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diff --git a/26639-0.txt b/26639-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6178c82 --- /dev/null +++ b/26639-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10142 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse by +Sylvester Bliss + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse + +Author: Sylvester Bliss + +Release Date: September 16, 2008 [Ebook #26639] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE*** + + + + + + A + + BRIEF COMMENTARY + + ON THE + + APOCALYPSE + + By SYLVESTER BLISS, + + AUTHOR OF “ANALYSIS OF SACRED CHRONOLOGY,” ETC. + + SECOND EDITION + + BOSTON: + + PUBLISHED BY J. V. HIMES, + + No. 8 CHARDON STREET. + + 1853. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE. +ELEMENTS OF PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION. +EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE. +Footnotes + + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The Apocalypse should be regarded as a peculiarly interesting portion of +scripture: a blessing being promised those who read, hear, and keep the +things which are written therein. It has been subjected to so many +contradictory interpretations, that any attempt to comprehend its meaning +is often regarded with distrust; and the impression has become very +prevalent, that it is a “sealed book,”—that its meaning is so hidden in +unintelligible symbols, that very little can be known respecting it; and +that to attempt to unfold its meaning, is to tread presumptuously on +forbidden ground. + +The attention of the Christian community has been called more of late to +its study, by the publication of several elaborate Expositions. One in two +large volumes, 8vo., by Prof. Stuart, was published at Andover, Mass., in +1845. A large 8vo. volume, by David N. Lord, was issued from the press of +the Harpers, in New York, in 1847; and a smaller work, by Rev. Thomas +Wickes, appeared in that city in 1851. These are the more important works +on the subject which have been published in this country. In England, the +“Horæ Apocalypticæ,” by the Rev. E. B. Elliott, A.M., late Vicar of +Tuxford, and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, has passed through +several editions,—the fourth of which, in four large vols. 8vo., was +published in London, in 1851. These works, with the writings of Habershon, +Cunningham, Croly, Bickersteth, Birks, Brooks, Keith, and other +distinguished English writers, have caused the study of the Apocalypse to +be regarded with more favor of late than heretofore. + +The Expositions of MR. LORD have thrown much light on the nature and laws +of symbols, by unfolding the principles in accordance with which they are +used. The evolving of these has removed from many passages the obscurity +which had before caused them to be regarded as enigmatical. There are, +doubtless, many portions of the Apocalypse, the meaning of which is as yet +only dimly perceived, and which will be more clearly unfolded by the +transpiring of future events; and it would be arrogant to claim that its +interpretation had been freed from all perplexities. But it is believed +that it may be as profitably and as satisfactorily studied as other +portions of Scripture; and that the reader may feel an assurance of +approximating to a knowledge of the true meaning of its symbolic +teachings. + +The Bible is its own interpreter; and when practicable, scripture should +be explained by scripture. The meaning imputed to any passage must never +contradict, but must harmonize with that of parallel texts. In +illustrating the several references in the Apocalypse to the same events +and epochs, a repetition of scripture is somewhat unavoidable. + +These pages have resulted from notes prepared in a familiar course of +Bible-class instruction, where the study of brevity was necessary. Without +designing to speak dogmatically, the didactic was found the more direct +and simple mode of expression. In presenting this exposition, merely as +the opinion of the writer, it is with the hope that it will give, in a +small compass, a common-sense view of the intricacies of this book, and be +acceptable to those interested in the study of prophecy. + + + + + +ELEMENTS OF PROPHETIC INTERPRETATION. + + +1. THE GRAMMAR of any science is a development of the principles by which +it is governed. As the science of interpretation must be founded on some +fixed and uniform laws, the unfolding of these is the first step in the +study of prophecy. + +2. BIBLICAL EXEGESIS and SACRED HERMENEUTICS, are terms applied to the +science of interpretation, or of learning the meaning of Biblical words +and phrases. + +3. THE USUS LOQUENDI, is the usual mode of speaking. When applied to the +Scriptures, it denotes the general _scriptural use_ of words. + +4. To learn the meaning of scriptural terms, their general use must be +ascertained, by comparing their contexts in the several places of their +occurrence. + +5. PROPHECY is the prediction of a future event. The term sometimes +denotes a book of prophecies (Rev. 22:18); and sometimes a history.—2 +Chron. 9:29. + +6. CONSECUTIVE Prophecy gives the succession of future events in the order +in which they will transpire. _Examples._—See Dan. 2d, 7th, 8th, 11th, and +Rev. 6th and 7th, 9th to the 11th; 12th and 15th, &c. + +7. DISCURSIVE Prophecy presents future events, irrespective of the order +of their occurrence. _Examples._—ISAIAH and the minor prophets. + +8. CONDITIONAL Prophecy is when the fulfilment is dependent on the +compliance of those to whom the promise is made, with the conditions on +which it is given. _Examples._—“_If_ ye walk in my statutes and keep my +commandments, and do them: then I will give you rain in due season, and +the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield +their fruit.” Lev. 26:3, 4. “But _if_ ye will _not_ hearken unto me, and +will _not_ do all these commandments; and _if_ ye shall despise my +statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all +my commandments, _but_ that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto +you, I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning +ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall +sow your seed in vain; for your enemies shall eat it.” _Ib._ 14-16. + +“And it shall come to pass, _if_ thou shalt hearken diligently unto the +voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which +I command thee this day: that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above +all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and +overtake thee, _if_ thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy +God.” Deut. 28:1, 2. “But it shall come to pass, _if_ thou wilt not +hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his +commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day: that all +these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee,” &c. _Ib._ 15. + +Predictions of mere national prosperity, or adversity, are usually +conditional. When the condition is not expressed, it is implied. +_Example._—The Lord said unto Jonah, “Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great +city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.... And Jonah began +to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty +days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed +God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of +them even to the least of them.... And God saw their works, that they +turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said +that he would do unto them: and he did it not.” + +For all cases of this kind, the Lord has given the following general RULE: +“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a +kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it: if that nation +against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the +evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak +concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; +if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent +of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.” Jer. 18:7-10. + +9. UNCONDITIONAL Prophecy includes all predictions which are absolute in +their nature. _Examples._—“But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be +filled with the glory of the Lord.” Num. 14:21. + +“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the +people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen +upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the +brightness of thy rising.... For the nation and kingdom that will not +serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.... +Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for +ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be +glorified.” Isa. 60:2, 3, 12, 21. + +“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the +house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it +shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” Micah +4:1. + +10. A VISION is a revelation from GOD, supernaturally presented. Future +events are made to pass before the mind of the _seer_, as if actually +transpiring. _Examples._—See the prophecies of ISAIAH, AMOS, OBADIAH, &c. + +11. A SYMBOLIC VISION is where the future events, instead of being +presented to the mind of the prophet, are represented by analogous +objects. _Examples._—The prophecies of EZEKIEL, DANIEL, ZECHARIAH, and +JOHN, are of this kind. + +12. A LITERAL Prophecy is where the prediction is given in words used +according to their primary and natural import. _Examples._—Num. 14:21-35; +Jer. 25:1-33. + +13. Prophecy is _figurative_ when it abounds in tropes, as in much of +ISAIAH and the minor prophets; and it is symbolic, when symbols instead of +the objects themselves are presented—as in DANIEL and JOHN. + +14. POETRY is writing thus constituted by the metrical or rhythmical +structure of its sentences; and is not necessarily any more figurative or +obscure than prose writing. It is, also, a term sometimes applied to the +language of excited imagination and feeling. + +The Poetry of the Bible consists in Hebrew parallelisms, where the idea of +the preceding line is repeated, or contrasted, in the succeeding one. +_Examples._—The Psalms, ISAIAH, and other prophets. + +15. HIGHLY FIGURATIVE, or SYMBOLIC Prophecies—the laws and use of _Tropes_ +and _Symbols_ being understood are not necessarily more equivocal, +enigmatical or obscure, than those which are literal. + +16. LITERAL FULFILMENT of prophecy is prophecy fulfilled in accordance +with the _grammatical interpretation_ of its language. + +17. LITERAL INTERPRETATION, when _technically_ applied to the +interpretation of prophecy, is not opposed to tropes or figures of speech, +but to _spiritual_ interpretation. It interprets the language of the +Scriptures, as similar language would be interpreted _in all other +writings_. + +18. SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION (_mystical_) seeks, in the language of +Scripture, a meaning that is not expressed by any of the ordinary rules of +language. It sets at defiance all the laws of language, and makes fancy +the interpreter of prophecy. “It subjects clear predictions to an +exegetical alembic that effectually subtilizes and evaporates their +meaning.”—_Bush._ + +19. ULTRA LITERAL INTERPRETATION is a disregard of the peculiarities of +symbols and of the several kinds of tropes—understanding them as if they +were _literally_ expressed. + +20. SYMBOLS and TROPES are _literally_ explained, when interpreted in +accordance with the _grammatical laws_ which respectively govern their +use. + +21. PROPHETIC SYMBOLS are objects, real or imaginary, _representative_ of +agents or objects possessing analogous characteristics. All agents or +objects _seen_ in symbolic visions are symbols. The inspired +_explanations_ of symbols are always literal, except when they are +affirmed to be the same as some other symbol which represents the same +object, as in Rev. 17:9. + +22. LAWS OF SYMBOLS. + +I. “The Symbol and that which it represents resemble each other in the +station they fill, the relation they sustain, and the agencies they exert +in their respective spheres.”—_Lord._ + +II. The Symbol and that which it represents are of the _same_, or they are +of _different_ species, kinds, or rank, according to the _nature_ and +_use_ of the symbol. + +III. “When the Symbol is of such nature, or is used in such a relation +that it can properly symbolise something _different_ from itself, the +representative and that which it represents, while the counterpart of each +other, are of _different_ species, kinds, or rank.”—_Lord._ + +_Example._—Dan. 7:3, beasts; v. 17, governments. + +IV. “Symbols that are of such a nature, station or relation, that there is +nothing of an analogous kind that they can represent, symbolize agents, +objects, acts, or events of _their own_ kind.”—_Ib._ _Example._—Dan. 7:9. + +V. “When the Symbol and that which it symbolizes differ from each other, +the correspondence between the representative and that which it +represents, still extends to their chief parts; and the elements or parts +of the symbols denote corresponding parts in that which is +symbolized.”—_Ib._ + +VI. “The Names of Symbols are their literal and proper names, not +metaphorical titles.”—_Ib._ + +VII. “A single agent, in many instances, symbolizes a body and succession +of agents.”—_Ib._ + +VIII. Symbols of the same kind, and used in the same relations, always +represent one class of objects; and when the office of a symbol has been +once shown, the same symbol, similarly used, always fills a like office. +They are never used arbitrarily. + +IX. While like symbols represent like objects, the same agents are often +indicated by different symbols. + +Thus, a church may be symbolized by a city and a woman; and government, by +a beast and a mountain, &c. + +23. INSPIRED EXPLANATIONS OF SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS:— + + Ancient of Days—The Most High.—Dan. 7:9, 22. + Candlesticks—Churches.—Rev. 1:20. + Carpenters—Destroyers of governments.—Zech. 1:21. + Days—Years.—Num. 14:34. Ezek. 4:4-6. + Horns, of a wild beast—Kings or kingdoms succeeding to a divided + empire.—Dan. 8:22 and 7:24. + Heads, of a wild beast—Kings or forms of government.—Rev. 17:9, 10. + Image, of different metals—A succession of governments.—Dan. + 2:37-42. + Incense, or odors—Prayers.—Rev. 5:8 and 8:4. + Lamb, the—Christ.—Rev. 5:6, 9, 10. + Lamb’s wife—Risen saints.—Rev. 19:7, 8. + Lake of fire and brimstone—The place of the second death.—Rev. + 20:15. + Likeness of a man—The Lord.—Ezek. 1:26, 28, and 8:2, 4. + Linen, fine and clean—Righteousness of saints—Rev. 19:8. + Mountains—Kings, or forms of government.—Rev. 17:9, 10. + New Jerusalem—The redeemed Church, or the Bride, the Lamb’s + wife.—Rev. 21:9, 10. + Revivification of dry bones—Resurrection of the dead.—Ezek. 37:11, + 12. + Stars—Angels, _i.e._, messengers of the churches.—Rev. 1:20. + Souls of martyrs living again—The first resurrection.—Rev. 20:4, 5. + Stone, becoming a mountain—Kingdom of God.—Dan. 2:45. + Waters—Peoples.—Rev. 17:15. + Wild Beasts—Governments.—Dan. 7:17. + Woman—A city.—Rev. 17:18. Explained to be a church.—21:9, 10. + +24. TROPES are figures of various kinds, used to _illustrate_ the subjects +to which they are applied.—They embrace the Simile, Metaphor, Prosopopœia, +Apostrophe, Synecdoche, Allegory, &c. + +25. LAWS OF FIGURES—(_a._) “The terms in which they are expressed are used +in their ordinary and literal sense.”—_Lord._ + +(_b._) “The agents or objects to which figures are applied are always +expressly mentioned. Figures, in that respect, differ wholly from symbols, +which never formally indicate, unless an interpretation is given, who the +agents, or what the objects are which they represent.”—_Ib._ + +(_c._) “The figurative terms are always predicates, or are employed in +affirming something of some other agent or object; and are therefore +either nouns, verbs, adjectives or adverbs.”—_Ib._ + +(_d._) “As their terms are used literally, the figure lies, when they are +employed in an unusual manner, simply in their being applied to objects to +which they do not properly belong.”—_Ib._ + +(_e._) “They are used accordingly in all such cases for the purpose of +illustration, and their explication is accomplished, not by assigning to +them some new and extraordinary meaning, but simply by conjoining with +them the terms of a comparison which expresses the relation in which they +are employed.”—_Ib._ + +(_f._) “It is in metaphors and personification only that acts and +qualities are ascribed to agents and objects that are incompatible with +their nature; or do not properly belong to them.”—_Ib. Theo. & Lit. +Jour._, vol. 1, p. 354. + +26. A SIMILE, or comparison, is an affirmation that one agent, object, or +act, is _like_, or as, another,—there being a real or imaginary +resemblance. Sometimes only the mere fact of a resemblance is affirmed. At +others, the nature of the resemblance is indicated. + +_Examples._—“As for man, his days are _as_ grass.” Psa. 103:15. “Whose +garment was _white_ as _snow_.” Dan. 7:9. + +27. ANTITHESIS is a contrast, or placing in opposite lights things +dissimilar. + +_Example._—“The wicked are overthrown and are not; but the house of the +righteous shall stand.” Prov. 12:7. + +28. A METAPHOR is a simile comprised in a word, without the _sign_ of +comparison. It is an affirmation of an object, incompatible with its +nature—_i.e._, it affirms that an object is, what literally it is only +_like_; or attributes to it acts, to which its acts only bear a +_resemblance_. + +_Examples._—“He is the _Rock_.” Deut. 32:4. “Her gates shall _lament_ and +_mourn_.” Isa. 3:25. + +A metaphor may be a simple affirmation of what an object is, or it may +embrace “the agent, the act, the object, and the effect of an +action.”—_Lord._ + +(_a._) When an object is affirmed to be what it only resembles, that of +which the affirmation is made is always _literally_ expressed. + +(_b._) “When a nature is ascribed to an object that does not belong to it, +the acts or results affirmed to it are proper to that _imputed nature_, +not to its own.”—_Lord._ + +(_c._) “The meaning of a metaphorical passage is precisely what it would +be if a comparison only were affirmed.”—_Ib._ + +29. AN ELLIPTICAL METAPHOR is where the figure is incomplete. An object, +instead of being affirmed to be what it only resembles, is introduced by +the name proper only to that resemblance. The literal name of the object +and the affirmation to complete the figure are to be supplied. + +To find the meaning of an elliptical metaphor, trace the word through the +Bible, and find to what object such metaphorical term is applied. +_Example._—“And in that day there shall be a _Root_ of JESSE, which shall +stand for an ensign of the people.” Isa. 11:10. _Explanation._—“I [JESUS] +am the _Root_ and the offspring of DAVID.” Rev. 22:16. + +30. PROSOPŒIA, or PERSONIFICATION, is an address to an inanimate object, +as if it were a person, and had intelligence.—_Lord._ _Example._—“Give +ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my +mouth.” Deut. 32:1. + +31. AN APOSTROPHE is a _digression_ from the order of any discourse, and a +direct _address_ to the persons of whom it treats, or to those who are to +form a judgment respecting the subject of which it treats.—_Lord._ +_Example._—“Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto +the law of our GOD, ye people of Gomorrah.” Isa. 1:10. + +32. AN ALLEGORY is a narrative in which the subject of the discourse is +described by an analogous subject, resembling it in its characteristics +and circumstances—the subject of which it is descriptive being indicated +in its connection. _Examples._—See Ezek. 31:3-9; Ps. 80:8-16; Jud. 9:8-15. + +Past _historical_ events, instead of supposititious ones, are sometimes +used for illustration. When thus used they serve as allegories, without +affecting their original historical significance. _Example._—Gal. 4: +22-31. See also Rom. 9:7, 8; 1 Cor. 9:9, 10, and 10:11. + +33. A PARABLE is a similitude taken from natural things, to instruct us in +the knowledge of spiritual. _Examples._—Matt. 13th, and 21:28-41. + +The Parable differs from the Allegory in that the acts ascribed are +appropriate to the agents to which they are attributed. In the Allegory, +acts may be ascribed to real objects which are not natural to those +objects. _Example._—See Judges 9:7-15. + +The Parable is sometimes used to denote a prophecy, (Num. 23:7); sometimes +a discourse, (Job 27:1); sometimes a lamentation, (Micah 2:4); sometimes a +proverb, or wise saying, (Prov. 26:7); and sometimes to indicate that a +thing is apocryphal. Ezek. 20:49. The terms parable and allegory, are +often wrongfully applied. + +34. A RIDDLE is an enigma—something to be guessed. _Example._—See Judges +14:24-18. It is sometimes used to denote an allegory. Ezek. 17:1-10. + +35. TYPES are emblems—greater events in the future being prefigured by +typical observances, “which are a shadow of good things to come.” Col. +2:17. + +36. THE HYPOCATASTASIS, or substitution, is a figure introduced by Mr. +LORD, in which the objects, or agents, of one class are, without any +formal notice, employed in the place of the persons or things of which the +passages in which they occur treat; and they are exhibited either as +exerting, or as subjected to an agency proper to their nature, in order to +represent by analogy, the agency which those persons are to exert, or of +which those things are to be the subjects. _Example._—“O, my people, they +which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.”—Isa. +3:12,—expressive of the manner in which they were misled by their rulers +and kept from the truth. + +37. A METONYMY is a reversion, or the use of a noun to express that with +which it is intimately connected, instead of using the term which would +literally express the idea. Thus the cause is used for the effect, the +effect for the cause, the thing containing for that which is contained in +it, &c. _Example._—“Ye have eaten up the _vineyard_.” Isa. 3:14—meaning +the fruit of the vineyard. + +38. A SYNECDOCHE is the use of a word expressive of a part, to signify the +whole; or that expressive of the whole, to denote only a part—as the genus +for the species, or the species for the genus, &c. _Example._—“_Man_ dieth +and wasteth away; yea _man_ giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” Job +14:10. + +39. A HYPERBOLE is an exaggeration in which more is expressed than is +intended to be understood. _Example._—“I suppose that even the world +itself could not contain the books that should be written.” John +21:25—meaning that a great number might be written. + +40. IRONY is the utterance of pointed remarks, contrary to the actual +thoughts of the speaker or writer—not to deceive, but to add force to the +remark. _Examples._—“No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die +with you.” Job 12:2. + +“And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry +aloud: for he _is_ a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he +is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked.” 1 Kings +18:27. + +41. THE INTERROGATION—while its legitimate use is to ask a question—is +also used to affirm or deny with great emphasis. Affirmative +interrogations usually have _no_ or _not_ in connection with the verb. +_Example._—“Is _not_ God in the height of the heavens?” Job 22:12. +_Examples of a negative._—“Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one +day? or shall a nation be born at once?” Isa. 66:8. “Can the rush grow up +without mire?” Job 8:11. + +42. EXCLAMATIONS are digressions from the order of a discourse or writing, +to give expression to the emotions of the speaker, or writer. +_Example._—“O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and +be at rest!” Psa. 55:6. + +43. FABLES are fictions—additions to the word of GOD. All false theories +and doctrines supposed to be based on the Bible, all interpretations of +Scripture which do violence to the laws of language and falsify their +meaning, and all opinions which are the result of mere traditions and +doctrines of men, are to be classed as fables. Mark 7:8-13; 1 Pet. 1:18; 1 +Tim. 1:4; 4:7; Tit. 1:14. + +44. SYNCHRONOUS SCRIPTURES are the several passages which have reference +to any one and the same event. + +Each portion of Scripture respecting any subject, must be considered in +connection with all the Scriptures that refer to the same +subject.—_Compare_, for example, Dan. 2:34, 35, 44; 7:18, 27; Matt. 6:10; +13:37-43; 35:34; 1 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15-18. + + + + + +EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE. + + + + +The Title of the Book. + + + “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to + his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and sending, + he signified _them_ through his angel to his servant John: who + testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, and + whatever he saw.”—Rev. 1:1, 2.—_Prof. Whiting’s Translation._ + + +“The very title of John’s predictions, Apocalypse, implies the _unveiling_ +or ‘_revelation_’ of the mystic and hidden sense of the prophetic oracles, +previously uttered by his inspired predecessors.”—PROF. BUSH. + +“The Αποκαλυψις, from which we have our word Apocalypse, signifies, +literally, a _revelation_, or _discovery_, of what was _concealed_, or +_hidden_.”—DR. CLARKE. + +The work of the apostles was “to make all men see what is the fellowship +of the mystery, which, from the beginning of the world, hath been hid in +God, who created all things by Jesus Christ,” (Eph. 3:9); “even the +mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is +made manifest to his saints,” Col. 1:26. The entire record of the New +Testament, is a revelation that God “hath in these last days spoken unto +us by his Son;” in distinction from the records of the Old Testament, +which He, “at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto +the fathers by the prophets,” Heb. 1:1. But the closing book of the new +series is called, in distinction from the others, “THE REVELATION OF JESUS +CHRIST.” + +It contains the “many things” he had to say to his disciples, in addition +to those recorded by the evangelists; but which they could not then bear, +John 16:12. It is the revelation “which God gave unto him;” for “there is +a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known ... what shall be +in the latter days,” Dan. 2:28. God communicated by his servants the +prophets what should “come to pass hereafter,” by visions which were +“certain,” and by “the interpretation thereof” which was “sure,” Dan. +2:46. But Daniel was commanded to “shut up the words, and seal the book, +even to the time of the end,” when many should “run to and fro,” and +knowledge should “be increased.” And it was added, “Go thy way, Daniel; +for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end: Many +shall be purified and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do +wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall +understand.” Dan. 12:4, 9, 10. + +It will thus be seen, that provision had been made for the future +_unveiling_ of what was left obscure in the predictions of the Old +Testament writers; and for the _unsealing_ of what was then closed up and +sealed. This revelation must come from God; for the Saviour has testified, +that “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, +but my Father only.” Matt. 24:36. “The secret things belong unto the Lord +our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our +children forever.” Deut. 29:29. + +As God had provided for a more full “revelation” respecting the events of +the future, it was necessary that it should be communicated through “the +appointed Heir of all things,” by whom he was to speak in the last days, +Heb. 1:2. The BAPTIST said of Christ, that “what he hath seen and heard, +this he testifieth,” John 3:22. And the Saviour said of him by whom he was +sent, “I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him,” _Ib._ +8:2, 6. And again, he saith, “I have not spoken of myself; but the Father +which sent me, he gave me a commandment; what I should say, and what I +should speak,” _Ib._ 12:49. “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of +David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals +thereof,” Rev. 5:5. + +The design of God in giving this additional revelation, was that he might +“show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;” for +“surely the Lord God doeth nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his +servants the prophets,” Amos 3:7. And he saith, “I have told you before it +come to pass, that when it is come to pass ye might believe,” John 14:29. +When the old world was to be destroyed by water, “Noah, being warned of +God of things not seen as yet, prepared an ark to the saving of his +house,” Heb. 11:7. And when the Lord had purposed the destruction of +Sodom, he said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” and +angels were sent to Lot, that he might say to his children, “Up get ye out +of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city,” Gen. 18:17, and +19:14. So of the times and seasons of the second advent: while “the day of +the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,” he has said to his chosen +ones, “Ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you +as a thief,” 1 Thess. 5:1-4. He has condescended to give his people “a +more sure word of prophecy: whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as +unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day +star arise in your hearts,” 2 Pet. 1:19. Therefore it was said to John, “I +will show thee things which must be hereafter,” Rev. 4:1; which things +were shortly to begin to come to pass,—they being a series of successive +events, commencing near the time in which John wrote, and extending to the +end of the world and the establishment of the everlasting kingdom. + +These were shown to John by symbolic representations, in a series of +visions, the import of which was signified to him by an angelic +interpreter. Said the Saviour, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify +unto you these things in the churches,” 22:16. And _these things_ were not +to be sealed up, like the words of Daniel; for John was commanded to +“_seal not_ the sayings of the prophecy of _this_ book: for the time is at +hand,” 22:10. He recorded the words which God thus gave him,—“the +testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” He has given +us, in graphic language, such descriptions of the visions shown, that we +can easily imagine the symbols which he saw; and we have the inspired +explanations of those which were “signified” to him. Therefore we may +read, and receive the blessings promised to those who keep this testimony +of Jesus. + + + + +The Benediction. + + + “Happy is he, who readeth, and those, who hear the words of this + prophecy, and keep the things, written in it: for the season is + near.” Rev. 1:3. + + +Those who teach that the Apocalypse is a “sealed book,” most clearly +contradict the testimony of Christ respecting it. To discourage the study +of it, is to treat with neglect, and to despise what God has spoken in +these last days by his Son, Heb. 1:2; of whom it is said: “See that ye +refuse not him that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused him who +spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him +that speaketh from heaven,” Heb. 12:25. Those who thus neglect it, cannot +regard the blessing promised to those who read, hear, and keep its +sayings. + +The Apocalypse is not to be undervalued as unprofitable; for “all +scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, +for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the +man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” 2 +Tim. 3:16, 17. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written +for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures +might have hope,” Rom. 15:4. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think +ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me,” John 5:39. +“Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of +things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands +command ye me,” Isa. 45:11. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that +keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book,” Rev. 22:7. + + + + +John’s Salutation to the Churches. + + + “John to the seven congregations in Asia: grace be to you and + peace, from Him who is, and who was, and who is to be; and from + the seven Spirits, that are before his throne; and from Jesus + Christ, the faithful Witness, and the First-born of the dead, and + the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loved us, and + washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings + and priests to God even his father: to him be glory and dominion + for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every + eye will see him, and those, who pierced him: and all the tribes + of the earth will wail because of him. Yea, so be it! I am the + Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and + who is to be, the Almighty.”—Rev. 1:4-8. + + +The seven churches to which John sends salutation, were those of Ephesus, +Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, 1:11. The +Asia, in which they were situated, was a province in Asia Minor, distinct +from Pontus, Gallatia, and Bithynia; which also were in Asia Minor, 1 Pet. +1:1, and Acts 2:9. Of the province of Asia, Ephesus was the capital, and +was the principal place of John’s residence. The seven cities which +contained those churches, were situated in a kind of amphitheatre, +surrounded by mountains. Smyrna was 46 miles north of Ephesus, and +Pergamos 64 miles; Thyatira was 48 miles to the east, and Sardis 33 miles; +Philadelphia 27 miles to the south, and Laodicea 42 miles. These churches +had all been under the general supervision of John’s ministry; and for +this reason, doubtless, they are especially designated, instead of those +with which he had not been so intimately connected. + +John writes to the seven churches, in obedience to the command,—“What thou +seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in +Asia,” 1:11. He seems to have written what he saw, at the time of its +exhibition, and not at the close of the entire presentation; for when he +was about to write the discordant utterances of “the seven thunders,” he +was told to “write them not,” 10:4. + +John observes the oriental custom of placing his name at the commencement, +instead of the close of his communication. Few persons now deny that this +was John the Evangelist. Irenæus, who was born only about 30 years after +the death of John, speaks of the writer of the Apocalypse, as “the +disciple of Christ,—that same John that leaned on his breast at the last +supper.” + +Most beautiful reference is here made to the attributes of DEITY: “Him who +is, and who was, and who is to be,” can be no other than the great +Preëxistent, who said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM,” Ex. 13:14. + +The seven Spirits, would seem to be irrelevantly placed between the Father +and the Son,—the place always occupied by the Holy Spirit, when spoken of +in connection with them,—if they were merely seven angels. Grace would +also seem to be irreverently invoked from such,—its presence being implied +where it is invoked,—unless they are expressive of the Holy Spirit, in +which grace is inherent, and from whom it may be communicated; as it may +not be from angels. Seven is a full and perfect number, and it may be here +used because in another place “seven lamps of fire burning before the +throne” are symbolic of “the seven Spirits of God,” (4:5); which, if +angels, would be expressly named, as in other inspired explanations,—as +they are in that of the stars, 1:20. A burning _flame_ is often used as a +symbol of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when God would make a covenant with +Abraham, and the victims between which the covenanting parties were to +pass, were divided, the presence of God was symbolized by “a burning lamp +that passed between those pieces,” Gen. 15:17. And the descent of the Holy +Spirit on the day of Pentecost, was manifested by “cloven tongues, like as +of fire,” which “sat upon each of them,” Acts 2:3. In Zechariah 3:9, we +read of the symbol of a stone laid before Joshua, that on it were engraved +“seven eyes,” which “are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro, +through the whole earth,” (Zech. 4:10);—an expressive figure of God’s +Omniscience. The same is symbolized in Rev. 5:6, by the “seven eyes” of +the LAMB. + +Jesus Christ is the faithful Witness. He “was faithful to him that +appointed him,” (Heb. 3:2); and he was given as a Witness to the people, a +Leader and Commander to the people, Isa. 55:4. He is the “first-begotten +of the dead,” having “risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of +them that slept,” 1 Cor. 15:20: he is “declared to be the Son of God, with +power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the +dead,” Rom. 1:4. He is “the Prince of the kings of the earth,” the “King +of kings and Lord of lords,” 19:16; “all kings shall fall down before him: +all nations shall serve him,” Psa. 72:11. He hath shown how he “loved us,” +by giving himself for us, (Gal. 2:20); and hath cleansed his people from +all sin, not “by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he +entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption +for us,” Heb. 9:12. He has redeemed us to God “out of every kindred, and +tongue, and people, and nation,” Rev. 5:9. He is the one who is to come in +the clouds of heaven, in resplendent majesty, to reward his saints, and to +destroy those who destroy the earth, 11:18. The announcement that he +“cometh with clouds” is as if John had said that what he was commanded to +write, was a revelation of the events which were to precede and usher in +that coming. + + + + +Christ’s Annunciation. + + + “I John, your brother, and partner in the affliction, and kingdom + and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the island called Patmos, for + the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in + the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, + like that of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, + and send it to the seven congregations, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, + and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to + Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”—Rev. 1:9-11. + + +This gives a clue to the date of the Apocalypse. It was written when John +was in the Isle of Patmos: “It is the general testimony of ancient +authors, that St. John was banished into Patmos in the time of Domitian, +in the latter part of his reign, and restored by his successor, Nerva. But +the book could not be published till after John’s release, and return to +Ephesus, in Asia. Domitian died in 96, and his persecution did not +commence till near the close of his reign.”—DR. CLARKE. + +“DOMITIAN, having exercised his cruelty against many, and unjustly slain +no small number of noble and illustrious men at Rome, ... at length +established himself as the successor of NERO, in his hatred and hostility +to GOD. He was the _second_ that raised a persecution against us. In this +persecution, it is handed down by tradition, that the apostle and +evangelist, JOHN, ... was condemned to dwell on the island of Patmos. +IRENÆUS, indeed, in his fifth book against the heresies, where he speaks +of the calculation formed on the epithet of Antichrist, in the +above-mentioned Revelation of JOHN, speaks in the following manner +respecting him: ‘If, however, it were necessary to proclaim his name +(_i.e._ Antichrist’s), openly at the present time, it would have been +declared by him who saw the Revelation, for it was not long since it was +seen, but _almost in our own times_, at the _close_ of DOMITIAN’s +reign.’ ”—EUSEBIUS. + +Prof. Stuart, who dissents from the opinion, admits that “a majority of +the older critics have been inclined to adopt the opinion of Irenæus, +viz.: that it was written during the reign of Domitian, _i.e._, during the +last part of the first century, or in A. D. 95 or 96.”—Com. _Apoc._, V. +I., p. 263. + +John’s adherence to the word and testimony of Christ, had caused his +banishment—as others “were slain—for the word of God, and for the +testimony which they held,” (6:9); and whose living again and reigning +with Christ, was subsequently shown John in a vision, 20:4. + +John was in the spirit; _i.e._, he was in a state of prophetic ecstasy, in +which he was, as it were, caught away from a realization of the actual and +the present, and shown “the things which must be hereafter.” It was on the +“Lord’s day,” the first day of the week, which was so called because on +that day the Lord arose from the dead. It was a day which has been +observed by all Christians in especial remembrance of that event. John +does not appear to have anticipated any such announcement, until he was +suddenly startled from his meditation by a voice in trumpet tones, +announcing itself by the titles of Christ, and commanding him to write to +the churches what he _saw_. Hearing the voice, he turned to see who had +spoken to him, and beheld a + + + + +Vision of Christ. + + + “And I turned to see the voice, that spoke with me. And having + turned, I saw seven golden lamp-stands; and in the midst of the + seven lamp-stands one like a Son of man, clothed with a garment + reaching the feet, and girded around the breasts with a golden + girdle. His head, even his hair, was white like white wool, like + snow; and his eyes were like a flame of fire; and his feet like + fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice like the + sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: + and from his mouth went forth a sharp two-edged sword: and his + countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I + saw him, I fell at his feet as if dead. And he laid his right hand + on me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, and am he, + who liveth, and I became dead; and behold, I am alive for ever and + ever, and have the keys of death and the pit. Therefore, write the + things, which thou hast seen, and the things, which are, and the + things, which will take place hereafter; the secret of the seven + stars, which thou hast seen in my right hand, and the seven golden + lamp-stands. The seven stars, are the messengers of the seven + congregations: and the seven lamp-stands are the seven + congregations.”—Rev. 1:12-20. + + +The voice, by a metonymy, is used for the person speaking. He turned to +see the glorious personage by whom the trumpet-tones were uttered. Being +turned, he saw the commencement of those great panoramic presentations, by +which the events of the future were revealed to him, and the significance +of which were explained by an angelic interpreter. + +The “seven golden candlesticks,” symbolize “the seven churches” (1:20), to +which John was commanded to write. By this, and other symbols which are +divinely interpreted, are unfolded the principles on which symbols are +used. A candle or lamp stand, supports the light placed on it, as churches +are the recipients and dispensers of the light of the Holy Scriptures. +They are therefore appropriate symbols of churches. + +“In the midst of the candlesticks” is one in the form of humanity, +surrounded by the insignia of Deity. It is the same appearance that +Ezekiel saw, when he had a vision “of the likeness of the glory of the +Lord,” (Ezek. 1:26-28); and before which Daniel fell trembling, Dan. +10:5-9. The sublime spectacle was too overwhelming for John’s endurance, +and, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, his strength turned to corruption. +But the glorified Saviour was the same sympathetic being on whose breast +John leaned, at the last supper, and he lays his endearing hand on John, +and, by soothing words, restores his confidence. He explains the mystery +contained in the symbols shown, and enjoins on him to write the things he +had seen—symbolic of the things which then were, and of those which were +then in the future. As no created resemblance is a fit representative of +Deity, Christ is shown to John by the symbol of his own likeness. + +The “seven stars” in the right hand of the Saviour, are the angels,—the +messengers, or pastors of the seven churches, 1:20. As the Saviour holds +the stars in his hand, so does he sustain all his gospel ministers, +enabling them to impart light to those who sit under their ministrations. +And as he walked in the midst of the golden candlesticks, so the Lord is +ever in the midst of those who fear him, and call upon his name. + + + + +Epistles to the Seven Churches. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Ephesus. + + + “To the messenger of the congregation of Ephesus write: These + things saith He who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who + walketh in the midst of the seven golden lamp-stands: I know thy + works, and thy toil, and thy patience, and that thou canst not + endure the evil; and thou hast tried those, who say they are + apostles, and are not; and hast found them liars; and hast + patience, and hast endured on account of my name, and hast not + fainted. Nevertheless, I have this against thee, that thou hast + left thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou hast fallen, + and repent and do the first works; or else I will come to thee + quickly, and will remove thy lamp-stand out of its place, except + thou repentest. But thou hast this, that thou hatest the deeds of + the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He, who hath an ear, let him + hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations: To him, who + overcometh, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in + the paradise of God.”—Rev. 2:1-7. + + +The seven churches are not, themselves, seen in vision; they were +symbolized by seven golden candlesticks. Consequently, these are seven +literal churches that are addressed, and not allegorical, as some teach. +The symbolic portions of the Apocalypse, are the descriptions of what John +saw, and the attendant utterances. What was addressed to the ear by way of +explanation and instruction, does not come under the laws of +symbolization. + +As churches, in all ages, are often in the several conditions ascribed to +the seven churches, the warnings, admonitions, and consolations addressed +to them, may serve for instruction to all Christians, as implied in the +declaration: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to +the churches,” 2:29. + +“By αγγελος, angel [or messenger], we are to understand the _messenger_, +or person sent by God to preside over the church; and to him the epistle +is directed, not as pointing out his state, but the state of the church +under his care. The Angel of the Church, here answers exactly to that +officer of the synagogue among the Jews, called the _messenger_ of the +church, whose business it was to _read_, _pray_, and _teach_ in the +synagogue.”—DR. CLARKE. Timothy is supposed to have had the care of the +Ephesian church till A. D. 97, when he was martyred. + +Ephesus was a large, idolatrous city, “a worshipper of the great goddess +Diana, and of the image which,” as they claimed, “fell down from Jupiter,” +Acts 19:35. The gospel was first preached there by Paul, and with such +success, that “Many of them also which used curious arts, brought their +books together, and burned them before all men; and they counted the price +of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver: So mightily grew +the word of God, and prevailed,” _Ib._ 19, 20. They continued a fine and +prosperous church, but had fallen away from their first love. Therefore He +who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and holdeth in +his hand the messengers of the churches, admonished them that, unless they +repented he would remove their candlestick, _i.e._, their church, of which +the candlestick was a symbol, out of its place. They did not repent; and, +says Gibbon, “In the year 1312, began the _captivity_, or ruin of the +seven churches by the Ottoman power. In the loss of Ephesus, the +Christians deplored the loss of the first _Angel_, the extinction of the +first _candlestick_ of the Revelations. The desolation is complete, and +the temple of _Diana_, or the church of _Mary_, will equally elude the +search of the curious traveller.” + +The Nicolaitanes, whose deeds God hated, were a sect of heretics, who +assumed the name from Nicholas of Antioch, one of the first seven deacons +of the church in Jerusalem. It is believed that he was rather the innocent +occasion, than the author of the infamous practices of those who assumed +his name,—who allowed a community of wives, and ate meats offered in +sacrifice to idols. It was a short-lived sect. + +For hating their deeds, the church of Ephesus was commended, and also for +not giving countenance to false teachers, who claimed to be apostles, and +were proved to be liars. Thus are Christians to “believe not every spirit, +but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets +are gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1. “Such are false apostles, +deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ,” 2 +Cor. 11:13. “There were false prophets also among the people, even as +there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in +damnable heresies,” 2 Pet. 2:1. + +The promise to him that overcometh, that he shall “eat of the tree of +life,” points to the resurrection and to the new creation. As in Eden was +made to grow “the tree of life” (Gen. 2:9), so in Eden restored, “they +that do his commandments ... may have right to the tree of life, and may +enter in through the gates into the city,” Rev. 22:2. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Smyrna. + + + “And to the messenger of the congregation in Smyrna, write: These + things saith the First and the Last, who became dead and is alive: + I know thy works, and affliction, and poverty (but thou art rich); + and I know the reviling of those, who say they are Jews, and are + not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear none of the things, which + thou wilt suffer. Behold, the devil will cast some of you into + prison, that ye may be tried, and ye will have affliction ten + days. Be thou faithful to death, and I will give thee the crown of + life. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to + the Congregations: he who overcometh, will not be hurt by the + second death.”—Rev. 2:8-11. + + +The angel of the church in Smyrna is supposed to have been Polycarp, who, +rather than to apostatize, was burnt alive in that city about A. D. 166. +That church had passed through the trial of poverty, and was found “rich +toward God,” Luke 12:21. It had suffered from the blasphemy of unbelieving +Jews, who had a synagogue there and were particularly active at the +martyrdom of Polycarp. But “He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; +neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a +Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the +spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God,” +Rom. 2:28, 29. And the crucified and risen Saviour has said, that they are +“of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews, and are not, but do +lie,” Rev. 3:9. + +Not a word of reproof is addressed to this faithful flock; but they were +to be still further tried, and a terrible persecution was foretold, which +should continue ten prophetic days. Ten years was the duration of the last +and bloodiest persecution under Diocletian, from A. D. 302 to 312, during +which all the Asiatic churches were grievously afflicted. + +This church passed triumphantly through all those trials; and Smyrna is +now the most flourishing city of the Asiatic churches. It contains a +population of 100,000, and is the seat of an archbishop. From 15,000 to +20,000 of its inhabitants are still professedly Christian. + +The “crown of life,” promised to those who are faithful unto death, is to +be given at Christ’s second coming, “who shall judge the quick and the +dead at his appearing and kingdom,” 2 Tim. 4:1: “Henceforth there is laid +up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, +shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that +love his appearing,” _Ib._ 8. “Blessed is the man that endureth +temptation: for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which +the Lord hath promised to them that love him,” Jam. 1:12. + +Those who shall not be hurt of the “second death,” are those who shall +attain unto the resurrection of the just, at the commencement of the +millennium. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first +resurrection: on such the second death hath no power; but they shall be +priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years,” +Rev. 20:6. “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and +murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, +shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: +which is the second death,” 21:8. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Pergamos. + + + And to the messenger of the congregation in Pergamos write: These + things saith He who hath the sharp two-edged sword: I know thy + works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is; and + thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in + those days in which Antipas was my faithful witness: who was slain + among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against + thee, because thou hast there those, who hold fast the doctrine of + Balaam, who taught Balak to cast an enticement to sin before the + children of Israel: to eat idol-sacrifices, and to commit + fornication. So thou hast also those, who hold fast the doctrine + of the Nicolaitanes, in like manner. Repent; or else I will come + to thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my + mouth. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to + the congregations: To him, who overcometh, I will grant to eat of + the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and on the + stone a new name written, which no one knoweth, but he, who + receiveth it.—Rev. 2:12-17. + + +“He which hath the sharp sword with two edges,” is the one who walked in +the midst of the seven golden lamp-stands—out of whose “mouth went a sharp +two-edged sword,” 1:16. This identifies him as the one who was followed by +the armies of heaven, when “the remnant were slain with the sword of him +that sat upon the horse: which sword proceeded out of his mouth,” 19:21. +“The sword of the Spirit ... is the word of God,” Eph. 6:17. “He shall +smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips +shall he slay the wicked,” Isa. 11:4. The One who indites this epistle is +thus designated, probably, because, unless they repented of the things +alleged against them, he would fight against them with the sword of his +mouth. + +The church of Pergamos had refrained from apostasy, although situated in a +wicked and corrupt city,—even where Satan reigned almost supreme and +received the obedience of its inhabitants. They had been faithful in those +days when Antipas, a faithful Christian, and probably the former pastor of +the church, was slain (Dr. Hales thinks) in Domitian’s persecution, in A. +D. 94. Yet, the Lord had some things against them. + +The doctrine of Balaam is what that prophet counselled Balak to cast as a +stumbling-block before Israel: For “the people began to commit whoredom +with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices +of their gods; and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And +Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor,” Num. 25:1-3. And Moses said of the +women of Midian, “Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the +counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of +Peor,” _Ib._ 31:16. This was also, probably, the same as the doctrine of +the Nicolaitanes, p. 34. + +The “hidden manna” seems to be a reference to that hidden in the ark, +where it was laid up before the Lord (Ex. 16:33), in memory of what was +sent for the sustenance of Israel in the wilderness, where “man did eat +angel’s food,” Ps. 78:25. The law having a shadow of good things to come +(Heb. 10:1), the manna hidden in the ark may be typical of the angelic +sustenance to be revealed in the future world. The Saviour said, “Verily, +verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I +am that bread of life. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, +that a man may eat thereof, and not die,” John 6:47, 48, 50. + +The “white stone” has received divers interpretations. In ancient trials, +the votes of the judges were given by _white_ and _black_ pebbles. The +former signified acquittal, and the latter condemnation. Conquerors in +public games sometimes received a _white stone_ with their name inscribed +on it, which entitled them, during the remainder of their life, to be +maintained at the public expense. Persons were sometimes invited to feasts +or banquets, by the presentation of a white stone, with their name on it +in connection with that of their hosts. The possession of the white stone +evidently entitles the possessor to all the privileges of the heavenly +inheritance. + +The “new name” is unknown to all but its possessor; who, on its +possession, becomes a child of God, and will receive, saith God, “in my +house and within my walls, a place and a name better than of sons and of +daughters: I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut +off,” Isa. 56:5. The Saviour has promised that “him that overcometh will I +make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I +will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my +God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; +and I will write upon him my new name,” Rev. 3:12. And his new “name” “no +man knew but he himself,” _Ib._ 19:12. + +Pergamos still contains a few thousand inhabitants. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Thyatira. + + + “And to the messenger of the congregation in Thyatira write: These + things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of + fire, and his feet like fine brass: I know thy works, and love, + and faith, and service, and thy patience, and thy works; and thy + last works to be greater than the first. Notwithstanding, I have + something against thee, because thou allowest thy woman Jezebel, + who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants + to commit fornication, and to eat idol sacrifices. And I gave her + time to repent, and she would not repent of her fornication. + Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those, who commit adultery + with her, into great affliction, unless they repent of their + deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the + congregations will know that I am he, who searcheth the reins and + hearts: and I will give to each of you according to your works. + But to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, As many as have not + this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as + (they say;) I will not put on you another burden: but what ye + have, hold fast till I come. And he, who overcometh, and keepeth + my works to the end, to him, I will give power over the nations: + (and he will rule them with a rod of iron; like the vessels of a + potter they will be dashed in pieces:) even as I received of my + Father. And I will give him the morning-star. He, who hath an ear, + let him hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations”—Rev. + 2:18-29. + + +In commending the general piety of this church, they are censured for +permitting a woman to teach false doctrines among them. The church is not +only made responsible for what it teaches, but also for what it suffers +others to teach. In this particular the church in Thyatira appears in +contrast with the church in Ephesus. The doctrines which this wicked woman +taught appear to be similar to those of the Nicolaitanes, p. 34. She is +probably called Jezebel, from her being a woman of power and influence, +like the wife of Ahab, who “did sell himself to work wickedness in the +sight of the Lord: whom Jezebel his wife stirred up,” 1 Kings 21:25. + +They who had not fallen into those depths of Satan, and should continue +faithful to the end, were to have “power over the nations.” “The saints of +the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, +even for ever and ever. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of +the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the +saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all +dominions shall serve and obey him,” Dan. 7:18, 27. “Ask of me, and I +shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts +of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; +thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” Ps. 2:8, 9. “To +execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To +execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all the saints. +Praise ye the Lord,” _Ib._ 149:7, 9. + +To receive the morning star, is to receive Christ, who testifieth of +himself. “I am ... the bright and morning star,” Rev. 22:16. We are +commanded to take heed to the “sure word of prophecy ... as unto a light +that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise +in your hearts,” 2 Pet. 1:19. As “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of +prophecy” (19:10), those who refuse to consider the revelation he has +given of things which shortly after began to come to pass, and which must +now be verging towards their consummation, may fail of becoming +illuminated by the day-star in their hearts. + +Says Gibbon: “The God of Mahomet, without a rival or a Son, is invoked in +the mosques of Thyatira and Pergamos.” + + + +Epistle to the Church in Sardis. + + + “And to the messenger of the congregation in Sardis write: These + things saith He, who hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven + stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, + and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things, which + remain, which are about to die: for I have not found thy works + complete before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and + heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not + watch, I will come on thee like a thief, and thou wilt not know + what hour I will come on thee. But thou hast a few names in + Sardis, that have not defiled their garments; and they will walk + with me in white: for they are worthy. He, who overcometh, the + same one will be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out + his name from the book of life, but I will acknowledge his name + before my Father, and before his angels. He, who hath an ear, let + him hear what the Spirit saith unto the congregations.”—Rev. + 3:1-6. + + +The church in Sardis was Christian in name, but was destitute of spiritual +life, with the exception of a few names who had not defiled their +garments. Having become dead to the revivifying influences of the Holy +Spirit, they are reminded that he who addresses them is the one who holds +their messenger in his hand, and who hath the seven Spirits of God; +_i.e._, that it was from the One who said of “the Comforter, which is the +Holy Ghost” (John 14:26), “when the Comforter is come, whom I will send +unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from +the Father, he shall testify of me,” _Ib._ 15:26. + +They had doubtless become greatly conformed to the corrupt worldly +influences by which they were surrounded, without having actually denied +the faith, or embraced the hated doctrines of the Nicolaitanes. Therefore +they were exhorted to hold fast all that they still retained, and, by +repentance, to recover what they had lost; and they were admonished that +if they neglected those precautions, they would be suddenly visited; +without its being designated what would be the precise nature, time, or +manner, of their visitation: which made the threatening the more terrible. + +The “few names” which had not defiled their garments, were used by a +metonymy to signify persons. When an apostle was to be chosen in the place +of Judas, “the number of the names together were about one hundred and +twenty,” Acts 1:15. Purity of raiment is significant of purity of +character: “Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments,” 16:15. +White is an emblem of purity. To the “bride,” it “was granted that she +should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white: for the fine linen is the +righteousness of the saints,” 19:8. Those who came out of great +tribulation, had “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of +the Lamb,” (7:13); and therefore they were symbolized as standing before +the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms of +victory in their hands, 7:9. To be clothed in white raiment, is therefore +to be accepted of the Saviour. + +To blot one’s name out of the book of life, is to erase his title to +heaven. The figure seems to be an allusion to the ancient custom of +enrolling in a book the names of all free citizens. If their names were +confessedly written there, they were entitled to all the privileges and +immunities of citizenship; but if blotted out, they had forfeited these. +“They that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written +in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the +beast that was, and is not, and yet is,” 17:8. Moses said, if God would +not forgive Israel, “blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast +written,” Ex. 32:32. Of his enemies, David said, “Let them be blotted out +of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous,” Ps. +67:28. Those only enter the New Jerusalem, “which are written in the +Lamb’s book of life,” 21:27. + +The church in Sardis, has long been utterly extinct; and what remains of +the city is a miserable Turkish village. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Philadelphia. + + + “And to the messenger of the congregation in Philadelphia write: + These things saith the Holy, the True One, he who hath the key of + David, he who openeth, and no one shutteth; and shutteth, and no + one openeth: I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an + open door, and no one can shut it; for thou hast a little + strength, and hast held fast my word, and hast not denied my name. + Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they + are Jews, and are not, but who lie; behold, I will make them come + and bow down before thy feet, and know that I have loved thee. + Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep + thee from the hour of trial, which will come on all the world, to + try those, who dwell on the earth. I come quickly: hold fast that + which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. I will make him, who + overcometh, a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out + no more: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name + of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, (which cometh down out + of heaven from my God:) and my new name. He, who hath an ear, let + him hear what the Spirit saith to the congregations.”—Rev. 3:7-13. + + +The church of Philadelphia had maintained her integrity, and is therefore +addressed in the language of commendation, without the rebukes which were +directed to her sister churches. Having remained true to Him who “was +called Faithful and True” (19:11), the epistle to this church makes +mention of the Saviour by those titles, which are significant of his own +faithfulness and inherent holiness. + +“The key of David,” brings to view the prediction of that which was to be +laid “upon his shoulder;” so that “he shall open, and none shall shut; and +he shall shut, and none shall open,” Isa. 22:22. A key symbolizes that +which will open or unlock, or will close fast: therefore said the Saviour, +“I ... have the keys of hell and of death.” By virtue of this power, an +open door was set before the church of Philadelphia, which no man should +be able to close. + +The Jews in Philadelphia, who had claimed to be the only true church of +God, but who were in reality of the synagogue of Satan, were to cease +their opposition to the Christians, and to seek instruction and protection +from them—recognizing the love of God to Gentiles as well as to Jews. +History is silent respecting the fulfilment of this; but there is no +reason to suppose that it was not literally fulfilled. + +The “hour of temptation,” which was to “come upon all the world, to try +them that dwell on the earth,” was to be one of peculiar trial. Some +suppose it had reference to the persecution under Trajan, which was more +severe and extensive than those under Nero, or Domitian: and others that +it was the Mohammedan delusion. In such times there are peculiar +temptations to apostatize, and the less faithful are in more danger of +apostasy than others. But because the Philadelphian church had been +faithful thus far, they were to be kept from that trying hour. When the +scourge of Mohammedanism swept over all the other churches of Asia, this +church maintained its integrity. Says Gibbon: “Among the Greek colonies +and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene of +ruins. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the emperors, encompassed +on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion +and their freedom above fourscore years, and at length capitulated with +the proudest of the Ottomans.” Philadelphia is still the seat of an +archbishop, and contains from six hundred to seven hundred Greek houses, +and several places of Christian worship. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver +the godly out of temptations,” 2 Pet. 2:9. + +They are encouraged to constancy by the prospect of the coming coronation +day, when “the Lord; the righteous Judge shall give” a “crown of +righteousness,” “unto all them that love his appearing,” 2 Tim. 4:8. He +has said “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of +life” (2:10); and therefore “when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye +shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away,” 1 Pet. 5:4. + +A pillar in the temple of God, is expressive of a position which shall +give support to the church, which is erected “upon the foundation of the +apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; +In whom the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in +the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God +through the Spirit,” Eph. 2:20-22. + +To receive the name of God, is to be recognized as belonging to God. As +masters designated their servants by branding their name on them, or by +some peculiar mark, so the children of God are referred to by the same +figure. In a subsequent vision John saw with the Lamb on Mount Zion, “an +hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in +their foreheads,” 14:1. Their connection with new Jerusalem is similarly +designated. + + + +Epistle to the Church in Laodicea. + + + “And to the messenger of the congregation in Laodicea write: These + things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Ruler of + the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold + nor hot: I would that thou wast cold or hot. So, because thou art + lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will cast thee out of my + mouth: because thou sayest, I am rich, and have become wealthy, + and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, + and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to + buy of me gold tried by fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white + raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy + nakedness may not appear; and to anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, + that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chastise: be + fervent therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and + knock: if any one heareth my voice, and openeth the door, I will + come in to him, and will sup with him, and he shall sup with me. + To him, who overcometh I will grant to sit with me in my throne, + even as I also overcame, and have sat down with my Father in his + throne. He, who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to + the congregations.”—Rev. 3:14-22. + + +By his titles of truth and verity, the Saviour prepares the Laodiceans for +the humiliating threatenings, which are uttered against them. By that of +“the beginning of the creation of God,” is indicated Christ’s kingship as +head and governor of all; and hence the authority on which his +declarations are founded. + +The Laodiceans seemed to have been very well satisfied with their own +condition, without possessing any very marked characteristics. They were +neither good, nor very wicked; but supposed that they abounded in all +spiritual wealth, when they were destitute of all the Christian graces. +They could not appreciate their own condition; and not realizing their +need, were unlikely to heed the counsel given them, and therefore they +have long since ceased to have a name and a place on the earth. Says +Gibbon: “The circus and three stately temples of Laodicea, are now peopled +with wolves and foxes.” + +The great majority of them seemed to have become unworthy even of the +chastisement which God bestows on those he loves. “Behold, happy is the +man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not the chastening of the +Almighty,” Job 5:17. “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord: +neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he +correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth,” Prov. 3:11, +12. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he +shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that +love him,” Jas. 1:12. + +The Saviour shows his readiness to receive those who will open unto him. +He is saying, “Open to me ... for my head is filled with dew, and my locks +with the drops of the night,” Cant. 5:2. “Blessed are those servants, whom +the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: verily I say unto you, That +he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come +forth and serve them,” Luke 12:37. Said Jesus, “If any man love me, he +will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto +him, and make our abode with him,” John 14:23. + +To him that overcometh, as in another place he is promised a crown, so now +there is the promise of a seat with the Saviour in his throne. Said the +Saviour, “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of +man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve +thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” Matt. 19:28. “And I appoint +unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me,” Luke 22:29. “If +we suffer” _i.e._ with Christ, “we shall also reign with him,” 2 Tim. +2:12. + + + + +Vision of the Deity. + + + “After this, I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven: and + the first voice, which I heard, was like a trumpet talking with + me; saying, Ascend here, and I will show thee things, which must + take place hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and + behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. + And, He, who sat, was in appearance like a jasper and a cornelian + stone: and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance, + like an emerald. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; + and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in + white raiment; and crowns of gold on their heads. And from the + throne came forth lightnings, and voices and thunders. And seven + lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven + Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a transparent sea + like crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and around the + throne, were four living beings, full of eyes before and behind. + And the first living being was like a lion, and the second living + being like a calf, and the third living being had a face like a + man, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle. And each + of the four living beings had six wings around him; and within + they were full of eyes: and they rest not day or night, saying, + Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to + be! And when the living beings give glory, and honor, and thanks + to Him seated on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the + four and twenty elders fall down before Him seated on the throne, + and worship Him, who liveth for ever and ever, and cast their + crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy art thou, O Lord, our + God, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for thou hast created + all things, and for thy pleasure they existed and were + created.”—Rev. 4:1-11. + + +This vision is preparatory to the revelations of “things which must be +hereafter,” which were given John in the series of visions following. +Their divine origin, and, consequently, the deference with which they are +to be received as a revelation from God, are demonstrated by this +symbolization of the presence chamber of the Almighty. + +The revelator had before heard a voice speaking to him, (1:10); and +turning to look, he beheld the risen Saviour. He then writes the epistles +which the Saviour dictated to the churches; and again he turns his eyes to +the place where the voice spake to him. + +The opening of a door in heaven, appears to be no part of the “things +which must be hereafter;” and is, therefore, no symbol. It was doubtless +an appearance of an aperture in the sky above, through which the revelator +saw the vision. It indicates that he looked through and beyond the limits +prescribed to human vision; and the summons to “come up hither,” indicates +that he was to have free access to the secrets there to be unfolded. + +A “throne set in heaven,” is a symbol of sovereignty there. Consequently +the one who sits thereon is the Almighty—his greatness, glory and majesty, +being indicated by the “lightnings, thunderings and voices,” the “rainbow +round about the throne,” and the resemblance to brilliant gems. It is the +same Being, seen in vision by Ezekiel (1:28), round about whom was “as the +appearance of the bow in the day of rain;” and who was explained to be +“the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” + +The “elders” seated about the throne, and the “four living creatures,” +improperly rendered beasts, are representatives of the redeemed of our +race; for they subsequently unite in the new song, saying to Christ, “Thou +wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred +and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and +priests, and we shall reign on the earth,” 5:8-10. The difference between +the two orders, is not fully apparent. They have “vials full of odors, +which are the prayers of saints.” The four beasts are evidently of the +same order as the “living creatures” in Ezek. 1:5; the cherubim of Ezek. +10:20, and the seraphim of Isa. 6:1. The entire hosts of the redeemed are +thus represented as interested spectators in the visions which are to be +unfolded. + +The “seven lamps of fire,” are explained to be “the seven Spirits of God,” +which, as before shown, is expressive of the Holy Spirit. + +The “sea of glass,” corresponds to the brazen sea, or laver, under the +law, which stood at the door of the tabernacle, Ex. 38:8. It was an emblem +of purity. Before entering the tabernacle the priest must there wash. +Those admitted on the sea of glass, are those who are purified and made +white in the blood of the Lamb, 15:2. + +With this preliminary representation, the first series of events extending +to the final consummation, is shown under the symbol of: + + + + +The Sealed Book. + + + “And I saw in the right hand of Him seated on the throne, a book + written within and without, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a + mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open + the book, and to loose its seals? and no one in heaven, or on the + earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book nor to look + in it. And I was weeping much, because no one was found worthy to + open, and to read the book, nor to look in it. And one of the + elders saith to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of + Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to + loose its seven seals. And I saw in the midst of the throne, and + of the four living beings, and in the midst of the elders, the + Lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns, and seven + eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the + earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him + seated on the throne. And when he took the book, the living + beings, and twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, all of + them having harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the + prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Worthy art + thou to take the book and to open its seals: for thou wast slain, + and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every tribe, and + tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us kings and priests + to our God, and we shall reign on the earth! And I beheld, and I + heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living + beings, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand + times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud + voice, Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain, to receive power, and + riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and + blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, + and under the earth, and those on the sea, even all that are in + them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, + be to Him sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and + ever! And the four living beings said, Amen. And the elders fell + down and worshipped.”—Rev. 5:1-14. + + +The written book, must symbolize God’s purposes, which were about to be +unfolded on the loosening of the seals. Its being written within and +without, indicates the fulness of its contents, the completeness of the +record:—God’s purposes being fully and unalterably formed. In like manner +Ezekiel was shown “a roll of a book ... written within and without,” +symbolizing the “lamentations, mourning and woe” (Ezek. 2:9), which were +soon to overtake Israel. + +A sealed book is one whose contents are hidden: “The vision of all is +become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver +to one that is learned, saying, Read this I pray thee: and he saith, I +cannot; for it is sealed,” Isa. 29:11. God said to Daniel, “Shut up the +words, and seal the book, till the time of the end,” Dan. 12:4. + +To open the seals, no one was found worthy. There was no being in heaven +among the angels, no human being on the earth, and no disembodied spirit, +or demon, under the earth, who was able to unfold the future. The tears of +the revelator are, however, dried, and his drooping spirits cheered, by +the announcement of one of the elders, that “the LION of the tribe of +JUDAH, the ROOT of DAVID, hath prevailed to open the book,” and to unfold +its mysteries. He stood in the midst of the assembled intelligences,—his +human nature and sacrificial office, being designated by his metaphorical +title of the “Lamb:”—John seeing Jesus coming to him said, “Behold the +Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” John 1:29. His +sovereignty is shown by the “seven horns,” the symbols of power; and his +relation to the Godhead, by the seven eyes, the seven Spirits of +God;—expressive of the Holy Spirit. See p. 25. + +The rejoicings on the announcement of Christ’s ability to take the book, +and to open the seals, indicate the greatness of the blessing which God +gives the church, when he thus reveals a knowledge of the future. All +creatures should join in these hosannas, and praise the Lord for his great +condescension, in showing his servants the things which must shortly come +to pass. To neglect this revelation, is not joining in the ascription of +praise. + +The golden vials, full of odors, symbolize the prayers of saints. Under +the Mosaic dispensation, the frankincense and odors offered at the +tabernacle were emblematic of prayer and praise to God. “Let my prayer be +set forth before thee as _incense_; and the lifting up of my hands as the +evening sacrifice,” Psa. 141:2. + +Christ takes the book from the hand of him who sits on the throne, and +opens the seals. Thus he makes known unto his servants the revelation +which God had given him, 1:1. As each successive seal is opened, +successive portions of the writing in the book become accessible,—an +_epoch_ is marked, following which, and previous to that symbolized by the +opening of the next seal, are to be fulfilled, the events symbolized under +it. + + + + +The First Seal. + + + “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I + heard one of the four living beings, saying, with a voice like + thunder, Come! And I saw, and behold, a white horse: and he, who + sat on him, had a bow; and a crown was given him: and he went + forth conquering and to conquer.”—Rev. 6:1, 2. + + +The voice is evidently addressed to the personage on the white horse, or +to the agencies thus symbolized. It is the signal for their appearance on +the stage of action. + +The symbol is that of a victorious warrior, armed with weapons of +conquest,—success being indicated by the crown given him. As there is no +analogous order, except in the religious world, Mr. Lord very properly +regards it as a symbol of the body of religious teachers, those faithful +soldiers of the cross, who, from the middle of the first to the middle of +the third century, as “soldiers of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3), went forth +to war “against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the +darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” Eph. +6:12. The apostle, when they received their commission, said to them, +“Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in +the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your +loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of +righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of +peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able +to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of +salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” _Ib._ +13-17. + +Thus equipped, they went forth, conquering and to conquer. They assailed +the strong-holds of sin and Satan, and planted the standard of the cross +in all portions of the then civilized world. And at the end of their +warfare thousands of them could say with the apostle: “I have fought a +good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth +there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the +righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto +all them also that love his appearing,” 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. + +The period symbolized under this seal, was distinguished for purity of +faith in the church, and devotion to the cause of Christ,—indicated by the +whiteness of the horse that the warrior rides. + + + + +The Second Seal. + + + “And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living + being say, Come! And there went out another horse that was red: + and power was given to him, who sat on him, to take peace from the + earth, and that they should kill each other: and a great sword was + given to him.”—Rev. 6:3, 4. + + +This symbol, like the former, is that of a mounted warrior, and must also +symbolize a body of religious teachers. The color of the horse, indicates +that the doctrine and character of the body symbolized will have lost the +original purity of the church, and become more sanguinary; which is also +indicated by the great sword given him. + +The warfare under this seal is not against outside enemies; for they kill +each other. This, then, indicates an era when the church shall be +disquieted, and her peace interrupted by internal dissensions. Such was +its history during the third, fourth, and fifth centuries. This period was +distinguished for the contentions of the clergy; their usurpation of power +not conferred by the apostles; their divisions and sub-divisions into +parties; their opposing councils; their collisions and distractions; their +love of power; their pride, discord, strife, and tyranny; their mutual +anathemas and excommunications; the envy, jealousy, and detraction they +indulged in, and the other hateful passions which they exercised. Thus +they marred the peace of the church; and by causing many to apostatize, +killed each other with spiritual death. + + + + +The Third Seal. + + + “And when he opened the third seal I heard the third living being + say, Come! And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he, who sat on + him, had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst + of the four living beings say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and + three measures of barley for a penny; and injure thou not the oil + and the wine.”—Rev. 6:5, 6. + + +This foreshadows a period of great scarcity and cruel exactions. Applying +it to the only department of society which is analogous to civil life, and +the famine symbolized, is like that predicted by Amos: “Behold, the days +come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine into the land, not a +famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the +Lord: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to +the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and +shall not find it,” Amos 8:11, 12. + +This, then, marks a period when the traditions and opinions of men are +substituted for the word of God. With Origen was introduced a new mode of +interpreting scripture, which afterwards became prevalent. The scriptures, +instead of being received in their natural and obvious sense, were +regarded as mystical and allegorical. Milner, in his Church History, says: +“From the fanciful mode of allegory, introduced by him, and uncontrolled +by scriptural rule and order, there arose a vitiated method of commenting +on the sacred pages.” And Mosheim says: “The few who explained the sacred +writings with judgment and a true spirit of criticism, could not oppose, +with any success, the torrent of allegory that was overflowing the +church.” Following this example, Luther says, “men make just what they +please of the Scriptures, until some accommodate the word of God to the +most extravagant absurdities.” + +Substituting the conceptions of their own fancy for the word of God, they +withheld from the people the bread of life, and produced a famine for the +word of the Lord. Crude notions took the place of Bible doctrines; and +pernicious speculations were substituted for the teachings of Christ and +his apostles. Baptism and the Lord’s supper, lost their emblematic +significance, and were regarded as saving ordinances. Heaven was sought to +be merited by works, and sanctification was supposed to be gained by +penance and mortification of the flesh. In short, all the corruptions of +the apostasy were substituted for the primitive faith, and the Bible +became a sealed book to the great mass of the people. + + + + +The Fourth Seal. + + + “And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the + fourth living being saying, Come! And I looked, and behold, a pale + horse: and his name, who sat on him, was Death, and the pit + followed with him. And power was given to them over the fourth + part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with famine, and with + pestilence, and with the wild beasts of the earth.”—Rev. 6:7, 8. + + +The Christian church alone being analogous to the civil power, it is +within its pale that the fulfilment of this symbol is to be looked for. +During this period, violence is substituted for famine; and men are +compelled to apostatize, which results in spiritual death. The Papacy +having the power to enforce her decrees, Christians had to embrace her +faith, or be handed over to the secular power for punishment. They +produced death by compelling men to apostatize, by withholding from them +the word of life, by infusing into their minds pestiferous doctrines, and +by the fear of the civil power,—symbolized by the sword, famine, +pestilence, and beasts of the earth. + + + + +The Fifth Seal. + + + “And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the + souls of those slain on account of the word of God, and on account + of the testimony, which they held: and they cried with a loud + voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not + judge and avenge our blood on those, who dwell on the earth? And a + white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them, + that they should rest yet for a short time, until their + fellow-servants also and their brethren, that were to be slain as + they were, should be filled up.”—Rev. 6:9-11. + + +This symbolized a period intervening between the time of the martyrdom, of +those whose souls are seen in vision, and another time of persecution to +follow. Consequently, the symbol represents the disembodied spirits of +those who had already been slain. They symbolize the souls of martyrs who +counted not their lives dear unto themselves for the sake of Christ; and +being faithful unto death, were in expectation of a crown of life. Says +Mr. Lord: “The term τα πτωματα is used in the prophecy to denote the dead +bodies of the martyrs (chap. 11:9), and αι ψυψαι (20:4) to denote their +disembodied spirits. They are represented as having been slain, and as +uttering their appeal to God because of their blood having been shed.” +Also: “The martyr souls are exhibited in their own persons; and obviously +because no others could serve as their symbol,—there being no others that +have undergone a change from a bodied to a disembodied life, nor that +sustain such relations to God, of forgiveness, acceptance, and assurance +of a resurrection from death, and a priesthood with Christ during his +victorious reign on the earth,” Ex. Apoc. p. 155. + +The altar, symbolizes the atonement made by Christ for sin; and, +consequently, the position of the souls of the martyrs under it, indicates +their reliance on him for an inheritance in his everlasting kingdom,—when +“he shall come to be glorified in his saints,” and to “take vengeance on +them that know not God, and obey not the gospel,” 2 Thess. 1:8, 10. + +The presentation of white robes to them, symbolizes their acceptance and +justification. + +The declaration that they must rest till _their fellow-servants are +killed_, as they have been, implies another persecution, to be subsequent +to the period symbolized by the opening of this seal. The persecutions +which followed the Reformation, in which the fires of Smithfield were +lighted in England, the Huguenots were driven from France, and thousands +suffered martyrdom, probably fulfilled this. + +The interest taken by the souls of the martyrs in the avenging of their +blood on the earth, shows that the spirits of departed saints look forward +with intense interest to the time of their glorification. And although the +dead who die in the Lord are blessed, the glories of the resurrection morn +are not less desired by those who are absent from the body and present +with the Lord, than by humble, devoted, waiting Christians here. + +The opening of this seal evidently synchronizes with the commencement of +the reformation, when they might have supposed the kingdom of God would +immediately appear. + + + + +The Sixth Seal. + + + “And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great + earthquake; and the sun became black like sackcloth of hair, and + the moon became like blood: and the stars of heaven fell to the + earth, as a fig-tree casteth its unripe figs, when shaken by a + mighty wind. And the heaven departed like a scroll rolled + together; and every mountain and island were removed from their + places. And the kings of the earth, and the nobles, and the rich, + and the commanders, and the strong men, and every bond-man, and + every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the + mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and + hide us from the face of Him seated on the throne, and from the + wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who + can stand?”—Rev. 6:12-17. + + +The laws of symbolization require that symbols should not be +representatives of their own order when there is any analogous order to be +representatives of. In other places in the Apocalypse, these symbols are +used, under circumstances where it is impossible to regard them as symbols +of their own order. And here, as the kings of the earth call on the rocks +and mountains to fall on them after the heaven has departed as a scroll +and every mountain and island is moved out of its place, it is necessary +to regard them as symbols of objects of analogous orders. + +The earthquake, then, as in corresponding Scriptures, symbolizes a +political revolution. The darkening of the sun and moon, would represent a +change in the character of the rulers and legislators of the world, so +that instead of extending a genial influence over their subjects, they +should exert a deleterious one; and the fall of the stars, their ejection +from their stations—synchronizing with the first five vials (16:1-11), and +fulfilled in the political revolutions of Europe during the past century. + +By the passing away of the heavens and the removal of mountains and +islands from their places, is symbolized the total dissolution of all +human governments—corresponding to the seventh vial (16:20). + +On the occurrence of this unprecedented state of anarchy, the inhabitants +of earth will be aware of the proximity of the Advent. They flee from the +face of the Lamb, which indicates his appearance in the clouds of heaven +at his personal advent. The great day of wrath will have come; but before +the infliction of merited punishment on his enemies, the servants of God +are to be designated, the righteous dead are to be raised, and they with +the righteous living are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, 1 +Thess. 4:17. The living righteous are designated by: + + + + +The Sealing of the Servants of God. + + + “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four + corners of the earth, holding fast the four winds of the earth, + that a wind might not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on + any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the + sun, having a seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud + voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to injure the earth + and the sea, saying, Injure not the earth, nor the sea, nor the + trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their + foreheads! And I heard the number of those sealed: a hundred and + forty-four thousand were sealed out of all the tribes of the + children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were + sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed. Of the + tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher + twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve + thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand + were sealed. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed. + Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of + Issachar twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Zebulon + twelve thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Joseph twelve + thousand were sealed. Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand + were sealed.”—Rev. 7:1-8. + + +The symbols here presented, were seen immediately subsequent to the +exhibition of the preceding ones. This alone would not prove that the +events symbolized follow in order, but it is indicated by their being a +continuation of the symbolization under the sixth seal, and before the +opening of the seventh. + +In the sixth chapter, the great men and rich men, as well as bond-men, are +aware of the proximity of the day of the Lord, and seek for a refuge from +the face of the Lamb. The next events in consecutive order, would be the +resurrection of the righteous dead, the change of the living, their +ascension to meet the Lord in the air, and the infliction of the wrath of +God on the wicked. + +After the wicked seek to escape from God’s presence, the righteous are +still unchanged upon the earth. But before the wrath of God is poured upon +his enemies, the winds of heaven are to be holden while the angel of the +living God seals his servants in their foreheads. The holding of the winds +and the sealing are, consequently, subsequent to the terror of the wicked, +at the appearance of the Saviour. + +The four winds are the winds coming from all directions; and symbolize +strife, war, and commotion among men, analogous to the violent action of +the winds of heaven. + +In Dan. 7:2, the striving of the four winds upon the great sea preceded +the rising of the four beasts: in other words, the various contests and +strifes among the different people and tongues of earth resulted in the +establishment of the successive empires which have arisen to universal +dominion. The blowing of the wind seems to be any influence exerted upon +men. In Ezek. 37:9 the breathing of the wind revives the dead; and in +Zech. 5:9 it symbolizes the removal of the wickedness of the Jews. + +The angels holding the winds, consequently, must symbolize the agencies +which have the power to excite or quell these disturbing influences. They +do the bidding of the Lord in restraining or exerting the influences which +should produce the effect symbolized. The holding of them indicates the +proximity and certainty of their blowing unless they are restrained. The +earth, sea, and trees, which would be hurt by the blowing of the wind, +evidently symbolize the different classes of inhabitants of the earth, on +whom an effect would be produced by the blowing of the winds, analogous to +the effect produced on those elements by a violent tempest, or hurricane. +The storm here symbolized is evidently that of which the Scriptures speak. +“On the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible +tempest,” Psa. 11:6. “Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with +thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and +the flame of devouring fire,” Isa. 29:6. “The Lord hath a mighty and +strong one, which as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as flood +of waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand,” _Ib._ +28:2. + +The sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads, designates them, +but does not constitute them such; for none are sealed, only those who are +previously his. This is in allusion to the ancient custom of stamping with +a hot iron the name of the owner on the forehead or shoulder of his slave. +Before the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Ezekiel saw +in vision a man clothed in linen, with a writer’s ink-horn by his side, +who was commissioned to go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark +on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the +abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And the destroying angels +who were commanded to slay all, both old and young, to spare not, nor to +have pity, were expressly told to “come not near any man upon whom is the +mark,” Ezek. 9:2-6. When the destroying angel passed through Egypt, on the +night of the Passover, “to slay all the first-born of that nation, the +houses of the Israelites were indicated by the blood of the Paschal Lamb +sprinkled on their lintels and door-posts; and by these the angels +passed,” Ex. 12:23. Thus in the present instance, before the descent of +the impending storm, the servants of the Lord are to be indicated by the +seal of the living God in their foreheads, and will be spared the horrible +tempest which will “hurt” all those on whom it shall fall. + +The 144,000,—the whole number sealed, is a perfect number,—an appropriate +symbol of all the living righteous on the earth. The twelve tribes, then, +would symbolize all the branches of Christ’s mystical body in which the +servants of God are found. The pious dead would need no mark indicative of +their acceptance, having previously, in the white robes given them, +received the symbols of their justification, 6:11. That their resurrection +and the changing of the living, immediately succeeded, is evident from: + + + + +The Palm-bearing Multitude. + + + “After these things I looked, and lo, a great crowd, which no one + could number, out of all nations, and tribes, and people, and + tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed + with white robes, and palm-branches in their hands; and they cried + with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God seated on the + throne, and to the Lamb! And all the angels stood around the + throne, and the elders and the four living beings, and fell before + the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: + blessing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and + power, and might, be to our God for ever and ever. Amen! And one + of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in + white robes? and whence came they? And I said to him, My Lord, + thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they who came out of + great affliction, and have washed their robes, and made them white + in the blood of the Lamb. For this, they are before the throne of + God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and He, who + sitteth on the throne, will dwell among them. They will hunger no + more, and will thirst no more; nor will the sun light on them, nor + any heat. For the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will + tend them, and lead them to fountains of living waters: and God + will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”—Rev. 7:9-17. + + +This great multitude of white-robed palm-bearers, must include those who, +under the preceding seal, anxiously inquired how long was to be deferred +the avenging of their blood on those who dwell on the earth. That epoch +had now arrived; and they come forth arrayed in the white robes then given +them. The palm-branches in their hands, are emblems of victory. They +symbolize the subjects of the first resurrection, caught up to meet the +Lord in the air. That they are gathered from every land and every age, is +asserted when it is said they are from every kindred, tongue, and people; +and that they triumph over death and the grave, is evident from the answer +of one of the elders to the questions: “What are these?” and “Whence came +they?” + +The epoch, is a point of time intervening between the first resurrection, +and the descent of the new Jerusalem, 21:2. The loud and united voice, +with which the redeemed multitude cry “Salvation to our God which sitteth +upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,”—synchronizes with that of the “great +multitude,” which, like the voice of many waters, and of “mighty +thunderings,” shouted “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” +(19:6), immediately preceding the marriage-supper of the Lamb (19:6-9). +They are removed above the troubles of earth, which are impending upon the +wicked, under: + + + + +The Seventh Seal. + + + “And when he opened the seventh seal, silence took place in heaven + for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels, who stood + before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. And another + angel came and stood by the altar, having a golden censer; and + much incense was given to him, that he should offer it with the + prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. + And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, + ascended before God from the angel’s hand. And the angel took the + censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar, and out it into + the earth: and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, + and an earthquake.”—Rev. 8:1-5. + + +The epoch of this seal, is sometimes regarded as anterior to that of the +trumpets; and those are often supposed to be included in the events of +this seal; but no conclusive reason has ever been given for removing it +from its obvious position as the closing one, of a series of successive +periods, commencing with the gospel, and extending to the end of the +world. If the first six are successive in their respective order, analogy +would require that the seventh be thus considered. + +Under the sixth seal, the great men and rich, are seen fleeing to the +rocks for refuge from the wrath of the Lamb; and the risen saints +symbolized, are in the Saviour’s presence; but the infliction of the wrath +of God on the wicked is not there symbolized. The events of that seal come +down as far as those in the 19th chapter, which precede the marriage of +the Lamb, 19:7. + +The half-hour’s silence, is the first thing indicated under the seventh +seal. Being so expressly noticed, it would seem to be of some +significance. As a period of symbolic time, on the scale of a day for a +year, “about half an hour,” would equal a week’s duration—corresponding to +the time which intervened between the entrance of Noah into the ark, and +the commencement of the deluge, Gen. 7:1-4. As the period evidently +synchronizes with the parable of the Saviour, when “the Bridegroom came; +and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door +was shut” (Matt. 25:10),—the others being still without,—it would seem to +symbolize the time, between the entrance to the marriage of the Lamb +(19:7), and the going forth of the Word of God with his armies, to judge, +make war, and to slay the remnant with the sword, 19:11-21. It would be a +period of holy joy to the righteous in the Saviour’s presence, and of +awful suspense to the wicked. + +The seven angels, to whom were given seven trumpets, being introduced +here, have doubtless caused the events of this seal to be regarded as +anterior to the first trumpet. As those immediately following, evidently +synchronize with occurrences of the closing epoch, the angels can only be +introduced here in anticipation of the symbolization which they are to +unfold under the sounding of the successive trumpets—the same as the seven +angels with the last plagues are introduced, before the epoch of the +commencement of their allotted work, 15:1. + +The golden censer was the instrument in which incense was burned in the +Jewish worship. Incense symbolizes prayers (5:8). The offering of much +incense with the prayers of all saints and the smoke of the incense +ascending up before God, indicates the acceptance of their offerings in +heaven—the act being before the throne, and not on the earth. The +acceptance of their prayers, also implies their own acceptance, when +presented “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” +Jude 24. + +The fire from the altar, symbolizes the instruments of divine justice; and +the filling the censer with coals after the acceptance of the saints, and +the casting of both the censer and fire to the earth, indicate that +thenceforth there would be no more acceptance of prayer from those left on +the earth, but the speedy infliction of impending judgments. + +The “voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake,” which +followed, evidently synchronize with the same events which follow the +seventh trumpet: when the “wrath of God” has come, with “the time of the +dead that they should be judged;” and when those are to be destroyed who +have destroyed the earth, 11:19. They are the same, also, as those under +the seventh vial, (16:18); and symbolize the final overturn and commotion, +previous to the cleansing of the earth and the ushering in of a better +day: Then will the + + “fire purge all things new, +Both Heaven and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell.”—MILTON, BOOK XI. + + + + +The Seven Trumpets. + + + “And the seven angels having seven trumpets prepared themselves to + sound.”—Rev. 8:6. + + +The sounding of each successive trumpet marks the commencement of an era, +of a longer or shorter duration, as the striking of a clock does the +succession of hours. During each era, were to be fulfilled the events +symbolized in connection with its respective trumpet. Those under the +trumpets are more of a political character than those presented in +connection with the seals. + + + +The First Trumpet. + + + “And the first angel sounded, and there was hail and fire mingled + with blood, and they were cast into the earth; and the third part + of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was + burnt up, and every green herb was burnt up.”—Rev. 8:7. + + +The earth of the Apocalypse is regarded by most expositors as the Roman +empire, in a state of comparative quiet. As no tornado like this described +has ever happened, its correspondence must be sought for in the political +relations of the empire. There is great unanimity among commentators +respecting the period and the agents here symbolized,—that it refers to +the invasions of the Goths and other barbarians, from A. D. 363 to 410. +After 395, their incursions were more severe than during the earlier +portion of that period. The third part of the earth, would be the third +part of the Roman empire, in distinction from the other two-thirds. + +The green grass of the earth, the trees, &c., are distinguished from +“those men which have _not_ the seal of God in their foreheads” (9:4), and +must therefore symbolize the people of God in the third part of the +empire. As all the green grass is burnt up, while only one-third of the +trees suffer, the latter cannot include one-third of all the trees in the +empire, but only one-third in the parts affected,—the grass indicating the +more weakly, and the trees the more hardy classes of Christians. + +The infidel historian, Gibbon, has given the events which fitly correspond +with the symbolization of these trumpets. After the death of Theodosius, +in January, A. D. 395, Alaric, the bold leader of the Gothic nation, took +arms against the empire. The terrible effects of this invasion, are thus +described:— + +“The barbarian auxiliaries erected their independent standard; and boldly +avowed hostile designs, which they had long cherished in their ferocious +minds. Their countrymen, who had been condemned, by the conditions of the +last treaty, to a life of tranquillity and labor, deserted their farms at +the first sound of the trumpet, and eagerly assumed the weapons which they +had reluctantly laid down. The barriers of the Danube were thrown open; +the savage warriors of Scythia issued from their forest; and the uncommon +severity of the winter, allowed the poet to remark, that ‘they rolled +their ponderous wagons over the broad and icy back of the indignant +river.’ The unhappy nations of the provinces to the south of the Danube, +submitted to the calamities, which, in the course of twenty years, were +almost grown familiar to their imagination; and the various troops of +barbarians, who gloried in the Gothic name, were irregularly spread from +the woody shores of Dalmatia, to the walls of Constantinople. The Goths +were directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric. In the midst of a +divided court, and a discontented people, the emperor, Arcadius, was +terrified by the aspect of the Gothic arms. Alaric disdained to trample +any longer on the prostrate and ruined countries of Thrace and Dacia, and +he resolved to seek a plentiful harvest of fame and riches in a province +which had hitherto escaped the ravages of war. + +“Alaric traversed, without resistance, the plains of Macedonia and +Thessaly. The troops which had been posted to defend the Straits of +Thermopylæ, retired, as they were directed, without attempting to disturb +the secure and rapid passage of Alaric; and the fertile fields of Phocis +and Bœotia were instantly covered with a deluge of barbarians, who +massacred the males of an age to bear arms, and drove away the beautiful +females, with the spoil and cattle of the flaming villages. The travellers +who visited Greece several years afterwards, could easily discover the +deep and bloody traces of the march of the Goths. The whole territory of +Attica was blasted by his baneful presence; and if we may use the +comparison of a cotemporary philosopher, Athens itself resembled the +bleeding and empty skin of a slaughtered victim. Corinth, Argos, Sparta, +yielded without resistance to the arms of the Goths; and the most +fortunate of the inhabitants were saved, by death, from beholding the +slavery of their families, and the conflagration of their +cities.”—_Gibbon’s Rome_, vol. v., p. 177. + +Being tempted by the fame of Rome, Alaric hastened to subjugate it. He put +to flight the Emperor of the West; but deliverance soon came, and Rome was +saved from his hands. Alaric was first conquered in 403. But another cloud +was gathering, and is thus described by Gibbon:— + +“About four years after the victorious Toulan had assumed the title of +Khan of the Geougen, another barbarian, the haughty Rhodogast, or +Radagaisus, marched from the northern extremities of Germany almost to the +gates of Rome, and left the remains of his army to achieve the destruction +of the West. The Vandals, the Suevi, and the Burgundians, formed the +strength of this mighty host; but the Alani, who had found a hospitable +reception in their new seats, added their active cavalry to the heavy +infantry of the Germans; and the Gothic adventurers crowded so eagerly to +the standard of Radagaisus, that, by some historians, he has been styled +the King of the Goths. Twelve thousand warriors, distinguished above the +vulgar by their noble birth, or their valiant deeds, glittered in the van; +and the whole multitude, which was not less than two hundred thousand +fighting men, might be increased by the accession of women, of children, +and of slaves, to the amount of four hundred thousand persons. + +“The correspondence of nations was, in that age, so imperfect and +precarious, that the revolutions of the North might escape the knowledge +of the court of Ravenna, till the dark cloud, which was collected along +the coast of the Baltic, burst in thunder upon the banks of the Upper +Danube, &c. Many cities of Italy were pillaged or destroyed; and the siege +of Florence by Radagaisus, is one of the earliest events in the history of +that celebrated republic, whose firmness checked or delayed the unskilful +fury of the barbarians. + +“While the peace of Germany was secured by the attachment of the Franks, +and the neutrality of the Alemanni, the subjects of Rome, unconscious of +the approaching calamities, enjoyed a state of quiet and prosperity, which +had seldom blessed the frontiers of Gaul. Their flocks and herds were +permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians: their huntsmen +penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the +Hercynian wood. The banks of the Rhine were crowded, like those of the +Tiber, with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms; and if the poet +descended the river, he might express his doubt on which side was situated +the territory of the Romans. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly +changed into a desert; and the prospect of the smoking ruins, could alone +distinguish the solitude of nature, from the desolation of man. The +flourishing city of Mentz was surprised and destroyed; and many thousand +Christians were inhumanly massacred in the church. Worms perished, after a +long and obstinate siege; Strasburg, Spires, Rheims, Tournay, Arras, +Amiens, experienced the cruel oppression of the German yoke; and the +consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the +greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That rich and extensive +country, as far as the ocean, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, was delivered to +the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the bishop, +the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and +altars.”—_Ibid._, vol. v., p. 224. + +After this invasion of the empire by Radagaisus, Alaric again returned, +invaded Italy in 408, and in 410 he besieged, took, and sacked Rome, and +died the same year. In 412 the Goths voluntarily retired from Italy. + +In this last year, “a public conference was held in Carthage, by order of +the magistrate;” and it was there agreed to inflict the most severe +penalties on those who dissented from the Catholic doctrines, in the +African part of the Roman empire. Says Gibbon:—“Three hundred bishops, +with many thousands of the inferior clergy, were torn from their churches, +stripped of their ecclesiastical possessions, banished to the islands, and +proscribed by the laws, if they presumed to conceal themselves in the +provinces of Africa. Their numerous congregations, both in the cities and +country, were deprived of the rights of citizens, and of the exercise of +religious worship.” + + + +The Second Trumpet. + + + “And the second angel sounded, and it was as if a great mountain + burning with fire were cast into the sea: and the third part of + the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures in the + sea, and having life, died; and the third part of the ships was + destroyed.”—Rev. 8:8, 9. + + +A mountain differs from a tornado, and must symbolize a compact, organized +body of invaders. Its being of a volcanic nature, renders it so much the +more terrible and destructive. + +As waters symbolize “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,” the sea +into which the mountain is cast, is a people already agitated by previous +commotions. + +The ships and fish in the sea, must necessarily symbolize agents +sustaining a relation to the Roman Sea, analogous to the relation of such +to the literal sea. They are those who live upon, and are supported by, +the people:—the rulers and the officers of state. + +The symbol of a burning mountain fitly represents the armed invaders under +Genseric. In the year 429, with fifty thousand effective men he landed on +the shores of Africa, established an independent government in that part +of the Roman empire, and from thence, harassed the southern shores of +Europe and the intermediate islands, by perpetual incursions. Says +Gibbon:—“The Vandals, who, in twenty years, had penetrated from the Elbe +to Mount Atlas, were united under the command of their warlike king; and +he reigned with equal authority over the Alarici, who had passed within +the term of human life, from the cold of Scythia, to the excessive heat of +an African climate. + +“The Vandals and Alarici, who followed the successful standard of +Genseric, had acquired a rich and fertile territory, which stretched along +the coast from Tangiers to Tripoli; but their narrow limits were pressed +and confined on either side by the sandy desert and the Mediterranean. The +discovery and conquest of the black nations that might dwell beneath the +torrid zone, could not tempt the rational ambition of Genseric; but he +cast his eyes towards the sea; he resolved to create a new naval power, +and his bold enterprise was executed with steady and active perseverance. +The woods of Mount Atlas afforded an inexhaustible nursery of timber; his +new subjects were skilled in the art of navigation and ship-building; he +animated his daring Vandals to embrace a mode of warfare which would +render every maritime country accessible to their arms; the Moors and +Africans were allured by the hope of plunder; and, after an interval of +six centuries, the fleet that issued from the port of Carthage again +claimed the empire of the Mediterranean. The success of the Vandals, the +conquest of Sicily, the sack of Palermo, and the frequent descents on the +coast of Lucania, awakened and alarmed the mother of Valentinian, and the +sister of Theodosius.” + +“The naval power of Rome was unequal to the task of saving even the +imperial city from the ravages of the Vandals. Sailing from Africa, they +disembarked at the port of Ostia, and Rome and its inhabitants were +delivered to the licentiousness of Vandals and Moors, whose blind passions +revenged the injuries of Carthage. The pillage lasted fourteen days and +nights; and all that yet remained of public and private wealth, of sacred +or profane treasure, was diligently transported to the vessels of +Genseric. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic +invasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and +it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy the avarice of a +conqueror, who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the +wealth of the capital.”—_Gibbon._ + + + +The Third Trumpet. + + + “And the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, + burning like a torch, and it fell on the third part of the rivers, + and on the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called + Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and + many men died by the waters, because they were made bitter.”—Rev. + 8:10, 11. + + +The sounding of the third trumpet marks the advent of a third invader of +the Roman empire. And such was Attila, the king of the Huns, who invaded +Gaul A. D. 451. Gibbon says:— + +“The kings and nations of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to +the Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the royal village +in the plains of Hungary, his standard moved towards the west; and, after +a march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the +Rhine and the Necker.” “The hostile myriads were poured with resistless +violence into the Belgic provinces.” “The consternation of Gaul was +universal.” “From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the +heart of Gaul, crossed the Seine at Auxerre, and, after a long and +laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans.” “An alliance +was formed between the Romans and Visigoths.” The hostile armies +approached. “ ‘I myself,’ said Attila, ‘will throw the first javelin, and +the wretch who refuses to imitate the example of his sovereign, is devoted +to inevitable death.’ The spirit of the barbarians was rekindled by the +presence, the voice, and the example, of their intrepid leader; and +Attila, yielding to their impatience, immediately formed his order of +battle. At the head of his brave and faithful Huns, Attila occupied, in +person, the centre of the line.” The nations from the Volga to the +Atlantic were assembled on the plains of Chalons; and there fought a +battle, “fierce, various, obstinate, and bloody, such as could not be +paralleled, either in the present, or in past ages! The number of the +slain amounted to one hundred and sixty-two thousand, or according to +another account, three hundred thousand persons; and these incredible +exaggerations suppose a real or effective loss, sufficient to justify the +historian’s remark, that whole generations may be swept away, by the +madness of kings, in the space of a single hour.” + +Attila was compelled to retreat; but neither his forces nor reputation +suffered. He “passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged Aquileia with +an innumerable host of barbarians.” “The succeeding generation could +scarcely discover the ruins of Aquileia. After this dreadful chastisement, +Attila pursued his march; and, as he passed, the cities of Altinum, +Concordia, and Padua were reduced into heaps of stones and ashes. The +inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious +cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted, without resistance, to the +loss of their wealth;” and “applauded the unusual clemency which preserved +from the flames the public as well as private buildings, and spared the +lives of the captive multitude.” “Attila spread his ravages over the rich +plains of modern Lombardy; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the +Alps and Apennines.” He took possession of the royal palace of Milan. “It +is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass never +grew on the spot where his horse had trod.” + +He advanced into Italy, only as far as the plains of Lombardy and the +banks of the Po, reducing the cities he passed to stones and ashes; but +there his ravages ceased. He concluded a peace with the Romans in the year +of his invasion of Italy (451), and the next year he died. Thus he +appeared like a fiery meteor, exerted his appointed influence upon the +tongues and people, who were tributary to the Romans,—as rivers and +fountains of waters are to the sea; and like a burning star, he as +suddenly expired. As a specimen of the bitterness which followed his +course, it is recorded of the Thuringians who served in his army, and who +traversed, both in their march and in their return, the territories of the +Franks, “that they massacred their hostages as well as their captives. Two +hundred young maidens were tortured with exquisite and unrelenting rage; +their bodies were torn asunder by wild horses, or were crushed under the +weight of rolling wagons; and their unburied limbs were abandoned on +public roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures.” + + + +The Fourth Trumpet. + + + “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was + smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the + stars; so that the third part of them was darkened, and the day + shone not for a third part of it, and the night in like + manner.”—Rev. 8:12. + + +The sun, moon, and stars cannot here, any more than under the sixth seal +(6:12,13), symbolize agents of their own order, but must represent the +rulers of the Roman empire. Says Dr. Keith:— + +“At the voice of the first angel, and the blast of his trumpet, the whole +Roman world was in agitation, and ‘the storms of war’ passed over it all. +‘The union of the empire was dissolved;’ a third part of it fell; and the +‘transalpine provinces were separated from the empire.’ Under the second +trumpet, the provinces of Africa, another, or the maritime, part, was in +like manner reft from Rome, and the Roman ships were destroyed in the sea, +and even in their harbors. The empire of Rome, hemmed in on every side, +was then limited to the kingdom of Italy. Within its bounds, and along the +fountains and rivers of waters, the third trumpet reëchoed from the Alps +to the Apennines. The last barrier of the empire of Rome was broken. The +plains of Lombardy were ravaged by a foreign foe: and from thence new +enemies arose to bring to an end the strife of the world with the imperial +city. + +“ ‘In the space of twenty years since the death of Valentinian’ (two years +subsequent to the death of Attila), ‘nine emperors had successively +disappeared; and the son of Orestes, a youth recommended only by his +beauty, would be the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his +reign, which was marked by the extinction of the Roman empire in the west, +did not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind.’ ” + +The throne of the Cæsars had been for ages the sun of the world; while +other kings were designated as stars. The imperial power had first been +transferred to Constantinople by Constantine; and it was afterwards +divided between the east and the west; but the eastern empire was not yet +doomed to destruction. The precise year in which the western empire was +extinguished, is not positively ascertained, but it is usually assigned to +A. D. 476. Some place it in 479. The imperial Roman power, of which either +Rome or Constantinople had been jointly or singly the seat, whether in the +West or the East, ceased to be recognized in Italy; and the third part of +the sun was smitten, till it emitted no longer the faintest rays. The +power of the Cæsars became unknown in Italy; and a Gothic king reigned +over Rome. + +Dr. Keith considers that “the concluding words of the fourth trumpet imply +the future restoration of the Western empire: ‘The day shone not for a +third part of it, and the night likewise.’ In respect to civil authority, +Rome became subject to Ravenna; and Italy was a conquered province of the +Eastern empire. But, as more appropriately pertaining to other prophecies, +the defence of the worship of images first brought the spiritual and +temporal powers of the Pope and of the emperor into violent collision; +and, by conferring on the Pope all authority over the churches, Justinian +laid his helping hand to the promotion of the papal supremacy, which +afterwards assumed the power of creating monarchs. In the year of our Lord +800, the Pope conferred on Charlemagne the title of Emperor of the Romans. +The title was again transferred from the King of France to the Emperor of +Germany. By the latter it was formally renounced, within the memory of the +existing generation. In our own days the iron crown of Italy was on the +head of another ‘emperor.’ ” Then the sun was suddenly darkened, as +symbolized under the sixth seal, 6:12. p. 66. + + + +The Woe-denouncing Angel. + + + “And I beheld, and heard an eagle flying in the midst of heaven, + saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the + earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three + angels, who are to sound.”—Rev. 8:13. + + +The word eagle, instead of angel, is in accordance with the more recent +revised editions of the Greek. It must symbolize persons peculiarly +apprehensive at this crisis, of disasters to follow the extinction of the +Roman empire in the west. During the first half of the sixth century, the +Sclavonians invaded the east, “spread from the suburbs of Constantinople +to the Ionian Gulf, destroyed thirty-two cities or castles, razed Potidæa, +which Athens had built, and Philip had besieged, and repassed the Danube, +dragging at their horses’ heels one hundred and twenty thousand of the +subjects of Justinian.”—_Gibbon._ And they continued their inroads, until +the citizens became apprehensive that the Empire of the East would be +extinguished like that of the West. + +This symbol also indicates that the events under the trumpets which were +to follow, would be far more dreadful and terrible than those of the +preceding ones. For this reason, the last three are sometimes denominated +THE WOE TRUMPETS. + + + +The Fifth Trumpet. + + + “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star, which had fallen + from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the pit + of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss: and a smoke + arose out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the + sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And locusts + came out of the smoke into the earth: and power was given to them, + as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them + that they should not injure the herbage of the earth, nor any + green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who have not the + seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not allowed to kill + them, but to torment them five months: and their torment was like + the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those + days men will seek death, and will not find it; and will desire to + die, and death will flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts + were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were as + it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of + men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth + were like those of lions. And they had breast-plates, like + breast-plates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the + sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. And they + had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: + and their power was to injure men five months. They had a king + over them, the messenger of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is + Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon. One + woe is past away; and behold, there come yet two woes + hereafter.”—Rev. 9:1-12. + + +The previous trumpets reveal the agencies which effected the dismemberment +and overthrow of Western Rome. The fifth and sixth unfold those which +terminated that empire in the east, embracing the territory between the +Adriatic and Euphrates, the Lybian desert and the Danube. + +A star (1:20) symbolizes a messenger, or head of a religious body, p. 31. +Mohammed is generally regarded as represented by this symbol. He was, by +birth, of the princely house of the Koreish, Governors of Mecca, a family +of eminence. + +The star had fallen to the earth before opening the pit of the abyss, +which illustrates the flight of Mohammed from Mecca, and the seeming +termination of all his hopes. To save his life, he took refuge, with one +companion, in a cave near Medina, in A. D. 622, which forms the epoch of +the Hegira, _i.e._, of his flight. + +The bottomless pit, is where Satan is subsequently cast (20:3); and the +key of it being given to this agent, symbolizes his power to open and to +cause the smoke to issue from it; the Satanic origin of which is thus +indicated: + +Smoke is an appropriate representative of error, and symbolizes the +Mohammedan doctrines; which, like the smoke of a great furnace, were +disseminated far and wide, subverting the religion, and, in time, +effecting the overthrow of the remaining portion of the Roman empire—the +sun, one-third of which was smitten under the fourth trumpet. + +The locusts were generated in the smoke from whence they issued. In a +corresponding manner, the spread of Mohammedanism resulted in the +organization of hordes of Saracens, who propagated the religion of the +false prophet by the sword, and founded the famous Arabian empire, which +extended from the Atlantic ocean to the river Euphrates. + +The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and the +Saracenic hordes, thus symbolized, were mounted horsemen, famous for the +swiftness of their flight or pursuit, and ever ready for the contest. + +Their crowns, faces, hair, teeth, breast-plates, &c., seem to be +indicative of their personal appearance: on their heads they wore yellow +turbans, like coronets; their demeanor was grave and firm; their hair, +like that of women, was suffered to grow uncut; they were defended by the +cuirass or breast-plate; and in rushing to battle, their onset was like +that of chariots and many horses. + +They had a king over them, named Abaddon in the Hebrew, and Apollyon in +the Greek, both of which signified the Destroyer. The Saracens +acknowledged the authority of Mohammed during the whole period of their +conquests; not only recognizing him as their prophet and king during his +lifetime, but his successors, after his death, considered and called +themselves Mohammed’s _Caliphs_, or _Vicars_. + +Their mission was not against the grass, green things, and trees, but had +express reference to the men who had _not_ the seal of God in their +foreheads. The antithesis here expressed, shows that by the former were +symbolized the servants of God, and that these locust-warriors were +particularly commissioned against infidels and apostates. Christians were +not to be molested; and provision was made for their protection, in the +circular letter which Abubekir sent to the Arabian tribes, A. D. 633. He +said: + + + “ ‘Remember, that you are always in the presence of God, on the + verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of + paradise: avoid injustice and oppression; consult with your + brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your + troops. When you fight the battles of the Lord, acquit yourselves + like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be + stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy _no + palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn_. Cut down no fruit-trees, + nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When + you make any covenant, or article, stand to it, and be as good as + your word. As you go on, you will find some _religious persons_ + who live in retired monasteries, and propose to themselves to + serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor + destroy their monasteries; and you will find another sort of + people that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have _shaven + crowns_; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter + _till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute_.’ ” + + +At this epoch, the Greek church at Constantinople had been preserved from +the reproach of image worship, and still later it made strenuous efforts +against it; but the churches of the north of Africa, and the Asiatic +portion of the Eastern empire, had become greatly debased, and worshipped +saints and images. And while the territories of these were speedily +subverted to Mohammedanism, and became a part of the Arabian empire, the +east of Europe was wonderfully preserved from their inroads. + +Their power was not to kill, but to torment men five months. To kill, +symbolically, according to the significance of the second seal, p. 60, is +to compel men to apostasize; and they could not be in a condition to force +their religion on the men of the eastern empire, without first subjecting +it by force of arms. + +The time of this torment was limited to five prophetic months. In one +hundred and fifty years from the _Hegira_ the Saracen empire had ceased to +be aggressive. In 762 Bagdad, the city of peace, was founded on the +Tigris, by Al-Mansur, who died in 774. “From this time,” says ROTTICK, +“the Arabian history assumes an entirely different character.” It was no +longer progressive; the proud Saracen empire became dismembered, and three +independent and hostile Caliphates, and several fragments of kingdoms, +were formed from its ruins. In 841, the reigning Caliph at Bagdad, +distrusting the spirit of his own troops, hired a body of fifty thousand +Turkish soldiers, which he distributed in his dominions. These accelerated +the ruin of the Caliphate, and, in time, the whole of the Saracen +territory became subject to the Tartar rule, which had become Mohammedan, +and also aimed to subject the eastern empire. + +The declaration that “one woe is past,” v. 12, implies an interval between +that and the woe following. In a corresponding manner, the crusaders from +Europe, like the successive overflowing of a mighty river, restrained the +Tartars from the conquest of Constantinople, which had now consented to +image worship, till the sounding of: + + + +The Sixth Trumpet. + + + “And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice out of the four + horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel + having the trumpet, Loose the four messengers bound near the great + river Euphrates. And the four messengers were loosed, prepared for + an hour, and day, and month, and year, to slay the third part of + men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred + thousand thousand: I heard the number of them. And thus I saw on + the horses in the vision, and those, who sat on them, having red, + blue and yellow breast-plates: and the heads of the horses were + like the heads of lions; and fire, and smoke, and brimstone issued + from their mouths. By these three plagues the third part of men + was killed; by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, + which issued from their mouths. For the power of the horses is in + their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails having heads were + like serpents, and they injure with them. And the rest of the men, + who were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the + works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and + idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: + which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk; nor did they repent of + their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, + nor of their thefts.”—Rev. 9:13-21. + + +The great river, the Euphrates,—waters being a symbol of people, +(17:15)—must symbolize those who sustain a relation to the Roman +hierarchy, as its defenders and supporters; analogous to that sustained by +the river Euphrates to the city of Babylon; which was situated on, and +drew its wealth and support from it. + +The angels bound near the Euphrates, must then be those powers, which, +approaching and attacking the Roman Empire, were _restrained_ from +effecting its conquest and enforcing the profession of Mohammedanism. +Their being loosed, signifies the removal of those restraints. Mr. Lord +suggests that they symbolize leaders of the four armies of the Tartars, +which successively overran the surrounding provinces. He says: + +“The first horde were the Seljukians, who invaded the Eastern empire about +the middle of the eleventh century, under Togrul Beg. He suddenly overran, +with myriads of cavalry, the frontier, from Taurus to Arzeroum, and spread +it with blood and devastation. Alp Arslan, his successor, soon renewed the +invasion, conquered Armenia and Georgia, penetrated into Cappadocia and +Phrygia, and scattered detachments over the whole of lesser Asia. His +troops being subsequently driven back, he renewed the war, and recovered +those provinces. His descendants, and others of the race, soon after +extended their conquests, and established the kingdoms in the east of +Persia and Syria, and Roum, in lesser Asia, which they maintained through +many generations, and made their sway a scorpion scourge to the idolatrous +inhabitants. The Christians were allowed the exercise of their religion on +the conditions of tribute and servitude, but were compelled to endure the +scorn of the victors, to submit to the abuse of their priests and bishops, +and to witness the apostasy of their brethren, the compulsory circumcision +of many thousands of their children, and the subjection of many thousands +to a debasing and hopeless slavery. + +“The second army was that of the Moguls, who, in the thirteenth century, +after the conquest of Persia, passed the Euphrates, plundered and +devastated Syria, subdued Armenia, Iconium, and Anatolia, and extinguished +the Seljukian dynasty. Another army advancing to the west, devastated the +country on both sides of the Danube, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, +Hungary, Austria, and spread them with the ruins of their cities and +churches, and the bones of their inhabitants. This horde had been prepared +for this invasion by vast conquests in the East. + +“The third were the Ottomans, who in the beginning of the fourteenth +century conquered Bithynia, Lydia, Ionia, Thrace, Bulgaria, Servia, and in +the following century Constantinople itself, and have maintained their +empire to the present time. They were released from restraint on the one +hand by the decay of the Mogul Khans, to whom they had been subject, and +on the other by the dissensions and weakness of the Greeks. + +“The last was that of the Moguls under Tamerlane, who in the beginning of +the fifteenth century overran Georgia, Syria, and Anatolia, and spread +them with slaughter and desolation. He also had been prepared for this +incursion by his previous victories and conquests.”—_Ex. Apoc._, pp. 225, +226. + +These armies, the number of which is literally “myriads of myriads,” were +not all subsequent to the time when they had power to subject the Eastern +Roman empire; but may be the four, from the fact that the Mohammedan power +was extended by these armies, which till this time had been restrained +from accomplishing the subjugation of Constantinople. + +The restraints being removed, they were now to have power to kill, by +compelling the third part of men to embrace the doctrines of +Mohammed,—evident reference being had to the men of the eastern empire; +the conquest of which was now to be effected, the dial of heaven having +indicated the arrival of the predicted epoch. + +In 1449 Constantine Deacoses, being entitled to the throne of +Constantinople by the death of John Paleologus, did not venture to take +possession till he had sent ambassadors and gained the consent of Amurath, +the Turkish Sultan. From this fact, Ducas, the historian, counts +Paleologus as the last Greek emperor—for he did not consider as such, a +prince who did not dare to reign without permission of his enemy. Amurath +died and was succeeded in the empire, in 1451, by MAHOMET II., who set his +heart on Constantinople, and made preparations for besieging the city. The +siege commenced on the 6th of April, 1453, and ended in the taking of the +city, and death of the last of the Constantines, on the 16th of May +following, when the eastern city of the Cæsars became the seat of the +Ottoman empire; and its “religion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem +conquerors.” Thus the two-horned beast (13:11), became merged in, and +identified with the false prophet, 16:13, and 19:20. + +The description of the horses, and those who sat on them (v. 17), is +strikingly emblematic of the Turkish warriors who subjugated +Constantinople. Says Dr. Keith: “The breast-plates of the horsemen, in +reference to the more destructive implements of war, might then, for the +first time, be said to be fire, and jacinth, and brimstone. The musket had +recently supplied the place of the bow. _Fire_ emanated from their +breasts. _Brimstone_, the flame of which is _jacinth_, was an ingredient +both of the _liquid fire_ and of gunpowder.... A new mode of warfare was +at that time introduced, which has changed the nature of war itself, in +regard to the form of its instrument of destruction; and sounds and sights +unheard of and unknown before, were the death-knell and doom of the Roman +empire. Invention outrivalled force, and a new power was introduced, that +of musketry as well as of artillery, in the art of war, before which the +old Macedonian phalanx would not have remained unbroken, nor the Roman +legions stood. That which JOHN saw ‘in the vision,’ is read in the history +of the times.” + +By these three, the fire, smoke, and brimstone, were the third part of men +killed (v. 18), and by these was the conquest of Constantinople effected. +Says Gibbon: “At the request of Mahomet II., Urban produced a piece of +brass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude. A measure of +twelve palms was assigned to the bore, and the stone bullet weighed about +six hundred pounds. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for +the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of +astonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued that the cannon would be +discharged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit +of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of the gunpowder, was driven +about a mile, and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom +deep in the ground. For the conveyance of this destructive engine, a frame +or carriage of thirty wagons was linked together, and drawn along by a +train of sixty oxen; two hundred men, on both sides, were stationed to +poise or support the rolling weight; two hundred and fifty workmen marched +before to smooth the way and repair the bridges, and near two months were +employed in a laborious journey of a hundred and fifty miles. + +“In the siege, the incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied +with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon. +Their small arms discharged at the same time five or even ten balls of +lead of the size of a walnut, and according to the closeness of the ranks, +and the force of the powder, several breast-plates and bodies were +transpierced by the same shot. But the Turkish approaches were soon sunk +into trenches, or covered with ruins. Each day added to the science of the +Christians, but their inadequate stock of gunpowder was wasted in the +operation of each day. Their ordnance was not powerful either in size or +number, and if they possessed some heavy cannon, they feared to plant them +on the walls, lest the aged structure should be shaken and overthrown by +the explosion. The same destructive secret had been revealed to the +Moslems, by whom it was employed with the superior energy of zeal, riches, +and despotism. The great cannon of MAHOMET was flanked by two fellows +almost of equal magnitude: the long order of the Turkish artillery was +pointed against the walls: fourteen batteries thundered at once on the +most accessible places, and of one of these it is ambiguously expressed +that it was mounted with one hundred and thirty guns, or that it +discharged one hundred and thirty bullets.” + +The conquest of Constantinople being accomplished, they were to have power +to kill men during an hour, day, month, and year of prophetic time—_i.e._ +three hundred and ninety-one years, fifteen days. If reckoned from the +conquest of the city, this would extend to June 1844. Whether any +particular act has transpired to mark the precise point of its +termination, may not be important; but it is interesting to consider that +within a few years the Mohammedan government has formally granted +permission for the full enjoyment of the Protestant religion; and has +renounced the right of punishing by death, apostates from Islamism. + +In August 1843, an Armenian, who had become a Mussulman and subsequently +returned to the religion of his fathers, was beheaded at Constantinople. +The Christian powers of Europe immediately remonstrated, and it was hoped +that the law against apostates from Mohammedanism would be permitted to +become a dead letter. In a few months, however, a firman issued from the +government ordering the decapitation of a young man near Brooza, who was +put to death for having promised in a passion, but had afterwards refused, +to become a Mohammedan. Lord Aberdeen, the British Secretary of Foreign +Affairs, then demanded of the Turkish Sultan that the Porte should not +insult and trample on Christianity, “by treating as a criminal any person +who embraces it;” but should “renounce, absolutely and without +equivocation, the barbarous practice which has called forth the +remonstrance now addressed to it.” To this communication the following +answer was made early in 1844: “The Sublime Porte engages to take +effectual measures to prevent, henceforward, the execution and putting to +death of the Christian who is an apostate.” On the 15th of November, 1847, +for the first time, a firman was issued recognizing Protestant Christians +as a distinct community, forbidding any molestation or interference “in +their temporal or spiritual concerns,” and permitting them “to exercise +the profession of their creed in security.” This coming from the Vizier, +did not necessarily survive a change of ministry; but in November, 1850, a +firman was issued from the Sultan himself, _establishing_ the policy of +the empire in respect to Protestants, and confirming them in all needed +civil and religious privileges. Thus has the Mohammedan government +formally and forever renounced the power it had so long wielded, of +causing spiritual death by compelling men to apostatize from Christianity. + +The rest of the men not killed, must be those in portions of the Roman +territory not included in the eastern third. The Roman Catholics in the +western parts, were not reformed by the judgments inflicted on the east. +They continued to worship the canonized dead, and to bow down to images of +the saints. Under this trumpet, a mighty movement was to be there +effected, which was symbolized by the descent of: + + + +The Rainbow Angel. + + + “And I saw another mighty angel descending from heaven, clothed + with a cloud: and the rainbow was over his head, and his face was + like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his + hand a little book opened: and he set his right foot on the sea, + and his left foot on the land. And shouted with a loud voice, as a + lion roareth: and when he shouted, seven thunders uttered their + voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I + was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal + up those things, which the seven thunders uttered, and write them + not. And the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the + land, raised his hand to heaven, and swore by him who liveth for + ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things in it, and the + earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, + that the time should not yet be; but in the days of the voice of + the seventh angel, when he will sound, the secret of God will be + finished, as he hath announced to his servants the prophets. And + the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke with me again, and + said, Go, take the little book, which is opened in the hand of the + angel, who standeth on the sea and on the land. And I went away to + the angel, and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said + to me, Take, and eat it up; and it will make thy stomach bitter, + but in thy mouth, it will be sweet as honey. And I took the little + book from the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth + sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it my stomach was bitter. And + he said to me, Thou must prophesy again concerning many people, + and nations, and tongues, and kings.”—Rev. 10:1-11. + + +This angel, like those in corresponding passages, must symbolize a body of +men, whose importance is indicated by the might and splendor of the +symbol. + +His descent from heaven, the cloud, the rainbow, the sun-like face, and +the fire-like feet of the Mighty Messenger, attest the heaven-inspired +origin of his utterances. His “eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like +unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace,” would not be given to +one who came to announce other than heaven-inspired truths. + +The _open book_ in the hand of the angel, fixes the chronology of the +fulfilment of this vision at an epoch when the Scriptures cease to be a +closed and sealed book, and the people are permitted to have free access +to them. + +His _position_—one foot resting on the sea, and one on the land—attests +the universality of the movement which is to date from that epoch. + +His lion voice, must symbolize the manner in which would be announced the +great truths, at which the whole world would be startled. + +The _singleness_ of his cry, is also symbolic of the simplicity of the +truth, which is never symbolized by discordant multitudinous sounds. + +The _responsive thunders_, unlike the single voice of the angel, are +multitudinous and discordant; and consequently symbolize errors. Their +_following_ so immediately on the shout of the angel, shows the proximity +of their promulgation to the utterance of the truths to which they are +responsive. + +JOHN’S _readiness to write_ what the seven thunders uttered, shows that +what they uttered was _professedly_ in harmony with the truths previously +announced, and that men would be liable to be deceived, by their +promulgation. + +His being _forbidden_ by the cloud-robed angel, to write what they +uttered—while he was commanded to “seal not the sayings of the prophecy of +this book” (22:10),—shows that their utterances were not heaven-inspired, +and constituted no part of “the word of GOD, and of the testimony of JESUS +CHRIST,” which JOHN bare record of. + +The _subsequent oath_ of the angel, by Him who liveth forever, that “the +time is not yet,” shows that those thunders, however erroneous in their +form manner and connection with other errors, had respect to some great +event foretold in Scripture; but which the thunders had _antedated_ and +presented in an _unscriptural_ form. + +His further announcement that it would be fulfilled under the sounding of +the “seventh trumpet,” and that then the mystery of GOD should be finished +in the manner foretold to his servants the prophets, shows that the great +event, the time of which was “not yet,”—_i.e._, under the sixth trumpet, +was the coming of the kingdom of GOD—the fifth universal empire; that at a +period anterior to the time when it might rationally be expected, it would +be proclaimed in a form repugnant to the teachings of the prophets; and +that when thus heralded, it would be met by the party uttering the +heaven-inspired truths, with the denial that the time had arrived, and by +arguments to show its true nature and epoch, under the seventh trumpet. + +The command to take and eat the little book, shows that its contents were +such as the soul might feed on; which should be sweet to the believer’s +taste, but would subject him to bitter persecution. And the announcement +that they were to prophesy _again_ before many nations and peoples and +tongues and kings, marks this as the commencement of an era when the +Gospel should again begin to go forth into distant lands. + +All of the above particulars harmonize in the time of the reformation of +LUTHER in the sixteenth century, and with no other epoch. The great truths +then promulgated, of which “justification by faith” was the cardinal one, +electrified the whole world, as the loud roaring of a lion would startle +the passer-by. These were immediately responded to by the multitudinous +errors of the Anabaptists and others, who thought to set up the kingdom of +GOD in _this world_, and _before the resurrection_, by putting to death +the ungodly and sparing only the saints. + +As in all efforts for good Satan is careful to attempt a counterfeit, or +to mingle impure elements to the injury of the truth, so in the +Reformation there were false reformers. THOMAS MUNZER, and others, in +1525, incited vast numbers on the borders of the Danube to make physical +war on the Papal ecclesiastics. He denounced LUTHER, also, with the same +violence that he did the Pope. In his mad attempt to slay the ungodly, he +took possession of Muhlhausen, appointed a new city council, pillaged the +houses of the rich, proclaimed a community of goods, and committed various +excesses; but they were finally defeated in a pitched battle, with a loss +of from five thousand to seven thousand killed. Others succeeded him, +teaching that GOD spake to them in person, instructing them how to act. +They professed the most extravagant doctrines, setting aside both LUTHER +and the Bible. The former did not go near far enough for them; and the +latter was in their view insufficient for man’s instruction, who could +only be taught of God. They taught that the world was to be immediately +devastated; and no priest or ungodly person be left alive; and that then +the kingdom of GOD would commence, and the saints possess the earth. Those +who adhered to LUTHER, united with him in bearing a faithful testimony +against such extravagances, adhered to the written word, denounced new +revelations, and showed from the Bible that Antichrist was to be +overthrown by the personal advent of CHRIST, and not by the sword of man. +The following extracts are from MR. LORD: + +“The pretences of the Anabaptists to inspiration were in like manner +denounced by Melancthon. ‘The Anabaptists, infatuated by the devil, have +boasted a new species of sanctity, as though they had left the earth, and +ascended to the skies; and given out, moreover, that they enjoy +extraordinary inspiration. But as the pretence was hypocritical, and +designed merely to subserve appetite and ambition, they soon plunged into +debauchery, and then excited seditions, and undertook to establish a New +Jerusalem, as other enthusiasts have often attempted. A like tragedy was +formerly acted at Pepuza in Phrygia, which fanatical prophets denominated +the new Jerusalem.’ + +“He also refuted by the Scriptures, the expectation of the Anabaptists of +the immediate establishment of Christ’s millennial kingdom. He regarded +the term Antichrist as denoting both the Mohammedan empire and the Papacy, +and held that they were not to be overthrown till the time of the +resurrection of the dead, and that a considerable period was to pass +before that event. ‘God showed to Daniel a series of monarchies and +kingdoms, which it is certain has already run to the end. Four monarchies +have passed away. The cruel kingdom of the Turks, which arose out of the +fourth, still remains, and as it is not to equal the Roman in power, and +has certainly, therefore, already nearly reached its height, must soon +decline, and then will dawn the day in which the dead shall be recalled to +life.’ He then repeats the saying ascribed to Elias, that six thousand +years were to pass before the advent of Christ; two thousand before the +law, two under the law, and two under the gospel; and proceeds to show +that four hundred and fifty-eight years were, therefore, to intervene +before the advent of the Redeemer, the destruction of Antichrist, and the +establishment of the kingdom of the saints. ‘It is known that Christ was +born about the end of the fourth millenary,(1) and one thousand five +hundred and forty-two years have since revolved. We are not, therefore [in +1542], far from the end.’ + +“These views corresponding so conspicuously with the symbol, continued to +be repeated by a crowd of writers, till at the distance of sixty-seven +years from the death of Melancthon, the celebrated Joseph Mede published +his ‘Clavis Apocalyptica,’ in which he showed from the coincidence of the +periods of the wild beast and the witnesses, that the advent of the +Redeemer, and the destruction of the anti-Christian powers were not to be +expected until twelve hundred and sixty years had passed from the rise of +the ten kingdoms, and that near one hundred of them, therefore, were still +to revolve. As that period expired and the knowledge of the prophecy +advanced, the catastrophe of the wild beast was referred to a later time. +Many recent expositors regard the twelve hundred and sixty years as having +reached their end in 1792; and most refer the fall of the anti-Christian +powers to the last half of the present, or the beginning of the next +century.”—_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 238-240. + +All the vagaries of the various sects of heretics were connected with an +expectation of the immediate establishment of CHRIST’S kingdom. That the +seven thunders gave utterance to such an expectation, is evident from the +response of the angel, when he lifted up his hand to heaven and with the +solemnity of an oath, by Him who liveth forever, affirmed that “_the time +should not yet be_;” but that “in the days of the voice of the seventh +angel, when he delays to sound,(2) the secret of GOD will be finished, as +he hath announced to his servants the prophets.” Why such an annunciation +at this stage of the vision? It must be to correct a misapprehension which +would exist at a corresponding time in its fulfilment, respecting the +immediate appearance of the kingdom. Thus did PAUL correct the +Thessalonian brethren, when he wrote to them in his second epistle not to +be shaken in mind, as that the day of the LORD was then impending, 2 Th. +2:2. + +The Bible, was, at this epoch, first opened to the common people. Before, +it was only found in languages which they were entirely ignorant of. It +was translated by LUTHER into their own language, and thus made +accessible. The art of printing, discovered at about that time, enabled +all who wished, to avail themselves of its unsealed contents. They feasted +on the words of inspiration, which were sweeter to them than honey, or the +honey-comb. But afterwards, they had to endure bitterness for the sake of +the Gospel. Divisions and subdivisions followed, parties multiplied, and +heresies abounded, accompanied with bitter and mischievous discussions, +and fierce and rancorous contentions. These being based on the +understanding which the several parties attached to portions of scripture, +were fitly symbolized by the bitterness that followed the eating of the +book. At this time, also, was revived a system of religious teachings +which has gone forth into many lands. + +The reörganization of the church at this epoch, is next symbolized. + + + +The Measuring Reed, Temple, &c. + + + “And there was given me a measuring reed like a rod, and it was + said, Arise, and measure the temple of God, (and the altar,) and + those who worship in it. But the court which is without the + temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the + Gentiles: and they will tread the holy city under foot forty-two + months.”—Rev. 11:1, 2. + + +These symbols are evidently taken from the temple and altar of Jewish +worship, and represent corresponding analogies under the Christian +dispensation. + +To measure anything, is to examine and take notice of its parts and +proportions; and that by which it is measured, is the standard or rule to +which it should conform. + +The temple, is a proper symbol of the church of God; which is “built upon +the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being +the Chief Corner Stone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, +groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord,” Eph. 2:20, 21. + +At the epoch of the Reformation, the nominal church was subjected to the +scrutiny of the word of God; and its pretensions were measured by the +scriptural rule. The reformers found the Man of Sin, “as God sitting in +the temple of God,” (2 Thess. 2:4); and they had to re-model their church +relationship, in accordance with the pattern presented in the New +Testament. This involved the consideration of what constituted the +church,—its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its +membership,—their mutual relation to God, and to each other. + +The altar, must symbolize the sacrifice and atonement of Christ,—the +“altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle,” Heb. +13:10. The great question, of justification by faith in the death of +Christ, was the rallying cry of the Reformation. The fundamental +principles of Christian truth were then unfolded anew, and the doctrines +of the Papacy, including the sacrifice of the mass, were rejected as +contrary to Bible teachings. + +The worshippers in the temple, who were to be measured by the same rule, +are Christians. All who were to be recognized as such, were to give +evidence of conformity to the Bible standard. Regeneration by the Holy +Ghost, was held by the reformers to be necessary to church membership. The +Papists required only baptism and confirmation. + +The court without the temple, was that to which the Gentiles had access, +and beyond which their entrance was prohibited. Devout foreigners were +there permitted to pay their devotions to the God of heaven. As the +Gentiles must symbolize those who are not Christians, the occupants of the +outer court, must be the congregation—the nominal worshippers who throng +the outer courts of the Lord, in distinction from the true worshippers. +Such were to have free and unrestricted access to the places of Christian +worship. + +The holy city is that in which the temple is situated, and must embrace +the church as a whole, subjected to Gentile rule. Its being trodden under +foot, indicates that the civil polity under which the church would +subsist, should, during the period specified, be under the control of +those who worship only in the outer court. + +The forty and two months, is a period of time, corresponding with the +thousand two hundred and three score days of the verse following, the time +and times and half a time of Rev. 12:14, and the corresponding periods of +Rev. 12:6; 13:5; Dan. 7:25; and 12:7; symbolizing a period of twelve +hundred and sixty years, according to the almost unanimous opinion of +Protestant writers. + +This period does not commence with this epoch, but began with the +subjection of Christianity to the power of the civil arm, which was to +continue during the time predicted,—notwithstanding the reädjustment of +the temple-worship,—when Christians should cease to be responsible to any +human tribunal for the orthodoxy of their faith. + +During the same period, also, power to prophesy, though shrouded in +sackcloth, was to be given to: + + + +Christ’s Two Witnesses. + + + “And I will give charge to my two witnesses, and they will + prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in + sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, and the two lamp-stands, + standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any one wisheth to + injure them, fire proceedeth from their mouth, and devoureth their + enemies: and if anyone wisheth to injure them, he must thus be + killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain in + the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to + turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as + often as they wish. And when they shall have finished their + testimony, the wild beast that ascendeth out of the abyss will + make war with them, and will overcome them, and kill them. And + their dead body _will lie_ on the wide street of the great city, + which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord + was crucified. And those of the people, and tribes, and tongues, + and nations, will see their dead body three days and a half, and + will not allow their dead body to be put into a tomb. And those, + who dwell on the earth, will rejoice over them, and exult, and + send gifts to each other; because these two prophets tormented + those, who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half + the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their + feet; and great fear fell on those, who saw them. And they heard a + great voice from heaven, saying to them, Ascend here! And they + ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them. And + in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of + the city fell, and in the earthquake seven thousand names of men + were slain: and the remnant became terrified, and gave glory to + the God of heaven. The second woe is past away; behold, the third + woe cometh quickly.”—Rev. 11:3-14. + + +The two witnesses are not symbolically exhibited, but are referred to by +an elliptical metaphor, and are explained to be the “two olive-trees, and +the two candlesticks.” Therefore, they are not two living men, as some +suppose, shown to John in vision, symbolizing analogous agents; but their +nature is to be determined by a consideration of the olive-trees and +candlesticks which symbolize them. + +Candlesticks symbolize churches. Thus the Saviour said to John: “The seven +candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches,” 1:20. When “men +light a candle,” they put “it on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto +all that are in the house,” Matt. 5:15. The candlestick does not +originate, but sustains the light in a position to be seen and exert a +beneficial influence. It is thus that the church is said to be “the light +of the world,” and is required to let her light “shine before men,” _Ib._ +vs. 14-16,—_i.e._ She is to disseminate the light committed to her; and in +so doing, she becomes a _witness_ for Jesus. + +The church comprises all the holy persons who have lived on earth, and is +symbolized by two candlesticks, corresponding to the two dispensations of +its existence. Those who lived under the former dispensation, are called +“a great cloud of witnesses,” Heb. 12:1. Of Christ, “give all the prophets +witness,” Acts 10:43. They constitute the voice of the church in that age. +Under the gospel dispensation, also, Christ had chosen witnesses of +himself. He said to his disciples, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in +Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts +of the earth,” (_Ib._ 1:8); and they said, “We are his witnesses,” _Ib._ +5:32. “We are witnesses of all things which he did, ... witnesses chosen +before of God,” (_Ib._ 10:39-41);—“his witnesses unto the people,” _Ib._ +13:31. They and their successors have “testified and preached the word of +the Lord,” (_Ib._ 8:25), overcoming “by the word of their testimony,” +(Rev. 12:11),—many of them being “slain for the word of God, and for the +testimony which they held,” 6:9. The church, one in all ages, symbolized +by the two candlesticks, is thus a _witness_ of Jesus. + +The two olive-trees, symbolize the other witness, which must sustain a +relation to the church, analogous to that sustained by the olive-trees to +the candlesticks. The declaration, that the witnesses are _the_ two +olive-trees and candlesticks, implies the existence of some previous +symbolization, where those objects and their relation to each other are +presented. And the connection shows clearly that reference is made to the +vision, wherein Zechariah beheld “a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl +upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the +seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, +one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side +thereof,” Zech. 4:2, 3. The relation which the olive-trees sustain to the +candlestick, is shown by the questions of the prophet: “What are these, my +Lord?” (_Ib._ v. 4); “What are these two olive-trees upon the right side +of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? What be these two +olive-branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out +of themselves?” _Ib._ vs. 11, 12. The office of the olive-trees, was to +supply the candlestick with oil which alone enabled them to give light. +The oil of the olive-tree, was burned before the Lord continually. The +light committed to the church, is the truth of God’s word. And thus the +angel explains the meaning of the olive-trees: “This is the word of the +Lord unto Zerubbabel,” (_Ib._ v. 6); “These are the two anointed ones +[_mar_, sons of oil], that stand by the Lord of the whole earth,” _Ib._ v. +14. And this expression, corresponding with that in Rev. 11:4, shows that +this vision of Zechariah is the one referred to, and that it is +explanatory of the witnesses. + +The Scriptures, as well as the church, testify of Christ: “Search the +Scriptures,” said the Saviour, speaking of those then written; “they are +they which _testify_ [or bear witness] of me,” (John 5:39); and of the New +Testament, he said: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all +the world for a _witness_ unto all nations,” Matt. 24:4. Like two +olive-trees supplying the candlesticks with oil, the Scriptures of the +Old, and of the New Testament give light to the church, and testify of +Christ. They stand on either side of him,—the one beginning with the +creation and pointing to a Messiah to come, testifying of him by types and +shadows; and the other looking back to the death and resurrection of +Christ, and cheering the heart of the believer by the evidence of his +second coming at the end of the world. Thus stood within the oracle of the +temple the two cherubim, which Solomon made “of _olive-tree_,” and whose +wings met over the ark of the covenant: “He set the cherubim within the +inner house, and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubim, so that +the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub +touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst +of the house,” 1 Kings 6, 27. Thus symbolized, the Scriptures and the +church are Christ’s two witnesses. + +To prophesy, is to make known the truths of God. Thus, at the epoch of the +Reformation, they were to prophesy _again_ before many peoples, and +nations, and tongues and kings, 10:11. It was to enable the witnesses to +do this, that the necessary power was to be given them. + +Sackcloth, is a symbol of humiliation and sorrow; and the witnesses being +thus clothed, indicates that during the time specified, they should be in +a despised and oppressed condition. + +The one thousand two hundred and sixty days, symbolize years. God said to +Israel, after the evil report of the twelve spies: “Your children shall +wander in the wilderness forty _years_ ... after the number of the _days_ +which ye searched the land,” Num. 14:33, 34. And to Ezekiel, “This shall +be a sign to the house of Israel: Lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the +iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, ... for I have laid upon thee the +years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three +hundred and ninety days.... And when thou hast accomplished them, lie +again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of +Judah forty days: I have appointed thee _each day for a year_,” Ezek. +4:3-6. + +This period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years, is not the whole +time in which the witnesses prophesy, but marks the duration of their +prophesying in sackcloth. It commenced when the light of the Bible began +to be obscured by the secondary place which was accorded to it in the +estimation of the Papal church, and the living witnesses were no longer +permitted to preach the gospel in its purity. + +In A. D. 533, the Emperor Justinian, wrote a letter to the Pope declaring +him to be “the head of all the holy churches,” and subjecting to his +control “all the priests of the whole East.” By the edicts and mandates of +Justinian, who was master of the Roman world, the supremacy of the Pope +received the fullest sanction; and the highest authorities among the +civilians and annalists of Rome, refer to these as evidence of the right +of the Pope to the title of “Universal Bishop,” and date it from A. D. +533. p. 200. + +With this supremacy, the power of the Papacy commenced. The Bible was +permitted only in a dead language, and the faithful Christian was obliged +to seek refuge in the wilderness. False doctrines obscuring the Bible, and +persecuting enactments oppressing the church, clothed the witnesses in +sackcloth; and thus only did they testify, till the power of the papacy +was broken. + +Fire proceeded out of their mouth, when they made known the fiery +judgments predicted in the Scriptures against all their enemies. And they +shut heaven, smite with plagues, turn water to blood, &c., when, in +accordance with the inspired record, are fulfilled the predictions which, +in various places, are thus symbolized.—See Rev. 15:6; 16:4, &c. + +The finishing of their testimony, refers to the termination of the +sackcloth period,—twelve hundred and sixty years from A. D. 533; _i.e._ in +1793,—if the former date is correct. + +The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, is that on which, in a +subsequent vision, the woman is seated, 17:7, 8. John saw this beast arise +out of the sea, (13:1); and the subsequent exposition given of it, will +show that it symbolized the civil power of the Roman empire in its divided +form.—See p. 169. As the ten kingdoms constitute the beast, what is done +by any of these kingdoms, is done by the beast. France was one of the more +prominent of these kingdoms, and at one period, under Napoleon, controlled +the greater portion of the whole. + +To war against the witnesses, is to oppose, resist, and endeavor to crush +them; and to overcome them, is to be successful in such efforts. + +To kill, when used symbolically and applied to Christians, is to cause +them to apostatize—producing spiritual death, 9:5. When applied to the +Scriptures, it can only denote their prohibition. + +The great city, as shown in connection with Rev. 16:19, p. 290, is the +Roman hierarchy:—symbolized by Babylon, and “spiritually called Sodom and +Egypt.” By being thus “_spiritually_ called Sodom,” some understand that +it is a “spiritual Sodom,” &c., which would be a contradiction of terms; +others understand that it is called _figuratively_ by those names, and +deduce from it an argument for spiritualizing the Scriptures; but the use +of the word “_spiritually_,” it is believed, will not sanction any such +meaning. It occurs only in two other passages:—in Rom. 8:7, to be +“spiritually minded,” is to have a mind in accordance with the will of the +Spirit; and in 1 Cor. 2:14, things “spiritually discerned,” signifies that +they are discerned by the aid of the Spirit. The great city, then, is +called by the Spirit, “Sodom and Egypt;” and is so called because of her +licentiousness and idolatries, and her subjecting the saints to bondage. +To crucify the Lord afresh, is to apostatize from his teachings, Heb. 6:6. + +In 1793, twelve hundred and sixty years from the date of the Papal +supremacy, the Bible was abolished in France, by the solemn decree of the +government, which declared that the nation acknowledged no God. A copy of +the Bible could not be found in a single bookstore in Paris. Inquiry also +was made for it in Rome, in _all_ the book establishments of that city, +and the invariable reply was, that it was prohibited. All the churches of +Paris were shut, and the church plate was declared the property of the +nation. Professors of religion, at the same time, in large numbers openly +apostatized and embraced infidelity. Says Dr. Croley:— + +“On the 1st of November, 1793, Gobet, with the republican priests of +Paris, had thrown off the gown and abjured religion. On the 11th, a ‘grand +festival,’ dedicated to ‘Reason and Truth,’ was celebrated instead of +divine service in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, which had been +desecrated, and been named, ‘the Temple of Reason;’ a pyramid was erected +in the centre of the church, surmounted by a temple, inscribed, ‘To +Philosophy.’ The torch of ‘Truth’ was on the altar of ‘Reason,’ spreading +light, &c. The National Convention, and all the authorities, attended at +this burlesque and insulting ceremony. In February, 1794, a grand fête was +ordered by the convention, in which hymns to Liberty were chanted, and a +pageant in honor of the abolition of slavery in the colonies, was +displayed in the ‘Temple of Reason.’ In June another festival was +ordered—to the Supreme Being: the God of Philosophy. But the most superb +exhibition was the ‘general festival,’ in honor of the republic. It was +distinguished by a more audacious spirit of scoffing and profanation than +the former. Robespierre acted the ‘high-priest of Reason’ on the day, and +made himself conspicuous in blasphemy. He was then at the summit of +power,—actual sovereign of France.” + +The dead bodies of the witnesses, would be their existence in that +prohibited condition, when, in France, neither the Scriptures, nor the +church showed any symptoms of life. In the street, would be the +conspicuous and public manner in which indignities should be heaped on +them. France had been one of the principal states yielding homage to the +Roman church. Surrounding nations beheld, but would not permit the +extermination of the Bible and Christianity. + +The French made merry over their blasphemous work. Says Dr. Croley:— + +“A very remarkable and _prophetic_ distinction of this period, was the +spirit of frenzied festivity which seized upon France. The capital, and +all the republican towns, were the scene of civic feasts, processions, and +shows of the most extravagant kind. The most festive times of peace under +the most expensive kings were thrown into the shade by the frequency, +variety, and extent of the republican exhibitions. Yet this was a time of +perpetual miseries throughout France. The guillotine was bloody from morn +till night. In the single month of July, 1794, nearly _eight hundred +persons_, the majority, principal individuals of the state, and all +possessing some respectability of situation, were guillotined in Paris +alone. In the midst of this horror, there were twenty-six theatres open, +filled with the most profane and profligate displays in honor of the +‘triumph of reason.’ ” + +In Lyons a Bible was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged in a +procession through the streets of that city. Thus they rejoiced over the +supposed end of religion in France; and congratulated themselves that the +terrors of God’s word, and the church would no more torment them. + +“After three days and a half,” would be that number of years from the +suppression of Christianity in November, 1793. On the 17th day of June, +1797, three and a half years from the abolition of the Bible and religious +worship, CAMILLE JOURDAN, in the _Council of Five Hundred_, brought up the +memorable report on the _Revision of the Laws Relative to Religious +Worship_, by which France gave permission to all citizens to buy or hire +edifices for the free exercise of it; repealing all opposing laws, and +subjecting those to a heavy fine who should in any way impede or interrupt +any religious service. The Bible and the church again stood erect, to the +dismay of all who had rejoiced over their overthrow. Those two witnesses +were again in a position to resume their testimony. + +They were not only to be thus restored, but were to be elevated far above +their former position. Since that epoch, have been made all those great +efforts to evangelize the world, by means of missionary, tract, Bible, and +other benevolent societies, which have caused the _Scriptures_ to be +translated into nearly all known languages, and carried by the _living +preacher_ to the ends of the earth. The very room in which Voltaire +uttered his famous prediction—that “the time would arrive when the Bible +would be regarded only in the light of an old curiosity,”—is now used for +a Bible depository, and is “piled to the ceiling with that rare old book.” +Copies of the Bible have been multiplied a million fold, and scattered +broadcast over the earth. The other witness,—the church, has since then, +also, been greatly magnified. In this age of missions and Bibles, the +number of believers has been greatly multiplied; and missionaries have +penetrated all lands. The last half-century has been distinguished for its +wonderful revivals; and the servants of the cross have “prophesied [or +testified] again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and +kings,” 10:11. + +The same hour, is the time of the slaughter of the witnesses. Its epoch +was to be marked by a great political revolution, which, in the +Apocalypse, is symbolized by an earthquake. In the year in which +Christianity was suppressed by France, they beheaded their king, abolished +the monarchy, and entirely revolutionized the government. In the reign of +terror following, the best blood of the nation was shed like water, and no +man of influence could consider his life secure. Men, women and children +were dragged before the revolutionary tribunals, had their accusations +read to them, and were immediately condemned, and hurried off in crowds +without a trial, to be shot, drowned or beheaded. At Lyons thirty-one +thousand persons were thus slain; at Nantes thirty-two thousand,—and +throughout France in proportion. The number thus slain, has been estimated +at over one million,—a number hardly credible, and which might well be +symbolized by seven thousand—a perfect number. Well might the remnant be +affrighted, and hasten to give glory to the GOD of heaven, by the +restoration of that book, the setting aside of which had involved them in +such dire calamities. + +The tenth of the city which fell, must be the tenth of the Roman +hierarchy, which is symbolized by the city. With the suppression of +religion, the Catholic church was prohibited, with all others. France was +one of the ten kingdoms, and the overthrow of the church in France, would +be the fall of one-tenth of that city. + +Thus passed the second woe—the prelude to the third woe, which cometh +quickly. + + + +The Seventh Trumpet. + + + “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in + heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world hath become the kingdom + of our Lord, and of his Anointed; and he will reign for ever and + ever. And the twenty-four elders, who sat before God on their + thrones, fell on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We thank + thee, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and who wast, because thou + hast taken to thyself thy great power, and reigned. And the + nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come, and the season of the + dead, when they should be judged, and a reward should be given to + thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to those who + fear thy name, small and great; and when thou shouldest destroy + those, who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in + heaven, and the ark of his covenant in his temple appeared, and + there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an + earthquake, and great hail.”—Rev. 11:15-19. + + +The seventh, like the preceding trumpets, marks an epoch from which an era +dates. “The days of the voice of the seventh angel” (10:7), are indicative +of a period of time to follow its sounding, in which will be fulfilled the +events predicted of that era. + +The voices in heaven, which immediately follow its sounding, are prophetic +utterances of events then to transpire; and are distinct from the response +of the elders. When Christ “shall be revealed from heaven,” he will be +accompanied “with his mighty angels,” 2 Thess. 1:7. He will descend “with +a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,” (1 +Thess. 4:16); and the shout is evidently that of the attending angels, +symbolized by those voices, which will announce the revolution which is to +be made in the empire of the earth, and of the substitution of the kingdom +of God in the place of human governments. + +The kingdom here established, is the long promised consummation, foretold +by prophets, and anticipated by saints of every age. It is that predicted +by Daniel, when he says: “In the days of these kings shall the GOD of +heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom +shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and +consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44. He +also “saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came +with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they +brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, +and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: +his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and +his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.... And the kingdom and +dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall +be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an +everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” _Ib._ +7:13, 14, 27. It is that referred to in the simple petition, “Thy kingdom +come” (Matt. 6:10), which was to be the great object of our prayer till +the final consummation; which the disciples thought was to appear +immediately, when they journeyed towards, and were nigh to, Jerusalem, and +which misapprehension the Saviour corrected by the parable of a nobleman +going into a far country to receive for himself kingly authority, and to +return, Luke 20:12. It is that respecting which they inquired, as the +SAVIOUR was about to be taken from them, if he would at that time restore +it to Israel, (Acts 1:6); and to which the apostle refers, when he +declares to TIMOTHY that the Lord JESUS CHRIST will judge the living and +the dead at his appearing and kingdom, 2 Tim. 4:1. + +“Thy kingdom come! Thus, day by day +We lift our hands to God and pray; +But who has ever duly weighed +The meaning of the words he said?” + +This kingdom is to be an eternal kingdom: “He will reign for ever and +ever.” This is in accordance with the declaration in Daniel, that “the +saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom +forever, even for ever and ever,” Dan. 7:18. To its eternity Nathan +testifies when he says to David, “Thy house and thy kingdom shall be +established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever,” +2 Sam. 7:16. Though this was spoken to David, it was to be fulfilled in +Christ; for we read in Luke (1:32, 33), “He shall be great, and shall be +called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the +throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob +forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” It is predicted in +Isaiah, that “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the +government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called +Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince +of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no +end; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it and to +establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even +forever,” Isa. 9:6, 7. To the Son the Father saith, “Thy throne, O God, is +for ever and ever,” (Heb. 1:8); and the blood-washed throng ascribe to him +“glory and dominion for ever and ever,” 1:5, 6. + +“Thy kingdom come! O day of joy, +When praise shall every tongue employ; +When hate and strife and war shall cease, +And man with man shall be at peace. +Jesus shall reign on Zion’s hill, +And all the earth with glory fill; +His word shall Paradise restore, +And sin and death afflict no more. +God’s holy will shall then be done +By all who live beneath the sun; +For saints shall then as angels be, +All changed to immortality.” + +The four-and-twenty elders,—symbolizing those who are redeemed “out of +every kindred and tongue and people and nation,” 5:8, 9,—at the +establishment of the kingdom, are to be made “kings and priests,” and are +to “reign on the earth,” 5:10. They are “saints of the Most High,” who are +to “take the kingdom,” and possess it “forever.” With the announcement of +its establishment, they immediately respond with glad hosannas, which +spontaneously and unitedly burst forth from the enraptured hosts of the +ransomed ones, as they find themselves clothed upon with immortality, and +in the joyful presence of their Lord. They are raised from the dead at +this epoch; or are among the living who will then be translated, as says +the apostle: + +“Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be +changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, _at the last +trump_,”—the last of the seven;—“for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead +shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” + +The nations who are angry, will be the nations out from whom the righteous +are taken, and who are left to the recompense of their reward;—“when the +Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in +flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the +gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting +destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his +power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired +in all them that believe,” 2 Thess. 1:7-10. + +The heathen had raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. The kings of +the earth had set themselves, and the rulers taken counsel against the +Lord, and against his anointed. Now the time of their anger is to end: the +time for the exercise of the wrath of Jehovah upon them, has arrived, and +they are filled with fear, consternation, and shame. The time has come +when the dead are to be avenged,—when those who had been slain for the +word of God, and for the testimony which they held, whose souls under the +altar during the fifth seal, cried with a loud voice, saying, + +“How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood +on them that dwell on the earth?” (6:10) find their expectations answered, +and the destroyers, or perverters of the earth, in like manner perverted +and destroyed. This winds up the kingdom of Satan on earth; his reign +terminates, and his subjects are banished. The absence of all the wicked, +with the transfiguration of all the righteous living and resurrection of +the just, leave for subjects only those who have passed the period of +their probation, and are introduced into the everlasting kingdom of God. + +The opening of the temple in heaven, and the presentation of the Ark of +the Covenant, symbolize the unfolding of the mystery, in which the +administration of God may have been shrouded, making apparent all which +may have been inexplicable in his dealings with men; and rendering evident +the verity of his promises to his chosen ones. + +The voices, lightnings, thunders, earthquake, and hail, are appropriate +symbols of the plagues which will fall upon the wicked. These are +fearfully depicted in the Scriptures. God says to Job, “Hast thou seen the +treasures of hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble, +against the day of battle and war,” 38:22, 23. Judgment then will be laid +“to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep +away the refuge of lies. The Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be +heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of +his anger, and with the flame of devouring fire, with scattering, and +tempest, and hailstones,” Isa. 28:17. + +This prepares the way for the purification of the earth as foretold by +Peter (2 Pet. 3:12, 13), the restitution of all things (3:21), the new +heavens and new earth (21:1), the descent of the saints (21:2), and the +kingdom of God on the earth, 21:3. Assuming the correctness of the view +here given, how near to the time now present does it seem to fix the +consummation! + + “So shall the world go on, +To good malignant, to bad men benign, +Under her own weight groaning: till the day +Appear, of respiration to the just, +And vengeance to the wicked; at return +Of him—thy Saviour and thy Lord: +Last in the clouds from heaven, to be revealed +In glory of the Father, to dissolve +Satan, with his perverted world; then raise +From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined, +New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date, +Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love, +To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.”—_Milton._ + +“The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring +New heavens and earth, wherein the just shall dwell, +And after all their tribulations long, +See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds, +With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.”—_Ib._ + + + + +The Woman and Dragon. + + + “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the + sun, and the moon was under her feet, and on her head a crown of + twelve stars; and she, being with child, cried, travailing in + birth, and pained to be delivered. And another sign appeared in + heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten + horns, and seven diadems on his heads. And his tail dragged the + third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and + the dragon stood before the woman, who was about to be delivered, + to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth + a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron; and + her child was snatched up to God, and to his throne. And the woman + fled into the desert, where she hath a place there prepared of + God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and + sixty days.”—Rev. 12:1-6. + + +With this chapter commences a new series of events, extending through the +entire gospel dispensation; the former series being terminated by the +events of the last trumpet. + +The heaven, where these great “wonders” are exhibited, must symbolize the +theatre of their fulfilment—the station to be occupied by the agents +symbolized, which must be as conspicuous as heaven is relatively high +above the earth. + +The woman, according to the use of the symbol in other places, must be a +representative of the church. As the harlot on a scarlet-colored beast +(17:3), is a symbol of a corrupt and apostate church, so a virtuous woman +is a chosen symbol of the true church. + +The “Jerusalem which is above is the mother” of all true Christians (Gal. +4:26); she is also “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (21:9); and “the remnant +of _her seed_,” are those “which keep the commandments of God, and have +the testimony of Jesus Christ,” v. 17. Her robe of light, her position +above the moon, and her crown of stars, indicate her greatness and glory. + +The epoch symbolized, as appears from the relative position of the woman +and dragon, is evidently just prior to the first advent of the Messiah, +when his coming was eagerly anticipated and ardently desired by the +church, and the Roman power had thereby been excited to jealousy. + +The church is the same in all ages, comprising only the true people of +God; all of whom will have part in the first resurrection, 20:6. The +Jewish church was continued by the breaking off of unbelieving branches, +and the grafting in of believing Gentiles with believing Jews, who alike +partake of the root and fatness of the same olive-tree, Rom. 11:17. + +Previous to the first advent, the Jewish church occupied a high political +position, above that of the inferior officers of state, and was in the +enjoyment of imperial favor. Patriarchs and prophets—the messengers of the +church—were stars in her crown of rejoicing, 1:20. From the utterance of +the prediction that the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head +(Gen. 3:15), the coming of the promised deliverer was the great desire of +the church. Even Eve exclaimed, at the birth of her first-born +(_literally_), “I have gotten _the_ man from the Lord,” Gen. 4:1. For his +coming, + +“Kings and prophets waited long +But died without the sight.” + +They “inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that +should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of +Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the +sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow,” 1 Pet. 1:10, 11. +“Many righteous men desired” to see his day (Matt. 13:17); Abraham +rejoiced and was made glad at its prospect, when in the distant future +(John, 8:56); and Hezekiah lamented that because of death he should not +see “the Lord in the land of the living,” Isa. 38:11. + +The seventy weeks indicated to the Jews the time of “the Messiah, the +Prince,” Dan. 9:26-27. When these were near their termination, to the +pious and devout Simeon who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel,” +it “was revealed by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he +had seen the Lord’s Christ,” Luke 2:25, 26. And the opinion was so +general, that when the _Baptist_ preceded him, “the people were in +expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were +the Christ or no,” Luke 3:15. This expectation is testified to by the +Jewish historians Philo and Josephus; and it was that which so troubled +Herod, when wise men came, saying, “Where is he that is born King of the +Jews?” Matt. 2:1-3. + +The belief that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea, +was not confined to Palestine, but extended to Egypt, Rome, Greece, and +wherever the Jews were scattered abroad. Says Suetonius, a Roman +historian: “An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the +East, that the Fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea, who +should attain universal empire.” And Tacitus, another Roman historian, +says: “Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of +their priests, that at that very time the East should prevail, and that +some one should proceed from Judea, and possess the dominion.” + +The great red dragon sustains a relation to the woman, analogous to that +sustained by the nondescript beast (of Dan. 7:7), to the saints of the +Most High; and his position respecting the man-child is like that of the +exceeding great horn (Dan. 8:9), to the Prince of princes, Dan. 8:25. Like +the beast referred to, the dragon has ten horns; and its characteristics +indicate that it also symbolizes the Roman empire,—“the fourth kingdom +upon earth,” Dan. 7:23. The dragon is a monster serpent. “That old +serpent” who seduced Eve (Gen. 3:5), “called the devil” (Matt. 4:1-12), +and “Satan” (2 Cor. 2:11), “who deceiveth the whole world,” is an +appropriate representative of Rome. + +The “head” of a beast, sustains a relation to the beast analogous to that +of the government to the people of an empire. It is that by which the +beast is directed and governed. When distinguished from the body of the +beast (Dan. 7:11), according to the analogy, it must be understood as a +symbol of the directing and controlling power, in the kingdom indicated by +the beast. Several heads on the same beast, on this principle, must +indicate the several forms of government to which the nation is subject. +As these cannot be contemporary, like the divisions of a kingdom +represented by the horns, they must be successive. To suppose they +represent different governments, destroys the analogy, and makes them +separate beasts, instead of heads of the same beast; and no government can +be subject to more than one head at the same time. + +The “seven heads” of the dragon, then, symbolize the directing and +controlling powers which ruled the Roman empire,—the seven successive +forms of government under which it existed. Rome was founded about B. C. +753, from small beginnings, on the summit of Mount Palatine, and gradually +increased in extent, till it spread over seven hills: the Palatine, +Capitoline, Aventine, Esquiline, Cœlius, and Quirinalia; and its +population of about three thousand in the time of Romulus, increased to +about two millions in the time of Augustus Cæsar. + +Previous to the subversion of the empire, Rome existed under different +forms of government, as follows:— + +1. _Kingly._—The first government established was a monarchy, and lasted +two hundred and forty-four years, under seven kings, viz., Romulus, Numa, +Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Martius, Tarquin Priscus, Servius Tullius, and +Tarquin the Proud, who was afterwards expelled from the throne. This was +denominated the infancy of the Roman empire. + +2. _Consular._—In B. C. 509, the constitution of Rome was remodelled, and +the executive power committed to two consuls, to be elected annually. This +commenced the “Commonwealth of Rome.” + +3. _Dictatorial._—The office of dictator was the highest known in Rome, +and was only resorted to in cases of emergency. He was elected for six +months only, and usually resigned his authority, which, for the time, was +nearly absolute, as soon as he had effected the object for which he was +chosen. + +4. _Decemviral._—In B. C. 451, the government was so changed, that, +instead of the two consuls, the government was committed to ten men, to be +chosen annually, and jointly exercise the sovereign power. After two years +the decemvirs were banished, and the consular government was restored. + +5. _Tribunitial._—In B. C. 426, Rome having become a military state, +military tribunes were substituted for the consular power, till B. C. 366, +when the latter was again restored. + +6. _Pagan Imperial._—With the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, the Roman +Commonwealth terminated; and Augustus Cæsar united in his own person not +only the offices of Consul, Tribune, &c., but also that of _Supreme +Pontiff_,—the head of the pagan hierarchy. This last office, says Gibbon, +“was constantly exercised by the emperors.” Thus were united the highest +civil and ecclesiastical powers of the state. + +7. _Christian Imperial._—In A. D. 312, the government was revolutionized, +by the accession of Constantine to the throne. He effected important +changes in the relations of the people to the monarch, opposed idolatry, +and by the introduction of Christianity, effected a political change in +the laws and administration of the empire. This continued, with a slight +interruption under Julian the Apostate, till the subversion of the Western +empire, A. D. 476. + +Mr. Elliott, in explanation of the first five heads, says: “I adopt, with +the most entire satisfaction, that generally-received Protestant +interpretation, which, following the authoritative statement of Livy and +Tacitus (the latter great historian, St. John’s own contemporary), +enumerates kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs, and military tribunes, as +the first five constitutional heads of the Roman city and commonwealth; +then as the sixth, the Imperial head, commencing with Octavian.”—_Horæ +Apoca._, vol. III., p. 106, 4th ed. + +Those heads are shown to symbolize seven forms of government, by the +explanation that “they are seven mountains where the woman sits on them +[mountains also symbolizing governments], and are seven kings,” 17:9, 10. +And they are shown to be successive, by the fact that, when John wrote, +the first five had passed away, one only then existed,—the Pagan +Imperial,—and the other head was then in the future, 17:10. + +The “ten horns” also symbolize kings, or dynasties; but, unlike the heads, +instead of being successive, they are contemporaneous. According to the +explanation, they had received no kingdom when John wrote, and were all to +exercise power at the same time: “The ten horns which thou didst see, are +ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom; but they receive power as +kings, one hour with the wild beast,” 17:12. These will be more +particularly noticed in connection with the thirteenth chapter, and there +shown to be the ten contemporaneous governments which succeeded to the +dominion, on the subversion of the Western Empire. See p. 169. + +The “seven crowns” on the heads of the dragon, indicate that the acts here +symbolized, would be fulfilled during the period when the sovereignty of +Rome should be vested in the forms of government symbolized by the heads, +and not during that symbolized by the horns. + +The woman appeared in the symbolic heavens anterior to the dragon. Prior +to the birth of Christ, the church was conspicuous and honored. The +sacrifices which smoked on Jewish altars, were offered to Jehovah. The +subjects of the divine government conducted their service with all the +splendor imparted by the Jewish ritual. Royalty was an appendage of the +nation: the sceptre did not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from +between his feet, till Shiloh came, Gen. 49:10. By an alliance with the +Romans, B. C. 135, Rome took its position in the presence of the woman. + +The first act of the dragon was by a sweep of its tail to draw down +one-third of the stars, and to cast them to the earth. This was before the +birth of the man-child. After Rome attained the supremacy, Judea +proportionably suffered. Her glory was measurably dimmed by many +indignities before her subjugation to Rome was consummated. Jerusalem was +repeatedly besieged. At one time (B. C. 94) Alexander Jannæus slew six +thousand persons on account of their meeting in the temple at the feast of +tabernacles. In B. C. 63, Judea was conquered by Pompey, the Roman +general. In B. C. 54, Crassus plundered the temple of Jerusalem. In B. C. +37, Jerusalem was taken, after a siege of six months. Various other +difficulties occurred between Judea and Rome, previous to the Saviour’s +advent, on account of which she was greatly depressed and humbled, so that +it might with propriety be said that one-third of her stars were cast to +the ground. This depression was one great reason why the church within her +borders looked so earnestly for a Deliverer. + +The Man-child is the one “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,” +according to the prediction of Christ in the second Psalm; which proves +its reference to the Saviour. + +The purpose of the dragon to destroy the child of the woman as soon as it +should be born, in accordance with the view here taken, would symbolize +the purpose of the Roman power, by the agency of Herod the Roman governor +in Judea, to destroy the infant Saviour. “When he had gathered all the +chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them +where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem, in +Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet.” And Herod “sent forth and +slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts +thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had +diligently inquired of the wise men,” Matt. 2:1-16. Thus Rome sought to +slay the Saviour as soon as he was born; but Joseph took the child and +fled into Egypt. Afterwards Christ was crucified by Roman soldiers, and +deposited in the tomb, arising again the third day. + +His being caught up to God and to his throne, symbolizes his resurrection +from the dead, and ascension from the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:9), to the +right hand of the Majesty on high; “whom the heaven must receive until the +times of restitution of all things,” _Ib._ 3:21. + +The flight of the woman into the wilderness, denotes her descent from the +conspicuous position she had occupied, and the dispersion of the church. +With the crucifixion of Christ, Judaism was no longer the casket in which +the church was enshrined. It left its place in the moral heavens, and the +followers of Christ were scattered abroad, Acts 8:1-4. Thus she virtually +fled into the wilderness—into the condition, where, subsequently, she was +to be nourished for 1260 prophetic days. + +It is objected to the application of the man-child to the Saviour, that it +should be prophetic, and not retrospective. This objection would be +equally valid to the application of the symbolic heads, against which it +is never urged. That which is retrospective, to be appropriately +symbolized, must be in harmony with, and explanatory of other parts. Thus, +by the man-child and previous travail of the woman, she is identified, and +her relation to the dragon established. No other subject could fulfil the +conditions of the symbol, for of no other was it predicted: “Thou art my +Son; this day have I begotten thee.—Ask of me, and I shall give thee the +heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for +thy possession.—Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash +them in pieces like a potter’s vessel,” Psa. 2:8-10. + + + + +The War in Heaven. + + + “And a war took place in heaven: Michael and his angels fought + with the dragon;, and the dragon fought and his angels, and he + prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And + the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the Devil, + and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the + earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”—Rev. 12:7-9. + + +The churches,—which on the persecution subsequent to the Pentecostal +season were scattered abroad, and went everywhere preaching the word (Acts +8:4),—afterwards had rest, and were multiplied, _Ib._ 9:31. They were thus +enabled again to act a conspicuous part, as symbolized by the contest +between Michael and the dragon. + +The contest symbolized, is a religious one; for the dragon is overcome “by +the word of their testimony,” v. 11. + +Michael and his angels, then, must symbolize the body of Christ,—the +apostles, and their successor, under the guidance of the Lord,—who +constituted an army of religious teachers. With the arrows of truth they +assailed the idolatrous combinations of their opponents. Under the first +seal, they are represented by a mounted warrior, with bow and crown, going +forth conquering and to conquer, 6:2. See p. 58. + +The dragon, with the appendages of heads, horns, and diadems, was seen to +be a symbol of the Roman government. Divested of those, it would simply +represent the Pagan hierarchy with which the contest was waged. The +heathen priests and their adherents, thus warred with the preachers of +Christianity. + +Its prevailing not, shows the relative success of the two parties. The +struggle continued from the day of Pentecost till the accession of +Constantine. The church waded through bloody scenes of bitter persecution, +which, instead of diminishing, greatly added to her numbers—“the blood of +the martyrs” proving “the seed of the church.” + +The heathen priests were not deficient in logic, philosophy, and artful +sophistry, by which to defend their mythology. They exhausted these, and +then resorted to persecution, torture, and death; yet they prevailed not. +With the weapons of truth, the teachers of Christianity successfully +assailed those antiquated forms of error,—overcoming “by the blood of the +Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.” “They loved not their lives +unto the death,” but freely gave themselves for Christ, till, in time, the +current of popular favor ceased to flow in the direction of paganism. The +accession of Constantine to the throne, put an end to the dragonic period +of Rome; the Pagan service gave place to the worship of Jehovah. The rites +of heathenism were no longer the religion of the state, and its ministers +were displaced from the exalted position they had so long occupied. Their +place was no longer in the symbolic heavens, but in a less conspicuous +station. + +The casting out of the dragon, would then be this expulsion of the pagan +hierarchy from its national importance, and the dejection of the +priesthood and their adherents to the earth,—below their former high +station,—and to the sea, among the unsettled tribes and nations outside of +Rome. This being a religious and not a political event, it does not +immediately affect Rome’s nationality. That it is not the overthrow of a +kingdom, but of religious rites, is shown by the rejoicings which +followed. + + + + +Rejoicings of the Victors. + + + “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the + salvation and the strength, and the Kingdom of or God, and the + power of his Anointed: for the accuser of our brethren it cast + out, who accused them before our God day and night. And they + overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their + testimony; and they loved not their lives to death. On this + account, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye who dwell in them.”—Rev. + 12:10-12. + + +The loud voice is heard in the symbolic heaven from which the Dragon had +been cast. By the displacement of the Pagan hierarchy, and the +substitution of Christianity under Constantine, the adherents of the +latter succeeded to the place of the former, and rejoiced over them. + +A loud voice symbolizes the utterance of the thoughts and feelings of an +interested multitude. The nature of the voice indicates the nature of the +utterance—whether it be one of expectation, fear, warning, or instruction. +This voice is expressive of the then prevalent expectation, that, with the +displacement of Paganism commenced the establishment of the Kingdom of God +on earth. This belief was not necessarily well founded;—its _existence_ +only being symbolized. + +On the triumph of Constantine over Licinius, Eusebius says:—“There were +illuminations everywhere. They who were before dejected looked on one +another with joyful aspects and smiles, and with choirs and hymns through +the cities and country, gave honor first to God, the Supreme Ruler of all, +as they were taught, and then to the pious emperor and his children.” Says +Mr Lord: + +“Eusebius represents the victors at the precipitation of Maxentius and his +attendants into the Tiber, as saying, like Moses at the overthrow of the +Egyptians in the Red Sea: ‘Let us sing to the Lord, for he is signally +glorified. Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord my helper +and defender was with me unto salvation. Who, O Lord, is like to thee +among gods? Who is like to thee, glorified by the holy, admirable in +praise, doing wonders? Constantine entered Rome in triumph, hymning these +and similar passages to God, the author of the victory.’ And on the fall +of Licinius he represents the church as uniting in thanksgiving for the +deliverance, and congratulations at the overthrow of idolatry, and +establishment of Christ’s kingdom; and devotes the tenth book of his +history to the edicts of the emperor by which the church was nationalized +and endowed, and to the restoration of the temples, and the public +rejoicings at their dedication. ‘Let thanks be given by all to the +Almighty Ruler of the universe, and to Jesus Christ, our Saviour and +Redeemer, through whom we pray that peace from external foes may be +uninterruptedly preserved to us, and tranquillity of mind.’ + +“ ‘Let us sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things. +His right hand has saved him and his holy arm. The Lord has made known his +salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the presence of the +nations. We may now appropriately respond to the inspired command to sing +a new song, inasmuch as after such direful spectacles and narrations we +now have the happiness to see and celebrate what many holy men before us +and the martyrs for God desired to see on earth, and did not see, and to +hear, and have not heard. But advancing more rapidly they attained far +superior gifts in heaven, being caught up to the paradise of celestial +joy; while we acknowledge the gifts we enjoy are greater than we deserve, +and contemplate with wonder the largeness of the divine bounty. Admiring +and adoring with all our souls, we testify to the truth of the prophet’s +words, “Come and see the works of the Lord, what wonders he has wrought in +the earth, abolishing wars to the ends of the world. The bow he has +broken, he has dashed the arms, the shield he has burned in the fire.” +Rejoicing at the manifest fulfilment of these predictions to us, we go on +with our history.’ He goes on accordingly to represent the whole +population, freed from the domination of the tyrants, and relieved from +oppression, as acknowledging the only true God and protector of the pious, +and these especially who had placed their hope in Christ, as filled with +inexpressible joy; the ministers everywhere delivering commemorative +addresses, and the whole multitude offering praises and thanksgiving to +God. + +“Lactantius also: ‘Let us celebrate the triumph of God with gladness; let +us commemorate his victory with praise; let us make mention in our prayers +day and night of the peace which, after ten years of persecution, he has +conferred on his people.’ ”—_Ex. of Apoc._, pp. 343-4. + +Multitudes actually supposed the long-predicted kingdom of God was now +being established. Says Mr. Elliott: + +“Can we wonder, then, at the exultation that was felt at this time by +many, perhaps by most, that bore the Christian name: or at their +high-raised expectations as to the future happy destiny of the Roman, now +that it had been changed into the Christian, nation? It seemed to them as +if it had become God’s covenanted people, like Israel of old: and the +expectation was not unnatural,—an expectation strengthened by the +remarkable tranquillity which, throughout the extent of the now reünited +empire, followed almost immediately on Constantine’s establishment of +Christianity,—that not only the temporal blessings of the ancient Jewish +covenant would thenceforth in no small measure attach to them, but even +those prophesied of as appertaining to the latter day. Hence on the medals +of that era the emblem of the phœnix, all radiant with the rising +sunbeams, to represent the empire as now risen into new life and hope, and +its legend which spoke of the happy restoration of the times. Hence, in +forgetfulness of all former prognostications of Antichrist and fearful +coming evils, the reference by some of the most eminent of their bishops +to the latter-day blessedness, as even then about fulfilling. The state of +things was such, Eusebius tells us, that it looked like ‘the very image of +the kingdom of Christ.’ The city built by the emperor at Jerusalem, beside +the new and magnificent Church of the Holy Sepulchre,—the sacred capital, +as it were, to the new empire,—might be, perhaps, he suggested, the New +Jerusalem, the theme of so many prophecies. Yet again, on occasion of the +opening of the new church at Tyre, he expressed in the following glowing +language, not his own feelings only, but those, we may be sure, of not a +few of the congregated Christian ministers and people that heard him: +‘What so many of the Lord’s saints and confessors before our time desired +to see, and saw not, and to hear, and heard not, that behold now before +our eyes! It was of us the prophet spake when he told how the wildernesses +and solitary places should be glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as +the lily. Whereas the church was widowed and desolate, her children have +now to exclaim to her, Make room, enlarge thy borders! the place is too +strait for us. The promise is fulfilling to her, In righteousness shalt +thou be established: all thy children shall be taught of God: and great +shall be the peace of thy children.’ ”—_Horæ Apoc._, v. i., pp. 230-1. + +They rejoiced over the downfall of the dragon as over “the Accuser of our +brethren, who accused them before our God day and night.” The phrase “our +brethren,” proves that those who unite in this song are the living saints +on the earth. The reference to Satan as an Accuser bears a close +resemblance to Zech. 3:1, where Joshua, as a symbol of the people of +Israel, is represented as standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan +standing at his right hand to resist him.—“שטן Satan signifies an +_adversary_. רשטנו _lesiteno_, to be his adversary or accuser.”—_Dr. +Clark._ + +Satan’s most common work is to invent false accusations against those +whose efforts tend to frustrate his designs. The Christians had endured +false accusations and bitter persecutions, and therefore rejoiced the more +over the defeat of the Pagans. + + + + +The Flight of the Woman. + + + “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea! for the + devil is come to you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that + he hath but a short season.” + + + “And when the dragon saw that he was cast out into the earth, he + persecuted the woman, who brought forth the male child. And two + wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly + into the desert, into her place, where she is nourished for a + time, and times, and half a time, from the presence of the + serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a river, + after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the + river. And the earth helped the woman; and the earth opened its + mouth and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his + mouth. And the dragon was enraged against the woman, and went away + to make war with the remnant of her seed, that keep the + commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”—Rev. + 12:12-17. + + +The rejoicing of Christians, according to this symbolization, is +afterwards followed by renewed triumphs of the Pagans over them. The +hatred of the Pagan worshippers to Christianity, is strikingly evinced; +but it is manifested in a manner different from the former contest. + +When the church sought only to overcome by “the blood of the Lamb, and by +the word of their testimony,” it was owned of Christ; but as it became +proud and worldly, and cared more for popular favor than for purity of +faith and practice, the true church which the woman symbolized, was +represented only by those who continued faithful to their profession. +Historians inform us that with the success of Constantine, the visible +church became speedily corrupt. As it became popular, unconverted men +sought to be enrolled as members. The Pagans, instead of approaching as +enemies, came as professed friends. As a profession of Christianity was +alone necessary for admission to the church, multitudes sought connection +with it. This caused a condition of things, of which Dr. Milner thus +speaks:—“In the general appearance of the church, we cannot see much of +the spirit of godliness. External piety flourished. But faith, love, +heavenly-mindedness appear very rare. The doctrine of real conversion was +very much lost, and external baptism placed in its stead: and the true +doctrine of justification by faith, and true practical use of a crucified +Saviour for troubled consciences were scarcely to be seen at this time. +Superstition and self-righteousness were making vigorous shoots; and the +real gospel of Christ was hidden from the men that professed it.” + +To the same effect is the report of Mosheim:—Of the life and morals of the +professing Christians of the fourth century, he says: “Good men were, as +before, mixed with bad; but the bad were by degrees so multiplied, that +men truly holy and devoted to God appeared more rarely; and the pious few +were almost oppressed by the vicious multitude.” Of their doctrines he +says: “Fictions, of early origin” (about saint veneration and relics, a +purifying fire, celibacy, &c., &c.), “now so prevailed as in course of +time almost to thrust true religion aside, or at least to exceedingly +obscure and tarnish it.” + +Says Mr Lord:—“Constantine and his successors introduced a flood of false +doctrines, superstitions and idolatries, into the church, which were +incompatible with a pure worship, and swept all who yielded to their +impulse to the gulf of apostasy. Such were the veneration of the cross, +and ascription to it of miraculous powers, the homage of relics, the +invocation of saints, the conversion of religion into gorgeous ceremonies, +the encouragement of celibacy, and the arrogation of the throne and +prerogatives of God by civil and ecclesiastical rulers. These falsehoods, +follies, and impieties, introduced or adopted by the emperors, encouraged +by their example, sanctioned by their laws, and enforced by the penalties +of excommunication, imprisonment, the forfeiture of civil rights, +banishment, and death, came armed with an overpowering force to all who +were not fortified against them by the special aids of the divine spirit, +and like a resistless torrent bore away the great mass of the +church.”—_Exp. of Apoc._, p. 350. + +With the accession of multitudes of unworthy members, and the prevalence +of false doctrines, the true church would have been speedily overwhelmed +had not the people of God been sustained from such deleterious influences. +To the woman, therefore, were given two wings of a great eagle that she +might escape. Wings are symbolic of power of flight—for succor, or escape. +The four-winged leopard of Daniel used his speed to approach and demolish +the enemy; the woman, to escape hers. The church of old was sustained in +like manner. Thus God said to Israel, “Ye have seen what I did unto the +Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to +myself.”—Ex. 19:4. + +On the introduction of new rites and doctrines into the church, multitudes +withdrew from the public assemblies, and worshipped apart. They retired +from the observation of their rulers and lived secluded for a long period. + +Some may inquire for the historical evidence of the _time_ when such a +body withdrew. This, from the nature of the case, it may be difficult to +give. If the withdrawal of the true worshippers had been an occurrence of +so much notoriety as to be prominently historically noticed, it might have +defeated their withdrawal. It is sufficient that the prophecy makes such a +withdrawal necessary; and that at a later period such a body was found +existing as predicted. See p. 198. Says Mr. Lord: + +“Her retreat into her place from the face of the serpent, denotes that the +scene of her residence was unknown to the rulers. The anger of the serpent +indicates their continued disposition to destroy her, if in their power; +while its going on to make war with such of her seed as had not retreated +to the desert, denotes that they continued, after her disappearance, to +persecute the isolated individuals that from time to time dissented from +the corrupt church, and professed the pure faith. + +“As it was by spiritual aids that the true worshippers were enabled to +resist the temptations and force by which the rulers endeavored to +constrain them to apostasy, and to fly to the desert, no specific record +of those aids is to be sought on the page of history. The only evidence +that we can ask or possess, that they were conferred, is presented in the +fact that a body of dissentients from the corrupt church were in a latter +age found in a secluded scene, who had survived the endeavors of the +rulers of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and following centuries, to compel all +their subjects to conformity, and who have continued to maintain a +separate existence, and offer an unidolatrous worship to the present time. + +“And such a body were the Waldenses, inhabiting the eastern valleys of the +Cottian Alps. They are known, from the testimony of cotemporary Catholics +and their own authors, to have existed there as early as the eleventh +century. It was then, and is now, claimed by themselves, and admitted by +their enemies, that they had subsisted there from a much earlier age. +These were a Christian church, having the Scriptures of the Old and New +Testaments, regarding them as a revelation from God, and making them the +rule of their faith; having a ministry of their own, holding religious +assemblies, professing and teaching the doctrines of the gospel, and +celebrating the sacraments. + +“They were distinguished for the simplicity and purity of their lives. It +was asserted by them, and repeated by the Catholics, that they were +induced to retreat to the secluded valleys which they inhabit, to escape +the despotism of the rulers and the corruptions and tyranny of the church, +soon after its nationalization by Constantine. They have continued to +subsist there to the present time, as a separate and evangelical +church.”—_Exp. Apoc._, pp. 348, 349, 359. + +Says Mr. Elliott:—“I must not pass on without pressing on the reader’s +notice this notable pre-figuration of the seclusion of Christ’s church in +the wilderness, as the true and fittest answer to the Romish +anti-Protestant taunt, ‘Where was your religion before Luther?’ +Protestants have not duly, as it seems to me, applied the answer here +given. For the wilderness-life necessarily, as I must repeat,—and that on +Bossuet’s own showing,—implies the _invisibility_ of her who lives in it. +And consequently, instead of the long previous invisibility of a church +like the Lutheran, or Anglican Reformed, of the sixteenth century, in +respect of doctrine and worship, being an argument against, it is an +argument for it. The Romish church, which never knew the predicted +wilderness-life, could not, for this very reason, be the woman of the 12th +Apocalyptic chapter; that is, could not be the true church of Christ. + +“For 1260 prophetic days, then, or years, she was to disappear from men’s +view in the Roman world. Is it asked how her vitality was preserved? +Doubtless in her children, known to God, though for the most part unknown +to men; just like the 7000 that Elijah knew not of, who had not bowed the +knee to Baal; some, it might be, in monasteries, some in the secular walks +of life; but all alike insulated in spirit from those around them, and as +regards the usual means of grace, spiritually destitute and desolate; even +as in a barren and dry land, where no water is.—Besides whom, some few +there were of her children,—some very few,—prepared, like Elijah of old, +to act a bolder part, and stand forth, under special commission from God, +as Christ’s witnesses before Christendom.”—_Horæ Apoc._, pp. 55-57. + +The flood of water cast out after the woman, is an appropriate symbol of +the various tribes which subsequently overran the Western empire. Waters +symbolize peoples, 17:15; and by hordes of barbarian Huns, Goths, and +Vandals, Rome was inundated as by a flood, in the 5th century; and in A. +D. 476 its government was entirely subverted. + +Such an irruption of barbarians might be expected to extirpate +Christianity from the earth; but help came from an unexpected quarter. The +woman had retired to her secure retreat, and the earth swallowed up the +flood. Those barbarous tribes were absorbed by, and mixed with, the +previous population of the empire, and constituted the clay ingredient +with the iron, in the feet of the metallic image.—Dan. 2:41. They rapidly +assimilated to the character and habits of the previous inhabitants; and +ultimately adopted the forms of government and religion which for a time +they subverted; and within the limits of the Western empire, in the place +of the Imperial head, constituted ten contemporary kingdoms. These were a +continuation of the former government, and were symbolized by: + + + + +The Ten-Horned Beast. + + + “And I was standing on the sand of the sea, and saw a wild beast + ascending out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on + his horns ten diadems, and on his heads names of reviling. And the + wild beast, which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like + those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion: and the + dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. + And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his + deadly wound was healed: and all the world admired and followed + the beast. And they worshipped the dragon, for he gave power to + the wild beast: and they worshipped the wild beast, saying, Who is + like the wild beast, and who is able to make war with him?”—Rev. + 18:1-4. + + +The sea, from which this beast emerged, is evidently the turbulent state +of anarchy, to which the people of the fourth kingdom had been reduced, on +its subversion. And the beast which came up out of the sea, represents the +forms of government which then arose. + +Its heads and horns synchronize with those of the dragonic monster, which +had preceded it, and disappeared from the view of the revelator. And they +doubtless symbolize the same forms of government. See pp. 145-148. + +The ten crowns encircling its horns, indicate that an era is foreshadowed, +when the sovereignty of the kingdom shall have been transferred from the +forms of government symbolized by the heads,—which had before been +encircled by the crowns,—to that represented by the horns. There is great +unanimity among Protestant writers, in regarding these as the first ten +kingdoms which existed in the western empire arising during the period of +its decline, viz: + +1. The Huns in Hungary, from A. D. 356. + +2. The Ostrogoths in Mysia, from A. D. 377. They invaded Italy, and +conquered the Heruli in 493; and were defeated in 538 by Justinian, when +the Pope was placed in quiet possession of the capital of Rome. + +3. The Visigoths in Pannonia, from A. D. 378 to 408, when they removed to +the south of France till 585. They then removed to, and subjugated Spain. + +4. The Franks in France, from A. D. 407. + +5. The Vandals in Spain, from A. D. 407 till 427, when they removed to +Africa, and continued an independent kingdom till subjugated by Justinian +in 533. + +6. The Suevi and Alans in Gascoigne and Spain, from 407 till 585. + +7. The Burgundians in Burgundy, from A. D. 407 till 524, when they became +subject for a time to the Franks; but afterwards they arose again to an +independent kingdom. + +8. The Heruli, who advanced into Italy under Attila, and in 476 terminated +the imperial rule by the dethronement of Agustulus. They were in turn +conquered by the Ostrogoths in A. D. 493. + +9. The Saxons and Angles in Britain from about A. D. 450. And, + +10. The Lombards in Germany, from A. D. 483. + +The name of blasphemy, on the heads of this beast, identifies it as the +successor and representative of the persecuting power which sought the +life of the Man-child, (12:4), and caused the woman to flee to the +wilderness, 12:14. + +Its characteristics resemble those of the lion, bear, and leopard, of +Daniel’s vision (Dan. 7:4-6), which respectively symbolized the +Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Grecian kingdoms. These mark it as their +successor—synchronizing with Daniel’s ten-horned nondescript beast, (Dan. +7:7); which was the fourth kingdom that should exist on the earth, and the +ten horns of which, symbolized the same ten-fold partition of the Roman +empire. + +His power, seat, and great authority being given by the dragon, is another +evidence that it is a continuation of that fourth kingdom succeeding to +its sovereignty. The laws of the ancient empire were generally adopted by +the ten kingdoms, which assumed and exercised the prerogatives of ancient +Rome. Says Bossuet: “Whoever carefully examines the laws of the Theodosian +and Justinian codes against heretics, will see that they are the source of +the decrees against them, that the church, aided by the edicts of princes, +enacted in the third and fourth Lateran councils.” + +The head, which was as it were wounded to death, would indicate that under +the government symbolized by that head, the life of the beast had become +apparently extinct. This was the case when the empire was subverted. In +the succession of the previous forms of government, the empire itself was +not in any particular peril. They gave place, each to its successor, +without any subversion of the government. But when the seventh head ceased +to exercise sovereignty, the beast itself was apparently dead. The wound, +however, did not prove mortal. The beast still lived. Its sovereignty was +perpetuated by the decemregal governments; which constituted the eighth +form of government—symbolized by the beast that was, is not, and yet is +again in existence and will continue till the day of perdition, 17:11; +19:20. + +They worshipped the dragon and beast, by regarding the latter as a +continuation of the former power, and regarding the sovereign power of +Rome as unparalleled and invincible—as is shown by the questions: “Who is +like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Those combined +governments were regarded by their subjects with wonder and veneration. +Says Mr. Lord: “The serfs and common people, sunk for ages to the most +degraded vassalage, revered the monarchs, the various ranks of nobles, and +their armed followers, as a superior race, while poets and historians +celebrated their warlike exploits, and philosophers and priests justified +their usurpations, and eulogized the wisdom and benignity of their rule.” + + + + +The Mouth of the Beast. + + + “And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and + revilings; and power was given to him to make war forty-two + months. And he opened his mouth in reviling against God, to revile + his name, and his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And + it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome + them: and power was given him over every tribe, and people, and + tongue, and nation. And all, who dwell on the earth, will worship + him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the slain + Lamb, from the foundation of the world. If any one hath an ear, + let him hear. If any one leadeth into captivity, he will go into + captivity: if any one killeth by the sword, he must be killed with + the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”—Rev. + 13:5-10. + + +The mouth of the beast, must symbolize the agency by which utterance is +given to the great things and blasphemies which are spoken by it. Its +likeness to the mouth of the lion, shows its resemblance to the Babylonian +worship of the dead. Moses was “not eloquent,”—he was “slow of speech and +of a slow tongue,” and the Lord said to him, Aaron “shall be thy spokesman +unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of _a +mouth_,” Ex. 4:10, 16. As Aaron was a mouth to Moses, so did the Papacy +become a mouth-piece for the Roman kingdoms. It was the agency by which +the people were taught; and through which utterance was given to the +blasphemies of the beast. It fills a place analogous to that of the image +afterwards symbolized, which also had like power to speak blasphemies. See +p. 188. + +The beast had power to continue to utter blasphemies by the mouth given to +it, forty-two months. This identifies the mouth with that of the “little +horn” (Dan. 7:25), of which it was said, “He shall speak great words +against the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall +be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of +time”—_i.e._ 1260 prophetic days. + +1. This mouth uttered blasphemy against God by claiming to be Christ’s +vicegerent—usurping the prerogatives of the Almighty. The Pope claimed +that he was “Judge, as God’s Vicar, and could himself be judged by none.” +In A. D. 799, a Roman council declined to hear accusations against the +Pope, declaring that “he who was Judge of all men, was above being judged +by any other than himself.” Febroni wrote of the Pope: “He is the Prince +of princes and Lord of lords. He is, as it were, a God on earth. He is +above right, superior to law, superior to the canons. He can do all things +against right, and without right. He is able to free from obligation in +matters of positive right, without any cause, and they who are so released +are safe in respect to God.” Assuming such prerogatives, and the power to +forgive sins, the Holy name of God was blasphemed. + +2. He blasphemed the tabernacle of God by “exalting himself above all that +is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the +_temple_ of God, showing himself that he is God,” 2 Thess. 2:2. The Pope +claimed to be the head of the church and that from himself was derived the +authority of all bishops and other clergy. He usurped the powers in the +church, which only Christ, its Supreme Head and Lawgiver can exercise. + +3. Those in heaven were blasphemed, by the ascription to them of the +attributes and prerogatives of God; and by representing them as being well +pleased with the bestowal on them of divine honors. Saint-worship by the +Papists and demon-worship by the Pagans are alike. They both ascribe the +same attributes to the spirits of the departed,—all the gods of the +heathen being the ghosts of their departed heroes. A revival of this +blasphemy, is subsequently symbolized by the frog-like spirits which +emerge from the mouths of the beast, the dragon, and false prophet, +16:13,—see p. 255. + +In connection with and in obedience to this mouth, the beast warred with +the saints, and overcame them. Dissenters from the Papacy were subjected +to unheard of cruelties and persecutions. And they whose names were not +written in the book of life, sustained their rulers in these oppressive +acts. In paying more deference to the edicts of government than to the +requirements of Jehovah, they blasphemously bestowed on the beast an +homage which was due only to God. + +The revelator being shown what was to be endured by the saints during a +long period of oppression, now receives an annunciation to which all were +to listen,—all who had ears to hear. It was the announcement, that “if any +one leadeth into captivity, he will go into captivity: if any one killeth +with the sword, he must be killed with the sword.” Most commentators have +considered this as applicable to the fate of the wild beast,—that its end +was to be effected by the sword and captivity, as it had in the same way +tyrannized over the saints. Mr. Lord offers some reasons for supposing +that it was a caution to the saints not to resist with the sword the +attacks of enemies, nor to retaliate by making captives of the subjects of +the beast who should fall into their power. He says: + +“The prediction that he who led into captivity should himself become a +captive, and he that slew with the sword be himself slain, had a signal +fulfilment in the slaughter and vassalage of all those who attempted to +deliver themselves by force from the religious tyranny of the European +monarchs. + +“The Albigenses were nearly exterminated by the cruel armies against which +they attempted to defend themselves, and the small number that remained +after the devastation of their fields, the conflagration of their cities, +and the promiscuous slaughters to which they were subjected, were either +forced to conform to the Catholic church, or driven into other lands. The +Waldenses perished in far greater numbers by the sword, in their struggles +for preservation and freedom, than by the fires of martyrdom; and sunk, +after their contests, to a still more hopeless vassalage to their +persecutors. The resort to the sword by the Bohemians and the Huguenots of +France, to defend their religious freedom, resulted, after vast +slaughters, in their defeat and helpless subjection to the tyranny from +which they endeavored to extricate themselves. And the Protestants of +Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain, who +succeeded in delivering themselves from the dominion of their ancient +tyrants, instead of securing thereby their religious liberty, only placed +themselves, by the nationalization of their churches, under the tyranny of +Protestant rulers in place of Catholics.”—_Exp. of Apoc._ p. 384. + +In this was to be exhibited the patience and faith of the saints, who, +amid all their persecutions, made a wonderful manifestation of these. Of +the many thousands put to death, or subjected to satanic cruelties for +their faith, only a very few apostatized. Says Mr. Lord: + +“Of those who, under the insupportable agonies and distraction of the +scourge and the rack, recanted, or promised a recantation, a large +proportion immediately on being released from the sufferings which had +overcome them, abjured their retractions, re-professed with redoubled +energy the faith of Christ, and met without faltering the hideous death to +which they were immediately hurried. Such is their uniform history in +whatever age they fell, or to whatever nation or rank they +belonged.”—_Exp. of Apoc._, p. 385. + +If there was no other evidence of their constancy, faith, and patience, +the horrid instruments of torture which were resorted to to terrify them, +testify to their adherence to their principles, which required such +engines for their subversion. + +The end of this beast, will be effected by his being cast alive into the +lake of fire and brimstone, when the Lord shall make war with him, 19:20. +This is also the end of Daniel’s fourth beast, whose body is to be given +to the burning flame (Dan. 7:11), and of the scarlet-colored beast on +which the woman was seated, which is to go into perdition, 17:8. + + + + +The Two-Horned Beast. + + + “And I saw another wild beast ascending out of the earth, and he + had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke like a dragon. And he + exerciseth all the power of the first wild beast, in his sight, + and causeth the earth and those, who dwell in it, to worship the + first wild beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performeth + great signs, so that he causeth fire to come down from heaven into + the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth those, who dwell + on the earth, by means of the signs which it was given him to + perform in the sight of the wild beast; saying to those, who dwell + on the earth, that they should make an image to the wild beast, + that had the wound by a sword, and did live.”—Rev. 13:11-14. + + +The coming up of another beast must symbolize the rise of another +government. As the two-horned beast exercises its power before (ενωπιον) +_i.e._ _in the presence_, of the first beast, it is a contemporary power, +and must necessarily symbolize a kingdom outside of the territory of the +ten-horned beast. Within that territory it would be one of the horns of +that beast; but a separate beast requires a separate territory. As it +arises out of the earth, while it is outside of the territory occupied by +the ten kingdoms, it must exist within that occupied by the _former_ Roman +empire, and commence its existence during a period of settled government. + +All the forms of Roman government symbolized by the dragon, were also +symbolized by the wild beast; and as the deadly wound of the former was +healed in the latter, the two constitute one beast. As that is called the +“first beast,” the rise of the kingdom symbolized by the two-horned beast +must have been subsequent to the commencement of the Roman empire. And as +it caused those who dwell on the earth to worship that beast after its +deadly wound was healed, it must have arisen anterior to the healing of +that wound; and, consequently, before the succession of the ten kingdoms +to the sovereignty of Rome, with which it held an intimate relation. + +The only kingdom which has arisen within the geographical locality, and at +the epoch required by these conditions of the symbol, is the Eastern Roman +empire; which, consequently, is the government represented by the +two-horned beast. + +The imperial heads of Rome date from the battle of Actium, B. C. 31; but +the Eastern empire was not commenced, till A. D. 324, when Constantine +removed the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople. Rome was, previous +to that removal, the undisputed queen of nations, and Constantine was +without a rival. Why he should abandon Rome, the citadel and throne of the +Cæsars, for an obscure corner of Thrace, has never been satisfactorily +explained. Says Dr. Croly: “The change of government to Constantinople +still perplexes the historian. It was an act in direct repugnance to the +whole course of the ancient prejudices.” + +The indifference with which Constantine viewed the country of the Cæsars, +was regarded by Gibbon as the cause of removal. + +He transferred the customs and forms of the Roman government, and there +exercised all the powers of the empire,—the Italians still obeying the +edicts which he condescended to address from Constantinople to the Senate +and people of Rome. The western division continued dependent on the +eastern head, till the death of Theodosius, A. D. 395. His two sons, +Arcadius and Honorius, “were saluted by the unanimous consent of mankind, +as the lawful emperors of the East, and of the West,”—the European +boundary being “not very different from that which separates the Germans +from the Turks.”—Gibbon, v. 2, p. 199. Gibbon calls this “the final and +permanent division of the Roman empire.” But its existence as a beast more +properly dates from the removal of Constantine. + +Its two horns like a lamb, must symbolize two divisions of the kingdom. +These may be contemporary, like those symbolized by the ten horns (17:12), +or successive, like the two horns of the ram, Dan. 8:3, 20. From the +history of the Eastern empire, the latter is the more probable; and its +historical resemblance to the government symbolized by the ram, may be the +reason of the comparison to “horns like a lamb.” As Persia was a +government outside of Media, and succeeded to its sovereignty, so did the +kingdom of the Turks originate outside of the Eastern empire, and at +length come in, occupy its territory, and succeed to its sovereignty, A. +D. 1253. With this view, the horns would symbolize the kings of Eastern +Rome and of Turkey. See pp. 99-104. + +Its dragon-like speech shows it to be a blasphemous, persecuting power, +like that which persecuted the woman, 12:17. Though the Greek empire +claimed to be Christian, a successor of Constantine, Julian the Apostate, +renounced Christianity, endeavored to restore the Pagan service in +Constantinople, and “declared himself the _implacable enemy of Christ_.” +He assumed the character of Supreme Pontiff, and thus placed himself at +the head of the Pagan worship. He labored incessantly to restore and +propagate those dragonic rites, and even thought to disprove the +predictions of Christ by rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. “He affected +to pity the unhappy Christians, as mistaken in the most important object +of their lives; but his pity was degraded by contempt, his contempt was +embittered by hatred; and the sentiments of Julian were expressed in a +style of sarcastic wit which inflicts a deep and deadly wound whenever it +issues from the mouth of a sovereign.” And he intimated that they might +have occasion “to dread, not only confiscation and exile, but fire and the +sword.”—_Gibbon._ + +The successors of Julian, though Christian in name, issued cruel and +tyrannical edicts. Valens embraced Arianism, and bitterly persecuted the +Orthodox party. Justinian established Catholicism by arms. Theodosius +proscribed Paganism by the infliction of severe penalties. Marcian and Leo +“enforced, with arms and edicts, the symbols of their faith,” and it was +declared that “the decrees of the synod of Chalcedon might be lawfully +supported, even with blood.” And after the accession of the Mohammedan +power, religious intolerance towards dissenting creeds was still more +rigidly enforced. + +The Eastern empire exercised all the power of the Western. The original +organization of its government was the same, and it had the same titles +and prerogatives. Gibbon says of Julian: “The spirit of his +administration, and his regard for the place of his nativity, induced him +to confer on the senate of Constantinople the same honors, privileges, and +authority which were still enjoyed by the senate of ancient Rome.” + +It caused worship to be bestowed on the first beast, by extending to the +Latin rulers that aid which enabled them to perpetuate their system of +tyranny, to legislate over the laws and subjects of Jehovah, and to claim +the obedience which only God can demand. The arms of Justinian, both in +the East and West, caused the Roman name to be respected, and its favor +sought for. + +The wonders to be performed by it, may be as yet involved in some +obscurity. But by these it is identified as the power which afterwards +became the seat of the False Prophet. When the “beast” is taken, “the +false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived +them that had the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image,” +is cast with him “into a lake of fire burning with brimstone,” 19:20. This +identifies the two-horned beast as the Mohammedan kingdom. It also proves +that the Romanic Turkish government will continue till the Second Advent. + +Among the wonders it would perform, making fire come down from heaven is +specified. John does not intimate that he saw, in vision, fire thus +descend. The fact is spoken of; and therefore it is not necessarily +symbolic, but may refer to literal fire. Gibbon, in speaking of “the +novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the _Greek fire_,” for +which the Eastern empire was so famous, says: + +“The important secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame +was imparted by Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis, in Syria, who deserted +from the service of the caliph to that of the emperor. The skill of a +chemist and engineer was equivalent to the succor of fleets and armies; +and this discovery or improvement of the military art was fortunately +reserved for the distressful period, when the degenerate Romans of the +East were incapable of contending with the warlike enthusiasm and youthful +vigor of the Saracens. The historian who presumes to analyze this +extraordinary composition, should suspect his own ignorance and that of +his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and, in +this instance, so jealous of the truth. From their obscure, and perhaps +fallacious hints, it should seem that the principal ingredient of the +Greek fire was the _naphtha_, or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and +inflammable oil, which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as +it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by +what methods, or in what proportions, with sulphur, and with the pitch +that is extracted from evergreen firs. From this mixture, which produced a +thick smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, +which not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burned with +equal vehemence in descent or lateral progress; instead of being +extinguished, it was nourished and quickened by the element of water; and +sand, urine, or vinegar, were the only remedies that could damp the fury +of this powerful agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks, the +_liquid_, or _maritime_ fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was +employed with equal effect by sea and land, in battles or in sieges. It +was either poured from the rampart in large boilers, or launched in +red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in arrows and javelins, twisted +round with flax and tow, which had deeply imbibed the inflammable oil; +sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the victims and instruments of a +more ample revenge, and was most commonly blown through long tubes of +copper, which were planted on the prow of a galley, and fancifully shaped +into the mouths of savage monsters, that seemed to vomit a stream of +liquid and consuming fire. This important art was preserved at +Constantinople, as the palladium of the state; the galleys and _artillery_ +might occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome; but the composition on +the Greek fire was concealed with the most jealous scruple, and the terror +of the enemies was increased and prolonged by their ignorance and +surprise. In the treatise of the administration of the empire, the royal +author suggests the answers and excuses that might best elude the +indiscreet curiosity and importunate demands of the barbarians. They +should be told that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by an +angel to the first and greatest of the Constantines, with a sacred +injunction, that this gift of _heaven_, this peculiar blessing of the +Romans should never be communicated to any foreign nation; that the prince +and subject were alike bound to religious silence under the temporal and +spiritual penalties of treason and sacrilege; and that the impious attempt +would provoke the sudden and supernatural vengeance of the God of the +Christians. By these precautions the secret was confined, above four +hundred years, to the Romans of the East; and at the end of the eleventh +century, the Pisans, to whom every sea and every art were familiar, +suffered the effects, without understanding the composition, of the Greek +fire. It was at length either discovered or stolen by the Mohammedans; +and, in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt, they retorted an invention, +contrived against themselves, on the heads of the Christians. A knight, +who despised the swords and lances of the Saracens, relates, with +heartfelt sincerity, his own fears and those of his companions, at the +sight and sound of the mischievous engine that discharged a torrent of the +Greek fire, the _feu Gregeois_, as it is styled by the more early of the +French writers. It came flying through the air, says Joinville, like a +winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of a hogshead, with the +report of thunder, and the velocity of lightning; and the darkness of +night was _dispelled by this deadly illumination_.”—_Hist. Rome_, vol. +III., pp. 465-467. + +Its use is thus described by the same author, when the Greeks turned its +power against the Saracens, at the siege of Constantinople, A. D. 718: + +“The Greeks would gladly have ransomed their religion and empire, by a +fine or assessment of a piece of gold on the head of each inhabitant of +the city; but the liberal offer was rejected with disdain, and the +presumption of Moslemah was exalted by the speedy approach and invincible +force of the natives of Egypt and Syria. They are said to have amounted to +eighteen hundred ships: the number betrays their inconsiderable size; and +of the twenty stout and capacious vessels, whose magnitude impeded their +progress, each was manned with no more than one hundred heavy-armed +soldiers. This huge armada proceeded on a smooth sea and with a gentle +gale, towards the mouth of the Bosphorus; the surface of the strait was +over-shadowed, in the language of the Greeks, with a moving forest, and +the same fatal night had been fixed by the Saracen chief for a general +assault by sea and land. To allure the confidence of the enemy, the +emperor had thrown aside the chain that usually guarded the entrance of +the harbor: but while they hesitated whether they should seize the +opportunity or apprehend the snare, the ministers of destruction were at +hand. The fireships of the Greeks were launched against them: the Arabs, +their arms and vessels, were involved in the same flames, the disorderly +fugitives were dashed against each other, or overwhelmed in the waves; and +I no longer find a vestige of the fleet, that had threatened to extirpate +the Roman name.”—_Ib._, p. 464. + +It deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by its miracles. This deception +resulted in the creation of: + + + + +The Image of the Beast. + + + “And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the wild + beast, that the image of the wild beast should even speak, and to + cause, that as many as would not worship the image of the wild + beast, should be killed. And he causeth all, the small and the + great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to + receive a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead. And that + no one might buy or sell, but he, who had the mark, the name of + the wild beast, or the number of his name.”—Rev. 13:15-18. + + +This new creation is not another beast, but the image of one. An image is +only the _likeness_ of something. As the beast symbolizes a political +power, its image must symbolize some analogous power of a different +nature; and this likeness can only be found in a religious government. + +1. The beast which received its death-wound (v. 14), was the form of +government to which the image was made, _i.e._, the imperial. Of this the +Roman hierarchy was a perfect counterpart. It was an ecclesiastical +government, coëxtensive in its authority with the political power of the +empire. And, like the officers of the civil, there was a regular gradation +of rank in the subordinates of the religious government. The head of the +former was an emperor, chosen by an electoral college,—the senators of +Rome.(3) The head of the latter was a Pope, chosen in a similar manner by +the college of Cardinals,—the ecclesiastical senators of the religious +empire. Each of those bodies constituted the highest deliberative and +legislative body in its respective government. The empire had its +governors of provinces, appointed by the imperial head; and the spiritual +rule of the church was, in like manner, sustained by diocesan bishops who, +in their respective provinces, were governors in spiritual matters and +creatures of the Pope. Subordinate offices in the state and church, also, +singularly corresponded. + +2. The religious customs of the empire, as well as its political, were +likewise imitated by the papacy. Rome deified her heroes; the papacy +canonized her saints. The ghosts of the departed were the gods of the +heathen; and the papists supplicate the dead. The Pagans burned incense to +their gods; the Papists burn incense in their religious ceremonies. The +ancient heathen sprinkled themselves with “holy water;” the Papists use +the same material in a similar manner. Lactantius says of the Pagans, they +“light up candles to God as if he lived in the dark; and do they not +deserve to pass for madmen who offer lamps to the author and giver of +light?” This custom is imitated by the Papists in the use of wax candles +on their altars. + +The ancient Romans prostrated themselves before images of wood and stone; +and Jerome tells us that “by idols were to be understood the images of the +dead.” In Catholic Rome, worshippers prostrated themselves before images +of departed saints. The old Roman Pantheon, which was dedicated by Agrippa +“to Jove, _and all the gods_,” was re-consecrated by Pope Boniface IV., +about A. D. 610, “_to the blessed Virgin and all the saints_.” As in the +old pagan temple, any stranger could find the god of his own country; so +in its re-consecrated state, each country could find its patron saint. +Other temples were changed and re-consecrated in the same manner. The +ancient statue of Jupiter stands now as the statue of St. Peter. The +pagans had their vestal virgins; the Papists their nuns. + +Dr. Middleton, who visited Rome in 1729, says: + +“Nothing, I found, concurred so much with my original intention of +conversing with the ancients; or so much helped my imagination, to find +myself wandering about in old heathen Rome, as to observe and attend to +their religious worship; all whose ceremonies appear plainly to have been +copied from the rituals of primitive Paganism: as if handed down by an +uninterrupted succession from the priests of old, to the priests of new +Rome, whilst each of them readily explained, and called to mind some +passages of a classic author, where the same ceremony was described, as +transacted in the same form and manner, and in the same place where I now +saw it executed before my eyes.”—_Dowl. Hist. of Rom._, p. 114. + +Says Mr. Lord: + +“After a struggle of more than four centuries, the ecclesiastics of all +the hierarchies in the empire were united in one vast organization, with +the pontiff as their supreme legislative and judicial head, and a single +ecclesiastical government was established over the whole Roman church, +after the model of the civil government of the ancient empire under +Constantine and his successors. It is, accordingly, denominated by +Catholics themselves a monarchy. ‘All Catholic doctors agree in this, that +the ecclesiastical government committed to men by God is a +monarchy.’—_Bellarmini de Rom. Pont._, lib. i., c. v. Bellarmine devotes +his first book ‘of the Pontiff’ to prove that such is and ought to be its +government. ‘If the monarchical is the best form of government, as we have +shown, and it is certain that the church of God instituted by Christ its +head, who is supremely wise, ought to be governed in the best manner, who +can deny that its rule ought to be monarchical?’—_Ib._, i., c. ix., p. +527. + +“The canonists are accustomed, accordingly, to denominate the Pope a king. + +“The pontiffs were as absolutely the legislative and judicial head of this +ecclesiastical kingdom, as the emperors from Constantine to Augustulus +were of the civil empire, and imposed whatever laws they pleased on +subordinate ecclesiastics and on the church by decrees, in the same manner +as those emperors enacted laws by edicts. The decrees, bulls of +canonization, sentences, charters, and other legislative and judicial acts +of the pontiffs, from Gregory VII., in 1073, to Benedict XIV., in 1757, +collected in the Bullarium Magnum, fill nineteen folios. Many others are +contained in the decretals and councils. + +“They appointed to all ecclesiastical offices throughout the empire, as +the Christian emperors appointed to all civil and military offices in +their dominions. + +“They exacted oaths of fidelity from all whom they advanced to important +offices; as the emperors exacted engagements of fidelity from their civil +magistrates. + +“They established courts in which all violations of their laws were tried, +and a tribunal at the capital for the decision of appeals. There were +gradations of rank in the hierarchy, like those of the magistrates of the +civil empire. The hierarchies, as nationalized by Constantine, were formed +in each patriarchate, after the model of the civil government in the +provinces. The hierarchy of the western kingdoms, under the Pope, was +formed after that pattern; having archbishops or metropolitans at the head +of the clergy of each nation, or large district, and bishops, abbots, and +a long catalogue of subordinate ranks, under each metropolitan. + +“They levied taxes for their support on ecclesiastics and laics. + +“They inflicted ecclesiastical penalties on the violators of their laws; +exclusion from communion, suspension from office, deposition, +excommunication, and a sentence of eternal death.”—_Exp. of Apoc._, pp. +429-432. + +These, with many other striking resemblances, demonstrate that the Roman +hierarchy, in all its great features, was a counterpart to imperial +Rome—an image of, and belonging to, the seven-headed, ten-horned monster, +whose deadly wound was healed. + +Life was to be given to this image by the two-horned beast. The papal +hierarchy is created when its supremacy over other churches is declared +and _sustained_; and the power by which this is done, is that which gives +life to it. This was done, according to the following history, by the +Eastern empire. + +The power of the papacy, symbolized by the image, had been predicted in +Daniel under the symbol of “a Little Horn,” that came up among the +previous “ten horns,” before whom “there were three of the first horns +plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes +of man, and a mouth speaking great things,” Dan. 7:8. These horns were +thus explained to Daniel: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom +upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the +whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten +horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another +shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he +shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most +High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change +times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and +times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall +take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the +kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole +heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose +kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey +him.” _Ib._ vs. 23-27. + +When Paul spoke of the second coming of Christ, in his first epistle to +the Thessalonians, they understood that it was an event then imminent. The +apostle, in his second epistle, corrects this impression, by referring to +the foregoing prediction in Daniel, which must be previously fulfilled. He +assures them that “the day of Christ” “shall not come, except there be” an +apostasy, or “a falling away first, and that Man of Sin,” or the lawless +one, “be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself +above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, +sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye +not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye +know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the +mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, +until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, +whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall +destroy with the brightness of his coming,” 2 Thess. 2:2-8. + +The uniform application of these predictions to the Papacy, by Protestant +writers, renders it unnecessary to argue this point. That power began +early to be manifested, but its full development was “let,” _i.e._, +hindered, by the continuance of the Western empire, which had to be taken +out of its way. Tertullian, near the close of the second century, in +expounding those words, says: “Who can this be but the Roman state, the +division of which into ten kingdoms will bring on Antichrist?” And he +gives as a reason why the Christians of his time prayed for the Roman +empire: that _the greatest calamity hanging over the world was retarded by +the continuance of it_. Cyril of Jerusalem in the fourth century applied +the passage in the same manner, and says: + +“Thus the predicted Antichrist will come when the times of the Roman +empire shall be fulfilled, and the consummation of the world shall +approach. Ten kings of the Romans shall arise together, in different +places indeed, but they shall reign at the same time. Among these the +eleventh is Antichrist, who, by magical and wicked artifice, shall seize +the Roman power.” A large number of the ancient fathers interpreted this +text in the same manner. + +In A. D. 257, 1260 years before the time of Luther, Stephen, Bishop of +Rome, began to act the pope in good earnest,—excommunicating those who +dissented from the doctrines of Rome. + +In 312, 1260 years before the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, +Constantine became Emperor of Rome, embraced Christianity, and terminated +the last and bloodiest of the Pagan persecutions—that of Diocletian, which +had continued ten years. Constantine undertook to remodel the church, in +conformity to the government of the state, and the unhallowed union of the +two resulted in the dignities of patriarchs, exarchs, archbishops, canons, +prebendaries, &c., which he endowed with wealth and worldly honors. + +While paganism was superseded by Christianity under Constantine, its +ceremonies were not suppressed. The senate was still pagan; and “the +title, the ensigns, and the prerogatives of Sovereign Pontiff, which had +been instituted by Numa, and assumed by Augustus, were accepted, without +hesitation, by seven Christian emperors.”—_Gibbon_, v. 2, p. 183. Gratian +became emperor, A. D. 376, and was the first who refused the pontifical +robe. In 378, he invested Theodosius with the Empire of the East; under +their rule paganism was “wholly extirpated,” and the senate was suddenly +converted.—_Ib._ That which hindered was thus taken out of the way. In +378, also, Gratian refusing the office, Damasus, the Bishop of Rome, was +“declared Pontifix Maximus,”(4) and made “the sole judge in religious +matters.” All who would not adhere to the religion “professed by the +Pontiff Damasus, and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria,” were declared +heretics.—_Gibbon_, v. 2, p. 156. Damasus, by virtue of his power, +introduced the worship of the saints, and of Mary, “the mother of +God,”—excommunicating those who dissented. Thus the apostasy, by adopting +the gods of the heathen, and the name of the heathen pontiff, began to be +set up, and the excommunicated church disappeared in the wilderness. + +In the ninth century a document was produced, which claimed to be a deed +of gift from Constantine to the Pope, dated A. D. 324, ceding him the city +of Rome and all Italy, with the crown, the mitre, &c.; but the forgery of +this has been fully exposed. With the removal of the capital of the world +to Constantinople, the empire began to decline; but the church augmented +as fast. A provisional synod at Sardica, in A. D. 344, and a decree of the +Emperor Valentinian III., in 445, had acknowledged the Bishop of Rome as +the primate of the five patriarchs, and as the last tribunal of appeal +from the other bishops; but the edicts of the Pope were often disregarded +and opposed, and he continued subject to the civil power till the +subversion of the Western empire by Odoacer, King of the Heruli, in A. D. +476. + +The ten kingdoms which had arisen on the ruins of the Western empire (p. +169), had nearly all embraced Christianity, corrupted by Arianism. And the +barbarians transferred to their Christian instructors, the profound +submission and reverence which they were accustomed to yield to the +teachers of paganism,—many of the rites and ceremonies of which had been +incorporated into the Catholic service. Ecclesiastical courts were +established, in which were tried all questions relating to character, +office, or property of the clergy; and thus they became nearly independent +of the civil judges. + +The Heruli, which was the first of the ten horns plucked up, were +conquered by the Ostrogoths, in A. D. 493, when all Italy submitted to +Theodoric. He fixed his capital at Ravenna, which left the Pope the only +Prince of Rome; and the Romans, for protection, were forced to pay more +deference to him. + +About A. D. 500, two Popes were simultaneously elected, when Theodoric +gave the papal chair to Symmachus. Gross crimes being alleged against him +by the defeated party, the king summoned a council in A. D. 503 to +investigate the charges; and he was acquitted. The other party being +dissatisfied, Ennodius, Bishop Ticonum, drew up an apology for the Pope +and council, in which, for the first time, the Pope was styled a “Judge in +the place of God, and Vicegerent of the Most High;” and “subject to no +earthly tribunal.” Thus did the Lawless One attempt, “as God,” to “sit in +the temple of God.” + +In A. D. 533, Justinian, Emperor at Constantinople, being about to attack +the Vandals in Africa, and wishing first to settle the religious disputes +of his capital in which he felt a great interest, he submitted the +controversy to the primate of Rome. To induce a decision in his own favor, +or to give force to it, he acknowledged the Bishop of Rome the Chief of +the whole Ecclesiastical body of the empire; and thus addressed him, in a +letter sent by two distinguished prelates:— + + + “Justinian, pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant emperor, + consul, &c., to John, the most holy Archbishop of our city of + Rome, and patriarch. + + + “Rendering honor to the Apostolic chair, and to your Holiness, as + has been always and is our wish, and honoring your blessedness as + a father; we have hastened to bring to the knowledge of your + Holiness all matters relating to the state of the churches. It + having been at all times our great desire to preserve the unity of + your Apostolic chair, and the constitution of the holy churches of + God which has obtained hitherto, and still obtains. + + + “Therefore we have made no delay in subjecting and uniting to your + Holiness all the priests of the whole East. + + + “For this reason we have thought fit to bring to your notice the + present matters of disturbance; though they are manifest and + unquestionable, and always firmly held and declared by the whole + priesthood according to the doctrine of your Apostolic chair. For + we cannot suffer that anything which relates to the state of the + Church, however manifest and unquestionable, should be moved, + without the knowledge of your Holiness, who are The Head of all + the Holy Churches, for in all things, as we have already declared, + we are anxious to increase the honor and authority of your + Apostolic chair.” + + +Says Dr. Croly:— + +“The emperor’s letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533. +For, in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been +already despatched, and repeats his decision, that all affairs touching +the church shall be referred to the Pope, ‘head of all bishops, and the +true and effective corrector of heretics.’ + +“In the same month of the following year, 534, the Pope returned an answer +repeating the language of the emperor, applauding his homage to the See, +and adopting the titles of the imperial mandate. He observes that, among +the virtues of Justinian, ‘one shines as a star, his reverence for the +Apostolic chair, to which he has subjected and united all the churches, it +being truly the head of all; and was testified by the rules of the +fathers, the laws of the princes, and the declarations of the emperor’s +piety.’ + +“The authenticity of the title receives unanswerable proof from the edicts +in the ‘Novellæ’ of the Justinian code. + +“The preamble of the 9th states that ‘as the elder Rome was the founder of +the laws, so was it not to be questioned that in her was the supremacy of +the pontificate.’ + +“The 131st, on the ecclesiastical titles and privileges, chapter II. +states: ‘We therefore decree that the most holy Pope of the elder Rome is +the first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of +Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank after the holy +Apostolic chair of the elder Rome.’ + +“The supremacy of the Pope had by those mandates and edicts received the +fullest sanction that could be given by the authority of the master of the +Roman world. However worthless the motives, the act was done, authentic +and unquestionable, sanctioned by all the forms of state, and never +abrogated,—the act of the first potentate in the world. If the supremacy +over the church of God had been for man to give, it might have been given +by the unrivalled sovereignty of Justinian. + +“From this era the church of Rome dates the earthly acknowledgment of her +claim. Its heavenly authority is referred to the remoter source of the +apostles.”—_Apoc._, pp. 14-16, 30, 31. + +The war against the Vandals was vigorously prosecuted by Belisarius, +Justinian’s general, and resulted in their conquest the same year. Thus +was the second of the first ten divisions of the empire subjugated: the +second horn was plucked up. + +Rome was still in possession of an Arian monarch, who was the bitter enemy +of the Catholic church. Intelligence of the success of Belisarius in +Africa reached the emperor, Dec. 16th, A. D. 533. “Impatient to abolish +the temporal and spiritual tyranny of the Vandals, he proceeded, without +delay, _to the full establishment of the Catholic church_.”—_Gibbon_, +Harpers’ ed., v. 3, p. 67. Belisarius proceeded to the conquest of Italy, +which he effected, and marched on to Rome. Only 4000 soldiers were +stationed for its defence; and they could not oppose the wishes of the +Romans, who voluntarily submitted. Seized with a momentary enthusiasm, +“they furiously exclaimed that the apostolic throne should no longer be +profaned by the triumph or toleration of Arianism; that the tombs of the +Cæsars should no longer be trampled on by the savages of the north; and +without reflecting that Italy must sink into a province of Constantinople, +they fondly hailed the restoration of a Roman emperor as a new era of +freedom and prosperity. The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the senate +and people, invited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary +allegiance, and to enter the city.” Thus was “the city, after sixty years’ +servitude delivered from the yoke of the barbarians,” Dec. 10, A. D. 536. +And “the Catholics prepared to celebrate, without a rival, the approaching +festival of the nativity of Christ.”—_Ib._ p. 80. + +In the winter, the Ostrogoths made preparations, and besieged Rome with an +army of 150,000 fighting men. Pope Sylverius was suspected of treachery, +and on proof that he had communicated with the enemy, he was banished by +Belisarius. At the emperor’s command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the +choice of a new bishop, and elected “deacon Virgilius, who had purchased +the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold.”—_Ib._ p. 85. +As he had obtained the papal seat by fraud, it was claimed that he was not +the lawful Pope; but in A. D. 538, he was owned as such by the 5th General +Council, and the whole Christian world.—See Bowers’ _Hist. Popes_, v. 2, +p. 374. In March of this year (538),—after “one year and nine days”—the +Ostrogoths raised the siege of Rome, and burned their tents—one-third of +their number having perished under its walls. The arms of Justinian +triumphed, and the Catholic hierarchy was established. The third horn had +been plucked up by the fall of the third of the first ten divisions of +Rome. + +The Bishop of Constantinople did not submit willingly to the Primacy of +Rome. On the death of Justinian, the supremacy of the Pope was utterly +denied; and, in A. D. 588, John, Bishop of Constantinople, himself assumed +the coveted title of “Universal Bishop.” The Roman bishop, Gregory the +Great, indignant at this usurpation, denounced him as a “usurper, aiming +at supremacy over the whole church,” and declared that whoever claims such +supremacy “has the pride and character of _Antichrist_.” + +Boniface succeeded to the Roman See, and in the following year, A. D. 606, +only two years after Gregory’s death, applied to Phocas,—who had ascended +the throne of Constantinople by the murder of the Emperor Mauritius,—for +the same blasphemous title, with the privilege of continuing it to his +successors. His request was granted, the Eastern Bishop was forbidden its +use, and the Primate of Rome was again acknowledged as “Universal Bishop,” +and the unrivalled “Head of all the churches.” This title has been worn by +all the succeeding Popes; “but the highest authority,” says Dr. Croly, +“among the civilians and annalists of Rome, spurn the idea that Phocas was +the founder of the supremacy of Rome. They ascend to Justinian as the only +legitimate source, and rightly date the title from the memorable year +533.”—_Apoc._ p. 117. + +In A. D. 730, Emperor Leo issued an edict for the destruction of all +images used in religious worship. From that time the Pope scorned his +authority, and acted in defiance of the emperor’s will, who found himself +unable to compel the Pope to obey the edict. + +The Papacy thus defied all human authority; but did not as yet attempt the +exercise of political power. + +In A. D. 756, Pepin, the usurper of the crown of France, compelled the +King of Lombardy to cede the exarchate of Ravenna to the Pope, “to be +forever held and possessed by St. Peter and his lawful successors in the +See of Rome.” The Pope had now become a temporal prince, and one of the +kings of the earth. In A. D. 774, Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, +confirmed the former gift, and in addition, subjugated the Lombards, and +annexed a large portion of their kingdom and the Duchy of Rome to the +Roman See. In A. D. 817, Louis the Pious, granted “St. Peter’s patrimony” +to the Pope and his successors, “in their own right, principality, and +dominion, unto the end of the world.” Hence, as a temporal prince, the +Pope wears a triple crown. + +In A. D. 800, Charlemagne was solemnly crowned and proclaimed emperor by +the Pope, having reduced under his sway nearly the whole of Europe. From +this time the Popes claimed superiority to all kings and emperors, +received homage from them, and exercised all the rights of sovereignty; +but they were nominally dependent on the Emperors of the West till A. D. +1278, when the Emperor Rudolph released the people of the Papal States +from all allegiance they might still owe to the imperial crown. This act +was confirmed by the electors and princes of the empire. The Popes, in the +greatness of their power, crowned and uncrowned kings at their pleasure, +absolved subjects from all allegiance to their rulers, excommunicated +whoever they would, and compelled secular princes to put to death +heretics. + +In A. D. 1294, Boniface VIII. became Pope. From his accession Hallam dates +the decline of the Papacy, which, for “more than two centuries, had been +on throne of the earth, and reigned despot of the world.”—_Dowling_. This +was 1260 years from the death of Peter,—the earliest time from which they +can date. His bull of excommunication against Philip of France, being +disregarded by that monarch, who adroitly made the Pope his prisoner, his +rage brought on a fever, which caused his death. Only a few succeeding +pontiffs claimed, and none attempted to enforce, the prerogatives +exercised by the preceding Popes. For seventy years the successors of +Boniface resided at Avignon, in France, and paid great deference to the +monarch of that country. After this was the Western schism, which divided +the church for forty years,—two rival Popes claiming the mitre, and +thundering out their anathemas against each other. These events greatly +weakened the Papacy. About this time appeared Wickliffe and Huss, and +Jerome of Prague; and still later, in 1517, Martin Luther, in opposition +to the Papal pretensions, published his Thesis against Indulgences, 1260 +years from the time of the arrogance of Pope Stephen. + +In A. D. 1572, 1260 years from the removal of Constantine from Rome to +Constantinople, occurred the bloody massacre of St. Bartholomew, when in +one day 5000 Protestants were murdered in Paris, and in the same +proportion in other parts of France. The persecutions of the Papists +continued till near the close of the last century; and as late as +November, 1781, a woman was burned alive by the Inquisition in Spain. + +In 1793, 1260 years from Justinian’s letter to the Pope, the Papal church, +with all religion, was entirely suppressed in France. And in 1798, which +was the same length of time from the establishment of the papacy, by the +conquest of the Ostrogoths,—the plucking up of the last of the three horns +in 538, Gen. Berthier entered Rome, compelled the Pope to flee, and +terminated the Papal government. + +The temporal power was afterwards restored; but in 1848, twelve hundred +and sixty years from 588 when John assumed the title of Universal Bishop, +the Pope again fled from his throne. Two years subsequently, he was again +restored. + +“Flacius, in his ‘Catalogue of Witnesses,’ represented the twelve hundred +and sixty days as having commenced in 606;” and Scott, and several others, +reckon them from the same epoch. + +4. The image had power to speak. It thus filled the office of the “mouth,” +which was given to the ten-horned beast (v. 5), which synchronizes with +the view taken of that appendage, p. 172. + +5. It should _cause_ the infliction of death on those who should refuse to +worship. The worship it would exact, is doubtless of the kind bestowed on +the wild beast, 13:4. The Papal hierarchy claimed to be infallible and +invincible, and to have power to bind and loose on earth and in heaven; +those who refused to recognize its claims, if incorrigible, were punished +with death. + +The Image was not to put to death, but would _cause_ them to be killed. +The symbolization corresponds with the fulfilment in this particular. The +ecclesiastical officials punished rebellious subjects, by delivering them +over to the civil arm; which punished heretics according to the will of +the Papacy. “Lucius III. and Innocent III. by formal decrees required them +to be seized, condemned, and delivered by the civil magistrates, to be +capitally punished; and enjoined the princes and magistrates to execute on +them the sentences denounced by the canon and civil laws.”—_Lord’s Exp. of +Apoc._, p. 434. This is substantiated by Bellarmini and other writers. +Civil rulers, who refused to enforce the decrees of the councils, were +anathematized, excommunicated, and often deprived of their political +power. When the Papacy has been reminded of the numbers killed and +otherwise punished for alleged heresy, she has replied that the civil +power, and not the church, has done this! She, however, has caused the +kings of the earth to execute her wishes. + +6. The image would cause all to receive the _mark_ of the Beast. A mark is +a token of recognition. Slaves, soldiers, and the devotees of various +gods, were thus identified on their hands or foreheads, both before and +after the time of St. John—slaves by the name of the Emperor on their +forehead, and soldiers by his name on their hand. Mr. Elliott proves this +by quotations from Valerius, Maximus, Ælian, Ambrose, and others. The +devotees of particular gods gained admittance to the secret meetings of +the worshippers of their respective deity, by a _mark_ by which they +identified each other. At the present day the Hindoos are marked on the +forehead by the hieroglyphic of the god they are consecrated to. + +The mark of the beast, is its _name_, or the _number_ of its name. The +ancients often used numbers to indicate names. “Among the Pagans, the +Egyptian mystics spoke of Mercury, or Thouth, under the number 1218, +because the Greek letters composing the name Thouth, when estimated +according to their numerical value, together made up that number. By +others, Jupiter was invoked under the mystical number 717; because the +letters of Ἡ ΑΡΧΗ, _the beginning_, or _first origin_, which was a +characteristic title of the supreme deity worshipped as Jupiter, made up +that number: and Apollo under the number 608, as being that of ηυς, or +υης, words expressing certain solar attributes. Again, the +pseudo-Christian or semi-pagan Gnostics, from St. John’s time downwards, +affixed to their gems and amulets, of which multitudes remain even to the +present day, the mystic word σβρασαξ, or αβραξας, under the idea of some +magic virtue attaching to its number 365, as being that of the days of the +annual solar circle; and equal moreover with that of Μειθρας, or Mithras, +the Magian name for the sun, whom they identified also with Christ. Once +more, the Christian fathers themselves fell into the same fancies, and +doctrine of mysteriousness in certain verbal numbers. For example, both +Barnabas and Clement of Alexandria speak of the virtue of the number 318 +as being that of ΙΗΤ the common abbreviation for Jesus crucified; and +partly ascribe to its magical virtue the victory which Abraham gained with +his 318 servants over the Canaanitish kings. Similarly Tertullian refers +the victory of Gideon, with his 300 men, to the circumstance of that being +the precise number of Τ, the sign of the cross. In the name of Adam, St. +Cyprian discerned a mysterious numeral affinity to certain characteristics +in the life and history of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Irenæus notes +the remarkable number 888 of the name Ιησους, Jesus. And in the +pseudo-Sibylline verses, written by Christians about the end, probably, of +the second century, and consequently not long after Irenæus, we find +enigmas proposed of precisely the same characters as that in the text;—the +number being given, and the name required.”—_Elliott’s Horæ Apoc._, vol. +iii., pp. 204-6. + +The “number of the beast” is indicated in the text by the Greek letters +“χξς” which were severally used to represent the numbers 600, 60 and 6, +making 666. As the name of the beast is equivalent to this number, the +letters in it will represent numbers which amount to six hundred +threescore and six. + +After the division of the Roman empire, the western kingdom adopted for +itself the name of the Latin kingdom; and its subdivisions were called the +Latin kingdoms. The church connected with those kingdoms was also +emphatically called the Latin church. Says Dr. More: “They Latinize +everything. Mass, prayers, hymns, litanies, canons, decretals, bulls, are +conceived in Latin. The Papal councils speak in Latin. Women pray in +Latin. The Scriptures are read in no other language under the Papacy than +Latin. In short, all things are Latin.” The Council of Trent declared the +Latin Vulgate to be the only authentic version of the Scriptures; and +their doctors have preferred it to the Hebrew and Greek text, written by +prophets and apostles. + +This Latin kingdom is the only one that ever corresponded to the +characteristics of the beast. And its name—_Latinos_ in the Greek, and +_Romiith_ in the Hebrew—is equivalent to the required number. + +“The Greek and Hebrew letters composing the words רומיית, +_Romiith_—רמענוש, _Romanus_—λατεινος, _Latinos_, each of them making in +numerals exactly 666, plainly point out not only his name, and the number +of his name, but also the _mark_ of his _name_; as for example: + +in ר ו מ י י ת _Romiith_; so likewise +400 10 10 40 6 200 = 666 +ר מ ע נ ו ש _Romanus_; and also +300 6 50 70 40 200 = 666 +the Greek λ α τ ε ι ν ο ς _Latinos_, +30 1 300 5 10 50 70 200 = 666. + +in each of which the exact mark is contained. + +“It therefore evidently appears, that each name is both a mark and a +number; a mark, when viewed as made up of so many letters, therefore +called the mark of his name; a number, when viewed as made up of so many +numerals, then called the number of his name. But when considered merely +as a name, derived from _Romiith_, a Roman, or _Romulus_, the founder of +Rome, a name common among men, it may then be properly called the _mark, +or number of a man_.”—_Fleming’s Rise and Fall of Papacy._ + +To receive the mark of the beast, would be an acknowledgment of subjection +to it. The connection of the beast and its image was so intimate, that +submission to the one, was virtual submission to the other. To submit to +the rites of the church modelled after the wild beast, to profess its +faith, and to honor its authority, would be a reception of its mark. And +all persons were compelled to do this, and give evidence of submission to +its authority on the peril of their lives. + +7. Those who should refuse the mark of the beast, were to be prohibited +from buying and selling. The Lateran Council under Pope Alexander II., +passed an act forbidding any to harbor heretics in their houses or to +trade with them. The Synod of Tours passed a law that no one should assist +them, “no, not so much as to exercise commerce with them in _selling_ or +_buying_.”(5)—_Elliott._ In 1179, the third Lateran Council sentenced +certain heretics, “their defenders and harborers, to an anathema, and +forbid, under an anathema, that any should presume to keep them in their +house, or on their lands, sustain them, or transact any business with +them.”—_Lord._ “It was just the same fearful penalty of interdict from +buying and selling, traffic and intercourse, that had been inculcated long +before by the Pagan Dragon’s representative Diocletian, against the early +Christians.”—_Elliott._ + +So exact a correspondence between the wild beast and the Western kingdoms, +the two-horned beast and the Eastern empire, and the image to the wild +beast and the Roman Hierarchy, makes the symbolization of this chapter +very intelligible. These three agencies will severally continue till the +end of the world. The latter will be destroyed by the brightness of +Christ’s coming (2 Thess. 2:8), and the two former will then be taken and +“cast alive into the lake of fire,” 19:20. + +The vision would have been defective without a representation of the end +of those who refuse to worship the beast, or its image, or to receive +their mark, and who, although warred against and overcome by the beast, +should maintain their integrity to Christ. Accordingly the revelator has a +view of: + + + + +The Redeemed on Mount Zion. + + + “And I looked, and behold a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with + him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the + name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice + from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of + loud thunder: and the voice which I heard was like that of harpers + playing with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song + before the throne, and before the four living beings, and the + elders: and no one could learn the song except the hundred and + forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are + they, who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These + are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goeth. These were + redeemed from among men, the first fruit to God and to the Lamb. + And in their mouth no lie was found for they are faultless.”—Rev. + 14:1-5. + + +The Lamb is shown by the connection to be Christ,—here called by one of +his metaphorical names. + +The Mount Zion, doubtless, symbolizes the place where, in the +regeneration, the Lord will reign with his saints—_i.e._ in the new earth. +“The Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion,” Micah 4:7.—“And they sung +a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the +seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy +blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast +made us kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” 5:9,10.—“And +I saw a new heavens and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first +earth were passed away.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven, +saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with +them, and they shall, be his people, and God himself shall be with them +and be their God,” 21:1-3. + +The names of Mount Zion, and Jerusalem, were both used to denote the city +which the Lord chose above all the goodly places of earth to put his name +there. It is proper to designate the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, by +all the names which were applied to the old. The king is to be set upon +the holy hill of Zion—“Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the +towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces,” Psa. +48:12, 13. “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in glory,” +_Ib._ 102:16. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his +habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired +it,” _Ib._ 132:13, 14. “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort +all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her +desert like the garden of the Lord; and joy and gladness shall be found +therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.... Therefore the redeemed +of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting +joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and +sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Isa. 51:3-11. “Awake, awake, put on +thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy +city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised +and the unclean.... How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him +that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good +tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, ‘Thy God +reigneth!’ Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together +shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring +again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of +Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed +Jerusalem.” _Ib._ 52:1-9. “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto +them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” _Ib._ 59:20. + +The standing of the Lamb on Mount Zion, symbolizes an epoch when Christ +shall assume a corresponding relation to his people. He there appears in +person; and “when Christ who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye +also appear with him in glory,” Col. 3:4. It will not be till he shall +have judged “the quick and the dead at his appearing,” (2 Tim. 4:1), that +“the redeemed from among men” will “follow the Lamb whithersoever he +goeth.” + +The 144,000, who are with Christ, correspond with the number which are +sealed, “of all the tribes of the children of Israel,” (7:4); and they are +doubtless the same persons, who, under the sixth seal, are designated, +among all denominations of Christians, by the mark of the living God. They +are there shown to be the godly, who shall be alive on the earth at +Christ’s coming and shall then be changed, and, with the risen dead, +caught up to meet him in the air. + +The sealing process there symbolized, is here shown to be the inscribing +of the Father’s name on their foreheads. The subjects of the beast and its +image, receive its mark; but the children of God and the Lamb, are +designated instead, by the name of the Father. + +The voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, with the voice of +harpers, is the singing of the new song which none but the 144,000 could +learn. Those who are translated at Christ’s coming, will be favored above +all, save two, who will have lived on the earth, insomuch as they will +have been redeemed from the earth without being subjected to death. + +These sing in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders, +who symbolize those who also are redeemed from among men and will reign on +the earth, 5:8-10. Consequently those must symbolize the resurrected dead, +with whom the 144,000 will be ushered into the Lord’s presence, 1 Thess. +4:16, 17. The two bodies of the redeemed, are therefore both represented +with the Lord on Mount Zion. + +Their not being defiled with women, probably implies that they were not +guilty of idolatry, which is represented by that figure, Ezek. 16:15. They +had not submitted to the wiles of the woman seated on the scarlet-colored +beast, (17:3); had not worshipped the beast or its image (14:9), and had +been true to their Divine Sovereign. + +They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. All the redeemed will +doubtless thus follow the Lamb, for of all the “great multitude which no +man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” +who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed “with white +robes, and palms in their hands,” (7:9)—it was said: “The Lamb which is in +the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living +fountains of water,” 7:17. + +Those who are redeemed from among men, are called the “first fruits unto +God and to the Lamb.” They are not necessarily first fruits of the +redeemed, to distinguish them from others of the redeemed, but are first +fruits of the race: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, +that we should be a kind of _first fruits_ of his creatures,” James 1:18. +By his resurrection from the dead, Christ became “the first fruits of them +that slept,” 1 Cor. 15:20. And at his coming there is to be a “first +resurrection” (20:6), when the bodies of the saints will “be fashioned +like unto his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21), and thus become the first +fruits with their risen Head. Those who come up at the second resurrection +will not attain to that beatific state. + +They are faultless, and without guile. They are not perfect by reason of +any inherent goodness in themselves; for “all we like sheep have gone +astray ... and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all,” Isa. 53:6. +The redeemed church will be faultless, because its members will be +sanctified and cleansed by the blood of Christ. Such will constitute “a +glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ... holy +and without blemish,” Eph. 5:27. While “the nations of them which are +saved shall walk in the light” of the New Jerusalem, and shall “bring +their glory and honor into it,” there “shall in no wise enter into it +anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh +a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life,” 21:24-27. + +“There awaiteth at the end +Such a home, and such a Friend, +Such a crown, and such a throne, +Such a harp of heavenly tone, +Such companions, such employ, +Such a world of hallowed joy!”—_Bunyan._ + + + + +The Angel of the Everlasting Gospel. + + + “And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the + everlasting good news to preach to those dwelling on the earth, + and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying + with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of + his judgment is come: and worship him who made the heaven, and the + earth, and the sea, and fountains of water!”—Rev. 14:6, 7. + + +The era symbolized by the flight of this angel, has been applied, by +different writers to the epoch of the Reformation, to that of modern +missions, &c. The view here taken, is that it synchronizes with the +preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. + +The angel flying through the midst of heaven, doubtless symbolizes a body +of men conspicuous for their position, energetic in their movements, +extensive in their operations, and urgent in their proclamation,—whose +teachings correspond with this announcement of the angel. + +The message they bear is that of the everlasting gospel ευαγγελιον, +(_evangelion_)—which is, literally, the good news, the glad tidings; that +which brings “life and immortality to light,” 2 Tim. 1:10. It is a message +which foreshadows the resurrection and coming judgment at Christ’s +appearing; and is therefore called “the gospel of the kingdom,” (Matt. +4:23);—the good news of the glorious kingdom of the Son of God. + +It is the preaching of the _everlasting_ gospel which is thus symbolized. +It is no _new_ gospel; for, “the Scripture foreseeing that God would +justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto +Abraham,—saying: In thee shall all nations be blessed,” Gal. 3:8. And not +Abraham alone, but all the fathers “did eat the same spiritual meat, and +did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual +Rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ,” 1 Cor. 10:3, 4. Of +this gospel the Jewish nation and a few proselytes, were for ages the sole +recipients. “Unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Rom. 3:2. To +them pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the +giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,” Rom. 9:4. +But the time had been foretold when the Gentiles should come to their +light, and kings to the brightness of their rising, Isa. 60:3. + +With the coming of Christ, and his rejection of that nation, the gospel, +was no longer to be confined within its former narrow limits. The Savior +said to his disciples: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing +them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; +teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and +lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” Matt. 28:19, 20. +“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that +believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall +be damned,” Mark 16:15, 16. “Then opened he their understanding that they +might understand the Scriptures, and he said unto them, Thus it is +written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, to rise from the dead the +third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in +his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” Luke 24:45-47. + +The fulfilment of those predictions and commands could not be more +beautifully and appropriately symbolized, than by an angel flying “in the +midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that +dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and +people.” It could be no other gospel: for Paul testified: “Though we, or +an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we +have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I +now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have +received, let him be accursed,” Gal. 1:8, 9. + +In accordance with the divine command, to preach the gospel to all the +nations, beginning at Jerusalem, the apostles began their mission; and +when the Jews rejected their message, they turned to the Gentiles, and +went everywhere preaching the word “according to the revelation of the +mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made +manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the +commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the +obedience of faith,” Rom. 16:25, 26. + +The first converts to the faith, comprised “Parthians, and Medes, and +Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, +in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of +Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and +Arabians,” Acts 2:9-12. When the Jews contradicted and blasphemed, “Paul +and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God +should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and +judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the +Gentiles,” Acts 13:46. Afterwards Paul, in writing to the Colossians, +refers to the gospel as that “which was preached to every creature which +is under heaven,” Col. 1:23. + +This gospel was to be preached to those who dwell on the earth, and also +to all nations. The symbolic earth of the Apocalypse, being generally +admitted to be the Roman empire under a quiet government, its fulfilment +would require an early introduction of the gospel there. Accordingly we +find, within thirty years after the crucifixion of Christ, a flourishing +church existing in the metropolis of the Roman empire, to which Paul +addressed one of his most able letters. In it, he thanks God that their +“faith is spoken of throughout all the world,” Rom. 1:8. The apostle had +then “fully preached the gospel of Christ” from Jerusalem “round about +[the coast of the Mediterranean] unto Illyricum,” (Rom. 16:19);—a country +on the Adriatic, or Gulf of Venice. He afterwards visited Rome, and is +supposed to have preached the gospel as far west as Spain. The apostles +spread Christianity throughout the Roman empire. Palestine, Syria, +Natolia, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, Italy, and the northern +coast of Africa, contained societies of Christians in the first century. +In the second century societies existed, and Christ was worshipped, among +the Germans, Spaniards, French, Celts, and Britons, and many other nations +in Europe, and almost throughout the whole east. In the fourth century +Christianity had become the prevailing religion of the empire. + +In later times the gospel which began to be preached at Jerusalem, has +been extended to more distant countries, and is still finding its way to +every tribe and people that have not before heard its joyful sound. Thus +has the light of the gospel nearly encircled the globe, having been, in +one age or another, proclaimed in every known country—fulfilling the words +of the Saviour: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all +the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” +Matt. 24:14. “And the gospel must first be published among all nations,” +Mark 13:10. It would not follow from these predictions that it must be +preached at the _same time_ to all nations, any more than the light of day +shines on all parts of the earth at once: but all must have been illumined +by it before the end. + +In accordance with this view, those who are finally redeemed to God “out +of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (5:9), are those who +will “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the +Lamb” (7:14), in consequence of this universal extension of the gospel. + +The command to fear and give glory to God, and to worship the Creator of +all things implies that it was to be proclaimed to worshippers of false +gods, and was not a mere proclamation addressed to _actual Christians_. +The Gentiles to whom the apostles preached _were_ actual worshippers of +such, and needed to be taught the worship of the _true_ God. While Paul +was at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city +wholly given to idolatry. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and +said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too +superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an +altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye +ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and +all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, +dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” Acts 17:22-24. “Ye know that ye +were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led,” 1 +Cor. 12:2. “For they themselves show us of what manner of entering in we +had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and +true God: and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the +dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come,” 1 Thess. +1:9, 10. + +The great motive, to be held forth to induce men to turn from the worship +of idols to that of God, was the certainty of the approaching judgment. In +accordance with this, the apostles make constant references to it. The +Corinthians are exhorted to “come behind in no gift; waiting for the +coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, +that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Cor. 1:7, +8. As Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, +Felix trembled,” Acts 24:25. He said to the impenitent Romans, that they +were “treasuring up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and +revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” Rom. 2:5. The first things +which were presented in all their teachings were “the foundation of +repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of +baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and +of eternal judgment,” Heb. 6:1, 2. Thus “Enoch also, the seventh from +Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten +thousand of his saints,” Jude 14, 15. + +As Christ was to judge the world “at his appearing and kingdom” (2 Tim. +4:1), a reference to his coming always involved a consideration of the +hour of his judgment; and his appearing was a great incentive to holiness. +“For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the +Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Phil. 3:20. And “when Christ, who is our +life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory,” Col. +3:4. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye +in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” 1 Thess. 2:19. +“To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before +God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his +saints,” _Ib._ 3:13. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, +even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this +we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and +remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are +asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with +the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in +Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be +caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: +and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” _Ib._ 4:14-17. “And to you who are +troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven +with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know +not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Thess. +1:7, 8. + +Not only the apostles, but their successors, in succeeding ages, have +constantly made reference to the judgment, as the motive to holiness. +Beginning in the days of the apostles, the same gospel has been continued +by a succession of men to the present time; and those who are now +preaching, or who support those who so preach the everlasting gospel, in +connection with the warning of approaching judgment, must be regarded as +belonging to the same body of men symbolized by the angel flying in the +midst of heaven. + +Commencing in the apostolic age, sections of the globe were evangelized—in +Asia and Africa, that have never received the gospel since, either under +the reformers or by modern missionaries. But beginning with the +dispensation of the gospel to the Gentiles, its fulfilment is found in +China, in Tartary, in Japan, in Egypt, and Ethiopia, and in lands so +remote that no one can say it has not been almost universally promulgated. + + + + +The Angel announcing the Fall of Babylon. + + + “And another angel, a second, followed, saying, She is fallen! + Babylon the great is fallen! She made all nations drink of the + wine of the wrath of her fornication!”—Rev. 14:8. + + +This angel, like the former, must symbolize a body of religious teachers. +The former resulted in the spread of Christianity. This announces the fall +of a corrupt hierarchy. + +Babylon being regarded as a symbol of the Roman church, her fall must be +understood to be her loss of power, as mistress of the kings of the earth; +and synchronizes with her displacement from her position on the beast, as +symbolized in the 17th chapter. The epoch of her fall, and consequently of +the flight of this angel, is that of the Reformation, when the corruptions +of the Papal See were first exposed, and it was denounced as the +Apocalyptic harlot. The argument for this application is given in the +exposition of Rev. 18:1, which is a repetition of the symbol here given, +p. 300. + + + + +The Wrath-denouncing Angel. + + + “And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud + voice, If any one worship the wild beast and his image, and + receive his mark on his forehead, or on his hand, even he will + drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out + unmingled into the cup of his wrath; and he will be tormented with + fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the + presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth for + ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night, who worship the + wild beast and his image, and whoever receiveth the mark of his + name!”—Rev. 14:9-11. + + +The cry of this angel synchronizes with the “voice from heaven” (18:4), +and follows the discovery of the corruptions of Romanism.—See the +exposition of that Scripture, p. 307. + +The worship of the beast consisted in a regard for it, equivalent to +saying, “Who is like unto the beast? and, Who is able to make war with +him?” 13:4. To worship, is to manifest homage and respect. To worship any +inferior object, is to bestow on it the confidence and affection which is +due only to God. It is to trust in it, as invincible, able to protect, and +infallible in judgment. Thus to regard any civil or ecclesiastical +organization, is to substitute it for Him, by whom the powers that be are +ordained (Rom. 13:1), who giveth the kingdom to whomsoever he will (Dan. +4:17), and by whom alone, kings reign, and princes decree justice, Prov. +8:15. + +Whenever any civil or ecclesiastical enactment conflicts with the +requisitions of Jehovah, that power is worshipped, which is obeyed in +preference to the other: “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves +servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey?” Rom. 6:16. The +worship of God is incompatible with obedience to any power which compels a +violation of His laws. Due obedience to government is commanded, when no +question of conscience is involved. When it is, no forcible resistance to +the execution of the law is permitted; but while God is obeyed, the +penalty of the law is to be meekly endured. + +The early Christians chose death, rather than to deny their Saviour at the +command of Jewish Sanhedrim or Roman emperor. When Peter and John were +commanded “not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus,” their +answer was, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you +more than unto God, judge ye; for we cannot but speak the things which we +have seen and heard,” Acts 4:19, 20. In like manner, the Christians living +at the epoch of this angel, were to be similarly tried, which is implied +in the command, not to worship. + +So soon as the reformers were placed in direct conflict with the Church of +Rome, her anathemas were hurled against all who assented not to her +mummeries. And the power of the civil arm was also brought into exercise +to compel obedience to her commands. Those who maintained their integrity, +did so in opposition to the requirements of the church and state; while +those who submitted to the state as invincible, or to the church as +infallible, extended to the beast or its image that homage and regard +which was due to God. They thus acknowledged themselves the servants of +him whom they obeyed, and subjected themselves to the wrath of God. + +The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have +no rest, day nor night, who worship the beast and his image. While the +righteous enter into rest, the wicked are like the troubled sea which +cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, Isa. 57:20. + + + + +The Harvest of the Earth. + + + “Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the + commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice + from heaven, saying, Write, Happy the dead who die in the Lord, + from henceforth! Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from + their toils; and their works go with them. And I looked, and + behold, a white cloud, and one was seated on the cloud like the + Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a + sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying + with a loud voice to him seated on the cloud, Thrust forth thy + sickle and reap: for the hour is come for thee to reap; for the + harvest of the earth is ripe. And he, who sat on the cloud, cast + his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”—Rev. 14:12-16. + + +The announcement that here are they who keep the commandments of God, +implies that, at the epoch symbolized, they are to be the subjects of +special notice. By the voice from heaven, they are shown to include all of +the dead who have died in the Lord; and their being blessed from +thenceforth, indicates that they will at that epoch enter upon their +eternal reward. + +The “rest” of the righteous, is at the advent of Christ:—“To you who are +troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,” +2 Thess. 1:6. “There remaineth a rest for the people of God,” Heb. 4:9. + +On hearing the voice from heaven, the revelator looked, and beheld on a +cloud “one like the Son of man.” In Ezek. 1:26, “the likeness as the +appearance of a man,” upon “the likeness of the throne,” is explained to +be “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” In Dan. +7:13, “one like the Son of man,” who comes to the Ancient of days, is +evidently a symbol of Christ. In Rev. 1:13, “one like unto the Son of +man,” is the one who was alive, was dead, and is alive forevermore. The +same symbol repeated, must here also be a representative of Christ. + +His position on a cloud, indicates the arrival of the period when he is to +be manifested in mid-heaven: “Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye +shall see him,” 1:7. “One like the Son of man came with the clouds of +heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before +him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all +people, nations, and languages should serve him,” Dan. 7:13, 14. “And they +shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and +great glory. And he shall send his angels, with a great sound of a +trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, +from one end of heaven to the other,” Matt. 24:30, 31. + +The epoch of this manifestation, according to the above, is that of the +last trump, the second advent, and the first resurrection. “At the last +trump ... the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be +changed,” 1 Cor. 15:52. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven +with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; +and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and +remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the +Lord in the air,” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. + +His “golden crown” indicates that he is now to take to himself his great +power, and to reign, “when the kingdoms of this world become our Lord’s +and his Christ’s,” 11:15, 17. Crowns are symbols of sovereignty. As such, +they respectively denoted the periods, when the forms of government, +symbolized by the heads of the beast (12:3) and its horns (13:1), bore +rule. Now the diadem is to be transferred from them, to encircle the brow +of earth’s rightful Sovereign. + +The sharp sickle in his hand, indicates that the time of harvest has +arrived; and the act of reaping, the gathering of the harvest. There are +two gatherings symbolized, corresponding to the two classes of persons who +are to be gathered. “The dead in Christ shall rise first,” and will be +“caught up to meet the Lord in the air,” before the wicked are gathered, 1 +Thess. 4:16, 17. “I will come again, and receive you unto myself,” said +the Saviour, John 14:5. The Lord of the harvest directs its gathering, but +effects it by the instrumentality of angels: “He shall send his angels, +and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the +uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven,” Mark 13:27. +When thus gathered, they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, where +the Lord of the harvest sits. This is the separation of the righteous and +wicked, who were to “grow together till the harvest,” which, says the +Saviour, “is the end of the world,” Matt. 13:39. + +Mr. Lord suggests, that it is inconsistent with the dignity of Christ, to +be notified by an angel when to begin his work; and therefore dissents +from the application of the symbol to him. It may not, however, be +necessary to consider the cry of the angel, as one of command. The angel +may be a messenger from the Ancient of days, announcing the epoch of the +resurrection. Or he may symbolize a body of men, who will be ardently +praying for the return of the nobleman to take his kingdom. + +The harvest is spoken of in distinction from the gathering of the vine, +and in contrast with it. Men harvest what they prize,—their grain and +fruits. They do not harvest briers and thorns. They cut or reap both; but +the act of reaping is not expressive of the destiny of what is reaped. +This is indicated by the disposition made, and the terms applied; the one +is gathered into the garner of the Lord; but the other is given to the +consuming fire. + +The righteous being caught up to meet the Lord at his coming, the +destruction of the wicked, which must precede the regeneration of the +earth and descent of the saints, is next symbolized. + + + + +The Reaping of the Vine. + + + “And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, he also + having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, + who had power over the fire, and called with a loud shout to him + who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and + cut off the clusters of the vine of the earth; for its grapes are + ripe. And the angel cast in his sickle into the earth, and cut off + the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of + the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, + and blood came out of the wine-press, even to the bridles of the + horses, for the distance of one thousand six hundred + furlongs.”—Rev. 14:17-20. + + +The wicked also are gathered by the instrumentality of angels: said the +Saviour, “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so +shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his +angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, +and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: +there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,” Matt. 13:40-42. In the +parable of the tares, the Saviour said, “Let both grow together until the +harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye +together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but +gather the wheat into my barn.” Thus the tares were to be gathered +_first_—not before the righteous are gathered, but before the wheat is +placed in the garner: the new earth being the garner where the righteous +are _finally_ to be gathered, they cannot be placed there till the wicked +have been gathered out. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun +in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,” +Matt. 13:30, 43. + +The disposition of the vine, its being trodden down, and the great +presence of blood flowing, symbolize the awful judgments to overtake the +wicked, after the escape of the righteous, when they are gathered into +bundles and burned. Thus Isaiah prophesied: “Who is this that cometh from +Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his +apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in +righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, +and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat? I have trodden +the wine-press alone: and of the people there was none with me: for I will +tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood +shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For +the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come,” +Isa. 63:1-4. + +Before the destruction of the old world by the deluge, Noah was secure in +the ark. Before the destruction of Sodom, Lot is removed to a place of +safety. So before the destruction of the vine of the earth, the righteous +are caught up to the Lord in the air, where they are symbolized, in the +following chapter, as: + + + + +The Victors on the Sea of Glass. + + + “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful, seven + angels having the seven last plagues; for by these, the wrath of + God is completed. And I saw as it were a transparent sea mingled + with fire; and those who had obtained the victory over the wild + beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name, + standing on the transparent sea, having harps of God. And they + sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the + Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God + Almighty; just and true are thy ways, king of nations! Who should + not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art + holy; for all nations will come and worship before thee; for thy + judgments are manifested.” Rev. 15:1-4. + + +This appears to close the vision commencing with the sixth verse of the +14th chapter, and to be independent of the remaining portion of the 15th +chapter. + +These “seven angels,” in the subsequent vision, discharge the contents of +the vials of God’s wrath; but the epoch here presented is evidently +subsequent to that fulfilment; for the imitation of the “Song of Moses,” +must follow the infliction of the judgments which call forth that song of +rejoicing. They had here completed the wrath of God, the manner of which +act is subsequently shown in a separate vision. + +The “sea of glass,” must represent an elevation above the earth. For those +stationed there had gotten the victory over the beast and his image, had +escaped the wrath to be poured on those who worshipped those powers +(14:9), had been gathered when the harvest of the earth was reaped +(14:16), being then caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17), +and now, the clusters of the vine of the earth having been gathered and +cast into the wine-press of the wrath of God (14:19), they rejoice above +the fires of earth, witnesses of the manifestations of God’s judgments. +They have come out of all their tribulations, and evidently synchronize +with the palm-bearing multitude (Rev. 7:9), the hundred and forty-four +thousand on Mount Zion (14:1), and the multitude in heaven who sing +Alleluia over the judgment of the great harlot, 19:1. + +“The song of Moses,” was that sung by the Israelites when the Egyptians +had perished in the waters of the Red Sea, and they were safely encamped +on its further shore. The Lord had triumphed gloriously over the enemies +of Israel, had buried the horse and his rider in the sea, and was about to +plant his people in the mountain of his inheritance,—in the place which he +had made for them to dwell in,—in the sanctuary which he had established, +Ex. 15:1-21. The analogy requires that when this corresponding song is +sung, the ransomed of the Lord shall have correspondingly witnessed the +overthrow of the adversaries of Jehovah, and shall themselves have escaped +from the perils of the many waters which had threatened to engulf them. + +The judgments of God being manifested on the nations of the ungodly, there +are none remaining, only “the nations of them which are saved,” 21:24. As +these will all walk in the light of the new Jerusalem, those on the sea of +glass may well sing: + +“Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! +Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints! +Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? +For thou only art Holy: +For all nations shall come and worship before thee; +For thy judgments are made manifest.” + +In accordance with the foregoing view, this synchronizes with the “new +song” sung by those who are redeemed from every nation, kindred, tongue +and people (5:9), who are afterwards seen standing with the Lamb on Mount +Zion, 14:3. + + + + +The Angels with the Seven Vials. + + + “And after this, I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the + testimony in heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of + the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure white linen, + and girded around the breasts with golden girdles. And one of the + four living beings gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls + filled with the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And + the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from + his power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven + plagues of the seven angels were completed.” Rev. 15:5-8. + + + “And I heard a loud voice out of the temple saying, to the seven + angels, Depart, and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the + earth.” Rev. 16:1. + + +“The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven,” must symbolize +heaven itself. It corresponds with the tabernacle “after the second +veil,”—called “the holiest of all,” where the tables of the covenant were +deposited by the command of Moses, Heb. 9:1-5. There, the “cherubims of +glory” over-shadowed the mercy-seat,—a type of the presence-chamber of the +Almighty. Consequently, when it is symbolized as being opened in heaven, +the angels who come out are divinely commissioned executors of God’s +purposes. + +The “seven angels,” are the ministers of the divine vengeance,—the +rectitude of their character and the dignity of their office, being +symbolized by their “white robes” and “golden girdles.” + +The period of time symbolized by the pouring out of the vials, must be +anterior to the second advent; for in the analogous instances of God’s +judgments, he visits his enemies with plagues previous to the deliverance +of his children. Thus were the ancient Egyptians visited, before the +Israelites escaped from their power, Ex. 5-11. + +The deliverance of the vials to the angels by one of the four “living +creatures,” indicates that the intelligences in the divine presence, which +are thus symbolized, are cognizant of God’s design, and acquiesce in his +purpose to visit the subjects of his wrath with these plagues. + +By these being called “the vials of God’s wrath,” we learn that their +infliction is not corrective, but judicial;—that they are not agents of +mercy, but of vengeance. + +The filling of the temple with the smoke of God’s glory, to the exclusion +of all persons during the pouring out of the vials, shows that during that +period, there will be no intercession with God for him to refrain from the +execution of the purposes thus symbolized. They are inevitable; and there +will be no supplication for their suspension. When Moses had finished the +type of the “Holiest of all,” a “cloud covered the tent of the +congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses +was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud +abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle,” Ex. +40:34, 35. It was only when Moses could enter the tabernacle, that he +could there commune with God face to face, Ex. 33:9, 11. + +The voice from the temple to the seven angels, shows that the acts +commanded are the subjects of divine appointment,—the angels simply +designating the commencement of the several judgments. + + + + +The First Vial. + + + “And the first went away, and poured out his bowl on the earth; + and there came an evil and sore ulcer on the men who had the mark + of the beast, and on those worshipping his image.” Rev. 16:2. + + +The “earth,” in the Apocalypse, symbolizes a quiet and settled government +(13:11), in distinction from one politically agitated, which is symbolized +by waters, 13:1; 17:15. + +Those who receive the contents of the first vial, being the worshippers of +the “beast” and its “image” (13:15), it is certain that the governments on +which it is poured, are subservient to the church of Rome and within the +boundaries of the ten kingdoms. + +The effect of the vial is “a noisome and grievous sore;” and the only +things analogous, are mental maladies. Therefore the results symbolized +must be noxious principles and opinions, which fill the mind with rancor +and hate,—producing strife, alienation and contention. + +The _epoch_ here symbolized, in the very unanimous opinion of most +judicious writers, corresponds with the commencement of the agitations +which preceded the outbreak of the first French revolution, about A. D. +1785. Commencing in France, and extending with more or less virulence +throughout the ten kingdoms, there was excited an intense uneasiness of +the people respecting their relation to their rulers. They regarded +themselves as insupportably oppressed and degraded, and were exasperated +to madness against their respective governments. This, under the next +vial, resulted in the overthrow of the French monarchy, and in attempted +revolutions in other kingdoms. + + + + +The Second Vial. + + + “And the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea; and it + became like the blood of a dead person; and every living creature + in the sea died.” Rev. 16:8. + + +The first vial having excited political agitations in previously quiet +governments, they are now more fitly symbolized by the “sea” than by the +“earth.” And on such the second vial is poured. + +As the sea symbolizes a people agitated and disquieted, the living things +in it, must symbolize those who live on and are sustained by the people. +Consequently, the waters becoming blood, and the death of the things +living in the waters, symbolize the shedding of the blood of the people, +and the slaughter, by them, of their rulers and superiors. + +The epoch symbolized, would therefore correspond with the actual outbreak +of the French revolution, to which the agitations produced by the previous +vial had goaded on the excited people. In their riots and insurrections, +history records the destruction of large numbers of the populace; and +these exterminated the members of the royal family, and all persons of +rank and influence. A million of people, according to Alison, perished in +the civil war of La Vendee alone; and thousands of the nobility and +persons of distinction were ruthlessly slaughtered throughout France, +whose rivers were discolored with the blood of the slain. + + + + +The Third Vial. + + + “And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and on the + fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel + of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Thou, who art, and wast + holy, because thou hast inflicted these judgments; for they have + poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given + them blood to drink: they are worthy! And I heard one from the + altar, saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are + thy judgments!” Rev. 16:4-7. + + +Mr. Lord justly remarks that “Rivers and fountains of waters, are to a +sea, what smaller exterior communities and nations are to a great central +people.” As the French nation was the sea, the “rivers and fountains” +symbolize contiguous or more remote communities surrounding it. These are +said to have become blood, without its being specified that the living +things in them perished, as in the sea. Accordingly, while the greater +portion of Europe continued, with little interruption, for twenty years +from 1792, to be deluged with war and bloodshed, the nobles and rulers of +the other nations were not exterminated, as in France. + +The nations thus overwhelmed with blood, were those which had sanctioned +the shedding of the blood of the saints; consequently their retribution +was just. + + + + +The Fourth Vial. + + + “And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun; and it was + given him to burn men with fire. And men were burned with great + heat, and reviled the name of God, who had power over these + plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.” Rev. 16:8, 9. + + +The influence of the sun on the earth and sea, is analogous to that of a +government on the subjects of its rule. As the right degree of light and +heat is conducive to vegetation, and the excessive action of the sun’s +rays will scorch and destroy; so a genial government is a blessing to the +people, while its arbitrary and tyrannical acts are often insupportably +oppressive. + +With the overthrow of the French monarchy under the second vial, there +arose new rulers in France, who usurped despotic powers, and subjected the +governed to most oppressive exactions. The rich were impoverished, the +nation was robbed, the business of the country was paralyzed, the +obnoxious were slain, every species of misery and wickedness abounded, the +males were subjected to military conscription, and hundreds of thousands +of them were sent to subjugate surrounding nations. The countries they +invaded were also devastated, and oppressed, and robbed by impoverishing +taxations. These continued, though in a milder form, under the imperial +rule, and all parts of the Roman earth felt the scorching effects of the +devouring heat of French usurpation. But when Napoleon passed beyond the +boundaries of the Roman empire, he was met and driven back by the snow and +frost of the Almighty. + +Notwithstanding the oppressions to which the people were subjected, and +the exactions under which they groaned, they made no recognition of God’s +sovereignty. They saw not that this chastisement was from Him. They did +not deprecate his wrath, nor acknowledge his righteousness, but still +continued to be infidels and apostates. They continued to blaspheme the +name of God, who had power over these plagues, and repented not to give +him glory. + + + + +The Fifth Vial. + + + “And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild + beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues + through pain, and reviled the God of heaven, because of their + pains and their ulcers, and repented not of their deeds” Rev. + 16:10, 11. + + +The beast, here spoken of, is the same seven-headed, ten-horned wild beast +that ascended out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), symbolizing the Roman empire in +its divided form. Consequently the seat or throne of the beast would be +the ruling power which exercised and controlled the government of these +kingdoms. Just previous to this epoch, Napoleon had reached the summit of +his power; and the subversion of his throne, with the restoration of the +Bourbon dynasty in 1814 and 1815, is evidently here symbolized. Napoleon +had become the idol of France, which worshipped at the shrine of his +glory. With his fall, their sun was stricken from its firmament, and the +kingdom was darkened. + +The change being effected by foreign arms, the chagrin and mortification +of his adherents was natural and expected. They were filled with pain and +anguish at this termination of all their hopes. The re-imposition on them +of the Bourbon line, revived all their former hatred towards their rulers +and sense of oppression, symbolized by the ulcers of the first vial. They +continued still a nation of infidels, performing the same works of +blasphemy against God; and again and again have they risen in rebellion +against their government. + + + + +The Sixth Vial. + + + “And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the + Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings + from the rising of the sun might be prepared.” Rev. 16:12. + + +This symbol resembles a like prediction respecting ancient Babylon: “A +drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up,” (Jer. 50:38); and +“I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry,” Jer. 51:36. Ancient +Babylon was situated on the river Euphrates, which contributed to the +wealth and greatness of the city, and was a means of its defence. The +kings of Media and Persia, from the east of Babylon, subjugated it by +diverting from the city the waters of the river, and entering by its +unprotected bed. The turning of the waters into other channels, fulfilled +the prediction that it should be dried up. + +Waters, when used as a symbol, are explained to be “peoples, nations,” +&c., Rev. 17:15. In the 17th chapter of the Apocalypse, the angel informs +the revelator that he will show him “the judgment of the great harlot who +sitteth on many waters,” (17:1); which implies that he had already seen a +vision to that effect. He is then shown a woman on a scarlet-colored beast +(v. 3), who is spoken of as sitting “on many waters” (v. 1), and on seven +mountains (v. 10), and who is affirmed to be the “great city, which +reigneth over the kings of the earth,” v. 18. Under the seventh vial, the +“great city,” which is “great Babylon,” is divided into three parts +(16:19); and the inference is, that the harlot and ancient Babylon are +analogous symbols of the same organized agency; and, that the city was +here exhibited on the great river Euphrates. + +As a woman clothed with sunbeams and crowned with stars (Rev. 12:1), and a +city illuminated with the glory of God (Rev. 21:10), are each symbols of +the true church, corresponding symbols of opposite moral characteristics +are appropriate representatives of a corrupt and apostate church. As +Jerusalem was the seat of the ancient church, so was Babylon the seat of +her oppressors. The former is addressed as a woman, and told to put on her +“beautiful garments,” (Isa. 52:1); and Babylon is called the “daughter of +the Chaldeans,” and “the lady of kingdoms,” (Isa. 47:5): so that a woman, +and a city of corresponding character, may, interchangeably, symbolize the +same object. Consequently, the “Babylon,” and the “harlot” of the +Apocalypse, both symbolize the corrupt Roman hierarchy. + +Ancient Babylon is described as a harlot, and is addressed as one who +“dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures,” (Jer. 51:13); whose +end was to come by her waters being dried up, 51:36. That city sustained a +relation to the waters on which it was situated, analogous to that held by +the Roman Catholic church to the people who support and defend her +pretensions. Their alienation and withdrawal from her support, must +therefore be symbolized by the drying up of the great river Euphrates, +which becomes diverted into other channels. This is now apparently being +fulfilled in the marked alienation of feeling from the church of Rome, +which is evident throughout the ten kingdoms. During the last twenty +years, the hold of that community on the affection of her supporters in +Europe, has been constantly becoming weaker and weaker. Infidel principles +have been extensively propagated. Her cathedrals have been comparatively +deserted; and her existence has been endured more as a matter of +expediency than of affection. At the present moment, probably, the mass of +the people have little confidence in her pretensions; but it will require +a more marked withdrawal from her support than has yet been witnessed, to +fulfil, in all its significance, the meaning conveyed in the symbol. + +The “kings of the east,” whose way is to be thus prepared, are doubtless +her enemies, who, having produced the desired alienation from her support, +will take advantage of her defenceless position, and hasten her ruin; as +the kings of Media and Persia, in like manner, subjugated old Babylon. + +Under the operation of the sixth vial, and, according to the fulfilment of +the preceding symbols, corresponding with the present time, are to be +developed: + + + + +The Unclean Spirits. + + + “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth + of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of + the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, + performing signs, that go forth to the kings of the whole world, + to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” + Rev. 16:13, 14. + + +The “dragon,” “beast,” and “false prophet,” being regarded as symbols: the +first, of the Roman empire previous to its subversion by the northern +barbarians; the second of the ten kingdoms which subsequently arose; and +the third, of the eastern Roman empire—now the Mohamedan power; the mouths +of each, from which the frog-like spirits emerge, are next to be +considered. + +To the wild beast was given “a mouth, speaking great things and +blasphemies,” the power of which was “to continue forty and two months,” +Rev. 13:5. The agreement of this with the corresponding appendages of +Daniel’s “little horn” (Dan. 7:8), makes it evident that a “mouth” is a +symbol of an ecclesiastical organization existing in a political one,—that +it symbolizes the agency by which the people are taught, and is +representative of ecclesiastics, who are the mouthpiece of the nation in +all matters of faith and worship, p. 172. + +The religion of Rome imperial, when symbolized by the dragon, was +Paganism; that of the ten kingdoms, was the Papacy; and that of the +eastern empire, is Mohammedanism. From these three, then, emerge the +“unclean spirits.” Diverse as their origin appears, they have no marked +individual peculiarities. Being alike in their characteristics, they must +symbolize some common agency:—a combination of religious teachers, whose +views harmonize in a system of belief common to Paganism, Catholicism, and +Mohammedanism. + +The character of these teachers, is shown by the declaration that “they +are the spirits of _devils_ working miracles.” + +There are two words rendered devils in the New Testament, viz.: δαιμονιον +(_daimonion_) or δαιμων (_daimoon_), and διαβολος (_diabolus_). The latter +signifies the Devil, or Satan, who is the same as Beelzebub the prince of +the _demons_, Matt. 12:25. He it was by whom Jesus was tempted in the +wilderness, (Matt. 4:1-11); who sowed the tares in the field, (Matt, +13:39); and for whom, with his angels, the final punishment for the wicked +is prepared, Matt. 25:41. + +The word here, is _daimoon_. It is used, in different forms, sixty-five +times by our Lord and his apostles; and on no occasion do they hint that +they use the word in a sense different from its then accepted +signification; to learn which, recourse must be had to the testimony of +the Pagan, Jewish, and Christian writers of those times.(6) + +HESIOD taught that, “The spirits of departed mortals become _demons_ when +separated from their earthly bodies;” and PLUTARCH, that “The demons of +the Greeks were the _ghosts_ and _genii_ of departed men.” “All Pagan +antiquity affirms,” says Dr. CAMPBELL, “that from Titan and Saturn, the +poetic progeny of Cœlus and Terra, down to Æsculapius, Proteus, and Minos, +all their _divinities_ were the _ghosts_ of dead men; and were so regarded +by the most erudite of the Pagans themselves.” + +Among the Pagans, the term _demon_, as often represented a good as an evil +spirit; but among the Jews, it generally, if not universally, denoted an +unclean, malign, or wicked spirit. Thus JOSEPHUS says: “Demons are the +spirits of wicked men.” PHILO says that “The souls of dead men are called +demons.” “The notion,” says Dr. LARDNER, “of demons, or the souls of dead +men, having power over living men, was universally prevalent among the +heathen of these times [the first two centuries], and believed by many +Christians.” JUSTIN MARTYR speaks of “those who are seized by the souls of +the dead, whom we call _demons_ and madmen.” Ignatius quotes the words of +Christ to Peter thus: “Handle me and see; for I am not a _daimoon +asomaton_,—a disembodied demon,”—_i.e._ a spirit without a body. + +The foregoing is evidence of the New Testament signification of the word +_daimoon_, here improperly rendered devils,—spirits of which, the +frog-like agencies are affirmed to be. + +Demon worship is a characteristic of the three religions referred to. As +already shown, all Pagans regarded their gods as the ghosts of dead men; +and the Bible speaks of them as devils, _i.e._ _demons_. Moses says of +them, “Even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to +their gods,” (Deut. 12:31); while the Psalmist affirms that “they +sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto _devils_,” Ps. 106:37. +“They sacrificed unto _devils_, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to +new gods that came newly up,” Deut. 32:17. Jeroboam “ordained him priests +for the high places, and for the _devils_,” 2 Chron. 11:15. “The things +which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to _devils_, and not to God: +and I would not that ye should have fellowship with _devils_. Ye cannot +drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of _devils_; ye cannot be partakers +of the Lord’s table, and of the table of _devils_,”—_i.e._ of _demons_. + +Of the same kind are the gods of the heathen now. In the Youth’s +Day-Spring, for June, a missionary describing the alarm and grief of the +Africans on the Gaboon river, at the near prospect of a death in their +village, says: “The room was filled with women, who were weeping in the +most piteous manner, and calling on the _spirits of their fathers and of +others who were dead_, and upon all spirits in whom they believe, Ologo, +Njembi, Abambo, and Mbwini, to save the man from death. These spirits +could not help them, but they knew of none mightier, and so called on +them.” Mr. White, a Wesleyan missionary, says: “There is a class of people +in New Zealand, called Eruku, or priests. These men pretend to have +intercourse with departed spirits, ... by which they are able to kill by +incantation any person on whom their anger may fall.” The Sandwich +Islanders, when they found that Christians supposed they worshipped the +images of their gods, were much amused, and said “We are not such fools.” +They used the idol as an aid to fix their minds on their divinity. Some of +them supposed their divinity was a spirit residing in their idol. + +The Mohammedans, while they recognize God, are also “taught by the Koran +to believe the existence of an intermediate order of creatures, which they +call Jin, or genii;” some of which are supposed to be good and others bad, +and capable of communicating with men, and rewarding or punishing them. +The 72d chapter of the Koran consists of a pretended communication from +the genii to Mohammed. They are made to say: “There are some among us who +are upright, and there are some among us who are otherwise;” and speaking +of men: “If they tread in the way of truth, we will surely water them with +abundance of rain,” _i.e._ will grant them plenty of good things. Thus +they are recognized as dispensers of good. They bear a striking +resemblance to the spirits which now pretend to communicate with men! All +who are familiar with Arabian romances know how frequently genii, fairies, +&c., figure as agents in the execution of wonderful exploits. + +The Romanists also pretend to communicate with _demons_,—_i.e._ with +departed spirits. They deify the Virgin Mary, and supplicate the +intercessions of many departed saints; and some they supplicate, whose +claim to saintship is somewhat equivocal. Their teachings in this +particular, Protestants generally recognize as the subject of the +following prediction: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the +latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing +spirits, and doctrines of devils,”—_demons_, 1 Tim. 4:1. + +Demon-worship being common to Paganism, Mohammedanism, and Popery, when +the frog-like agency emerges from them, the conditions of the symbol seem +to require that it shall originate with, but shall pass beyond and outside +the influence of those religions. The agency thus symbolized, was to “go +forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world.” Its fulfilment +requires a wonderful and an alarming increase of those who teach and +believe these doctrines; and as they are to work miracles, whereby the +world will be deceived, their teachings are to be accompanied by +extraordinary phenomena, which will be unexplainable by any of the known +laws of science. The spirits of the departed are to be recognized by them +as authoritative teachers, who are to be reverenced and obeyed. They will +be regarded as communicating with mortals, as unveiling the hidden things +of the invisible state, and as performing acts requiring the exercise of +physical power. The former are evident from the analogy which exists +between this and demon-worship; and the latter, from the ascription to +them of miraculous acts. + +The existence of demoniacal intelligences, capable of communicating with +and acting on mortals, appears to be in accordance with the teachings of +the Saviour and apostles. Demoniacal possessions are clearly distinguished +from all diseases; and demons are shown, by the admissions of the New +Testament, to be actual intelligences, capable of physical power. When the +fame of Christ “went throughout all Syria, they brought unto him all sick +people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which +were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those which +had the palsy; and he healed them,” Matt. 4:24. “When the unclean spirit +is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and +findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I +came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. +Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked +than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of +that man is worse than the first,” Matt. 12:43-45. “And as they went out, +behold they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.(7) And when +the devil was cast out, the dumb spake; and the multitudes marvelled, +saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth +out devils,(8) through the prince of the devils,” Matt. 9:32-34. “And when +they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling +down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son; for he is lunatic, +and sore vexed, for oft-times he falleth into the fire, and oft into the +water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. +Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how +long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to +me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him; and the child +was cured from that very hour,” Matt. 17:14-18. “And there was in their +synagogue a man with an unclean spirit: and he cried out, saying, Let us +alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come +to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus +rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the +unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of +him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among +themselves, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with what +authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him!” +Mark 1:23-27. “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met +him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling +among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because +that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had +been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither +could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the +mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But +when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a +loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the +Most High God! I adjure thee, by God, that thou torment me not. (For he +said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.) And he asked +him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we +are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of +the country. Now there was nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine +feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, +that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the +unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and the herd ran +violently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand), +and were choked in the sea,” Mark 5:2-13. + +In all these instances, the demons are recognized as actual intelligences, +performing given acts. Without the admission of this, it will be difficult +to explain the meaning of a large class of scriptures. It cannot for a +moment be supposed that the inspired writers would be permitted to use +language which should directly mislead the common mind. + +Among the miracles which the apostles wrought, “unclean spirits, crying +with a loud voice, came out of many possessed with them, and many taken +with palsies, and that were lame, were healed,” Acts 8:7. “And God wrought +special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought +unto the sick handkerchiefs, or aprons, and the diseases departed from +them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond +Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits, +the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul +preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the +priests, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, +and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was, +leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that +they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And many that believed, +came and confessed, and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used +curious arts, brought their books together, and burned them before all +men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand +pieces of silver,” Acts 19:11-16, 18, 19. + +The necromancy, divination, and witchcraft, forbidden in the Old Testament +and practised by the heathen of those times, were all of a similar +character. A necromancer was one who had, or pretended to have +communication with the dead,—who sought “for the living to the dead,”(9) +Isa. 8:19. They practised divination in divers ways, but usually admitted +their dependence on familiar spirits,—the spirits of the departed,—demons. +“The king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the +two ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with +images, he looked in the liver. At his right hand was the divination for +Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to +lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the +gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. And it shall be unto them as +false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he +will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken,” Ezek. +21:21-23. They observed times, _i.e._ they regarded some as lucky, and +others as unlucky times for the commencement of any work,—recognizing +distinctions which God had not made. The heathen divinities were regarded +as more propitious at some times than others. It is enumerated among the +sins of Manasseh, that he “made his sons pass through the fire, and +observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and +wizards,” 2 Kings 21:6. + +They practised various arts, whereby they thought to protect themselves +from evil, and to pry into the secrets of futurity. Because of these +things, ancient Babylon was suddenly overwhelmed,—“for the multitude of +thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.” These +could not save, as they supposed. Therefore God said to them: “Stand now +with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein +thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, +if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy +counsels. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly +prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come +upon thee,” Isa. 47:12, 13. All these practices were forbidden by God, who +said: “Neither shall ye use enchantments, nor observe times,” Lev. 19:26. + +Those who consulted with familiar spirits were termed wizards and +witches,—the practice of which was also expressly forbidden. To make +witchcraft a mere pretence, is to impute to Jehovah the making of laws +against pretences and nonentities. To suppose that he would legislate +against, and inflict capital punishment, because of mere pretences, is +incredible! God said to Moses, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” +Ex. 22:18. And to the Jews he said, “Regard not them that have familiar +spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord +your God,” Lev. 19:31. “And the soul that turneth after such as have +familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will +even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his +people.” “A man, also, or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is +a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: +their blood shall be upon them,” Lev. 20:6,27. When Egypt was to be +destroyed, they were left to “seek to the idols, and to charmers, and to +them that have familiar spirits, and to wizards,” Isa. 19:3. + +The manner in which the familiar spirit spoke, was by “peeping,” +“muttering,” whispering out of the dust, &c. God said to Ariel, “And thou +shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech +shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one that hath a +familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of +the dust,” Isa. 29:4. “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them +that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: +(should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead!) to +the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it +is because there is no light in them,” Isa. 8:19, 20. + +Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of +the land; but when he “inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, +neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his +servants, Seek a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, +and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman +that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. And Saul disguised himself, and put +on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the +woman by night: and he said, I pray thee divine unto me by the familiar +spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman +said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut +off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards out of the land; +wherefore, then, layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? And +Saul sware unto her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall +no punishment happen to thee for this thing. Then said the woman, Whom +shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. And when the +woman saw Samuel she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, +saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said +unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto +Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What +form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with +a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his +face to the ground, and bowed himself. And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast +thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore +distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed +from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: +therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I +shall do. Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the +Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath +done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of +thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David: because thou +obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedest his fierce wrath upon +Amelek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. +Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the +Philistines: and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord +also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. +Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, +because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him,” 1 Sam. +28:6-20. + +Micaiah “saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven +standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who +shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one +said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth +a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And +the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I +will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou +shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, +behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy +prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee,” 1 Kings +22:19-23. + +When Paul was in the house of Lydia, he says, “It came to pass, as we went +to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination, met us, +which brought her masters much gain by her soothsaying: the same followed +Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most +high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this she did many +days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command +thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the +same hour,” Acts 16:16-18. + +By sorcery, enchantment, &c., they performed wonders, or _miracles_, +either real or pretended. “There was a certain man called Simon, which +beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of +Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave +heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power +of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had +bewitched them with sorceries,” Acts 8:9-11. When “Aaron cast down his rod +before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, then +Pharaoh also called the wise men, and the sorcerers: now the magicians of +Egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast +down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod +swallowed up their rods,” Ex. 7:10-12. When Aaron turned the water of the +river to blood, “the magicians did so with their enchantments,” v. 22. In +like manner they “brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,” 8:7. But when +Aaron changed the dust to lice, the magicians attempted the same with +their enchantments, “but they could not,” Ex. 8:18. These sorcerers who +withstood Moses, we learn by Paul, were “Jannes and Jambres,” 2 Tim. 3:8. +They belonged to an ancient profession in Egypt; for, when Pharaoh dreamed +his dreams, he first “sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and +all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dreams; but there was +none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh,” Gen. 41:8. In like manner +Nebuchadnezzar “commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and +the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they +came, and stood before the king,” Dan. 2:2. + +These things were practised to some extent in Judah, but were all put away +by Josiah. “Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, +and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in +the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might +perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah +the priest found in the house of the Lord,” 2 Kings 23:24. + +The acts and influences of demoniacal agencies are apparent from the +foregoing; and the symbolization under the sixth seal, seems to indicate a +revival of those teachings and manifestations at the present time. Within +a few years, the curiosity of the community has been excited, and large +numbers of persons greatly interested, in various phenomena, known as +Mesmerism, Animal-Magnetism, Clairvoyance, Pathetism, Neurology, +Psychology, Biology, Electro-Biology, &c. &c. Similar manifestations have +been before exhibited, but not in modern times to the extent now +witnessed. These were regarded as harmless phenomena and independent of +any supernatural agency, till audible sounds were heard communicating +intelligible responses. Then the claim was set up that these are caused by +departed spirits. + +These sounds were first heard near Rochester, New York, in 1847; and, at +the present time (1852), they are affirmed to exist in hundreds of places +in this country, and other sections of the globe. They are audible raps, +the cause of which, aside from the hypothesis of spiritual agency, has +never been satisfactorily accounted for. By these raps, unimpeached and +credible witnesses testify that correct answers have been given to +questions, the facts respecting which were known to no one at the time of +answering. Since then, furniture has been seen to move about the room, and +other _wonders_, or miracles, been performed, by invisible agency, at the +command of mediums to attending spirits,—_i.e._ to _demons_. Mediums have +written on paper, as they profess, involuntarily, lengthy communications, +in poetry and prose, the subjects of which they claim to have been +ignorant of, while the pen they held was moved independent of their own +will. These exhibitions have been attested by hundreds of credible +witnesses. + +By such manifestations large numbers of persons have given their adherence +to these real or pretended agencies as truthful and reliable +intelligences; whose responses they receive with the same credence that we +do the revelations of scripture. “Circles” are extensively formed, who +have sittings, at stated times, to receive communications from the spirits +of the departed; and these are enforced by miracles, audible sounds, the +exercise of physical power, &c. + +The reality and the credibility of these agencies are separate questions. +Their reality is shown by their identity with similar manifestations of +former times. The Bible affirms the existence of such: “For we wrestle not +against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, +against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual +wickedness in high places;” or “wicked spirits” in “heavenly places,” as +the _margin_ reads, Eph. 6:12. + +1. The familiar spirits of old responded in a manner similar to these. +They did “peep” and “mutter;” their speech was low out of the dust; they +spoke out of the ground, and whispered; or, as in the margin, did “peep” +or “chirp” out of the dust. These “rap” and mutter. They respond from +beneath chairs, tables and floors. + +2. They exercised similar physical powers. They threw down and tare the +persons they possessed. They turned the swine into the sea, &c. These +claim that chairs and tables, are lifted and moved at will by an invisible +agency. + +3. They made similar pretensions to credibility. Simon Magus gave out +“that himself was some great one;” and these, that they utter divine +truths. + +4. Similar regard was bestowed on those, which is claimed for these. To +Simon “they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This +man is the great power of God.” Yet “he had bewitched them with +sorceries.” Similar claims by, and regard for these modern pretenders to +the same art, do not relieve them from the suspicion of a like agency. +“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves +into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is +transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his +_ministers_ also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose +end shall be according to their works,” 2 Cor. 11:13-15. + +5. Both have given utterance to some truths. The legion of demons who were +cast out of the man into a herd of swine, acknowledged Jesus to be “the +Son of the Most High God;” and the pythonic spirit which so grieved Paul, +declared the apostles to be “the servants of the Most High God, which show +unto us the way of salvation.” Such communications with the invisible +world being forbidden, their _credibility_ is disproved. + +They claim that spirits of the departed are brought into direct and +intelligent communication with the living, who desire to interrogate them. +What more was claimed by the necromancers of old? Said Saul to the woman +of Endor: “Divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom +I shall name unto thee,” 1 Sam. 28:8. + +They claim that not all, but only those persons are mediums who are +peculiarly susceptible to spiritual influences. Wherein, then, admitting +their claims, do the “mediums” differ from those of old, who divined by a +familiar spirit? + +Their responses are frequently disproved by facts; and themselves admit +the existence of unreliable spirits, which communicate like them. They +give contradictory responses, and mutually criminate each other; but their +_reality_ is not disproved by any discrepancy, or want of truthfulness in +their responses; for if they are spirits, none but unclean spirits would +respond in a forbidden manner. + +These spirits are to be discredited, because they preach a different +gospel from that preached by Paul, who says: “I marvel that ye are so soon +removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto another +gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and +would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from +heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let +him be accursed,” Gal. 1:6-9. “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, +let him be Anathema, Maran-atha.” 1 Cor. 16:22. Said John, “Beloved, +believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: +because many false prophets are gone out into the world,” 1 John 4:1. Also +Isaiah said, “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have +familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not +a people seek unto their God? To the law and to the testimony: if they +speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in +them,” Isa. 8:19, 20. + +Because of these practices, the nations were driven out from before the +children of Israel. And with the _miracles_ to be wrought, the frog-like +spirits are to go forth to “the whole world to gather them to the battle +of that great day of God Almighty.” + +In the time of Abraham, “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full,” +(Gen. 15:16); but in four hundred years they had practised all the +abominations for which they were to be destroyed, and the practice of +which God has expressly forbidden. He said to Israel, in the wilderness, +“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou +shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nation. There shall +not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass +through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an +enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, +or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an +abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy +God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the +Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto +observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God +hath not suffered thee so to do,” Deut. 18:9-14. + +Similar pernicious practices and dangerous heresies, are to prepare the +way for the final destruction of the nations who reject the claims of +Jehovah. Peter declares that “there shall be false teachers among you, who +privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that +bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall +follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be +evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words +make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, +and their damnation slumbereth not,” 2 Pet. 2:1-3. And Paul says of that +wicked: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and +signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness +in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that +they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong +delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who +believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” 2 Thess. +2:9-12. + +“The battle of that great day of God Almighty,” it would seem, must +commence by a conflict of opinions. Mind will war with mind, and puny man +will stoutly contend against the truths of the Almighty. In this revival +of demon-worship, the old gods of the heathen are to be set up against the +claims of Jehovah. His declarations are to be made to give place to +“doctrines of demons.” The teachings of God and of these spirits are to be +brought into direct conflict. + +The followers of the spirits have baptized their new theological dogmas, +“The Harmonial Philosophy,” of which _Reason_ is the final umpire. +Revelation no longer speaks to them in tones of authority. From the Bible, +it is claimed, “the seal of infallibility must be broken away, before a +new light and beauty can enliven and embellish the mystical disclosures of +any seer, prophet, or evangelist.” So writes Andrew Jackson Davis, the +Poughkeepsie seer, one of the leaders of this new school, who complains +that “owing to the dogmatism of infallibility, the Bible is taught +now-a-days as it was nearly four centuries ago.”—_Review of Dr. Bushnell_, +p. 10. + +The Scriptures are, with those of his faith, only “the _paper and ink_ +relics of Christianity,” (_Ib._, p. 21); which they regard as “a +foundation as impermanent as the changeful sand” (_Ib._ p. 24), and not +adapted “to the wants or requirements of the nineteenth century,” _Ib._ p. +26. They reject Him, whom they style “the cruel and capricious God +generally worshipped by the Bible Christians,” _Ib._ p. 47. “The Jewish +God,” says Davis, “is cruel, capricious and tyrannical,” whose “kingdom is +more despotic, and more contracted in principle, than the present +government of the Russian empire,” _Ib._ p. 61. He adds, “The Old +Testament idea of a Deity is the outgrowth of the despotic stage of human +mental development,” and “a superannuated monotheistic conception,” _Ib._ +p. 62. In their opinion, “the developments of republicanism, and of mental +happiness among men, depend very much upon the _absence_ of these +dogmatical compilations, or fossil relics, of an old Hebrew and Chaldean +theology,” _Ib._ p. 70. With them “the Bible account of creation is a very +interesting _myth_,—mainly a plagiarism from the early traditions and +cosmological doctrines of the ancient Persians and Chaldeans;” and, +instead of being “a divine revelation of truth,” is “a pagan relic, which +should no more command serious respect than the ancient doctrines of +Fetichism,” _Ib._ p. 90. + +These “Harmonial Philosophers” are antagonistic to the teachings of +Jehovah in nearly all their theological notions. They scout the idea that +any actual evil exists in the universe. They deny the existence of the +devil, and of evil spirits. “Everything,” says Davis, “is forever +progressing in goodness and perfection,” _Ib._ p. 180. The salvation of +all men, is with them as certain as the operation of fixed laws. They +recognize no Saviour and no atonement in their system of faith. The +teachings of spirits, and “a certain organization of labor, capital and +talent,” they fancy, “will effect the desired cure” for all actual or +supposed ills, _Ib._ p. 178. They recognize no responsibility in the +sinner, but attribute his wrong-doings to ignorance and accident; and +their laws of right, are the dictates of their own wisdom. + +Their system is essentially Pantheistic, all things being regarded by them +as a part and parcel of Deity. They argue that “every object which has an +existence in the universe must be in its nature good and pure, on the +principle that the effect must partake of the nature of the cause, and the +stream must be the corresponding emanation of the fountain from which it +flows.”—_Elements of Spiritual Philosophy_, p. 55. They teach that human +spirits are “formed primarily from the animating essences that pervade the +creation,—which essences,” they say, “are the breath and presence of the +Divinity;” and hence they argue, “that there are no spirits which are +intrinsically evil in their nature, and none which do not present in their +inward depths the reflection of divine purity,” _Ib._ p. 56. Going still +further, they claim that there is no existing “source of positive evil,” +“no principle of this nature in the human spirit,” and that consequently +“there can be no evil designs to emanate from such a source,” _Ib._ p. 60. + +These assertions are put forth authoritatively; for the “Elements of +Spiritual Philosophy” are attested by witnesses to be “written by Spirits +of the Sixth Circle, R. P. Ambler, Medium.” And if they are met by the +declarations written by those who spake as they were moved by the Holy +Ghost, they reply: “The Christian who deifies his Bible is as much an +idolater as the heathen who burns his incense before his household image. +It is surely attributing to the book what the Pagan attributes to his +image.”—_Shekinah, April No._, p. 251. Christianity, they denominate, +“learned scepticism, baptized in the name of Jesus,” &c., _Ib._, p. 301. +Thus are they warring against the word of God, and placing themselves in +direct conflict with the Almighty. + +This warfare is not only avowed to be against the God of the Bible, but is +recognized by themselves as _the last great conflict __ previous to the +millennium_. They regard this subject as “the great question of the age, +which is destined to convulse and divide Protestantism, and around which +all other religious controversies must necessarily revolve.”—_Davis’ +Review of Bushnell_, page 3. The millennium which is to be thus ushered +in, they regard as a period when “every one that desires will be able to +hold direct intercourse and conversation with the spirit +world.”—_Spiritual Tel., Vol. 1, No. 1._ Says Davis: “The thunders of a +stupendous reformation are soon to issue from the now open mouth of the +Protestant church. The supernatural faith,” _i.e._ a belief in the +authenticity of Scripture, “will be shaken, as a reed in the tempest. New +channels will be formed for the inflowing of new truths, and then a +long-promised era will steal upon the religious and political +world.”—_Review of Bushnell_, p. 187. + +In another place he says: “You may be assured of the truth of this +_approaching crisis_. The world must recognize it, because it will be +accompanied with _war_; for politics are inseparably connected, all over +the world, with religious systems. Religion will develop reason; but +politics will impel the masses to _unsheath the sword, and to stain the +bosom of Nature with blood_! Friends of progress! be not discouraged; for +the FINAL CRISIS must come; _then the strange interregnum_,” _Ib._ p. 217. +“Protestantism as now constructed will first decay; because it is to be +divided into two,—the smallest party will go back into Catholicism; the +other will go forward into Rationalism. And then, after a succession of +eventful years, a political revolution will hurl the Catholic +superstructure to the earth, and the prismatic bow of promise will span +the heavens. The children of earth will then be comparatively free and +happy! for the _millennial_ epoch will have arrived; and there will be +something like a realization of peace on earth, and good will toward all +men!” _Ib._ p. 221. + +Such are their delusive hopes, while setting themselves against the Lord, +and against his Anointed. The Bible teaches that multitudes will be +deceived by them, and, if it were possible, some of the elect; and hence: + + + + +The Admonition. + + + “Behold, I come like a thief. Happy is he who watcheth, and + keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” + Rev. 16:15. + + +“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the +heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt +with fervent heat,” 2 Pet. 3:10. The Saviour said to his disciples: +“Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,” Matt. +24:42. Says Paul: “Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so +cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, peace and safety, +then sudden destruction cometh, ... and they shall not escape; but ye, +brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a +thief,” 1 Thess. 5:1-6. + +Thus will the day of the Lord come, as a thief, on those who are careless +and indifferent to its approach; but it will not thus overtake those who +watch, and keep their garments. Because so many will be deceived by the +strange performances of the spirits of demons, and their miracles so +delude the multitude, Christ’s coming will be to them sudden and +unexpected. Therefore the greater necessity for watchfulness. While this +is a predicted means for lulling the world to sleep, it is given to the +Christian as an indication of the near coming of Christ, whose advent +synchronizes with the outpouring of the seventh vial. The blessing +pronounced on those who watch, is an intimation that the people of God +will be expecting Christ’s advent, while others will be taken by surprise: +“unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin +unto salvation,” Heb. 9:28. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation +hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness, and +worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this +present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing +of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:11-13. + +Those who keep their garments, are those who have not “defiled” them with +sin, (3:4); they will walk with Christ in white, being worthy; “for the +fine linen” in which they are to be arrayed “is the righteousness of +saints,” 19:8. To be destitute of this, is to be unclothed; and hence the +Saviour says: “I counsel thee to buy of me ... white raiment, that thou +mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,” +3:18. The intimation is clear, that to be deceived by the unclean spirits, +is to lose those robes of righteousness, and to be found naked at Christ’s +appearing. + + + + +The Success of the Spirits. + + + “And they gathered them into a place called in Hebrew Armageddon.” + Rev. 16:16. + + +Before the coming of the Lord, and as a preparation for that event, the +nations are to be thus gathered. Armageddon is the name of a valley at the +foot of Mount Megiddo, famous for its bloody slaughters. It fitly +symbolizes the final gathering of the nations. The enemies of God will +marshal for the final conflict. The powers of darkness will fancy +themselves on the verge of victory; and then will be poured out: + + + + +The Seventh Vial. + + + “And the seventh poured out his bowl on the air; and there came a + loud voice from the temple [of heaven], from the throne, saying, + It is done! And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; + and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were + on the earth, so mighty and so great an earthquake. And the great + city became three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and + great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of + the wine of his furious wrath. And every island fled, and the + mountains were no more. And vast hail, weighing a talent, fell + from heaven on men; and men reviled God because of the plague of + the hail; for the plague thereof was exceedingly great.” Rev. + 16:17-21. + + +The atmosphere is not limited, like a river, or portion of the earth, to a +given locality, but encircles the globe. Consequently the effect of the +vial poured out on the air, would be universal, and not local like the +effects of the previous vials. The air is the region of storms. These +symbolize the expression of conflicting opinions, and violent outbursts of +passion; which may be the commencement of that “great battle,” for the +preparation of which the unclean spirits went forth under the sixth vial, +to gather the people, and which terminates by the slaying of the remnant +with the sword of the Lord, 19:21. + +An earthquake is a symbol of a political revolution. As this is to be +greater than all preceding ones, it must extend to all nations. It is +during the earthquake, that the cities fall and the mountains and islands +flee away. This commotion evidently synchronizes with the “time of +trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same +time,” when God’s “people shall be delivered, every one that shall be +found written in the book,” Dan. 12:1. + +“It is done,” is a declaration indicating the completion of the work +symbolized. It marks the termination of the events of the seventh vial, +which are described in the verses following: + +“The great city” is “Babylon,” (14:8); which “reigneth over the kings of +the earth,” (17:8); and which John had seen sitting “upon many waters,” +17:1. This was doubtless seen when he saw the waters of the symbolic +Euphrates being dried up, 16:12. Babylon, being a symbol of the Roman +hierarchy, its triple division indicates a like division of the church of +Rome, not geographical, but under different leaders, previous to its +destruction. + +“The cities of the nations,” must symbolize other hierarchies, analogous +to that of Rome, of which there are the Greek church, in Russia and +Greece, the Arminian and Syrian churches, and other corrupt nationalized +establishments. All such will become disconnected, like Babylon, with the +governments by which they are sustained. + +“Great Babylon” then comes into remembrance to drink the cup of the wine +of the fierceness of God’s wrath. Because her sins have reached unto +heaven, “God hath remembered her iniquities,” 18:5. This synchronizes with +her destruction, symbolized in Rev. 18:8-23. As the Papacy continues till +Christ’s coming (Dan. 7:21, and 2 Thess. 2:3-8), this epoch must +synchronize with that event, when he comes to receive his chosen ones. + +With the destruction of Babylon, occurs the subversion of all national +authority. As ecclesiastical hierarchies are symbolized by cities, the +“mountains” and “islands” on which they are situated must symbolize the +larger and smaller governments; and their removal from their places, their +subversion in the great moral “earthquake” which is to overwhelm them. +This synchronizes with the sixth seal, when they are all “removed out of +their places,” (6:14); and it leaves the inhabitants of earth in a state +of anarchy. It is at this time that the kings and great men of the earth +become aware that the great day of God’s wrath is come, 6:15-17. With this +time of trouble, comes the deliverance of God’s people, (Dan. 12:1); who +shall be caught up together “to meet the Lord in the air,” 1 Thess. 4:17. +To them the Lord has said, “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by +night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that +walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A +thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but +it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and +see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord which is my +refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation,” Ps. 91:5-9. + +The removal of the saints leaves the wicked exposed to the vengeance of +God’s wrath, of which a terrific hail-storm on their defenceless heads, is +an expressive symbol. The Lord said, by Isaiah: “Judgment also will I lay +to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep +away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. +And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with +hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, +then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it +shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by +night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the +bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering +narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up +as in Mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he +may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange +act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for +I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption even determined upon +the whole earth,” Isa. 28:17-22. + +This must synchronize with the final conflict, (symbolized in Rev. +19:19-21): also with the casting of the vine of the earth into the +wine-press of God’s wrath (14:19), and terminates the battle of +“Armageddon,”—the “battle of that great day of God Almighty,” 16:14. + + + + +The Judgment of the Harlot. + + + “And one of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and + talked with me, saying, Come here; I will show thee the judgment + of the great harlot who sitteth on many waters; with whom the + kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants + of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her + fornication.” Rev. 17:1, 2. + + +The Roman hierarchy had been frequently referred to in the preceding +visions; but an institution, so interwoven with the history of the +nations, required a more full and minute symbolization. + +The subject of this vision is announced to the revelator, by one of the +angels who had the seven vials;—very probably, the seventh. The harlot is +identified as one “that sitteth upon many waters.” Ancient Babylon was +thus addressed: “O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in +treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness,” Jer. +51:13. She is also described as “The well-favored _harlot_, the mistress +of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families +through her witchcrafts,” Nahum 3:4. Therefore the harlot whose judgment +is to be more minutely shown, is the city of the previous vision, which +received the cup of the wine of God’s wrath (16:19), and which probably +was shown to John on the waters of the Euphrates, (16:12); for the +reference indicates that she had been thus previously exhibited,—the +waters on which she was seated, being the people, nations, &c., which +sustained and defended her idolatries, 17:15. In the vision now to be +shown John, the Roman hierarchy is symbolized by Babylon; but it is first +exhibited as: + + + + +A Woman on a Scarlet-Colored Beast. + + + “And he carried me away in spirit into a desert: and I saw a woman + seated on a crimson-colored wild beast, full of names of reviling, + having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in + purple and crimson, and decked with gold and precious stones and + pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and + the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead a name was + written, A SECRET: BABYLON, THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS + AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken + with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses + of Jesus; and when I saw her I wondered greatly.” Rev. 17:3-6. + + + “And the angel said to me, Why dost thou wonder? I will tell thee + the secret of the woman, and of the wild beast that carrieth her, + which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. The wild beast which + thou didst see, was, and is not, and will ascend out of the abyss, + and go into destruction; and those who dwell on the earth will + wonder, (whose names were not written in the book of life from the + foundation of the world,) as they behold the wild beast that was + and is not, and will be. And here is the mind having wisdom. The + seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth, and + they are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is and the other is + not yet come; and when he cometh he must remain a little while. + And the wild beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, + and is of the seven, and goeth into destruction. And the ten horns + which thou didst see are ten kings, who have not yet received a + kingdom; but they receive power as kings, one hour, with the wild + beast. These have one mind, and will give their power and strength + to the wild beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb + will overcome them; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; + and those with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” Rev. + 17:7-14. + + + “And he saith to me, The waters which thou didst see, where the + harlot sitteth, are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues. + And the ten horns which thou didst see, and the wild beast, these + will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and + will eat her flesh, and burn her up with fire. For God hath put it + into their hearts to perform his purpose, and to agree, and give + their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God shall be + fulfilled. And the woman whom thou didst see is the great city, + which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” Rev. 17:15-18. + + +That the woman and city symbolize the same, is shown by the declaration +that she is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth, +v. 18. She is also thus indicated by the name of “Babylon,” on her +forehead, and the golden cup in her hand: “Babylon hath been a golden cup +in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have +drunken of her wine; therefore are the nations mad,” Jer. 51:7. In like +manner has the church of Rome intoxicated the nations. + +“The scarlet-colored beast” on which the woman is seated, is evidently the +same beast that John saw “rise out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten +horns,” 13:1. The Roman empire had been symbolized by “a great red +dragon,” which also had seven heads and ten horns. In that vision, crowns +were on the heads of the beast, (12:3); which indicated that Rome, during +the period thus represented, existed under the forms of government +symbolized by the heads. These heads, the angel affirms, are the seven +mountains on which the woman sitteth, (v. 9); and also that they are seven +kings (v. 10), or forms of government. Mountains also symbolize +governments, (16:20); and as the heads and mountains are the same, they +must alike symbolize the seven forms of government under which Rome +existed previous to its subversion by the northern barbarians,—viz.: 1, +the kingly; 2, consular; 3, dictatorial; 4, decemviral; 5, tribunitial; 6, +pagan-imperial; and 7, Christian-imperial. At the time of the explanation +of this vision to John, the “five” first-named forms had passed away; or, +as the angel says, had “fallen,” v. 10. One then was:—Rome then existed +under its pagan-imperial, or sixth head. The other, the +Christian-imperial, had not then come; but after it came, and had +continued for a time, the Roman empire was subverted by the irruptions of +northern barbarians. Thus “the beast was;” and then, was not for a season. +But afterwards it emerged again from the sea (13:1), under an “eight” +form, which was of the previous seven, 17:11. When it reäppears, its +crowns are not upon its heads, but encircle its horns, (13:1); indicating +that those governments have the ascendency, which are symbolized by the +“ten horns;” and which, according to the angel, are “ten kings,” which had +not received their kingdom at the time of the vision, v. 12. These were to +be kings in “one,” or the same hour with the beast, and must therefore be +contemporary kingdoms, while the forms symbolized by the heads, are +evidently successive. They constitute the government of Rome, in its +eighth, or decem-regal form; and symbolize the ten kingdoms which arose +after and out of the subversion of imperial Rome. Under this form, the +beast goes into perdition, (v. 11):—they continue under various +combinations, till the end of the world, when they will war with and be +overcome by the Lamb (v. 14), in the great battle of Armageddon, 19:19-21. + +The ten contemporary kingdoms have one mind, (v. 13): they perpetuate the +kingdom of the beast, by adopting similar laws, pursuing the same line of +policy, and assuming the same powers that the empire exercised. + +The “names of blasphemy” which cover the beast, symbolize its arrogating +the right to dictate in matters of faith and religious worship, and to +punish those who dissent from its creed. The Roman hierarchy was supported +by legal enactments against heretics in all of the ten kingdoms. Those who +dissented from the church were delivered over to the power of the civil +arm, which punished by imprisonment, confiscation of goods, bodily +torture, and death. The exercise of such power, was a blasphemous +usurpation of the prerogatives of Christ, and an assumption of authority +over the legislation of God. + +On this beast the woman is seated. As its rider, she guides it, and is +sustained by it. She is its directing power; and while she is thus seated, +there is no reference to crowns encircling either heads or horns. All rule +for a time is subservient to her control. Thus were the ten kingdoms +obedient to the Roman hierarchy,—sustaining, and being controlled by it. +She crowned their kings, and dethroned them at her pleasure. The religion +of the church was enforced by the sword of the state; and thus did the +kings of the earth commit fornication with her,—the idolatries of the +church being sanctioned by them. + +The superb attire of the woman, and the costly gems with which she is +decked, denote the wealth, luxury, and regal splendor of the hierarchy +which she symbolizes. The cup, and its abominations in her hand, denote +the false doctrines with which she would seduce the nations. Her names +describe her nature, and identify her with Babylon; and her intoxication +with blood, indicates her blood-thirsty, persecuting character, and the +delight with which she would exult over the slaughter of the saints. + +The Roman hierarchy was not, however, _always_ to retain her supremacy +over the nations. She was in due time to _fall_ from the position +symbolized by the woman seated on the beast; and the kings of the earth +were to hate and burn with fire, her whom they had recognized as their +mistress, and to whose control they had submitted. The governments which +have sustained her pretensions, were to cast her off contemptuously. This +has been in progress of fulfilment from the days of Martin Luther, since +which her control of the ten kingdoms has been only limited and partial. +Many of her ecclesiastical estates have been confiscated, and she has been +deprived of her prerogatives in many countries. There may, perhaps, be +hereafter a more complete fulfilment of this prediction. It is symbolized +in the following chapter, by: + + + + +The Fall of Babylon. + + + “And after this, I saw another angel descending from heaven, + having great power; and the earth was enlightened by his glory. + And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, She is fallen: Babylon + the great is fallen, and is become a dwelling of demons, and a + prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and + hateful bird, for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the + fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed + fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become + rich through the abundance of her luxury.” Rev. 18:1-3. + + +This announcement of the fall of the city, synchronizes with the same +symbolization in the 14th chapter: “And there followed another angel, +saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made +all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,” 14:8. The +angel, proclaiming her fall, doubtless symbolizes a body of men, who shall +give utterance to corresponding declarations. + +The _epoch_ of this utterance is shown by the identity of this angel with +that of Rev. 10:1-3. They thus correspond: They both descend from heaven: +the one is a mighty angel, and the other has great power; the one is +enveloped with a robe of cloud, his head is arched with the rainbow, his +face is like the sun, and his feet like fire, and he stands on both earth +and sea; the other is so glorified, and occupies a position so +conspicuous, that the earth is enlightened with his glory; and the one +cries “with a loud voice as when a lion roareth,” while the other cries +“mighty with a strong voice.” Thus their position, manner and +conspicuousness, are alike. What was uttered by the angel of the tenth +chapter, is not revealed; but the fall of Babylon being announced in the +eighteenth, it follows that it was the subject of the angel’s utterance in +the tenth. + +As the messenger of the tenth chapter appears subsequent to the sixth, and +before the seventh trumpet; and as, after this epoch, there were to be +prophesyings “_again_, before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and +kings” (10:11), it follows that the _time_ then symbolized must be at an +epoch _anterior_ to the end of the world. A corresponding reason—namely, +the command to come out of Babylon, and the fulfilment of her plagues and +sorrows, which are to intervene between the cry of the angel announcing +her fall and the time of her actual destruction—proves that the mighty +angel of the 18th of Revelation must also be at an _epoch_ having a +considerable period between it and the end. + +It follows, that when John saw the angel of the eighteenth chapter, and +“the earth was lightened with his glory,” it did not symbolize a _literal_ +but a _moral_ light,—_the light of truth_. And as the enlightening of the +earth by its promulgation, pre-supposes a previous state of corresponding +moral _darkness_, it must, as in the tenth chapter, symbolize an _epoch_, +prominent in the history of the world, as a time when the _darkness_ of +ignorance, error and superstition, began rapidly to disappear before the +spread of the _light_ of truth and knowledge. + +These considerations point to the epoch of the REFORMATION, when the +midnight _darkness_ of the _dark ages_ began to be scattered before the +uprising and onward progress of truth and knowledge. Then appeared a body +of religious teachers, aided by the newly discovered art of printing, who +so brought the Scriptures out from their obscurity, opposed the +pretensions of the Papal hierarchy, and, by the clear teachings of the +word, so secured the spread of gospel light and liberty, that they might +appropriately be symbolized by an angel coming down from heaven, and +enlightening the earth with his glory. The descent from heaven would +symbolize the heavenly origin of the doctrines promulgated. His mighty +power, and the strong voice with which he proclaimed his cry, would +symbolize the greatness and earnestness of the movement, and the mighty +results to be effected by it. This symbolization, twice given, could only +be fulfilled by some great and mighty movement, like the Reformation. + +The fall of Babylon is distinct from and anterior to its destruction, and +must correspond with the fall of the woman from her position on the +beast;—she is no longer to be the director of, and to be sustained by, the +civil power. The cry of the angel, announcing her fall, as Mr. Elliot +remarks, seems to be anticipative, and not retrospective. The +denunciations of the Papacy by the reformers were of a character to fulfil +this symbolization. + +The year 1300, during the pontificate of Boniface VIII., may be regarded +as marking the highest eminence to which the Papal power ever attained. +From this period the dominion of the Roman Pontiffs appeared to be +gradually undermined. Twenty-four years after this date, John Wickliffe +was born, who, together with his followers, made more vigorous attacks +upon Babylon itself. Some of these declared Rome to be mystical Babylon, +and the Pope and church there to be Antichrist. These heralds announced +the fall of mystical Babylon, as the ancient prophets had done that of +literal Babylon, long before the event.—Jer. 51:7, 8. Antichrist and +Babylon are identified in prophecy. In 1518, Luther first suspected their +application to the Papacy; and, writing to his friend Link, on sending him +a copy of the acts just published of the conference at Augsburg, he says: +“My pen is ready to give birth to things much greater. _I know not myself +whence these thoughts come to me._ I will send you what I write, that you +may see if I have well conjectured in believing that the _Antichrist_ of +whom St. Paul speaks now reigns in the court of Rome.” + +At first, Luther and his companions sought only the reformation of that +church. They had no idea of dissolving their own connection with it. But +when the thunders of the Vatican were hurled at them, and they found +themselves excommunicated as heretics, they came to the conclusion that +the church of Rome was _the Babylon of the Apocalypse_. Immediately upon +this conviction, they began to cry, “Babylon is fallen!” + +In 1520 appeared a famous book, by Luther, on the “_Babylonish Captivity +of the Church_,” in which he attacked Rome with great skill and courage. +In Switzerland and England the reformers considered themselves as +fulfilling this message of the Apocalyptic angel. Elliot says, “They +_seized on this very prophecy for application; and, for the first time_, +upon grounds of evidence sound and tenable, concluded on the fact of +progress having been made up to it, in the evolution of the great mundane +drama, and on their own chronological place being already far advanced +under the sixth trumpet, and in near expectancy of the seventh trumpet, of +the Apocalyptic prophecy.” + +These denunciations against Mystic Babylon, and protestations against all +her idolatrous ceremonies and superstitious appendages, were given, by the +great body of the reformers, within the very bounds of her empire. They +resulted in her loss of power, and of control over the princes of Europe. +In 1526, the other monarchs becoming jealous of the power of Charles V., +Emperor of Germany, “Pope Clement VII. placed himself at the head of a +league of the principal states of Italy against him; but their +ill-directed efforts were productive of new misfortunes. Rome was taken by +storm, by the troops of the constable, sacked, and the Pope himself made +prisoner. Charles V. publicly disavowed the proceedings of the constable, +went into mourning with his court, and carried his hypocrisy so far as to +order prayers for the deliverance of the Pope. On restoring the holy +father to liberty, he demanded a ransom of four hundred thousand crowns of +gold, but was satisfied with a quarter of that sum.”—_Ency. Am._, v. 3. p. +76. + +All the Protestant princes of Germany denied the assumptions of the Pope; +and the powers of western and northern Europe, one after another, denied +their allegiance to him. In 1798, Pius VI. was taken prisoner by the +French, under Gen. Berthier, and died in exile. When Berthier entered +Rome, many of the cardinals “fled from the city on the wings of terror;” +but those who remained “were disposed still to uphold the authority of the +Pontiff.” Finally, however, “with melancholy voice, they pronounced their +absolute renunciation of the temporal government.”—_Life of Pius VI._ His +successor resumed his position. But in 1848 Pius IX. fled from his own +subjects, and was only restored by French arms. Thus gradually the +Babylonish _woman_ became unseated, and fell from her position on the +beast; and, instead of guiding and directing the civil power, now only +exists by sufferance. As a city, also, her supremacy was gone. Being no +longer the mistress of the nations, or the ruling city, the Papal See is +in the condition of ancient Babylon when becoming a dependency of the +Medes and Persians. + +After the fall of ancient Babylon, it became gradually more and more +deserted, until there was a literal fulfilment of the words of Isaiah: +“Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full +of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance +there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate +houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces,” Isa. 13:21, 22. In like +manner the apocalyptic Babylon, after her fall, and the withdrawal of +Protestants from her communion, was to become the receptacle of +corresponding spirits. Her members were to be more impious than before, +and were to adhere more closely than ever to her idolatrous practices. The +contrast between these and true Christians would also be more apparent +from the separation which succeeds her fall, in obedience to: + + + + +The Voice From Heaven. + + + “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, + my people, that ye partake not of her sins, and that ye receive + not of her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God + hath remembered her iniquities! Reward her even as she rendered to + you, and double to her according to her works, in the cup which + she hath poured out, pour out double to her. By as much as she + hath glorified herself, and lived luxuriously, so much torment and + mourning give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and + am not a widow, and shall see no mourning. On this account, her + plagues will come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and + she will be burned up with fire; for strong is the Lord God, who + judgeth her.”—Rev. 18:4-8. + + +So long as the true character of the apostate church was unperceived, she +would contain many good, as well as a multitude of bad members. The voice +from heaven, indicates an epoch when there should be a widely extended and +marked separation between these two classes. Till the time of that +separation should be indicated, the children of God would be justified in +continuing members of her communion; but not subsequently. The condition +of Babylon, at the time of her fall, indicates that the separation must +take place in near connection with that event; and the cry must +synchronize with that of the third angel in Rev. 14:9,—which symbolized a +body of men who should insist on such a separation from the Papacy as that +here symbolized. + +After the discovery that the church of Rome was the Babylon of the +Apocalypse, the reformers began to call on the people of God to desert her +communion; and the formation of the reformed churches was the consequence. +This was preached wherever the Reformation extended, and has been +continued to the present time. The Protestant churches have proclaimed +connection with Romanism, an obstacle to salvation; and have called on its +Christian members to come out from her abominations. Even the name +“Protestant,” was given because of their protestation against the +corruptions of the Papal See. + +After the fall of ancient Babylon, and before her destruction, the people +were, in like manner, commanded to forsake her. Said Jeremiah: “Flee out +of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in +her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render +unto her a recompense. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for +her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have +healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every +one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is +lifted up even to the skies,” Jer. 51:6, 8, 9. And Isaiah said: “Go ye +forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing +declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The +Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob,” Isa. 48:20. “Depart ye, depart ye, +go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of +her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord,” Isa. 52:11. + +Sins reaching to heaven, indicate great wickedness. Thus God said to +Jonah: “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their +wickedness is come up before me,” Jonah 1:2. And he said of old Babylon: +“Her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies,” +Jer. 51:9. + + + + +The Destruction of Babylon. + + + “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and + lived luxuriously with her, will weep and wail for her, when they + see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off through the fear + of her torment, saying, Woe! woe! that great city, Babylon, that + mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come! And the + merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her; for no one + buyeth their merchandise any more; the merchandise of gold, and + silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and + purple, and silk, and crimson, and all thine wood, and all kinds + of vessels of ivory, and all kinds of vessels of most precious + wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and + fragrant ointment, and incense, and myrrh, and frankincense, and + wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, + and horses, and chariots, and bodies, and souls of men. And the + autumnal fruit of thine appetite’s desire is departed from thee, + and all things dainty and sumptuous are destroyed from thee, and + thou wilt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, + who were enriched by her, will stand afar off, through the fear of + her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe! woe! that great + city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and crimson, and + adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for in one + hour such great wealth is destroyed. And every pilot, and every + one sailing to any place, and sailors, and as many as trade by + sea, stood afar off, and cried, when they saw the smoke of her + burning, saying, What city is like the great city? And they cast + dust on their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying, + Woe! woe! the great city by which all who had ships on the sea, + were made rich through her precious merchandise! for in one hour + she is desolated.” Rev. 18:9-20. + + + “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and ye saints and apostles and + prophets; for God hath avenged you on her!” Rev. 18:20. + + + “And a strong angel took up a stone like a great mill-stone, and + cast it into the sea, saying, Thus violently, will Babylon, the + great city, be cast down, and be no more at all. And the voice of + harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, will be heard + no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of any art, will be + found any more in thee; and the sound of a mill-stone will be + heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a lamp will shine + no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and the + bride will be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were + the nobles of the earth; for by thy sorcery all nations were + deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of + saints, and of all those slain on the earth.” Rev. 18:21-24. + + +The punishment of Babylon is proportioned to her wickedness, and is to be +inflicted partially by the kings of the earth, and partially by other +agencies. The kings were to hate, and burn her with fire, (17:16); and +were also, when they should see the smoke of her burnings, to bewail and +lament for her, 18:9. The former passage indicates their agency in her +impoverishment, and has been fulfilled in the confiscation of her property +in France and England, the spoliation of churches and religious houses, +wherever the arms of Napoleon extended; the dethronement of the Pope, by +Gen. Berthier, in 1798; the refusal of some of the powers to permit her to +nominate, within their limits, the candidates for ecclesiastical +preferment, &c. She is thus made to feel her widowhood,—her divorce from +the secular arm,—and has mourned the loss of her most devoted children, +who have forsaken her communion. + +Her final destruction is, however, to be _entire_. She is totally to +disappear, like the sinking of a millstone in the sea. She is to be +_utterly_ burned with fire; but the lamentation of the kings over her +burning, indicates that her destruction is to be completed by other +instrumentality than theirs. Probably the multitude are to be incensed +against her, and will so manifest their hatred that the governments will +neither join in it, nor attempt to resist it, for fear that the same +torment will be inflicted on them, 18:10. But her existence is terminated +by the brightness of Christ’s coming, 2 Thess. 2:8. Her destruction +precedes that of the kings of the earth, who mourn her end. The merchants +of the earth, the captains, sailors, &c., symbolize those who bear a +relation to the hierarchy, analogous to that sustained by such to a great +commercial emporium. They are those who have the control of her +preferments, benefices and revenues,—who traffic in her indulgences, and +thereby become themselves enriched. And these articles of traffic are +symbolized by the merchandise which, after her destruction, no man would +buy. + +The commerce of this ecclesiastical city, has been immense,—particularly +in indulgences. The sale of these was reduced to a system, says D’Aubigné, +by “the celebrated and scandalous Tariff of Indulgences,” which went +through more than forty editions. The least delicate ears would be +offended by an enumeration of all the horrors it contains. Incest, if not +detected, was to cost five groats; and six, if it was known. There was a +stated price for murder, infanticide, adultery, perjury, burglary, &c. +Polygamy cost six ducats; sacrilege and perjury, nine; murder, eight; and +witchcraft, two ducats. + +The penances of various kinds which were imposed as a punishment for sin, +might also be compounded for money. + +Tetzel, one of Rome’s travelling merchants, told the people of Germany +that for “a quarter of a florin” they might “receive letters of +indulgence,” by means of which they might “introduce into paradise a +divine and immortal soul, without its running any risk.” _Hist. Ref._, pp. +56, 242. + +He also said “Indulgences avail not only for the living but for the dead. +With twelve groats you can deliver your father from purgatory.” “At the +very instant,” said he, “that the money rattles at the bottom of the +chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies, liberated to heaven.” +This is but a specimen of her vile traffic. + +Responding to the command, are heard the voices of much people in heaven, + + + + +Rejoicing Over Babylon’s Destruction. + + + “And after this, I heard a loud voice of a mighty crowd in heaven, + saying, Praise ye Jehovah! The salvation, and the glory, and the + power of our God! For true and righteous are his judgments; for he + hath judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her + fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her + hand! And again they said, Praise ye Jehovah! And her smoke + ascendeth for ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the + four living beings fell down and worshipped God, who sat on the + throne, saying, So be it! Praise ye Jehovah!” Rev. 19:1-4. + + +Daniel, in vision, saw the same persecuting power symbolized by a “Little +Horn,” having “eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great +things;” and he beheld, “and the same Horn made war with the saints, and +prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was +given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints +possessed the kingdom,” Dan. 7:8, 21, 22. And Paul testified of “that +Wicked” who was to be revealed, that he was the “Man of Sin,” “whom the +Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with +the brightness of his coming,” 2 Thess. 2:3-8. The destruction of that +which was thus symbolized and predicted, must, consequently, be at the +epoch of Christ’s second coming and of the establishment of the kingdom of +God. + +It is also at the epoch anticipated by “the souls of them that were slain +for the word of God and for the testimony which they held,” who, from +under the altar, on the opening of the “fifth seal,” “cried with a loud +voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and +avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” 6:9, 10. The epoch +which they anticipated not having then arrived, “white robes were given +unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest +yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their +brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” +(6:11),—_i.e._, till their number should be filled up. As the destruction +of that hierarchy, in which “was found the blood of prophets and of saints +and of all that were slain upon the earth” (18:24), had just been +symbolized (in the 18th chap.), and as these rejoicings are because God +“hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her +fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand” +(19:2), it follows that the epoch here symbolized is that to which the +saints were to wait, and that they are now to be crowned with their +reward. + +As the destruction of Babylon is a little anterior to that of the beast +and false prophet (19:20), and is to be destroyed by the brightness of +Christ’s coming (2 Thess. 2:8), at a time when the kingdom is to be given +to the saints of the Most High (Dan. 7:22), it explains how it is that the +kingdom is set up in the days of the kings symbolized by the divided toes +of Nebuchadnezzar’s image: symbolic of the same as the horns of the beast +in Dan. 7:7, 24, and Rev. 17:3, 12, 16; for “in the days of these kings +shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, +and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in +pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever,” Dan. +2:44. + +The kingdom is therefore commenced previous to the descent of the Lord to +the earth, by the saints being caught up to meet him in the air. “For the +Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the +archangel and the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; +then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them +in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with +the Lord,” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. + +This epoch, then, is that of the sounding of the seventh trumpet; for “in +the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, +the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants +the prophets,” 10:7. This mystery Paul thus explains: “Now this I say, +brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither +doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: We +shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the +twinkling of an eye, _at the last trump_: for the trumpet shall sound, and +the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed,” 1 Cor. +15:50-54. This “saying” was thus written by Isaiah,—“He will swallow up +death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all +faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the +earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, +this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the +Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his +salvation,” Isa. 25:8, 9. It follows, then, that the voices heard in +heaven, shouting “Alleluia,” and ascribing “salvation, and glory, and +honor, and power, unto the Lord our God” (v. 1), synchronize with those +heard when “the seventh angel sounded: and there were great voices in +heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our +Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.—And the +four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon +their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God +Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to +thee thy great power, and hast reigned: And the nations were angry, and +thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, +and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to +the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest +destroy them which destroy the earth,” Rev. 11:15-18. + +The time of the dead being come that they should be judged, and the saints +rewarded, is another evidence that this epoch is that of the second advent +and kingdom of Christ, “who shall judge the quick and the dead at his +appearing and kingdom,” 2 Tim. 4:1. Consequently it must synchronize with +that of: + + + + +The Marriage of the Lamb. + + + “And a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye + his servants, and ye that fear him, both the small and the great! + And I heard a voice like that of a great crowd, and like the voice + of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, + Praise ye Jehovah! for the Lord God Almighty reigneth. Let us + rejoice and exult, and give glory up him: for the marriage of the + Lamb hath come, and his wife hath prepared herself! And it was + granted to her to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: (for + the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.) And he saith + to me, Write, Happy are those called to the marriage-supper of the + Lamb. And he saith to me, These are the true words of God. And I + fell before his feet to worship him. And he saith to me, See thou + do it not: I am thy fellow-servant and one of thy brethren, who + have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of + Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19:5-10. + + +The marriage of the Lamb is at the epoch when “the kingdoms of this world +are to become our Lord’s and his Christ’s”—when the Lord God Almighty +takes to himself his great power and reigns, 11:15, 17. Therefore, in +connection, are heard the mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia; for the +Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,” 9:16. This scripture, then, corresponds +with that in Matt. 24:30, 31, when “they shall see the Son of Man coming +in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he shall send his +angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his +elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” For, +“when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with +him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall +be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another as a +shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats—the one on his right hand and +the other on his left,” Matt. 25:31, 32. Those on his right, we learn from +1 Cor. 15:51, and 1 Thess. 4:16, 17, are the elect, gathered by the angels +from all parts under heaven, who are caught up to meet the Lord in the +air—and those on the left are consequently the living wicked, who are to +be slain by the sword which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lamb, +19:21. + +_The wife_ who “hath made herself ready,” is shown by the foregoing +scriptures to be, undoubtedly, the church triumphant—the redeemed, who +have been raised out from among the dead, and the living saints, caught up +together to meet the Lord in the air; to welcome him in his coming to +reign. These constitute the bride, the Lamb’s wife; for as “the husband is +the head of the wife,” even so “Christ is the head of the church,” Eph. +5:23. He “loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might +sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he +might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, +or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish,” Eph. +5:25-27. This accords with God’s ancient promises to his people. Thus +Isaiah saith: “Thy Maker is thy husband; the Lord of hosts is his name, +and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel: the Lord of the whole earth shall +he be called,” Isa. 54:5. Also Hosea: “And it shall be at that day, saith +the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi,” my husband; “and shalt call me no +more Baali,” my Lord. “And I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, +and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even +betroth thee unto me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord,” Hos. +2:16, 19. Thus is the church “espoused to one husband,” to be presented +“as a chaste virgin to Christ,” 2 Cor. 11:2. + +The epoch of this presentation being here symbolized, it synchronizes with +that part of the parable of the “ten virgins which took their lamps and +went forth to meet the Bridegroom,” when, the Bridegroom having come, +“they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was +shut”—those left without, afterwards crying in vain for admittance, Matt. +25:10. The wife had been made ready by its having been “granted that she +should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white—[_mar._ ‘bright’]; for +the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,” 19:8. Such were the +“white robes” given to those who cried from under the altar (6:11), and +who afterwards, at an epoch synchronizing with the marriage of the Lamb, +appeared, “a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, +and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” who “stood before the throne, and +before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and +cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon +the throne, and unto the Lamb,” 7:9, 10. These were they of whom one of +the elders asked, saying, “What are these which are arrayed in white +robes? and whence came they?” and who was answered: “These are they which +came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them +white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of +God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the +throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst +any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb +which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them +unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from +their eyes,” 7:13-17. These had complied with the condition to the +promise: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; +and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will +confess his name before the Father and before his holy angels,” 3:5. +“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were +redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb,” +14:4. + +“Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb,” +19:9. Truly are they blessed; for “they shall hunger no more, neither +thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat,” 7:16. +They attain the promised blessing: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part +in the first resurrection,” 20:6. “And God shall wipe away all tears from +their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, +neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed +away,” 21:4. So entranced was the apocalyptic seer at these symbols of the +glorified redeemed, that he fell at his feet to worship the angel who +showed him these things. But his fellow servant shrank back from the +reception of homage, and pointed to God as the only object of adoration. + +The union of the saints to Christ in the clouds of heaven being +symbolized, they receive the gracious welcome: “Come, ye blessed of my +Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the +world,” Matt. 25:34. But first it is necessary to redeem the “purchased +possession” (Eph. 1:14), to reconquer the revolted province, which, since +the fall, has been subject to “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), the +“prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), to rescue it from the +dominion of the usurper, and deliver it from its present mis-rule “up to +God the Father” (1 Cor. 15:24), who will bestow it on One who is worthy to +wear its crown. For when Daniel saw that “the judgment was set and the +books were opened,” he also “saw in the night visions, and, behold, one +like the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient +of days, and they brought him near before him; and there was given him +dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and +languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, +which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be +destroyed,” Dan. 7:10, 13, 14. He comes, then, to dispossess the usurper, +and to take possession of his kingdom. The next representation, then, +symbolizes the coming of: + + + + +The King and his Armies. + + + “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse: and he who + sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he + judgeth and maketh war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on + his head were many diadems; and he had a name written which no one + knew except himself. And he was clothed with a garment dipped in + blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies in + heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white + and clean. And from his mouth goeth forth a sharp sword, that he + may smite the nations with it: and he will rule them with a rod of + iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the furious wrath of God, + the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name + written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Rev. 19:11-16. + + +According to the significance of symbolic language, Christ is here +represented as coming personally. The heavens open and he appears in +resplendent majesty, in accordance with the predictions respecting his +second advent. When the clouds of heaven had received the ascending +Saviour, the shining ones who stood by said to the gazing disciples, “This +same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like +manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,” Acts 1:11. “And they shall see +the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” +Matt. 24:30. “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, +and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail +because of him,” Rev. 1:7. + +The white horse of the King, and those of his armies, are symbols of the +pomp and grandeur of their descent, and show that they will triumph in +victory. + +The names ascribed to the descending Monarch are applicable only to +Christ. He was “the Faithful and True Witness” who commanded John to write +“to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans,” (3:14); for he who +commanded John to “write in a book and send it unto the seven churches” of +Asia (1:11), was the One whom John saw “in the midst of the seven +candlesticks, like unto the Son of man” (1:13), and who announced himself +as “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, +which is, and which was, and which is to come—the Almighty,” 1:8. “The +Word of God,” was the “Word” that was “in the beginning,” that “was with +God,” and that “was God,” the same that was “in the beginning with God,” +and which “was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the +glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” +John 1:1-14. Jesus is “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the +world,” (_Ib._, 29); and “the Lamb” “is Lord of lords and King of kings,” +17:14. It is “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first +begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth,” (1:5); +and he alone is possessed of that incomprehensible “Name” which no man +knoweth, and which he hath promised to write on “him that overcometh,” +3:12. + +That the visible and personal coming of Christ, and not any providential +interposition, is here symbolized, is self-evident. For, while no created +object can adequately symbolize Him, it would derogate from the dignity of +his character and position to be a symbol of some inferior object. In all +mere providential interpositions, foreshown by symbolic imagery, the +predicted events are represented by corresponding acts of symbolic agents. +War between nations is symbolized by beasts, representatives of the +nations, contending with each other. (See Dan. 8th chap.) Pestilence and +famine are symbolized by analogous results, and not by Christ’s appearing. +When, therefore, he is seen coming in person, it must symbolize his +personal advent. + +His eyes “as a flame of fire,” show his identity with the one “like unto +the Son of man” in the “midst of the seven candlesticks” (1:13), the +author of the message to “the church in Thyatira;” which “things saith the +Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like +unto fine brass,” 2:18. + +His “many crowns” are symbols of his sovereignty. Rome undivided and +mistress of the world, when symbolized by the seven-headed and ten-horned +dragon, is represented with the crowns on the heads, which were the seven +successive kinds of government by which its sovereignty was enforced, +12:3, and 17:9, 10. But when its imperial had given place to its +decem-regal form, and it is to be shown under the government of ten +contemporaneous kingdoms, “the crowns,” the symbols of sovereignty, are +represented as encircling the “horns” of the beast, 13:1. So, when “the +King of kings” cometh, to take to himself his great power, and to reign, +and “the kingdoms of this world are become those of our Lord and of his +Christ” (11:15, 17), He, “the head of all principality and power” (Col. +2:10), at whose name “every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:9), is shown the +wearer of “many crowns.” + +“Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns, +Receive yet one, the crown of all the Earth, +Thou who alone art worthy! It was thine +By ancient covenant, ere nature’s birth; +And thou hast made it thine by purchase since, +And overpaid its value with thy blood.” + _Cowper’s Task._ + +His “vesture dipped in blood” is symbolic of his coming to tread “the +wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (19:15), when he +shall “smite the nations,” and “rule them with a rod of iron,” (_Ib._) +Thus Isaiah prophesied: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed +garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in +the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to +save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him +that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of +the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, +and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my +garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in +my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was +none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine +own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will +tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I +will bring down their strength to the earth,” Isa. 63:1-6. + +The “armies” which follow him, symbolize the attending saints and angels +who will accompany his advent. They are all “clothed in fine linen, white +and clean,” which constituted the wedding garments of those who were +called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, and which was worn by those who +had washed their robes, and made them white in his blood, (7:14); “for the +fine linen is the righteousness of saints,” 19:8. The righteous being +caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17), “when +Christ, who is our life shall appear,” they will “appear with him in +glory,” (Col. 3:4); so that “the Lord my God shall come and all the saints +with thee,” Zech. 14:5. “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of +these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to +execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them +of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all +their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,” Jude +14, 15. + +Not only saints, but angels also, will attend his coming. For “when the +Son of man shall come in his glory,” there will be “all the holy angels +with him,” Matt. 25:31. “He cometh in the glory of his Father, with the +holy angels,” Mark 8:38. “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven +with his mighty angels,” 2 Thess. 1:7. + +The “sharp sword,” going out of his mouth, must be a symbol of his word. +He speaks, and it is done, Psa. 33:9. “For the word of God is quick and +powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the +dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is +a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” Heb. 4:12. As “he +shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of +his lips shall he slay the wicked,” (Isa. 11:4); and as “the Lord shall +consume” “that Wicked” one “with the spirit of his mouth” (2 Thess. 2:8), +it follows that the sword proceeding out of his mouth is a symbol of the +words he shall speak for their destruction; for with it he smites the +nations, 19:15. And this he does when he comes to “rule them with a rod of +iron” (_Ib._) and tread them in “the wine-press” of the wrath of God. This +brings us to the object of his coming, which is to “judge and make war,” +19:11. + +And first, “To judge.” This proves, that Christ’s second advent is here +symbolized; for, as before quoted, he is to “judge the quick and the dead +at his appearing and kingdom,” 2 Tim. 4:1. This is at the sounding of the +seventh trumpet, for then is “the time of the dead that they should be +judged,” 11:18. “With righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove +with equity for the meek of the earth,” when he “shall smite the earth +with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay +the wicked,” Isa. 11:4. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be +glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, +and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice +before the Lord: for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the +world with righteousness, and the people with truth,” Psa. 96:11-13. He +cometh “to execute judgment upon all,” Jude 15. + +To “make war.” That this is another object of his coming, is shown by: + + + + +The Final Conflict. + + + “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud + voice, saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, + Come! gather yourselves to the great supper of God; that ye may + eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh + of the mighty, and the flesh of the horses, and of those who sit + on them, and the flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and + great. And I saw the wild beast, and the kings of the earth, and + their armies, gathered to make war with him, who sat on the horse, + and with his army. And the wild beast was taken, and with him the + false prophet, who wrought signs in his sight, with which he had + deceived those who received the mark of the wild beast, and those + who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake + of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were slain with the + sword of him who sat on the horse, which sword goeth forth from + his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” Rev. + 19:17-21. + + +The contest being between the Lord and his armies on the one part, and the +wicked nations on the other, the angel seen standing in the sun and +performing an important act in connection with the Lord’s army, must +represent one of his attending angels; for the acts to be performed are to +be by their instrumentality: “In the end of this world, the Son of man +shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all +things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a +furnace of fire,” Matt. 13:40-42. + +His crying to the fowls of heaven to come and sup on the bodies of the +slain, is indicative of the certainty of victory and of the entire +overthrow of those who war against the Lamb. As birds gather on fields of +slaughter to feast on the slain, so a cry to “all the fowls of heaven” is +expressive of the extent and thoroughness of the destruction to be +inflicted. It is the same cry which is made in Ezekiel, 39:17, when the +armies of Gog are slain on the mountains of Israel. The beast and the +kings of the earth symbolize the various governments in the world. The +“beast” is that which had seven heads and ten horns (13:1, and 17:3), and +was a symbol of Rome in its decem-regal form. It was said of this beast, +it shall “go into perdition,” (17:8); so that under some manifestation, it +must continue till the end of the world: the earth being “reserved unto +fire against the day of judgement, and perdition of ungodly men,” 2 Pet. +3:7. As only in its divided form, the Roman empire continues till then, +the beast is here significant of the divisions represented by its ten +horns—the governments of modern Europe. “These shall war with the Lamb, +and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords and King of +kings; and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful,” +17:14. + +“The false prophet,” which is taken with the beast, is described as the +one “that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that +had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image,” v. +20. This identifies him as the two-horned beast of Rev. 13. (13:11-17). +The two-horned beast being a representative of the Eastern Roman empire, +when that was subverted by the Turks it became the seat of the false +prophet,—the Mahometan hierarchy. + +The kings of the earth must be the remaining governments which are not +represented by those two. By their subsequently warring with the Lamb, it +follows that the previous resurrection and translation of the saints does +not produce a cessation of all government. Those events may not be +apparent to all eyes; or they may serve only to madden the unbelieving, +and to make them more desperate in their infidelity. + +They gather their armies to war against the Lamb. They resist his +authority. They will not have Him to reign over them. They are instigated +to oppose him by “unclean spirits like frogs” (16:13), which are the +spirits of devils [_demons_, understood by the Jews to be spirits of the +wicked dead] working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth +and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of +God Almighty, _Ib._ v. 14. This is when Christ is to “come as a thief;” +and they are to be gathered “into a place called in the Hebrew tongue +Armageddon,” 16:15, 16. This was the name of the valley at the foot of +Mount Megiddo (Judg. 5:19), which was famous as a valley of slaughter. In +it Jehu fought against Ahaziah and Joram, and slew both the kings of +Israel and Judah, 2 Kings 9:27. It was afterwards memorable for the death +of king Josiah, when Pharaoh-necho fought against him, (2 Kings 23:29); so +that the mourning as “in the valley of Megiddon,” became a proverbial +expression in Israel for great mourning, Zech. 12:11,12. It is therefore +significantly applied to the final battle. + +Thus do “the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take +counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed;” but “He that +sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.” +For the decree has gone forth: “I shall give thee the heathen for thine +inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou +shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a +potter’s vessel,” Ps. 2:2-9. In this victory the saints, also, have a +part; for it is written: “He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto +the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them +with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to +shivers: even as I received of my Father,” 2:26, 27. + +As thus predicted, in this final conflict the nations are smitten, 19:15. +Those symbolized by the beast and false prophet are cast alive into the +burning flame; _i.e._, the individuals constituting the bodies of those +beasts are cast therein: their governments cease when taken by the Lamb +and his armies. This is in accordance with what Daniel saw, who “beheld, +even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the +burning flame,” Dan. 7:11. + +“The remnant” also are slain; so that there are none left alive on the +earth of all the wicked. Thus Daniel interpreted to king Nebuchadnezzar +his dream: “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which +smote the image [representing the governments of earth] upon his feet, +that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, +the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, +and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind +carried them away, that no place was found for them,” Dan. 2:34, 35. It +will “break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms” (_Ib._), according +to the prediction: “The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall +perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted,” Isa. 60:12. “And this +shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people which +have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they +stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, +and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth,” Zech. 14:12. “For, +behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, +yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh +shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them +neither root nor branch,” Mal. 4:1. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, +cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he +shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it,” Isa. 13:9. Thus will the +Saviour come “in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, +and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished +with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the +glory of his power, when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be +admired in all them that believe in that day,” (2 Thess. 1:8-10): saying +to the nations on his left, “Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting +fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” Matt. 25:41. Thus will he +“gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do +iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be +wailing and gnashing of teeth,” _Ib._, 13:41, 42. The destruction of all +the wicked from the earth is followed by: + + + + +The Binding of Satan. + + + “And I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the + abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the + old serpent, who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand + years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a + seal over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till + the thousand years were completed; and after that, he must be + loosed a short time.” Rev. 20:1-3. + + +The angel descending from heaven, must be a representative of his own +order; for at this epoch there are no other orders of beings for him to be +a representative of. He therefore symbolizes the angels who are +commissioned to “gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,” Matt. +13:41. + +The “key,” “pit,” and “chain,” symbolize the instruments of restraint and +confinement to which Satan is to be subjected; and his being bound and +confined symbolize his restraint. + +The “Dragon” is expressly called “that old serpent, which is the Devil and +Satan.” With the appendages of heads and horns—symbols of political +sovereignty—he is used in Rev. 12:3, as a symbol of the Roman civil power, +under Pagan rule; and in verse 7, when divested of political insignia, of +the pagan hierarchy. But now, as the beast, another symbol of Roman civil +rule, has been cast into “the lake of fire and brimstone,” and the +“remnant” are “slain with the sword” (19:21), there are no analogous +powers remaining on earth for him to be a representative of, and +consequently he is here represented as a symbol of himself. + +Of his identity there can be no question: He is “that Old Serpent,” who, +being “more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had +made” (Gen. 3:1), “beguiled Eve through his subtlety,” 2 Cor. 11:3. He is +also the Devil, by whom our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness, (Matt. +4:1-12); and the Satan, whose working is “with all power and signs and +lying wonders,” 2 Thess. 2:9. He is our adversary the devil, who, “as a +roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour,” (1 Pet. 5:8); and +against whom we are to guard continually, “lest Satan should get an +advantage of us,” 2 Cor. 2:11. + +Coëval with the fall, the promise was given that his head should in due +time be bruised, and he is not ignorant of his doom; for when the legion +saw the Saviour about to dispossess them of the two men among the tombs, +they recognized him as “the Son of God,” and cried, “Art thou come hither +to torment us before _the time_?” (Matt. 8:29); “and they besought him, +that he would not command them to go out into the _deep_,”—the _pit_, or +_abyss_, Luke 8:31. The epoch when he should be there confined, is also +shown by Isaiah to be when “the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the +inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,” when “the earth also shall +disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain,” Isa. 26:21. For “in that +day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish +leviathan [the dragon], the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked +serpent,” _Ib._ 27:1. This synchronizes with the slaying of the remnant +with the sword, when Satan is bound and cast into the _abyss_, to continue +there a thousand years. + +His being bound and confined must symbolize his dejection to a position +where he can have no possible influence over the nations during the time +he is bound. It can be no _partial_ restraint, as some theologians hold; +for that is contrary to the conditions of the symbolic representation. His +restraint is full, complete, and entire. Consequently his influence, for +the time being, will have entirely ceased. The period of his confinement, +therefore, cannot be one of partial exemption from sin; but the living +will be perfectly free from all its contagious influences. He is to +deceive the nations _no more_, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled. + +“The nations” who are freed from his influences, and also those whom he is +subsequently to deceive, are not, necessarily, organized political bodies, +under civil rulers, as they now exist. The original term, εθνος, is +defined by Robinson to be “a multitude, people, race, belonging and living +together.” At this epoch, the national organizations having disappeared, +and the people constituting them being translated or slain, the only +nations remaining will be “the nations of them which are saved” (21:24), +over whom the influence of Satan will have ceased forever; and those +constituting “the rest of the dead” (20:5), who will not live again till +the end of the thousand years—at the very time when Satan is to be loosed +from his prison to go out to deceive them, 20:7, 8. + + + + +The Cleansing of the Earth. + + +There is, in the Apocalypse, no symbolic representation of the act of the +cleansing of the earth, yet various scriptures show that it is at the +epoch of the second advent, and of the establishment of the kingdom of +God. If so, it follows the destruction of the wicked and the binding of +Satan, while the raised and transfigured saints—constituting “the +bride”—are still with the Lord in the clouds of heaven (19:7-9), where +they were caught up to meet him in the air, 1 Thess. 4:17. + +A restoration of the earth, in connection with the first resurrection, is +in accordance with the testimony of scripture, and was the opinion of the +ancients. We read in Isaiah: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new +earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind,” Isa. +65:17. + +“As for my opinion,” saith R. Menasse, a Jewish Rabbi, “I think that after +six thousand years, the world shall be destroyed, upon one certain day, or +in one hour; that the arches of heaven shall make a stand as immovable; +that there will be no more generation or corruption; and that all things +by the resurrection shall be renovated, and return to a better condition.” +He also assures us that “this, without doubt, is the opinion of the most +learned Aben Ezra,” who looked for it in the new earth of Isa. 65:17. + +“Man shall be restored in that time, namely, in the days of the Messiah, +to that state in which he was before the first man sinned.”—_R. Moses +Nachmanides in Duet. § 45._ + +“Although all things were created perfect, yet when the first man sinned, +they were corrupted, and will not again return to their congruous state +till PHEREZ (_i.e._, the MESSIAH) comes.” “There are six things which +shall be restored to their primitive state, viz.: the splendor of man, his +life, the height of his stature, the fruits of the earth, the fruits of +the trees, and the luminaries, (the sun, moon, and stars.)”—_R. Berakyah_, +in the _name of R. Samuel—Bereshith Rabba, Fol. 11, Col. 3_. + +“In that time (_i.e._, of the Messiah) the whole work of creation shall be +changed for the better, and shall return into its perfect and pure state, +as it was in the time of the first man, before he had sinned.”—_R. Becai, +in Shilcan Orba, Fol. 9, Col. 4, p. 360._ + +“Theopompus, who flourished three hundred and forty years B. C., relates +that the Persian Magi taught that the present state of things would +continue 6000 years; after which _hades_, or death, would be destroyed, +and men would live happy,” &c. “The opinion of the ancient Jews, on this +head, may be gathered from the statement of one of their Rabbins, who +said, ‘The world endures 6000 years, and in the thousand, or millennium +that follows, the enemies of God would be destroyed.’ It was in like +manner a tradition of the house of Elias, a holy man, who lived about B. +C. 200, that the world was to endure 6000 years, and that the righteous, +whom God should raise up, would not be turned again into dust. That, by +this resurrection, he meant a resurrection prior to the millennium, is +manifest from what follows.... It is worthy of remark, that the two +ancient authors, whose words have just been quoted, speak of the seventh +millennium as ‘that day’—the day in which God will renew the world, and in +which he alone shall be exalted.”—_Dis. on Mill. by Bishop Russell, Prof. +Eccl. Hist. in the Scottish Epis. Ch._ + +“The Divine institution of a sabbatical, or seventh year’s solemnity among +the Jews, has a plain typical reference to the seventh chiliad, or +millenary of the world, according to the well known tradition among the +Jewish doctors, adopted by many in every age of the Christian Church, that +this world will attain to its limit at the end of 6000 years.”—_Mede._ + +“The observance of the Sabbath is essential to the faith; for such only as +observe the Sabbath confess that the earth will be renewed: because He who +created it out of nothing will renew it.”—_David Kimchi, on Isa. 55:5, +quoted by Mede._ + +“In as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years it is +perfected; for if the day of the Lord be as it were a 1000 years, and in +six days those things that are made were finished, it is manifest that the +perfecting of those things is in the 6000th year, when anti-Christ, +reigning 1260 years, shall have wasted all things in the world, ... then +shall the Lord come from heaven in the clouds, with the glory of his +Father.” _Irenæus, Bish. of Lyons, A. D. 178._ + +“In six thousand years, the Lord will bring all things to an end, ... when +iniquity shall be no more, all things being renewed by the Lord.”—_Epst. +of Barnabas, sec. 14, 15._ + +“Let philosophers know, who number thousands of years, ages since the +beginning of the world, that the 6000th year is not yet concluded or +ended. But that number being fulfilled, of necessity there must be an end, +and the state of human things must be transformed into that which is +better.”—_Lactantius, B. of Divine Inst., A. D. 310._ + +Thomas Burnet (Theory of Earth, Lon. 1697) states “that it was the +received opinion of the primitive church from the days of the apostles to +the council of Nice, that this earth would continue 6000 years, when the +resurrection of the just, and conflagration of the earth, would usher in +the millennium and reign of Christ on earth.” + +“God’s blessing the Sabbath day, and resting on it from all his works, was +a type of that glorious rest that the saints shall have when the six days +of this world are fully ended.... He will finish the toil and travail of +his saints, with the burden of the beasts and the curse of the ground, and +bring all into rest for a thousand years.... None ever saw this world as +it was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see +it until the manifestation of the children of God; _i.e._, until the +redemption or resurrection of the saints.”—_John Bunyan’s Works, vol. 6, +pp. 301, 329._ + +“I expect with Paul a reparation of _all_ the evils caused by sin, for +which he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing.”—_John +Calvin, in his __“__Institutes.__”_ + +The reformation of the earth “never was, nor yet shall be, till the +righteous King and Judge appear for the restoration of all things.”—_John +Knox._ + + “The groans of nature in this nether world, +Which heaven has heard for ages, have an end. +Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung, +Whose fire was kindled at the prophet’s lamp, +The time of rest, the promised Sabbath, comes: +Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh +Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course +Over a sinful world; and what remains +Of this tempestuous state of human things, +Is merely as the working of a sea +Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest; +For HE, whose car the winds are, and the clouds +The dust that waits upon his sultry march, +When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot, +Shall visit earth in mercy; shall descend, +Propitious, in his chariot paved with love; +And what his storms have blasted and defaced +For man’s _revolt_, shall with a smile _repair_.” + _Cowper’s Task._ + +The above are only a few of many extracts which might be made, showing the +faith of the church in past ages; but which are of no weight, only as they +are in accordance with the harmony of scriptural testimony. + +When man sinned, this earth was cursed for his sake. The Lord said to him, +“Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the +days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, +and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt +thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou +taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Gen. 3:17-19. + +Such was the curse to which the whole creation was subjected because man +sinned. “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but +by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,” Rom. 8:20. And this +hope is for a removal of the curse thus inflicted, and a restoration of +all things to their original condition. + +As the earth was subjected to the curse at the time when man was made +subject to death, the removal of the former would naturally be expected at +the epoch of the fulfillment of the promise to the just: “I will ransom +them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death I +will be thy plagues; O grave I will be thy destruction,” Hos. 13:14. And +thus Paul testifies: “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth +for the manifestation of the sons of God, ... Because the creature itself, +also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious +liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation +groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but +ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we +ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the +redemption of our body,” Rom. 8:19, 21-23. + +The removal of the curse removes also its consequences. Thus it is +promised: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of +the briar shall come up the myrtle tree,” Isa. 55:13. “The inhabitant +shall not say I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven +their iniquity,” Isa. 33:24. “He will swallow up death in victory; and the +Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his +people will he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken +it,” Isa. 25:8. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,” Isa. +65:17. “And there shall be no more curse,” Rev. 22:3. “For the Lord shall +comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her +wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and +gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody,” +Isa. 51:3. + +The removal of the curse is called “the regeneration” (Matt. 19:28), “the +times of refreshing,” and of “restitution;” which Peter places at the +advent of Christ: “whom the heavens must receive until the times of +restitution(10) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all +his holy prophets since the world began,” Acts 3:21. He also places it at +“the perdition of ungodly men,” which must synchronize with the epoch when +the beast “goeth into perdition” (17:11), and “the remnant” are “slain +with the sword,” (19:21); “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from +heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them +that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” +2 Thess. 1:7, 8. Says Peter: “The heavens and the earth, which are now, by +the same word [‘whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with +water, perished’ v.6] are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the +day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.... But the day of the Lord +will come, as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass +away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, +the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... +Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new +earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,” _i.e._, “righteous +persons”—_Horsely_, 2 Pet. 3:7-13. This harmonizes with the day that +“cometh that shall burn as an oven,” when “all the proud, yea, and all +that do wickedly” shall be burned up, and become “ashes under the soles” +of those on whom “shall the Sun of righteousness arise,” (Mal. 4:1-3); +which must be the time intervening between the resurrection of the +righteous and that of the wicked. This also harmonizes with the testimony +of our Saviour, that when, “in the end of this world,” He “shall send +forth his angels and gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and +them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; ... +_then_ shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their +Father,” Matt. 13:40-43. + +The earth being cleansed, and all things made new, it will have been +prepared for the “dwelling” of “righteous persons” (2 Pet. 3:13), +who,—having “put on incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:53), and been “caught up ... +in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17), where, +constituting “the bride,” “the Lamb’s wife,” they were “called unto the +marriage supper of the Lamb” (19:7-9),—will descend from heaven to take +possession. Thus John writes, that one of the angels said to him: “Come +hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me +away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me that +great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” 21:9, +10. + +“Lo, what a glorious sight appears + To our believing eyes: +The earth and seas are passed away, + And the old rolling skies! + +From the third heaven where God resides, + That holy, happy place, +The New Jerusalem comes down + Adorned with shining grace. + +Attending angels shout for joy, + And the bright armies sing, +Mortals, behold the sacred seat + Of your descending King.”—_Watts._ + + + + +The Kingdom given to the Saints at the resurrection of the just. + + + “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given + for them: and I saw the persons of those beheaded for the + testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those, who had + not worshipped the wild beast, nor his image, nor had received the + mark on their forehead, or on their hand; and they lived and + reigned with Christ the thousand years. But the rest of the dead + lived not until the thousand years were completed. This is the + first resurrection. Happy and holy is he, who bath part in the + first resurrection: on such, the second death hath no power, but + they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him + a thousand years!” Rev. 20:4-6. + + +“Thrones” are symbols of power. As the saints are to reign with Christ on +the renewed earth, in obedience to the invitation: “Come ye blessed of my +Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the +world,” (Matt. 25:34); their being inducted into the kingdom is symbolized +by their being seated on thrones. Thus they sing in the “new song,” +addressed to Christ: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy +blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast +made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” +5:9, 10. In the first chapter, also, all who ascribe praises to “Him that +loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” also add: “and +hath made us kings and priests unto God, and his Father,” 1:5, 6. + +All the saints being thus exalted to kingly and priestly dignity, +symbolizes the exalted rank they are to hold in the new creation—the +symbols of their station being taken from the most exalted offices known +on earth. Thus God said to ancient Israel: “Ye shall be unto me a kingdom +of priests, and a holy nation,” (Ex. 19:6); and the Christian church is +addressed as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a +peculiar people,” 1 Pet. 2:9. + +The time when the saints shall reign on the earth is in connection with +the destruction of the “little horn” of Daniel’s “fourth beast,” which, as +he saw, “made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the +Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most +High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom,” Dan. 7:21, +22. “The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the +kingdom forever, even forever and ever,” _Ib._ v. 18. “And the kingdom and +dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be +given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an +everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,” _Ib._ v. +27. “And they shall reign forever and ever,” 22:5. Thus the Saviour said: +“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you +the kingdom,” Luke 12:32. + +Those who receive the kingdom are symbolized by the souls of martyrs, &c., +living again and reigning with Christ. The symbol includes, with the +martyred saints, those who had stood aloof from the worship of the beast +and his image, and those who had not received his mark; who are shown by a +parallel scripture to represent all who are redeemed to God “out of every +kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” 5:9, 10. Some of these were +symbolized, under the fifth seal, as crying from under the altar in +anticipation of this day, 6:9. Now, with “their fellow servants,” they +receive their reward. + +The souls of the departed living again, can only symbolize those who have +been subjected to death, and are again raised. Consequently they are the +subjects of a real resurrection. And this is shown by the explanation of +the symbol, which affirms that, “This is the first resurrection.” + +It is denied by many that a literal resurrection is here taught; but in so +doing they deny the faith of the church in its best and purest ages. In +the first two centuries after Christ, there was not an individual, who +believed in any resurrection of the dead whose name or memory has survived +to the present time, who denied that the resurrection of the just is here +taught. + +Eusebius, who opposed this view, quotes Papias, who he admits was a +disciple of St. John and a companion of Polycarp, as saying that “after +the resurrection of the dead the kingdom of Christ shall be established +corporeally on this earth.” And Jerome, another opposer, quotes from him +that “he had the apostles for his authors; and that he considered what +Andrew, what Peter said, what Philip, what Thomas said, and other +disciples of the Lord.” + +Polycarp was another of John’s disciples; and Irenæus testifies in an +epistle to Florinus, that he had seen Polycarp, “who related his +conversation with John and others who had seen the Lord, and how he +related their sayings, and the things he had heard of them concerning the +Lord, both concerning his miracles and doctrine, as he had received them +from the Lord of life; all of which Polycarp related agreeable to the +scriptures.” Following such a teacher, Irenæus taught that at the +resurrection of the just, the meek should inherit the earth; and that then +would be fulfilled the promise which God made to Abraham. + +Justin Martyr, born A. D. 89, says that, “A certain man _among us_, whose +name is John, being one of the twelve apostles of Christ, in that +Revelation which was shown him, prophesied that those who believe in our +Christ shall fulfil a thousand years at Jerusalem.” He affirms that +himself “and many others are of this mind”—“that Christ shall reign +personally on earth;” and that “all who were accounted orthodox so +believed.” + +Tertullian, about A. D. 180, says it was a custom for Christians to pray +that they might have part in the first resurrection. And Cyprian, about +220, says that Christians “had a thirst for martyrdom that they might +obtain a better resurrection.” + +Mosheim assures us that the opinion “that Christ was to come and reign +1000 years among men,” had, before the time of Origen, about the middle of +the 3d century, “met with no opposition.” And it is the testimony of +ecclesiastical historians, that the first who opposed it, seeing no way of +avoiding the meaning of the words in Rev. 20th, denied the authenticity of +the Apocalypse, and claimed that it was written by one Cerenthus, a +heretic, for the very purpose of sustaining what they called “his fiction +of the reign of Christ on earth.” This doctrine is not _now_ evaded in +this way, but by spiritualizing the language of the Apocalypse, and thus +finding a meaning in it which is not expressed by any of the admitted laws +of language. Theologians who thus reason make the first resurrection the +conversion of the world. But those who are affirmed to be raised, are +persons who have lived and are dead. If the resurrection is a mere +metaphor, then the martyrs must have metaphorically died, and must have +comprised only those who had been previously converted and were fallen +away. The rest of the dead must then be understood as persons morally +dead, which would be inconsistent with the idea of a converted world. +Those who were raised being those who were previously converted, they must +have been literally dead, and the only resurrection predicable of such is +a literal resurrection. + +The Bible teaches such a resurrection of the righteous prior to that of +the wicked. Thus the Psalmist says of them: “Like sheep they are laid in +the grave; death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion +over them in the morning.” But of himself he says: “But God will redeem my +soul from the power of the grave,” Psa. 49:14, 15. Of the wicked Isaiah +testifies: “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they +shall not rise,” _i.e._ with the righteous; but to Zion he says: “Thy dead +men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and +sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and +the earth shall cast out her dead,” Isa. 26:14, 19. To the same import is +the prophecy of Daniel, respecting the time when Michael shall stand up, +and “thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written +in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall +awake, some, [the awakened, shall be] to everlasting life, and some, [the +unawakened, shall be] to shame and everlasting contempt,” Dan. 12:1, 2. +Such, according to Prof. Bush, is the precise rendering of the original. + +The New Testament also teaches a resurrection of the just, in distinction +from that of the wicked. Paul says, while all are to be made alive, that +it will be “every man in his own order,” or band—“Christ the first fruits; +afterwards they that are Christ’s at his coming,” 1 Cor. 15:23. None +others are spoken of as being raised at that epoch. When the Lord descends +from heaven with a shout, at the trump of God, not the entire mass of the +dead, but “the dead in Christ shall rise first,” before the righteous +living are changed, 1 Thess. 4:16. In accordance with this priority in the +resurrection of the righteous, Paul teaches that the worthies who died in +faith “accepted not deliverance, that they might obtain _a better_ +resurrection,” (Heb. 11:13); and himself, he says, counted all things loss +for Christ, “if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the +dead,” (Phil. 3:11); which is “the resurrection from among the dead”—it +being a resurrection to which some will not attain. Thus also the Saviour +taught: while “they that have done good shall come forth _at_ [as it is +literally] the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil at the +resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29), the two are not co-etaneous; for +the righteous shall be “recompensed at the resurrection _of the just_,” +Lu. 14:14. That must be the resurrection of which those are the subjects +who receive the kingdom; for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom +of God,” 1 Cor. 15:50. While “the children of this world marry and are +given in marriage,” “they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that +world, and the resurrection _from_ the dead, neither marry, nor are given +in marriage; neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the +angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the +resurrection,” Lu. 20:34-36. + +The children of the resurrection thus include all who attain unto that +world, which, consequently, the wicked do not obtain, and of which the +righteous dead and the living saints are made equal subjects, according to +Paul’s “mystery:” “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in +a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet +shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be +changed,” _i.e._, to the same incorruptible state to which the dead are +raised, (1 Cor. 15:50-54); so that all the righteous will alike “bear the +image of the heavenly” (v. 49) when they “shall be caught up together” (1 +Thess. 4:16) “to meet the Lord in the air.” + +The resurrection state is that to which the ancients looked for the +restoration of Israel. + +Rabbi Eliezer the great, supposed to have lived just after the second +temple was built, applied Hosea 14:8 to the pious Jews, who seemed likely +to die without seeing the glory of Israel, saying: “As I live, saith +Jehovah, I will raise you up, in the resurrection of the dead; and I will +gather you with all Israel.” + +The Sadducees are reported to have asked Rabbi Gamaliel, the preceptor of +Paul, whence he would prove that God would raise the dead, who quoted +Deut. 9:21: “Which land the Lord sware that he would give to your +_fathers_.” He argued, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had it not, and as God +cannot lie, that they must be raised from the dead to inherit it. + +Rabbi Simai, though of later date, argues the same from Ex. 6:4, insisting +that the law asserts in this place the resurrection from the dead, when it +said: “And also I have established my covenant with them, to give them the +Canaan;” for, he adds, “it is not said to _you_, but to them.” + +Mennasseh Ben Israel says: “It is plain that Abraham and the rest of the +patriarchs did not possess that land; it follows, therefore, that they +must be raised in order to enjoy the promised good, as otherwise the +promises of God would be vain and false.”—_De Resurrec. Mort., L. i., c. +1. § 4._ + +Rabbi Saahias Gaion, commenting on Dan. 12:2, says: “This is the +resuscitation of the dead Israel, whose lot is eternal life, and those who +shall not awake are the forsakers of Jehovah.” + +“In the world to come,” says the Sahar, fol. 81, “the blessed God will +vivify the dead and raise them from their dust, so that they shall be no +more an earthly structure.” + +Thus “Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should +after receive for an inheritance ... sojourned in the land of promise, as +in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the +heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath +foundations, whose builder and maker is God,” Heb. 11:8-10. While he dwelt +in that land, God “gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to +set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to _him_ for a +possession, and to his seed after him,” Acts 7:5. This was also true of +all those “who died in faith, not having received the promises, but having +seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and +confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,”—desiring “a +better country, that is, a heavenly” (Heb. 11:13-16), “not accepting +deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection” (v. 35), “God +having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not +be made perfect,” v. 40. + +When the promises are thus made good to Israel, all who are of the faith +of Abraham will participate in the same promises. For “Christ hath +redeemed us from the curse of the law ... that the blessing of Abraham +might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” “And if ye be Christ’s, +then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” Gal. +3:13, 14, 29. So the Saviour said to the Jews: “Many shall come from the +east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in +the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom [unregenerate Jews] +shall be cast into outer darkness,” Matt. 8:11, 12. And then, as the +Saviour said to the twelve: “Ye which have followed me, in the +regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye +also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” +Matt. 19:28. + +“The rest of the dead,” who live not again till the thousand years are +ended, must be the wicked dead; for, the righteous being raised, no other +dead ones remain. They include all the wicked, who have died in all ages, +and “the remnant” who “are slain with the sword” (19:21), when the kingdom +is cleansed from all things that offend. + +“The thousand years” to intervene between the two resurrections, are +regarded by some as a symbol of 360,000 years. There seems to be no +necessity for such an interpretation. When time is symbolized, it is +always proportioned to the duration of the other symbols used. Thus, in +Dan. 8th, when beasts symbolize kingdoms, it would have been incongruous +to have specified the duration of the vision in literal years; for beasts +do not continue during centuries, as the kingdoms symbolized by them have +done. But days are proportioned to years, as beasts are to kingdoms; so +that there is a fitness in symbolizing the years foreshadowed in that +vision, by 2300 days; between which measure of time and the duration of +the existence of beasts, there is a perfect congruity. + +In the 4th of Daniel, where the cutting down of a tree is used to +symbolize the loss of the king’s reason, there is no such disproportion +between the duration of man’s existence and that of a tree, as there is +between the life of a beast and that of an empire. And therefore there is +no incongruity if the time specified is a symbol of literal time, _i.e._, +if a time is used to symbolize a year. In this case, the seven years could +not have been symbolized by seven days; for there is no marked +disproportion between the duration of the other symbols in connection, and +the things symbolized; and had days been used, days must have been +understood in the fulfilment. + +There might be either 1000 years, or 360,000, between the first and second +resurrections, without conflicting with any other Scripture. But there is +no disproportion between the other symbols and the things symbolized,—the +living again of the martyrs in vision, and their actual resurrection; and +therefore the 1000 years need not, by any parallel usage or law of +language, be understood, to be other than a literal thousand. + + + + +The Wicked Raised, and Satan Loosed + + + “And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be loosed + out of his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the + four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to + battle: the number of whom is like the sand of the sea. And they + ascended on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of + the saints, and the beloved city: and fire descended from God out + of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, + was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the wild + beast and the false prophet are, and will be tormented day and + night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him + who sat on it; from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, + and a place was not for them. And I saw the dead, the small and + the great, standing before God; and the books were opened: and + another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead + were judged from the things written in the books, according to + their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it; and death and the + pit gave up the dead in them: and they were judged every one + according to their works. And death and the pit were cast into the + lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And + whoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into + the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:7-15. + + +Verses 11-15 contain the record of the symbolization John saw, of what was +to transpire at the end of the thousand years; while verses 7-10 appear to +be explanatory of events which would then be fulfilled. This explanation, +previous to the exhibition of the symbolization, is appropriate in the +connection, and makes more forcible the fact that “the rest of the dead +lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” + +As the rest of the dead live not till the end of the thousand years, they +come forth at “the resurrection of damnation,” at the end of a thousand +years of the reign of the saints on the earth, and at the epoch when Satan +was to be loosed from his prison. As all who had part in the first +resurrection were to be exempted from the power of the second death, the +nations who are then deceived by Satan, must be the nations composing the +rest of the dead, who live again at that epoch. + +Their number “as the sand of the sea,” and their coming from “the four +quarters of the earth,” show that they are no obscure people, living +unknown to the saints; and their existence can only be accounted for by +the event of a resurrection of the wicked. + +Their names, “Gog and Magog,”—those applied to the ancient enemies of +Israel, (Ezek. 38:38),—are appropriate titles to designate the subjects of +the second resurrection. + +They encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city—showing that +the city descends at the commencement of the thousand years—but there is +no battle: before they are permitted to harm the saints, fire from heaven +devours them; and the devil that thought to lead them against the holy +city, is cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet +were cast at the commencement of the millennium. + +In connection with the resurrection of the wicked, is their judgment—not +following necessarily in the precise order of the record. The “small and +great” who stand before God, are not small and large persons, but those +from all stations and ranks in society. The king and the beggar equally +receive according to their deserts: They are the bond and the free, the +high and the low, the rich and the poor, including those who fought +against the Lamb, and were overcome by Him, 19:18. + +The open books symbolize the record of their evil deeds, for which they +are to be judged. And the “book of Life” is opened to symbolize that the +names of those who are judged are not there recorded, and that +consequently they are justly condemned. To “him that overcometh,” the +Saviour promised “I will not blot his name out of this book of life,” 3:3. + +The sea, death, and hell giving up their dead, indicates that all of the +“rest of the dead” are here resurrected, and that none are left out from +among whom these are raised, as these were, from whom came forth the +subjects of the first resurrection. + +The casting of death and hell into the lake of fire, symbolizes the +casting in of those who were within their domains; and “the lake of fire,” +symbolizes the place into which—the impenitent are consigned—which is the +“second death.” + + + + +The New Creation. + + + “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and + the first earth were passed away; and the sea was no more. And I + saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven, from + God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.” Rev. 21:1, 2. + + +The new heaven and new earth are symbols of the new order of things. The +old heavens and earth having been dissolved, their elements melting with +fervent heat (2 Pet. 3:12), the “new heavens and the new earth, wherein +dwelleth righteousness,” for which Peter looked, succeed to their place. +So much more resplendent are these than the former, that those “shall not +be remembered, nor come into mind,” _i.e._, to be desired, Isa. 65:17. +This is the eternal state in which we are commanded to be “glad and +rejoice forever,” when God shall “create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her +people a joy.” Then “the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, +nor the voice of crying.” There “the elect shall long enjoy the work of +their hands;” for “as the days of a tree, are the days of my people,” +saith the Lord; who has also declared that, “as the new heavens and the +new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, so shall your seed +and your name remain,” Isa. 66:22. + +The sea is now “no more,” in the same sense that the first heavens and +earth are passed away—all having disappeared in the conflagration, and +given place to the “restitution of all things spoken of by the mouth of +all the holy prophets,” Acts 3:21. Whether the new creation will comprise +both sea and dry land, as was first created (Gen. 1:10), is not here +decided; but there is no reason to suppose that this characteristic of the +original creation will be forever obliterated. + +The new Jerusalem descends, adorned as a bride for her husband. She is +shown in the 19th chapter to be “arrayed in fine linen, clean and white”—a +symbol of “the righteousness of the saints.” As the corrupt Roman +hierarchy was symbolized by an adulterous woman (17:3), and also by the +corrupt city of Babylon (18:2), so symbols of an opposite character—a +chaste bride, and the new Jerusalem—are chosen representatives of the +church triumphant, whose Maker is her husband. + +Mr. Lord very justly remarks: “The descent of the city is to take place at +the commencement of the millennium, manifestly from the representation +that the marriage of the Lamb was come, and that his wife had prepared +herself, immediately after the destruction of great Babylon, (19:7, 8); +from the exhibition of the risen and glorified saints, as seated on +thrones, and reigning with Christ during the thousand years; and from the +representation of the beloved city as on earth at the revolt of Gog and +Magog, after the close of the thousand years.”—“_Ex. Apoc._” p. 529. + +“Jerusalem, my happy home, + O how I long for thee; +When shall my sorrows have an end? + Thy joys when shall I see? + +“When shall these eyes thy heaven-built walls + And pearly gates behold! +Thy bulwarks with salvation strong, + And streets of shining gold? + +“O when, thou city of my God, + Shall I thy courts ascend, +Where congregations ne’er break up, + And Sabbaths have no end?” + + + + +The Tabernacle of God with Men. + + + “And I heard a loud voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the + tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and + they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, even + their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and + there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor + will there be any more pain: for the former things are passed + away. And he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things + new. And he said, Write, for these words are faithful and true. + And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the + beginning and the end. I will give to him, who thirsteth, from the + fountain of the water of life freely. He, who overcometh, will + inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he will be my + son. But the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and + murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all + liars, will have their part in the lake burning with fire and + brimstone, which is the second death.” Rev. 21:3-8. + + +The utterances of the “great voice out of heaven” are not what John saw, +but are what he heard; and are therefore to be interpreted, not by the +laws of symbols, but by those of tropes and literal language. + +The “tabernacle of God with men” is explained in the same connection to be +his “dwelling with them.” + +“When our Saviour was incarnate, and vouchsafed to dwell amongst the +children of men, the same phrase is used by this same author, _Eskeenoose_ +(John 1:14), ‘The Word was made flesh, and tabernacled amongst us: and we +beheld his glory,’ etc. We read it, he dwelt amongst us: but rendered more +closely, it is, he set his tabernacle amongst us. And that which the +Hebrews call the _Shekinah_, or divine presence (Maimon, Mor. Nev. par. 1, +chap. 25), comes from a word of the like signification, and found with the +Greek word here used. Therefore there will be a _Shekinah_ in that kingdom +of Christ.”—_Tho. Burnett._ + +When Israel first entered the wilderness, God entered into a _covenant_ +with them (Ex. 19:3-8), in consequence of which he said to Moses, “Let +them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,” (Ex. 25:8)—the +pattern of which was shown Moses in the mount; and when completed “the +glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34), and there “the Lord +talked with Moses,” Ex. 33:9. Thus did God dwell among them while they +were in a probationary state; but he indicated a more intimate connection +with them, by promising, if they were obedient to his statutes in all +things, that “I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not +abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall +be my people,” Lev. 26:11, 12. This promise was not fulfilled to the Jews, +because of their sins; but Paul quotes it (2 Cor. 6:16), and applies it as +a promise still to be made good to the church of Christ. Thus, the “Word” +that “was God,” who was made flesh and tabernacled among us at his +incarnation, is again to come and dwell with us in his human tabernacle, +as at his first advent. Then will God enter into a new covenant with his +people, as he has said: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I +will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of +Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in +the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of +Egypt, which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, +saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the +house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in +their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, +and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his +neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall +all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the +Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no +more,” Jer. 31:31-34. + +As the saints, before the resurrection of “the rest of the dead,” “reign +with Christ 1000 years,” (20:4); it follows that during that period the +tabernacle of God is with men, when he dwells among them, which is an +additional evidence that “the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21) is at +the commencement of the millennium. + +This is a tearless state—all tears being then wiped from every eye. Isaiah +predicted, when “He will swallow up death in victory,” that “the Lord God +will wipe away tears from off all faces: and the rebuke of his people +shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. +And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for +him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we +will be glad and rejoice in his salvation,” Isa. 25:8, 9. The commencement +of the tearless state is thus placed by Isaiah at the resurrection, and at +the appearance of Christ; which is confirmed by Paul, in his inspired +commentary on the same, who affirms that at the last trump, “when this +corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put +on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, +Death is swallowed up in victory,” 1 Cor. 15:54. This state was also +promised to the entire company “which came out of great tribulation, and +have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. +Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night +in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. +They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun +light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the +throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of +waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,” Rev. 7:14-17. + +There shall then “be no more death”—for that “last enemy shall be +destroyed” (1 Cor. 15:26), and there shall be nothing to “hurt nor +destroy, in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” Death will have been +swallowed up in victory, (Isa. 25:8)—the redeemed having been ransomed +“from the power of the grave,” Hos. 13:14. “Neither can they die any more: +for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the +children of the resurrection,” Luke 20:36. + +After the destruction of death, there shall be “neither sorrow, nor +crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” This was to be when “the +ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and +everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and +sorrow and sighing shall flee away,” Isa. 35:10. And one of these songs +was to be: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out +of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto +our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,” Rev. 5:9,10. + +Then, everything which distinguishes the present world from that, will +have passed away; for all things will be created anew. These words, +uttered by Him who is the “Alpha and Omega,” are no rhetorical flourishes, +nor mere figures of speech, but contain the exact and literal truth, and +are not to be set aside as unmeaning figures. For He who sat upon the +throne has declared: “These words are true and faithful.” Faithful is He +who hath promised, and he will surely make good his words—bestowing on the +righteous the inheritance of all things; and on the wicked, their fearful +doom. + + + + +The New Jerusalem. + + + “And there came to me one of the seven angels, who had the seven + bowls full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, + Come, I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he + carried me away in spirit to a vast and high mountain, and shewed + me the holy city Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, + having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, + like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; having a wall vast and + high, and having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and + names written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve + tribes of the sons of Israel. On the east, three gates; on the + north, three gates; on the south, three gates; and on the west, + three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and + on them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And + he, who talked with me, had a golden measuring-reed to measure the + city, and its gates, and its wall. And the city lieth square, and + the length is as much as the breadth: and he measured the city + with the measuring-reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length, and + the breadth, and the height of it are equal. And he measured its + wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of + a man, that is, of the angel. And the structure of its wall was + jasper: and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. And the + foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind + of precious stone. The first foundation was a jasper; the second, + a sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the + fifth, a sardonyx; the sixth, a sardius; the seventh, a + chrysolite; the eighth, a beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a + chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. + And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was + of one pearl; and the wide street of the city was pure gold, like + transparent glass.” Rev. 21:9-21. + + + “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, + proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of + its wide street, and on each side of the river, was the tree of + life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit monthly, + and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. + And there will be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the + Lamb will be in it; and his servants will serve him: and they will + see his face; and his name will be on their foreheads. And there + will be no night there; and they have no need of the light of a + lamp, nor of the light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them + light: and they will reign forever and ever.” Rev. 22:1-5. + + +Objects of great interest, of which only a passing glance was permitted in +previous visions, are again and again presented, until their relative +glory is sufficiently manifested. Thus the new earth was considered worthy +of being the subject of a special vision; and now the Bride, the Lamb’s +wife, although before referred to, is again made the subject of a special +vision, under the symbol of a city, explained to be the bride. + +The descent of the city, to harmonize with corresponding scriptures, has +been shown to be at the commencement of the millennium, when those who are +called to the marriage supper of the Lamb descend from the clouds of +heaven, to receive “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that +fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you ... ready to be revealed in +the last time,” 1 Pet. 4:5. + +“The glory of the Lord,” which is the light of the city, is explained to +be “the Lamb” (21:23), which “is the light thereof.” “In him was life, and +the life was the light of men.” “That was the true light which lighteth +every man that cometh into the world,” John 1:4, 9. In Him dwelleth all +the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9), so that as the Holy Shekineh +illumined the pathway of ancient Israel, the nations of the redeemed will +walk in the light of His glory. + +The gates of the city correspond with the number of the tribes of Israel; +and the “names of the apostles” are in its foundations. Thus Paul affirms +that the “fellow citizens” of “the household of God” are built upon the +foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the +chief corner-stone, Eph. 2:20. + +The dimensions of the city are in length equal to the breadth—and 1500 +miles in circumference, or 375 miles square. The length is in all parts +equal; and so is the breadth, and the height,—the latter being 216 feet. + +Its splendor is fully equal to all that inspiration has recorded +respecting those on whom the Lord will have “everlasting kindness;” and to +whom he saith: “O thou afflicted, tossed with the tempest, and not +comforted! behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy +foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy +gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy +children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy +children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far +from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall +not come near thee,” Isa. 54:11-14. “Therefore thy gates shall be open +continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto +thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For +the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those +nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto +thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the +place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. The +sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and +all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy +feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy +One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man +went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many +generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck +the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour +and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, +and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: +I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. +Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction +within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates +Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness +shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an +everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; +neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine +everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people +also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the +branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A +little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation; I the +Lord will hasten it in his time,” Isa. 60:11-22. + + O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true, +Scenes of accomplish’d bliss! which who can see, +Though but in distant prospect, and not feel +His soul refresh’d with foretaste of the joy? +Rivers of gladness water all the Earth, +And clothe all climes with beauty. The reproach +Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field +Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean, +Or fertile only in its own disgrace, +Exults to see its thistly curse repeal’d. +The various seasons woven into one, +And that one season an eternal spring, +The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence; +For there is none to covet: all are full. +The lion, and the libbard, and the bear, +Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon +Together, or all gambol in the shade +Of the same grove, and drink one common stream. +Antipathies are none. No foe to man +Lurks in the serpent now: the mother sees, +And smiles to see, her infant’s playful hand +Stretch’d forth to dally with the crested worm, +To stroke his azure neck, or to receive +The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue. +All creatures worship man, and all mankind +One Lord, one Father. Error has no place; +That creeping pestilence is driv’n away: +The breath of Heav’n has chas’d it. In the heart +No passion touches a discordant string, +But all is harmony and love. Disease +Is not: the pure and uncontaminate blood +Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age. +One song employs all nations; and all cry, +“Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!” +The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks +Shout to each other, and the mountain-tops +From distant mountains catch the flying joy; +Till, nation after nation taught the strain, +Earth rolls the rapturous Hosanna round. +Behold the measure of the promise fill’d! +See Salem built, the labor of a God! +Bright as a sun the sacred city shines: +All kingdoms and all princes of the Earth +Flock to that light; the glory of all lands +Flows into her; unbounded is her joy, +And endless her increase. Thy rams are there, +Nebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there: +The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind, +And Saba’s spicy groves, pay tribute there. +Praise is in all her gates; upon her walls, +And in her streets, and in her spacious courts, +Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there +Kneels with the native of the farthest west; +And Æthiopia spreads abroad the hand, +And worships. Her report has travel’d forth +Into all lands. From ev’ry clime they come +To see thy beauty, and to share thy joy, +O Sion! an assembly such as Earth +Saw never, such as Heav’n stoops down to see. + Thus Heav’nward all things tend. For all were once +Perfect, and all must be at length restor’d, +So God has greatly purpos’d: who would else +In his dishonor’d works himself endure +Dishonor, and be wrong’d without redress. +Haste then, and wheel away a shatter’d world, +Ye slow-revolving seasons! we would see +(A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet) +A world that does not dread and hate his laws, +And suffer for its crime; would learn how fair +The creature is, that God pronounces good, +How pleasant in itself what pleases him.—_Cowper._ + + + + +Final Admonitions. + + + “And he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the + Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to + shew his servants the things, which must shortly take place. And + behold, I come quickly: happy is he, who keepeth the words of the + prophecy of this book. And I John saw and heard these things. And + when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet + of the angel who shewed me these things. And he saith to me, See + thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and one of thy brethren + the prophets, and one of those, who keep the words of this book: + worship God. And he saith to me, Seal not up the words of the + prophecy of this book: for the season is near. He, who is unjust, + let him be unjust still: and he, who is filthy, let him be filthy + still: and he, who is righteous, let him perform righteousness + still: and he, who is holy, let him be holy still. Behold, I come + quickly; and my reward is with me, to give each one as his work + shall be. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, + the beginning and the end. Happy are those, who do his + commandments, that they may have the privilege of the tree of + life, and may enter through the gates into the city. For without + are the Sodomites, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the + murderers, and the idolaters, and whoever loveth and practiseth + falsehood. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify to you these + things in the congregations. I am the root and the offspring of + David, the bright morning-star. And the Spirit and the bride say, + Come! And let him, who heareth, say, Come! And let him, who + thirsteth, come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life + freely. + + + “I testify to every one, who heareth the words of the prophecy of + this book, If any one shall add to these things, God will add to + him the plagues written in this book: and if any one shall take + away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take + away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, and + from the things written in this book. He, who testifieth these + things, saith, Surely I come quickly. So be it, come, O Lord + Jesus! + + + “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.” Rev. + 22:6-21. + + +With the representation of the city, the symbols of the Apocalypse are +terminated. What follows are the words of Christ. The import of these is +guarded by his declaration that they are “true and faithful.” There is a +reality and definiteness in them, which will not admit of their being +added to, or taken from. So that any attempt to fritter away their +meaning, will be followed by the curses written in the book, and a loss of +the blessings therein promised. + +The command not to seal this prophecy, is in contrast with the close of +Daniel’s prophecy, which was “closed up and sealed till the time of the +end,” Dan. 12:9. The Apocalypse, as its name imports, being an “unveiling” +of the obscurities of Daniel, the seal from the former was removed—the +time of the end, in that sense, being equivalent to the last days, or the +gospel dispensation. + +The time was “at hand,” when the great series of predicted events was to +commence. As he that was unjust was to be unjust still, and he that was +righteous was thus to remain, it follows that the visions therein +recorded, continue down to the close of probation; and that the new earth +is one of everlasting reward, wherein is to be fulfilled the promise: +“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth,” Matt. 5:3. + +In this connection the Saviour answers the question, which so perplexed +the Pharisees: If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Matt. +22:45. Being the Root from whence David sprang, and in his humanity +David’s offspring, he was both his Lord and son. + +The invitation appended is one of the most endearing that it is possible +to conceive of, and the threats are the most terrific. These are given for +the admonition of all; and yet how many will turn away from the study of +the book, which commences with a blessing on him “that readeth, and they +that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are +written therein,” (1:3); and closes with an invitation for all to come and +“take of the water of life freely.” It is no mystical record, and there is +nothing equivocal in its predictions. Neither is it to be fulfilled in the +distant future; for “He which testifieth these things saith: Surely I come +quickly.” And shall not every one who loves his Lord respond, “Even so; +come, Lord Jesus.” + +“The Church has waited long + Her absent Lord to see; +And still in loneliness she waits, + A friendless stranger she. +Age after age has gone, + Sun after sun has set, +And still, in weeds of widowhood, + She weeps, a mourner yet.” + +“The whole creation groans, + And waits to hear that voice +That shall restore her comeliness, + And make her wastes rejoice. +Come, Lord, and wipe away + The curse, the sin, the stain, +And make this blighted world of ours + Thine own fair world again. +Come, then, Lord Jesus, come!” + +_Rev. H. A. Bonar_, (_Eng._) + + + + +THE OLD EARTH. + + +Old Mother EARTH is wan and pale, + Her face is wrinkled sore; +Her locks are blanched, her heart is cold, + Her garments stiff with gore; +With furrowed brow and dim sad eyes, + With trembling steps and slow, +She marks the course that first she trod + Six thousand years ago! + +The Earth is old, the Earth is cold, + She shivers and complains; +How many Winters fierce and chill + Have racked her limbs with pains! +Drear tempests, lightning, flood and flame + Have scarred her visage so, +That scarce we deem she shone so fair, + Six thousand years ago! + +Yet comely was the youthful Earth, + And lightly tripped along +To music from a starry choir, + Whose sweet celestial song +Through Nature’s temple echoed wild, + And soft as streamlets flow, +Where sister spheres replied with her, + Six thousand years ago! + +And many happy children there + Upon her breast reclined, +The young Earth smiled with aspect fair, + The heavens were bright and kind; +The azure cope above her head + In love seemed bending low, +O happy was the youthful Earth, + Six thousand years ago! + +Alas! those children of the Earth + With hate began to burn, +And Murder stained her beauteous robe, + And bade the young Earth mourn. +And ages, heavy ages, still + Have bowed with gathering woe +The form of her whose life was joy, + Six thousand years ago! + +Old Earth! drear Earth! thy tender heart + Bewails thy chosen ones; +Thou look’st upon the myriad graves + That hide their gathered bones; +For them, by day and night, thy tears + Unceasingly must flow; +Death chilled the fountain-head of life + Six thousand years ago! + +Old Earth! old Earth! above thy head + The heavens are dark and chill, +The sun looks coldly on thee now, + The stars shine pale and still; +No more the heavenly symphonies + Through listening ether flow, +Which swelled upon creation’s ear, + Six thousand years ago! + +Weep not in bitter grief, O Earth! + Weep not in hopelessness! +From out the heavens “a still small voice” + Whispers returning peace. +Thy tears are precious in the sight + Of ONE who marks their flow, +Who purposes of mercy formed, + Six thousand years ago! + +Thy days of grief are numbered all, + Their sum will soon be told: +The joy of youth, the smile of God, + Shall bless thee as of old; +Shall shed a purer, holier light + Upon thy peaceful brow, +Than beamed upon thy morning hour + Six thousand years ago! + +Thy chosen ones shall live again, + A countless, tearless throng, +To wake creation’s voice anew, + And swell the choral song. +Go, Earth! go wipe thy falling tears, + Forget thy heavy woe: +Hope died not with thy first-born sons, + Six thousand years ago! + +KNICKERBOCKER. + + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + 1 The first Advent was, according to the best-settled chronological + data, about four thousand one hundred and twenty years from + creation. + + 2 See margin of Whiting’s Testament. Lord has it, “when he can be + ready to sound.” + + 3 The constitutional language was, “By the authority of the senate, + and consent of the soldiers.”—_Gibbon_, vol. I., p. 44. + + 4 This is given on the authority of the London Quarterly Journal of + Prophecy, for 1852, p. 330, which states that the edict will be + found in the “Theodosian Code, XVII. to XX.” + + 5 “Ubi cogniti fuerint illius hæresis sectatores, ne receptaculum iis + quisquam in terra sua præbere præsumat: sed nec in venditione aut + emptione aliqua cum iis omnino commercium habeatur.”—_Hard._, vi. + ii. 1597. + + 6 The following philological law or canon of criticism is universally + admitted, and all dictionaries, grammars, and translations, are + formed in accordance with it: + + “Every word not specially explained or defined in a particular + sense, by any standard writer of any particular age and country, is + to be taken and applied in the current or commonly received + signification of that country and age in which the writer lived and + wrote.”—_Campbell._ + + 7 This possession by demons is similar to the mode by which pretended + spirits claim that they communicate through mediums. One of them, + purporting to be the spirit of a departed son of Adin Ballou, in + answer to the question, by his father, “Can you describe how you are + able to write through a medium?” says, “I feel as though I enter + into her for the time being, or as if my spirit entered into her. I + am disencumbered of my spiritual form, and take hers. More than one + spirit can enter the medium at once. The mediums all go into the + trance by means of several spirits entering the body at one + time.”—_Spiritual Telegraph, May 8, 1852._ + + 8 The word is _demon_ or _demons_ in all the instances referred to. + + 9 Necromancy is derived from the Greek words _nekros_, dead, and + _mantis_, a diviner. The Greek, _Necromantia_, is defined: “The + revealing future events by communication with the dead; necromancy.” + And Nekromantis: “One who reveals future events by communication + with the dead; a necromancer.” + + 10 This is in the Syriac, “Until the fulness of the time of all + things.” Irenæus says, “Till the time of the exhibition or disposal + of all things;” and Œcumenius, “Till the time of all things does + come to an end;” and we have the suffrage of Thesychius and + Phavorinus, that “ἀποκατάστασις is τελειωσις, ‘the consummation’ of + a thing.”—_Whitby._ + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE*** + + + +CREDITS + + +September 16, 2008 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Heiko Evermann, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. 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