to\nthe darkness which, at the word of Moses, fell upon the land of Egypt\nwhen visited by its plagues can hardly be doubted, for the darkness of\nthat plague was not ordinary darkness; it was \"a darkness that might\nbe felt.\"[433] More than darkness, however, is alluded to. We are told\nof _their pains and of their sores_. But pains and sores are not an\neffect produced by darkness. They can, therefore, be only those of the\nfirst Bowl, a conclusion confirmed by the use of the word \"plagues\"\ninstead of plague. The inference to be drawn from this is important,\nfor we thus learn that the effects of any earlier Bowl are not\nexhausted before the contents of one following are discharged. Each\nBowl rather adds fresh punishment to that of its predecessors, and all\nof them go on accumulating their terrors to the end. Nothing could\nmore clearly show how impossible it is to interpret such plagues\nliterally, and how mistaken is any effort to apply them to the\nparticular events of history.\n\nThe sixth Bowl follows:--\n\n And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river\n Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might\n be made ready for the kings that come from the sun-rising. And I\n saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of\n the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three\n unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are spirits of devils,\n working signs, which go forth unto the kings of the whole\n inhabited earth, to gather them together unto the war of the great\n day of God, the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is\n he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked,\n and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together into the\n place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon (xvi. 12-16).\n\nProbably no part of the Apocalypse has received more varied\ninterpretation than the first statement of this Bowl. Who are these\n_kings that come from the sun-rising_ is the point to be determined;\nand the answer usually given is, that they are part of the\nanti-christian host, part of those afterwards spoken of as _the kings\nof the whole inhabited earth_, before whom God dries up the Euphrates\nin order that they may pursue an uninterrupted march to the spot on\nwhich they are to be overwhelmed with a final and complete\ndestruction. Something may certainly be said on behalf of such a view;\nyet it is exposed to serious objections.\n\n1. We have already at chap. ix. 14, at the sounding of the sixth\nTrumpet, been made acquainted with the river Euphrates; and, so far\nfrom being a hindrance to the progress of Christ's enemies, it is\nrather the symbol of their overflowing and destructive might. 2. We\nhave also met at chap. vii. 2 with the expression \"from the\nsun-rising,\" and it is there applied to the quarter from which the\nangel comes by whom the people of God are sealed. In a book so\ncarefully written as the Apocalypse, it is not easy to think of\nanti-christian foes coming from a quarter described in the same terms.\n3. These kings \"from the sun-rising\" are not said to be a part of \"the\nkings of the whole inhabited earth\" immediately afterwards referred\nto. They are rather distinguished from them. 4. The \"preparing of the\nway\" connects itself with the thought of Him whose way was prepared by\nthe coming of the Baptist. 5. The type of drying up the waters of a\nriver takes us back, alike in the historical and prophetic writings of\nthe Old Testament, to the means by which the Almighty secures the\ndeliverance of His people, not the destruction of His enemies. Thus\nthe waters of the Red Sea were dried up, not for the overthrow of the\nEgyptians, but for the safety of Israel, and the bed of the river\nJordan was dried up for a similar purpose. Thus, too, the prophet\nIsaiah speaks: \"And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the\nEgyptian sea, and with His scorching wind shall He shake His hand over\nthe river, and shall smite it into seven streams, and cause men to\nmarch over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of\nHis people, which shall return, from Assyria; like as there was for\nIsrael in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.\"[434]\nAgain the same prophet celebrates the great deeds of the arm of the\nLord in the following words: \"Art thou not it which dried up the sea,\nthe waters of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way\nfor the redeemed to pass over?\"[435] And, once more, to a similar\neffect the prophet Zechariah: \"I will bring them again also out of the\nland of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria.... And He shall pass\nthrough the sea of affliction, and shall smite the waves of the sea,\nand all the depths of the Nile shall dry up.... And I will strengthen\nthem in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith\nthe Lord.\"[436] It is unnecessary to say more. In these \"kings from\nthe sun-rising\" we have an emblem of the remnant of the Israel of God\nas they return from all the places whither they have been led captive,\nand as God makes their way plain before them.\n\nNor is this all. In the fate of these foes a striking incident of Old\nTestament history is repeated, in order that they may be led to the\ndestruction which awaits them. When Micaiah warned Ahab of his\napproaching fate, and told him of the lying spirit by which his own\nprophets were urging him to the battle, he said, \"I saw the Lord\nsitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on\nHis right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, Who shall entice\nAhab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this\nmanner; and another said on that manner. And there came forth a\nspirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And\nthe Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and\nbe a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou\nshalt entice him, and shalt prevail also; go forth and do so.\"[437] In\nthat incident of Ahab's reign is found the type of the three lying\nspirits or demons which, like frogs, unclean, noisy, and loquacious,\ngo forth from the three great enemies of the Church, the dragon, the\nfirst beast, and the second beast, now first called _the false\nprophet_, that they may entice the \"kings of the whole inhabited\nearth\" to their overthrow. And they succeed. All unknowing of what is\nbefore them, proud of their strength, and flushed with hope of\nvictory, these kings listen to the demons and gather themselves\ntogether _unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty_. It is a\nsupreme moment in the history of the Church and of the world; and,\nbefore he names the battlefield which shall, in its very name, be\nprophetic of the fate of the wicked, the Seer pauses to behold the\nassembled armies. Upon the one side is a little flock, but they are\nall \"kings,\" and before them is He by whom, like David before the host\nof Israel and over against the Philistines, the battle shall be fought\nand the victory won. On the other side are the hosts of earth in all\ntheir multitudes, gathered together by the deceitful promise of\nsuccess. The Seer hears the voice of the Captain of salvation, _Behold\nI come as a thief_, to break up and to destroy. He hears further the\npromise of blessing to all who are faithful to the Redeemer's cause:\nand then, with mind at rest as to the result, he names the place where\nthe final battle is to be fought, _Har-Magedon_.\n\nWhy Har-Magedon? There was, we have every reason to believe, no such\nplace. The name is symbolical. It is a compound word derived from the\nHebrew, and signifying the mountain of Megiddo. We are thus again\ntaken back to Old Testament history, in which the great plain of\nMegiddo, the most extensive in Palestine, plays on more than one\noccasion a notable part. In particular, that plain was famous for two\ngreat slaughters, that of the Canaanitish host by Barak, celebrated in\nthe song of Deborah,[438] and that in which King Josiah fell.[439] The\nformer is probably alluded to, for the enemies of Israel were there\ncompletely routed. For a similar though still more terrible\ndestruction the hosts of evil are assembled at Har-Magedon. The Seer\nthinks it enough to assemble them, and to name the place. He does not\nneed to go further or to describe the victory.\n\nThe seventh Bowl now follows:--\n\n And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came\n forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It\n is done; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and\n there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men\n upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. And the great\n city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations\n fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to\n give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.\n And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And\n great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down\n out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague\n of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great (xvi. 17-21).\n\nThe seventh or last Bowl is poured out into the air, here thought of\nas the realm of that prince of this world who is also \"the prince of\nthe power of the air.\"[440] All else, land and sea and waters and sun\nand the throne of the beast, has now been smitten so that evil has\nonly to suffer its final blow. It has been searched out everywhere;\nand therefore the end may come. That end comes, and is spoken of in\nfigures more strongly coloured than those of either the sixth Seal or\nthe seventh Trumpet. First of all _a great voice is heard out of the_\n(sanctuary of the) _temple, from the throne, saying, It is done_,\nGod's plan is executed. His last manifestation of Himself in judgment\nhas been made. This voice is then accompanied by a more terrible\nshaking of the heavens and the earth than we have as yet been called\nto witness, the earthquake in particular being _such as was not since\nthere were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty_.\n\nSome of the effects of the earthquake are next spoken of. More\nespecially, _The great city was divided into three parts, and the\ncities of the nations fell_. As to the meaning of \"the cities of the\nnations\" there can be no doubt. They are the strongholds of the\nworld's sin, the places from which ungodliness and impiety have\nruled. Under the shaking of the earthquake they fall in ruins. The\nfirst words as to \"the great city\" must be considered in connexion\nwith the words which follow regarding Babylon, and they are more\ndifficult to interpret. By some it is contended that the \"great city\"\nis Jerusalem, by others that it is Babylon. The expression is one\nwhich the Apocalypse must itself explain, and in seeking the\nexplanation we must proceed upon the principle that in this book, as\nmuch as in any other of the New Testament, the rules of all good\nwriting are followed, and that the meaning of the same words is not\narbitrarily changed. When this rule, accordingly, is observed, we find\nthat the epithet is, in chap. xi. 8, distinctly applied to Jerusalem,\nthe words \"the great city, where also their Lord was crucified\"\nleaving no doubt upon the point. But, in chap. xviii. 10, 16, 18, 19,\n21, the same epithet is not less distinctly applied to Babylon. The\nonly legitimate conclusion is, that there is a sense in which\nJerusalem and Babylon are one. This corresponds exactly to what we\notherwise learn of the light in which the metropolis of Israel\nappeared to St. John. To him as an Apostle of the Lord, and during the\ntime that he followed Jesus in the flesh, Jerusalem presented itself\nin a twofold aspect. It was the city of God's solemnities, the centre\nof the old Divine theocracy, the \"holy city,\" the \"beloved city.\"[441]\nBut it was also the city of \"the Jews,\" the city which scorned and\nrejected and crucified its rightful King. When in later life he\nbeheld, in the picture once exhibited around him and graven upon his\nmemory, the type of the future history and fortunes of the Church, the\ntwo Jerusalems again rose before his view, the one the emblem of all\nthat was most precious, the other of all that was most repulsive, in\nthe eyes both of God and of spiritually enlightened men. The first of\nthese Jerusalems is the true Church of Christ, the faithful remnant,\nthe little flock that knew the Good Shepherd's voice and followed Him.\nThe second is the degenerate Church, the mass of those who\nmisinterpreted the aim and spirit of their calling, and who by their\nworldliness and sin \"crucified their Lord afresh, and put Him to an\nopen shame.\" In the latter aspect Jerusalem _becomes_ Babylon. As in\nchap. xi. 8 it became \"spiritually,\" that is mystically, \"Sodom and\nEgypt,\" so it becomes also the mystical Babylon, partaker of that\ncity's sins, and doomed to its fate. This thought we shall find fully\nexpanded in the following chapter. The question may indeed be asked,\nhow it comes to pass that, if this representation be correct, we\nshould read, immediately after the words now under consideration, that\n_Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto\nher the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath_. But the\nanswer is substantially contained in what has been said. When\nJerusalem is first thought of as \"the great city,\" it is as the city\nof \"the Jews,\" as the centre and essence of those principles by which\nspiritual is transformed into formal religion, and all sins are\npermitted to hide and multiply under the cloak of a merely outward\npiety. When it is next thought of as Babylon, the conception is\nextended so as to embrace, not a false Judaism only, but a similar\nfalseness in the bosom of the universal Church. Just as \"the great\ncity where also our Lord was crucified\" widened in chap. xi. 8 to the\nthought of Sodom and Egypt, so here it widens to the thought of\nBabylon. May it not be added that we have thus in the mention of\nJerusalem and Babylon a counterpart to the mention in chap. xv. 3 of\n\"the song of Moses and the Lamb\"? These two expressions, as we have\nseen, comprehend a song of _universal_ victory. Thus also the two\nexpressions, \"the great city\" and \"Babylon,\" having one and the same\nidea at their root, comprehend all who in the professing Church of the\nwhole world are faithless to Christian truth.\n\nFurther effects of the last judgment follow. _Every island fled away,\nand the mountains were not found._ Effects similar, though not so\nterrible, had been connected with the sixth Seal. Mountains and\nislands had then been simply \"moved out of their places.\"[442] Now\nthey \"flee away.\" Similar effects will again meet us, but in an\nenhanced degree.[443] As yet, while mountains and islands flee away,\nthe earth and the heavens remain. In the last description of the\njudgment of the wicked the heavens and the earth themselves flee away\nfrom the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and no place is\nfound for them. The climax in the different accounts of what is\nsubstantially the same event cannot be mistaken.\n\nThe same climax appears in the statement of the next effect, _the\ngreat hail, every stone about the weight of a talent_, that is, fully\nmore than fifty pounds. No such weight had been spoken of at the close\nof the seventh Trumpet in chap. xi. 19.\n\nAgain, however, there is no repentance and no conversion. Those who\nsuffer are the deliberate and determined followers of the beast. As\nunder the fourth Bowl, therefore, so under the seventh they rather\nblaspheme God amidst their sufferings, _because of the plague of the\nhail, for the plague thereof is exceeding great_.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[418] Exod. xv. 1.\n\n[419] Isa. lxi. 10.\n\n[420] Ezek. xxviii. 13.\n\n[421] Comp. chap. vi.\n\n[422] Exod. xl. 35.\n\n[423] 1 Kings viii. 11.\n\n[424] Isa. vi. 4.\n\n[425] Exod. xix. 18; Heb. xii. 18.\n\n[426] Chap. xv. 1.\n\n[427] Comp. chap. viii. 7 and xvi. 2.\n\n[428] Comp. chap. viii. 8, 9 and xvi. 3.\n\n[429] Comp. chap. viii. 10, 11 and xvi. 4.\n\n[430] Comp. chap. viii. 12 and xvi. 8.\n\n[431] Exod. ix. 10.\n\n[432] Exod. vii. 20.\n\n[433] Exod. x. 21.\n\n[434] Isa. xi. 15, 16.\n\n[435] Isa. li. 10.\n\n[436] Zech. x. 10-12.\n\n[437] 1 Kings xxii. 19-22.\n\n[438] Judges v.\n\n[439] 2 Chron. xxxv. 22.\n\n[440] Ephes. ii. 2.\n\n[441] Chap. xi. 2; xx. 9.\n\n[442] Chap. vi. 14.\n\n[443] Chap. xx. 11.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n _THE BEAST AND BABYLON._\n\n REV. xvii.\n\n\nAt the close of chap. xvi. we reached the end of the three great\nseries of judgments which constitute the chief contents of the\nRevelation of St. John,--the series of the Seals, the Trumpets, and\nthe Bowls. It cannot surprise us, however, that at this point other\nvisions of judgment are to follow. Already we had reached the end at\nchap. vi. 17, and again at chap. xi. 18; yet on both occasions the\nsame general subject was immediately afterwards renewed, and the same\ntruths were again presented to us, though in a different aspect and\nwith heightened colouring. We are prepared therefore to meet something\nof the same kind now. Yet it is not the whole history of that \"little\nseason\" with which the Apocalypse deals that is brought under our\nnotice in fresh and striking vision. One great topic, the greatest\nthat has hitherto been spoken of, is selected for fuller\ntreatment,--the fall of Babylon. Twice before we have heard of Babylon\nand of her doom,--at chap. xiv. 8, when the second angel of the first\ngroup gathered around the Lord as He came to judgment exclaimed,\n\"Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great, which hath made all the nations\nto drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication;\" and again at\nchap. xvi. 19, when under the seventh Bowl we were told that \"Babylon\nthe great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup\nof the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.\" So much importance,\nhowever, is attached by the Seer to the fortunes of this city that two\nchapters of his book--the seventeenth and the eighteenth--are devoted\nto the more detailed descriptions of her and of her fate. These two\nchapters form one of the most striking, if at the same time one of the\nmost difficult, portions of his book. We have first to listen to the\nlanguage of St. John; and, long as the passage is, it will be\nnecessary to take the whole of chap. xvii. at once:--\n\n And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls,\n and spake with me, saying, Come hither; I will show thee the\n judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters: with\n whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that\n dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her\n fornication. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a\n wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured\n beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten\n horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked\n with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a\n golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her\n fornication, and upon her forehead a name written, Mystery,\n Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the\n abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the\n blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus:\n and when I saw her, I marvelled with a great marvelling. And the\n angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee\n the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her,\n which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou\n sawest was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss:\n and he goeth into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth\n shall marvel, they whose name hath not been written in the book of\n life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast,\n how that he was, and is not, and shall be present. Here is the\n mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on\n which the woman sitteth. And they are seven kings: the five are\n fallen, the one is the other is not yet come; and when he cometh,\n he must continue a little while. And the beast that was, and is\n not, is himself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth\n into perdition. And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings,\n which have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority\n as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one mind, and\n they give their power and authority unto the beast. These shall\n war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is\n Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they also shall overcome\n that are with Him called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith\n unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth,\n are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten\n horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the\n harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her\n flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. For God did put in\n their hearts to do His mind, and to come to one mind, and to give\n their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God should be\n accomplished. And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city,\n which reigneth over the kings of the earth (xvii.).\n\nThe main questions connected with the interpretation of this chapter\nare, What are we to understand by the beast spoken of, and what by\nBabylon? The Seer is summoned by one of the angels that had the seven\nBowls to behold a spectacle which fills him with _a great marvelling_.\nThus summoned, he obeys; and he is immediately carried away into a\nwilderness, where he sees _a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured\nbeast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns_.\n\n1. What is this beast, and what in particular is his relation to the\nbeast of chap. xiii.?\n\nAt first sight the points of difference appear to be neither few nor\nunimportant. The order of the heads and of the horns is different, the\nhorns taking precedence of the heads in the earlier, the heads of the\nhorns in the later, of the two.[444] The first is said to have had\nupon \"his heads\" names of blasphemy; the second is \"full of\" such\nnames.[445] There are diadems on the horns of the former, but not of\nthe latter.[446] Of the first we are told that he comes up \"out of the\nsea,\" of the second that he is about to come up \"out of the\nabyss.\"[447] In addition to these particulars, it will be observed\nthat several traits of the first beast are not mentioned in connexion\nwith the second. These last points of difference may be easily set\naside. They create no inconsistency between the descriptions given;\nand we have already had occasion for the remark, that it is the manner\nof the Seer to enlarge in one part of his book his account of an\nobject also referred to in another part. His readers are expected to\ncombine the different particulars in order to form a complete\nconception of the object.\n\nThe more positive points of difference, again, may be simply and\nnaturally explained. In chap. xiii. 1 the horns take precedence of the\nheads because the beast is beheld rising up out of the sea, the horns\nin this case appearing before the heads. In the second case, when the\nbeast is seen in the wilderness, the order of nature is preserved. The\ndistribution of the names of blasphemy is in all probability to be\naccounted for in a similar manner. At the moment when the Seer beholds\nthem in chap. xiii. his attention has been arrested by the heads of\nthe beast, and he has not yet seen the whole body. When he beholds\nthem in chap. xvii., the entire beast is before him, and is \"full of\"\nsuch names. The presence of diadems upon the ten horns in the first,\nand their absence in the second, beast depends upon the consideration\nthat it is a common method of St. John to dwell upon an object\npresented to him ideally before he treats it historically.[448] We\nknow that the ten horns are ten kings or kingdoms[449]; and the diadem\nis the appropriate symbol of royalty. When therefore we think of the\nbeast in his ideal or ultimate manifestation in the ten kings of whom\nwe are shortly to read, we think of the horns as crowned with diadems;\nand it is thus accordingly that we see the beast in chap. xiii. On the\nother hand, at the point immediately before us \"the ten kings have\nreceived no kingdom as yet;\"[450] and the diadems are wanting. The\napplication of this principle further explains the difference between\nwhat are apparently two origins for these beasts,--\"the sea\" and \"the\nabyss.\" The former is mentioned in chap. xiii., because there we have\nthe beast before us in himself, and in the source from which he\nsprings. The latter is mentioned in chap. xvii., because the beast has\nnow reached a definite period of his history to which the coming up\nout of \"the abyss\" belongs. The \"sea\" is his real source; the \"abyss\"\nhas been only his temporary abode. The monster springs out of the sea,\nlives, dies, goes into the abyss, rises from the dead, is roused to\nhis last paroxysm of rage, is defeated, and passes into\nperdition.[451] This last is his _history_ in chap. xvii., and that\nhistory is in perfect harmony with what is stated of him in chap.\nxiii.,--that by nature he comes up out of the sea.\n\nWhile the points of difference between the beasts of chap. xiii. and\nchap. xvii. may thus without difficulty be reconciled, the points of\nagreement are such as to lead directly to the identification of the\ntwo. Some of these have already come under our notice in speaking of\nthe differences. Others are still more striking. Thus the beast of\nchap. xiii. is described as the vicegerent of the dragon[452]; and the\nobject of the dragon is to make war upon the remnant of the woman's\nseed.[453] When therefore we find the beast of chap. xvii. engaged in\nthe same work,[454] we must either resort to the most unlikely of all\nconclusions--that the dragon has two vicegerents--or we must admit\nthat the two beasts are one. Again, the characteristic of a rising\nfrom the dead is so unexpected and mysterious that it is extremely\ndifficult to assign it to two different agencies; yet we formerly saw\nthat this characteristic belongs to the beast of chap. xiii., and we\nshall immediately see that it belongs also to that of chap. xvii. Nay\nmore, it is to be noticed that both in chap. xiii. and in chap. xvii.\nthe marvelling of the world after the beast is connected with his\nresurrection state.[455] This was undoubtedly the case in chap. xiii.;\nand in the present chapter the cause of the world's astonishment is\nnot less expressly said to be its beholding in the beast _how that he\nwas, and is not, and shall be present_.[456] Let us add to what has\nbeen said that the figures of the Apocalypse are the product of so\nrich and fertile an imagination that, had a difference between the two\nbeasts been intended, it would, we may believe, have been more\ndistinctly marked; and the conclusion is inevitable that the beast\nbefore us is that also of the thirteenth chapter.\n\nTurning then to the beast as here represented, we have to note one or\ntwo particulars regarding him, either new or stated with greater\nfulness and precision than before; while, at the same time, we have\nthe explanation of the angel to help us in interpreting the vision.\n\n(1) The beast _was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the\nabyss: and he goeth into perdition_. The words are a travesty of what\nwe read of the Son of man in chap. i.: \"I am the first and the last,\nand the living One; and I became dead: and, behold, I am alive for\nevermore.\"[457] An antichrist is before us, who has been slaughtered\nunto death, and the stroke of whose death shall be healed.[458] Still\nfurther we seem entitled to infer that when this beast appears he\nshall have the marks of his death upon him. _They that dwell on the\nearth shall marvel when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is\nnot, and shall be present._ The inference is fair that there must be\nsomething _visible_ upon him by which these different states may be\ndistinguished. In other words, the beast exhibits marks which show\nthat he had both died and passed through death. He is the counterpart\nof \"the Lamb standing as though it had been slaughtered.\"[459]\n\n(2) _The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.\nAnd they are seven kings: the five are fallen, the one is, the other\nis not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while._\nNotwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary by numerous and\nable expositors, these words cannot be applied directly to any seven\nemperors of Rome. It may be granted that the Seer had the thought of\nRome sitting upon its seven hills in his eye as one of the\nmanifestations of the beast, but the whole tenor of his language is\ntoo wide and comprehensive to permit the thought that the beast\nitself is Rome. Besides this, the heads are spoken of as being also\n\"mountains;\" and we cannot say of any five of the seven hills of Rome\nthat they \"are fallen,\" or of any one of them that it is \"not yet\ncome.\" Nor could even any five successive kings of Rome be described\nas \"fallen,\" for that word denotes passing away, not simply by death,\nbut by violent and conspicuous overthrow;[460] and no series of five\nemperors in other respects suitable to the circumstances can be\nmentioned some of whom at least did not die peaceably in their beds.\nFinally, the word \"kings\" in the language of prophecy denotes, not\npersonal kings, but kingdoms.[461] These seven \"mountains\" or seven\n\"kings,\" therefore, are the manifestations of the beast in successive\neras of oppression suffered by the people of God. Egypt, Assyria,\nBabylonia, Persia, and Greece are the first five; and they are\n\"fallen\"--fallen in the open ruin which they brought upon themselves\nby wickedness. Rome is the sixth, and \"it is\" in the Apostle's days.\nThe seventh will come when Rome, beheld by the Seer as on the brink of\ndestruction, has perished, and when its mighty empire has been rent in\npieces. These pieces will then be the ten horns which occupy the place\nof the seventh head. They will be even more wicked and more oppressive\nto the true followers of Christ than the great single empires which\npreceded them. In them the antichristian might of the beast will\nculminate. They are \"ten\" in number. They cover the whole \"earth.\"\nThat universality of dominion which was always the beast's ideal will\nthen become his actual possession. They _receive authority as kings\nwith the beast for one hour_; and together with him they shall rage\nagainst the Lamb. Hence--\n\n(3) _And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth,\nand is of the seven._ The reader will notice that the expression of\nthe eighth verse of the chapter \"and is about to come up out of the\nabyss,\" as also another expression of the same verse, \"and shall be\npresent,\" are here dropped. We have met with a similar omission in the\ncase of the Lord Himself at chap. xi. 17, and the explanation now is\nthe same as then. The beast can no more be thought of as \"about to\ncome up out of the abyss,\" because he is viewed as come, or as about\n\"to be present,\" because he is present. In other words, the beast has\nattained the highest point of his history and action. He has reached a\nposition analogous to that of our Lord after His resurrection and\nexaltation, when all authority was given Him both in heaven and on\nearth, and when He began the dispensation of the Spirit, founding His\nChurch, strengthening her for the execution of her mission, and\nperfecting her for her glorious future. In like manner at the time\nhere spoken of the beast is at the summit of his evil influence. In\none sense he is the same beast as he was in Egypt, in Assyria, in\nBabylonia, in Persia, in Greece, and in Rome. In another sense he is\nnot the same, for the wickedness of all these earlier stages has been\nconcentrated into one. He has \"great wrath, knowing that he has but a\nshort season.\"[462] At the last moment he rages with the keen and\ndetermined energy of despair. Thus he may be spoken of as \"an eighth;\"\nand thus he is also \"of the seven,\" not one of the seven, but the\nhighest, and fiercest, and most cruel embodiment of them all. Thus\nalso he is identified with the \"Little Horn\" of Daniel, which has\n\"eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.\"[463]\nThat Little Horn takes the place of three out of the ten horns which\nare plucked up by the roots; that is, of the eighth, ninth, and tenth\nhorns. It is thus itself an eighth; and we have already had occasion\nto notice that in the science of numbers the number eight marks the\nbeginning of a new life, with quickened and heightened powers. Thus\nalso fresh light is thrown upon the statement which so closely follows\nthe description of the beast,--that _he goeth into perdition_. As in\nthe case of Belshazzar, of Nebuchadnezzar, and of the traitor Judas,\nthe instant when he reaches the summit of his guilty ambition is also\nthe instant of his fall.\n\nBefore proceeding to consider the meaning of the \"Babylon\" spoken of\nin this chapter, it may be well to recall for a moment the principle\nlying at the bottom of the exposition now given of the \"beast.\" That\nprinciple is that St. John sees in the world-power, or power of the\nworld, the contrast, or travesty, or mocking counterpart of the true\nChrist, of the world's rightful King. The latter lived, died, was\nburied, rose from the grave, and returned to His Father to work with\nquickened energy and to enjoy everlasting glory; the former lived, was\nbrought to nought by Christ, was plunged into the abyss, came up out\nof the abyss, reached his highest point of influence, and went into\nperdition. Such is the form in which the Seer's visions take\npossession of his mind; and it will be seen that the mould of thought\nis precisely the same as that of chap. xx. The fact that it is so may\nbe regarded as a proof that the interpretation yet to be offered of\nthat chapter is correct.\n\nIt may be further noticed that the beast's being brought to nought and\nbeing sent into the abyss takes place under the sixth, or Roman, head.\nWe know that this was actually the case, because it was under the\nRoman government that our Lord gained His victory. The history of the\nbeast, however, does not close with this defeat. He must rise again;\nand he does this as the seventh head, which is associated with the ten\nhorns. In them and \"with\" them he assumes a greater power than ever,\ngaining all the additional force which is connected with a\nresurrection life. The objection may indeed be made that such an\nexposition is not in correspondence either with the view taken in this\ncommentary that the beast is active from the very beginning of the\nChristian era, or with those facts of history which show that, instead\nof falling, Rome continued to exist for a lengthened period after the\ncompletion of the Redeemer's victory.\n\nBut, as to the first of these difficulties, it is not necessary to\nthink that the beast rages in his highest and ultimate form from the\nvery instant when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to His Father.\nThat was rather the moment of the beast's destruction, the moment\nwhen, under the sixth head, he \"is and is not;\" and a certain extent\nof time must be interposed before he rises in his new, or seventh,\nhead. The Seer, too, deals largely in climax; and, although in doing\nso he is always occupied with the climactic idea rather than with the\ntime needed for its manifestation, the element of time, if our\nattention is called to it, must be allowed its place. Now in the\ndevelopment of the beast there is climax. In chap. xi. 7 it is said\nthat \"the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with\"\nthe two faithful witnesses \"when they shall have finished their\ntestimony,\" and this finishing of their testimony implies time. Again,\nin chap. xii. 17 the increased wrath of the dragon against the remnant\nof the woman's seed appears to be subsequent to the persecution of the\nwoman in the same chapter.[464] No doubt the thought of the increased\nwrath of the dragon is the main point, but it may be quite truly said\nthat some time at least is needed for the increase. The view,\ntherefore, that the beast rages from the beginning of the Christian\nera, from the moment when he rises after his fall, or, in other words,\nis loosed after having been shut up into the abyss, is not\ninconsistent with the view that his rage goes on augmenting until it\nattains its culminating point.\n\nThe answer to the second difficulty is to be found in the consideration\nthat to the Seer the whole Christian era appears no more than \"a little\nseason,\" in which events must follow closely on one another, so closely\nthat the time required for their evolution passes almost entirely, if\nnot indeed entirely, out of his field of vision. He has no thought that\nRome will last for centuries. \"The times or the seasons the Father hath\nset within His own authority.\"[465] The guilt of Rome is so dark and\nfrightful that the Seer can fix his mind upon nothing but that overthrow\nwhich shall be the just punishment of her crimes. She is not to be\ndoomed; she is doomed. She is not to perish; she is perishing. Divine\nvengeance has already overtaken her. Her last hour is come; and the ten\nkings who are to follow her are already upon their thrones. Thus these\nkings come into immediate juxtaposition with the beast in that last\nstage of his history which had begun, but had not reached its greatest\nintensity, before Rome is supposed to fall.\n\n2. The second figure of this chapter now meets us; and we have to ask,\nWho is the woman that sits on the beast? or, What is meant by Babylon?\n\nNo more important question can be asked in connexion with the\ninterpretation of the Apocalypse. The thought of Babylon is evidently\none by which the writer is moved to a greater than ordinary degree.\nTwice already have we had premonitions of her doom, and that in\nlanguage which shows how deeply it was felt.[466] In the passage\nbefore us he is awed by the contemplation of her splendour and her\nguilt. And in chap. xviii. he describes the lamentation of the world\nover her fate in language of almost unparalleled sublimity and pathos.\nWhat is Babylon? We must make up our minds upon the point, or the\neffort to interpret one of the most important parts of the Revelation\nof St. John can result in nothing but defeat.\n\nVery various opinions have been entertained as to the meaning of\nBabylon, of which the most famous are that the word is a name for\npapal Rome, pagan Rome, or a great world-city of the future which\nshall stand to the whole earth in a relation similar to that occupied\nby Rome towards the world of its day. These opinions cannot be\ndiscussed here; and no more can be attempted than to show, with as\nmuch brevity as possible, that by Babylon is to be understood the\ndegenerate Church, or that principle of degenerate religion which\nallies itself with the world, and more than all else brings dishonour\nupon the name and the cause of Christ.\n\n(1) Babylon is the representative of religious, not civil, degeneracy\nand wickedness. She is a harlot, and her name is associated with the\nmost reckless and unrestrained fornication. But fornication and\nadultery are throughout the Old Testament the emblem of religious\ndegeneracy, and not of civil misrule. In numerous passages familiar to\nevery reader of Scripture both terms are employed to describe the\ndeparture of Israel from the worship of Jehovah and a holy life to the\nworship of idols and the degrading sensuality by which such worship\nwas everywhere accompanied. Nor ought we to imagine that adultery, not\nfornication, is the most suitable expression for religious degeneracy.\nIn some important respects the latter is the more suitable of the two.\nIt brings out more strongly the ideas of playing the harlot with \"many\nlovers\"[467] and of sinning for \"hire.\"[468] In this sense then it\nseems proper to understand the charge of fornication brought in so\nmany passages of the Apocalypse against Babylon. Not in their civil,\nbut in their religious, aspect have the kings of the earth committed\nfornication with her, and they that dwell on the earth been made drunk\nwith the wine of her fornication. Her sin has been that of leading men\nastray from the worship of the true God, and of substituting for the\npurity and unworldliness of Christian living the irreligious and\nworldly spirit of the \"earth.\" To this it may be added that, had\nBabylon not been the symbol of religious declension, she could hardly\nhave borne upon her forehead the term MYSTERY. St. John could not\nhave used a word connected only with religious associations to express\nanything but a religious state awakening the awe, and wonder, and\nperplexity of a religious mind. Babylon, therefore, represents persons\nwho are not only sinful, but who have fallen into sin by treachery to\na high and holy standard formerly acknowledged by them.\n\n(2) We have already had occasion to allude to a fact which must\nimmediately receive further notice,--that to the eye of St. John there\nis an aspect of Jerusalem different from that in which she is regarded\nas the holy and beloved city of God. Jerusalem in that aspect and\nBabylon are one. Each is \"the great city,\" and the same epithet could\nnot be applied to both were they not to be identified. Not only so.\nThe words here used of Babylon lead us directly to what our Lord once\nsaid of Jerusalem. \"Therefore,\" said Jesus, \"behold, I send unto you\nprophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and\ncrucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and\npersecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous\nblood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the\nblood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the\nsanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall\ncome upon this generation.\"[469] Precisely similar to this is the\nlanguage of the Seer, _And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of\nthe saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus_.\n\nIt may indeed be thought impossible that under any circumstances\nwhatever St. John could have applied an epithet like that of Babylon,\nsteeped in so many associations of lust, and bloodshed, and\noppression, to the metropolis of Israel, the city of God. But in this\nvery book he has illustrated the reverse. He has already spoken of\nJerusalem as represented by names felt by a pious Jew to be the most\nterrible of the Old Testament,--\"Sodom and Egypt.\"[470] The prophets\nbefore him had employed language no less severe. \"Hear the word of the\nLord,\" said Isaiah, addressing the inhabitants of the holy city, \"ye\nrulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of\nGomorrah,\"[471] and again, \"How is the faithful city become an harlot,\nshe that was full of judgment! righteousness lodged in her; but now\nmurderers;\"[472] whilst the degenerate metropolis of Israel is not\nunfrequently painted by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and other prophets in\ncolours than which none more dark or repulsive can be conceived.\n\nIn forming a conclusion upon this point, it is necessary to bear in\nmind that to the eye of the faithful in Israel, and certainly of St.\nJohn, there were two Jerusalems, the one true, the other false, to its\nheavenly King; and that in exact proportion to the feelings of\nadmiration, love, and devotion with which they turned to the one were\nthose of pain, indignation, and alienation with which they turned from\nthe other. The latter Jerusalem, the city of \"the Jews,\" is that of\nwhich the Apocalyptist thinks when he speaks of it as Babylon; and,\nlooking upon the city in this aspect as he did, the whole language of\nthe Old Testament fully justifies him in applying to it the\nopprobrious name.\n\n(3) The contrast between the new Jerusalem and Babylon leads to the same\nconclusion. We have already more than once had occasion to allude to\nthe principle of _antithesis_, or contrast, as affording an important\nrule of interpretation in many passages of this book. Nowhere is it more\ndistinctly marked or more applicable than in the case before us. The\ncontrast has been drawn out by a recent writer in the following words:--\n\n\"These prophecies present two broadly contrasted _women_, identified\nwith two broadly contrasted _cities_, one reality being in each case\ndoubly represented: as a _woman_ and as a _city_. The harlot and\nBabylon are one; the bride and the heavenly Jerusalem are one.\n\n\"The two women are contrasted in every particular that is mentioned\nabout them: the one is pure as purity itself, 'made ready' and fit for\nheaven's unsullied holiness, the other foul as corruption could make\nher, fit only for the fires of destruction.\n\n\"The one belongs to the Lamb, who loves her as the bridegroom loves\nthe bride; the other is associated with a wild beast, and with the\nkings of the earth, who ultimately hate and destroy her.\n\n\"The one is clothed with fine linen, and in another place is said to\nbe clothed with the sun and crowned with a coronet of stars: that is,\nrobed in Divine righteousness and resplendent with heavenly glory; the\nother is attired in scarlet and gold, in jewels and pearls, gorgeous\nindeed, but with earthly splendour only. The one is represented as a\nchaste virgin, espoused to Christ; the other is mother of harlots and\nabominations of the earth.\n\n\"The one is persecuted, pressed hard by the dragon, driven into the\nwilderness, and well-nigh overwhelmed; the other is drunken with\nmartyr blood, and _seated on_ a beast which has received its power\nfrom the persecuting dragon.\n\n\"The one sojourns in solitude in the wilderness; the other reigns 'in\nthe wilderness' over peoples, and nations, and kindreds, and tongues.\n\n\"The one goes in with the Lamb to the marriage supper, amid the glad\nhallelujahs; the other is stripped, insulted, torn, and destroyed by\nher guilty paramours.\n\n\"We lose sight of the bride amid the effulgence of heavenly glory and\njoy, and of the harlot amid the gloom and darkness of the smoke that\n'rose up for ever and ever.'\"[473]\n\nA contrast presented in so many striking particulars leaves only one\nconclusion possible. The two cities are the counterparts of one\nanother. But we know that by the first is represented the bride, the\nLamb's wife, or the true Church of Christ as, separated from the\nworld, she remains faithful to her Lord, is purified from sin, and is\nmade meet for that eternal home into which there enters nothing that\ndefiles. What can the other be but the representative of a false and\ndegenerate Church, of a Church that has yielded to the temptations of\nthe world, and has turned back in heart from the trials of the\nwilderness to the flesh-pots of Egypt? Every feature of the\ndescription answers, although with the heightened colour of ideal\nportraiture, to what such a professing but degenerate Church\nbecomes,--the pride, the show, the love of luxury, the subordination\nof the future to the present. Even her very cruelty to the poor saints\nof God is drawn from actual reality, and has been depicted upon many a\npage of history. With the meek and lowly followers of Jesus, whose\nlife is a constant protest that the things of time are nothing in\ncomparison with those of eternity, none have less sympathy than those\nwho have a name to live while they are dead. The world may admire,\neven while it cannot understand, these little ones, these lambs of the\nflock; but to those who seek the life that now is by the help of the\nlife that is to come they are a perpetual reproach, and they are felt\nto be so. Therefore they are persecuted in such manner and to such\ndegree as the times will tolerate.\n\nOne other remark has to be made upon the identification of Jerusalem\nand Babylon by the Seer. It has been said that he has one special\naspect of the metropolis of Israel in his eye. Yet we are not to\nsuppose that he confines himself to that metropolis. As on so many\nother occasions, he starts from what is limited and local only to pass\nin thought to what is unlimited and universal. His Jerusalem, his\nBabylon, is not the literal city. She is \"the great harlot that\nsitteth upon many waters;\" and \"the waters which thou sawest,\" says\nthe angel to the Seer, \"are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and\ntongues.\"[474] The fourfold division guides us, as usual, to the\nthought of dominion over the whole earth. Babylon is not the Jerusalem\nonly of \"the Jews.\" She is the great Church of God throughout the\nworld when that Church becomes faithless to her true Lord and King.\n\nBabylon then is not pagan Rome. No doubt seven mountains are spoken of\non which the woman sitteth. But this was not peculiar to Rome. Both\nBabylon and Jerusalem are also said to have been situated upon seven\nhills; and even if we had before us, as we certainly may have, a\ndistinct reference to Rome, it would be only because Rome was one of\nthe manifestations of the beast, and because the city afforded a\nsuitable point of departure for a wider survey. The very closing\nwords of the chapter, upon which so much stress is laid by those who\nfind the harlot in pagan Rome, negative, instead of justifying, the\nsupposition: _And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which\nreigneth over the kings of the earth._ Rome never possessed such\nuniversal dominion as is here referred to. She may illustrate, but she\ncannot exhaust, that subtler, more penetrating, and more widespread\nspirit which is in the Seer's view.\n\nAgain, Babylon cannot be papal Rome. As in the last case, there may\nindeed be a most intimate connexion between her and one of the\nmanifestations of Babylon. But it is impossible to speak of the papal\nChurch as the guide, the counsellor, and the inspirer of\nanti-christian efforts to dethrone the Redeemer, and to substitute the\nworld or the devil in His stead. The papal Church has toiled, and\nsuffered, and died for Christ. Babylon never did so.\n\nNor, finally, can we think of Babylon as a great city of the future\nwhich shall stand to the kings and kingdoms of the earth in a relation\nsimilar to that in which ancient Rome stood to the kings and kingdoms\nof her day. Wholly apart from the impossibility of our forming any\nclear conception of such a city, the want of the religious or\nspiritual element is fatal to the theory.\n\nOne explanation alone seems to meet the conditions of the case.\nBabylon is the world in the Church. In whatever section of the Church,\nor in whatever age of her history, an unspiritual and earthly element\nprevails, there is Babylon.\n\nWe have spoken of the two great figures of this chapter separately. We\nhave still to speak of their relation to one another, and of the\nmanner in which it is brought suddenly and for ever to a close.\n\nThis relation appears in the words, _I saw a woman sitting upon a\nscarlet-coloured beast_, and in later words of the chapter: _the beast\nthat carrieth her_. The woman then is not subordinate to the beast,\nbut is rather his controller and guide. And this relation is precisely\nwhat we should expect. The beast is before us in his final stage, in\nthat immediately preceding his own destruction. He is no longer in the\nform of Egypt, or Assyria, or Babylonia, or Persia, or Greece, or\nRome. These six forms of his manifestation have passed away. The\nrestrainer has been withdrawn,[475] and the beast has stepped forth in\nthe plenitude of his power. He has been revealed as the \"ten horns\"\nwhich occupy the place of the seventh head; and these ten horns are\nten kings who, having now received their kingdoms and with their\nkingdoms their diadems, are the actual manifestation in history of the\nbeast as he had been seen in his ideal form in chap. xiii. The beast\nis therefore the spirit of the world, partly in its secularising\ninfluence, partly in its brute force, in that tyranny and oppression\nwhich it exercises against the children of God. The woman, again, is\nthe spirit of false religion and religious zeal, which had shown\nitself under all previous forms of worldly domination, and which was\ndestined to show itself more than ever under the last. To the eye of\nSt. John this spirit was not confined to Christian times. The woman,\nconsidered in herself, is not simply the false Christian Church. She\nis so at the moment when _we_ behold her on the field of history. But\nSt. John did not believe that saving truth, the truth which unites us\nto Christ, the truth which is \"of God,\" was to be found in\nChristianity alone. It had existed in Judaism. It had existed even in\nHeathenism, for in his Gospel he remembers and quotes the words of our\nLord in which Jesus says, \"And other sheep I have, which are not of\nthis fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and\nthey shall become one flock, one Shepherd.\"[476] As then Divine truth,\nthe light which never ceases to contend with the darkness, had been\npresent in the world under every one of its successive kingdoms, so\nalso perversions of that truth had never failed to be present by its\nside. All along the line of past history, in Heathenism as well as in\nJudaism, the ideal bride of Christ had been putting on her ornaments\nto meet the Bridegroom; and not less all along the same line had the\nharlot been arraying herself in purple and scarlet and decking herself\nwith gold and precious stones and jewels, that she might tempt men to\nresist the influence of their rightful King. The harlot had been\nalways thus superior to the beast. The beast had only the powers of\nthis world at his command; the harlot wielded the powers of another\nand a higher world. The one dealt only with the seen and temporal, the\nother with the unseen and eternal, the one with material forces, the\nother with those spiritual forces which reach the profoundest depths\nof the human heart and give rise to the greatest movements of human\nhistory. The woman is therefore superior to the beast. She inspires\nand animates him. The beast only lends her the material strength\nneeded for the execution of her plans. In the war, accordingly, which\nis carried on by the ten kings who have _one mind, and who give their\npower and authority unto the beast_, in the war which the beast and\nthey, with their combined power, wage _for one hour_ against the Lamb,\nit would be a great mistake to suppose that the woman, although she is\nnot mentioned, takes no part and exerts no influence. She is really\nthere, the prime mover in all its horrors. The \"one mind\" comes from\nher. The beast can do nothing of himself. The ten kings who are the\nform in which he appears are not less weak and helpless. They have the\noutward power, but they cannot regulate it. They want the skill, the\nsubtlety, the wisdom, which are found only in the spiritual domain.\nBut the great harlot, who at this point of history is the perversion\nof _Christian_ truth, is with them; and they depend on her. Such is\nthe first part of the relation between the beast and the harlot.\n\nA second, most unexpected and most startling, follows.\n\nWe have seen that in the war between the ten kings and the Lamb the\nwoman is present. That war ends in disaster to her and to those whom\nshe inspires. _The Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords,\nand King of kings._ The name is the same as that which we shall\nafterwards meet in chap. xix. 16, though the order of the clauses is\ndifferent. This Lamb, therefore, is here the Conqueror described in\nchap. xix. 11-16; and many particulars of these latter verses take us\nback to the Son of man as He appeared in chap. i., or, in other words,\nto the risen and glorified Redeemer. The thought of the risen Christ\nis thus in the mind of St. John when he speaks of the Lamb who shall\novercome. The leaders of the Jewish Church had believed that they had\nfor ever rid themselves of the Prophet who \"tormenteth them that dwell\non the earth.\"[477] They had sealed the stone, and set a watch, and\nreturned to their homes for joy and merriment. But on the third\nmorning there was a great earthquake, and the stone was rolled away\nfrom the door of the sepulchre; and the Crucified came forth, the\nConqueror of death and Hades. Then the Lamb overcame. Then He began\nHis victorious progress as King of kings and Lord of lords. Then the\npower and the wisdom of the world were alike put to shame. Was not\nthis enough? No, for now follow the words which come upon us in a way\nso wholly unexpected: _And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the\nbeast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and\nnaked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire._\n\nWhat is the meaning of these words? Surely not that Rome was to be\nattacked and overthrown by the barbaric hordes that burst upon her from\nthe North: for, in the first place, the Roman manifestation of the\nworld-power had passed away before the ten kings came to their kingdom;\nand, in the second place, when Rome fell, she fell as the beast, not as\nthe harlot. Surely also not that a great world-city, concentrating in\nitself all the resources of the world-power, is to be hated and burned\nby its subjects, for we have already seen that this whole notion of a\ngreat world-city of the end is groundless; and the resources of the\nworld-power are always in this book concentrated in the beast, and not\nin the harlot who directs their use. There seems only one method of\nexplaining the words, but it is one in perfect consonance with the\nmethod and purpose of the Apocalypse as a whole. As on many other\noccasions, the fortunes of the Church of Christ are modelled upon the\nfortunes of her Master. With that Master the Church was one. He had\nalways identified His people with Himself, in life and death, in time\nand in eternity. Could the beloved disciple do otherwise? He looked\nround upon the suffering Church of his day. He was a \"companion with it\nin the tribulation, and kingdom, and patience which are in Jesus.\"[478]\nHe felt all its wounds and shared all its sorrows, just as he felt and\nshared the wounds and sorrows of that Lord who lived in him, and in whom\nhe lived. Here, therefore, was the mould in which the fortunes of the\nChurch appeared to him. He went back to well-remembered scenes in the\nlife of Christ; and he beheld these repeating themselves, in principle\nat least, in the members of His Body.\n\nNow there was one scene of the past--how well does he remember it, for\nhe was present at the time!--when the Roman power and a degenerate\nJudaism, the beast and the harlot of the day, combined to make war\nupon the Lamb. For a moment they seemed to succeed, yet only for a\nmoment. They nailed the Lamb to the cross; but the Lamb overcame them,\nand rose in triumph from the grave. But the Seer did not pause there.\nHe looked a few more years onward, and what did he next behold? That\nwicked partnership was dissolved. These companions in crime had turned\nround upon one another. The harlot had counselled the beast, and the\nbeast had given the harlot power, to execute the darkest deed which\nhad stained the pages of human history. But the alliance did not last.\nThe alienation of the two from each other, restrained for a little by\nco-operation in common crime, burst forth afresh, and deepened with\neach passing year, until it ended in the march of the Roman armies\ninto Palestine, their investment of the Jewish capital, and that sack\nand burning of the city which still remain the most awful spectacle of\nbloodshed and of ruin that the world has seen. Even this is not all.\nSt. John looks still further into the future, and the tragedy is\nrepeated in the darker deeds of the last \"hour.\" There will again be a\n\"beast\" in the brute power of the ten kings of the world, and a harlot\nin a degenerate Jerusalem, animating and controlling it. The two will\nagain direct their united energies against the true Church of Christ,\nthe \"called, and chosen, and faithful.\" They may succeed; it will be\nonly for a moment. Again the Lamb will overcome them; and in the hour\nof defeat the sinful league between them will be broken, and the\nworld-power will hate the harlot, and make her desolate and naked, and\neat her flesh, and burn her utterly with fire.\n\nThis is the prospect set before us in these words, and this the\nconsolation of the Church under the trials that await her at the end\nof the age. \"When the wicked spring as the grass, and all the workers\nof iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:\nbut Thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore. For, lo, Thine enemies, O\nLord, for, lo, Thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity\nshall be scattered.\"[479]\n\nBabylon is fallen, not indeed in a strictly chronological narrative,\nfor she will again be spoken of as if she still existed upon earth.\nBut for the time her overthrow has been consummated, her destruction\nis complete, and all that is good can only rejoice at the spectacle of\nher fate. Hence the opening verses of the next chapter.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[444] Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 7.\n\n[445] Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3.\n\n[446] Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 12.\n\n[447] Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 8.\n\n[448] Comp. pp. 75, 199.\n\n[449] Chap. xvii. 12.\n\n[450] Chap. xvii. 12.\n\n[451] Chap. xvii. 11.\n\n[452] Chap. xiii. 2.\n\n[453] Chap. xii. 17.\n\n[454] Chap. xvii. 14.\n\n[455] Comp. p. 222.\n\n[456] Ver. 8.\n\n[457] Chap. i. 18.\n\n[458] Comp. chap. xiii. 3.\n\n[459] Chap. v. 6.\n\n[460] Comp. chaps. vi. 13; viii. 10; ix. 1; xi. 13; xiv. 8; xvi. 19;\nxviii. 2.\n\n[461] Comp. Dan. vii. 17, 23; Rev. xviii. 3.\n\n[462] Chap. xii. 12.\n\n[463] Dan. vii. 7, 8.\n\n[464] Chap. xii. 13.\n\n[465] Acts i. 7.\n\n[466] Chaps. xiv. 8; xvi. 19.\n\n[467] Jer. iii. 1.\n\n[468] Micah i. 7.\n\n[469] Matt. xxiii. 34-36.\n\n[470] Chap. xi. 8.\n\n[471] Isa. i. 10.\n\n[472] Isa. i. 21.\n\n[473] Guinness, _The Approaching End of the Age_, p. 143.\n\n[474] Chap. xvii. 15.\n\n[475] Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 7.\n\n[476] John x. 16.\n\n[477] Comp. chap. xi. 10.\n\n[478] Chap. i. 9.\n\n[479] Ps. xcii. 7-9.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n _THE FALL OF BABYLON._\n\n REV. xviii.\n\n\nBabylon has fallen. We have now the Divine proclamation of her fate,\nand the lamentation of the world over the doom to which she has been\nconsigned:--\n\n After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven,\n having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his\n glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is\n Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of devils, and a\n hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and\n hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all\n the nations are fallen and the kings of the earth committed\n fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by\n the power of her wantonness (xviii. 1-3).\n\nAt chap. xvii. 1 we read of one of the angels that had the seven\nBowls. The angel now introduced is _another_, or a second. We shall\nfind as we proceed that we have entered upon a new series of seven\nparts, similar to that in chap. xiv., where six angels and their\nactions, three on either side, are grouped around One higher than\nangels, and forming the central figure of the movement.[480] The\nseries is a long one, extending from chap. xvii. 1 to chap. xxii. 5,\nthe central figure meeting us at chap. xix. 11; and again, as before,\nthe fact ought to be carefully noticed, for it has a bearing on the\ninterpretation of some of the most difficult sections of this book.\nMeanwhile we have to do with the second angel, whose action extends to\nver. 20 of the present chapter.\n\nThe description given of this angel is proportioned to the importance of\nhis message. He has _great authority_; the earth is _lightened with his\nglory_; the voice with which he cries is _mighty_. It could hardly be\notherwise than that, with such joyful tidings as he bears to men, the\n\"glory of the Lord should shine round about him, and a light from heaven\nabove the brightness of the sun.\"[481] The tidings themselves follow,\ntaken from the Old Testament accounts of the desolation that was to come\nupon Babylon: \"And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the\nChaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It\nshall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation\nto generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall\nshepherds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the\ndesert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful\ncreatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance\nthere. And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the\npleasant palaces.\"[482] In words such as these, though combined\nthroughout both the present and following descriptions with expressions\ntaken from the ruin of other famous and guilty cities of the Old\nTestament, we have the source whence the powerful and pathetic words of\nthis chapter are drawn. The most terrible disasters of bygone times are\nbut types of that wreck of all the grandeur of earth which we are now\ninvited to behold, while Babylon's sinfulness is referred to that her\nfate may appear to be no more than her appropriate punishment.\n\nAt this point we are met by one of those sudden transitions, common in\nthe Apocalypse, which so completely negative the idea of chronological\narrangement. A cry is heard which seems to imply that Babylon has not\nyet fallen:--\n\n And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, My\n people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and\n that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached even\n unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Render unto\n her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according\n to her works: in the cup which she hath mingled mingle unto her\n double. How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton,\n so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her\n heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see\n mourning. Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and\n mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire:\n for strong is the Lord God which judged her (xviii. 4-8).\n\nThe first words of this voice from heaven deserve peculiar attention:\n_Come forth, My people, out of her_; that is, out of Babylon, the\ndegenerate Church. We are at once reminded of the striking teaching of\nour Lord in chap. x. of the fourth Gospel, where He compares Himself\nto the \"door\" of the fold, not the door by which the sheep enter into,\nbut by which they come out of, the fold.[483] We are also reminded of\nthe blind man of chap. ix. of the same Gospel, whom our Lord \"found\"\nonly after he had been \"cast out\" of the synagogue.[484] In the midst\nof the blinded theocracy of Israel in the days of Jesus there was a\nfaithful, though small, remnant. It had been betrayed by the\nreligious guides of the people, who had become \"thieves and robbers,\"\nwhom the true sheep did not know, and to whom they ought not to\nlisten. Jesus came to call it out of the theocracy to Himself. Such\nwas the spectacle which St. John had witnessed when his Master was in\nthe world, and that experience is now repeated. The Church as a whole\ndegenerates. Called to prepare men for the Second Coming of the Lord,\nand to teach them to live, not for the present, but the future, she\nbecomes herself the victim of the present. She forgets that, in the\nabsence of the Bridegroom, her days are days of fasting. She fails to\nrealize the fact that until her Lord comes again her state is one of\nwidowhood. And, instead of mourning, she sits as a queen, at ease and\nsatisfied, proud of her pomp and jewellery. What is all this but a\nrecurrence of the old events of history? The Apostle sees the future\nmirrored in the past; and he can only follow in his Master's\nfootsteps, and call His Christian remnant out of Babylon.\n\nThe words are in the highest degree important for the interpretation\nand understanding of the Apocalypse. We have already found in more\nthan one passage distinct traces of this double Church, of the true\nChurch within the false, of the few living ones within the Body which\nhad a name to live, but was dead. Here the distinction meets us in all\nits sharpness, and fresh light is cast upon passages that may have\nformerly seemed dark. \"Many are called,\" \"many\" constituting the\noutward Church; but \"few are chosen,\" \"few\" constituting the real\nChurch, the Church which consists of the poor, and meek, and lowly.\nThe two parts may keep together for a time, but the union cannot\nlast; and the day comes when, as Christ called His sheep out of the\nJewish, so He will again call His sheep out of the Christian \"fold,\"\nthat they may hear His voice, and follow Him.\n\nHaving summoned the true disciples of Jesus out of Babylon, the voice\nfrom heaven again proclaims in a double form, as _sins_ and as\n_iniquities_, the guilt of the doomed city, and invites the ministers of\njudgment, according to the _lex talionis_, to _render unto her double_.\nThe command may also be founded upon the law of the theocracy by which\nthieves and violent aggressors of the poor were required to make a\ndouble repayment to those whom they had injured,[485] or it may rest\nupon the remembrance of such threatenings as those by the prophet\nJeremiah, \"I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double.\"[486]\n\nJudgment is next supposed to have been executed upon Babylon; and the\nSeer proceeds to describe in language of unexampled eloquence the\nlamentation of the world over the city's fall:--\n\n And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived\n wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look\n upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of\n her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong\n city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of\n the earth weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their\n merchandise any more: merchandise of gold, and silver, and\n precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk,\n and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and\n every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron,\n and marble, and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment,\n and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat,\n and cattle, and sheep, and merchandise of horses, and chariots,\n and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits which thy soul lusted\n after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and\n sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more\n at all. The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her,\n shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and\n mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed\n in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and\n precious stone, and pearl! for in one hour so great riches is made\n desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth\n anywhither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea,\n stood afar off, and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her\n burning, saying, What city is like the great city? And they cast\n dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe,\n woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all that had their\n ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is\n she made desolate. Rejoice with her, thou heaven, and ye saints,\n and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your\n judgment on her (xviii. 9-20).\n\nThree classes of persons are introduced to us: Kings, Merchants, and\nSailors. All are _of the earth_; and each class, in its own strain,\nswells the voice of lamentation. The words are largely taken from the\nOld Testament, and more particularly from the description of the\noverthrow of Tyre in Ezekiel (chaps. xxvi., xxvii.). There is even a\npeculiar propriety in this latter reference, for Tyre was known by the\nprophets as another Babylon. In describing the \"Burden of Tyre,\"\nIsaiah uses in one part of his description the words, \"The city of\nconfusion\" (the meaning of the word Babylon) \"is broken down.\"[487]\n\nIt is unnecessary to enter into any examination clause by clause of\nthe passage before us. We shall better catch its spirit and be made\nsensible of its effect by attending to a few general observations upon\nthe description as a whole.\n\n1. Not without interest may we mark that the classes selected to mourn\nover the burning of the city are three in number. We have thus another\nillustration of the manner in which that number penetrates the\nstructure of all the writings of St. John.\n\n2. Emphasis is laid upon the fact that the city is _burned_. Her\ndestruction by fire has indeed been more than once alluded to. Of the\nbeast and the ten horns it had been said that \"they shall burn her\nutterly with fire;\"[488] and, again, it had been proclaimed by the\nvoice from heaven that \"she shall be utterly burned with fire.\"[489]\nWe shall not venture to say with any measure of positiveness that the\ntype of this \"burning\" is taken from the burning of Jerusalem by the\nRomans. It may have been taken from the burning of other cities by\nvictorious enemies. But this much at least is obvious: that, in\nconjunction with the fact that Babylon is a harlot, destruction by\nfire leads us directly to the thought of the spiritual, and not simply\nthe civil, or political, or commercial, character of the city.\nAccording to the law of Moses, burning appears to have been the\npunishment of fornication only in the case of a priest's daughter:\n\"And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the\nharlot, she shall be burnt with fire.\"[490]\n\n3. Whether there is any other allusion to spiritual traffic in the\nlamentations before us it is not easy to say. Of one at least which may\nbe quoted in this connexion the interpretation is uncertain. When the\nmerchants of the earth weep and mourn over the loss of that merchandise\nwhich they now miss, they extend it, not only to articles of commerce\nbought and sold in an ordinary market, but to _souls of men_. It may be\nthat, as often suggested, slavery alone is thought of. Yet it is highly\nimprobable that such is the case. Rather may it be supposed to refer to\nthat spiritual life which is destroyed by too much occupation with, and\ntoo engrossing interest in, the world. \"The characteristic of this\n_fornication_ is the selling themselves for gold, as the Greek word\nsignifies. Therefore with such wonderful force and emphasis of\naccumulation is every species of this merchandise mentioned, running up\nall into one head: _the souls of men_. Like that in the prophet: 'Their\nland is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their\ntreasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end\nof their chariots; their land also is full of idols.' And it must be\nobserved that all these things which are so minutely particularized as\nexpressive of the meshes of that net by which men's souls are taken have\nalso their place in the new Jerusalem, where every jewel is specified by\nname, and the gold of its streets, and the fine linen, and the incense,\nand the wine, and the oil, its white horses also. In both alike must\nthey stand for spiritual merchandise of good and evil, the false riches\nand the true.\"[491]\n\nThe conclusion to be drawn is that Babylon is a spiritual city. That,\nas such, she is Jerusalem is further confirmed by the fact that, at\nthe close of the chapter, it is said, _And in her was found the blood\nof prophets, and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the\nearth._ Similar words met us in chap. xvii. 6; and here, as there,\nthey unmistakeably remind us of the words already quoted in which our\nLord describes the great city of the Jews.[492]\n\n4. From all that has been said, it must be obvious that nothing is\nhere spoken of Babylon inapplicable to Jerusalem when we think of\nthis latter city in the light in which the Seer specially regards it.\nJerusalem was indeed neither a commercial nor a maritime city, but\nRome also was no city on the sea. A large part, therefore, of the\ndetails of St. John's description is not less destitute of force when\napplied, if applied literally, to the latter than to the former. On\nthe other hand, these details are more applicable to Jerusalem than to\nRome, if we remember that Jerusalem supplies, in a way impossible to\nRome, the groundwork for a delineation of those religious forces which\nare far more wide-spreading in their reach, and far more crushing in\ntheir power, than the legions of the imperial metropolis.\n\nBabylon then is fallen, and that with a sudden and swift destruction,\na destruction indeed so sudden and so swift that each of the three\ncompanies that lament takes particular notice of the fact that _in one\nhour_ did her judgment come.[493]\n\nMore, however, so important is the subject, has to be said; and we are\nintroduced to the action of the third angel of the first group:--\n\n And a strong angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone,\n and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall\n Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at\n all. And the voice of harpers, and minstrels, and flute-players, and\n trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman,\n of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the\n voice of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the\n voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at\n all in thee: for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. And\n in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all\n that have been slain upon the earth (xviii. 21-24).\n\nYet once again, it would seem, must we think of Babylon as to be\ndestroyed rather than as destroyed already. So great is her guiltiness\nthat the Seer again and again approaches it, and dwells, though from\ndifferent points of view, upon the thought of her disastrous fate. In\nthe present case it is less the method than the effect of her\ndestruction that is before his eye, and nothing can be more touching\nthan the light in which he presents it. At one moment we behold the city\nin her brightness, her gaiety, her rich and varied life. We hear the\nvoice of her harpers, and minstrels, and flute-players, and trumpeters,\nall that can delight the ear accompanying all that can please the eye.\nHer craftsmen of every craft are busy at their work; and each shop in\nthe great city resounds with the noise of the hammer, or the shuttle, or\nthe other instruments of prosperous industry. The cheering sound of the\nmillstone tells that there is food in her humbler dwellings. Her\nmerchants, too, are the princes of the earth; innumerable lamps glitter\nin their halls and gardens; and the voice of the bridegroom and the\nbride is the pledge of her well-being and joy. The next moment the proud\ncity is cast like a millstone into the sea; and all is silence,\ndesolation, and ruin. The resources of language appear as if they had\nbeen exhausted to supply the description of so great a fall.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe have now reached the close of the longest and most important section\nof the Apocalypse, beginning, as has been already pointed out, with\nchap. vi. It is the fourth in that series of seven of which the book is\ncomposed; and the main purpose of St. John in writing finds expression\nin it. As the writer of the fourth Gospel describes in the fourth\nsection of that book, extending from chap. v. to chap. xii., the\nconflict between the Son of God and \"the Jews,\" so he describes in the\ncorresponding section of the Apocalypse the conflict between the\nglorified Son of man as He lives and reigns in His Church and the evil\nof the world. Throughout the conflict we are not once permitted to\nforget that, although Christ and the true members of His Body may be the\nobjects of attack, and may even have to retire for security from the\nfield, God is on their side, and will never suffer His faithfulness to\nfail or forget His promises. In a threefold series of judgments the\nguilty world and the guilty Church are visited with the terrors of His\nwrath. These three series of judgments, too, go on in an ascending line.\nThe climactic character of their contents has already been pointed out,\nand nothing more need be said of it. But it may be worth while to notice\nthat the element of climax appears not less in the nature of the\ninstruments employed. Comparing the Trumpets with the Seals, the simple\nfact that they are Trumpets indicates a higher, more exciting, more\nterrible unfolding of wrath. The Trumpet is peculiarly the warlike\ninstrument, summoning the hosts to battle: \"Thou hast heard, O my soul,\nthe sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war;\" \"That day is a day of\nwrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation,\na day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a\nday of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities.\"[494] That the\nBowls, again, are still more potent than the Trumpets, appears from the\nlanguage in which they are described, from their mode of introduction,\nand from the vessels made use of for the plagues. They are \"the last\"\nplagues; in them is \"finished\" the wrath of God; they are called for by\na \"great voice out of the sanctuary;\" and they proceed, not from a\nsecular instrument, however warlike, but from a sacred vessel, not from\none which must be sounded for a length of time before it produces its\neffect, but from one which, inverted in a moment, pours out with a\nsudden gush its terrors upon men. Similar though they thus are, the\nthree series of judgments lose what might otherwise be their sameness;\nand the mind is invited to rest upon that most instructive lesson of the\nprovidence of God, that in proportion to privilege misused is the\nseverity with which sin is punished. Throughout all these judgments the\nrighteous are kept safe.\n\nIt will thus be observed that there is no strict chronological\nsuccession in the visions of this book. There is succession of a\ncertain kind, succession in intensity of punishment. But we cannot\nassign one series of judgments to one period in the history of the\nChurch or limit another to another. All the three series may\ncontinually fulfil themselves wherever persons are found of the\ncharacter and disposition to which they severally apply.\n\nBut while these three series constitute the chief substance of the\nfourth, or leading, section of the seven into which the Apocalypse is\ndivided, they do not exhaust the subject. The last series, in\nparticular--that of the Bowls--has proceeded upon a supposition the\nmost startling and pathetic by which the history of the Church is\nmarked,--that \"they are not all Israel which are of Israel,\" that\ntares have mingled with the wheat, and that the spirit of Babylon has\nfound its way into the heart of the city of God. A phenomenon so\nunexpected and so melancholy stands in need of particular examination,\nand that examination is given in the description of the character and\nfate of Babylon. The remarks already made upon this point need not be\nrepeated. It may be enough to remind the reader that in no part of his\nwhole book is the Seer more deeply moved, and that in none does he\nrise to strains of more powerful and touching eloquence. Yet what is\nchiefly required of us is to open our minds to the full impression of\nthe fact that Babylon does fall, deep in ruin as in guilt, and that\nwith her fall the conflict ends.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[480] Kliefoth seems to have been the first to point this out.\n\n[481] Luke ii. 9; Acts xxvi. 13.\n\n[482] Isa. xiii. 19-22.\n\n[483] John x. 7.\n\n[484] John ix. 35.\n\n[485] Exod. xxii. 4, 7, 9.\n\n[486] Jer. xvi. 18.\n\n[487] Isa. xxiv. 10.\n\n[488] Chap. xvii. 16.\n\n[489] Chap. xviii. 8.\n\n[490] Lev. xxi. 9.\n\n[491] Isaac Williams, _The Apocalypse, with Notes_, etc., p. 360.\n\n[492] Matt. xxiii. 35. Comp. p. 291.\n\n[493] Vers. 10, 17, 19.\n\n[494] Jer. iv. 19; Zeph. i. 15, 16.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n _THE PAUSE OF VICTORY AND JUDGMENT OF THE\n BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET._\n\n REV. xix.\n\n\nThose who have followed with attention the course of this commentary can\nhardly fail to have observed its leading conception of the book with\nwhich it deals. That conception is that the Revelation of St. John\npresents to us in visions the history of the Church moulded upon the\nhistory of her Lord whilst He tabernacled among men. It is the\ninvariable lesson of the New Testament that Christ and His people are\none. He is the Vine; they are the branches. He is in them; they are in\nHim. With equal uniformity the sacred writers teach us that just as\nChrist suffered during the course of His earthly ministry, so also His\npeople suffer. They have to endure the struggle before they enjoy the\nvictory, and to bear the cross before they win the crown. But the\npeculiarity of the Apocalypse is, that it carries out this thought much\nmore fully than the other New Testament books. St. John does not merely\nsee the Church suffer. He sees her suffer in a way precisely as her Lord\ndid. He lives in the thought of those words spoken by Jesus to Salome at\na striking moment of his life with regard to his brother and himself,\n\"The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am\nbaptized withal shall ye be baptized.\"[495] That very cup is put into\nhis hands and into the hands of his brethren, who are \"partakers with\nhim in the tribulation, and kingdom, and patience which are in\nJesus;\"[496] with that very baptism they are all baptized.\n\nNow we know from the fourth Gospel what the light was in which St.\nJohn looked back, at a distance of more than half a century, upon the\nlife of Jesus. Nothing therefore was more natural than that, dealing\nonly with the great principles at work in God's government of the\nworld and guidance of His Church, and seeing these principles embodied\nin visions, the visions should present to him a course of things\nprecisely similar to that which had been followed in the case of the\nForerunner of the Church and the Captain of her salvation.\n\nTurning then to the fourth Gospel, it has long been acknowledged by\nevery inquirer of importance that the struggle of Jesus with the\nworld, which the Evangelist chiefly intends to relate, ends with the\nclose of chap. xii. It is equally undeniable that with the beginning\nof chap. xviii. the struggle breaks out afresh. Between these two\npoints lie chaps. xiii. to xvii., five chapters altogether different\nfrom those that either precede or follow them, marked by a different\ntone, and centring around that institution of the Last Supper in\nwhich, Judas having now \"gone out,\" the love of Jesus to His disciples\nis poured forth with a tenderness previously unexampled. In these\nchapters we have first a narrative in which the love of Jesus is\nrelated as it appears in the foot-washing and in the institution of\nthe Supper, and then, immediately afterwards, a pause. This\npause--chaps. xiii. 31-xvii.--together with the narrative preceding\nit, occurs at the close of a struggle substantially finished--\"I\nglorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou\nhast given Me to do\"[497]--and only yet again to burst forth in one\nfinal and unsuccessful effort against the Prince of life.\n\nIt would seem as if we had a similar structure at the point of the\nApocalypse now reached by us. There is a transition narrative which, so\nfar as the thought in it is concerned, may be regarded either as closing\nthe fourth or as beginning the fifth section of the book. It is probably\nbetter to understand it as the latter, because the mould of the Gospel\nis thus better preserved; and, where so much else speaks distinctly of\nthat mould, there is no impropriety in giving the benefit of a doubt to\nwhat is otherwise sufficiently established. Although therefore the fifth\nsection of the Apocalypse, the Pause, begins properly with ver. 11 of\nthe present chapter, the first ten verses may be taken along with these\nas a preparatory narrative standing to what follows as John xiii. 1-30\nstands to chap. xiii. 31-chap. xvii. The probability, too, that this is\nthe light in which we are to look at the passage before us, is rendered\ngreater when we notice, first, that there is in the midst of the\npreliminary narrative, and for the first time mention made of a\n\"supper,\" the marriage supper of the Lamb,[498] and, secondly, that at a\nlater point in the book there is a final outburst of evil against the\nChurch, which, notwithstanding the powerful forces ranged against her,\nis unsuccessful.[499]\n\nWhat we have _now_ to do with is thus not a continuation of the\nstruggle. It is a pause in which the fall of Babylon is celebrated, and\nthe great enemies of the Church are consigned to their merited fate:--\n\n After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great\n multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and\n power, belong to our God: for true and righteous are His\n judgments: for He hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt\n the earth with her fornication, and He hath avenged the blood of\n His servants at her hand. And a second time they say, Hallelujah.\n And her smoke goeth up for ever and ever. And the four-and-twenty\n elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God\n that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah. And a voice\n came forth from the throne, saying, Give praise to our God, all ye\n His servants, ye that fear Him, the small and the great. And I\n heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice\n of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying,\n Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us\n rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him:\n for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made\n herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should clothe\n herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the\n righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed\n are they which are bidden unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.\n And he saith unto me, These are true words of God. And I fell down\n before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See thou do\n it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that\n hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of\n Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (xix. 1-10).\n\nBabylon has fallen; and the world, represented by three classes of its\ninhabitants--kings, merchants, and sailors--has poured out its\nlamentations over her fall. Very different are the feelings of the\ngood, and these feelings appear in the narrative before us. _A great\nmultitude_ is heard _in heaven_, not necessarily in the region beyond\nthe grave, but in that of the righteous, of the unworldly, of the\nspiritual, whether in time or in eternity. This \"multitude\" is\nprobably to be identified with that of chap. vii. 9. The definite\narticle, which would render the identification complete, is indeed\nwanting; but we have already found instances of the same method of\nspeech with regard to the one hundred and forty and four thousand of\nchap. xiv. 1, and with regard to the glassy sea of chap. xv. 2. The\nwhole ransomed Church of God is therefore included in the expression.\nThey sing first; and the burden of their song is _Hallelujah_, or\nPraise to God, because He has inflicted upon the harlot the due\npunishment of her sins and crimes. Nor do they sing only once; they\nsing the same ascription of praise _a second time_. The meaning is not\nsimply that they do this twice, the \"second time\" having more than its\nnumerical force, and being designed to bring out the intensity of\ntheir feelings and their song.[500] Then the four-and-twenty elders,\nthe representatives of the glorified Church, and the four living\ncreatures, the representatives of redeemed creation, answer, _Amen_,\nand take up the same song: _Hallelujah_. All creation, animate and\ninanimate, swells the voice of joy and praise.\n\nMeanwhile the _smoke of the harlot's torment goeth up for ever and\never_. Again, as once before,[501] we have here no right to fasten our\nthoughts upon immortal spirits of men deceived and led astray. Such may\nbe included. If they have identified themselves with the harlot, we need\nnot hesitate to say that they are induced. But what is mainly brought\nunder our notice is the overthrow, complete and final, of sin itself.\nBabylon has been utterly overthrown, and her punishment shall never be\nforgotten. Her fate shall remain a monument of the righteous judgment of\nGod, and shall illustrate unto the ages of the ages the character of Him\nwho, for creation's sake, will \"by no means clear the guilty.\"[502]\n\nA voice from heaven is then heard calling upon all the servants of God\nto praise Him; and this is followed by another voice, _as it were the\nvoice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the\nvoice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the\nAlmighty, reigneth_. He always indeed really reigned, but now He has\ntaken to Himself His great power, and everything acknowledges its King.\n\nThus a new moment is reached in the history of God's saints. The Lamb\nis come to claim His bride, and _His wife hath made herself ready_.\nShe has been long betrothed, and has been waiting for the Bridegroom.\nThrough storm and calm, through sorrow and joy, through darkness and\nlight, she has waited for Him, crying ever and again, \"Come quickly.\"\nAt last He comes, and the marriage and the marriage supper are to take\nplace. For the first time in the Apocalypse we read of this marriage,\nand for the first time, although the general idea of supping with the\nLord had been once alluded to,[503] of this marriage supper. The\nfigure indeed is far from being new. The writers both of the Old and\nof the New Testament use it with remarkable frequency.[504] But no\nsacred writer appears to have felt more the power and beauty of the\nsimilitude than St. John. In the first miracle which he records, and\nin which he sees the whole glory of the New Testament dispensation\nmirrored forth, He who changed the water into wine is the Bridegroom\nof His Church[505]; and, when the Baptist passes out of view in the\npresence of Him for whom he had prepared the way, he records the\nswan-like song in which the great prophet terminated his mission in\norder that another and a higher than himself might have sole\npossession of the field: \"Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said,\nI am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. He that hath the\nbride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which\nstandeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the\nbridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.\"[506]\n\nSuch is the moment that has now arrived, and the bride is ready for\nit. Her raiment is worthy of our notice. It is _fine linen, bright and\npure_; and then it is immediately added, _for the fine linen is the\nrighteous acts of the saints_. These acts are not the imputed\nrighteousness of Christ, although only in Christ are the acts\nperformed. They express the moral and religious condition of those who\nconstitute the bride. No outward righteousness alone, with which we\nmight be clothed as with a garment, is a sufficient preparation for\nfuture blessedness. An inward change is not less necessary, a personal\nand spiritual meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light.\nChrist must not only be on us as a robe, but in us as a life, if we\nare to have the hope of glory.[507] Let us not be afraid of words like\nthese. Rightly viewed, they in no way interfere with our completeness\nin the Beloved alone, or with the fact that not by works of\nrighteousness that we have done, but by grace, are we saved through\nfaith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God.[508] All our\nsalvation is of Christ, but the change upon us must be internal as\nwell as external. The elect are foreordained to be conformed to the\nimage of God's Son[509]; and the Christian condition is expressed in\nthe words which say, not only \"Ye were justified,\" but also \"ye were\nwashed, ye were sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and\nin the Spirit of our God.\"[510]\n\nThus \"made ready,\" the bride now enters with the Bridegroom into the\nmarriage feast; and, as the whole of her future rises before the view\nof the heavenly visitant who converses with the Seer, he says to him,\n_Write, Blessed are they which are bidden to the marriage supper of\nthe Lamb_.\n\nOnce before St. John had heard a similar, perhaps the same, voice from\nheaven, saying, \"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from\nhenceforth.\"[511] Then we believed; now we see. The clouds are\ndispelled; the veil is rent asunder; we enter into the palace of the\ngreat King. There is music, and festivity, and joy. There is neither\nsin nor sorrow, no privilege abused, no cloud upon any countenance, no\nburden upon any heart, no shadow from the future to darken the rapture\nof the present. Here is life, and life abundantly; the peace that\npasseth understanding; the joy unspeakable and glorified; the\ninheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading.\n\nIn particular, when we think of this marriage supper of the Lamb, we\ncannot but return to that supper in the upper chamber of Jerusalem\nwhich occupies so strikingly similar a position in the life of Jesus.\nThere Jesus said, \"Take, eat: this is My body, which is for you;\"\n\"This cup is the new covenant in My blood: drink ye all of it.\"[512]\nThat was a feast, in which He gave Himself to be for ever the\nnourishment of His Church. And in like manner in the marriage supper\nof the Lamb the Lord who became dead and is alive for evermore is not\nonly the Bridegroom, but the substance of the feast. In Him and by Him\nHis people lived on earth; in Him and by Him they live for ever.\n\nAll this St. John saw. All this, too, he heard confirmed by the\nstatement that, wonderful and glorious as was the spectacle, it was\nyet _true words of God_. He was overwhelmed, and would have worshipped\nhis angelic visitant. But he was interrupted by the declaration on the\nangel's part, _See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and\nwith thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: worship God_.\nThese fellow-servants are first the prophets, but then also all true\nmembers of Christ's Body. The last not less than the first hold the\ntestimony of Jesus[513]; and because they do so, they too are\nprophets, for prophecy, whether in Old or in New Testament times,\ntestifies to Him. In Him all revelation centres. He is the expression\nof the God whom no man hath seen. He is thus the Alpha and the Omega,\n\"over all, God blessed for ever.\"[514]\n\nBy so contemplating Him we are prepared for the next following vision:--\n\n And I saw the heavens opened, and behold a white horse, and He\n that sat thereon, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness\n He doth judge and make war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and\n upon His head are many diadems; and He hath a name written, which\n no man knoweth, but He Himself. And He is arrayed in a garment\n sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And\n the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses,\n clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth\n proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations\n and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the\n winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And He\n hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF\n KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (xix. 11-16).\n\nOf the position of this passage in the structure of the Apocalypse we\nhave already spoken; and, looked at in that its true light, it may be\ncalled the Pause of Victory. There is no renewal of the struggle. A\nWarrior is indeed presented to us; but He is a Warrior who has already\nconquered, and who comes forth not so much to subdue His enemies as to\ninflict upon them their final punishment.\n\n_Heaven_ is _open_, and our attention is first of all directed to a\nrider _upon a white horse_. The description given of this rider leaves\nno doubt as to who He is. The \"whiteness\" of the horse is the emblem\nof a purity that can be connected with the kingdom of God alone. The\ndescription of the Rider--_Faithful_, who will not suffer one word\nthat He has promised to fail; _True_, not true as opposed to false,\nbut real as opposed to shadowy--corresponds only to something\nessentially Divine; while the particulars of His appearance afterwards\nmentioned take us back to the glorified Son of man of chap. i., and to\nother passages of this and other books of the Bible which speak of the\nsame glorious Person. There are _the eyes_ like _a flame of fire_ of\nchap. i. 14 and chap. ii. 18. There are _upon His head many diadems_,\na fact not previously mentioned, but corresponding to the many\nroyalties which belong to Him whom all things obey. There is the _name\nwhich none but He Himself knoweth_, for \"no one knoweth the Son save\nthe Father.\"[515] There is the _garment sprinkled with blood_, of\nwhich we read in the prophet Isaiah,[516] the blood, not that of the\nConqueror shed for us, but the blood of His enemies staining His\nraiment as He returns victorious from the field. There is the name\n_The Word of God_, with which St. John alone has made us familiar in\nthe opening of his Gospel. There are _the armies which are in heaven,\nfollowing Him upon white horses_, and _clothed in fine linen, white\nand pure_, to which our attention is directed, not for their sake, but\nfor His, for He has made them partakers of His victory. There is the\n_sharp sword proceeding out of His mouth_ of chap. i. 16 and chap. ii.\n12. There is the _smiting of the nations_, of which we have already\nheard in chap. ii. 27 and chap. xii. 5. There is the _treading of the\nwinepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God_, spoken of\nin chap. xiv. 19, 20. Finally, there is _on His garment and on His\nthigh the name_ KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. All these traits\nleave no doubt who this Captain of salvation is; and all are noted\nthat we may better understand both the glory of His person, and the\nnature of His accomplished work.\n\nOne thing therefore alone remains: that the great adversaries of His\npeople shall be consigned to their doom; and to this the Seer\nproceeds:--\n\n And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud\n voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and be\n gathered together unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat\n the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of\n mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit thereon,\n and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.\n And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,\n gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the\n horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and he that\n was with him, the false prophet that wrought the signs in his\n sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of\n the beast, and them that worshipped his image. They twain were\n cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. And\n the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the\n horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and all\n the birds were filled with their flesh (xix. 17-21).\n\nThe angel beheld at the beginning of this scene is the first of the\nthree forming the second group of that series of seven parts of which\nthe triumphing Conqueror was the centre. He stood _in the sun_, which\nis to be thought of as in the zenith of its daily path, in order that\nhe may be seen and heard by all. It is to _the birds that fly in\nmid-heaven_ that he calls; that is, to those strong and fierce birds\nof prey, such as the eagle and the vulture, which fly in the highest\nregions of the atmosphere. His cry is that they shall come to the\ngreat supper of God, that they may feast upon the flesh of all the\nenemies of the Lamb. The idea of such a feast is found in the\nprophecies of Ezekiel; and there can be no doubt, from the many\naccompanying circumstances of similarity between the description of it\nthere and here, that St. John has the language of the prophet in his\neye: \"And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto the\nbirds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble\nyourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice\nthat I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains\nof Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the\nflesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth,\nof rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of\nBashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye\nbe drunken, of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. And ye\nshall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men,\nand with all men of war, saith the Lord God.\"[517] Yet, while the\npicture of the prophet is unquestionably before the Seer's mind, it is\nimpossible to doubt that we have in this supper a travesty of that\nmarriage supper of the Lamb which had been spoken of in the previous\npart of the chapter.[518] In contrast with the joyful banquet at which\nthe children of God shall be nourished by Him whose flesh is meat\nindeed and whose blood is drink indeed, the wicked, to whatever rank\nor station they belong, shall themselves be a meal for all foul and\nravenous birds. The whole passage reminds us of the spectacle at\nCalvary, as it is set before us in the fourth Gospel, and may be\naccepted as one of the innumerable proofs of the similarity between\ntwo books--that Gospel and the Apocalypse--at first sight so different\nfrom each other. On the Cross Jesus is the true Paschal Lamb, not so\nmuch in the moment of its death as at a subsequent stage, when it was\nprepared for, and eaten at, the paschal meal. In the conduct of the\nJews on that occasion St. John appears to behold an inverted and\ncontorted Passover. The enemies of Jesus had not entered into the\njudgment-hall of Pilate, \"lest they should be defiled; but that they\nmight eat the passover.\"[519] They had not eaten it then Amidst the\ntumult and stormy passions of that dreadful morning, when had they an\nopportunity of eating it? St. John does not tell us that they found\none. Rather is the whole narrative so constructed, so full of close,\nrapid, passionate action, that it is impossible to fix upon any point\nat which we can insert their eating until it was too late to make it\nlegal. May it not be that they found no opportunity for eating it?\nThey lost their passover. Lost it? Nay; the Evangelist seems to say,\nthey found a passover. Go with me to the Cross; mark there their cruel\nmockeries of the Lamb of God; and you shall see the righteous dealings\nof the Almighty as He makes these mockeries take the shape of a\npassover of judgment, a passover of added sin and deepened shame.[520]\n\nThe punishment of the wicked, and especially of the three great\nenemies of the Church, now proceeds; and it ought still to be\ncarefully observed that we have to do with punishment, not war or\noverthrow in war. It was so at ver. 17, where, after the triumphing\nConqueror had ridden forth, followed by His armies, there is no\nmention of any battle. There is only the angel's cry to the birds to\ngather themselves together unto the great supper of God. The battle\nhad been already fought, and the victory already won. We are now told\nindeed of the gathering together of the beast and the kings of the\nearth and their armies, _to make war against Him that sat upon the\nhorse, and against His army_. But, whatever may have been their\ndesign, it is not executed. No actual fighting is spoken of. The\nenemies referred to are at once taken, apparently without fighting,\nand are consigned to the fate which they have brought upon themselves.\n\nTwo of the three great enemies of the Lord and of His Church meet this\nfate,--_the beast_ and _the false prophet_. The first of these is the\nbeast so frequently mentioned in previous chapters. More particularly\nit is the beast of chap. xvii., the representative of the\nantichristian world in its last and highest form. The second is not\nless certainly the second beast of chap. xiii., of whom it is said\nthat \"he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs\nwhich it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them\nthat dwell upon the earth, that they should make an image to the\nbeast.\"[521] The \"signs,\" the \"deception,\" and the \"worship\" of the\nbeast now spoken of can be no other than those thus referred to.\n\nOne point may be noticed further. According to what seems to be the best\nreading of the original Greek, we are told here, not that \"the beast was\ntaken, and with him the false prophet,\" but \"the beast was taken, and he\nthat was with him, the false prophet.\" In other words, the language of\nSt. John is designed to bring out the closeness of connexion between\nthese two beasts, the fact that the one is always dependent on the\nother. They are never separated. The first cannot act without the\nsecond. Hence in all probability the reason why, in treating of the doom\nby which these enemies of the Church are overtaken, a separate paragraph\nis not assigned to each. They are taken together.\n\nA more important question has been raised in connexion with the words\nbefore us; and it has been urged that they conclusively prove that both\nthe beast and the false prophet are persons, not personifications.[522]\nWe have already seen that in regard to the \"beast\" that conclusion is\nhasty.[523] It appears to be not less so in regard to the \"false\nprophet.\" The simple fact that he deceiveth _them_--that is, all _that\nhad received the mark of the beast_--is inconsistent with such an idea,\nunless we ascribe to him a ubiquity that is Divine; or unless we\nsuppose, what Scripture gives us no warrant for believing, that there is\nin the realm of evil a personal trinity--the dragon, the beast, and the\nfalse prophet--corresponding to the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy\nSpirit. It is much more natural to think that St. John's statements upon\nthis point spring from that general method of conception which\ndistinguishes him, and by which everything existing in the realm of good\nis thought of as having its counterpart in the realm of evil. The\nquestion thus raised is wholly independent of any consideration of the\nfate by which the two beasts are overtaken. When principles are viewed\nas persons, they must be spoken of as persons; and it will surely not be\nurged that death and Hades are persons because it is said of them, in\nchap. xx. 14, that they \"were cast into the lake of fire.\"\n\nThe beast and the false prophet then are cast together into _the lake of\nfire that burneth with brimstone_; and this lake of fire is further\nexplained in chap. xx. 14 to be \"the second death.\" It is impossible to\navoid the questions, How are we to conceive of this \"lake of fire\"? and,\nWhat is its effect? Yet, so far as at present concerns us, the answer to\nthese questions must be taken from St. John alone. In the first instance\nat least we have nothing to do with the _general_ teaching of Scripture\non what is called the doctrine of \"eternal punishment.\" Our only inquiry\nmust be, What impression is the language employed by the Seer in these\nvisions intended to convey? Upon this point it would seem as if there\ncan be little doubt. To St. John it is no matter of consequence to tell\nus what shall be the condition of the enemies of the Church throughout\nthe ages of the future, or whether they shall be preserved everlastingly\nalive in torment and misery and woe. His one aim is to deal with the\ncondition of the kingdom of God while it contends with its foes in this\npresent scene. His one object is to tell us that these foes shall be\ndestroyed for ever, and that the world shall be wholly purged from them.\nNo further information is required to comfort us. We may leave them in\nthe hands of God.\n\nLooking at the matter in this light, we do not need to ask whether by\n\"the lake of fire\" we are to understand a lake in which the wicked are\nconsumed or one in which they are upheld in undying flames. Either\ninterpretation is consistent with the Apostle's course of thought, and\nwith the impression which he wishes to produce.\n\nNo doubt it may be said that the principle of contrast, of which we\nhave so often availed ourselves in interpreting this book, implies\nthat, as the righteous shall be upheld amidst the joys of everlasting\nlife, so the wicked shall be upheld amidst the torments of everlasting\ndeath. But it is precisely here that the peculiarity of St. John's\nmode of thought comes in. To him \"life\" is in the very nature of the\ncase everlasting. Were it not so, it would not be life. Only therefore\nin so far as the conception of everlasting torment lies in the idea of\n\"death\" can it be truly said that the principle of contrast, so deeply\nrooted in St. John's mode of thought, demands the application of\neverlasting torment to the wicked. But the idea of torment\neverlastingly continued does not lie in the idea of \"death.\" Death is\nprivation; when inflicted by fire, capacity for torment is speedily\ndestroyed; and death itself is cast into the lake of fire. The\nnatural conclusion is that the idea of torment belongs to the mode by\nwhich the death spoken of is inflicted--fire--and that the words with\nwhich we are dealing may mean no more than this,--that the eternity of\neffect following the overthrow of the beast and the false prophet is\nthe leading conception associated with the \"fire that burneth with\nbrimstone\" to which these great enemies of God's people are consigned.\n\nIf what has been said be correct, the whole question of the\neverlasting _suffering_ of the wicked is left open so far as these\npassages in the Apocalypse are concerned; and St. John's main lesson\nis that when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of\nfire they shall no longer have power to war against the righteous or\nto disturb their peace.\n\nWhen these two enemies of the Church had thus been destroyed, _the\nrest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even\nthe sword which came forth out of His mouth_. The persons thus called\n\"the rest\" are those who stand to the beast and the false prophet in\nthe same relation as that in which \"the rest of the woman's seed,\"\nspoken of in chap. xii. 17, stand to the man-child \"caught up unto God\nand unto His throne.\" The man-child exalted and glorified is the same\nas \"He that sat upon the horse,\" and in that condition a sword\nproceedeth out of His mouth.[524] The Guardian and Protector of His\nown, who has kept their true life safe amidst all outward troubles,\nbrings also these troubles to an end. Their enemies are \"killed.\" They\nare not yet cast into the lake of fire, because their hour of judgment\nhas not come. By-and-by it will come.[525] Meanwhile not only can\nthey harm the righteous no more, but they afford a supper to the\nravenous birds already spoken of; and the birds are more than\nsatisfied: they are gorged with the unholy banquet. _All the birds\nwere filled with their flesh._\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[495] Mark x. 39.\n\n[496] Rev. i. 9.\n\n[497] John xvii. 4.\n\n[498] Ver. 9.\n\n[499] Chap. xx. 7.\n\n[500] Comp.\n\n[501] Comp. p. 250.\n\n[502] Exod. xxxiv. 7.\n\n[503] Comp. chap. iii. 20.\n\n[504] Comp. Ps. xiv. 9-15; Isa. liv. 5; Hos. ii. 19; Matt. xxii. 2;\nEph. v. 32, etc.\n\n[505] John ii. 1-11.\n\n[506] John iii. 28, 29.\n\n[507] Col. i. 27.\n\n[508] Eph. ii. 8.\n\n[509] Rom. viii. 29.\n\n[510] 1 Cor. vi. 11.\n\n[511] Chap. xiv. 13.\n\n[512] Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.\n\n[513] Comp. chaps. i. 3, 9, vi. 9, xi. 7, xii. 17, xx. 4.\n\n[514] Rom. ix. 5.\n\n[515] Matt. xi. 27.\n\n[516] Isa. lxiii. 3.\n\n[517] Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.\n\n[518] Ver. 9.\n\n[519] John xviii. 28.\n\n[520] The writer has endeavoured to unfold this view of Jesus on the\nCross in two papers in _The Expositor_, first series, vol. vi., pp.\n17, 129.\n\n[521] Chap. xiii. 14.\n\n[522] Burger _in loc._\n\n[523] Comp. p. 297.\n\n[524] Chaps. i. 16; xix. 15.\n\n[525] Chap. xx. 15.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n _JUDGMENT OF SATAN AND OF THE WICKED._\n\n REV. xx.\n\n\nIn now approaching chap. xx., with its yet unsolved difficulties of\ninterpretation, it is of essential importance to observe, in the first\nplace, the relation of the chapter to what immediately precedes. The\nSeer is not entering upon an entirely new subject. He distinctly\ncontinues, on the contrary, the prosecution of a theme he had before\nbegun. In the previous portion of his book three great enemies of the\nsaints of God had been introduced to us,--the dragon or the devil, the\nbeast, and the false prophet. These were the main opponents of the\nLamb, in one way or another stirring up all the efforts that had been\nmade against Him by the kings of the earth, their armies, and their\nfollowers. For a time they had appeared to succeed. They had\npersecuted the saints, had compelled them to flee, had overcome them,\nand killed them. This, however, could not continue; and it was to be\nshown that the final triumph remains with those who have suffered for\nthe sake of righteousness. In chap. xix. we have the beginning, but\nnot the close, of this triumph. Of the three great enemies only\ntwo--the beast and the false prophet--perish in that chapter. The\ndestruction of the third is reserved for chap. xx., and is effected\nat the tenth verse of the chapter. The verses following then describe\nthe judgment of those who had listened to these enemies, but who,\nthough defeated, or even killed,[526] or devoured by fire out of\nheaven when in their service,[527] had not yet been consigned to their\ndoom. Thereafter nothing remains, in order to complete the triumph of\nChrist and His saints, but that death and Hades shall also be removed\nfrom the scene and cast into the lake of fire.\n\nThese considerations are of themselves sufficient to show that _the\noverthrow of Satan_, and not the reign of a thousand years, is the\nmain theme of the first ten verses of the chapter. So far is the\nlatter from being the culminating point of the whole book, that it is\nnot even introduced at the beginning of any new and important section.\nIt starts no new series of visions. It comes in in the midst of a\nsection devoted to an entirely different matter:--\n\n And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of\n the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the\n dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound\n him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut\n it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no\n more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he\n must be loosed for a little time. And I saw thrones, and they sat\n upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls\n of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for\n the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his\n image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon\n their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand\n years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years\n should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and\n holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these\n the second death hath no authority, but they shall be priests of\n God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. And\n when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of\n his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are\n in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them\n together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.\n And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the\n camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down\n out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them\n was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the\n beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and\n night for ever and ever (xx. 1-10).\n\nIt is impossible within the limits of a commentary such as the present\nto discuss the different interpretations that have been given to a\npassage so difficult and so much controverted as the above. Nothing\nmore can be attempted than to state briefly what seems to be the true\nmeaning of the sacred writer, together with the grounds upon which the\ninterpretation to be suggested rests.\n\nThe fundamental principle of that interpretation, to be kept clearly\nand resolutely in view, is this: that _the thousand years_ mentioned\nin the passage express no period of time. They are not a figure for\nthe whole Christian era, now extending to nearly nineteen hundred\nyears. Nor do they denote a certain space of time, longer or shorter,\nit may be, than the definite number of years spoken of, at the close\nof the present dispensation, and to be in the view of some preceded,\nin the view of others followed, by the second Advent of our Lord. They\nembody an idea; and that idea, whether applied to the subjugation of\nSatan or to the triumph of the saints, is the idea of completeness or\nperfection. Satan is bound for a thousand years; that is, he is\ncompletely bound. The saints reign for a thousand years; that is, they\nare introduced into a state of perfect and glorious victory. Before\nendeavouring to bring out this thought more fully, several\npreliminary considerations may be noticed.\n\n1. Years may be understood in this sense. In Ezek. xxxix. 9 it is said\nthat the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall prevail against the\nenemies described, and \"shall go forth, and shall make fires of the\nweapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and\nthe arrows, and the hand-staves, and the spears, and they shall make\nfires of them seven years.\" No one can suppose that the \"seven years\"\nhere spoken of are to be literally understood, or even that the length\nof time which would be needed to burn the weapons is the thought upon\nwhich the prophet dwells. His meaning, in correspondence with the use of\nthe number seven, can only be that these weapons shall be destroyed with\na great and complete destruction. Again, in the same chapter, at ver.\n12, after the defeat of \"Gog and all his multitude,\" it is said, \"And\nseven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may\ncleanse the land.\" A literal interpretation is here not less impossible\nthan in the case of the burning of the weapons; nor can the meaning be\nexhausted by the thought that a long time would be necessary for the\nburying. The number \"seven\" must have its due force assigned to it, and\nthe prophet can only mean that the land should be thoroughly cleansed\nfrom heathen impurity. The use of the term \"years\" in the vision before\nus seems to be exactly similar; and the probability that it is so rises\nalmost to certainty when we observe that, as proved by the vision of Gog\nand Magog in the subsequent part of the chapter, the prophecy of Ezekiel\nis before the Seer's eye, and that it constitutes the foundation upon\nwhich his whole delineation rests.\n\nThe only difficulty connected with this view is that in the third verse\nof the chapter Satan is said to have been shut into the abyss _until the\nthousand years should be finished_, and that in the seventh verse we\nread, _And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed_.\nBut the difficulty is more specious than real. Let us familiarise\nourselves with the thought that the thousand years may simply express\ncompleteness, thoroughness, either of defeat or victory; let us remember\nthat the Seer had represented the defeat of Satan by the figure of being\nbound for a thousand years; finally, let us notice, as we have yet to\nsee more fully, that Satan, although deprived of power over the\nrighteous, is still to be the deceiver and ruler of the wicked: and it\nimmediately follows that this latter thought could find no more\nappropriate form than in the statement that the deception took place,\nnot \"until,\" or \"after,\" the thousand years should be finished. This is\nsimply the carrying out of the symbolism already employed. To revert for\na moment to the symbolism of Ezekiel, let us suppose that, after the\nprophet had described the burning of the weapons for \"seven years,\" he\nhad wished to mention also some other step by which the burning was to\nbe followed. What more suitable words could he have used than that it\ntook place either \"after this,\" or \"after the seven years were\nfinished\"? In point of fact, this is exactly what the prophet does. He\nhas occasion to refer to further efforts made to secure the purity of\nthe land; and the words employed by him are, \"_After the end of seven\nmonths_ shall they search.\"[528] The one expression is no more than the\nnatural consequence of the other.\n\n2. What is the meaning of the last words of the third verse of the\nchapter,--_He_ (_i.e._, Satan) _must be loosed for a little time_?\nWhat is this \"little time\"? The words take us directly to that\nconception of the _Christian age_ which is so intimately interwoven\nwith the structure of the Apocalypse, and even of the whole New\nTestament,--that it is all \"a little time.\" This is particularly\napparent in the application of the very same words to the souls under\nthe altar in chap. vi. 11: \"And it was said unto them, that they\nshould rest yet for a little time, until their fellow-servants also\nand their brethren, which should be killed even as they were, should\nbe fulfilled.\" The \"little time\" there is undeniably that extending\nfrom the moment of the vision to the close of the present\ndispensation. But, if it be so there, we are entitled to suppose that\nthe very same expression, when used in the passage before us, will be\nused in the same sense; and that, when it is said Satan shall be\nloosed \"for a little time,\" the meaning is that he shall be loosed for\nthe whole Christian age. Again, in chap. xii. 12 we read, \"The devil\nis gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a\nshort time.\" The \"short time\" here referred to begins with the casting\ndown of the devil out of heaven into the earth spoken of in the ninth\nverse of the same chapter. It must therefore include the whole period\nof his action in this world; and the manner in which that period is\ndesignated corresponds closely with the description of the time during\nwhich he is said, in chap. xx., to be loosed. Again, in chap. x. 6 the\nangel swears that there shall be \"time\" no longer, using the same word\nfor time that we meet with in the verse now under consideration; so\nthat it would appear as if to the author of the Apocalypse the word\n\"time\" were a kind of technical term by which he was accustomed to\ndenote the period of the Church's probation in this world. Lastly,\nthis conclusion is powerfully confirmed by the many passages of the\nApocalypse in which it is clear that the Christian dispensation, from\nits beginning to its end, is looked upon as a \"very little while,\" as\nhastening to its final issue, and as about to be closed by One who\ncometh quickly.[529] The \"little time\" therefore, of the present\nchapter during which Satan is loosed, and which, when more fully dwelt\nupon, is the time of the war spoken of in vers. 7-9, is the historical\nperiod of the Christian dispensation, during which Satan is permitted\nto deceive the nations and to lead them against the camp of the saints\nand the beloved city. It is, in short, the time between the first and\nsecond coming of our Lord. The period so often sought in the thousand\nyears of ver. 2 is really to be found in the \"little time\" of ver. 3.\n\n3. Attention ought to be particularly directed to the condition of the\nsaints during the thousand years spoken of. It is described in general\nterms as a _first resurrection_. Certain words of our Lord in the\nGospel of St. John throw important light upon the meaning of this\nexpression: \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now\nis, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they\nthat have heard shall live,\"[530] and, again, a little later in the\nsame discourse, \"Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all\nthat are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come\nforth.\"[531] Let us compare these two verses with one another, and\nthe presence of the clause \"and now is\" in the first, taken along with\nits omission in the second, leaves no doubt as to the principle on\nwhich they are to be interpreted. The first refers to a spiritual, the\nsecond to a bodily, resurrection. Here then in the words of our Lord\nHimself we have the source whence the idea of the \"first resurrection\"\nof the Apocalypse is derived. It is not an actual resurrection from\nthe grave, although that resurrection is potentially involved in it.\nIt is a spiritual resurrection in an hour \"that now is;\" and the fact\nthat this is St. John's meaning is brought out still more clearly by\nthe intimation that what he saw was _souls_, whose resurrection bodies\nhad not yet been given them.[532]\n\nThe condition of the saints thought of in this vision is described,\nhowever, not only generally, but in various particulars, all of which,\nit will be seen, correspond with the apocalyptic idea of it even in a\npresent world. _And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them._ But we\nhave been already told that \"they reign over the earth.\"[533]\n_Judgment was given unto them_, words which seem best understood in\nthe sense, so peculiar to St. John, that for believers there is in the\nordinary sense of the term no judgment. As they have passed through\ndeath, so also they have passed through judgment.[534] _They lived\nwith Christ._ But Christ Himself had said in the Gospel, \"Because I\nlive, and ye shall live.\"[535] _They reigned with Christ._ But that is\nonly another method of saying that they sat on thrones, with the\nadded conception, so often associated with the word in the\nApocalypse, that their enemies were bruised beneath their feet. _Over\nthese the second death hath no authority._ But we have before been\ntold of \"him that overcometh\" that \"he shall not be hurt of the second\ndeath.\"[536] Finally, _they shall be priests of God and of Christ_.\nBut it is needless to dwell upon the fact that from the opening of\nthis book such has always been spoken of as the position of believers.\n\nNothing, in short, is said of the saints of God in this picture of\nmillennial bliss that does not find a parallel in what the Seer has\nelsewhere written of their present life. On not a few different\noccasions their ideal condition in this world is set forth in as\nglowing terms as is their thousand years' glory and joy.\n\nOne expression may indeed startle us. What the Seer beheld is said to\nhave been _the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony\nof Jesus, and for the word of God_. Is the word \"beheaded\" to be\nliterally understood? Then a very small number of martyrs can be\nthought of. The great majority of those who have died for the faith of\nJesus have been martyred in other and more dreadful ways. The word is\nthe counterpart of \"slaughtered\" in the vision of the souls under the\naltar.[537] These were the saints of the Old Testament, whose death is\ndescribed by a term characteristic to the Jewish mind of the mode in\nwhich offerings were presented to God. When the Seer passes to the\nthought of the great Gentile Church, he uses a term more appropriate\nto the Gentile method of terminating human life. \"Beheaded\" therefore\nexpresses the same thing as \"slaughtered.\" Both words refer to\nmartyrdom; and both include all faithful ones in the dispensations to\nwhich they respectively belong, for in the eyes of St. John all the\ndisciples of a martyred Lord are martyrs.[538]\n\n4. The meaning of the doom inflicted upon Satan demands our notice.\nAnd the angel _laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the\ndevil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him\ninto the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him_. It is hardly\npossible to read these words, at the same time remembering St. John's\nlove of contrast or even travesty, and not to see in them a mocking\ncounterpart of the death and burial of Jesus, when the stone was\nrolled to the door of the sepulchre and sealed. If so, it is not\nenough to say that by the infliction of this doom the power of Satan\nwas restrained, and his influence lessened. Much more must be implied;\nand the language can only mean that, in one sense or another, Satan\nwas rendered powerless and harmless, as unable to act his part as\nthough he had been laid in the grave.\n\n5. The use of numbers in the Apocalypse ought to be remembered. These\nnumbers are invariably symbolical; and, if the number a thousand is to\nbe here interpreted literally, it seems in that respect to stand\nalone. Nor is it a reply to this to say that, though not in the strict\nsense literal, it may signify a period of _indefinite_ length. Such an\ninterpretation would be not less opposed than the former to the genius\nand spirit of this book. The numbers of the Apocalypse have always a\n_definite_ meaning. They express ideas, but the ideas are distinct.\nThey may belong to a region of thought different from that with which\narithmetical numbers are concerned, but within that region we cannot\nchange their value without at the same time changing the thought. We\nare not to imagine that numbers, in the allegorical or spiritual use\nmade of them by the Jews, might be tossed about at their pleasure or\nshuffled like a pack of cards. They were a language; and the bond\nbetween them and the ideas that they involved was quite as close as it\nis between the words of ordinary speech and the speaker's thoughts. A\nthousand years cannot mean two, or ten, or twenty, or three hundred\nand sixty-five thousand years according as we please. If they are a\nmeasure of time, the measure must be fixed; and we ought to be able to\nexplain the principle leading us to attach to the number one thousand\na value different from that which it naturally possesses.\n\n6. The teaching of Scripture elsewhere upon this subject has to be\nconsidered. Upon this point it is unnecessary to say much, for the\ndifference between that teaching and any view commonly taken of the\nthousand years' reign is acknowledged. It ought to be observed, however,\nthat this difference is not merely negative, as if the rest of the New\nTestament simply failed to fill in certain details of events more\nlargely described in the Apocalypse, but upon the whole substantially\nthe same. The difference is also positive, and in some respects\nirreconcilable with what we are taught by the other sacred writers. The\nNew Testament, unless this passage be an exception, always brings the\n_Parousia_ and the general judgment into the closest possible connexion.\nIt nowhere interposes a lengthened period between the resurrection of\nbelievers and that of unbelievers. It knows only of one, and that a\ngeneral, resurrection; and the passages, such as 1 Cor. xv. 23, 24, and\n1 Thess. iv. 16, 17, usually quoted to support another conclusion, fail\nwhen correctly interpreted to do so. When our Lord comes again, He at\nonce perfects the happiness of His saints and makes all His enemies His\nfootstool.[539] One text alone may be quoted upon this point. While the\n\"first resurrection\" is assigned to a date a thousand or even thousands\nof years before the end, it is several times repeated in the discourse\nof Jesus in the sixth chapter of St. John that the resurrection of\nbelievers takes place at the \"last day.\"[540]\n\n7. One other consideration may be kept in view. It would appear that\nabout the time of the Advent of our Lord there was a widely extended\nopinion among the Jews, traces of which are also to be found among the\nGentiles, that a golden age of a thousand years' duration might be\nanticipated in the future as a happy close to all the sins and miseries\nof the world.[541] Here, it is sometimes urged, is the source of the\napocalyptic figure of this chapter, which thus becomes only one of the\nwild chiliastic expectations of the time. But, even if it be allowed\nthat St. John drew the particular figure employed by him from a general\nbelief of his age, it by no means follows that he accepted the literal\ninterpretation of that belief as the reality and substance of prophetic\nhope. In many a passage of his book he has undeniably spiritualised\nhopes of Israel founded on the language of the Old Testament in its\noutward form. He might easily do the same with what he recognised as a\nbelief not less widely spread and not less deeply seated in both the\nJewish and Gentile portions of the Church. To use the language of the\nlate Archdeacon Lee, \"a world-wide belief such as this naturally\nsupplied St. John with symbols and with language wherein to clothe his\nrevelation of the fortunes of the Church, just as he has employed for\nthe same purpose the details of the theocracy, or the imagery of war, or\nthe phenomena and the convulsions of nature.\"[542] In all such cases the\ndetermination of the point at issue really rests upon our view of the\n_general_ tone of the writing in which the difficulty occurs, and on our\nperception of what will give the unity and harmony to his words for\nwhich every intelligent writer is entitled to expect credit at his\nreader's hands. This conclusion is in the present instance strengthened\nby the fact that St. John did not confine himself to the traditional\nbelief he is said to have adopted. So far from doing so, he occupies\nhimself chiefly with a picture of that overthrow of Satan which seems to\nhave been no part of the belief, and the mould of which is taken from\nentirely different sources.\n\nPutting together the different considerations now adduced, we can have\nbut little difficulty in understanding either the binding of Satan or\nthe reign of the saints for a thousand years. The vision describes no\nperiod of blessedness to be enjoyed by the Church at the close of the\npresent dispensation. Alike negatively and positively we have simply an\nideal picture of results effected by the Redeemer for His people, when\nfor them He lived, and suffered, and died, and rose again. Thus He bound\nSatan for them; He cast him into the abyss; He shut him in; He sealed\nthe abyss over him,--so that against _them_ he can effect nothing. He is\na bruised and conquered foe. He may war against them, afflict them,\npersecute them, kill them, but their true life is beyond his reach.\nAlready they live a resurrection and ascended life, for it is a life hid\nwith Christ in God, a life in that \"heaven\" from which the devil has\nbeen finally and for ever expelled. They rest upon, they live in, a\nrisen and glorified Redeemer; and, whatever be the age, or country, or\ncircumstances in which their lot is cast, they sit with their Lord in\nthe heavenly places and share His victory. He has been always\ntriumphant, and in His triumph His people even now have part. The glory\nwhich the Father gave the Son the Son has given them.[543] They cannot\nsin, because they are begotten of God.[544] He that was begotten of God\nkeepeth them, and the evil one toucheth them not.[545] This is the reign\nof a thousand years, and it is the portion of every believer who in any\nage of the Church shares the life of his risen and exalted Lord.\n\nThus also we may comprehend what is meant by the loosing of Satan.\nThere is no point in the future at which he is to be loosed. He has\nbeen already loosed. Hardly was he completely conquered for the saints\nbefore he was loosed for the world. He was loosed as a great adversary\nwho, however he may persecute the children of God, cannot touch their\ninner life, and who can only \"deceive the nations,\"--the nations that\nhave despised and rejected Christ. He has never been really absent\nfrom the earth. He has gone about continually, \"knowing that he hath\nbut a short time.\"[546] But he is unable to hurt those who are kept in\nthe hollow of the Lord's hand. No doubt he tries it. That is the\nmeaning of the description extending from the seventh to the ninth\nverse of this chapter,--the meaning of the war which Satan carries on\nagainst the camp of the saints and the beloved city when the thousand\nyears are finished. In other words, no sooner was Satan, as regards\nthe saints, completely bound than, as regards the world, he was\nloosed; and from that hour, through all the past history of\nChristianity, he has been stirring up the world against the Church. He\nhas been summoning the nations that are in the four corners of the\nearth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war. They war,\nbut they do not conquer, until at last fire comes down out of heaven\nand devours them. _The devil that deceived them is cast into the lake\nof fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet;\nand they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever._\n\nThe whole picture of the thousand years is in its main features--in\nthe binding of Satan, in the security and blessedness of the\nrighteous, and in the loosing of Satan for the war--a striking\nparallel to the scenes in chap. xii. of this book. There Michael and\nhis angels contended with the devil and his angels; and the latter\n\"prevailed not,\"[547] but were cast out of heaven into the earth, so\nthat the inhabitants of heaven are for ever safe from them. There the\nman-child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and from\nthe thought of whom it is impossible to separate the thought of those\nwho are one with Him, is caught up unto God and unto His throne.\nFinally, there also the dragon, though unable really to hurt the\nsaints, \"the rest of the woman's seed,\" makes war upon them, but\nwithout result. Of this scene the picture which we have been\nconsidering is at once a repetition and a fuller development; and,\nwhen we call to mind the peculiarities marking the structure of the\nApocalypse, we seem in this fact alone to have no slight evidence of\nthe correctness of the interpretation now proposed.[548]\n\nThe three great enemies of the Church have not only been overcome,\nbut judged, and for ever removed from all possibility of troubling\nthe righteous more. But the great mass of the wicked have not yet\nbeen overtaken by a similar fate. The time has now come to show us in\nvision what awaits them also:--\n\n And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from\n whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found\n no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small,\n standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another\n book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were\n judged out of the things which were written in the books,\n according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were\n in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them:\n and they were judged every man according to their works. And death\n and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second\n death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in\n the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire (xx. 11-15).\n\nUpon various particulars mentioned in this passage it is unnecessary to\nsay much. The _throne_ beheld by the Seer is _great_, at once in\ncontrast with the \"thrones\" of the millennial reign, and as befitting\nthe majesty of Him who sits upon it. It is also _white_, as emblematic\nof His purity and holiness. The Judge is God, the Father in the Son, the\nSon in the Father; and thus the judgment is searching and complete, and\nis answered by the consciences of those upon whom it is executed. They\nsee that the Judge's eye penetrates into the most secret recesses of\ntheir hearts, and that He is One who has been in the same position, has\nfought the same battle, and has endured the same trials as themselves.\nThus His sentence finds an echo in their hearts, and they are\nspeechless.[549] Thus also judgment becomes really judgment, and not\nmerely the infliction of punishment by resistless power.\n\nThe effect of the Judge's taking His seat upon His throne was that\n_from His face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found\nno place for them_. Yet we are not to understand that after their\nflight there was neither an earth nor a heaven to be found. It is only\nthe old earth and the old heaven that are spoken of; and almost\nimmediately afterwards the Seer exclaims, \"I saw a new heaven and a\nnew earth: for the first heaven and the first earth are passed\naway.\"[550] The change is part of that \"restoration of all things\" of\nwhich St. Peter spoke to the multitude gathered together in Solomon's\nporch,[551] of which he then added, \"Whereof God spake by the mouth of\nHis holy prophets which have been since the world began,\" and upon\nwhich he dwelt more fully in his second Epistle when he said, \"But the\nday of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall\npass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent\nheat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.\nBut, according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new\nearth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.\"[552] In the Epistle to the\nRomans, too, \"creation\" longs, not for destruction, but for something\nakin to that \"liberty of the glory of the children of God\" which they\nshall obtain along with their \"adoption, to wit, the redemption of\ntheir _body_.\"[553] In all these passages it is not the translation of\nGod's saints to an immaterial sphere that lies at the bottom of the\nthought. It is rather the idea of change, of the transfiguration, of\nthe glorification, of this present scene into a state corresponding\nwith that of its redeemed inhabitants, when they shall \"not be\nunclothed, but clothed upon,\"[554] and shall dwell in \"spiritual\n_bodies_.\"[555] To St. John \"heaven\" is not an abode of bliss in a\nscene of which we can form no clear conception, but the spiritual\natmosphere in which, alike on this side the grave and on the other,\nthe saints live and move. The \"dwellers upon earth\" are not those who\nsimply tread its firm soil and breathe its atmosphere, but those who\nare worldly in their spirit and whose views are bounded by the things\nof time. The kingdom which Christ establishes is the \"kingdom of this\nworld\" in its cleansed and purified condition rather than one to which\nwe travel by long and unknown paths. As the Seer looks forward to the\nfuture there is nothing to show that he thinks of any other residence\nfor man than that which the Son consecrated by His tomb in Joseph's\ngarden and by the glory of the resurrection morning; and even the new\nJerusalem comes down out of heaven to be established upon earth.\n\nMany may doubtless think that such a hope is too earthly, too\nmaterial, to be suited to the spiritual nature of the Christian\ndispensation. They fear that it has a tendency to withdraw us from Him\nwho is \"spirit,\" and who must be worshipped, if He is to be worshipped\nacceptably, \"in spirit and truth.\"[556] But any such apprehension is\nat variance with the fundamental fact of our Christian faith, the\nincarnation of our Lord, and is little less than the revival of the\nold Manichean heresy that matter is essentially evil. Two errors have\nexisted, and may exist, in the Church upon this point. We may strip\nthe Gospel of its spiritual element, and may reduce it to a system of\noutward and material forms, or we may strip it of its material\nelement, and may resolve it into a vague and shadowy mysticism. Both\nare the errors of extremes, and it would be difficult to say which has\nwrought most havoc in the Church. If the one was disastrous in the\ndays of the supremacy of Romanism, the other is hardly less disastrous\nnow. To the false and spurious spiritualism which it engenders we owe\nnot a few of the most serious misconceptions of the present time with\nregard to the person of Christ, the Church, the Sacraments, and the\npurpose of redemption as a whole.[557]\n\nTo return to the main question in connexion with the passage before\nus. Does it present us with the picture of a general judgment or of a\njudgment of the wicked alone? There is much in the passage that leads\ndistinctly to the latter conclusion.\n\n1. The whole vision is obviously an enlargement of what we have\nalready met under the seventh Trumpet, when it was said that \"the time\nof the dead to be judged came.\"[558] In both visions the persons\nspoken of as \"the dead\" must be the same; and they are clearly\ndistinguished in the earlier vision from those called \"Thy servants\nthe prophets,\" the season of whose \"reward\" was come. With this\ncorresponds the fact that in the writings of St. John the words \"to\njudge\" and \"judgment\" are always used, not in a neutral sense, but in\none tending to condemnation. Without some qualifying term the Apostle\ncould hardly have applied them to the acquittal of the righteous.\n\n2. The sources whence the \"dead\" are gathered confirm this conclusion.\nThese are three in number: _the sea_, _death_, and _Hades_. Looking\nfirst at the two last of these, it is plain that \"death\" cannot in this\nconnexion be the neutral grave, for it is \"cast into the lake of fire,\"\nwhere the devil, the beast, and the false prophet are. Similar remarks\napply to \"Hades,\" which in chap. vi. 8 is the coadjutor of death, and\nwhich in the New Testament always appears as a region of gloom, and\npunishment, and opposition to the truth: \"And thou, Capernaum, shalt\nthou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades;\" \"And I also\nsay unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My\nChurch; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.\"[559] If\nsuch be the sense in which we are to understand death and Hades, light\nis thrown upon the manner in which we are to interpret the first of the\nthree sources,--\"the sea.\" This cannot be the ocean, because the number\nof those to be given up from its depths at the last day is comparatively\nsmall; because, as the literal sea, it is in no way suitably associated\nwith death and Hades; and because, when we read in chap. xxi. 1, \"And\nthe sea is no more,\" it is impossible to think that the word is used in\nany other than a figurative sense. No reason can be imagined why, when\nthe earth is renewed, there should be no more that sea which is one\ngrand instrument of its present greatness and glory. Besides all this,\nwe have hitherto found that in the Apocalypse the \"sea\" is the emblem of\nthe unruly and troubled nations of the earth, and the source from which\nthe first beast of chap. xiii. had his origin. In the same sense\ntherefore we must understand it here. Like \"death\" and \"Hades,\" \"the\nsea\" spoken of can give up none but ungodly dead to the judgment of the\ngreat day.\n\n3. The \"books\" mentioned in the passage are clearly books containing\nthe record of evil deeds alone. When it is said that \"books\" were\nopened, and that \"another book was opened, which is the book of life,\"\nthe \"books\" are distinguished from the \"book.\" It harmonizes with this\nthat the book of life is not opened in order to secure deliverance for\nthose whose names are inscribed in it, but only to justify the\nsentence passed on any who are cast into the lake of fire.\n\n4. The general teaching of St. John ought not to be lost sight of in\nconsidering this question. That teaching is that the eternal condition\nof the righteous is fully secured to them even in this life, and that\nin their glorified Head they have already passed through all those\npreparatory stages on their way to everlasting blessedness at the\nthought of which they might otherwise have trembled. In Him they have\nlived, and overcome, and died. In Him they have been raised from the\ndead, and been seated in the heavenly places. All along they have\nfollowed the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and everything that befell\nHim has in principle befallen them. We cannot say, in the Johannine\nsense of the word, that Christ has been \"judged;\" and therefore\n\"judgment\" cannot be predicated of the members of His Body. To these\nlast \"judgment,\" we have already seen, \"was given\" at the time when\nthey entered on their millennial reign; and, with the result of this\njudgment (for that is the true meaning of the original) in their\nhands, it is impossible to think of them as judged again.\n\nThe judgment of these verses is therefore a judgment of the wicked;\nand, when it is closed, all Christ's enemies have not only been\nvanquished, but have been banished from the scene where He is to reign\n\"before His ancients gloriously.\"[560] The first part of the final\ntriumph has been accomplished.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[526] Chap. xix. 21.\n\n[527] Chap. xx. 9.\n\n[528] Ezek. xxxix. 14.\n\n[529] Chaps. i. 3, ii. 16, iii. 20, xxii. 20, etc.; 1 Cor. vii. 29;\nHeb. x. 37.\n\n[530] John v. 25.\n\n[531] John v. 28.\n\n[532] Comp. chap. vi. 9.\n\n[533] Chap. v. 10.\n\n[534] Comp. the teaching of our Lord in John xi. 25, 26, and v. 24.\n\n[535] John xiv. 19 (margin of R.V.).\n\n[536] Chap. ii. 11.\n\n[537] Chap. vi. 9.\n\n[538] Comp. p. 102.\n\n[539] Matt. xxv. 31-46; Rom. ii. 5, 7; 1 Thess. iv. 17; 2 Thess. i. 7,\n10.\n\n[540] John vi. 39, 40, 44.\n\n[541] See authorities in Lee (_Speaker's Commentary_) on Rev. xx. 2,\nand his excursus on that chapter.\n\n[542] _Speaker's Commentary_, _u.s._\n\n[543] John xvii. 22.\n\n[544] 1 John iii. 9.\n\n[545] 1 John v. 18.\n\n[546] Chap. xii. 12.\n\n[547] Comp. the remarkable parallel in John i. 5: \"and the darkness\novercame it not.\"\n\n[548] It is not to be denied that difficulties attend the interpretation\nof the thousand years suggested in the text. The writer would advert in\na note to the two which appear to him to be the most formidable.\n\n1. In ver. 3 we read that Satan was cast into the abyss, etc., \"that\nhe should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should\nbe finished.\" Let it be granted that \"the nations\" here referred to\ncan hardly be understood in any other sense than that common in the\nApocalypse: the heathen, the ungodly, nations or the wicked in\ngeneral. We then seem to read that there must be a time during which\nSatan does not \"deceive the nations,\" while the explanation given\nabove has been that he was no sooner subjugated for the righteous than\nhe was let loose to deceive the unrighteous. In his _Lectures on the\nRevelation of St. John_ (p. 224, note) the author was disposed to\nplead that the words in question may not have been intended to\nindicate that action on Satan's part was for a time to cease, but\nrather to bring out and express that aspect of Satan by which he is\nspecially distinguished in the Apocalypse. In deference to the\ncriticism of the Rev. H. W. Reynolds (_Remarks on Dr. Milligan's\nInterpretation of the Apocalypse_, pp. 9, 27), he would yield this\npoint. Notwithstanding the irregular constructions of the Apocalypse,\nit is at least precarious; and it is better to leave a difficulty\nunsolved, especially in a case where difficulties surround every\ninterpretation yet offered, than to propose solutions of the\nsufficiency of which even the proposer is doubtful. It may be asked,\nhowever, without resorting to the conjecture formerly thrown out,\nwhether the words \"that he should deceive,\" even when taken in what is\nsaid to be their only true sense, are irreconcilable with the view of\nthe thousand years advocated in this commentary. That view is that the\nsubjugation of Satan for a thousand years means his complete\nsubjugation. When, therefore, it is said that he has been so shut up\nas \"to deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be\nfinished,\" the meaning may simply be that in the _act of being\nsubjected_ he was deprived alike of authority and opportunity to\ndeceive the nations. It lay within the power of the Conqueror to grant\nor not to grant him fresh liberty to do so. The \"strong man\" was then\nbound, and \"his goods were spoiled.\" He was completely subjected to\nChrist. When, therefore, we are told of the thousand years during\nwhich he was to deceive the nations no more, this language is only the\ncontinuation of the figure used in the second verse of the chapter;\nand what the Seer intends to express is, that during the process of\nhis subjection, and until he should be again loosed by Him who had\nsubjected him, he could do nothing. Satan, in short, must be\n_permitted_ to come up out of the abyss either in his own person or by\nhis agents before he can disturb the earth (comp. chap. ix. 2); and it\nis the purpose of God that he shall not have power to disturb it\nuntil, having been really \"brought to nought\" by Christ (comp. Heb.\nii. 14), he shall go forth to his evil work among the nations as one\nwho, whatever may be the increase of his wrath (comp. chap. xii. 12),\nhas yet been overcome by another far mightier than himself.\n\n2. The second difficulty demanding notice is presented by the words of\nver. 5, \"The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years\nshould be finished.\" Who are these called \"the rest of the dead,\" and\nin what sense did they \"live\"? The term \"the rest,\" applied to\npersons, occurs in the following passages of the Apocalypse in\naddition to that before us: chaps. ii. 24, ix. 20, xi. 13, xii. 17,\nxix. 21. In every one of these cases it refers to the remaining\nportion of a class mentioned, but not exhausted; and it cannot be\nextended to any class beyond them. Here, however, no class has been\nspoken of except _the righteous_, or rather the \"souls\" of the\nrighteous, described by various particulars both of their character\nand their state. \"The rest\" of the dead must therefore belong to that\nclass, and to it alone. They cannot be the general body of mankind,\nboth good and bad, with the exception of those previously mentioned.\nAgain, what is meant when it is said that the rest of the dead\n\"lived\"? The same word had occurred in the immediately preceding\nverse, and it must now be understood in the same sense. \"If,\" says\nDean Alford, who has been quoted with great confidence against the\npresent writer (Reynolds, _u.s._, p. 23), \"in such a passage the first\nresurrection may be understood to mean _spiritual_ rising with Christ,\nwhile the second means _literal_ rising from the grave, then there is\nan end of all significance in language; and Scripture is wiped out as\na definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is\nspiritual, then so is the second, which I suppose none will be hardy\nenough to maintain\" (on Rev. xx. 4-6). Now that is exactly what is\nhere maintained. The \"lived\" of ver. 4 is spiritual; the \"lived\" of\nver. 5 is also spiritual. The \"rest of the dead\" then are the Old\nTestament saints of chap. vi. 9, who, by the completion of the Lord's\nredeeming work, were brought up to the level of the New Testament\nChurch (comp. p. 101). The meaning of chap. xx. 5 may thus be said to\nbe that, the New Testament Church having had _first_ bestowed upon it\na complete redemption, the same white robes were afterwards given to\nthe Old Testament Church, the succession being again one of thought\nrather than time. In this way _all_ the members of Christ's body are\nmarked out as having been \"dead\" before they lived, thus identifying\nthem with their Lord in chap. i. 18; the position of the words at the\nclose of ver. 5, \"this is the first resurrection,\" is rendered more\nnatural by their thus following what is wholly a description of the\ncondition of the blessed, instead of having a sentence interposed of\nan entirely different character; and, finally, to say nothing of the\ncontextual considerations already referred to, the full Johannine\nforce of the word \"lived\" is preserved.\n\nThese answers to the two chief difficulties associated with the\ninterpretation here suggested of the thousand years may not be\nsatisfactory to all; but it is submitted that they go far at least to\nmeet them, and that in themselves they are neither unfair nor\nstrained. Against one thing only must the author of this commentary\nenter his most decided protest,--the allegation that the\ninterpretation here offered is gained by dispensing with textual\ncriticism (?) and by sacrificing grammar to an idea. If there be one\nground more than another upon which it rests, it is upon the strictest\nprinciples of historical interpretation. It ought only to be\nremembered that the idiosyncrasies of an author are as much a part of\nsuch interpretation as the literal meaning of his words; and that to\nthat interpretation, if honestly and thoroughly conducted, the most\ndeeply ingrained prejudices will in due time be compelled to submit.\n\n[549] Comp. Matt. xxii. 12.\n\n[550] Chap. xxi. 1.\n\n[551] Acts iii. 21.\n\n[552] 2 Pet. iii. 10, 13.\n\n[553] Rom. viii. 21-23.\n\n[554] 2 Cor. v. 4.\n\n[555] Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 44.\n\n[556] John iv. 24.\n\n[557] In connexion with the point here spoken of, reference may be\nmade to an interesting and instructive paper by Canon Dale Stewart,\nRector of Coulsdon, in _The Churchman_ for December, 1887.\n\n[558] Chap. xi. 18.\n\n[559] Matt. xi. 23, xvi. 18.\n\n[560] Isa. xxiv. 23.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n _THE NEW JERUSALEM._\n\n REV. xxi. 1-xxii. 5.\n\n\nThe first part of the final triumph of the Lamb has been accomplished,\nbut the second has still to be unfolded. We are introduced to it by\none of those preparatory or transition passages which have already\nfrequently met us in the Apocalypse, and which connect themselves both\nwith what precedes and with what follows:--\n\n And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and\n the first earth are passed away; and the sea is no more. And I saw\n the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,\n made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great\n voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is\n with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His\n peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God: and\n He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be\n no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any\n more: the first things are passed away. And He that sitteth on the\n throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He saith, Write:\n for these words are faithful and true. And He said unto me, They\n are come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and\n the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of\n the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit these\n things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But for the\n fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and\n fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their\n part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone:\n which is the second death (xxi. 1-8).\n\nThese words, like many others that have already met us, throw light\nupon the principles on which the Apocalypse is composed. They show in\nthe clearest possible manner that down to the very end of the book\nchronological considerations must be put out of view. Chronology\ncannot be thought of when we find, on the one hand, allusions to the\nnew Jerusalem which are only amplified and extended in the next vision\nof the chapter, or when we find, on the other hand, a description of\nthe exclusion from the new Jerusalem of certain classes that have\nalready been consigned to \"the second death.\" By the first-mentioned\nallusions the passage connects itself with what is yet to come, by the\nsecond with what has gone before. For the same reason it is\nunnecessary to dwell upon the passage at any length. It contains\neither nothing new, or nothing that will not again meet us in greater\nfulness of detail. One or two brief remarks alone seem called for.\n\nThe Seer beholds _a new heaven and a new earth_. Two words in the New\nTestament are translated \"new,\" but there is a difference between\nthem. The one contemplates the object spoken of under the aspect of\nsomething that has been recently brought into existence, the other\nunder a fresh aspect given to what had previously existed, but been\noutworn.[561] The latter word is employed here, as it is also employed\nin the phrases a \"new garment,\" that is, a garment not threadbare,\nlike an old one; \"new wine-skins,\" that is, skins not shrivelled and\ndried; a \"new tomb,\" that is, not one recently hewn out of the rock,\nbut one which had never been used as the last resting-place of the\ndead. The fact, therefore, that the heavens and the earth here spoken\nof are \"new,\" does not imply that they are now first brought into\nbeing. They may be the old heavens and the old earth; but they have a\nnew aspect, a new character, adapted to a new end. Of the sense in\nwhich the word \"sea\" is to be understood we have already spoken.[562]\nAnother expression in the passage deserves notice. In saying that the\ntime is come when _the tabernacle of the Lord is with men, and He\nshall dwell with them_, it is added, _and they shall be His peoples_.\nWe are familiar with the Scripture use of the word \"people\" to denote\nthe true Israel of God, and not less with the use of the word\n\"peoples\" to denote the nations of the earth alienated from Him. But\nhere the word \"peoples\" is used instead of \"people\" for God's\nchildren; and the usage can only spring from this: that the Seer has\nentirely abandoned the idea that Israel according to the flesh can\nhave the word \"people\" applied to it, and that all believers, to\nwhatever race they belong, occupy the same ground in Christ, and are\npossessed of the same privileges. The \"peoples\" are the counterpart of\nthe \"many diadems\" of chap. xix. 12.\n\n And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls,\n who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me,\n saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the\n Lamb. And he carried me away in the spirit to a mountain great and\n high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of\n heaven from God, having the glory of God: her light was like unto\n a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as\n crystal, having a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and at\n the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the\n names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. On the east\n were three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south\n three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city\n had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve\n apostles of the Lamb. And he that spake with me had for a measure\n a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the\n wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length\n thereof is as great as the breadth: and he measured the city with\n the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and\n the height thereof are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a\n hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a\n man, that is, of an angel. And the building of the wall thereof\n was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass. The\n foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner\n of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second,\n sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth,\n sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth,\n beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh,\n jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve\n pearls; each one of the several gates was of one pearl: and the\n street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.\n And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, is the\n temple thereof, and the Lamb. And the city hath no need of the\n sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God\n did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations\n shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings of the earth do\n bring their glory into it. And the gates thereof shall in no wise\n be shut by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall\n bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it. And there\n shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh\n an abomination and a lie: but only they which are written in the\n Lamb's book of life. And he showed me a river of water of life,\n bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the\n Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the\n river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of\n fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree\n were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse\n any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein;\n and His servants shall do Him service: and they shall see His\n face; and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be\n night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of\n sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign\n for ever and ever (xxi. 9-xxii. 5).\n\nThe vision contained in these verses is shown the Seer by the angel\nforming the third of the second group associated with Him who had\nbeen described at chap. xix. 11 as the Rider upon the white horse, and\nwho at that time rode forth to His final triumph. The first of this\ngroup of three had appeared at chap. xix. 17, and the second at chap.\nxx. 1. We have now the third; and it is not unimportant to observe\nthis, for it helps to throw light upon the artificial structure of\nthese chapters, while, at the same time, it connects the vision with\nChrist's victory upon earth rather than with any scene of splendour\nand glory in a region beyond the place of man's present abode. Thus it\ncontributes something at least to the belief that there where the\nbeliever wars he also wears the crown of triumph.\n\nThe substance of the vision is a description of the holy city, the new\nJerusalem, the true Church of God wholly separated from the false\nChurch, as she comes down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride\nadorned for her husband. Her marriage with the Lamb has taken\nplace,--a marriage in which there shall be no unfaithfulness on the\none side and no reproaches on the other, but in which, as the\nbridegroom rejoices over the bride, the Lord shall for ever rejoice in\nHis people, and His people in Him. Then follows, to enhance the\npicture, a detailed account of the true Church under the figure of the\ncity which had been already spoken of in the first vision of the\nchapter. The treasures of the Seer's imagination and language are\nexhausted in order that the thought of her beauty and her splendour\nmay be suitably impressed upon our minds. Her _light_--that is, the\nlight which she spreads abroad, for the word used in the original\nindicates that she is herself the luminary--is like that of the sun,\nonly that it is of crystalline clearness and purity, _as it were a\njasper stone_, the light of Him who sat upon the throne.[563] She is\n\"the light of the world.\"[564] The city is also surrounded by _a wall\ngreat and high_. She is \"a strong city.\" \"Salvation has God appointed\nher for walls and bulwarks.\"[565] Her walls have _twelve gates_, and\n_at the gates twelve angels_, those to whom God gives charge over His\npeople, to keep them in all their ways[566]; while, as was the case\nwith the new Jerusalem beheld by the prophet Ezekiel, _names were\nwritten on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the\nchildren of Israel_.[567] These gates are also harmoniously\ndistributed, three on each side of the square which the city forms.\nThe _foundations of the city_, a term under which we are not to think\nof foundations buried in the earth, but rather of courses of stones\ngoing round the city and rising one above another, are also _twelve_;\nand on them are _twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb_.\n\nThe Seer, however, is not satisfied with this general picture of the\ngreatness of the new Jerusalem. Like that in Ezekiel, the city must be\nmeasured.[568] When this is done, her proportions are found, in spite\nof the absence of all verisimilitude, to be those of a perfect cube.\nAs in the Holy of holies of the Tabernacle, the thought of which lies\nat the bottom of the description, _the length and the breadth and the\nheight thereof are equal_. _Twelve thousand furlongs_, or fifteen\nhundred miles, the city stretches along and across the plain, and\nrises into the sky,--twelve, the number of the people of God,\nmultiplied by thousands, the heavenly number. The wall is also\nmeasured--it is difficult to say whether in height or in thickness,\nbut most probably the latter--_a hundred and forty and four cubits_,\nor twelve multiplied by twelve.\n\nThe measuring is completed, and next follows an account of the material\nof which the city was composed. This was gold, the most precious metal,\nin its purest state, _like unto pure glass_. _Precious stones_ formed,\nrather than ornamented, its twelve foundations. Its gates were of pearl:\n_each one of the several gates was of one pearl; and the street of the\ncity was pure gold, as it were transparent glass_. In all these respects\nit is evident that the city is thought of as ideally perfect, and not\naccording to the realities or possibilities of things.\n\nNor is this all. The glory of the city is still further illustrated by\nfigures bearing more immediately upon its spiritual rather than its\nmaterial aspect. The outward helps needed by men in leading the life\nof God in their present state of imperfection are dispensed with.\nThere is _no temple therein: for the Lord, God, the Almighty, is the\ntemple thereof, and the Lamb. The city hath no need of the sun,\nneither of the moon, to shine upon it: for the glory of God lightens_\nit by day, _and the lamp thereof_ by night _is the Lamb_. There is in\nit no sin, and every positive element of happiness is provided in\nabundance for the blest inhabitants. _A river of water of life, bright\nas crystal_, flows there; _and on this side of the river and on that\nside is the tree of life_, not bearing fruit only once a year, but\n_every month_, not yielding one only, but _twelve manner of fruits_,\nso that all tastes may be gratified, having nothing about it useless\nor liable to decay. The very _leaves of the tree were for the healing\nof the nations_, and it is evidently implied that they are always\ngreen. Finally, _there shall be no curse any more. The throne of God\nand of the Lamb is therein. His servants do Him service. They see His\nface. His name is in their foreheads._ They are priests unto God in\nthe service of the heavenly sanctuary. _They reign for ever and ever._\n\nOne important question still remains: What aspect of the Church does the\nholy city Jerusalem, thus come down out of heaven from God, represent?\nIs it the Church as she shall be after the Judgment, when her three\ngreat enemies, together with all who have listened to them, have been\nfor ever cast out? Or have we before us an ideal representation of the\ntrue Church of Christ as she exists now, and before a final separation\nhas been made between the righteous and the wicked? Unquestionably the\nfirst aspect of the passage leads to the former view; and, if there be\nanything like a chronological statement of events in the Apocalypse, no\nother may be possible. But we have already seen that the thought of\nchronology must be banished from this book. The Apocalypse contains\nsimply a series of visions intended to exhibit, with all the force of\nthat inspiration under which the Seer wrote, certain great truths\nconnected with the revelation in humanity of the Eternal Son. It is\nintended, too, to exhibit these in their ideal, and not merely in their\nhistorical, form. They are indeed to appear in history; but, inasmuch as\nthey do not appear there in their ultimate and completed form, we are\ntaken beyond the limited field of historical manifestation. We see them\nin their real and essential nature, and as they _are_, in themselves,\nwhether we think of evil on the one hand, or of good on the other. In\nthis treatment of them, however, chronology disappears. Such being the\ncase, we are prepared to ask whether the vision of the new Jerusalem\nbelongs to the end, or whether it expresses what, under the Christian\ndispensation, is always ideally true.\n\n1. It must be borne in mind that the new Jerusalem, though described\nas a city, is really a figure, not of a place, but of a people. It is\nnot the final home of the redeemed. It is the redeemed themselves. It\nis \"the bride, the wife of the Lamb.\"[569] Whatever is said of it is\nsaid of the true followers of Jesus; and the great question,\ntherefore, that has to be considered is, whether St. John's\ndescription is applicable to them in their present Christian\ncondition, or whether it is suitable to them only when they have\nentered upon their state of glorification beyond the grave.\n\n2. The vision is really an echo of Old Testament prophecy. We have\nalready seen this in many particulars, and the correspondence might\neasily have been traced in many more. \"It is all,\" says Isaac\nWilliams, as he begins his comment upon the particular points of the\ndescription--\"It is all from Ezekiel: 'The hand of the Lord was upon\nme, and brought me in the visions of God, and set me upon a very high\nmountain, by which was as the frame of a city;'[570] 'And the glory of\nthe Lord came into the house by the gate toward the east;'[571] The\nLord entered by the eastern gate; therefore shall it be shut, and\nopened for none but for the Prince.[572] Such was the coming of\nChrist's glory from the east into His Church, as so often alluded to\nbefore.\"[573] Other prophets, no doubt, who prophesied of the grace\nthat should come unto us, who testified beforehand of the sufferings\nof Christ and the glories that should follow, are to be added to\nEzekiel, but, whoever they were, it is undeniable that their highest\nand most glowing representations of that future for which they\nlonged, and the advent of which they were commissioned to proclaim,\nare reproduced in St. John's description of the new Jerusalem. Of what\nwas it, then, that they spoke? Surely it was of the times of the\nMessiah upon earth, of that kingdom of God which He was to establish\nwith the beginning, and not with the end, of the Christian\ndispensation. That they may have looked forward to the world beyond\nthe grave is possible; but any distinction between the first and\nsecond coming of our Lord had not yet risen upon their minds. In the\nsimple coming of the Hope of Israel into the world they beheld the\naccomplishment of every aspiration and longing of the heart of man.\nAnd they were right. The distinction which experience taught the New\nTestament writers to draw was not so much between a first and a second\ncoming of the King as between a kingdom then _hidden_, but afterwards\n_to be manifested_ in all its glory.\n\n3. This ideal view of the Messianic age is also constantly brought\nbefore us in the New Testament. The character, the privileges, and the\nblessings of those who are partakers of the spirit of that time are\nalways presented to us as irradiated with a heavenly and perfect glory.\nSt. Paul addresses the various churches to which he wrote as,\nnotwithstanding all their imperfections, \"beloved of God,\" \"sanctified\nin Christ Jesus,\" \"saints and faithful brethren in Christ.\"[574] Christ\nis \"in them,\" and they are \"in Christ.\"[575] \"Christ loved the Church,\nand gave Himself up for it; that He might present the Church to Himself\na glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but\nthat it should be holy and without blemish,\"[576]--the description\nevidently applying to the present world, where also the Church is\nseated, not in earthly, but in \"the heavenly, places\" with her\nLord.[577] Our \"citizenship\" is declared to be \"in heaven;\"[578] and we\nare even now \"come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God,\nthe heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable hosts of angels, and to the\ngeneral assembly and Church of the first-born, who are enrolled in\nheaven.\"[579] Our Lord Himself and St. John, following in His steps, are\neven more specific as to the present kingdom and the present glory. \"In\nthat day,\" says Jesus to His disciples, \"ye shall know that I am in My\nFather, and ye in Me, and I in you,\"[580] and again, \"And the glory\nwhich Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one,\neven as We are one;\"[581] while it is unnecessary to quote the passages\nmeeting us everywhere in the writings of the beloved disciple in which\nhe speaks of eternal life, and that, too, in the full greatness both of\nits privileges and of its results, as a possession enjoyed by the\nbeliever in this present world. The whole witness of the New Testament,\nin short, is to an ideal, to a perfect, kingdom of God even now\nestablished among men, in which sin is conquered, temptation overcome,\nstrength substituted for weakness, death so deprived of its sting that\nit is no more death, and the Christian, though for a little put to grief\nin manifold temptations, made \"to rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable\nand glorified.\"[582] From all this the representation of the new\nJerusalem in the Apocalypse differs in no essential respect. It enters\nmore into particulars. It illustrates the general thought by a greater\nvariety of detail. But it contains nothing which is not found in\nprinciple in the other sacred writers, and which is not connected by\nthem with the heavenly aspect of the Christian's pilgrimage to his\neternal home.\n\n4. There are distinct indications in the apocalyptic vision which\nleave no interpretation possible except one,--that the new Jerusalem\nhas come, that it has been in the midst of us for more than eighteen\nhundred years, that it is now in the midst of us, and that it shall\ncontinue to be so wherever its King has those who love and serve Him,\nwalk in His light, and share His peace and joy.\n\n(1) Let us look at chap. xx. 9, where we read of \"the camp of the\nsaints and the beloved city.\" That city is none other than the new\nJerusalem, about to be described in the following chapter. It is\nJerusalem after the elements of the harlot character have been wholly\nexpelled, and the call of chap. xviii. 4 has been heard and obeyed,\n\"Come forth, My people, out of her.\" She is inhabited now by none but\n\"saints,\" who, though they have still to war with the world, are\nthemselves the \"called, and chosen, and faithful.\" But this \"beloved\ncity\" is spoken of as in the world, and as the object of attack by\nSatan and his hosts before the Judgment.[583]\n\n(2) Let us look at chap. xxi. 24 and xxii. 2: \"And the nations shall\nwalk by the light thereof; and the kings of the earth do bring their\nglory into it;\" \"And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of\nthe nations.\" Who are these \"nations\" and these \"kings of the earth\"?\nThe constant use of the same expressions in other parts of this book,\nwhere there can be no doubt as to their meaning, compels us to\nunderstand them of nations and kings beyond the pale of the covenant.\nBut if so, the difficulty of realizing the situation at a point of\ntime beyond the Judgment appears to be insuperable, and may be well\nillustrated by the effort of Hengstenberg to overcome it. \"Nations,\"\nsays that commentator, \"in the usage of the Revelation, are not\nnations generally, but always _heathen_ nations in their natural or\nchristianized state; compare at chap. xx. 3. That we are to think here\nonly of _converted_ heathen is as clear as day. No room for conversion\ncan be found on the further side of chap. xx. 15, for every one who\nhad not been found written in the book of life has already been cast\ninto the lake of fire.\"[584] But the words \"or christianized\" in this\ncomment have no countenance from any other passage in the Apocalypse,\nand in Hengstenberg's note at chap. xx. 3 we are referred to nothing\nbut the texts before us. On every other occasion, too, where the word\n\"nations\" meets us, it means unconverted, not converted, nations; and\nhere it can mean nothing else. Were the nations spoken of converted,\nthey would be a part of that new Jerusalem which is not the residence\nof God's people, but His people themselves. They would be the light,\nand not such as walk \"by the light\" of others. They would be the\nhealed, and not those who stand in need of \"healing.\" These \"nations\"\nmust be the unconverted, these \"kings of the earth\" such as have not\nyet acknowledged Jesus to be their King; and nothing of this can be\nfound beyond chap. xx. 15.\n\n(3) Let us look at chap. xxi. 27, where we read, \"And there shall in\nno wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that doeth an\nabomination and a lie.\" These words distinctly intimate that the time\nfor final separation had not yet come. Persons of the wicked character\ndescribed must be supposed to be alive upon the earth after the new\nJerusalem has appeared.\n\n5. Another consideration on the point under discussion may be noticed,\nwhich will have weight with those who admit the existence of that\nprinciple of structure in St. John's writings upon which it rests.\nAlike in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse the Apostle is marked by a\ntendency to return at the close of a section to what he had said at\nthe beginning, and to shut up, as it were, between the two statements\nall he had to say. So here. In chap. i. 3 he introduces his Apocalypse\nwith the words, \"For the time is at hand.\" In chap. xxii. 10,\nimmediately after closing it, he returns to the thought, \"Seal not up\nthe words of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand;\" that\nis, the whole intervening revelation is enclosed between these two\nstatements. All of it precedes the \"time\" spoken of. The new Jerusalem\ncomes before the end.\n\nIn the new Jerusalem, therefore, we have essentially a picture, not of\nthe future, but of the present; of the ideal condition of Christ's true\npeople, of His \"little flock\" on earth, in every age. The picture may\nnot yet be realized in fulness; but every blessing lined in upon its\ncanvas is in principle the believer's now, and will be more and more his\nin actual experience as he opens his eyes to see and his heart to\nreceive. We have been wrong in transferring the picture of the new\nJerusalem to the future alone. It belongs also to the past and to the\npresent. It is the heritage of the children of God at the very time when\nthey are struggling with the world; and the thought of it ought to\nstimulate them to exertion and to console them under suffering.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[561] Trench, _Synonyms_, second series, p. 39.\n\n[562] Comp. pp. 227, 357.\n\n[563] Chap. iv. 3.\n\n[564] Matt. v. 14.\n\n[565] Ps. xxxi. 21; Isa. xxvi. 1.\n\n[566] Ps. xci. 11.\n\n[567] Comp. Ezek. xlviii. 31.\n\n[568] Comp. Ezek. xl. 2, 3.\n\n[569] Chap. xxi. 9.\n\n[570] Ezek. xl. 1, 2.\n\n[571] Ezek. xliii. 2.\n\n[572] Ezek. xliv. 1-3.\n\n[573] _The Apocalypse_, p. 438.\n\n[574] Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2; Col. i. 2.\n\n[575] Col. i. 27; 1 Cor. i. 30; Phil. iii. 9.\n\n[576] Eph. v. 25-27.\n\n[577] Eph. i. 3.\n\n[578] Phil. iii. 20.\n\n[579] Heb. xii. 22, 23.\n\n[580] John xiv. 20.\n\n[581] John xvii. 22.\n\n[582] 1 Pet. i. 8.\n\n[583] Comp. Foxley, _Hulsean Lectures_, Lect. i.\n\n[584] Commentary in _Clark's Foreign Theological Library_, _in loc._\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n _THE EPILOGUE._\n\n REV. xxii. 6-21.\n\n\nThe visions of the Seer have closed, and closed with a picture of the\nfinal and complete triumph of the Church over all her enemies. No more\nglorious representation of what her Lord has done for her could be set\nbefore us than that contained in the description of the new Jerusalem.\nNothing further can be said when we know that in the garden of\nParadise Restored into which she is introduced, in the Holy of holies\nof the Divine Tabernacle planted in the world, she shall eat of the\nfruit of the tree of life, drink of the water of life, and reign for\never and ever. Surely as these visions passed before the eye of St.\nJohn in the lonely isle of Patmos he would be gladdened with the light\nof heaven, and would need no more to strengthen him in the kingdom and\npatience of Jesus Christ. Was it not too much? The Epilogue of the\nbook assures us that it was not; and that, although the natural eye of\nman had not seen, nor his ear heard, nor his heart conceived the\nthings that had been spoken of, they had been revealed by the Spirit\nof God Himself, not one word of whose promises would fail.\n\n And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the\n Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to\n show unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass.\n And, behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the words\n of the prophecy of this book.\n\n And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard\n and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which\n showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not:\n I am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy brethren the\n prophets, and with them which keep the words of this book: worship\n God (xxii. 6-9).\n\nAttention has been already called in this commentary both to that\ncharacteristic of St. John's style as a writer which leads him, at a\nlonger or a shorter interval, to the point from which he started, and\nto the fact that light is thus frequently thrown on the interpretation\nof what he says.[585] Every illustration of such a point is therefore\nnot only interesting, but important; and in the words before us it is\nillustrated with more than ordinary clearness.\n\nThe person introduced with the words _He said unto me_ is not indeed\nnamed, but there can be little doubt that he is the angel spoken of in\nthe Prologue as sent to \"signify\" the revelation that was to\nfollow.[586]\n\nAgain, when the Seer is overwhelmed with what he has seen, and may be\nsaid to have almost feared that it was too wonderful for belief, the\nangel assures him that it was all _faithful and true_. A similar\ndeclaration had been made at chap. xix. 9 by the voice which there\n\"came forth from the throne,\"[587] and likewise at chap. xxi. 5 by Him\n\"that sitteth on the throne.\" The angel therefore who now speaks, like\nthe angel of the Prologue, has the authority of this Divine Being for\nwhat he says. It is true that in the following words, which seem to\ncome from the same speaker, the angel must thus be understood to refer\nto himself in the third person, and not, as we might have expected, in\nthe first,--_The Lord sent His angel_, not The Lord sent me. But, to\nsay nothing of the fact that such a method of address is met with in\nthe prophetic style of the Old Testament, it appears to be\ncharacteristic of St. John in other passages of his writings. More\nparticularly we mark it in the narrative in the fourth Gospel of the\ndeath of Jesus on the Cross: \"And he that hath seen hath borne\nwitness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true,\nthat ye may believe.\"[588]\n\nAgain, we read here that _the Lord sent His angel to show unto His\nservants the things which must shortly come to pass_; and the\nstatement is the same as that of chap. i. 1.\n\nThe next words, _And, behold, I come quickly_, are probably words of\nour Lord Himself; but the blessing upon him _that keepeth the words of\nthe prophecy of this book_ again leads the Seer back to the Prologue,\nwhere a similar blessing is pronounced.[589]\n\nAgain, the remembrance of the Prologue is in the Apostle's mind when,\nnaming himself, he proceeds, _I John am he that heard and saw these\nthings_. In precisely the same manner, after the introductory verses\nof the Prologue, he had named himself as the writer of the book: \"John\nto the seven Churches;\" \"I John, your brother.\"[590] Then he was about\nto write; now that he has written, he is the same John whom the\nChurch knew and honoured, and whose consciousness of everything that\nhad passed was undimmed and perfect. This going back upon the Prologue\nis also sufficient to prove, if proof be thought necessary, that the\nwords \"these things\" are designed to include, not merely the vision of\nthe new Jerusalem, but all the visions of the book.\n\nThat the Seer should have fallen down to _worship before the feet of\nthe angel which showed him these things_ has often caused surprise. He\nhad already done so on a previous occasion,[591] and had been reproved\nin words almost exactly similar to those in which he is now addressed:\n_See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy\nbrethren the prophets, and with them which keep the words of this\nbook: worship God._ How could he so soon forget the warning? We need\nnot wonder. The thought of the one vision preceding his former mistake\nmight easily be swallowed up by the thought of the whole revelation of\nwhich it was a part; and, as the splendour of all that he had\nwitnessed passed once more before his view, he might imagine that the\nangel by whom it was communicated must be worthy of his worship. His\nmistake was corrected as before.\n\nThe prophecy is now in the Seer's hands, ideally, though not actually,\nwritten. He may easily speak of it, therefore, as written, and may\nrelate the instructions which he received regarding it. He does this,\nand again it will be seen how closely he follows the lines of his\nPrologue:--\n\n And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of\n this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unrighteous, let\n him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be\n made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do\n righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy\n still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render\n to each man according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the\n Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed\n are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to\n come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the\n city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the\n fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one\n that loveth and maketh a lie (xxii. 10-15).\n\nTo the prophet Daniel it had been said, \"But thou, O Daniel, shut up\nthe words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.\"[592] The\nhour had not yet come for the full manifestation of that momentous\nfuture upon which he had been commissioned to dwell. The situation of\nSt. John was wholly different, and the hour for winding up the history\nof this dispensation was about to strike. It was not a time then for\nsealing up, but for breaking seals, a time for prophecy, for the\nloudest, clearest, and most urgent proclamation of the truth. \"Behold,\nI come quickly,\" had been a moment before the voice of the great\nJudge. Let the bride for whom He is to come be ready; and, that she\nmay the more promptly be so, let her hear with earnest and immediate\nattention _the words of the prophecy of this book_.\n\nIt is by no means easy to say whether the following words, _He that is\nunrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy,\nlet him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do\nrighteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still_,\nare to be considered as coming from the Apostle or from the angel who\nhas been speaking to him. This difficulty is the same as that\nexperienced in the fourth Gospel at such passages as chap. iii. 16 and\n31, where it is nearly impossible to tell the point at which in the one\ncase the words of Jesus, at which in the other the words of the Baptist,\nend. It would appear as if St. John so sank himself in the person with\nwhom he was occupied at the time that he often gave utterance to\nthoughts without being able to distinguish between the other's and his\nown. In the present instance it matters little to whom we directly refer\nthe words, whether to St. John, or to the angel, or to Him who speaks by\nthe angel. In any case they contain a striking and solemn view of the\nrelation between the righteous Judge and His creatures, when that\nrelation is looked at in its ultimate, in its final, form. One thing is\nclear: that the first two clauses cannot be regarded as a summons to the\nwicked telling them before the Judgment to go on in their wickedness\neven while the period of their probation lasts. Nor can the second two\nclauses be regarded as an assurance to the good that there is a point in\nthe actual experience of life at which their perseverance in goodness is\nsecured. The words can only be understood in the light of that idealism\nwhich is so characteristic alike of the Apocalypse and of the fourth\nGospel. In both books the world of mankind is presented to us in exactly\nthe same light. Men are divided into two great classes: those who are\nprepared to receive the truth and those who are obstinately opposed to\nit; and these classes are spoken of as if they had been formed, not\nmerely after, but before, the work of Christ had tried and proved them.\nNot indeed that the salvation to be found in Jesus was not designed to\nbe universal, that there was even one member of the human family doomed\nby eternal and irresistible decree to everlasting death, nor, again,\nthat men are considered as so essentially identified with the two\nclasses to which they respectively belong that they incur no moral\nresponsibility in accepting or rejecting the Redeemer of the world. In\nthat respect St. John occupied the same ground as his fellow-Apostles.\nNot less than they would he have declared that God willed all men to be\nsaved; and not less than they would he have told them that, if they were\nnot saved, it was because they \"loved the darkness rather than the\nlight.\"[593] Yet, notwithstanding this practical mode in which he would\nhave dealt with men, such is his idealism, such his mode of looking at\nthings in their ultimate, eternal, unchanging aspect, that he constantly\npresents the two classes as if they were divided from each other by a\npermanent wall of separation, and as if the work of Christ consisted not\nso much in bringing the one class over to the other as in making\nmanifest the existing tendencies of each. The light of the one\nbrightens, the darkness of the other deepens, as we proceed; but the\nlight does not become darkness, and the darkness does not become\nlight.[594]\n\nHence, accordingly, the conversion of Israel or of the heathen finds\nno place in the Apocalypse. The texts supposed to offer such a\nprospect will not bear the interpretation put upon them. It does not\nindeed follow that, according to the teaching of this book, neither\nIsrael nor the heathen will be converted. St. John only sees the end\nin the beginning, and deals, not with the everyday practical, but with\nthe ideal and everlasting, issues of God's kingdom. Hence, in\ninterpreting the words before us, we must be careful to put into them\nthe exact shade of meaning which the whole spirit and tone of the\nApostle's writings prove to have been in his mind when they were\nwritten. The clauses \"He that is unrighteous\" and \"He that is filthy\"\nare to be understood as \"He that has loved and chosen unrighteousness\nand filthiness:\" the clauses \"Let him do unrighteousness still\" and\n\"Let him be made filthy still\" as \"Let him sink deeper into the\nunrighteousness and filthiness which he has loved and chosen.\" A\nprinciple freely selected by himself is supposed to be in the breast\nof each, and that principle does not remain fixed and stationary. No\nprinciple does. It unfolds or develops itself according to its own\nnature, rising to greater heights of good if it be good, sinking to\ngreater depths of evil if it be evil. Hence also we are not to imagine\nthat the words under consideration are applicable only to the end, or\nare the record only of a final judgment. They are applicable to the\nChurch and to the world throughout the whole course of their\nrespective histories, and it is at this moment as true as it will ever\nbe that, in so far as the heart and will of a man are really turned to\nevil or to good, the allegiance he has chosen has the tendency of\ncontinued progress towards the triumph of the one or of the other.\n\nIn connexion with thoughts like these, we see the peculiar propriety of\nthat declaration as to Himself and His purposes next made by the\nRedeemer: _Behold, I come quickly._ He comes to wind up the history of\nthe present dispensation. _And My reward is with Me, to render to each\nman according as his work is._ He comes to bestow \"reward\"[595] upon His\nown; and there is no mention of judgment, because for those who are to\nbe rewarded judgment is past and gone. _I am the Alpha and the Omega,\nthe first and the last, the beginning and the end_, the words again\ntaking us back to the language of the Prologue,[596] upon which follows\na blessing for such as _wash their robes_, for those otherwise described\nin the Prologue as \"loosed from their sins in His blood,\"[597] and in\nchap. vii. 14 as having \"washed their robes and made them white in the\nblood of the Lamb.\" These _have the right to come to the tree of life,\nand they enter in by the gates into the city_. A different order might\nhave been expected, for the tree of life grows within the city, and it\nis the happy inhabitants of the city who eat its fruits. But this is the\nblessed paradox of faith. It is difficult to say which privilege enjoyed\nby the believer comes first, and which comes second. Rather may all that\nhe enjoys be looked on as given at once, for the great gift to him is\nChrist Himself, and in Him everything is included. He is the gate of the\ncity, and as such the way to the tree of life; He is the tree of life,\nand they who partake of Him have a right to enter into the city and\ndwell there. Why ask, Which comes first? At one moment we may think that\nit is one blessing, at another that it is another. The true description\nof our state is that we are \"in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us\nwisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:\nthat, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the\nLord.\"[598]\n\nTo enhance our estimate of the happiness of those who are within the\ncity, there comes next a description of those who are without. They are\nfirst denoted by the general term _the dogs_, that animal, as we learn\nfrom many passages of Scripture, being to the Jew the emblem of all that\nwas wild, unregulated, unclean, and offensive.[599] Then the general\nterm is subdivided into various classes; and all of them are _without_,\nnot put out. They were put out when judgment fell upon them. Now they\n_are_ without; and the door once open to them \"is shut.\"[600]\n\nThe last words follow:--\n\n I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for\n the Churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright,\n the morning star.\n\n And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him\n say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come. He that will, let\n him take the water of life freely. I testify unto every man that\n heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add\n unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in\n this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book\n of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of\n life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. He\n which testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen.\n Come, Lord Jesus.\n\n The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen (xxii. 16-21).\n\nOnce more in these words it will be seen that we return to the\nPrologue, in the opening words of which we read, \"The Revelation of\nJesus Christ, which God gave Him, to show unto His servants; ... and\nHe sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.\"[601] The\nglorified Lord now takes up the same words Himself; and, connecting by\nthe name \"Jesus\" all that He was on earth with all that belongs to His\ncondition in heaven, He declares of the whole revelation contained in\nthe visions of this book that the angel through whom it was\ncommunicated had been sent by Him. He Himself had given it--He, even\nJesus,--Jesus the Saviour of His people from their sins, the Captain\nof their salvation, the Joshua who leads them out of the \"wilderness\"\nof this world, across the valley of the shadow of death, into that\nPromised Land which Canaan, with its milk and honey, its vines and\nolive trees, its rest after long wanderings, and its peace after hard\nwarfare, only faintly pictured to their view. Well is He able to do\nthis, for in Him earth meets heaven, and \"the angels of God ascend and\ndescend upon the Son of man.\"[602]\n\nFirst, He is _the root and the offspring of David_, not the root out of\nwhich David springs, as if He would say that He is David's Lord as well\nas David's Son,[603] but the \"shoot that comes out of the stock of Jesse\nand the branch out of his roots that bears fruit.\"[604] He is the \"Son,\nwho was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,\"[605] the\nsubstance of ancient prophecy, the long-promised and looked-for King.\nSecondly, He is _the bright, the morning star_, the star which shines in\nits greatest brilliancy when the darkness is about to disappear, and\nthat day is about to break of which \"the Sun of righteousness, with\nhealing in His wings,\" shall be the everlasting light,[606] Himself \"our\nStar, our Sun.\" Thus He is connected on the one side with earth, on the\nother with heaven, \"Immanuel, God with us,\"[607] touched with a feeling\nof our infirmities, mighty to save. \"What then shall we say to these\nthings? If God is for us, who is against us? He that spared not His own\nSon, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him\nfreely give us all things? Who shall say anything to the charge of God's\nelect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that shall condemn? It is\nChrist Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who\nis at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who\nshall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or\nanguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?\nEven as it is written,\n\nFor Thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as\nsheep for the slaughter.\n\nNay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that\nloved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,\nnor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,\nnor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate\nus from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\"[608]\n\nThe Saviour had declared, \"Behold, I come quickly,\" had spoken of the\n\"reward\" which He would bring with Him, and had used various images to\nset forth the happiness and joy which should be the everlasting\nportion of those for whom He came. These declarations could not fail\nto awaken in the breast of the Church a longing for His coming, and\nthis longing now finds expression.\n\n_The Spirit and the bride say, Come._ We are not to think of two\nseparate voices: the voice of the Spirit and the voice of the bride. It\nis a characteristic of St. John's style that where there is combined\naction, action, having both an inward and invisible and an outward and\nvisible side, he often separates the two agencies by which it is\nproduced. Many illustrations of this may be found in his mention of the\nactions of the Father and the Son, but it will be enough to refer to one\nmore strictly parallel to that met with here. In chap. xv. of the fourth\nGospel we find Jesus saying to His disciples, \"But when the Advocate is\ncome, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of\ntruth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me;\nand ye also bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the\nbeginning.\"[609] In these words we have not two works of witnessing, the\nfirst that of the Advocate, the second that of the disciples. We have\nonly one,--outwardly that of the disciples, inwardly that of the\nAdvocate. In like manner now. The Spirit and the bride do not utter\nseparate calls. The Spirit calls in the bride; the bride calls in the\nSpirit. The cry \"Come\" is therefore that of the spiritually enlightened\nChurch as she answers the voice of her Lord and King. Her voice is the\necho of His. He says, \"I come;\" she answers, \"Come.\" St. John then adds\nthe next clause himself: _And let him that heareth say, Come_; that is,\nlet him that heareth with the hearing of faith; let him who has made his\nown the glorious prospects opened up in the visions of this book as to\nthe Lord's Second Coming add his individual cry to the cry of the\nuniversal Church. To this the Saviour replies, _And he that is athirst,\nlet him come. He that will, let him take the water of life freely._ The\nwords appear to be addressed, not to the world, but to the Church. He\nthat is \"athirst\" has already drunk of the living water, but he thirsts\nfor deeper draughts from that river the streams whereof make glad the\ncity of God. To partake more and more largely of these is the believer's\nlonging; and fulness of blessing is within his reach. Let him never say,\n\"It is enough.\" Let him drink and drink again; let him drink \"freely,\"\nuntil the water that Christ shall give him becomes in him \"a fountain of\nspringing water unto eternal life.\"[610] The statements and replies\ncontained in these words are those of the glorified Lord, of the Church\nspeaking in the Spirit, and of the individual believer, as they hold\nconverse with one another in that moment of highest rapture when evil\nhas been extinguished, when the struggle is over, when the victory has\nbeen gained, and when the Lord of the Church is at the door. He in them\nand they in Him, what can they do but speak to and answer one another in\nstrains expressive of mutual longing and affection and joy?\n\nOnce more the Seer--for it seems to be he that speaks--turns to the\nbook which he has written.\n\nIn the Prologue he had said, \"Blessed is he that readeth, and they\nthat hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things which are\nwritten therein.\"[611] In the same spirit he now denounces a woe upon\nhim who adds to it: _God shall add unto him the plagues which are\nwritten in the book_; nor less upon him who takes from it: _for God\nshall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy\ncity, which are written in this book_. The book has come from Him who\nis the faithful and true Witness of God, and it has been written in\nobedience to His command and under the guidance of His Spirit. St.\nJohn himself is nothing; Christ is all: and St. John knows that the\nwords of his great Master are fulfilled, \"He that receiveth you\nreceiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent\nMe.\"[612] Therefore may he speak with all authority, for it is not he\nthat speaks, but the Holy Spirit.[613]\n\nYet once again, before the parting salutation, Christ and the Church\ninterchange their thoughts. The former speaks first: _He which\ntestifieth these things saith, Yea, I come quickly._ It is the sum and\nsubstance of His message to His suffering people, for they can desire\nor need no more. The \"I\" is the Lord Himself as He is in glory, not in\nthe feebleness of the flesh, not amidst the sins and sorrows of the\nworld, not with the cup of trembling and astonishment in His hand, but\nin the unlimited fulness of His Divine power, clothed with the light\nof His heavenly abode, and anointed with the oil of gladness above His\nfellows. Especially is the Church told that this revelation is all she\nneeds, because throughout the book she is supposed to be in the midst\nof trials. To the troubled heart the Apocalypse is given; and by such\na heart is it best understood.\n\nJesus has spoken; and the Church replies, _Amen. Come, Lord Jesus._\nAmen to all that the Lord has promised; Amen to the thought of sin and\nsorrow banished, of wounded hearts healed, of tears of affliction\nwiped away, of the sting taken from death and victory from the grave,\nof darkness dissipated for ever, of the light of the eternal day.\nSurely it cannot come too soon. \"Why is His chariot so long in coming?\nWhy tarry the wheels of His chariots?\"[614] \"Yea, I come quickly.\nAmen. Come, Lord Jesus.\"\n\nThe salutation of the writer to his readers alone remains. It ought to\nbe read differently from its form in the authorised English version,\nnot \"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,\" but _The\ngrace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints_. For the saints the book\nhad been written; to them it had been spoken: they alone can keep it.\nLet no man who is not in Christ imagine that the Revelation of St.\nJohn is addressed to him. Let no man imagine that, if he has not found\nChrist already, he will find Him here. The book will rather perplex\nand puzzle, more probably offend, him. Only in that union with Christ\nwhich brings with it the hatred of sin and the love of holiness, which\nteaches us that we are \"orphans\"[615] in a present world, which makes\nus wait for the manifestation of the kingdom of God as they that wait\nfor the morning, can we enter into the spirit of the Apocalypse,\nlisten to its threatenings without thinking them too severe, or so\nembrace its promises that they shall heighten rather than lower the\ntone of our spiritual life. Here, if anywhere, faith and love are the\nkey to knowledge, not knowledge the key to faith and love. It is in\nthe very spirit of the book, therefore, not in a spirit hard, or\nnarrow, or unsympathetic, that it closes with the words, \"The grace of\nthe Lord Jesus be with the saints.\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nWe have reached the end of this singular, but at the same time most\ninstructive, book of the New Testament. That the principles upon which\nit has been interpreted should be generally accepted were too much to\nhope for. Their acceptance, where they are received, must depend\nmainly upon the consideration that while, as scientific principles,\nthey are thoroughly capable of defence, they give unity to the book\nand a meaning worthy of that Divine Spirit by whose influence upon the\nsoul of the Apostle it was produced. On no other principles of\ninterpretation does it seem possible to effect this; and the writer of\nthese pages at least is compelled to think that, if they are rejected,\nthere is only one conclusion possible,--that the Apocalypse, however\ninteresting as a literary memorial of the early Christian age, must be\nregarded as a merely human production, and not entitled to a place in\nthe canon of Scripture. Such a place, however, must in the present\nstate of the argument be vindicated for it; and as an inspired book it\nhas accordingly been treated here. What the reader, therefore, has to\nconsider is whether, though some difficulties may not be completely\novercome, he can accept in the main the principles upon which, in\nendeavouring to explain the book, the writer has proceeded. These\nprinciples the reader, whoever he be, undoubtedly applies to\ninnumerable passages of Scripture. In so applying them to the prophets\nof the Old Testament, he follows the example of our Lord and His\nApostles; and much of the New Testament itself equally demands their\napplication. There is nothing new in them. All commentators in part\napply them. They have only been followed out now with more consistency\nand uniformity than usual. Archdeacon Farrar has said that one of the\ntwo questions in New Testament criticism which have acquired new\naspects during the last few years is, What is the key to the\ninterpretation of the Apocalypse?[616] The question is certainly one\nurgently demanding the Church's answer, and one which will without\ndoubt be answered in due time, either in the present or some other\nform. May the Spirit of God guide the Church and her students, and\nthat speedily, into all the truth.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[585] Comp. p. 373.\n\n[586] Chap. i. 1.\n\n[587] Chap. xix. 5.\n\n[588] John xix. 35. Wider questions than can be here discussed would\nbe opened up by an inquiry how far the same method of explanation may\nbe applied to John xvii. 3.\n\n[589] Chap. i. 3.\n\n[590] Chap. i. 4, 9.\n\n[591] Chap. xix. 10.\n\n[592] Dan. xii. 4; comp. viii. 26.\n\n[593] Comp. John iii. 19.\n\n[594] See a fuller treatment of this important point by the author in\nhis _Lectures on the Revelation of St. John_, p. 286, etc.\n\n[595] Comp. chap. xi. 18.\n\n[596] Chap. i. 8.\n\n[597] Chap. i. 5.\n\n[598] 1 Cor. i. 30.\n\n[599] Comp. Ps. xxii. 16, 20; Matt. vii. 6; Phil. iii. 2.\n\n[600] Comp. Matt. xxv. 10.\n\n[601] Chap. i. 1.\n\n[602] John i. 51.\n\n[603] Matt. xxii. 45.\n\n[604] Isa. xi. 1.\n\n[605] Rom. i. 3.\n\n[606] Mal. iv. 2.\n\n[607] Matt. i. 23.\n\n[608] Rom. viii. 31-39.\n\n[609] John xv. 26, 27.\n\n[610] John iv. 14.\n\n[611] Chap. i. 3.\n\n[612] Matt. x. 40.\n\n[613] Comp. Mark xiii. 11.\n\n[614] Judges v. 28.\n\n[615] John xiv. 18, R.V. (margin).\n\n[616] _Expositor_, July, 1888, p. 58.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\n\nObvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout.\n\nNon-Latin characters have been replaced with the nearest Latin\nequivalent for example [oe] (the oe ligature), was replaced with oe.\n\nMissing footnote anchors have been added where it was possible to\ndetermine placement.\n\nInconsistent hyphenation has been left as in the original text.\n\nPage 266: The quote ending (... in the sea_.\") does not have an\nopening quote, left as in the original text.\n\nFootnote 500: This footnote is missing the page number reference to\ncompare to, left as in the original text.","title":"The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Revelation","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":124208}