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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
 Section .^.Xj!^^..rti.... 
 Number .\/^.,..l_C? 
 
 
 
 
(/L- J U/Q^^>tje^^. 
 
THE LUTHERAN COMMENTARY 
 
 A PLAIN EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 J^olp J^cripture^^ of tf)e i^cUj Zt^tammt 
 
 BY 
 
 SCHOLARS OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 HENRY EYSTER JACOBS 
 Vol. XII. 
 
 ^be Cbristian ^Literature Co. 
 
 MDCCCXCVIII. 
 
TV,c^ LuT^cr^n c./5mm cV^TAry i \Z 
 
 ANNOTATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE 
 
 BY 
 
 REVERE F. WEIDNER, D. D., LL. D. 
 
 Professor of Systematic Theology in the Chicago Littheran Theological Seminary 
 
 IWevv 13orft 
 
 ^be Cbristian literature Co. 
 
 MDCCCXCVIII 
 
Copyright, 1898, 
 
 By the christian literature company 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It was with the utmost diffidence that the writer con- 
 sented to prepare a brief commentary on the Book of 
 Revelation. This was principally due to three reasons: 
 (i) The diverse views held by interpreters as to its mean- 
 ing ; (2) The fact, strange as it may seem, that the 
 writer, though familiar with the different theories con- 
 cerning the book and its contents, had never committed 
 himself to any one theory, but in all his brief discussions 
 of the book, whether in the class-room, or in public 
 lecture, or in print, had aimed merely at a clear and cor- 
 rect presentation, in an objective way, of the various 
 systems of interpretation, or else simply had developed 
 the teaching of the book in its bearing upon biblical 
 theology ; (3) Because the writer has always had very 
 little sympathy with those interpreters who maintain 
 that prophecy is merely history written beforehand, and 
 that all which it reveals of the future must be as literal 
 as history itself. 
 
 Notwithstanding these objections, the writer felt 
 drawn to the study of this book, not because he had 
 some new interpretation to offer, but mainly because he 
 himself wished to obtain a clearer understanding of the 
 revelation which God has vouchsafed to make of the 
 future of His Kingdom. As a student of prophecy, 
 especially of the Old Testament, and as a firm believer 
 
 i 
 
ii PREFACE. 
 
 in predictive prophecy, he could not help realizing that 
 so close was the relation between the Old and New 
 Testaments, that he who accepts the teaching of the Old 
 Testament concerning the Messiah, as fulfilled in Christ's 
 First Advent, must also accept its teaching concerning 
 the kingdom of the Messiah. Particularly so, if the 
 New Testament distinctly teaches another and Second 
 Coming of Christ, in language which exactly harmonizes 
 in all its details with prophecies in the Old Testament, 
 which are universally recognized as not having been 
 fulfilled in His First Advent, and which must, therefore, 
 necessarily refer to His Second Advent. 
 
 The aim of the writer has been to follow the clear 
 teaching of Scripture, and he has sought everywhere to 
 interpret the prophecies here recorded, concerning the 
 Second Coming of Christ and the events of the Last 
 Day, in the same way and spirit in which the New Tes- 
 tament writers interpret the prophecies in the Old 
 Testament concerning the Messiah and His First 
 Advent. After repeated study of all the Old Testament 
 quotations found in the New Testament, the writer can 
 come to no other conclusion than this, that the Book 
 of Revelation bears the same relation to the Christian 
 Church to-day as the prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, and 
 Zechariah did to the Jewish Church after the Exile, 
 and that if we interpret the Apocal3/pse in the same 
 spirit as Christ and the writers of the New Testament 
 interpreted these prophecies of the Old Testament, we 
 cannot fall greatly into error. Incorrect as many of 
 the expositions given in these notes possibly may be, 
 still the writer believes that in this direction alone the 
 truth is to be found. 
 
 The aim has been to prepare a book for those who 
 wish to make a special study of prophecy, both in the 
 
PREFACE. iii 
 
 Old and New Testaments. It is remarkable how the 
 thought and language of the book is interwoven through- 
 out with the language of the prophets of the Old Testa- 
 ment, and the reader will be amply repaid for all the 
 care that he gives in looking up each Scripture reference. 
 In fact, this book furnishes a key to the Old Testament 
 itself, and shows how, in many cases. Old Testament 
 prophecy only finds its true fulfilment in the last days. 
 
 The book is written altogether in the inductive way. 
 The author did not begin with any preconceived views 
 as to what the outcome would be. Nor has the attempt 
 been made to harmonize what at times may appear con- 
 flicting views. These seeming contradictions may after 
 all but be two different aspects of the same event. An 
 attempt has also been made to present in a summary a 
 clear statement of the different interpretations given to 
 the most important visions. The writer has sought to 
 be impartial in his statements, seeking only to follow 
 Scripture teaching, and has nowhere attempted to discuss 
 the topics from a dogmatical standpoint, but simply from 
 a purely exegetical one, but must confess that the more 
 he studies the Apocalypse, and sees the vast divergence 
 of views in the interpretation of the book, the less is he 
 inclined to be over-positive and dogmatic about the true 
 meaning of these wonderful visions. The Apocalypse is 
 a very deep book, and those who are so confident that 
 they alone have fathomed its meaning may some day 
 discover that they have been but like children playing by 
 the shores of the deep sea. " O the depth of the riches 
 both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God ! how un- 
 searchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing 
 out!" 
 
 R. F. W. 
 
 Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, 
 Epiphany^ January 6, 1898. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I. The Authorship and Gemiiiieness of the Book of the 
 Revelation. It is the almost unanimous opinion of the 
 Early Church that the Apocalypse or the Book of the 
 Revelation was written by the Apostle John, the beloved 
 disciple of Christ. No other book of the New Testament is 
 better authenticated. Papias, a hearer of St. John, born 
 probably 60-70 A. D., bishop of Hierapolis, a city not far 
 from Laodicea (Rev. 3 : 14), made use of the Apocalypse in 
 a work published about 130-140 A. D. (Euseb. //. E. III. 
 39), and Justin Martyr, writing about 146 A. D., in his 
 Dialogue with TrypJio, a discussion held at Ephesus, the 
 chief of the Seven Churches in Asia (Rev. 2 : i), definitely 
 mentions the Apocalypse of John, saying distinctly that 
 it was the Apostle's (Euseb. H. E, IV. 18). This testi- 
 mony is all the more valuable because this is the only 
 book of the N. T. to which Justin refers by name, and 
 St. John the only writer. It is utterly impossible for 
 Justin Martyr to have been mistaken as to the authorship 
 of the Apocalypse. Irenaeus, writing about 180 A. D., 
 refers to the Apocalypse over thirty times, and quotes it 
 as the work of the Apostle John. He was almost a con- 
 temporary of St. John, and well acquainted with Polycarp, 
 the favorite disciple of John, and although in later life 
 bishop of Lyons in France, he was born and trained in 
 Asia Minor, and thus his testimony is very valuable. 
 
 V 
 
vi INTR OD UC TION. 
 
 Melito, bishop of Sardis (about 170 A. D.), Appollonius 
 of Ephesus (about 1 70-1 80 A. D.), Theophilus, bishop of 
 Antioch (about 1 71-183 A. D.), Clemens Alexandrinus 
 {died 220 A. D.), Origen {d. 254), Hippolytus of Rome 
 (about 225 A. D.), — in fact, all the Ante-Nicene Fathers of 
 the Eastern Church bear testimony that the Apocalypse 
 was written by the Apostle John. Eusebius in his Church 
 History has preserved for us the tradition of the Eastern 
 Church from the earliest period respecting the Apocalypse, 
 and the external evidence is most clear and convincing 
 that John the Apostle wrote this book. The conjecture 
 of Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria (247 A. D.), is all that 
 he can adduce against the Apostolic authorship of the 
 Apocalypse (Euseb. H. E. VII. 25).! 
 
 The Early Latin Fathers also give most decided and 
 unanimous testimony to the Apostolic authorship of the 
 Apocalypse, and there is no book of the Bible which has 
 more decisive external testimony in its favor than this 
 one.2 
 
 The objections against the genuineness of the Apoc- 
 alypse have all arisen from what is known as internal evi- 
 dence, turning on divergencies between the Gospel and 
 the Apocalypse (i) in doctrinal views, (2) in spirit and 
 tone, and (3) in style and language. Four different views 
 have been held with reference to the question as to the 
 relation of the Apostle John to the principal works which 
 bear his name : 
 
 1 Dionysius, in the spirit of modern Higlier and Literary Criticism, 
 utterly ignored the external and ecclesiastical testimony for the Apostolic 
 authorship, and subjected the book to severe criticism, and as he assumed 
 the genuineness of the Gospel and the First Epistle of John, he questioned 
 the genuineness and authorship of the Apocalypse on account of its diver- 
 gence from both these writings in spirit and in style. 
 
 2 For the presentation of the evidence in detail, see Westcott, 0>i the 
 Canon of the N. T. Index II. Fifth ed., 1881. Luecke, Alford, and Lee 
 discuss the evidence most fully in their Commentaries. 
 
INTRODUCTION. vix 
 
 (i) Neither the Gospel nor the Apocalypse is by John.^ 
 
 (2) The Apocalypse is by John, but the Gospel was not 
 written by the Apostle John.^ 
 
 (3) The Apostle John wrote the Gospel, but not the 
 Apocalypse.^ 
 
 (4) The Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse were written 
 by the Apostle John. This is the view adopted by all 
 conservative critics and maintained by Hengstenberg, 
 Ebrard, Hofmann, Kliefoth, Godet, Luthardt, Alford, 
 Ellicott, Salmon, Lee, Farrar, Meyer, Westcott, Words- 
 worth, Sadler, Milligan, Simcox, and others. 
 
 The objections drawn from internal evidences against 
 the Apostolic authorship of the Apocalypse have been 
 mainly as follows : 
 
 (i) The author does not style himself an Apostle, and 
 nowhere does he designate himself as a personal disciple 
 of Jesus. So in substance Luecke, Keim, Harnack, etc. 
 But, in answer, it is sufficient to say that the author de- 
 scribes himself as " the servant " of Jesus Christ (i : i) 
 " who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testi- 
 mony of Jesus Christ " (i : 2), expressions which remind 
 us of John I : 14 ; 19 : 35 ; i John 1:2; and the writer 
 also names himself John (i : i, 4, 9; 22 : 8) in such a way 
 that it can refer to no other than to John the Apostle. 
 Salmon, in favor of the view that the Apocalypse was 
 written by a personal hearer of our Lord, maintains that 
 " echoes of the Gospel records of the words of Jesus are 
 to be found more frequently in this than in an)' other 
 
 ^ So Keim, Volkmar, Scholten, Holtzmann, Pfleiderer, Harnack, and 
 the advanced school of negative critics. 
 
 2 So Baur, Schwegler, Zeller, Hilgenfeld, Davidson, Edwin A. Abbott, 
 and the Tuebingen School in general. 
 
 3 Schleiermacher, Luecke, Credner, De Wette, Bleek, Ewald, Neander, 
 Mangold, and Duesterdieck assign the Apocalypse to the doubtful and 
 mysterious " John the Presbyter." 
 
viii INTR OD UC TION. 
 
 N. T. book, except perhaps in the Epistle of James" 
 {Introd. p. 201), and Zeller of the Tuebingen School held 
 that " among all the parts of the N. T., the only one 
 which can, with any right, claim to have been composed 
 by an Apostle, who was an immediate disciple of Christ, 
 is the Apocalypse." 
 
 (2) The author speaks (21 : 14) in such an objective 
 way of the twelve Apostles that it is scarcely credible that 
 he himself belonged to them. So Harnack, Keim, Ewald, 
 Credner, etc. But the Apostles are spoken of in such an 
 objective way by Paul in i Cor. 12 : 28 ; Eph. 3 : 5, and 
 Lee rightly calls attention to the fact that Rev. 21 : 14 
 only reflects the teaching of such passages as Matt. 16: 18; 
 19 : 28 ; and Eph. 2 : 20. 
 
 (3) The language of the book, we are told, is wholly 
 different from that of the Fourth Gospel and the Epistles 
 of John, — that it is characterized by Hebraizing idioms, 
 irregular constructions, and grammatical inaccuracies. 
 This objection has been developed very fully by Ewald, 
 Luecke, Credner, and De Wette, and answered at length 
 by Lee, Salmon, and Davidson, — the last affirming the 
 Johannean authorship of the Apocalypse, but denying 
 that of the Gospel. Davidson maintains that there are 
 few ri'(7/ solecisms in the Apocalypse, almost all that are 
 adduced being also found in Greek writers, or in those of 
 the N. T., and he accounts for the strongly Hebraized dic- 
 tion of the book on the ground that the writer expressed 
 Jewish conceptions in Greek, and that John conformed 
 his language to the diction and symbolic features of the 
 prophets Ezekiel and Daniel. Davidson concludes his long 
 examination of the arguments of those who deny the Apos- 
 tolic authorship of Revelation by maintaining that these 
 objectors " proceeded on principles which, if fairly applied 
 and carried out, would divest John of the authorship of 
 
introduction: ix 
 
 the Epistles generally acknowledged as his, and would 
 equally denude the Apostle Paul of some Epistles which 
 he confessedly wrote." ^ In answer to the question, How 
 is it that the Greek of the Gospel is so much better than 
 that of the Apocalypse, if both books were written by the 
 same author? Salmon answers: " I am not sure that the 
 Greek of the Gospel does display so very much wider a 
 knowledge of grammatical forms ; " and he quotes with 
 approval Westcott : ^ " To speak of St. John's Gospel 
 as ' written in very pure Greek ' is altogether misleading. 
 It is free from solecisms, because it avoids all idiomatic 
 expressions," and Salmon adds : " It is on account of this 
 more restricted range of grammatical forms that the Gos- 
 pel of St. John has been so often used as the first book 
 of a beginner learning a foreign language." Archdeacon 
 Lee maintains that the peculiar style of the Apocalypse 
 " results naturally from the excited condition of prophetic 
 ecstasy," and that " the language of the Apocalypse is 
 more akin to the Hebrew than to the Greek, it being oc- 
 cupied with visions and imagery corresponding to the 
 Hebrew diction of the O. T., especially to its prophetic 
 and sacred forms of speech." ^ 
 
 (4) Stress has also been laid on the fact that the entire 
 style, subject-matter, and doctrinal aspect of the Book of 
 the Revelation are so unlike the Gospel and the Epistles, 
 that the same author could not have written the Apoc- 
 alypse. But Gebhardt * has most convincingly shown that 
 no argument against the unity of authorship can be drawn 
 from differenees in doctrinal views. Salmon contends 
 
 1 Davidson, Introduction to the N'. T, vol. 3, pp. 561-5S4. 
 - Introduction to the Gospel of John, p. 50, in Bible Coni7nentary. 
 ^ Commentary on I\evelatiojt, pp. 454, 455. 
 
 * The Doctrine of the Apocalypse, and its Relation to the Doctrine of the 
 Gospel and Epistles of John. Edinburgh, 1878. 
 
viii IN TROD UC TION. 
 
 N. T. book, except perhaps in the Epistle of James " 
 {Introd. p, 201), and Zeller of the Tuebingen School held 
 that " among all the parts of the N. T., the only one 
 which can, with any right, claim to have been composed 
 by an Apostle, who was an immediate disciple of Christ, 
 is the Apocalypse." 
 
 (2) The author speaks (21 : 14) in such an objective 
 way of the twelve Apostles that it is scarcely credible that 
 he himself belonged to them. So Harnack, Keim, Ewald, 
 Credner, etc. But the Apostles are spoken of in such an 
 objective way by Paul in i Cor. 12 : 28 ; Eph. 3 : 5, and 
 Lee rightly calls attention to the fact that Rev. 21 : 14 
 only reflects the teaching of such passages as Matt. 16: 18; 
 19 : 28 ; and Eph. 2 : 20. 
 
 (3) The language of the book, we are told, is wholly 
 different from that of the Fourth Gospel and the Epistles 
 of John, — that it is characterized by Hebraizing idioms, 
 irregular constructions, and grammatical inaccuracies. 
 This objection has been developed very fully by Ewald, 
 Luecke, Credner, and De Wette, and answered at length 
 by Lee, Salmon, and Davidson, — the last affirming the 
 Johannean authorship of the Apocalypse, but denying 
 that of the Gospel. Davidson maintains that there are 
 few n'(7/ solecisms in the Apocalypse, almost all that are 
 adduced being also found in Greek writers, or in those of 
 the N. T., and he accounts for the strongly Hebraized dic- 
 tion of the book on the ground that the writer expressed 
 Jewish conceptions in Greek, and that John conformed 
 his language to the diction and symbolic features of the 
 prophets Ezekiel and Daniel. Davidson concludes his long 
 examination of the arguments of those who deny the Apos- 
 tolic authorship of Revelation by maintaining that these 
 objectors " proceeded on principles which, if fairly applied 
 and carried out, would divest John of the authorship of 
 
nVTRODUCTION. Ix 
 
 the Epistles generally acknowledged as his, and would 
 equally denude the Apostle Paul of some Epistles which 
 Jie confessedly wrote." ^ In answer to the question, How 
 is it that the Greek of the Gospel is so much better than 
 that of the Apocalypse, if both books were written by the 
 same author ? Salmon answers : " I am not sure that the 
 Greek of the Gospel does display so very much wuder a 
 knowledge of grammatical forms ; " and he quotes with 
 approval Westcott : ^ "To speak of St. John's Gospel 
 as ' written in very pure Greek ' is altogether misleading. 
 It is free from solecisms, because it avoids all idiomatic 
 expressions," and Salmon adds : " It is on account of this 
 more restricted range of grammatical forms that the Gos- 
 pel of St. John has been so often used as the first book 
 of a beginner learning a foreign language." Archdeacon 
 Lee maintains that the peculiar style of the Apocalypse 
 " results naturally from the excited condition of prophetic 
 ecstasy," and that " the language of the Apocalypse is 
 more akin to the Hebrew than to the Greek, it being oc- 
 cupied with visions and imagery corresponding to the 
 Hebrew diction of the O. T., especially to its prophetic 
 and sacred forms of speech." ^ 
 
 (4) Stress has also been laid on the fact that the entire 
 style, subject-matter, and doctrinal aspect of the Book of 
 the Revelation are so unlike the Gospel and the Epistles, 
 that the same author could not have written the Apoc- 
 alypse. But Gebhardt * has most convincingly shown that 
 no argument against the unity of authorship can be drawn 
 from differenees in doctrinal views. Salmon contends 
 
 1 Davidson, Tntrodiictioii to the N'. T., vol. 3, pp. 561-5S4. 
 ^ Introduction to the Gospel of John, p. 50, in Bible Commentary. 
 3 Commejitary on Revelation, pp. 454, 455. 
 
 * The Doctrine of the Apocalypse, and its Relation to the Doctrine of the 
 Gospel and Epistles of John. Edinburgh, 1S78. 
 
X INTROD UC TION. 
 
 that John's Gospel presents no more exalted conception 
 of the Saviour's dignity than that which is offered in the 
 Book of the Revelation, and Lee maintains that *' each 
 book is the complement of the other; and both, by their 
 union, make up one perfect whole." Milligan,^ after he 
 has answered the most important objections urged against 
 the unity of authorship of the Gospel and the Apocalypse, 
 takes up also the positive side, and develops very fully 
 the proof that the two books so closely resemble each 
 other in language, structure, and teaching, that we must 
 conclude that they have been written by the same author, 
 the Apostle John. 
 
 2. TJie Unity of the Apocalypse. Among those who 
 deny that the Apocalypse was written by John the Apostle 
 we find some like Voelter, Weizaecker, Pfleiderer, Har- 
 nack, Vischer, and others, who in the spirit and method of 
 negative Higher Criticism maintain that the Apocalypse 
 is composed of various documents. But there is no foun- 
 dation whatever for their theories, which have been fully 
 answered by Warfield^ and Milligan.^ 
 
 3. The Canonicity of the Apocalypse. The canonicity 
 of no book of the N. T. is better attested by the Early 
 Church than that of the Apocalypse. Because the Apos- 
 tolic origin of the book was so universally accepted, it 
 could not be excluded from the books of the N. T. Canon. 
 No one in ancient times ever questioned the inspiration 
 or authority of the Book of the Revelation, except those 
 
 ' In his Discussions on the Apocalypse, pp. 180-266. London, 1893. 
 
 2 See Presbyterian Review, April, 1S84. 
 
 3 See Discussions on the Apocalypse, pp. 27-74, 1893. Simcox in his Com- 
 mentary on Revelation (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges), pp. 
 155-174, gives a somewhat too appreciative notice of the Vischer-Harnack 
 theory " of the supposed Jewish origin of the Revelation of St. John." 
 The same Excursus, with a few additions, is also republished in Simcox's 
 Commentary on the Greek Text of the Revelation. 
 
introduction: xi 
 
 who were prejudiced against its contents. The full evi- 
 dence is given by Westcott. It is well known that Luther 
 and some of the Reformers questioned the apostolicity, 
 and therefore also the canonicity, of the Apocalypse, but 
 this was owing to the fact that they did not understand 
 the nature and scope of the book. But if the Apocalypse 
 was written by the Apostle John, its canonicity or right 
 to belong to the New Testament is established. 
 
 4. TJie Time of Writing. There is some difficulty in 
 determining the date of the Apocalypse. The majority 
 of modern critical historians and commentators, diverse as 
 may be their views on other points, agree in this, that the 
 Apocalypse, no matter by whom written, was composed 
 between the death of Nero (June 9, 68 A. D.) and the 
 destruction of Jerusalem (August 10, 70 A. D.).^ But 
 the internal evidence, upon which the main stress is laid 
 in proof of an early date, is not sufificiently convincing to 
 overcome the clear and weighty testimony of the Early 
 Church that John wrote the Apocalypse, in his old age, 
 at the end of Domitian's reign (95 or 96 A. D.), at about 
 the same time that he wrote the Gospel and the Epistles.^ 
 
 In favor of the early date the following arguments, 
 drawn from internal evidence, are urged : 
 
 (i) There is no reference in the Apocalypse to the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem. If Jerusalem had been destroyed 
 before the book was written, the author could not have 
 failed to notice that event. We answer, such a reference 
 we might expect if the work had been written within five 
 
 1 So Neander, Gieseler, Luecke, Ewald, De Wette, Reuss, Duesterdieck, 
 Renan, Weiss, Auberlen, Stier, Gebhardt, Davidson, Cowles, Bishop 
 Lightfoot, Stanley, Schaff, Westcott, Farrar, Simcox, and others. 
 
 2 So the great majority of the older commentators, and among moderns, 
 Elliott, Alford, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Lange, Hofmann, Godet, Lee, Van 
 Oosterzee, Sadler, Wordsworth, Milligan, Warfield, David Brown, and 
 others. 
 
Xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 or ten years, but not after the lapse of twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 (2) There are many particular passages in the Apoc- 
 alypse which plainly inform us that the book was written 
 while Nero was Emperor of Rome. But to interpret Rev. 
 6 : 9-1 1 as referring to the persecution of the Christians 
 by Nero, — to assert that ii : i, 2, proves that the temple 
 must have been still standing, and that Jerusalem was in 
 Estate of siege at the time of the writing of this book, — to 
 maintain that the Beast of 13 : i, 18 ; 17 : 3, 8-I1, wasthe 
 Emperor Nero, — such a method of interpretation raises 
 historical, exegetical, and dogmatical difificulties which it 
 is utterly impossible to overcome. 
 
 (3) The copiousness of the imagery and the energy and 
 passionate ardor of the style bespeak an early and not a 
 late date. But Milligan rightly calls our attention to the 
 fact that the richly poetical blessing of Jacob (Gen. 49) 
 and the Song and Blessing of Moses (Deut. 32 and 33), as 
 well as Psalms 71 and 72, the closing prayers of David, 
 were all written in extreme old age. We must not forget 
 that the imagery is based upon the language of the proph- 
 ets, and every figure of speech can be traced to the O. T. 
 
 (4) The literary differences between the Apocalypse 
 and the Gospel of John are so great that we must allow 
 at least a period of twenty-five years to intervene between 
 the writing of the two works. But this difference has 
 been greatly exaggerated. Whatever peculiarities there 
 may be, these do not supply any argument in favor of 
 the early date of the book. Milligan, who discusses this 
 point very ably, says : " The grammatical and stylistic 
 eccentricities of the Apocalypse are not the result of ig- 
 norance. So far from this, the book displays more than 
 ordinary freedom in the use of the Greek tongue. It is 
 written in a far more difificult style than that of the calm 
 
introduction: xiii 
 
 and simple narratives of the Gospel. It is figurative, 
 poetic, impassioned. In various passages, such as the 
 description of the Fall of Babylon in chap. xviii.,andof 
 the New Jerusalem in chap, xxi., it rises to a strain of 
 eloquence unsurpassed by anything that has come down 
 to us from Greek antiquity. No tyro acquiring a knowl- 
 edge of the language could have penned sueh a passage. 
 . . . The grammatical constructions of the Apocalypse 
 arise not from ignorance, but from design, and from the 
 fact that, in an apocalyptic book, the writer naturally 
 employs a style of language which he has come to regard 
 as not merely an appropriate, but as the only appropriate 
 vehicle of visions such as his. . . . Nor is it strange 
 that it should be so. Every one will admit that the 
 Apocalypse is steeped in the essence of that style of 
 thought by which the Old Testament prophets are 
 marked. Shall not its language also be largely colored 
 in a similar way ? The imagery of the Old Testament 
 certainly lived in the mind of the Seer with no less vivid- 
 ness than in the minds of its original authors. . . . The 
 prophets and their words are in his heart. He breathes 
 their atmosphere, sees with their eyes, hears with their 
 ears, and is in every respect one with them. In these 
 circumstances it is only most natural that their modes of 
 expression should also influence him.-^ " It is not neces- 
 sary, as Salmon does,^ to explain the linguistic differences 
 between the Apocalypse and the Gospel by the supposi- 
 tion that John wrote the former book with his own hand, 
 and employed an amanuensis when he wrote the Gospel. 
 (5) The nature and object of the Revelation are best 
 suited by the earlier date, and thus its historical under- 
 standing is greatly facilitated. But this argument rests 
 
 ^ Discussions on the Apocalypse, pp. 1S6, 192, 196. 
 2 Introduction, p. 220. 
 
xi V INTR OD UC TION. 
 
 upon the subjective and, in many cases, on the rational- 
 istic view, that " all interpretations not strictly historical 
 must be excluded " (Harnack), and that the writer refers 
 principally to events in his own age, and that he shared 
 in the popnlar delusion that Nero was the Antichrist. 
 
 (6) The historical notices of the condition of the Seven 
 Churches in Asia reveal a state of affairs pointing to the 
 earlier, and inconsistent with the later, date. But such 
 an argument has little weight. The persecutions men- 
 tioned in the letters to the Seven Churches need not 
 necessarily refer to the days of Nero, but are far more 
 suitable to the time of Domitian, a quarter of a century 
 later, — and there has also been such a development of 
 errors, not only in practice but in doctrine (Rev. 2 : 14, 15, 
 24), that the days of Domitian alone would allow of suf- 
 ficient time for such degeneracy. 
 
 We cannot therefore accept any of these arguments 
 drawn from internal evidence as establishing an early date 
 for the Apocalypse. 
 
 In favor of the later date we have both the unanimous 
 external evidence of the first three centuries and strong 
 internal evidence. 
 
 Before the fourth century there is no variation in the 
 external evidence, — all statements supporting the conclu- 
 sion that the Apostle John was banished to Patmos by 
 the Emperor Domitian (81-96 A. D.), some writers plac- 
 ing the exile in the fourteenth year of his reign, in 95 
 A. D., — and all agree that the visions of which the Reve- 
 lation is the record were received in the isle of Patmos, — 
 and Archdeacon Lee adds, " If external evidence is of any 
 value at all, it is of value here ; no amount of ' subjective ' 
 conjecture, or arbitary interpretation, can set aside the 
 verdict of history." Among the principal witnesses are 
 Irenaeus, who could not have been born later than 130 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 A. D., having been the disciple of Polycarp, a contemporary 
 of the Apostle John himself, whose words have been pre- 
 served by Eusebius {H. E. V. 8) — " for not a long time 
 ago was it (the Revelation) seen, but almost in our genera- 
 tion, at the end of the reign of Domitian ; " — Clemens of 
 Alexandria {died 220 A. D.) ; Tertullian {d. 220 A. D.) ; 
 Victorinus, a martyr (303 A. D.) under Diocletian, writing 
 as far as is known the earliest commentary on the Apoc- 
 alypse, who, commenting on Rev. 10 : 11, says that " when 
 John said these things he was in the island of Patmos, 
 condemned to the labor of the mines by Caesar Domitian, 
 and there he saw the Apocalypse ; " — Eusebius, bishop 
 of Caesarea in Palestine (260-340 A. D.) ; and we may 
 close with Jerome {died 420 A. D.), who says of John that 
 " having been banished in the fourteenth year of Domitian 
 to the island of Patmos, he wrote the Apocalypse." ^ All 
 later statements are, at most, but " instances of eccentric 
 speculation " (Lee), as in the case of Epiphanias, bishop 
 of Salamis in the island of Cyprus {died 403 A. D.), who 
 places the banishment of John to Patmos in the reign of 
 the Emperor Claudius (41-54 A. D.), but becomes so 
 greatly entangled in the chronology of John's life, that 
 he places his age at ninety, in the year 54 A. D. ; on the 
 other hand, a superscription of a Syriac version of the 
 Revelation, of the sixth century, makes the assertion that 
 the Revelation was " given by God to the Evangelist John 
 on the island of Patmos, to which he had been sent by the 
 Emperor Nero," while Theophylact, the famous excgete 
 {died 1 107 A. D.), also places his exile in the time of Nero, 
 making the strange statement that John wrote his Gospel 
 in the island of Patmos, tJiirty-tzvo years after the Ascen- 
 sion of Christ. But all these later speculations have no 
 value whatever. The evidence of Christian antiquity is 
 I The full evidence is given by L,ee, Milligan, and others, 
 
Xvi IN TROD UC TION. 
 
 unanimous that the Apostle was exiled in the reign of 
 Domitian, and that the Apocalypse was written about 
 95 A. D. 
 
 In agreement with this external evidence we have also 
 strong; internal evidence for the later date. 
 
 (i) The Apocalypse shows that it was written in the 
 time of great persecution (Rev. i : 9). It is a well estab- 
 lished fact that the persecution under Nero was mainly 
 confined to the city of Rome, while that under Domitian 
 was much more widespread. It was in the last year of 
 his reign that Domitian became a persecutor, and it was 
 in the same year, according to ancient tradition, that John 
 saw these visions. The statement, too, that John was 
 banished to Patmos, is in accordance with the known 
 practice of Domitian, but not that of Nero, — for we have 
 no record whatever in any ancient writer that Nero re- 
 sorted to exile as a means of punishment. All this is in 
 favor of the tradition of the Early Church that the Visions 
 were seen by John, and that the Apocalypse was written 
 by him, at the end of the reign of Domitian. 
 
 (2) The fact that John sent this book to the Seven 
 Churches in Asia Minor (Rev. i : 4) is also a strong proof 
 in favor of the later date. We have no evidence whatever 
 that John had any dealings with the Churches of Asia 
 Minor before the destruction of Jerusalem. All the evi- 
 dence and the whole career of St. Paul are directly opposed 
 to such a view. The first three chapters of the book give 
 most positive evidence that John had long been acquainted 
 with the Seven Churches, and yet it is positively certain 
 that up to 68 A. D., John was not presiding over them. 
 There can be only one solution of the whole problem. 
 The Apocalypse was not written before the reign of 
 Domitian. 
 
 (3) The internal condition of the Seven Churches, their 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 degeneracy in Christian faith and practice, gives evidence 
 that the time was much later than that depicted in the 
 Pastoral Epistles and in i and 2 Peter. The errors which 
 are so sharply condemned in the letters to Ephesus, Per- 
 gamum, Thyatira, Laodicea, and Sardis are such that 
 could not have arisen within a few years, between 62 
 A. D., the date of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, and 
 68 A. D., the Neronic date which so many insist of giving 
 to the Apocalypse. All this is an evidence of the late 
 date of the book. 
 
 (4) The early date is intimately connected with the 
 idea that the main subject of the book is the reign of 
 Nero and the destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, it is this 
 erroneous interpretation which has caused so many mod- 
 ern scholars to fix on an early date. But surely the 
 Apocalypse treats of greater topics and issues than those 
 belonging to the reign of Nero. 
 
 There is therefore no reason whatever why Ave should 
 give up the unanimous testimony of the Early Church 
 that the Apocalypse was written by the Apostle John, at 
 the close of the reign of Domitian, about 95 or 96 A. D. 
 
 5. The Place of Writing. Ancient traditicMi informs us 
 that John saw the Visions recorded in this book while he 
 was in the isle of Patmos, condemned to the mines by 
 Domitian Caesar, and that he wrote this book while at 
 Patmos. This matter is of little importance, but the style 
 of the book suggests that it was written in the same 
 ecstatic condition in which the vision was seen. This is 
 also implied in Rev. 10:4; 14 : 3. The hints given in 
 the book itself also point to Patmos as the place of com- 
 position. Compare i : 9, 11, 19; 10 : 4; 14 : 13 ; 19 : 9; 
 21:5. 
 
 6. The Persons Addressed. The Lord Jesus Himself 
 directs John to write in a book what he sees and to " send 
 
xviii Introduction. 
 
 it to the seven churches, unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, 
 and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, 
 and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicae " (Rev. i : ii), 
 and John's salutation is "to the seven churches which are 
 in Asia " (Rev. i : 4). These seven cities are named in 
 the order in which a messenger would naturally visit them, 
 going north from Ephesus as the principal city, or as they 
 would naturally be enumerated by a person writing from 
 Patmos. There were other churches near Ephesus, prob- 
 ably many — we know at least of those at Colossae and 
 Hierapolis (Col. 4 : 13), at Melitus and Troas. No doubt 
 these churches had been the objects of the Apostle's 
 special oversight. But this book is addressed not only to 
 the seven churches in Asia, but also to all those who read 
 and hear the words of the prophecy (i : 3). 
 
 7. TJic Importance of t lie Study of the Apocalypse. The 
 great majority of Christians take very little interest in the 
 Revelation of St. John because it seems so obscure and 
 mysterious and very difficult to understand. It is prob- 
 ably the least read book in the Bible. But if God has 
 given this Revelation to His Son Jesus Christ that He 
 might show it unto His servants (i : i), and if a special 
 blessing is promised to those who read and hear the words 
 of this prophecy (i : 3), why should we neglect this most 
 sublime, instructive, and consoling portion of the Script- 
 ures ? What the books of Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah 
 were to the Jewish Church, the Apocalypse is to the 
 Christian Church. It is true indeed that many of the 
 Jews did not understand the O. T. prophecies of the com- 
 ing of the Messiah in the flesh, but that was owing to 
 their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah should be 
 when He did come, and so there will also be many pro- 
 fessing Christians who will not pay heed to the teaching 
 of the Apocalypse with reference to His Second Coming 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 in glory. That there are so many diverse interpretations 
 of this book is no reason why we should not seek for its 
 true interpretation. But the student should ever bear in 
 mind the warning of a recent writer on this theme : " In 
 studying the Revelation of St. John, humility, calmness, 
 openness to conviction, singleness of desire to ascertain 
 the truth, and charity are even more than usually re- 
 quired" (Milligan). 
 
 8. TJie Text of the Apocalypse. As is well known, there 
 are many small differences between the Authorised and 
 Revised Versions of the Book of the Revelation. This 
 is owing to the fact that the Greek text of the Apocalypse 
 from which the Authorised Version was made in 1611 was 
 so imperfect, being based upon few and imperfectly col- 
 lated Manuscripts. 
 
 Erasmus, whose text after all lies at the basis of our 
 Authorised Version, treated this book worse than any 
 other part of the N. T. Owing to the critical labors of 
 Tischendorf, Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, and Weiss, 
 we now have a fairly well determined critical text, and 
 this has been faithfully translated in the English Revised 
 Version, and in the margin the most important readings 
 are also indicated. 
 
 9. The General Aim of tlie Apocalypse. No matter how 
 diverse may be the views with reference to the jr/r^r/^'/aim 
 of the book, whether it is a prediction of the overthrow 
 of Paganism, or of the downfall of Papal Rome, or of the 
 destruction of some future Antichrist, expositors of every 
 school of interpretation will admit that the great theme 
 of the Book of Revelation is the personal Coming of t lie 
 Lord at His Second Advent. This thought is presented 
 as a prophetic consolation to His Church, and is especially 
 prominent in the introductory chapters of the book, in- 
 cluding the letters written to the Seven Churches, and in 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the last chapter (22 : 6-21). Sadler maintains that the 
 devout Christian, though he may not understand the real 
 meaning of the visions, may yet gather from the book 
 itself four great truths: (i) The Nearness of the Coming 
 of Christ ; (2) The Personal Providence of God ; (3) The 
 Ministry of Angels ; (4) Christians must be disciplined by 
 suffering and distress. But this raises the important 
 question whether we are to regard the Apocalypse as &•?>- 
 sentiaUy prcdic/ive or purely descriptive. There are two 
 classes of writers who deny that we have predietion in the 
 Apocalypse. 
 
 (i) Those who deny prediction altogether, and maintain 
 that the events referred to were so near the writer that 
 he required no higher inspiration than keen insight into 
 the signs of the times. Harnack is a representative of 
 this class, who in his article on Revelation in the Encyclo- 
 pCBdia Britanniea alarms " that the Apocalypse is the 
 most intelligible book of the N. T.," for " all interpreta- 
 tion not strictly historical must be excluded." 
 
 (2) A second class who d&ny prediction in the Apocalypse 
 are those who deny that the subject-matter of the book 
 refers to events. These maintain that the book embraces 
 the whole period of the Christian dispensation, but refers 
 to principles and ideas instead of events, — that it sets 
 before us gredit principles of God's method of governing 
 both the world and the Church, but has no reference to 
 special events. One of the ablest representatives of this 
 class is Dr. Milligan, who holds what we may call the 
 Spiritual System of interpretation. In the Introduction 
 to his Commentary (1883) he says : " All the symbols are 
 treated as symbolical of principles rather than of events. 
 . . . The book thus becomes to us not a history of 
 either early or mediaeval, or last events written of before 
 they happened, but a solemn warning to Christians that 
 
INTRO DUCTIOiV. xxi 
 
 in every age they have to consider the signs of their own 
 time." So Hkewise in his Lectures on the Apocalypse^ 
 (pp. 185, 187): " The Apocalypse was written not simply 
 to describe the conflict, the preservation, and the triumph 
 of Christ's true people, but to warn against the coming 
 degeneracy of His professing Church. ... It contains 
 no continuous history of the Church from the beginning 
 to the end of her historical course. It is not a mere rev- 
 elation of events that are immediately to precede the 
 Second Coming of our Lord. It is no mere prophecy of 
 the early doom of those enemies of Christian truth whom 
 the Seer beheld around himself. The book is not predic- 
 tive. It contains no prediction that is not found in the 
 prophecies of Christ. It gives us no knowledge of the 
 future that is not given first by our Lord, and then by 
 others of His inspired Apostles. It is simply the highly 
 idealized expression of the position and fortunes of His 
 ' little flock.' " But such an interpretation of the design 
 of the book fails to present a sufficient motive for its com- 
 position, and David Brown ^keenly asks : " Were these first 
 principles, these elementary truths of all revealed religion, 
 so obscurely expressed and so insufificiently enforced in 
 other parts of Scripture, that it needed a book of such 
 complicated structure and such extreme difficulty of inter- 
 pretation to make them clearer and more impressive ? " 
 He also refers to the novelty of this interpretation and 
 traces it to atwo-fold source : (i) the rationalistic ciiticism 
 of this century which tries to explain away both miracles 
 and prophecy, and (2) to the despair on the part of 
 believing expositors of finding in history any events to 
 correspond with the predictions. 
 
 No matter how great the difficulties of interpreting this 
 
 ' Third edition. London, 1S92. 
 
 ' In his Structure of the Apocalypse, pp. 2S, 29. New Yorli, 1891. 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 book may be, this one thing seems certain, that it has to 
 do with events pertaining to the Second Coming of Christ, 
 which still lies in the future. 
 
 lo. The Structure of the Apocalypse. Commentators 
 agree that the book has three main divisions : 
 
 1. The Introduction Proper (i : i — 3 : 22). 
 
 2. The Revelation Proper, consisting of a series of 
 visions (4 : i — 22 : 5). 
 
 3. The Epilogue (22 : 6-21). 
 
 The first question to be decided is one that has a most 
 important bearing upon the interpretation of the Apoc- 
 alypse. Do these visions recorded in Rev. 4 : i — 22 : 5 
 represent one consecutive series of events, or are they to 
 be divided into groups, each of which extends to the end 
 of time? Do not some of these visions start as it were 
 anew, going over the same ground in a different manner 
 and bringing to light a new aspect of the end ? Though 
 these groups of visions are closely connected together, 
 so as to form one united whole, one vision often antici- 
 pating what is to be shown in another, nevertheless a 
 close study of Old Testament prophecy shows that these 
 visions do not represent a continuous history of the 
 Church or of the end. The book partakes of the same 
 character as the prophecies of Daniel and Zechariah. 
 Wordsworth illustrates this very clearly : *' The predic- 
 tions and visions in the Book of Daniel are like a succes- 
 sion of charts in a Geographical Atlas. The first vision 
 (the Vision of the Image, Dan. ii.) anticipates the end. It 
 represents a prophetic view of all the Four great Empires 
 of the World, following one another in succession, and 
 ending in the consummation of all things, and in the glori- 
 ous sovereignty of Christ. It is like the map of the two 
 hemispheres which stands first in our books of Geography. 
 By a process of repetition and amplification, the same four 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiii 
 
 Empires are afterwards displayed under another form 
 (the Vision of t lie Four Beasts, Dan, vii.), and are delineated 
 with great minuteness of detail ; and this representation 
 is also closed with a prophetic view of the establishment 
 of Christ's kingdom and the overthrow of all His enemies. 
 These comprehensive prophecies are followed by other 
 visions, displaying in great fulness portions (the Vision 
 of the Rain aizd the Goat, Dan. viii. ; see also Dan. xi. 1-4) 
 of the same periods as those which had been comprised in 
 those comprehensive prophecies ; just as the map of the 
 two hemispheres in an Atlas is followed by separate maps, 
 on a larger scale, exhibiting the several countries contained 
 in the habitable globe. The prophecies of Zechariah are 
 framed on the same principle." 
 
 It seems, then, that it is best to accept the recapitula- 
 tion theory, that we have several descriptions of the end 
 of the world, and after one vision is finished we apparently 
 begin again, and then the end comes a second time, and 
 then we begin again, and then the end comes a third time, 
 and so on. Each group of visions thus contains a prophecy 
 reaching to the end of the world. How often, in our 
 judgment, we are thus brought to the final consummation, 
 or what seems equivalent to it, the exposition of the text 
 alone can decide, but we cannot greatly err when we reach 
 the conclusion that the prophet at least five times gives 
 us a description of the end : 
 
 (i) Rev. 6 : 12-17 (in its aspect of terror to the wicked) ; 
 
 (2) Rev. II : 15-18 (a description of the final consum- 
 mation) ; 
 
 (3) Rev. 14 : 14-16 (the harvest, the ingathering of the 
 Saints); 14: 17-20 (the vintage, the ingathering of the 
 wicked) ; 
 
 (4) Rev. 16 : 17-21 (in its aspect of punishment upon 
 the wicked) ; 
 
Xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (5) Rev. 20 : 11-15 (the final judc^ment of the wick- 
 ed). 
 
 If this can be clearly established, then such an interpre- 
 tation would favor the view that the five groups of visions 
 — (i) 5: 1—8 : I ; (2) 8:2—11 : 19; (3) 12: 1—14:20; (4) 
 15 : I — 16 : 21 ; (5) 17 : I — 30 : 15) — contained in the main 
 body of the book (4 : i — 22 : 5), in a general way, refer 
 to events parallel to one another, each one culminating 
 in a vivid description of the final end. 
 
 II. TIic Different ScJiools of Interpretation. It is well 
 known that there are four main systems of interpreta- 
 tion of the Book of Revelation, which from their 
 characteristic tendencies of thought may be called the 
 Spiritual, the Preterist, the Continuous Historical, and 
 the Futurist Systems. 
 
 I. TIlc Spiritual System. Probably the best exponent 
 of this view is Dr. Milligan, who has written so exten- 
 sively and so ably on every topic connected with the 
 study of the Apocalypse. He maintains that the book 
 embraces the whole period from the first to the Second 
 Coming of the Lord, but that this whole period was the 
 Last Time, the Lord's Day, which was to close God's 
 dealings with man in a present world, and to bring to 
 full light the principles upon which the Church was 
 guided to her eternal rest. We have no right in interpret- 
 ing the Apocalypse to interject into it the thought either 
 of a long or a short development of events. While the 
 Apocalypse thus embraces the whole period of the Chris- 
 tian dispensation, it sets before us within this period the 
 action of great principles and not special incidents. It 
 represents in a highly poetic and symbolic form the 
 general principles that mark the Church's history in the 
 world. The book is written, however, not simply to de- 
 scribe the conflict, the preservation, and the triumph of 
 
INTRO D UC TION. XXV 
 
 Christ's true people, but also to warn against the coming 
 degeneracy of His professing Church.^ 
 
 To the same school belongs also Bishop Boyd Carpen- 
 ter, who in his Commentary says : " We are disposed to 
 view the Apocalypse as the pictorial unfolding of great 
 principles in constant conflict, though under various 
 forms. The Preterist may, then, be right in finding 
 early fulfilments, and the Futurist in expecting undevel- 
 oped ones, and the Historical interpreter is unquestion- 
 ably right in looking for them along the whole line of 
 history ; for the words of God mean more than one man, 
 or one school of thought, can compass. There are depths 
 of truth unexplored which sleep beneath the simplest 
 sentences. Just as we are wont to say that history re- 
 peats itself, so the predictions of the Bible are not ex- 
 hausted in one or even in many fulfilments. Each 
 prophecy is a single key which unlocks many doors, and 
 the grand and stately drama of the Apocalypse has been 
 played perchance out in one age to be repeated in the 
 next. Its majestic and mysterious teachings indicate the 
 features of a struggle which, be the stage the human 
 soul, with its fluctuations of doubt and fear, of hope and 
 love — or the progress of kingdoms — or the destinies of 
 the world — is the same struggle in all." ^ 
 
 This is indeed an excellent way of making a practical 
 application of the great truths taught in the Apocalypse, 
 but surely this is not the only design and aim of the 
 book. Such a system of interpretation if applied to Old 
 Testament prophecy would lead to nothing but uncertain 
 generalities, and give us no insight into the progress of 
 God's kingdom upon earth. For any one who compares 
 
 1 See Lectures on the Apocalypse, pp. 146-192 
 
 2 Isaac Williams and Dean Vaughan also take a spiritual view of th^ 
 whole book. 
 
xxvi INTRO D UC TION. 
 
 the Book of Revelation with the Book of Daniel must 
 see that the same method of interpretation must be ap- 
 plied to both — that the Apocalypse is expressly intended 
 as a sequel and completion of the disclosures in Daniel, 
 and that the great theme of the Apocalypse is the Second 
 Coming of the Son of Man to enter upon His everlasting 
 kingdom. 
 
 This spiritual system of interpretation seems to be 
 utterly contrary to the design and aim of predictive 
 prophecy. 
 
 2. The Pretcrist System. According to the Preterists 
 the visions of the Apocalypse relate chiefly to the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, and the history of Pagan Rome 
 during the reigns of the Emperors Nero, Galba, Vitellius, 
 Vespasian, Titus, and perhaps Domitian. The proph- 
 ecies of the book, at least in their primary intention, 
 have been fulfilled. This system claims for itself an ex- 
 clusive possession of the improved methods of modern 
 research, and holds that the great discovery of modern 
 times in connection with the Apocalypse is the identi- 
 fication of the Emperor Nero with the beast of chaps, 
 xiii. and xviii., and maintains that the Babylon of the 
 later chapters is Rome. Renan says : " If the Gospel is 
 the book of Jesus, the Apocalypse is the book of Nero," 
 and Farrar, Gebhardt, and others regard the Nero-hypo- 
 thesis as the key of the book. Among the most eminent 
 expounders of this view we may mention Grotius, Bos- 
 suet, Calmet, Eichhorn, Wetstein, Hug, Herder, Ewald, 
 Luecke, De Wette, Duesterdieck, Bleek, Renan, Reuss, 
 Samuel Davidson, Moses Stuart, Maurice, Cowles, Des- 
 prez, Farrar, Hausrath, Gebhardt, and Weiss. 
 
 Of all the suggested interpretations of this book this 
 one appears to be the one most unlikely to be true, and 
 Sadler very positively remarks ; " I cannot conceive how 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxvii 
 
 any persons of ordinary common-sense should have ac- 
 cepted it as it is usually stated except for some strong 
 reason in the background.'" 
 
 3. The Continuous Historical System. The expositors 
 adopting this method of interpretation regard the Apoca- 
 lypse as a progressive history of the fortunes of the 
 Church from the first century to the end of time. 
 According to them the visions are partly fulfilled, partly 
 in course of fulfilment, and a portion still remains unful- 
 filled. This school includes the great majority of con- 
 servative commentators, but they differ widely among 
 themselves in the chronology and application of details. 
 " No system of interpretation has exercised so powerful 
 an influence over those who have concerned themselves 
 with the study of this book. From the thirteenth 
 century until recently it may be said to have had undis- 
 puted possession of the minds of men. It pervaded 
 largely the writings even of many who did not accept it 
 as a whole (such as Alford, Auberlen, Isaac Williams). 
 To this day no belief is more commonly entertained than 
 that in the visions of St. John we may read of the estab- 
 lishment of Christianity under Constantine, of Moham- 
 med, of the Papacy, of the Reformation in the sixteenth 
 century, of the French Revolution, — of not a few, in short, 
 of the greatest movements by which, since the beginning 
 of the Christian era, the Church and the world have been 
 stirred " (MlLLIGAX).i By far the most elaborate exposi- 
 tion of this view is given by Elliott in his Horce Apoca- 
 lypticcB, in four large volumes. Among the most distin- 
 guished expositors who adopt this view we may mention 
 Luther, Gerhard, Bengel, Mede, Vitringa, Isaac Newton, 
 Bishop Newton, Faber, Elliott, Gaussen, Barnes, Words- 
 
 1 Lectures oti the Apocalypse, p. I z"]. 
 
xxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 worth, Birks, Alford, Lord, Lee, Glasgow, Auberlen, 
 Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Hofmann, and Philippi. 
 
 But the objections to this system are fatal to it. 
 
 (i) The selection of historical events as the fulfilment 
 of the different prophecies is in a high degree arbitrary. 
 
 (2) There is an infinite variety of interpretation and 
 hopeless disagreements among those belonging to the 
 same school. " In almost nothing are they at one ; and 
 there is hardly a single vision of the book in regard to 
 which the greatest diversity of interpretation does not 
 prevail among them" (MiLLlGAN, p. 134). 
 
 (3) Many commentators of this school resort to the 
 most outrageous expositions to maintain the continuity of 
 the prophecy. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, we may conclude that this 
 system of interpretation is no more defensible than the 
 other two, though, in the words of Milligan, we may add : 
 " The system has, indeed, been supported by men whom 
 in every other respect it is alike a duty and a delight to 
 honor ; but, however numerous or illustrious its defenders, 
 it may be said without exaggeration that its tendency is 
 to diminish the value and to discredit the general accept- 
 ance of the Revelation of St. John. The taste, however, 
 for such interpretation is rapidly passing away, probably 
 never to return." 
 
 4. TJie Futurist System. The Futurist expositors 
 maintain that the whole book, with the exception of the 
 first three chapters, refers principally to events which are 
 immediately to precede, to accompany, and to follow the 
 Second Advent of Christ. Those who adopt this system 
 of interpretation find the key to the whole book in 
 Rev. I : 19, " Write therefore the things which thou 
 sawest " (the contents of the first chapter), " and the 
 things which are " (the contents of the second and third 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxix 
 
 chapters, referring to the whole Church period on earth), 
 "and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; " i. e. 
 after these tilings (the contents of the main part of the 
 book, chapters iv. — xxi., referring this prophecy to the 
 events that take place after the Rapture of the Saints, 
 after the Church period has come to an end). 
 
 In order that the reader may understand what in 
 general is the view held by the Futurists, we insert here 
 the following diagram taken from W. E. Blackstone's 
 Jesus is Coining. A careful study of the references, ex- 
 planations, and notes added to this chart (also taken from 
 the same work, but carefully revised) will enable the 
 student to grasp more clearly and intelligently the 
 Futurist conception of the teaching of the Apocalypse. 
 
 Israel 
 
 EXPLANATION. 
 
 * — The birth of Christ, the King of the Jews, 
 t — Tlie death and resurrection of Christ. 
 A. — Ascension of Christ. Acts i : 9. 
 1). — Descent of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Church.— Mystical body of Christ. Eph. i : 22, 23 ; 3:3-6; Rom. 12 : 4, 
 5 ; Col. I : 24-27 ; I Cor. 12 : 12-27 ; and the Bride of Christ, Eph. 5 : 
 21-23. 
 
 De. — Descent of the Lord (i Thess 4 : 16) to receive His bride. John 
 
 14 : 3- 
 R. — Resurrection of the just. Luke 14 : 14 ; Acts 24 : 15 ; i Thess. 4:15, 
 
 16 ; and change of living believers, i Cor. 15 : 23, 51, 52. 
 Rapture. — Translation of the saints who (like Enoch) are caught up to 
 
 meet Christ in the air. i Thess. 4 : 17. 
 3I._The meeting of Christ and His bride, i Thess. 4:17- 
 This is our gathering together unto Him. 2 Thess. 2:1. 
 And the marriage of the Lamb. Matt. 22 : 2-10 ; 25 : 10 : Luke 14 : 
 
 15-24 ; Rev. 19 : 7, 8. 
 So shall we ever be with the Lord. John 12 : 26 ; 14:3; '7 = 24 ; i 
 
 Thess. 4 : 17- 
 It is the Hope of the Church. Phil. 3 : 20, 21 : Tit. 2:13; i John 3 : 
 
 2,3- 
 And the redemption mentioned in Luke 21 : 28; Rom. 8 : 23 ; Eph. 4 : 
 
 10. 
 
 "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words, i Thess. 4 : 18. 
 
 Thus the Church escapes the tribulation. Luke 21 : 36 : 2 Pet. 2:9; 
 Rev. 3 : 10. 
 
 X. Period of unequalled tribulation to the world (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24 : 
 
 21 ; Luke 21 : 25, 26), during which — the Church having been taken 
 out — God begins to deal with Israel again (Acts 15 : 13-17), and will 
 restore them to their own land. Isa. 11 : 11 ; 60 : 1-22 ; Jer. 30 : 3; 
 31 : 1-40 ; 32 : 36-44 ; Amos 9:15; Rom. 11. 
 
 Antichrist will be revealed. 2 Thess. 2 : 8. 
 
 The vials of God's wrath poured out. Ps. 2:1-5; Rev. 6: 16, 17 ; 
 Rev. 14 : 10 ; 16 : 1-21. But men only blaspheme God. Rev. 16 : 
 II, 21. Israel accepts Christ (Zech. 12:10-14; 13:6), and are 
 brought through the fire. Zech. 13:9. They pass not away. Matt. 
 24 : 34 ; Ps. 22 : 30. 
 Uey. — The Revelation of Christ and His saints (Col. 3:411 Thess. 3 : 13) 
 in flaming fire (2 Thess. i : 7-10) to execute judgment on the earth. 
 
 Jude 14, 15- 
 This is Christ's second coming to the earth. Acts i : 11 ; Zech. 14: 
 
 4, 5 ; Matt. 16 : 27 ; 24 : 29, 30. 
 J._judgment of the nations, or the quick. Matt. 25 : 31-46 ; 19 : 28 ; Acts 
 
 10 : 42 ; I Pet. 4 : 5. 
 Antichrist is destroyed. 2 Thess. 2 : 8. The Beast and the False 
 
 Prophet are taken. Rev. 19 : 20. Gog and his allies are smitten. 
 
 Ezek. chapters 38 and 39. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxi 
 
 Satan is bound. Rev. 20 : 1-3 ; Rom. 16 : 20. 
 R. T.— Resurrection of the Tribulation Saints, which completes the First 
 
 Resurrection. Rev. 20 : 4-6. 
 MiU'ni.— The Millennium. Christ's glorious reign on the earth for 1,000 
 
 years (Rev. 20 : 4) with his Bride. 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5 : 10 ; Isa. 
 
 2:2-5; 4 : 1-6; II : 1-12; 25 :6-9; Isa. 65 : 18-25 : Mic. 4=1-4; 
 
 Zeph. 3 : 14-20; Zech. 8:3-8; Zech. 8 : 20-23; 14 : 1^21. 
 S.— Satan loosed for a little season, and destroyed with Gog and Magog. 
 
 Rev. 20 : 7-10 ; Heb. 2 : 14. 
 JteS._The Resurrection of Judgment. Rev. 20:12-15; John 5:29; 
 
 Dan. 12:2. 
 j^ y^^ T.— Judgment at the Great White Throne of all the remaining dead. 
 
 Rev. 20 : 11-15. 
 Death and Hell destroyed. Rev. 20 : 14; i Cor. 15 : 26. 
 E. E.— Eternity, or rather, The aions to come. Eph. 2 : 7. 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 The Rapture and the Revelation. The Futurists draw a sharp distinction 
 between Christ coming for His saints at the Rapture (i Thess. 4 : 15-17 ; 
 John 14: 3), and His coming with His saints to end the Tribulation and to 
 destroy Antichrist, at the time of the Revelation, which ushers in the Day 
 of the Lord. According to them the Rapture may occur at any moment 
 (Matt. 24 : 42), but the Revelation cannot occur until Antichrist be revealed, 
 and all the times and seasons which point to that great Day of the Lord in 
 Daniel and the Apocalypse be fulfilled. At the Rapture the Church, like 
 Enoch, is taken out of- the world, and thus escapes the Tabulation which 
 overtakes the ungodly and precedes the Revelation (Matt. 24 : 29, 40). 
 
 The Church and the Millennial Kittgdom. Most of the Futurists also dis- 
 tinguish sharply between the Church militant, which was begun on the 
 Day of Pentecost, and ends at the Rapture, before the Tribulation begins, 
 and the Millennial Rlngdotn, which is to begin with the Revelation, at the 
 close of the Tribulation (see Chart). Of course, it can readily be seen 
 that all Futurists believe in the /;v-;«///^;/«/rt/ coming of Christ, and, accord- 
 ing to the view of the great majority, this millennial kingdom shall consist 
 in the personal reign of Christ on earth, " in the regeneration when the Son 
 of man shall sit on the throne of His glory" (Matt. 19 : 28), when "the 
 kingdom of the world shall have become the kingdom of our Lord and of 
 His Christ" (Rev. 11 : 15; Dan. 7 : 14), "and the saints of the Most 
 High shall have received the kingdom" (Dan. 7 : 18-27; Luke 12 : 32). 
 Combining the prophecies contained in Isa. 11 : 1-16; Jer. 23 : 3-8; 32 : 
 36-44; chapters 34, 36, and 37 of Ezekiel ; Rom. 8 : 21-23; and especially 
 Isa. 60 : 1-22, they maintain that restored Israel and Jerusalem are to be the 
 very central glory of this Millennial Kingdom. 
 
xxxil INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Tribulation. Most Futurists hold that the Tribulation or time 
 between the Rapture and the Revelation covers a period of seven years 
 (Dan. 9 : 27 ; Rev. u : 3, 7 with 13 ; 5), at the beginning of which those 
 Jews who shall have returned to Palestine in unbelief and are rebuilding 
 their temple (Isa. 66 : i, 2; Rev. 11 : i, 2), enter into a seven years' cove- 
 nant with the Antichrist (Dan. 9 : 27 ; John 5 : 43). At the end of three 
 and a half years he is revealed as the Man of Sin (Dan. 9 : 27 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 
 3 ; Rev. 11:7; 13:1), kills the two witnesses who had been prophesying dur- 
 ing this time (Rev. 11 : 'i-']), stops the daily sacrifice which had been resumed 
 (Dan. 9 : 27 ; ii : 31 ; 12:11), and has his own image set up in the Holy Place 
 (Matt. 24 : 15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13 : 14, 15). Then follow, during the 
 last three and a half years (Dan. 7 ; 25; 9 : 27 ; Rev. 13 : 5), the treading 
 under foot of the Holy City (Dan. 9 : 26; Luke 21 : 24; Rev. 11 : 2), and the 
 time of the " great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of 
 the world until now, no, nor ever shall be" (Jer. 30 : 7 ; Dan. 12 : i ; Matt. 
 24 : 21 ; Rev. 13 : 14-17), which, under the Antichrist (Dan. 7 : 21-25; 2 
 Thess. 2:2; Rev. 13 : 1-8) and his prophet (Rev. 13 : 11 -17 ; 19:20), shall 
 come upon all the world (Rev. 13 : 15-17; 20 : 4). A third part of Israel will 
 be brought through this tribulation (Zech. 13 : 8, 9), and for the elect's sake, 
 the days of this culminating tribulation shall be shortened (Matt. 24 : 22), 
 by the Revelation of Christ (2 Thess. 1:7; 2:8). The terrible character 
 of this period, they maintain, can be learned from chapters 24-28 of Isaiah, 
 and many, especially from the remnant of Israel, will accept of Christ, and 
 become His witnesses, and be slain by Antichrist. These are known as the 
 tribulation saints who are to be raised at the close of the great tribulation 
 as the gleanings of the great harvest of the first resurrection (Rev. 
 20 : 4-6). 
 
 The Resurrection. The great majority teach that there is 2, first Resur- 
 rection of believers including the Old Testament saints, of those " that are 
 Christ's, at His coming' (i Cor. 15 : 23), who are raised at the Rapture, 
 when Christ comes to meet them in the air (i Thess. 4 : 17), but to these 
 shall be added the gleanings of the first Resurrection, those who believe 
 and suffer during the tribulation (Rev. 13: 15), who will be raised at the 
 time of the Revelation, when Christ comes to destroy Antichrist, that they 
 may take part in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20 : 4-6). The second Res- 
 urrection, or the Resurrection of Judgment (John 5 : 29), occurs after the 
 Millennium, and includes all the remaining dead (Rev. 20 : 12-14). 
 
 The Judgment. As a rule the Futurists maintain that " the day of Judg- 
 ment" covers a long period of years, that the Judgment of Rewards for 
 believers probably begins at the Rapture, and that the Judgment upon the 
 ungodly is ushered in with plagues at the time of the Revelation (2 Thess. 
 I :6-io; Rev. 19: 1 1-2 1) and closes in fire (Rev. 20 : 10-15), between which 
 a long season of " the sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55 : 3; Acts 13 : 34)1 
 
IN TROD UC TION. xxxiii 
 
 or the Millennium intervenes. Many distinguish between four judgments, 
 which they maintain probably occur in the following order : 
 
 (i) The Judgmant of Rewards for the Saints. This takes place in 
 heaven, probably in connection with the Rapture of the Saints (i Thess. 
 4 : 13-18). Here belong such passages as i Cor. 4:5:2 Cor. 5 : 10; Rev. 
 22 : 12; Eph. 6 : 8; I Cor. 3:8; 2:9, The saints receive their reward 
 before the Judgment upon the nations occurs (Matt. 25 : 31-46). See also 
 I Pet. 4 : 17, 18. 
 
 (2) The Judgment of the Nations that are upon the earth at the Rez>ela- 
 tion. Tliis is the Judgment of the quick or of the living (Acts 10 : 42 ; 2 
 Tim. 4 : I ; I Pet. 4 : 5). When Christ comes to destroy Antichrist at the 
 Revelation, He comes also to execute judgment upon the living nations 
 (i Cor. 6:2; Jude 14, 15; Matt. 25 : 31-46). Then follows the Millennium. 
 
 (3) The Judgment of the Dead at theGre.it White Throne (Rev. 20: 
 12-15). See also Matt. 10 : 15; 11 : 21-24; 12 : 41, 42 ; 2 Pet. 2:9; 3:7; 
 Rom. 2 : 5-16. 
 
 (4) The Judgment of Angels (i Cor. 6:312 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 
 20 : 10; Matt. 25 : 41). 
 
 Such, in general, with many divergencies in matters of 
 detail, is the view held by modern Futurists. Among 
 those who more or less agree with this method of inter- 
 pretation we may mention De Burgh, Maitland, Benjamin 
 Newton, Todd, Seiss, Lincoln, Kelly, Peters, Richter, and 
 in general the followers of Darby (Plymouth Brethren) 
 and allied schools of prophetic teaching. This, in general, 
 has also been the traditional explanation of the Apoca- 
 lypse during the first four centuries of the Christian 
 Church. Simcox in his Commentary on the English text 
 of Revelation (as well as on the Greek text), published 
 in the Cambridge Series, gives an excellent summary 
 of this traditional view, which we here condense : 
 
 " From the time of Tertullian and Hippolytus — not to say of Justin and 
 Irenaeus — we have a consistent expectation of the course of events that 
 will precede the last Judgment. . . . The Roman Empire was to be broken 
 up into ten kingdoms, bearing (we must understand from Daniel) the same 
 relation to it that the Hellenized kingdoms of the East bore to the Empire 
 of Alexander. Among these kingdoms will arise a new Empire, reviving 
 the old pretensions of Rome to world-wide instead of merely local domin- 
 
 3 
 
xxxiv INTRO D UC TION. 
 
 ion ; but instead of resting on law, patriotism, and submission to the will 
 of Providence, this new Empire will have no other basis than the self-will, 
 the self-assertion, at least the self-deitication, of its Ruler. He will come 
 'in the spiritual power' of Epiphanes and of Nero: he may be called 
 Nero in the sense in which our Lord is in prophecy called David, or His 
 forerunner Elias. He will be a man free from coarse vices, such as hinder 
 the consistent pursuit of any aim, but equally free from any restraint im- 
 posed by the fear of God, or by regard for human opinion. Claiming for 
 himself the honor due to God and the supreme obedience due to His Law, 
 he will persecute the Christian Church: his persecution being so relentless, 
 so systematic and well-directed, that the Church would be exterminated did 
 not God supernaturally interpose to ' shorten the days.' But, while perse- 
 cuting Christianity, he will extend a more or less hearty patronage to 
 Judaism, being possibly himself of Lsraelitish birth. Having in some sense 
 revived the Roman Empire, he will yet show himself an enemy to the city 
 of Rome, which will be finally destroyed, either by his armies or by the direct 
 act of God ; and he will, perhaps on occasion of this destruction, choose 
 Jerusalem for his seat of Empire. To this end he will restore the Jews to 
 their own land : he will perhaps be recognized by them as their Christ : he 
 will restore their Temple, but will make it serve rather to his own glory 
 than to that of the Lord God of Israel. . . . 
 
 " So far, his career has apparently been unchecked. Now God sends 
 against him two prophets — probably Moses and Elijah, or Enoch and 
 Elijah — who, by their words and miracles, to some extent counteract his. 
 But they will be put to death in his persecution, and then his power will 
 appear finally established : but only for a few days. God will raise them 
 from the dead, and call them up into heaven : and by this miracle, to- 
 gether with the preaching that preceded their death, the Jews will be con- 
 verted. Elijah will have fulfilled his destined work, of turning the hearts 
 of the fathers to the children,' i. e. of God's old people to His new, . . . 
 
 " Still Antichrist's universal empire appears scarcely shaken by the 
 secession of the one little nation of Israel : he will assemble the armies of 
 the world for its reconquest, and it will seem far easier for him to reduce 
 his second capital than the first. But when in the Land of Israel, he and 
 his army will be met and destroyed, not in a carnal battle with the forces of 
 Israel after the flesh, but by the power of God in the hand of His 
 Son. . . . 
 
 " Here, according to what seems to be the oldest form of the tradition, 
 and certainly that standing in closest relation to the Apocalypse, follows 
 what is popularly called the Millennium, The whole reign of Antichrist 
 lasted, apparently, but three years and a half; the divine triumph after his 
 overthrow will last for a thousand years. This will begin, perhaps, with 
 the appearance of the Lord Jesus on earth, certainly with the resurrection 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxv 
 
 of the Marytrs, Prophets, and other chief Sauits. Whether these remain 
 on earth or no, the condition of the earth is made such that it shall not be 
 an unworthy abode for them. Moral evil, if not annihilated, at least has 
 its power broken. Jerusalem remains what Antichrist had made it — the 
 spiritual and temporal metropolis of the world ; but this world-wide power 
 is now in the hands, not of God's enemy, but of God Himself: and the 
 world under the rule of Jerusalem reahzes the most glorious prophetic de- 
 scriptions of the kingdom of God. . . . 
 
 " Yet this kingdom of God is not the final and eternal one. . . . Not 
 only does the natural order of the world go on — with deaths and (what 
 shocked fourth century feeling most) marriages and births occurring; but 
 there must be some root of moral evil remaining, to account for the end of 
 this age of peace. The devil will at last for a short time recover his 
 power : while the central regions of the world remain faithful to God, the 
 outlying ones are stirred up to revolt against Him, and press in to crush 
 His kingdom by the brute force of numbers. They are on the point of 
 success — nearer to it, perhaps, than their predecessor Antichrist had 
 been — when they are, like Antichrist, overpowered by the direct interposi- 
 tion of God. Then, all God's enemies being subdued, comes the end of 
 all things — the General Resurrection of the Dead, the final Judgment, and 
 the Eternal Kingdom of God." 
 
 The reader cannot avoid noticing that those who adopt 
 this system of interpretation have attained the convic- 
 tion that we ought, in general, to study and interpret 
 prophecy in the same way as we do the historical and 
 doctrinal books of the Bible, and to insist on the gram- 
 matico-historical meaning and symbolical teaching of 
 the Apocalypse, and not to spiritualize all its statements. 
 They maintain that if v/e are to be guided by the fulfil- 
 ment of the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning 
 the Messiah, and consider how in every case referring to 
 the first Advent they have been literally fulfilled, surely 
 no fault ought to be found with those who believe that 
 the direct and positive assertions of God's Word concern- 
 ing the Second Coming of Christ, as recorded in the Old 
 and New Testaments, will also be literally fulfilled, in so 
 far as they do not come in conflict with the nature of 
 God's kingdom as revealed in the New Testament. 
 
xxxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A careful examination of the pages of the following 
 commentary will show in how far the writer regards the 
 general principles underlying the Futurist System to be 
 correct. 
 
 12. Tlie Numerals of the Apocalypse. The study of the 
 numbers used in Scupture is not as dry a field as most 
 people imagine. Mahan, who has so fully discussed the 
 numerals of Scripture, says : ^ " God is indeed a wonder- 
 ful Numberer. There is no such thing as chance in 
 God's world — no such thing as confusion. Everything 
 is numbered, everything is in its place, everything comes 
 up in its time and season. Upon nature and upon history 
 there is the stamp of symmetry and proportion. . . . 
 The Bible informs us that our steps are numbered ; that 
 our days are numbered ; that the hairs of our head are 
 all numbered ; nay, that God numbereth the drops of 
 rain; that the righteous are numbered to life; that the 
 wicked are numbered to the sword ; that earthly king- 
 doms are numbered; and, in short, that there is nothing 
 without number, save only' His understanding,' of which 
 the Psalmist declares ' there is no number.' " In the same 
 spirit Lee 2 remarks: "Number and proportion are 
 essential and necessary attributes of the Kosmos ; and 
 God, as a God of order, has arranged each several prov- 
 ince of Creation — even to the minutest particular (' the 
 very hairs of your head are all numbered,' Matt. lo : 30) 
 — according to definite numerical relations (Ps. 147:4; 
 Isa. 40 : 26 ). Not only where the thought transcends 
 the limits of man's understanding (Gen. 13 : 16; Jer. 
 
 1 See M. Mahan' s /'fl/wi';;/; or the Numerals of Scripture. A Proof of 
 Inspiration, p. 134. Also his Mystic Numbers : A key to Chronology. A 
 Test of Inspiration. Both works are found in the second volume of his col- 
 lected works. New York, 1875. 
 
 2 See the Introduction to his Commentary. 
 
INTROD UC TION. xxxvii 
 
 33 : 22 ; Rev. 7 : 9), but also in the province of human 
 freedom (Job 14 : 16; Ps. 56 : 8), all has been divinely- 
 disposed according to number and proportion, order and 
 design ; and should such dispositions not admit of being 
 computed by human faculties, or should God reveal them 
 in mystery, they are nevertheless capable of being 
 represented not only by means of ideal types and 
 symbols, but also by numerical relations. . . . Numbers, 
 like words, are but the signs of ideas ; and if we can 
 ascertain the idea corresponding to a particular sign, we 
 have the meaning of that sign. It is this underlying idea 
 alone on which the numerical symbolism of Scripture 
 depends." The symbolical meaning of numbers in 
 Scripture deserves more study and attention than it has 
 received in recent years. Inexplicable as it may seem, 
 certain numerals in Scripture occur so often in connec- 
 tion with certain classes of ideas, that we are naturally 
 led to associate the one with the other. This is especially 
 true of the numbers three, seven, eight, twelve, forty, and 
 seventy. 
 
 Certain numerals, in their most literal application, 
 symbolize certain great principles, and their meanings 
 have come down to us with a most remarkable unanimity 
 of opinion. 
 
 1. One is in all languages the synonym of unity. 
 
 2. Two is the number of certainty or assurance (Deut. 
 17:6; 19 : 15 ; John 8 : 17). There were tivo tables of 
 Commandments (Ex. 32 : 15); two Testaments; the 
 Apostles and the Seventy were sent forth " by two and 
 two " (Mark ^ '. ^ \ Luke 10 : i) ; there are tivo witnesses, 
 tivo olive trees, tzvo candlesticks (Rev. ii : 3; Zech. 
 
 4 : 3). 
 
 3. Three is the number of essential perfection. It is 
 " the numerical ' signature * of the Divine Being, and of 
 
xxxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 all that stands in any real relation to God. It is but 
 natural, indeed, that the essential character of the Triime 
 God, as He has revealed Himself, should be impressed 
 upon His works. All, in short, in which the Divine com- 
 pletes itself has the stamp of tliree. There are tlirce 
 dimensions of space; time is past, present, futitre ; the 
 universe offers to the view, sky, earth, and sea; . . . 
 the benediction is three-io\d (Num. 6 : 24-26) ; and above 
 all, there is the thrice Holy of Isa. 6:3" (Lee). 
 
 4. Four is the number of the Cosmos, the world in its 
 universality and order. Lee : " Four is the * signature ' 
 of Nature, of the created, of the world as a Cosmos, as 
 the revelation of God so far as Nature can reveal Him." 
 We have the four rivers of Paradise (Gen. 2 : 10) ; the 
 four corners of the earth (Isa. 11 : 12 ; Ezek. 7:2; Rev. 
 7 : 2 ; 20 : 8) ; the four winds (Dan. 7:2; Zech. 2:6; 
 Matt. 24 : 31 ; Rev. 7:2); the/i^/zr living creatures (Rev. 
 4 : 6, 8 ; 5 : 6 ; 6 : I ; 7 : 1 1, etc.) ; \.\\Qfour Gospels, etc. ; 
 
 5. Six is the number of earthly imperfection or secular 
 completeness. Its concentrated power is seen in 666, — 
 six units, six tens, and six hundreds, — the number of 
 Antichrist (Rev. 13 : 18) — of the earthly as opposed to 
 the divine power. 
 
 6. Seven is the number of spiritual perfection. As 
 three dind four make .y^-z'^;/, this number is spoken of as 
 " the note of union between God and the \a orld " (Lee). 
 " It is the number of religion, the ' signature ' of Salva- 
 tion, Blessing, Peace, Perfection " (Lee). Its root idea is 
 that of rest, or Sabbath, for " on the seventh day God 
 finished his work which he had made " (Gen. 2 : 2). 
 Seven is the sacred number of the Old as well as of the 
 New Testament. Genesis begins with seven days, and 
 the Apocalypse ends with a series of sevens. We have 
 seven days of creation, seven days of the week, seven years 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxxix 
 
 of plenty and famine ; seven is the keynote of all the fes- 
 tivals and of sacrifice; on \.\^q. seventh day Jericho was en- 
 compassed seven times ; seven is the number of clean 
 beasts (Gen. 7 : 2, 3) taken into the Ark, and seven times 
 was Naaman to wash in the Jordan (2 Kings 5 : 10), — in 
 fact, the number occurs continually throughout the whole 
 Old Testament. Even more significant is its usage in the 
 New Testament, above all in the Apocalypse, — witness 
 the seven Spirits before the throne, the seven churches, 
 the seven candlesticks, the seven angels, the seven seals, 
 the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, and so throughout. 
 
 Thus we see that the number seven is manifestly a 
 favorite in Scripture, being impressed with the seal of 
 sanctity as the symbol of everything closely connected 
 with God, and there can be no question that the number 
 is associated with the idea of th.Q spirit nal 2lS distinguished 
 from the worldly. 
 
 7. The half of seven is used in the O. T. to signify a 
 time of tribulation. It appears in various forms both in 
 the Old and New Testament. The famine in Elijah's 
 time lasted three and a half years (i Kings 17:1; Luke 
 4:25; James 5 : 17) ; the same period is the " time and 
 times, and half a time " of Dan. 7 : 25 and Dan. 12:7; 
 " the half of the week " referred to in Dan. 9 : 2"/. This 
 same period of time appears in Revelation under the form 
 of forty-two months (Rev. 11:2; 13 : 5), or 1,260 days 
 (Rev. II : 3; 12 : 6), or "a time and times, and half a 
 time" (Rev. 12 : 14). The tzvo witnesses also lay dead 
 "three days and a half " (Rev. 12 : 9, 11), This broken 
 7iiimber is therefore a symbol of great significance, and 
 has been taken to be the " signature " of the broken cove- 
 nant or of suffering and disaster. 
 
 8. Eight is the number of renewal, regeneration, and 
 resurrection. The eigJith day is the day of circumcision ; 
 
xl INTRO D UC TION. 
 
 it is the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is 
 the type of the Incarnation ; it is, above all, the day of 
 the resurrection, " the Lord's Day." 
 
 9. Ten is the symbolical representation of absolute 
 perfection and complete development whether referred to 
 God or to the world. It is the " signature " of a com- 
 plete and perfect whole. Ten is the number of the Com- 
 mandments; the Holy of Holies was a cube, each side 
 being of ten cubits ; ten times ten, or 100, is the number 
 of God's Flock (Luke 15 : 4, 7) ; and the cube of ten, or 
 1,000, is the length of the reign of the saints (Rev. 20 : 4). 
 The tentli generation means " for ever " (compare Deut. 
 23 : 3 with Neh. 13 : i). Ten is also the number of 
 worldly completion, symbolizing perfect power. The 
 ten Egyptian plagues symbolized the complete outpour- 
 ing of divine wrath ; the fourth beast of Daniel had ten 
 horns (Dan. 7 : 7, 24) ; the Red Dragon of the Apocalypse 
 has ten horns (Rev. 12 : 3), as well as the First Beast or 
 Antichrist (Rev. 13 : i). 
 
 10. Twelve is emphatically the number referring to the 
 kingdom of God, the " signature " of God {three) multi- 
 plied by the " signature " of the world {four). Lee holds 
 that while seven is the sacred number of Scripture, tzvelve 
 is the number of the Covenant People in whose midst 
 God dwells, and with whom He has entered into Cove- 
 nant relations. Tzvelve are the tribes of Israel : there were 
 twice twelve courses of the priests ; four times tzvelve 
 cities of the Levites ; tzvelve is the number of the Apostles ; 
 twice tzvelve is the number of the Elders who represent 
 the Redeemed Church; the woman of Rev. 12 : i had a 
 crown of twelve stars on her head ; the New Jerusalem 
 has tzvelve gates (Rev. 21 : 12), the wall of the city has 
 twelve foundations (21 : 14), and the tree of life bears 
 twelve names of fruits (22 : 2). 
 
INTRODUCTION. xli 
 
 13. The Year-Day TJieory of Interpretation. It is a favo- 
 rite theory with many commentators, especially of the 
 Continuous Historical School, that in the predictions of 
 Daniel and of St. John each day represents a natural 
 year. This view has been supported by adducing as 
 proof Num. 14 : 34 and Ezek, 4 : 4-6, where the expres- 
 sion " each day for a year " occurs. But these passages 
 do not in any way apply, for they both occur in plain 
 narrative and are not in any way prophetical, although 
 the last passage is found in a prophetical book. Those 
 who hold this view add as their final argument the pre- 
 diction of the seventy weeks in Dan. 9 : 24-27, which 
 evidently indicates seventy zvceks of years, or 490 years, — 
 " each day for a year." But Lee correctly calls attention 
 to the fact that the literal rendering is seventy sevens, 
 and that the exact meaning of this, whether it denotes 
 " a seven (of days)," or '' a seven (of years)," or " a 
 seven (of some other period of time)," must be determined 
 by the context alone. Keil on Dan. 9 : 24 remarks : 
 " Hofmann and Kliefoth are in the right when they main- 
 tain that sevens does not recessarily vci^dss. year-weeks, but 
 an intentionally indefinite designation of a period of time 
 measured by the number seven, whose chronological 
 duration must be determined on other grounds." The 
 whole context, however, of Dan. 9 : 24 seems to point to 
 the interpretation of seventy sevens (of years). When 
 Daniel wishes to speak of " a seven of days " he does so 
 in language which cannot be mistaken (Dan. 10 : 2, 3). 
 There is therefore no reason whatever why we should 
 accept the year-day theory with reference to the numbers 
 used in the Apocalypse, and though all these numbers 
 may have a symbolical meaning, it is perfectly biblical 
 to regard the 1,260 days as literal days, the 42 monthe as 
 literal months, the iYt, years as literal years, and the 1,000 
 
xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 years as literal years, though we by no means contend that 
 such is necessarily the true interpretation. The saying of 
 Christ is still true, " It is not for us to know times or 
 seasons which the Father hath appointed by his own 
 authority " (Acts i : 7). The more one studies the 
 Apocalypse, and sees the vast divergencies of views in 
 the interpretation of the book, the less inclined is one to 
 be over positive about things. The Apocalypse is a very 
 deep book. What Mahan affirms of the Bible as a whole 
 we would in a special sense confess of the Apocalypse : 
 " Though there are those who imagine they can touch 
 bottom in it, yet it may be in such cases that they 
 are really like children sporting on the sands. It is easy 
 to sound the sea where the sea and shore meet ; but if 
 we launch farther out ; if we venture forth as it were into 
 the silence of the deep ; if we reach that point where the 
 horizon bends around us in a circle of infinity, where a 
 whole heaven above smiles upon a whole heaven beneath, 
 then we feel it is high time to put up our fathoming 
 lines, and, confessing our ignorance, to be content with 
 adoration " {Palmoni, p. 128). 
 
 14. Select Literature. The literature on the Apocalypse 
 and allied topics is of immense extent. The mere list of 
 special works on this book given in Darling's Cyclopcedia 
 Bibliographica, published in 1859, covers 52 columns, and 
 if we include the list referring to special topics connected 
 with the book, it covers over 70 columns. It will be our 
 aim to designate a few books, limiting the number to 25, 
 which we regard as most helpful in the study of the 
 Apocalypse. In this list all the different schools of inter- 
 pretation will be represented by leading authorities, 
 and a brief characterization of each work named will be 
 given. 
 
INTR OD UC TION. xl i i i 
 
 Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament: with a critically revised text, 
 a digest of various readings ; marginal references to verbal and 
 idiomatic usage; prolegomena ; and a critical and exegetical Com- 
 mentary. For the use of theological students and ministers. Four 
 vols. New edition. Boston, 1880. 
 
 The commentary on Revelation with the prolegomena 
 covers 270 pages of the fourth volume. Alford is always 
 judicious, biblical, and scholarly, and makes large use of 
 German authorities. He maintains that some of the 
 prophecies are already fulfilled, some are now fulfilling, 
 and others await their fulfilment in the yet unknown 
 future. In the main he represents the Continuous His- 
 torical School, but in many points he disagrees with them. 
 The author was the Apostle and Evangelist St. John, and 
 he wrote the book at the close of the reign of Domitian, 
 about the year 95 or 96 A. D. Alford accepts literally 
 the first resurrection and the millennial reign. " I have 
 again and again raised my earnest protest against evading 
 the plain sense of words, and spiritualizing in the midst of 
 plain declarations of fact. That the Lord will come in 
 person- to this our earth; that His risen elect will reign 
 here with Him and judge ; that during that blessed reign 
 the power of evil will be bound, and the glorious prophe- 
 cies of peace and truth on earth find their accomplishment : 
 — this is my firm persuasion, and not mine alone, but that 
 of multitudes of Christ's waiting people, as it was that 
 of His primitive Apostolic Church, before controversy 
 blinded the eyes of the Fathers to the light of prophecy." 
 He offers no explanation of the two witnesses, nor any 
 solution of those periods of time, so remarkably pervaded 
 by the half of the mystic seven. " I have never seen it 
 proved, or even made probable, that we are to take a day 
 for a year in apocalyptic prophecy ; on the other hand, I 
 have never seen it proved, or made probable, that such 
 
xliv INTRO D UC TIOM. 
 
 mystic periods are to be taken literally, a day for a day." 
 He offers no solution of the prophetic number of the 
 beast (Rev. 13 : 18): " Even while I print my note in 
 favor of the Lateiiios of Irenaeus, I feel almost disposed 
 to withdraw it. It is beyond question the best solution 
 that has been given ; but that it is not the solution, I have 
 a persuasion amounting to certainty." The first beast 
 represents the secular power antagonistic to the Church 
 of Christ, and in the second beast he recognizes the 
 sacerdotal persecuting power, — in all its forms, Pagan, 
 Papal, and Protestant, — leagued with and the instrument 
 of the secular. In the last chapters he takes almost the 
 same position as the Futurists, interpreting the text in 
 the main in a literal manner. His commentary is worthy 
 of careful study, even if many of his interpretations can- 
 not be accepted. 
 
 2. AuBERLEN, Carl August. The Prophecies of Datiiel and the Revela- 
 tions of St. fohn, viewed in their mutual relation. With an exposi- 
 tion of the principal passages. With an Appendix by Roos. Edin- 
 burgh, 1856. 
 
 This is not a commentary, but consists pf a series of 
 essays on topics, connected with the prophecies of Daniel 
 and of St. John. The last 200 pages are devoted especially 
 to the Revelation of John, and the discussion centres 
 around the Two Beasts, the Woman, and the Millennium. 
 He maintains that the book was written shortly before 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, and that the Book of Daniel 
 forms its basis. Its object is not to give a detailed de- 
 scription of Church history (in opposition to the church- 
 historical view as represented by Bengel, Elliott, and 
 Gaussen), but with Hofmann, Hengstenberg, and Ebrard, 
 he maintains that its aim is to represent the great epochs 
 and leading principal powers in the development of tJie 
 kingdom of God, viewed in its relation to the world-king- 
 
INTRODUCTION. x!v' 
 
 doms. Ill the main, Auberlen belongs to the Continuous 
 Historical School, but with many divergencies of inter- 
 pretation. The Woman of Rev. xii. is the congregation 
 of God in its purity, the Church of believers of the Old 
 and New Testaments ; in Rev. xvii. this woman has 
 become the Great Harlot, the Apostate Church, unfaith- 
 ful to her Lord ; in xix. 7 and xxi. 9, the woman is the 
 transfigured, perfect Church, the bride of the Lamb, 
 ready for the marriage feast. " Woman, harlot, bride, 
 these are the three aspects of the Church. . . . The 
 woman is the invisible Church ; the harlot the visible 
 Church. Both are the Church militant ; whereas the 
 Bride is the Church triumphant." We must carefully dis- 
 tinguish between Christ's coming to establish His king- 
 dom of glory upon earth, and His coming to the final 
 judgment ; there will be a personal Antichrist ; the mil- 
 lennial kingdom and the first resurrection are to be taken 
 literally and as still future. 
 
 This able work, written from a strictly evangelical stand- 
 point, ought to be carefully mastered by every student 
 of the Apocalypse, and the book has exercised a deep and 
 wide-spread influence throughout all theological circles. 
 
 3. Bengel, John Albert. Gnomon of the New Testament. Revised and 
 edited by Rev. Andrew R. Fausset. Five vols. Edinburgh, i860. 
 
 Bengel is a leading representative of the Continuous 
 Historical School, to which belong such distinguished 
 writers as Mede, Vitringa, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Auber- 
 len, Elliott, Gaussen, Wordsworth, Alford, Barnes, Lord, 
 and Glasgow. In general, this view regards the Apoc- 
 alypse as a prophetic compendium of Church History, 
 and supposes that the exalted Saviour has revealed therein 
 the chief events of all centuries of the Christian era, in 
 detail, and with chronological accuracy. Bengel adopts 
 
xlvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the general Protestant interpretation in vogue since 
 Luther's time, and the only new feature in his commen- 
 tary is his definite chronological system, as he himself 
 says : " I have nothing new except the definite durations 
 of prophetic times." His chronological system lies at the 
 basis of his whole theory, and became to him the key to 
 his interpretation of the Apocalypse. The entire duration 
 of the world from the creation to the final judgment is 
 7,777 years, and the millennial kingdom was to begin on 
 June 18, 1836. He himself says : " Should the year 1836 
 pass without bringing remarkable changes, then there 
 must be some great error in my system." The result has 
 proved the existence of this error. 
 
 The chief importance of Bengel's system consists in 
 this, that he brought to light again the primitive Christian 
 doctrine of the millennial kingdom, which had been mis- 
 apprehended for nearly fifteen centuries. He laid the 
 foundation for a dogmatic development of eschatology, 
 and his world-chronology assisted greatly in promoting 
 the idea of an organic historical development of the king^ 
 dom of God. 
 
 4. Boyd Carpenter, W. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. Edited 
 by Charles John ElUcott. London and New York. 
 
 This is the last volume of what is known as the Handy 
 Commentary edited by Bishop EUicott. Dr. Boyd Car- 
 penter, Bishop of Ripon, is a good representative of the 
 Spiritual School of interpretation. (See hitrodiiction, 
 p. XXV.) He says: " It is hard to believe, with the Pre- 
 terist, that the counselling voice of prophecy should 
 have spoken only of immediate dangers, and left the 
 Church for fifteen centuries unwarned ; "or, with the Fu- 
 turist, to believe that eighteen centuries of the eventful his- 
 tory of the Church are passed over in silence, and that the 
 
introduction: xlvii 
 
 whole weight of inspired warning was reserved for the 
 few closing years of the dispensation. Nor, on the other 
 hand, can we be thoroughly satisfied with the Historical 
 School, however ably and learnedly represented. ... A 
 mistake into which this system falls is that of bringing 
 into prominence the idea of time. . . . We are not to 
 look for any indications of time in the visions of the Apoc- 
 alypse. . . . These carefully selected numbers, always 
 bearing a relationship to one another, and so selected 
 that a literal interpretation of them is almost precluded, 
 are beyond doubt symbolical, and thus in harmony with 
 the whole character of the book. . . . We are disposed 
 to view the Apocalypse as the pictorial unfolding of great 
 principles in constant conflict, though under various 
 forms." 
 
 This little work of 280 pages is more helpful than 
 some more pretentious volumes. 
 
 5. CURREY, G. T/ie Revelation of St. Joint the Divine. 
 
 This work covers about 150 pages of the second and 
 last volume of the Commentary published on the New 
 Testament by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowl- 
 edge, London. On the whole. Dr. Currey belongs to the 
 Continuous Historical School, but in many points he 
 has brought out the teaching of the Apocalypse more 
 clearly. The Seven Epistles predict in direct words the 
 same future events which in the Visions are symbolically 
 portrayed, and these Visions do not present a consecutive 
 series of events, but each group extends to the end of 
 time, the one following starting as it were afresh, going 
 over the same ground in a different manner. We are to 
 be on our guard against literal interpretations, which have 
 misled so many expositors. The "short time " of 12 : 12 
 is the same as the 1,260 days, or "three times and a 
 half," reaching from the Ascension to the Second Advent. 
 
xlviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Brief as is this Commentary, we have always consulted it 
 with profit. 
 
 6. De Burgh, W. An Expositioji of the Book of the Revelation. Fifth 
 
 edition. Dublin, 1857. 
 
 De Burgh is one of the best representatives of the 
 Futurist School. The Seals are still in the future ; in 
 fact, the whole Apocalypse after the Epistles of the Seven 
 Churches is solely occupied with the events of the Last 
 Times. Israel is the literal Israel, the Temple is to be re- 
 built, the periods of time are to be literally interpreted ; 
 Dan. 9 : 27 refers to the time of Atitichrist, and the dura- 
 tion of his power is seven years, half of which time Anti- 
 christ is in covenant with the Jews (Dan. 11 : 23, 32), 
 and during the latter half turns against them. In our 
 notes we will continually refer to the views of this com- 
 mentator, 
 
 7. DuESTERDlECK, Frieprich. Critical and Exegetical Handbook to the 
 
 Revelation of John. Translated from the third edition of the German, 
 and edited, with Notes, by Henry E. Jacobs. New York, 1887. 
 
 Though Duesterdieck belongs to the Preterist School, 
 and even denies that the Apostle John is the author of 
 the Apocalypse, tracing it to the Presbyter John, still this 
 work, on account of its exegetical faithfulness and clear 
 summary of the history of interpretation, is one of the 
 best commentaries that has ever appeared on this book, 
 • — and we say this, though we may not agree with him 
 in most of his conclusions. He maintains that the 
 Presbyter John wrote the work before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, and though the book is canonical, trustworthy, 
 " and inspired," he thinks that the writer in some points 
 evidently makes statements not warranted by the anal- 
 ogy of Scripture, and thus gives evidences of " natural 
 limitation." We must confess our indebtedness to 
 Duesterdieck on every page. 
 
INTRODUCTION. " xlix 
 
 8. Ebrard, J. H. A. Die Offenbarimg Johannis. (Vol. 7 of Olshauseti's 
 Commentary.) 1S53. 
 
 Ebrard belongs to the same Continuous Historical 
 School as Hofmann, Auberlen, and Hengstenberg, though 
 some commentators (as Lee) would place all four under 
 the Spiritual School, because they lay stress upon the 
 spiritual application of the contents of the Apocalypse 
 to all the various conditions of the kingdom of God on 
 earth, during its successive struggles against the prince 
 of this world. According to Ebrard the prophecies in 
 the Apocalypse are divided into four divisions, differing 
 both in contents and form. The first vision, including- 
 
 o 
 
 the first three chapters, represents Christ in His relations 
 to the Church, the Seven Churches having a typical sig- 
 nificance for the later Church ; the second vision, that of 
 the seven seals and the seven trumpets (chaps, iv. — xi.), 
 represents Christ in His relation, as Ruler of the world, 
 to the powers of the world and nature ; the third, the 
 vision of the dragon and the beast out of the sea (chaps, 
 xii.— xiv.), represents the relation between the godless, 
 who stand under the prince of this world, and the Church 
 of Christ (the seven heads of the beast are seven world- 
 monarchies, the sixth head being the Roman world-power 
 which corresponds with the beast that ascended out of 
 the sea — the Papacy being the beast that ascends out of 
 the earth, the false prophet) ; the fourth vision (chap. 
 XV. to the end) containing the final development and 
 consummation. Ebrard therefore refers the visions of 
 the twelfth and thirteenth chapters to distinct events in 
 Church history, but those of the seventeenth to the 
 nineteenth chapters to events occurring in the times of 
 Antichrist immediately preceding the Second Advent. 
 The 42 months or 1,260 days of Rev. 1 1 : 2, 3 ; 12 : 6; 
 and 13:5 are a mystical term for the entire period from 
 4 
 
1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus to the conversion 
 and restoration of the Jewish nation, while the three and 
 a half days of ii : 9, 11, are identical with the three and 
 a half times of Daniel (Dan. 7 : 25) and of Rev. 12 : 14, 
 equivalent to three and a half years, the period of Anti- 
 christ, which forms the transition between the Church- 
 historical period and the millennial kingdom. He regards 
 the 1,000 years as a mystical number, — " when the whole 
 long period, from the ascension of Christ to tlis Second 
 Coming, is represented symbolically, as half a prophetic 
 week of three and a half years, and the period of the 
 visible existence of the kingdom of God upon earth as a 
 thousand years ; we have therein an indication that the 
 period, after the result of the preceding ages has been 
 gained, will be very much longer than the period of con- 
 flicts. The time when Christ's kingdom will exist on 
 earth will be the true New Testament time, in the strict 
 sense of the word ; the present period of the oppressed 
 and militant Church is of a duration which appears in- 
 significant when compared with it." 
 
 The work of Ebrard is very suggestive, and his exposi- 
 tion may be characterized as an attem.pt to combine 
 Hofmann's views with those of Elliott and Gaussen. 
 
 9. Elliott, E. B. Hone Apocalypticce. A Commentary on the Apocalypse 
 critical and historical ; including also an examination of the chief 
 Prophecies of Daniel. Four vols. Fifth edition. London, 1862. 
 
 Elliott has given us the most important work in Eng- 
 lish representing the Continuous Historical School. 
 His historical interpretation ends with the pouring out 
 of the sixth vial (Rev. 16 : 12). The remaining predic- 
 tions belong to the future. The work is marked by its 
 strong anti-papal character. Gaussen, in enumerating 
 " the most successful commentators " on Revelation, men- 
 
INTRODUCTION. H 
 
 tions " Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Jerome ; afterwards the 
 Waldenses and Wiclifites ; afterwards Mede, Vitringa, 
 Newton, Cressener ; and, in modern times, Faber, Cun- 
 ninghame, Irving, Bickersteth, Birks, and tJie excellent 
 Elliott!' In the judgment of some Elliott shows a more 
 remarkable knowledge of the history of the Saracens, of 
 the development of the Papacy, and of the progress of 
 the Lutheran Reformation in Germany, than of the teach- 
 ing and meaning of the Apocalypse. In our summary 
 of the history of interpretations we refer constantly to 
 the views of Elliott, and every commentator on Revela- 
 tion must master his work. 
 
 10. Gebhardt, Hermann. The Doctrine of the Apocalypse, and its relation 
 
 to the Doctrine of the Gospel and Epistles of fohn. Edinburgh, 1878. 
 
 This work, though not strictly a commentary, is a most 
 valuable contribution to the better understanding of the 
 teaching of the Apocalypse, even if we cannot always 
 accept the conclusions which he draws from the facts he 
 presents. Gebhardt maintains that the Apostle John 
 wrote the Apocalypse toward the end of the year 68, or 
 early in 69 A. D. As he belongs to the Preterist School 
 he refers the first beast, the Antichrist, to the Emperor 
 Nero. The wom.an of 17 : 18 is the Rome of Nero's 
 time. The work is worthy of careful study, as represent- 
 ing the evangelical Preterist view. 
 
 11. Hengstexberg, E. W. The Revelation of St. fohn, expounded for 
 
 those who search the Scriptures. Translated from the original by 
 Patrick Fairbairn. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1851, 1S52. Second German 
 edition, 1862. 
 
 Hengstenberg belongs to the Continuous Historical 
 School, and though in many points there is a general 
 agreement between him and Auberlen, Hofmann, and 
 Ebrard, in other points he diverges most widely from 
 
\{[ introduction: 
 
 them. The Apostle John wrote the Apocalypse in the 
 time of Domitian. The contents of the book contain 
 prophecies relative to the world and Church history, 
 most of which have already been fulfilled. The First 
 Beast is the God-opposed world-power ; the Head zvoiinded 
 to death is the Roman world-power ; the great Battle of 
 Rev. xix. denotes the Christianization of the Germanic 
 nations ; the millennial kingdom is past, — " the com- 
 mencement of the millennial kingdom coincides with the 
 Christianization of the Germanic nations, and tJie millen- 
 nium itself is {to speak roughly) identical witJi the Ger- 
 man Empire, which lasted a thousand years.'' Since the 
 year 1848 we are living in the times of Gog and Magog, 
 that "short space of time during which Satan is loosed 
 again." Valuable and suggestive as this work of Heng- 
 stenberg is, it is marked in many cases by the most arbi- 
 trary exegesis. 
 
 12. Kliefoth, Theodor. Christliche Eschatologie. Leipsic, 1886. 
 
 Whatever Kliefoth has written on the Book of the 
 Revelation and topics connected with it is worthy of the 
 most careful study. His Commentary on the Revelation 
 of John appeared in 1874, in three volumes, but his latest 
 views are given in his Christliche Eschatologie. His Com- 
 mentaries on Daniel (1868), Ezekiel (1861-1865), and 
 Zechariah(i862) must also be compared. A small abridg- 
 ment of Kliefoth's Christliche Eschatologie, prepared by 
 Witte, appeared in 1895, under the title Lehre von den 
 Letzten Dingen. 
 
 13. Lange, John Peter. The Revelation of John. Enlarged and edited by 
 E. R. Craven. New York, 1S74. 
 
 This well-known work has considerable merit, though 
 its value lies largely in its clear and condensed abstract 
 
INTR OD UC TION. li ii 
 
 of the different views of commentators. The notes added 
 by the American editor greatly enhance the value of the 
 book. 
 
 14. Lee, William. The Revelation of St. [ohn. (In Speaker^ s Commentary.) 
 
 This work is found in Vol. IV. of the Speaker s or the 
 Bible Cojunientary, covering pp. 405-844. It is noted for 
 its excellent introduction and the clear synopsis of the 
 various systems of interpretation. Although Lee, in the 
 main, adopts the views of the Continuous Historical 
 School, he prefers to class himself among those who adopt 
 the Spiritual System of interpretation. He maintains 
 that the Apocalypse must be understood throughout in 
 a symbolical sense, and yet in the same breath calls at- 
 tention to the fact that " the symbolical interpretation 
 of this book has, from the earliest times, been carried 
 to an extravagant excess, and to the most inconsistent 
 conclusions." On the whole, this commentary takes the 
 very highest rank among its class. 
 
 15. LUTHARDT, C. E. Die Lehre von den letzten Dingen. Third edition. 
 
 Leipsic, 1885. 
 
 The last 85 pages of this work contains a translation 
 and a brief commentary upon the Book of the Reve- 
 lation. Luthardt is a Futurist, and on the whole favors a 
 literal interpretation. We often refer to him in our notes. 
 
 16. Maitland, C HARLES. The Apostles' School of Prophetic Interpretation. 
 
 With its history down to the present time. London, 1849. 
 
 Though not a commentary this work very ably presents 
 the fundamental principles underlying the Futurist Sys- 
 tem. Maitland maintains that we must accept, in the 
 main, the teaching of the Early Church concerning the 
 Apocalypse, because " there had been handed down to 
 
liv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the ancients, side by side with the written word, an un- 
 written explanation of the leading prophecies contained 
 in it." With the primitive writers he holds that when a 
 symbol is accompanied by an inspired explanation, that 
 explanation embodies its true and final meaning ; he 
 maintains that the prophetic style is never found to affect 
 the times, — for from Genesis to Revelation there is no 
 instance in which a prediction containing a set time has 
 been fulfilled in any other measure of time ; that a scru- 
 pulous adherence to the language of Scripture will be 
 found our only safety; that the year-day theory involves 
 a plain and obvious fallacy, for all the numerals of time 
 in the Apocalypse are to be taken literally, a day for a 
 day, and a year for a year. 
 
 17. MiLLiGAN, William. Revelation. Covering 161 pages of Vol. IV. of 
 
 the Popular Commentary on the New Testament, edited by Philip 
 Schaff. New Yoric, 1SS3. 
 
 Dr. Milligan is also the author of Lectures on the 
 Apocalypse (third ed., London, 1892) and Discussions on 
 the Apocalypse (third ed., London, 1893), both of which 
 books originally constituted his Baird Lectures on the 
 Revelation of St. y^//;/, published in 1886. He also wrote 
 the commentary on Revelation in the Expositor s Bible 
 (London and New York. 1889). Dr. Milligan is the best 
 representative of the Spiritual System of interpretation, 
 and all of his works are marked by sound scholarship and 
 sober exegesis. Especially valuable are his Lectures and 
 Discussions on the Apocalypse. We have never consulted 
 his works without profit, though we may not be able to 
 accept the great majority of his interpretations. 
 
 18. Plummer, a. Revelation. In the Pulpit Commentary. 
 
 This volume of 585 closely-printed pages contains the 
 labors of seven students of the Apocalypse. Principal 
 
IN TROD UC TION. 1 V 
 
 Randell writes the introduction and the exposition is 
 mainly by Dr. Plummer. In the main the comments 
 represent the Continuous Historical School. There is a 
 greater harmony in the presentation of the views than 
 one would naturally expect. The exposition is strictly 
 exegetical, and the volume takes a high rank among 
 commentaries of its class. 
 
 19. Sadler, M. F. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. With notes 
 critical and practical. London, 1893. 
 
 The writer of this commentary represents the most 
 evangelical wing of the Church of England. The Apostle 
 John wrote the Apocalypse about 95 or 96 A. D., while 
 on the isle of Patmos ; the visions are not a continuous 
 history of the Church, but the final consummation is 
 described six or seven times. He utterly rejects the 
 Preterist interpretation. He regards Elliott's Horce Apo- 
 calypticce the most elaborate and exhaustive exposition of 
 the Continuous Historical scheme, and he adds : " I have 
 constantly referred to this work, giving specimens of its 
 (I really must say) outrageous expositions to show the 
 reader how little reliable a system can be which has to 
 resort to such expedients to maintain its continuity." 
 He cannot however adopt the view of the Futurists, but 
 thinks " the present time in which we live must be under 
 the opening of the seals." According to him all the 
 horse riders under the seals run together ; " if the effects 
 of the fifth angel-trumpet be the rise and progress of Is- 
 lamism, and the sixth the rise and progress of the Turkish 
 power, then this may be taking place now and a large 
 portion of mankind may be affected by it ; " " if the two 
 beasts of chap. xiii. be the fierce and ferocious world- 
 power, and the milder and more cultured world-power of 
 Bishop Boyd Carpenter and others, then of course the 
 
1 vi IN TROD UC TION. 
 
 warfare is going on now, and we are living in it ; " he is 
 uncertain about the pouring out of the vials, — " if they 
 are synchronous they immedately precede the Second 
 Coming ; " " with respect to the vision of what is called 
 the millennium, in chap, xx,, Christ has certainly reigned 
 ever since all things zvcre put under Jiis fcctdX His Ascen- 
 sion. He has reigned in order to discipline His elect, 
 that they may be ready for Him when He comes at the 
 last; and His saints may have reigned under Him, not 
 visibly, but effectually — effectually for the purposes for 
 which He has ordained their reign." 
 
 20. SiMCOX, William Henry. The Revelation of St. John the Divine. 
 With Notes and Introduction. Cambridge, 1S90. 
 
 The volume belongs to the Cambridge Bible for Schools 
 and Colleges. Simcox has also written the notes on 
 Revelation in the Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools 
 and Colleges, the Introduction and Appendixes, covering 
 over 90 pages, being virtually the same in both editions. 
 He accepts the early date of the Apocalypse, and tries to 
 unite the Preterist and the Futurist schemes of inter- 
 pretation. He thinks that- the Apocalypse *' was written 
 specially for the Church of the Apostles' own age, and for 
 the Church of the last age of all : we need not therefore 
 expect to find any intermediate age of affliction, or any 
 intermediate enemy of the truth, indicated with such indi- 
 vidualizing detail as Nero and his persecution on the 
 one hand, or Anticlirist and his on the other." There 
 was an imperfect and inadequate fulfilment of the proph- 
 ecies of Antichrist in this book in the persons of Nero 
 and Domitian, but we must look for a more complete 
 fulfilment at the last times. " We may thus recognize an 
 element of truth in the two rival schemes of interpreta- 
 tion commonly called t\\Q preterist and the /ntiirist — that 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ivii 
 
 which sees in the Revelation only a prediction or forecast 
 of events near the Seer's own time, and now past, and 
 that which sees a prediction of events wholly or almost 
 wholly future, and only to be fulfilled in the few last 
 years of the world's existence. . . . Revelation may be 
 regarded as a picture of the persecution of the Church, 
 'in type ' by such emperors as Nero and Domitian, ' in 
 truth ' by the Antichrist of the last days, and a prophecy 
 of Christ's victory over both enemies, the type and the 
 antitype," The work, small as it is, is a valuable contri- 
 bution to the literature of the Apocalypse. 
 
 21. Seiss, J. A. The Apocalypse. A series of special Lectures on the 
 Revelation of Jesus Christ. With a Revised Text. 3 vols. Phila., 
 1869-18S0. 
 
 These fifty-two lectures of Dr. Seiss are strictly exe- 
 getical, models of what expository lectures ought to be, 
 and the ablest presentation in a popular form of the view 
 in general advocated by the Futurist School. The Seven 
 Epistles refer to the present CliiircJi Period, extending 
 from John's time to the Rapture of the Saints, which is 
 liable to occur at any time. The occurrence of this event 
 is indicated at the beginning of the fourth chaper. Then 
 comes the great Judgment Period, which embraces all the 
 events connected with the opening of the seven Seals, 
 the sounding of the seven Trumpets, and the pouring out 
 of the seven Bowls of Wrath, as contained in chapters 
 iv. — xix. The length of time covered by this period 
 is at least 40 years, most likely 70 years, if not more. 
 The termination of this period is the visible manifesta- 
 tion of Christ, with His glorified Saints, for the destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist and his armies, and the binding and 
 confinement of Satan. Then comes the great Millennial 
 Period, the thousand years during which Satan is bound. 
 It dates from the destruction of the Antichrist. It is the 
 
Iviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 following up of the victory of the battle of the Great 
 Day, resulting in the enthronement of all the glorified 
 saints with their Lord in the invincible rulership of the 
 world, which rule never terminates, but finally opens out 
 into an eternal reign over the redeemed and renewed 
 earth. This Millennial Period ends with the loosing of 
 Satan for a brief space, his leading astray of certain re- 
 mote peoples who think to throw off the dominion of 
 Christ and His glorified Saints, the quick destruction of 
 these rebels by fire from heaven, the consignment of 
 Satan to his final perdition, the recall of all the unsancti- 
 fied dead before the great white throne for their final 
 sentence, and the complete and everlasting removal of 
 all sin, all death, and all curse from the face of the earth. 
 TJie Eternal State immediately follows the Millennial 
 Period. It begins with the completion of the new 
 heavens and earth, the coming of the heavenly Jeru- 
 salem into its place, and the final establishment of Christ 
 and His glorified ones in their everlasting dominion over 
 the redeemed world and its populations. Thencefor- 
 ward everything proceeds in undisturbed and ever-aug- 
 mented blessedness, world without end. 
 
 22. Todd, J. H. Six Discourses on the Prophecies relatifig to Antichrist, in 
 the Apocalypse of St. John. Preached before the University of Dublin, 
 at the Donnellan Lecture, 1841. Dublin, 1846. 
 
 Todd represents the Futurist School. The revelations 
 made at the opening of each seal all portray the circum- 
 stances of our Lord's Second Coming, representing that 
 event under various aspects. The Trumpets announce 
 judgments which are to be regarded as /z'/^r^'/ visitations 
 which will usher in the great tribulation of the last times. 
 Jerusalem shall be inhabited again by the Jews, the Temple 
 rebuilt, the duration of Antichrist's dominion shall be 
 1,260 days, during which time two literal witnesses are to 
 
introduction: lix 
 
 prophesy. The seven Bowls of wrath do not bring us 
 to the " great day of final account, but to the fall of 
 Babylon and the consequences of that event which are 
 immediately to usher in the Day of Christ's Coming." 
 Babylon is Kome, but not Rome as it is now, but Rome 
 as it shall be in that future time to which the prophecy 
 refers. 
 
 23. Vaughan, C.J. Lecha-es on the Revelation of St. John. Fifth edition. 
 
 London, 1882. 
 
 This volume contains a series of 38 Lectures delivered 
 in the years 1861 and 1862 in the Parish Church of Don- 
 caster, England. In general Dean Vaughan represents the 
 Continuous Historical School, though he may better be 
 classed as belonging to the Spiritual School. He follows 
 largely in the footsteps of Alford and Hengstenberg, though 
 with many divergencies of intrepretation. Of Alford's 
 Commentary on Revelation Vaughan remarks : " It has 
 appeared to me that this part of Dean Alford's elaborate 
 work on the Greek Testament is the most valuable and 
 instructive of his contributions to the sacred literature of 
 our age." He further says: "The human author to 
 whom I owe most in regard to this labor — without whom 
 indeed I should probably not have undertaken it — is 
 Hengstenberg. To him I owe much, very much, both 
 of the general and of the particular treatment here 
 adopted. His very language has now and then, I doubt 
 not, incorporated itself unawares in mine." These lect- 
 ures are expository and models of their kind. 
 
 24. Weiss, Bernhard. Die Johannes-Apokalypse. Textkritische Unter- 
 
 suchungen und Textherstellung. Leipsic, 1891. 
 
 This is a very valuable contribution to the Textual 
 Criticism of the Apocalypse, and the first 156 pages are 
 devoted to a critical discussion of the variations of the 
 
Ix INTRO D UC no AT. 
 
 three representatives of the oldest Text (Codex Sinaiticus, 
 A, C), and of the two best representatives among the 
 Uncials of the later Text (P, Q). Then follows the 
 emended Greek Text, accompanied with brief, but very- 
 valuable notes, covering pages 157-225. Weiss as a 
 Preterist maintains that the Apocalypse was manifestly 
 written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that it 
 mainly refers to that event. 
 
 25. Williams, Isaac. 77/1? Apocalypse, tuith Notes and Reflections. New 
 
 edition. London, 1889. 
 
 It is difficult to decide to what class the devout 
 Williams belongs, but it is probably best to place him 
 among the Spiritual School of Interpreters, though at 
 times he favors the Continuous Historical method of in- 
 terpretation, and at other times the Futurist. His work 
 is noted for its mystical and symbolical interpretations, 
 which are constantly brought forward, from the ancient 
 commentators, especially Victorinus, Tichonius, Prima- 
 sius, Andreas, Arethas, CEcumenius, Bede, and Beren- 
 gaudus. For a devotional commentary we know of no 
 better work on the Apocalypse. It is biblical, spiritual, 
 and deeply mystical in its tendencies. 
 
 26. Wordsworth, Christopher. The Neiu Testament in the Original 
 
 Greek. With Introductions and Notes. New edition. Two vols. 
 London, 1877. 
 
 The Commentary on Revelation covers the last 130 
 pages of the second volume. He also is the author of 
 Lectures on the Apocalypse, being the Hulsean Lectures 
 for 1848 (third London edition, 1852; second London 
 edition reprinted, Phila., 1852), and The Greek Text of the 
 Apocalypse from the most ancient Manuscripts, London, 
 1849. Wordsworth belongs to the Continuous Hi.storical 
 
INTROD UC TION. Ixi 
 
 School. The Apocalypse was written by St. John on the 
 isle of Patmos about 95 A, D. The Seals represent a 
 prophetic view of the History of the Christian Church, 
 from the first Advent of Christ to the end of the world ; 
 the six Trumpets represent judgments of God warning 
 men to prepare for the sounding of the Scvoith Triuiipet, 
 which will convene them to the General Judgment at 
 the Last Day {\.\\q first Trumpet sounded in the fourth 
 century, the second represents the incursions of the 
 Barbarians, the third \\\q heresies of the fifth century, the 
 fourth the apostasies and defections in the seventh, the 
 fifth Mohammedanism, etc.) ; the First Beast is the 
 Roman Papal Pozver, the Second Beast represents teach- 
 ers of unsound doctrine, the Papal clergy and Roman 
 Hierarchy. The whole exposition is marked by a 
 strong anti-papal tendency, and is one of the best pro- 
 ductions of the Continuous Historical School. In our 
 notes we will constantly refer to the views of Words- 
 worth. 
 
 For some of these works we might have substituted 
 others, but each commentary has been selected for some 
 special reason. It does not follow because we do not in- 
 clude in this list the works of Barnes, Beck, Birks, Bisping, 
 Bleek, Blunt, Brown, Burger, Cowles, Gumming, Darby, 
 Dennett, Desprez, De Wette, Fuller, Garland, Glasgow, 
 Godet, Grant, Hofmann, Huntingford, Irving, Kellogg, 
 Kelly, Lincoln, Low, Luecke, Maurice, Mede, Murphy, 
 Newton, Pember, Plumptre, Pond, Rinck, Scott, Snell, 
 Terry, Tregelles, Trench, Trotter, West, Whedon, and 
 Zuellig, that these have no merit. Helpful as many 
 of these are, the student will find the best representatives 
 of each school of interpretation included in the list given. 
 
 15. Analysis of the Apocalypse. Many commentators 
 see a seven-fold structure in the book. According to 
 
Ixii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Hengstenberg the Book of Revelation naturally divides 
 itself into Seven groups of Visions. 
 
 1. The Seven Epistles (ii., iii.). 
 
 2. The Seven Seals (iv. — viii. i). 
 
 3. The Seven Trumpets (viii. 2 — xi.)- 
 
 4. Satan and his subordinates in conflict with the Church (xii. — 
 
 xiv.). 
 
 5. The Seven Vials (xv., xvi.). 
 
 6. The Overthrow of Satan and his subordinates (xvii. — xx.). 
 
 7. The Glories and the Happiness of Heaven (xxi., xxii.)- 
 
 The Analysis of Farrar is in substance the same, save 
 that the headings of 4, 6, and 7 are changed as follows : 
 
 4. The Seven Mystic Figures (xii. — xiv.). 
 
 (i) The Sun-clothed Woman (xii. 1-6). 
 
 (2) The Red Dragon (xii. 7-12). 
 
 (3) The Man-child (xii. 13-17). 
 
 (4) The First Beast from the Sea (xiii. i-io). 
 
 (5) The Second Beast from the Land (xiii. 11-18). 
 
 (6) The Lamb on Mount Zion (xiv. 1-13). 
 
 (7) The Son of Man on the Cloud (xiv. 14-20). 
 
 6. The Doom of the Foes of Christ (xvii. — xx.). 
 
 7. The Blessed Consummation (xxi., xxii.). 
 
 We believe that the following analysis will bring out 
 very clearly the scope and aim of the Book. 
 
 I. The Prologue (i. 1-20). 
 
 1. The Inscription (i. 1-3). 
 
 2. The Salutation (i. 4-8). 
 
 3. The Place and Time of the Vision (i. 9-1 1). 
 
 4. The Vision of the Son of Man (i. 12-16). 
 
 5. The Apostle's Commission (i. 17-20). 
 
 II. The Epistles to the Seven Churches (ii. i — iii. 22). 
 
 6. The Epistle to the Church in Ephesus (ii, 1-7). 
 
 7. The Epistle to the Church m Smyrna (ii. 8-1 1). 
 
 8. The Epistle to the Church in Pergamum (ii. 12-17). 
 
 9. The Epistle to the Church in Thyatira (ii. 18-29). 
 
 10. The Epistle to the Church in Sardis (iii. 1-6). 
 
 11. The Epistle to the Church in Philadelphia (iii. 7-13). 
 
 12. The Epistle to the Church in Laodicea (iii. 14-22). 
 
INTRODUCTION. Ixiii 
 
 III. The Vision of God on His Heavenly Throne (iv. i — v. 14). 
 
 13. The Vision of the Divine Majesty (iv. 1-8). 
 
 14. The Unceasing Hymn of Praise (iv. 9-1 1). 
 
 15. The Book with Seven Seals (v. 1-7). 
 
 16. The Adoration of the Lamb (v. 8-14). 
 
 IV. The Opetiing of the Seven Seals (vi. I — viii. i). 
 
 17. The Opening of the First Seal (vi. i, 2). 
 
 18. The Opening of the Second Seal (vi. 3, 4). 
 
 19. The Opening of the Third Seal (vi. 5, 6). 
 
 20. The Opening of the Fourth Seal (vi. 7, 8). 
 
 21. The Opening of the Fifth Seal (vi. 9-1 1). 
 
 22. The Opening of the Sixth Seal (vi. 12-17). 
 
 23. The Sealing of the Servants of God (vii. 1-8). 
 
 24. The Triumph of the Tribulation Saints (vii. 9-17). 
 
 25. The Opening of the Seventh Seal (viii. i). 
 
 V. The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets (viii. 2 — xi. 18). 
 
 26. The Sounding of the First Trumpet (viii. 2-7). 
 
 27. The Sounding of the Second Trumpet (viii. 8, 9). 
 
 28. The Sounding of the Third Trumpet (viii. 10, 11). 
 
 29. The Sounding of the Fourth Trumpet (viii. 12). 
 
 30. Introduction to the Three Woe-Trumpets (viii. 13). 
 
 31. The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet, or the First Woe (ix. i- 
 
 13). 
 
 32. The Sounding of the Sixth Trumpet, or the Second Woe (ix. 
 
 13-21). 
 
 33. The Vision of the Little Book (x. i-ii). 
 
 34. The Measuring of the Temple (xi. i, 2). 
 
 35. The Prophesying of the Two Witnesses (xi. 3-14). 
 
 J 36. The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, or the Third Woe 
 
 (xi. 15-18). 
 
 VI. The Persecution of the Wotnan by the Dragon (xi. 19 — xii. 17). 
 
 37. The Vision of the Woman and the great Red Dragon (xi. 19 — 
 
 xii. 6). 
 
 38. The War between Michael and the Dragon (xii. 7-9). 
 
 39. The Rejoicing in Heaven at the Fall of Satan (xii. 10-12). 
 
 40. The Deliverance of the Woman (xii. 13-17). 
 
 VII. The Vision of the Two Beasts (xiii. 1-18). 
 
 41. The Vision of the First Beast (xiii. i-io). 
 
 42. The Vision of the Second Beast (xiii. 11-18). 
 
Ixiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 VIII. Visions culminating in ike Harvest and Vintage (xiv. l-2o). 
 
 43. The Vision of the Lamb with the 144,000 (xiv. 1-5). 
 
 44. The Vision of the First Angel of Judgment (xiv. 6, 7). 
 
 45. The Vision of the Second Angel of Judgment (xiv. 8). 
 
 46. The Vision of the Third Angel of Judgment (xiv. 9-12). 
 
 47. The Proclamation of the Blessedness of the Holy Dead 
 
 (xiv. 13). 
 
 48. The Vision of the Harvest or Ingathering of the Saints 
 
 (xiv. 14-16). 
 
 49. The Vision of the Vintage or Ingathering of the Wicked 
 
 (xiv. 17-20). 
 
 IX. The Seven Bcnvls of Wrath (xv. i — xvi. 21). 
 
 50. The Vision of the Seven Angels (xv. i). 
 
 51. The Song of the Victors (xv. 2-4). 
 
 52. The S«ven Angels receive Seven Bowls of Wrath (xv. 5-8). 
 
 53. The First Bowl of Wrath (xvi. i, 2). 
 
 54. The Second Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 3). 
 
 55. The Third Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 4-7). 
 
 56. The Fourth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 8, 9). 
 
 57. The Fifth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 10, 11). 
 
 58. The Sixth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 12-16). 
 
 59. The Seventh Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 17-21). 
 
 X. The Vision of the Harlot and the Beast (xvii. 1-18). 
 
 60. Description of the Great Harlot (xvii. 1-6). 
 
 61. Explanation of the Scarlet-Colored Beast (xvii; 7-14). 
 
 62. The Mystery of the Woman (xvii. 15-18). 
 
 XI. The Vision of the Fall of Babylon (xviii. 1-24). 
 
 63. The Fall of Babylon announced (xviii. 1-3). 
 
 64. Warning to the Saints (xviii. 4-8). 
 
 65. The Lament of Kings, Merchants, and Mariners over the 
 
 Fall of Babylon (xviii. 9-19). 
 
 66. The Angel calls upon the Inhabitants of Heaven to rejoice 
 
 (xviii 20). 
 
 67. Symbolic Proclamation of Babylon's Fall (xviii. 21-24). 
 
 XII. The Vision of the Second Advent (xix. 1-21). 
 
 68. The Song of Triumph in Heaven (xix. 1-8). 
 
 69. The Blessedness of those bidden to the Marriage Supper of 
 
 the Lamb (xix. 9). 
 
 70. The Angel forbids John to worship him (xix. 10). 
 
 71. The Vision of the Second Advent (xix. 11-16). 
 
 72. The Victory over the Beast and the False Prophet (xix. 17-21). 
 
INTRO D UC TION. Ixv 
 
 XIII. The Events Culminating in the Final Consummation (xx. 1-15). 
 
 73. The Binding of Satan (xx. x-3). 
 
 74. The Millennial Kingdom of Christ (xx. 4-6). 
 
 75. The Final Victory over Satan (xx. 7-10). 
 
 76. The Final Judgment of the Wicked (xx. 11-15). 
 
 XIV. The New Heavens and the New Earth (xxi. i — xxii. 5). 
 
 77. The Vision of the New Heavens and the New Earth (xxi. i-S). 
 
 78. The Vision of the New Jerusalem (xxi. 9-27). 
 
 79. The Paradise of God (xxii. 1-5). 
 
 XV. The Epilogue (xxii. 6-21). 
 
 80. An Assurance of the Truth of the Apocalypse (xxii. 6, 7). 
 
 81. The Testimony of John Himself (xxii. 8, 9). 
 
 82. The Final Message of the Angel (xxii. 10, 11). 
 
 83. The Testimony of Jesus (xxii. 12-17), 
 
 84. Conclusion (xxii. 18-21). 
 
 This analysis and the interpretation which we have 
 been led to adopt shows that with Hengstenberg, Farrar, 
 and others, we divide the Apocalypse into Seven Groups 
 of Visions, of which the five following the Seven 
 Epistles, and preceding the Final Consummation, by a 
 process of repetition (or recapitulation) and amplification, 
 five times give us a description of the times of Anti- 
 christ and the Second Coming of Christ, or blended 
 with it a description of the Final Consummation. These 
 various groups of Visions may therefore be arranged as 
 follows : 
 
 1. The Visions of the Seven Epistles (i. — iii). 
 
 2. The Visions of the Seven Seals (iv. — viii. i). 
 
 3. The Visions of the Seven Trumpets (viii. 2 — xi. iS). 
 
 4. The Visions culminating in the Harvest and Vintage (xii. — xiv.). 
 
 5. The Visions of the Seven Bowls of Wrath (xv., xvi.). 
 
 6. The Visions of the Doom of the Foes of Christ (xvii. — xx.) 
 
 7. The Visions of the New Heavens and New Earth (xxi., xxii.). 
 
THE REVELATION 
 
 OF 
 
 ST. JOHN THE DIVINE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I. The Inscription (i. 1-3). 
 
 The first three verses may be regarded as the super- 
 scription to the whole book, setting forth the prophetic 
 character of the Apocalypse and commending it to the 
 Church. In this Preface we have a statement (i) from 
 whom this Revelation comes (i : i), (2) of the fidelity 
 with which it is reported (i : 2), and (3) of the blessing 
 which follows a faithful reception of the same (i : 3). 
 
 I. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to shew unto 
 his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass : and he sent 
 and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. 
 
 The Revelation. The Greek work is Apocalypse, whence 
 the name so often given to this book. This word is fre- 
 quently used in the N. T. and means the uncovering or 
 unveiling of what was before concealed. Nothinsr is 
 gained by those interpreters who wrongly insist that 
 "the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him," 
 means " the appearing of Christ," His Second Advent, 
 His Parousia, for this is the great theme of the whole 
 book, and it is concerning this that this Revelation is 
 made by Jesus Christ through an angel unto John. Of 
 
 I 
 
a THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. i. 
 
 Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ, the risen and ascended 
 Lord, who makes this revelation to John, for it is Christ's 
 distinctive office as a prophet to make known to the 
 Church the mysteries of God (Matt. 1 1 : 27). Which 
 God gave him. At the time when Christ ascended on 
 high, and according to His human nature was exalted at 
 the right hand of God, — when the Father " made him to 
 sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all 
 rule, and authority, and powsr, and dominion, . . . and 
 put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him 
 to be head over all things to the church" (Eph. i : 21, 
 22). This does not in any way conflict with Christ's 
 statement as recorded in Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32. 
 It was in His state of humiliation, speaking as a mere 
 man, that Christ tells us that no one knoweth the day 
 and the hour of the Second Coming of the Son of man, 
 " not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son " (ac- 
 cording to His human nature in the state of humiliation), 
 " but the Father only." But it is different now in His 
 state of exaltation, for Christ has now entered upon the 
 full use of all the divine attributes, so that now His 
 human nature forever participates in the Omniscience of 
 His divine nature. The Father as the First Person of 
 the Trinity is forever the fountain of all knowledge, grace, 
 and glory, but what the Father has He gives to the Son 
 (John 5 : 26, 27). We are not to suppose that the Son 
 in His exalted and glorified condition did not know the 
 things here revealed, and that the Father by a special 
 act had to make them known to His Son. To shew unto 
 his servants. Most probably Jiis refers to Jesus Christ, 
 not to God. In this case servants would denote all 
 Christians, and not, as some maintain, the propJiets only. 
 Even the things. It is best to omit even as in the margin 
 of R. v., making this clause the direct object of to skew. 
 
I. i] CHAPTER I. 2 
 
 The R. V. ill the text regards this clause as a further 
 description of the " Revelation which God gave," but in- 
 correctly. Which must shortly come to pass. The two 
 
 Greek words translated shortly have been the cause of 
 much discussion. The Preterists, who maintain that the 
 predictions of this whole book were fulfilled within a 
 comparatively short time after the Apostle wrote, insist 
 
 that their interpretation is already corroborated here for 
 
 it is distinctly stated that these things must shortly, i, e. 
 before long, come to pass. Many of the Historical School, 
 who look upon the series of visions as embodying a con- 
 tinuous history from the Ascension to the Second Advent, 
 accepting this translation.?//^/-//;/, interpret, "before long," 
 i. e, as time is computed by God understood in the light 
 of 2 Pet. 3 : 8, — not that the events are close at hand, — 
 and reference is made to the same Greek words translated 
 speedily in Luke i8 : 8, where the context shows that 
 long delay is implied. Some of the Historical Inter- 
 preters and most of the Futurists insist that we should 
 translate quickly, i. e. swiftly, as referring to the rapidity 
 with which the events prophesied, at the appointed time, 
 shall come to pass. Alford is probably right when he 
 observes " that these words cannot with any fairness be 
 used as furnishing a guide to the interpretation of the 
 prophecy. They are far rather to be regarded as a pro- 
 phetic formula, . . . used in order to teach us how short 
 our time, and tlie time of this our world, is." He sent. 
 That is, Jesus Christ sent. And signified it. Not it 
 the Revelation, but better, as in the margin of the R. V., 
 them, i. e. "the things which must shortly come to pass." 
 MiLLlGAN : " The word signified must be allowed to 
 stand in all its own obsolute solemnity and force. It is 
 by no means improbable that in this word there is special 
 reference to 'signs,' to the figures which are to be used 
 
4 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 2. 
 
 in the book, and which need to be interpreted. The 
 word may indicate not only prophetic intimation (John 
 12 : 33; 18 : 32; 21 : 19; Acts ii : 28), but the manner 
 in which such intimation was usual among the prophets 
 (see especially Ezekiel and Zechariah), that is, by ' signs,' 
 significant acts, and parabolic words." By his angel. 
 Just as the law was given " through angels," by the hand 
 of Moses (Gal. 3 : 19), and as Daniel and Zechariah re- 
 ceived interpretations of their visions through angels 
 (Dan. 8 : 16; 9 : 21 ; 10 : ii, etc. ; Zech. i : 19 ; etc.), so 
 this whole revelation was given to John through media- 
 tion, though only here and there does an angel actually 
 appear as the interpreting angel (17:1,7; 19 : 9 ; 21 : 9 ; 
 etc.), and it is difficult to decide whether one particular 
 angel acts as interpreter, or whether different angels act 
 as spokesmen throughout the book. Unto his servant 
 John. The Apostle John who wrote this prophecy. See 
 Introductioji. 
 
 2. Who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of 
 Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. 
 
 John does not here refer to his Gospel, as some main- 
 tain, but he uses " the epistolary aorist," in the sense 
 " who bears witness," in this present work. John here 
 gives us a guarantee of the faithfulness with which this 
 revelation made to him has been recorded. This proph- 
 ecy is called the word of God, because it proceeds from 
 God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, because He as 
 "a faithful witness" (i : 5 ; 3 : 14) made it known to 
 John. Wordsworth : " St. John thus intimates that 
 what he writes in the Apocalypse is not from himself, 
 but from God ; that it is not from any private imagina- 
 tion, but that it is the testimony of Christ ; and that he 
 writes whatever he saw in the visions of God." 
 
I. 3, 4.] CHAPTER I. 5 
 
 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the proph- 
 ecy, and keep the things which are written therein : for the time is at 
 hand. 
 
 The Apostle pronounces a blessing upon two classes of 
 persons : (i) upon the public reader in the church or con- 
 gregation, whom he regards faithful, and (2) upon those 
 who hear and mind the things of this prophecy. Just as 
 the Law and the Prophets had been read in the synagogue, 
 so the Gospels and Epistles came to be read in the 
 Churches generally, in the course of the second century. 
 To keep the things which are written in this prophecy is 
 to observe them in such a way that our practical conduct 
 shall be governed by them. He that readeth, and they 
 that hear, are only blessed if they mind " the several ex- 
 hortations to repentance, faith, patience, obedience, 
 prayer, watchfulness, stedfastness, which are scattered up 
 and down in the prophecy " (Alford). For the time 
 is at hand. The appointed time when these things shall 
 come to pass. 
 
 2. The Salutation (i. 4-8). 
 
 This salutation divides itself into three parts : (i) the 
 address and greeting to the Seven Churches of Asia (i : 4, 
 5«); (2) a doxology of adoration (i : 5^,6); (3) the an- 
 nouncement of Christ's glorious victory at His coming, — 
 the great theme of the book (1:7, 8). 
 
 4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and 
 peace, from him which is and which was and which is to come {which 
 cometh) ; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne. 
 
 These seven churches are named in i : 1 1. By Asia is 
 meant Proconsular Asia (i Cor. 16 : 19), the western part 
 of what we now call Asia Minor. Its capital was Ephesus, 
 where John resided after 70 A. D., and exercised his ofifice 
 of oversight over the neighboring churches. There were 
 
6 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 4. 
 
 more than seven churches in this district, but John evi- 
 dently had special oversight over these, Tertullian 
 already calls our attention to the fact that if we trace the 
 history of their origin we shall find that John was the 
 founder of most of them. Seven is the number of per- 
 fection, and many commentators consider these seven 
 churches to represent " the Holy Church throughout all 
 the world." Chrysostom writes, " The seven churches 
 are all churches on account of the seven Spirits." Au- 
 gustine maintains " that by the seven is signified the per- 
 fection of the Church universal ; and that by writing to 
 the seven he shows the fulness of one." " Through these 
 seven churches," says Bede, "he writes to every church. 
 For by the number seven is denoted universality." We 
 may, at least, with the devout Isaac Williams, affirm that 
 John writes, "first to the seven metropolitan churches, 
 and in them to all the other churches in the Lydian Asia, 
 the patriarchate of St. John ; and from thence to all 
 churches then in the world ; and thence to those of all 
 time." Grace to you and peace. All spiritual blessings 
 have their source in \.\\q grace oi God, and the effect of the 
 reception of divine grace is that state of blessedness known 
 2& peace. So also in i Pet. i : 2 ; 2 Pet. i : 2 ; 2 John 3, in 
 which latter passage " mercy " is added. From him which 
 is and which was and which is to come. The grammatical 
 inaccuracy in the Greek here, after a preposition govern- 
 ing the genitive, adds to the sublimity of the language. 
 The Father is here described by a paraphrase, reminding 
 us of Ex. 3 : 14, as He ivJio is and He zvJio zvas and He 
 who cojnes. The whole phrase is used as an indeclinable 
 noun, the name of Him who is absolute and unchangeable. 
 It is highly probable that God the Father is here described 
 in His covenant relation to His people as Jehovah. On 
 the clause tvhich is to come, MiLLlGAN remarks: " God 
 
I. sa.] CHAPTER 1. 7 
 
 is here contemplated as the redeeming God, and that as 
 such He comes, and will come, to His people. The Son 
 is never alone even as Redeemer. . . . When He comes 
 the Father comes, according to the promise of Jesus 
 (John 14 : 23). As, therefore, throughout this whole 
 book the Son is the ' coming ' One, so the same term is 
 here properly applied to the Father." And from the 
 seven Spirits. These seven Spirits which are before His 
 throne (3:1:4:5; 5:6) represent the Holy Spirit as 
 seven-fold in His operations, because in the One Spirit is 
 all fulness and perfection. Compare the " seven eyes " 
 of Zech. 3 : 9 ; 4 : 10. It is said that they are " before 
 his throne," because connected with God's authority and 
 government. DUESTERDIECK : " These seven Spirits 
 belong to God and Christ Himself in a way other than 
 can be conceived of any creature. But they cannot be 
 regarded mere attributes. . . . Essentially, nothing else 
 can be understood than 'the Spirit' who speaks to the 
 churches (2 : 7, li, 29), and the Spirit of Christ (3:1; 
 5 : 6) whomakes men prophets (see also 14 : 13 ; 22 : 17)." 
 Alford : " The seven Spirits betoken the completeness 
 and universality of working of the Holy Spirit, as the 
 seven churches typify and indicate the whole Church." 
 These seven Spirits are not the seven principal angels 
 (Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Sealthiel, Jehudiel, 
 Barachiel), as has been inferred by some. 
 
 5^. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of 
 the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. 
 
 This greeting to the seven churches is given in the 
 name of the three Persons of the Trinity, first from the 
 Father, then from the Holy Spirit, and here the saluta- 
 tion is from the Son. We might have expected the Son 
 to be spoken of before the Spirit, but the reason the Son 
 is placed last is because John wishes to call especial at- 
 
8 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 5^, 6. 
 
 tention to the works of the Son, and His Coming in 
 glory (i : 5-8), the great theme of the book. Three 
 things are here afifirmed of the risen and exalted Lord. 
 Who is the faithful witness. The insertion of ivJio is in 
 the text indicates that we have here another grammati- 
 cal peculiarity, all the three designations of Christ being 
 in the nominative. This gives prominence to these 
 three titles given to our Lord. Christ was indeed d, faith- 
 ful witness while on earth and sealed His testimony by 
 His death as a faithful martyr, but it is probably better to 
 refer this title Jiere to His exalted condition, for all three 
 titles refer to His glorified state. Christ's witness is the 
 absolute truth of God, and whatever He has revealed 
 to John will most surely come to pass (3 : 14; 19: 11 ; 
 21 : 5 ; 22 : 6). The firstborn of the dead. St. Paul 
 speaks of the risen Christ as "the firstfruits of them that 
 are asleep" (i Cor. 15:20), "the firstborn from the 
 dead" (Col. i : 18), and as Christ is now " alive for ever- 
 more and has the keys of death and of Hades " (i : 18), 
 this title reminds believers of the glorious fact that Christ 
 will also raise them from the dead (John 6 : 40, 44, 54; i 
 Cor. 6 : 14 ; 2 Cor. 4 : 14). The ruler of the kings of the 
 earth. Christ indeed attained this kingly powerthrough 
 His death and resurrection at the time of His exaltation 
 (Matt. 28 : 18 ; Phil. 2:9-11; Eph. i : 20-23), but the 
 manifestation of this will take place at the time of the 
 Second Advent (6:15; 17 : 14; 19 : 16). Compare Ps. 
 89 : 27 ; Isa. 55:4. In the three titles given to Christ in 
 this verse we may see a reference to His three-fold office 
 as prophet, priest, and king. 
 
 ^b, 6. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his 
 blood; and he made us to be z. kingdom, to be priests unto his God and 
 Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 The Apostle now breaks forth in a doxology of praise 
 
1. sb, 6.] CHAPTER I. 9 
 
 to Christ for His inestimable love for us. That loveth 
 us. Christ loves us now even amidst the glory of His 
 exalted state, and this love continues forever. And 
 loosed us from our sins. The aorist points to a definite 
 time when this took place. It was when Christ pur- 
 chased us with His blood (5 : 9) by His death on the 
 cross. See notes on i Pet. i : 18, 19; 2 : 24. The read- 
 ing zvashed'xs not so well attested, although there is only 
 the difference of one letter between the two original Greek 
 words. If this were the true reading, this washing from 
 our sins would have taken place at the time of our bap- 
 tism. He made us a kingdom. The change from the 
 participial to the direct construction is after a Hebrew 
 idiom. It is not said here that believers are made 
 "kings," but we are made "a kingdom." This is the 
 correct reading. Collectively believers form the kingdom 
 of God. On the Futurist conception of the kingdom see 
 Excursus I. The Apostle now passes to the individual 
 designation of believers, — they are priests unto his God 
 and Father. In the kingdom, sharing its privileges, each 
 Christian is 3. priest. So likewise Peter (quoting exactly 
 the Greek of Ex. 19 : 6, which, however, is a correct ren- 
 dering of the Hebrew a kingdom of priests) speaks of a 
 royal priesthood, calling it royal, because the Church is a 
 kingdom, of which all the members are priests. See also 
 Rev. 5 : 10. For the nature of this Universal Priesthood 
 of believers see notes on i Pet. 2 : 5. DUESTERDIECK : 
 " The priesthood of all the redeemed lies in this, that they 
 come immediately to God, offer to Him their prayers, 
 and further give themselves peculiarly to Him in holy 
 obedience and spiritual service." To him be the glory 
 and the dominion. Ascribed to Jesus Christ. This 
 two-fold doxology becomes three-fold at 4 : 11, four- 
 fold at 5 : 13, and seven-fold at 7 : 12, the article in 
 
10 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [l. 7. 
 
 each case preceding each noun, thereby expressing uni- 
 versaUty. 
 
 7. Behold, he cometh with the clouds ; and every eye shall see him, 
 and they which pierced him ; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn 
 over him. Even so. Amen. 
 
 Behold, he cometh with the clouds. A graphic pro- 
 phetic summary of the contents and great theme of the 
 Apocalypse. This is the coming to judgment prophesied 
 of in Dan. 7:13, and so clearly foretold by Christ Him- 
 self (Matt. 24 : 29, 30 : Mark 1 3 : 26 ; Luke 21 : 27, " Im- 
 mediately after the tribulation of those days . . . they 
 shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory"). Compare also Mark 
 r4 : 62 ; Matt. 26 : 64. His coming " with the clouds " 
 does not denote so much the glory of His coming as the 
 terror of that Great Day. It is an unquestionable fact that 
 the coming of Christ is here described as a visible appear- 
 ance in connection with great events taking place on the 
 visible world. Every eye shall see him. For He shall 
 come openly and visibly (Matt. 24 : 30 ; Acts i : 11). 
 Absolutely all will see Him, believers and unbelievers 
 (Matt. 25 : 32), the living (Luke 18 : 7, 8) and the dead (i 
 Thess. 3 : 13), but here John especially refers to the fact 
 that all unbelievers, with shame, confusion, and terror, 
 shall behold Christ at His coming to judgment. They 
 which pierced him. "Those who were His murderers, 
 whether the Jews who delivered Him to be crucified, or 
 the Romans who actually inflicted His death " (Alford). 
 Ebrard thinks the reference is to converted Israel, which 
 is probably the true explanation. Indirectly this state- 
 ment is based upon John 19 : 37 and Zech. 12 : 10. The 
 fact that John in these two passages {liere and John 
 19 : 37) deliberately rejects the reading of the Greek 
 Bible and renders the original Hebrew of Zech. 12 : 10 
 
I- 8] CHAPTER /. , I 
 
 by the same Greek word, is almost a demonstration of 
 the common authorship of the Gospel and the Apoca- 
 lypse. And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. 
 
 That is, all the unbelieving Gentiles on the earth at the 
 time of Christ's coming to destroy Antichrist. This 
 mourning and wailing shall be one of dismay, in fear for 
 themselves in regard to the consequences of His coming, 
 not of penitence. So also Matt. 24 : 30. Milligan 
 rightly remarks that this whole verse " corresponds with 
 the object of the book, and the coming of Jesus is de- 
 scribed as that of One who comes to overthrow His ad- 
 versaries and to complete His triumph." Even so, Amen. 
 The fulfilment is doubly assured,— the Greek and Hebrew 
 forms being united as in 2 Cor. i : 20. This strong as- 
 severation answers to the " Thus saith the Lord " of the 
 propliets. 
 
 8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, which is and 
 which was and which is to come, the Almighty. 
 
 Alford, although granting that it is our Lord who 
 speaks in i : 17 and 22 : 13, maintains that we must 
 understand these words as being uttered by the Eternal 
 Father, on account of the titles here given to God. 
 Probably, however, it is better to ascribe them to the 
 Lord Jesus, who here identifies Himself with the Lord 
 Jehovah the God of Hosts of the O. T., so that these 
 words are spoken by Him of Himself, as undoubtedly 
 they are in 22 : 13. Nor need we be surprised that He who 
 is of one essence with the Father should afifirm of Him- 
 self these divine titles. WORDSWORTH : " These words, 
 applied by Christ to Himself (21 : 6: 22 : 13 ; i : 17, 18), 
 and compared with the declarations of Jehovah (Lsa. 41 : 
 4; 44 : 6; 48 : 12), are also a plain assertion of Christ's 
 divinity and co-eternity with the Father." The Alpha 
 and the Omega. The first and last letters of the Greek 
 
12 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 9. 
 
 alphabet, denoting "the first and the last" (i : 17; 22: 
 13), " the beginning and the end " (21 : 6; 22 : 13). All 
 that can be said is said when Jehovah has spoken. The 
 Almighty. This title occurs nine times in the Apoca- 
 lypse ; elsewhere in the N. T. only 2 Cor. 6 : 18. The 
 same Greek word is used in the Greek Bible to translate 
 Shaddai (Job 5:17) and Elohe Tscbhaoth, God of hosts 
 (Jer. 5 : 14; 15 : 16; 44 : 7; Amos 3 : 13; 4 : 13). This 
 eighth verse only emphasizes the certainty of the fulfil- 
 ment of verse 7, that Christ shall be victorious over all 
 His enemies. 
 
 3. The Place and Time of the Vision (i. 9-1 1). 
 
 The Introductory Vision (i : 9-20) readily divides itself 
 into three parts, (i) the statement of the place and time 
 of the Vision (i : 9-1 1), (2) the description of the appear- 
 ance of Christ in His Glory (i : 12-16), and (3) the com- 
 mission given to John by Christ Himself (i : 17-20). 
 
 9. I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and 
 kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called 
 Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 
 
 I John. So also 22 : 8, after the prophetic style of 
 Daniel (9:2; 12 : 5). In the tribulation and kingdom. 
 
 The fellowship of John with his readers was not simply 
 an outward one, but in Jesus, and this implied that as true 
 believers both the readers as well as John himself were 
 experiencing that " in the world ye have tribulation " 
 (John 16 : 33), and "that through many tribulations we 
 must enter into the kingdom of God " (Acts 14 : 22). 
 The order of words and the construction are peculiar, 
 but although the kingdojn in a certain sense has already 
 come, the thought of John here evidently is, the tribula- 
 tion is present, the kingdom in its blessed fulness ia 
 
I. 10.] CHAPTER I. 13 
 
 still future, and they who would attain it must endure 
 with patience. We are reminded of the exhortation of 
 James, " Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming 
 of the Lord. . . . Stablish your hearts : for the coming 
 of the Lord is at hand." (See notes on James 5 : 7, 8.) 
 Only hearts strong and steadfast in the faith can endure 
 tribulation and wrong patiently, with longsuffering. 
 Patmos. A rocky island, one of the Sporades, lying in 
 that part of the ^gean called the Icarian Sea, about 30 
 miles from land, just visible from Miletus. The Apostle 
 John was banished to this island during the last year of 
 the reign of Domitian (81-96 A. D.), probably to work 
 in the mines, evidently marble quarries, — from which 
 he was recalled to Ephesus the year following by the 
 Emperor Nerva. For the word of God. This does not 
 mean, as so many moderns would have us believe, that 
 John went to Patmos for the purpose of receiving this 
 revelation, or for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. 
 The construction is the same as in 6 : 9 ; 20 : 4, and 
 there can be but one true meaning. We have here a 
 plain statement of w^hat was the cause of John's exile. 
 It was because he had been faithful in proclaiming " the 
 word of God and the testimony of Jesus." 
 
 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great 
 voice, as of a trumpet. 
 
 I was in tlie Spirit. That is, fell in a state of ecstasy. 
 Four times do we meet with this expression in the 
 Apocalypse, and always at a crisis in the development of 
 the visions {here ; 4:2; 17:3; 21 : 10). Christ speaks 
 of David "in the Spirit " (Matt. 22 : 43), " in the Holy 
 Spirit " (Mark 12 : 36), calling Him Lord, and to be i)i 
 the Spirit is evidently the same as being in that ecstatic 
 state in which Peter was, when " in a trance he saw a 
 vision" (Acts 10 : 10, 11 ; 11:5), into which Paul fell 
 
14 THE REVELATION OF ST JOHN. [i. ii. 
 
 while praying in the temple at Jerusalem (Acts 22 : 17), 
 and in which he was when " he was caught up into 
 Paradise, and heard unspeakable words" (2 Cor. 12 : 4). 
 On the Lord's day. Undoubtedly here used, though for 
 the first time, to designate the first day of the week, the 
 day of the Lord's Resurrection. Many of the Early 
 Fathers used the Greek expression, here employed, of 
 the first day of the week. Futurists only injure their 
 cause when they insist that this expression refers to " the 
 Day of the Lord's Coming." It raises the suspicion that 
 all their arguments rest on no firmer foundation. It is 
 surprising that any Greek scholar should ever be found 
 to agree with them. I heard behind me. So also Ezek. 
 3 : 12, "Then the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind 
 me the voice of a great rushing." DUESTERDIECK sug- 
 gests that beJiind me refers *' to the unexpected, surpris- 
 ing utterance of the divine voice." A great voice. 
 This loud voice was like the sound of a trumpet. 
 MiLLIGAN maintains that this trumpet is not the 
 trumpet of festal proclamation (Num. 10 : 10; Joel 2 : 
 15), but the trumpet of war and judgment, " therefore 
 not merely one with a strong and clear sound, but with 
 a sound inspiring awe and terror, and corresponding in 
 this respect to the distinguishing characteristic of the 
 Lord in the further details of the vision." 
 
 II. Saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send // to the seven 
 churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto 
 Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 
 
 Saying. We have a right to infer that this voice 
 
 comes from Christ Himself (i : 17, 18). What thou 
 
 seest. All the visions which Christ gave to John and 
 
 which are recorded in this book. Write in a book. 
 
 Twelve times is the command given to John in the 
 
 Apocalypse to write {here; i : 19; 2 : i, 8, 12, 18 ; 3:1, 
 
I. 12.] CHAPTER I. 15 
 
 7, 14; 14 : 13 ; 19 : 9 ; 21:5), and there is no reason 
 why John should not have written down these visions at 
 the time that he received them. Send. When the roll 
 is written, covering the whole contents of the Apocalypse, 
 it is to be sent to the Seven Churches. The seven 
 churches are named in the order in which a messencrer 
 starting from Patmos or from Ephesus would successively 
 visit them, — going north from Ephesus to Smyrna and 
 Pergamum, then inland to Thyatira, southward to Sardis, 
 and southeasterly to Philadelphia and Laodicea. These 
 seven churches, though historical, evidently represent the 
 universal Church in all countries and ages. See notes on 
 I :4. 
 
 4. The Vision of the Son of Man (i. 12-16). 
 
 12. And I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And having 
 turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. 
 
 John turns round to see the one who uttered the" great 
 voice," and sees seven golden candlesticks or lainpstands, 
 and Christ Himself in the midst of them (i : 13). Prob- 
 ably he saw the lampstands first, and then the form of 
 the Lord appeared among them. In the tabernacle 
 there was one golden candlestick with seven branches 
 (Ex. 25 : 31, 32), although it seems that Solomon had 
 made ten for the Temple (i Kings 7 : 49). Here, how- 
 ever, John sees seven golden candlesticks, " for the one 
 golden candlestick of the Law (Ex. 25 : 31 ; Zech. 4 : 2) 
 becomes seven in the Church universal " (Williams). 
 There is nothing here to indicate whether the seven 
 golden candlesticks of the Apocalypse are to be con- 
 sidered as single or as seven-branched, but analogy would 
 suggest the latter. Alford : " Here there are seven 
 separate candlesticks, typifying as that one of the Taber- 
 
1 5 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 13. 
 
 nacles, the entire Church, but now no longer bound 
 together in one outward unity and one place. Each 
 local church has now its candlestick to be retained or re- 
 moved from its place according to its own works." These 
 candlesticks are figures of particular churches throughout 
 the world, together making the Church universal, fed by 
 the Oil of Holy Scripture, and illuminating the world 
 (After Wordsworth). 
 
 13. And in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a {the) son {Son) 
 of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the 
 breasts with a golden girdle. 
 
 The whole description of these verses (i : 13-16) aims to 
 set forth the majesty and glory of Christ's appearance. 
 In the midst of the candlesticks. To typify that the 
 candlesticks (churches) are supplied with the oil of divine 
 grace by Christ Himself, from whom all light-bearing 
 power comes, and who is present with His churches, and 
 watches over them. Like unto the Son of man. So 
 Daniel describes Christ (Dan. 7 : 13). Probably John in 
 vision saw Christ standing, not walking, as in 2 : i. 
 Clothed with a garment down to the foot. A garment 
 of supreme dignity, typifying that Christ was both a 
 High Priest and a King, — for a long white linen robe, 
 reaching down to the feet, was worn by priests as well as 
 by kings. We are reminded of the prophecy of Zech- 
 ariah (6 : 12, 13), "Behold, the man whose name is the 
 Branch ... he shall sit and rule upon his throne ; and 
 he shall be a priest upon his throne." We see Christ 
 here as the King-Priest arrayed in the apparel of kingly 
 and priestly dignity. Girt about . . , with a golden 
 girdle. The golden girdle may typify the kingly office. 
 Probably the best explanation is given by BOYD CARPEN- 
 TER : " The girdle is not around the loins, as though 
 ready for action and toil (Luke 12 : 35), but it is worn as 
 
I. 14, 15] CHAPTER I. 17 
 
 by one who rests from toil in the ' repose of sovereignty.' 
 The girdle is of gold, not interwoven with gold, as was 
 the high priest's girdle (Ex. 28 : 8), but pure gold, the em- 
 blem of a royal presence. Compare Isa. 11:5; Dan, 10 : 
 5 ; Eph. 6 : 14." Possibly Isa. 22:21 may shed some light 
 upon this passage, " I will clothe him with thy robe, and 
 strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy 
 government into his hands." MiLLIGAN : " We have 
 before us not only a Priest but a King, One who is already 
 a Priest upon His throne, a Priest after the order of Mel- 
 chizedek. But the thought of the King is prominent." 
 
 14. And his bead and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow ; 
 and his eyes were as a flame of fire. 
 
 White as white wool, as snow. Most generally inter- 
 preted as a symbol of purity, holiness, and glory (Isa. I : 
 18). This doubtless is true, but evidently there is also a 
 reference to Christ as the Eternal One, " the first and the 
 last"(i : 17, 19), for the same attributes are here ascribed 
 to Christ as Daniel assigns to "The Ancient of Days" 
 (Dan. 7 : 9), " whose eternity is designated by the white- 
 ness of his hair" (DUESTERDIECK). His eyes ... a 
 fiame of fire. So also 2:18; 19 : 12. Fire in Scripture 
 is the symbol of divine wrath. This symbolizes " omnis- 
 cience combined with holy wrath directed against all that 
 is unholy " (DUESTERDIECK.) 
 
 15. And his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a 
 furnace ; and his voice as the voice of many waters. 
 
 Like unto burnished brass. The exact meaning of the 
 Greek word, chalco-libanos, here used is not certain, — prob- 
 ably white brass, i. e. brass heated in a furnace to a 
 white heat. The whole imagery takes us back to Dan. 
 10 : 6, " his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet 
 like in color to burnished brass, and the voice of his 
 2 
 
1 8 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: [i. i6. 
 
 words like the voice of a multitude." Compare also Ezek. 
 43 : 2, " And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came 
 from the way of the east : and his voice was like the 
 sound of many waters ; and the earth shined with his 
 glory." MiLLIGAN : " All the features of this description 
 are those of majesty, terror, and judgment, — white . . . 
 as snoiv, absolute purity, — eyes . . . flame of fire, pene- 
 trating and consuming fire, — his feet, from the treading of 
 these burning feet no ungodly of any nation shall escape, 
 — the voice of many zvaters, the voice not simply loud and 
 clear, but of irresistible strength and power, a voice the 
 rebuke of which no enemy shall be able to withstand." 
 
 1 6. And he had in his right hand seven stars : and out of his mouth 
 proceeded a sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun 
 shineth in his strength. 
 
 In his right hand seven stars. These stars represent 
 " the angels of the seven churches." See notes on i : 20. 
 Christ is here represented as holding in His right hand, as 
 His own property, these seven stars (2 : i). This is 
 written for the consolation of believers in all the churches, 
 for Christ will protect and keep His own (John 10 : 28). 
 AlfORD : " Now that He holds them in His hand (2 : i), 
 He appears as their Guardian, their Provider, their Nour- 
 isher ; and, we may add, their Possessor." Out of his 
 mouth proceeded a sharp two=edged sword. Also 2 : 16; 
 
 19 : 15,21. Compare Isa. ii : 4, "he shall smite the earth 
 with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips 
 shall he slay the wicked ; " 2 Thess. 2 : 8. This sword is 
 the Word of God which proceeds out of His mouth (Eph. 
 6:17; Heb. 4 : 12). Many see in the tivo edges the Law 
 and Gospel. This is the weapon with which Christ will 
 subdue His enemies (Rev. 2 : 16 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 8). It is 
 probably best to refer this passage here principally to the 
 destroying and punishing power of the Word, convicting, 
 
I. 17, 18.] CHAPTER I. 19 
 
 judging, and condemning. DUESTERDIECK : " Of the 
 power of the Word of God, preached by Christ's min- 
 isters, striking the conscience and otherwise divinely 
 efficacious (Heb. 4 : 12; Eph. 6: 17), there is nothing 
 said here. The sword from the mouth of Christ is directed 
 against His enemies both within (2 : 12, 16) and without 
 (19 : 15, 21) the Church." His countenance ... as the 
 sun shineth. His face shone with the briUiancy of the 
 sun, when its hght is at the strongest. The dazzhng glory 
 of the Sun of Righteousness is intolerable to human eyes. 
 This signifies that the eyes of sinful man cannot look 
 upon the holiness and righteousness of the Son of man 
 when He comes to judgment. 
 
 5. The Apostle's Commission (i. 17-20). 
 
 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid 
 his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not. 
 
 As one dead. The effect of the divine appearance 
 upon John was one of mortal terror (Isa. 6:4; Dan. 8 : 
 17), for it is a dreadful thing for sinful man to stand face 
 to face with God. He laid his right hand upon me. 
 The same all-powerful right hand which held the stars, 
 and which on earth had brought so many blessings, also 
 brought assurance and comfort to John, and evidently 
 raised John to his feet (Ezek. 2 : i, 2). 
 
 18. I am the first and the last, and the Living one ; and I was dead, and 
 behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of 
 Hades. 
 
 In this verse we have three clauses describing the 
 glorious attributes which belong to the risen and glorified 
 Christ. The first clause, I am the first . . . and the 
 Living one, refers to the eternal pre-existence of the 
 Son, and to His unchangeable existence. We are not to 
 explain t lie first and tJie last as the first in glory, the last 
 
20 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. i8. 
 
 in humiliation, but the reference is to His eternity, as in 
 Isa. 41 : 4 ; 44 : 6 ; 48 : 12. The expression occurs three 
 times in the Apocalypse {here ; 2:8; 22 : 13). See also 
 notes on I : 8. That Christ should assume this attribute 
 proves that He is one with the Father in power, essence, 
 glory, and eternity. Christ, as the personal Son of God, 
 is absolutely the Living one from all eternity. The sec- 
 ond clause, I was dead . . . alive for evermore, has 
 reference to His work of Redemption. He becauie dead 
 refers to His state of Humiliation, but having risen from 
 the dead, now in His state of Exaltation, He is alive for 
 evermore. The last clause, 1 have the keys of death 
 and of Hades, refers to Christ's rule as the exalted king. 
 Wordsworth : " Christ holds the keys of Death, both 
 of natural and spiritual death ; of Natural Death, as He 
 proved by raising the dead, and by giving to His Apostles 
 the power of raising the dead, and by raising Himself 
 from the dead (John 5 : 21). He holds the keys of 
 Spiritual DeatJi. He quickens the soul, dead in trespasses 
 and sins, by His Word and Sacraments; and as the 
 appointed Judge of the quick and dead, He will condemn 
 the wicked at the Last Day to that spiritual death 
 which is called in the Apocalypse the Second Death (20 : 
 6, 14; 21 : 8)." Death is not the same as Hades, and is 
 here personified and regarded as having gates, and the 
 place of death, which also appears closed in with gates, 
 is Hades. In 6:8; 20 : 13, 14, Hades is in like manner 
 combined with death. The invisible world into which 
 all souls went at death, before Christ's resurrection, is 
 known in Scripture as Sheol {O. T.) or Hades (N. T.). It 
 embraced two parts, the place or state of bliss, and the 
 place or state of misery. 
 
 After Christ's resurrection, and especially His triumph 
 over Satan, Hades as such remained the abode of all evil 
 
I. 19.] CHAPTER I. 21 
 
 angels, including the souls of the ungodly dead (Rev. 
 20 : 13), and it is reserved as the fore-hell into which all 
 the souls of unbelievers now enter until the day of judg- 
 ment. But at Christ's glorious descent unto Hades as 
 the risen God-man (i Pet. 3 : 19 ; 4 : 6), great changes 
 were wrought in the condition of the souls of the saints. 
 That part of Hades known as Paradise before Christ's 
 resurrection has now yielded up its captives, for the Lord 
 Jesus " hath led captivity captive " (Eph. 4 : 8, 9). Christ 
 has snatched all the blessed dead from Hades, and ever 
 since Christ's resurrection from the dead and ascension 
 into heaven, the souls of the blessed dead, according to 
 the constant testimony of the N. T. Scriptures, are in 
 heaven with Christ, under the throne of His glory, and the 
 souls of all believers who now die enter immediately into 
 heaven (not into Hades), to be with Christ in joy and 
 glory, — there in blessedness to await the Second Coming 
 of Christ and their glorious resurrection, when with body 
 and soul reunited they shall enter upon their eternal glory. 
 (See Lutheran Commentary on General Epistles, pp. 147, 
 156, 157, 181.) MiLLlGAN is therefore right when he 
 maintains: "Neither^^«//!nor//rt<3'£'i- is to be understood in 
 a natural sense. The one is not simply death, but death 
 as a terrible power from which the righteous have es- 
 caped ; the other is a region peopled, not by both the 
 righteous and the wicked, but by those alone who have 
 not conquered death. Both words thus describe the con- 
 dition of all who are out of Christ, and are not partakers 
 of His victory. Yet, however they may be opposed to 
 Him, He has the keys of the prison within which they 
 are confined." (See Excursus H. on Hades.) 
 
 19. Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which 
 are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter. 
 
 Write therefore, with full assurance that all the things 
 
22 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [i. 20. 
 
 which I shall reveal to you will come to pass, for I have 
 all the power (i : 18). This word tJierefore supplies the 
 practical application, and the whole verse refers us back 
 to I : II. The things which thou sawest. Probably 
 referring to the vision recorded in i : 12-18. Others, how- 
 ever, do not limit it to this vision, but would include the 
 whole series of visions. The things which are. Some 
 (Bleek, De Wette, Ewald, Alford, Wordsworth) would 
 translate what it signifies, but it is far better to translate 
 as in the text. The things lohich are, which concern the 
 present state of the churches, as described in the seven 
 Epistles (Rev. ii. and iii.). The things which shaJI come 
 to pass hereafter, or after these. Which are described in 
 the visions recorded in Rev, iv. — xxi. It is difficult to 
 decide whether by the things zvhich shall come to pass are 
 meant the visions recorded in Rev. iv. — xxi., or the events 
 typified by these visions, — in either case the teaching is 
 the same, — but it is probably best to see in this verse the 
 indication of a three-fold division of the Apocalypse : (i) 
 I : 12-18, a past vision ; (2) ch. ii., iii., the present vision ; 
 and (3) ch. iv. — xxi., the future visions. 
 
 20. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, 
 and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the 
 seven churches : and the seven candlesticks are seven churches. 
 
 We now have the explanation of the vision of the 
 seven stars (i : 16) and of the seven golden candlesticks 
 (i : 12). The mystery. Probably governed by zvrite of 
 I : 19; others would take it absolutely. In my right 
 hand, Greek upon, i. e. resting on the Lord's right hand, 
 equivalent to the in of i : 16. The seven stars are the 
 angels. In the typical language of Scripture a "star" 
 is the symbol of highest dominion (Num. 24: 17; Isa. 
 14 : 12 ; Matt. 2 : 2), as well as of faithful or false teachers 
 (Dan. 12:3; Jude 13). By the angel oi the church, 
 
I. 20.] CHAPTER I. 23 
 
 therefore, is not to be understood " a guardian angel " 
 (Reuss, Alford, Weiss), nor " the personified spirit of a 
 congregation " (De Wette, Luecke, Duesterdieck, Geb- 
 hardt, Lange), nor " the collective presbytery " (Heng- 
 stenberg), but the chief minister or pastor, the individual 
 person or bishop who presided over the church. Many 
 Church of England commentators (Trench, Wordsworth, 
 Sadler, Lee) insist that the word angel here designates 
 the Bishop in the modern sense of the word, but this 
 cannot be satisfactorily shown. The seven candlesticks 
 are seven churches. See notes on i : 12, 13. A candle- 
 stick or lampstand is a striking emblem of a visible 
 church or congregation. It is a light-holder, aiming to 
 preserve and make visible the light that is in it. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 6. The Epistle to the Church in Ephesus (ii. 1-7). 
 
 Four views may be held as to the character of these 
 seven churches and the significance of these Epistles. 
 
 1. That we have here merely seven letters to seven 
 historical churches, describing the condition of each 
 church at the close of the first century, without any pro- 
 phetic reference to the future condition of the church, 
 and only valuable for instruction and reproof. This may 
 be called the Historical view. 
 
 2. That these letters have no proper historical char- 
 acter, no such churches existing at this time, but /r^//?r/z- 
 cally represent {a) merely seven consecutive periods of 
 Church History down to the end, or (/;) seven tendencies 
 existing synchronically in the Church, immediately be- 
 fore Christ's return, a favorite theory (with many modi- 
 fications) of a few extreme Futurists. This has been 
 called the Prophetic view. 
 
 3. That there were seven churches existing when the 
 letters were written, but that these were typical of seven 
 periods of Church History, succeeding one after another. 
 No two writers, however, are in harmony as to the exact 
 time covered by each of these seven periods which are 
 thus prefigured, although many are agreed that Ephesus 
 represents a picture of the Church at the end of the 
 Apostolical Age, whilst Laodicea pictures it as it shall 
 be in the period preceding the Second Advent. The 
 
 24 
 
CHAPTER II. 25 
 
 views of those who adopt this theory are substantially 
 the same as those presented by Vitringa {died 1722), and 
 may be presented in the following tabular form : 
 (i) Ephesus. The Church of First Love. 
 
 From John to the Decian Persecution. 250 A. D. 
 
 (2) Smyrna. The Persecuted Church. 
 
 From the Decian to Diocletian Persecution. 
 312 A. D. 
 
 (3) Pergaminn. The Confessing Church. 
 
 From the Diocletian Persecution to Charle- 
 magne. 8cxD A. D, 
 
 (4) Tliyatira. The Church united to the State. 
 
 From Charlemagne to the rise of the Waldenses. 
 1200 A. D. 
 
 (5) Sardis. The Church of Uncompleted Works. 
 
 From 1200 A. D. to the Reformation. 15 17 A. D. 
 
 (6) Philadelphia. The Faithful Church. 
 
 From the Reformation to the Present Time. 
 
 (7) Laodicea. The Professing but Lukewarm Church. 
 
 Lukewarmness before the Second Advent. 
 This is known as the Historico-PropJietical view. 
 
 4. A fourth view accepts the historical character of 
 these Epistles, but differs from the preceding in that it 
 regards the seven churches as representing the Universal 
 Church, and that " they are prophetic types of churchly 
 conditions which shall hold good until the end of the 
 world, . . . seven life-pictures contained side by side 
 through all the ages of the Church, — now one, and now 
 another, predominating, — one prevailing at this place and 
 another at that " (Lange). So. with many others, MlL- 
 LIGAN : " We have not merely before us seven letters to 
 seven individual churches, . . , but we have a represen- 
 tation or picture of the Church at large. . . . The seven 
 churches selected are preferred to others, because they 
 
26 THE REVELATION' OF ST. J0HI7. [ll. l. 
 
 appeared to the Apostle to afford the best typical repre- 
 sentation of the Church Universal." This fourth view 
 seems to be most in harmony with the aim and teaching 
 of the Apocalypse, — at least all are agreed " that the 
 words contained in these Epistles are applicable to and 
 intended for the guidance, warning, and encouragement 
 of the whole Church Universal, and its several parts, 
 throughout all time" (Alford). Lee also remarks: 
 " That the teaching of the seven Epistles is applicable for 
 reproof or for encouragement throughout all future time 
 is firmly to be maintained ; but that defiiiite periods of 
 the Church are here predicted, or that the Epistles refer 
 severally to successive aspects of the Divine Kingdom, 
 may well be doubted." See also notes on i : 4, and on 
 the Epistles themselves. 
 
 The plan of the seven Epistles is the same in all, and 
 all rest on the same fundamental thought — the Coming 
 of the Lord, as announced in i : 7. In each we find — 
 
 1. A command to write. 
 
 2. A crlorious title of our Lord. 
 
 o 
 
 3. An address to the angel of the church. 
 
 {a) A testimony and admonition. 
 {})) A prophetic announcement. 
 
 4. The conclusion. 
 
 {a) An appeal. 
 {p) A promise. 
 
 I. To the angel of the church in Ephesus write ; These things saith he 
 that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst 
 of the seven golden candlesticks. 
 
 The angel. Although the address of each Epistle is a 
 personal one, to the presiding pastor, yet it is addressed 
 also to the church represented as a whole, for each con- 
 gregation has a character of its own. We do not posi- 
 tively know who was the presiding pastor or bishop of 
 
II. 2.] CHAPTER II. 27 
 
 Ephesus at this time. Timothy, who had been appointed 
 bishop or overseer at Ephesus about 62-67 A. D. 
 (i Tim. I : 3), may still have been living. A tradition 
 (though not one on which we can implicitly rely) speaks 
 of his martyrdom about the time the Apocalypse was 
 written (96 A. D.). Ignatius, writing to this same Ephesian 
 church (107-116 A. D.), speaks of " Onesimus, who is 
 your bishop." In Ephesus. Ephesus was the chief city 
 of Ionia, lying near the sea, between Miletus and Smyrna, 
 noted for its commerce and Grecian culture, " the light 
 of Asia." Here Paul had labored during three years 
 (Acts 18 : 19 — 19 : 20 ; 20 : 31), and it had also been the 
 chief seat of John's later ministry. It contained the 
 magnificent temple of Diana, which was regarded as one 
 of the seven wonders of the world (Acts 19 : 27), the skill 
 of Praxiteles having contributed to its beauty. He that 
 holdeth the seven stars. The titles given to our Lord 
 in these Epistles are taken mainly from the imagery of 
 the preceding vision. (See notes on Rev. i : 16.) Christ 
 not only Jias the stars in His right hand, but He Jiolds 
 them, indicating the power with which He protects and 
 supports His people, for no one shall snatch those who 
 believe in Christ and follow Him out of His hand (John 
 10 : 28). He that walketh Christ is not only in the 
 midst of the candlesticks (i : 13), but He zvalkcth in the 
 midst of them, as if trimming the lamps and supplying 
 them with oil (Lev. 24 : 2-4), this designating His living 
 and actual presence among the churches. MiLLlGAN: 
 "Not one of their backslidings or errors escapes His 
 notice; they have no weakness which He will not 
 strengthen, no want which He will not supply." 
 
 2. I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not 
 bear evil men, and didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they 
 are not, and didst find them false. 
 
28 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. \\\. 2. 
 
 The address to the angel of the church follows, embrac- 
 ing verses 2-6. The angel or chief pastor or bishop is 
 addressed as the representative of the church, thus em- 
 phasizing the responsibility of the pastor's of^ce. The 
 first two verses (2, 3) seem to contain seven points of 
 commendation, (i) I know . . . thy toil and patience. 
 In five of these Epistles does Christ proclaim His divine 
 omniscience and His ever-watchful observation of what is 
 done in the churches, by the statement, I knozu thy tvorks 
 (2 : 2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15), and it is implied in the other two 
 Epistles (2 : 9, 13). By luorks is meant the external ac- 
 tivity in general, whereby the Church manifests her inner 
 life, and these works are here more accurately defined as 
 consisting of toil d.nd patience. It was especially dif^cult 
 for believers to lead a holy life in the profligate and idol- 
 atrous city of Diana, and it required toilsome labor, which 
 means more than simply labor in the service of the Lord. 
 The patience displayed, too, was not one simply of a 
 passive kind, but that active endurance which patiently 
 bore whatever suffering was inflicted by a hostile world. 
 We may also include the interpretation suggested by 
 Wordsworth : " The angel is praised because he unites 
 active toil with patient eridnrance ; and because he 
 exercises godly discipline in the correction of errors, and 
 yet practises Christian forbearance towards the erring. 
 A lesson to pastors and churches." (2) Thou canst not 
 bear evil men. They would not tolerate men who in 
 their very nature and character brought disgrace upon 
 the Christian name. It was at Ephesus that St. John 
 himself rushed out of the bath in which Cerinthus the 
 heretic was. (3) And didst try them which call themselves 
 apostles. St. Paul had warned the elders of Ephesus 
 against the false teachers that should arise among them 
 (Acts 20 : 29, 30), and they had profited by his warning 
 
II. 3, 4] CHAPTER II. 29 
 
 and had been zealous for pure doctrine. St. Paul speaks 
 of heretical teachers who claimed to be Apostles (2 Cor. 
 II : 13-15). These false teachers are not to be identified 
 with the Nicolaitans of verse 6. (4) And didst find them 
 false. It was found that these false teachers were liars. 
 Possibly they were Judaizing Christians sent from Jeru- 
 salem, trying to subvert the Gospel of Christ, or else de- 
 luded fanatics claiming apostolic inspiration. 
 
 3. And thou hast patience and didst bear for my name's sake, and hast 
 not grown weary. 
 
 (5) Thou hast patience. In practising Christian forbear- 
 ance towards the erring, — or probably better in patient 
 endurance under suffering. (6) And didst bear for my 
 name's sake. Thou didst suffer for my sake. MiLLIGAN: 
 " They had borne the burden laid upon them because of 
 the 'name ' of Jesus." (7) And hast not grown weary. 
 Thou toilest, but dost not feel the toil (WORDSWORTH). 
 Apparently greater praise could not have been bestowed 
 upon the Ephesian church. MiLLlGAN : " The chief 
 point of commendation in the state of the Christians at 
 Ephesus is their instinctive discernment and rejection of 
 false teachers, and their zeal for the true doctrine of 
 Christ as handed down by His commissioned and inspired 
 Apostles. Around this all else that in their case was 
 worthy of commendation centred." 
 
 4. But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. 
 
 Now follows the deserved reproof. WORDSWORTH: 
 " The Church is addressed as a Bride (2 Cor. 11 : 2), and 
 she is reproved for having abated the fervor of her early 
 love to God." In what particular the Ephesian church 
 had left her first love is not stated, but evidently " the 
 love of first conversion had waxed cold, and given place 
 
30 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 5. 
 
 to a lifeless and formal orthodoxy" (Alford). The 
 case of too many professing Christians now. 
 
 5. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do 
 the first works ; or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out 
 of its place, except thou repent. 
 
 To the reproof of verse 4 is added a three-fold exhorta- 
 tion (" remember, repent, reform "), with a threatening 
 of judgment. From whence thou art fallen. The first 
 love of the Ephesian church is regarded as a height from 
 which she has fallen. Repent. The tense indicates that 
 this repentance is to take place quickly, once for all. 
 The spiritual condition of the church was in a sad state. 
 Do the first works. Manifest the fruits of your first 
 love. SiMCOX : " Do again what love made thee do, 
 that thou mayest learn to love again." Else I come to 
 thee. In a special visitation of judgment. And will 
 move thy candlestick out of its place. That is, I will re- 
 move thy light, and thou shalt cease to exist as a church. 
 From a letter written to this same church by Ignatius, 
 Bishop of Antioch, not many years after the date of the 
 Apocalypse, we learn that this warning here given was 
 not unheeded, and he specially praises this church for not 
 allowing false teachers to sow their pernicious seed, and 
 for tolerating no heresy, — but at the same time the letter 
 gives evidence that the church seems to be still in danger 
 of waxing cold in their love, for Ignatius says : " All this 
 ye know, if your faith and your love be perfect in Christ ; 
 for faith and love are the beginning and end of life — 
 faith the beginning, love the end ; and both, when fitly 
 joined together, are of God." But the church at Ephesus, 
 planted by St. Paul and nourished by St. John, did not 
 remain faithful to her trust. Those who have visited the 
 ruins of that once famous city have borne witness to the 
 -literal fulfilment of this threatened judgment. 
 
11.6,7.] CHAPTER 11. 31 
 
 This warning declares an important doctrinal truth. 
 Any particular candlestick may be removed ; that is, any 
 one congregation may fail. But the light of the Christian 
 Church will never be extinct ; because Christ, who is the 
 Light of the world, is ever walking in the midst of the 
 candlesticks, and He has promised to be with His Church 
 always, even unto the end of the world (Matt. 28 : 20), 
 and to send the Holy Ghost to abide with her for ever 
 (John 14 : 16). (After WORDSWORTH.) 
 
 6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, 
 which I also hate. 
 
 Note the tender compassion of Christ, who does not 
 leave this church without another word of praise. Very 
 little is definitely known of the sect of the Nicolaitans. 
 Irenseus and others of the Early Fathers describe them 
 as deriving their name from Nicolas, one of the seven 
 deacons (Acts 6 : 5), and as leading dissolute and licen- 
 tious lives — but some of the Fathers deny that Nicolas 
 himself was responsible for their tenets and practices. 
 (See notes on Rev. 2 : 15.) It is sufficent to know, as 
 CEcumenius maintains, that they were " most impious in 
 doctrine, and in their lives most impure." Note that the 
 hatred is not directed against \.\i& persons but against the 
 tvorks of these evil men. 
 
 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of 
 life, which is in the Paradise of God. 
 
 He that hath an ear. This sentence occurs in each of 
 the Seven Epistles (2 : 7, 1 1, 17, 29 ; 3 : 6, 13, 22), mark- 
 ing the importance of the message. What the Spirit 
 here says to any one church is designed for all the 
 churches of the world. The idea is, we are not only to 
 hear but to give heed. The same expression was often 
 
32 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [ri. 7. 
 
 used by Christ while still on earth (Matt. 11:15; 13:9. 
 43; Mark 4:9,23; Luke 8:8; 14: 35). The Spirit 
 saith. " The revelation of Christ can be designated also 
 as an address of the Holy Ghost, because He is the 
 Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8 : 9, 10), and speaks in Christ's 
 name (John 16: 13,14)" (Duesterdieck). The work- 
 ing of the Son and of the Spirit' is never separated. To 
 him that overcometh. A phrase also repeated in each 
 of the Seven Epistles, but in each case its meaning is some- 
 what different because each church has a different form 
 of temptation. And here we may observe one point of 
 especial notice in these Epistles to the churches, that in 
 each not only the angel of the church is addressed, and 
 the church collectively, but also each individual in the 
 church. To eat of the tree of life. This tree of life is 
 not to be regarded as the Gospel, nor the Holy Spirit, 
 nor Christ Himself (so already Bede and Calovius, and 
 Ebrard, Milligan, and others), but the reference un- 
 doubtedly is to the tree of life, bearing twelve manner 
 of fruits, that shall be in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22 : 2, 
 14, 19; Ezek. 47 : 2), the antitype of the tree of life 
 which was in the first Paradise (Gen. 2 : 9). (So most 
 modern commentators.) The language and imagery 
 is from Gen. 2 : 9 ; 3 : 22. What this tree of life is, 
 whether it is an actual tree, or only typifies the contin- 
 ual and heavenly nourishment of eternal life in its full 
 fruition, we need not speculate. Which is in the Para- 
 dise of Qod. This word Paradise occurs three times in 
 the Greek Bible of the O. T. to translate the Hebrew for 
 " garden " (Gen. 2:8; 3:1; Ezek. 28 : 13). It is also 
 found three times in the Greek N. T. (Luke 23 : 43 ; 2 
 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2 : 7), and always translated Paradise. 
 It is always used of the place or abode of the children of 
 God. The first time we read of Paradise it was on earth, 
 
II. 8.] CHAPTER II. 33 
 
 the abode of God's children before the Fall. When we 
 hear of it the second time, it is no longer on earth, 
 but it has been transferred to the upper part of Hades, 
 under the earth, but it is still the abode of the children 
 of God, whither the souls of all the saints descended 
 before Christ's death and resurrection (Luke 23 : 43). 
 When we read of it again, after Christ's victory over 
 death, Satan, and Hades, it has been transferred to heaven 
 (2 Cor. 12 : 4). into which non', since Christ's ascension, 
 all the souls of the dying saints enter, to await their glori- 
 ous resurrection ; and this Paradise shall again be found 
 on earth, but on the new earth, for after the consumma- 
 tion of all things the tree of life shall stand in the Para- 
 dise of God (Rev. 2 : 7 ; 22 : 2), and God shall tabernacle 
 with His people (Rev. 21:3). 
 
 7. The Epistle to the Church in Smyrna (ii. 8-1 1). 
 
 8. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write ; These things saith 
 the first and the last, which was dead, and lived again. 
 
 Angel of the church. See notes on Rev. i : 20. It is 
 highly probable that Polycarp, the disciple of St. John, 
 was already bishop of Smyrna at this time. We know 
 that Polycarp suffered as a martyr 168 A. D., and that he 
 then declared that he had served Christ eighty-six years. 
 Ignatius writes to him as bishop of Smyrna some ten 
 years after the date of the Apocalypse. Smyrna. 
 Smyrna was about forty miles north of Ephesus, lying 
 on an excellent harbor of the yEgean Sea, and was one 
 of the most wealthy cities of Asia Minor, and is flourish- 
 ing even to this day, being the centre of the trade of the 
 Levant. The Christian Church at Smyrna, it is said, is 
 the only one of the seven churches which is still exist- 
 ing. The first and the last. The titles which Christ 
 3 
 
34 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 9. 
 
 here gives to Himself are taken from the vision recorded in 
 the first chapter. See notes on Rev. 1:18. And lived. 
 The aorist tense marks the historical fact of the resurrec- 
 tion. SiMCOX : " The attributes of death and life are 
 here especially ascribed to Christ, because the message 
 He sends is a promise of life to them who die for His 
 sake." 
 
 9. I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the 
 blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a 
 synagogue of Satan. 
 
 I know thy tribulation. Probably arising from the 
 persecutions of the heathen, instigated, as we may infer 
 from this verse, by the Jews. There is extant a letter 
 written, nearly a century later, by the church of Smyrna, 
 giving an account of the persecution in which Polycarp 
 suffered martyrdom (168 A. D.), in which they relate that 
 the y^wj- took an active part in hastening the death of 
 Polycarp by collecting the wood for the fire, — and even 
 after he had been burned, they tried to hinder the 
 Christians from gathering up his remains for burial. And 
 thy poverty. For most of the Christians were poor, and 
 what they did have was taken from them by their perse- 
 cutors. But thou art rich. Rich in faith and good 
 works. The blasphemy of . . . Jews. It is evident that 
 these revilers and slanderers were real Jews and not simply 
 Judaizing Christians. This blasphemy no doubt also in- 
 cluded a reviling of Christ Himself- Christ in His gracious 
 compassion knew what they had to endure from these 
 Jews who reviled them with such bitter and relentless 
 hatred. But these Jews are no longer worthy of the hon- 
 orable name by which they call themselves. They are no 
 longer " the synagogue or congregation of the Lord " 
 (Num. 16 : 3 ; 31 : 16), but they are become a synagogue 
 of Satan, because they do the works of Satan. 
 
II. 10.] CHAPTER II. 
 
 35 
 
 lo. Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the 
 devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and 
 ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
 give thee the crown of life. 
 
 This verse contains an exhortation to endure fearlessly 
 and faithfully the fresh persecutions which would imme- 
 diately arise. This tribulation shall proceed from the 
 devil, but only indirectly, for he would make use of 
 human agents, the heathens and Jews, the persecutors 
 spoken of in the last verse. Into prison. Persecution gener- 
 ally begins with imprisonment (Acts 8 : 3; 12 14; 16: 23; 
 26 : 10). That ye may be tried. Satan seeks their ruin, 
 for he hopes that those cast into prison may fall away. 
 Christ permitted this trial that their faith might h^ proved 
 and redound to their glory. Ten days. We are not to in- 
 terpret (i) ten years (Faber, Birks, etc.), nor (2) the ten 
 persecutions of the Christians (Stier, Ebrard, etc.) nor 
 (3) a very long time (Bede, etc.), nor (4) of persecution 
 carried to its full extent, couiplcte (Milligan, Plumptre, 
 etc.), but (5) it is probably best to take the number ten 
 — like nearly all the other numbers in the Alpocalypse — in 
 the symbolical sense as denoting a short time (De Wette, 
 Trench, Alford, etc.). Compare Gen. 24 : 55 ; Num. 11 : 
 19; I Sam. 25 : 38 ; Dan. i : 12. Perhaps, however, tlie 
 prediction may be interpreted literall}^, and may have 
 been fulfilled when Polycarp suffered martyrdom. At 
 least this was written for their consolation, that the 
 tribulation should last only a short and limited time, ten 
 days. Be thou faithful unto death. Some therefore had 
 to manifest their faith by enduring a martyr's death. In 
 the letter written by the church at Smyrna, referred to 
 in the last verse, we read : " The devil devised many 
 things against the martyrs, but, thanks be to God, he did 
 not prevail over tJiem all," thus signifying that the devil 
 
36 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [11. 11, 12 
 
 did prevail over some, — but that others like Polycarp zvere 
 faithful unto death, for " Polycarp by his patience over- 
 came the unrighteous ruler, and received the crown of 
 Immortality." All this proves that the Apocalypse was 
 known to the church at Smyrna. I will give. Christ 
 throughout these Epistles asserts that He is the distribu- 
 tor of rewards (2 : 7, 1 1, 17, 26, 23 ; etc.). The crown of 
 life. Eternal life itself is the crown. The expression 
 occurs only here and James 1:12 (which see). In 2 Tim. 
 4 : 8 we read of " the crown of righteousness," and in i 
 Pet. 5 : 4 (which see) of " the crown of glory." It is not 
 necessary to decide whether Christ had in view the dia- 
 dem of the king, or the wreatJi of the victor, but probably 
 it is best to think of the vietor s crown. 
 
 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 
 
 In the conclusion we have the same appeal as in 2 : 7 
 (which see). Shall not be hurt of the second death. 
 
 Notice that the promise to him that overcometh, in each 
 of the Seven Epistles, always corresponds to the work 
 done. By h&'ing faithful unto death they will by death 
 gain a crown of life and escape the second death. This 
 second death (also 20 : 6, 14 ; 21 : 8) is eternal death, the 
 eyerlasting misery of the body and soul of the wicked, 
 after their resurrection, in Gehenna, the place of final 
 punishment. (See Excursus II. on Hades) 
 
 8. The Epistle to the Church in Pergamum 
 (ii. 12-17). 
 
 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write ; 
 These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword; 
 
 We do not know who was bishop of Pergamum. (See 
 notes on Rev. i : 20.) Pergamum. This important city, 
 
II. 13.] CHAPTER II. 37 
 
 the seat of a Roman supreme court, was situated about 
 fifty miles north of Smyrna, distinguished for the temple 
 of iEsculapius, the god of medicine, which, on account of 
 the many cures performed there, vied in glory with the 
 temple of Diana at Ephesus, and the sanctuary of Apollo 
 at Delphi. It had also been famous for its large library 
 of 200,000 volumes, which, however, had been removed to 
 Alexandria by Antony and Cleopatra to increase the 
 glory of the Alexandrian library. We know nothing of 
 the origin of the church at Pcrgamum. The title by 
 which Christ is described, as having the sharp two=edged 
 sword, is taken from the vision recorded in i : 16 (which 
 see). 
 
 13. I know where thou dwellest, even where Satan's throne is : and thou 
 holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith, even in the days of 
 Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where 
 Satan dwelleth. 
 
 The church at Pergamum had been more severely tried 
 than any other, and Satan had succeeded in stirring up 
 persecution more effectually than anywhere else, for he 
 had proceeded so far as to shed martyr's blood. " Wheth- 
 er this may have been owing to the fact of the residence 
 of the supreme magistracy at Pergamum, or to some 
 fanatical zeal of the inhabitants for the worship of yEscu- 
 lapius, or to some particular persons dwelling there espe- 
 cially hostile to the followers of Christ, must remain un- 
 certain " (Alford). One thing, however, was certain, 
 that Satan had taken up his abode in Pergamum, and 
 had there set up his throne. This points with peculiar 
 emphasis to the temptations and dangers which the 
 Christians at Pergamum had to encounter. MiLLIGAN : 
 " In a city, where science itself was the very pillar of 
 witchcraft and idolatry, where licentiousness and wicked- 
 ness of every kind prevailed, Satan had been enabled to 
 
38 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 14. 
 
 put forth against the bodies of the Christians every evil 
 which envy at their souls' escape from him suggested." 
 Thou . . . didst not deny my faith. Christ speaks of 
 them as still holding fast his name, i. e. Christ Himself 
 personally as their Saviour, nor did they in the hour of 
 their great temptation deny faith in Him and fall away. 
 This commendation is all the more emphatic by the fact 
 that they remained faithful even in the days when persecu- 
 tion meant death. Of the martyr Antipas nothing histor- 
 ical is known. Later traditions make him to have been a 
 bishop of Pergamum, and by command of Domitian to 
 have been burned to death in the interior of a brazen bull, 
 made red-hot. It is strange to what extremes commen- 
 tators may go in trying to find a symbolic meaning 
 for the name Antipas. 
 
 14. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some 
 that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling- 
 block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to 
 commit fornication. 
 
 Though Christ had commended the church so highly. 
 He now reproves them for a few things, few as compared 
 with the things approved in verse 13. The church had 
 not used her power of discipline, hwi still permitted those 
 who taught false doctrine and led immoral lives to re- 
 main members of the church. Two classes of errorists 
 in both doctrine and life are referred to in this and the 
 next verse. That hold the teaching of Balaam, Some 
 of the professing members of the church not only ap- 
 proved of Balaam's teaching, but followed it. Balaam is 
 a strange character. His history is given in Num. 22 : i — 
 24 : 25 ; 31 : 8-16; Josh. 13 : 22. (See notes on 2 Pet. 
 2 : 15, 16.) Who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock 
 before the children of Israel. According to our text this 
 stuuiblingblock consisted of two things : The Israelites 
 
II. 15-] CHAPTER IT. 39 
 
 were enticed {i) to eat tilings sacrificed to idols, and (2) to 
 commit fornication. The counsel of Balaam to Balakwas 
 to entice the Israelites to fornication and to the idolatrous 
 worship of Baal-peor, by means of the women of Moab 
 (Num. 31 : 16 ; 25 : 1-3). The Israelites not only did 
 eat of the sacrifices made to their gods, but "bowed down 
 to their gods" (Num. 25 : 2), and " committed whoredom 
 with the daughters of Moab " (Num. 25 : i). The name 
 Balaam ever after became typical of one who played the 
 part of a teacher and of a seducer from the true and holy 
 worship of God (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 11). As Pergainum 
 was noted for its idol-worship and the impure character of 
 its heathen festivals, we can readily see how this teaching of 
 Balaam brought forth its bitter fruits, in idol-worship and 
 carnal sensuality, — for we have a right to infer that these 
 false members of the church had fallen into these grievous 
 sins. All of which only brought out more prominently 
 the sin of the church in Pergamum in not exercising 
 cJiurch discipline. What a lesson to many a Christian 
 congregation of the present day ! 
 
 15. So hast thou also some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans in 
 like manner. 
 
 This verse describes still another class of errorists that 
 were permitted to remain in the church in Pergamum. 
 They taught false views of Christian liberty, and led im- 
 moral lives, following in this the example of the Nico- 
 laitans (see notes on 2 : 6). In like manner with the 
 Balaamites of verse 14, they were guilty of the same 
 grievous sins, and there evidently was a close afifinity 
 between the Balaamites and the Nicolaitans, although it 
 is best to regard them as two distinct sects. No matter 
 what differences there may have been in their false theo- 
 ries, they practically reached the same goal of profligacy 
 and immorality, transgressing the very fundamental prin- 
 
40 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. i6, 17. 
 
 ciples underlying the Christian rehgion (i Cor. 8 : 7-13 ; 
 Acts 15 : 29). 
 
 16. Repent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I will make 
 war against them with the sword of my mouth. 
 
 We have here an admonition to the church to repent. 
 This repentance on the part of the bishops and the mem- 
 bers of the church would manifest itself in a two-fold 
 way, by seeking to convert these errorists from their evil 
 way, or by exercising church discipline. If the church 
 would not be zealous for purity of doctrine and life, then 
 Christ Himself would quickly visit them in punishment. 
 But if they repented, Christ gives the gracious promise 
 that the truth shall be victorious, for He Himself shall 
 aid in a special manner, and give efficacy to the word of 
 God, so that these errorists shall be overcome. 
 
 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna, 
 and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, 
 which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. 
 
 See notes on 2 : 7, 11. To him will I give of the hidden 
 
 manna. Pure, holy, and heavenly food as contrasted 
 with the polluted meats offered to idols. This bread of 
 heaven may be Christ's peculiar gift of Himself (John 6 : 
 48-58), to be the nourishment as well as the reward of 
 His faithful ones. This manna is hidden, because " our 
 citizenship is in heaven " (Phil. 3 : 20), and our spiritual 
 life " is hid with Christ in God " (Col. 3 : 3), and will not be 
 fully enjoyed until we enter upon our future glory (i John 
 3:2). A white stone. White is the color of victor)'' and 
 of purity. Of the many interpretations given of the white 
 stone we believe that given by Victorinus, Erasmus, Calo- 
 vius, Vitringa, Wordsworth, and others to be the most 
 satisfactory. ** In ancient courts of justice, the acquittal 
 of the criminal was declared by a majority oi white stones^ 
 
II. i8.] CHAPTER II. 41 
 
 cast into the judicial urn. Christ, the Redeemer of the 
 world, the Judge of the quick and dead, will pronounce 
 the acquittal of him that overcometh, at the Great Day 
 of Assize. This white stone is not only a stone of ac- 
 quittal, but it is a passport of admission to the spiritual 
 banquet of the life eternal in the heavenly Jerusalem " 
 (Wordsworth). And upon the stone a new name 
 written. This is evidently the neiu name bestowed upon 
 tlie believer, descriptive of his character, position, and 
 glory in the New Jerusalem. It is a name which no one 
 knoioeth but he that recciveth it, " because no one can enter 
 into Christ's presence by means of the merits of others ; 
 every one must give an account of himself to God, and 
 be rewarded according to his own works (Rom. 14 : 12) " 
 (Wordsworth). " Jacob, after he had wrestled with 
 the angel, received the new name of Israel. Wouldst thou 
 know what new name thou art to receive ? Overcome. 
 Till then thou wilt ask in vain ; but then thou shalt soon 
 read it on the white stone " (Bengel). 
 
 9. The Epistle to the Church in Thyatira 
 (ii. 18-29). 
 
 18. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write ; 
 
 These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes hke a flame of fire, 
 and his feet are like unto burnished brass. 
 
 Angel. We do not positively know who was bishop 
 of Thyatira. (See notes on Rev. i : 20.) Some from 
 ancient times have held that Carpus (not the one men- 
 tioned in 2 Tim. 4:13) was bishop, while others call the 
 bishop of Pergamum by that name. Thyatira. This 
 city was situated on the river Lycus, about forty miles 
 southeast of Pergamum, and its chief trade was the dyeing 
 of purple. Whether the church was founded by the Lydia 
 mentioned in Acts 16 : 14, 15, who was baptized with her 
 
42 THE REVELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [li. 19, 20. 
 
 household at Philippi, we cannot positively determine. 
 The Son of God. For the description which Christ gives 
 of Himself, see notes on i : 14, 15. The most remarkable 
 part of it is that He designates Himself the Son of God. 
 This does not conflict with 1:13, where John says that 
 he saw " one like unto the Son of man," for Christ is both 
 God and Man. Our Lord thus designates Himself here, 
 probably because in verse 27 there is reference to Ps. 2 : 
 7-9, where the glory of the Son is predicted. The Son 
 of God with. His eyes of flame penetrates everything, and 
 nothing impure shall escape from the treading of those 
 burning feet. 
 
 19. I know thy works, and thy love and faith and ministry and patience 
 and that thy last works are more than the first. 
 
 Thy works. See notes on 2 : 2. These works are 
 defined as manifesting themselves in a four-fold way. 
 Thy love , . . faith , . . ministry . . . patience. Two 
 
 groups of works are mentioned, in such order that the 
 members of the first group correspond to those of the 
 second. Love shows itself in ministry ; faith \n patience 
 or endurance (MiLLlGAN). This love was both to God 
 and men ; this ministry displayed itself in loving service 
 to all that needed it, — the sick, the poor, the orphan, the 
 aged. Faith is to be taken in its general sense, not 
 faithfulness, and proved itself in faithful and persever- 
 ing patience amidst all trying and suffering. Thy last 
 works are more than the first. In this there was a great 
 contrast between this church and that at Ephesus (2 : 5). 
 There was progress in all the works of this church. 
 
 20. But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, 
 which calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth and seduceth my 
 servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. 
 
 This church, like the one in Pergamum, was careless in 
 exercising church discipline. Thou sufferest the woman 
 
II. 21.] CHAPTER IT. 43 
 
 Jezebel. A particular woman is meant ; her name may 
 have been Jezebel, but probably not. The wickedness 
 of this woman, however, marked her as another Jezebel, 
 like that Sidonian queen, the wife of Ahab, who intro- 
 duced the worship of Baal, and caused the children of 
 Israel to commit fornication (2 Kings 9 : 22). This 
 woman pretended to be a prophetess and taught false 
 doctrines closely related to those of the Balaamites (2 : 
 14), and to those of the Nicolaitans (2 : 15), for the 
 practical end was the same — immorality and apos- 
 tasy. Many authorities, some ancient, read tJiy wife 
 Jezebel. This reading would make this false prophetess 
 the wife of the bishop. Some interpret this passage 
 figuratively, making Jezebel the name of a heretical party, 
 her sin of fornication designating idolatry and worldly 
 alliances, her children {2 : 23), disciples. In accordance 
 with this view we find the comment of WORDSWORTH : 
 " The heresy here reprehended is that of those who 
 said that it was not necessary to suffer martyrdom for 
 Christ ; and that, provided men had knowledge, there 
 was no sin in eating things offered to idols, and in com- 
 plying with all the requirements of the idolatrous per- 
 secutors of the Church." It is far better to retain the 
 literal meaning. LaNGE correctly says: "Jezebel was 
 a religious fanatic, who claimed to be a prophetess and 
 had founded a school of Antinomianism, in which an 
 impure intercourse of the sexes was reduced to a religious 
 system, and clothed in the garb of pious enthusiasm. 
 The name is symbolical, but not the sex. It should be 
 observed that the seduction to fornication occupies the 
 foremost place, and that more stress is laid upon it than 
 upon the eating of idolatrous sacrifices." 
 
 21. And I gave her time that she should repent; and she willeth not to 
 repent of her fornication. 
 
44 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 22, 23. 
 
 God had delayed His righteous judgment upon this 
 woman, and the time for repentance was still at hand, 
 but she had become so hardened in her evil ways, that 
 there was no hope for repentance. She willeth not to 
 repent. A remarkable statement showing the freedom 
 of the will in things that are evil. 
 
 22. Behold, I do cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery 
 with her into great tribulation, except they repent of her works. 
 
 From the bed of shame and infamy she should be 
 cast upon a bed of sickness and suffering. Some think 
 that this bed denotes the final punishment in Gehenna 
 or Hell. It will surely overtake her, but this is not the 
 meaning here. Those who shared in her deeds shall 
 also suffer punishment, which is described as a great 
 tribulation. Except they repent. The they may include 
 not only the parties in her adulteries, but those in the 
 church who tolerated her wicked ways (see verse 24). 
 
 23. And I will kill her children with death ; and all the churches shall 
 know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts : and I will give 
 unto each one of you according to your works. 
 
 Her children. We need not interpret, her actual 
 children of fornication, for it is strictly biblical to call 
 all those who share the evil deeds of Jezebel (verse 22) 
 her cliildren. With death. The great tribulation which 
 overtakes these adulterers terminates with the punish- 
 ment of death, — possibly with a reference to the punish- 
 ment visited upon such guilty ones (Lev. 20 : 10). AH 
 the churches shall know. Not only in Asia Minor, but 
 in all the world, wherever this Epistle shall be read. 
 Which searcheth the reins and hearts. This is an 
 attribute ascribed to the righteous God, " for the right- 
 eous God trieth the hearts and reins" (Ps. 7 : 9). These 
 two words " reins and heart " include the whole inner 
 
II. 24-] CHAPTER II. 45 
 
 and secret life of man. Christ as the Son of God, " with 
 his eyes like a flame of fire" (2 : 18), penetrates our inner- 
 most thoughts, and wlien the Lord cometh " he will 
 both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and 
 make manifest the counsels of the hearts ; and then shall 
 each man have his praise from God " (i Cor. 4 : 5). Unto 
 each one of you according to yonr works. Addressed 
 here specially to these guilty followers of Jezebel, but 
 true of all whether believers or unbelievers (Rom. 2 : 
 6-1 1). 
 
 24. But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have 
 not this teaching, which know not the deep things of Satan, as they say ; 
 I cast upon you none other burden. 
 
 This is addressed to the faithful in the church at 
 Thyatira, to those not infected either by the false doc- 
 trine or the impure life of Jezebel and her followers. 
 These faithful ones are described by two marks, in what 
 follows. The deep things of Satan, as they say. It is 
 probably best to refer tJicy say to these false and im- 
 moral teachers, who, like the other gnostic sects of this 
 and a later period, professed to initiate their followers in 
 the depths of the profoundest mysteries. Some of them 
 in their impious recklessness may have pretended to 
 fathom even tlie deep tilings of Satan, and may have 
 " taught that it was a duty for the true gnostic to dive 
 into all the gulfs of sensuality, and that he could not be 
 hurt thereby, any more than gold by mud, and some of 
 them even did not hesitate to adore the Evil One him- 
 self, such as the Ophites, or Serpent-Worshippers, and 
 the Cainites. Indeed, the enormities committed by them, 
 while pretending to superior spiritual knowledge of 
 things, are too monstrous to be recorded " (WORDS- 
 WORTH). 
 
 Another interpretation is that this saying of the false 
 
46 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 25, 26. 
 
 teachers only includes ///^(T^r^y) things, or possibly the deep 
 things of God, but that the Lord in indignation substi- 
 tutes of Satan. (So Calovius, Bengel, Ewald, De Wette, 
 Alford, Duesterdieck, and others.) A few would even 
 refer as they say to the faithful C/iristians, and that 
 these called the deep things of the heretics, the deep things 
 of Satan. But evidently this is not what is here meant. 
 I cast upon you none other burden. To what burden 
 does Christ refer? Many answers have been given, (i) 
 Some would refer it to the Christian obligation of " ab- 
 staining from the pollution of idols and from fornication " 
 (Acts 15 : 20, 28, 29), the very points here at issue 
 (Alford, Lee, Stern, Hengstenberg, Duesterdieck, Simcox, 
 and others) ; (2) others refer it to the previous suffering 
 implied in the patience of verse 19 (De Wette, Bisping, 
 and others) ; but the context implies (3) that it refers to 
 the trouble which the church will have of excommunicat- 
 ing Jezebel and her followers (2 : 20) (Lange, Milligan, 
 and others). 
 
 25. Howbeit that which ye have, holdfast till I come. 
 
 In addition to exercising strict church discipline, so 
 that I have nothing against thee (2 : 20), hold fast thy 
 present faithfulness, so highly commended (2 : 19). Till 
 I come. The reference is to the Second Advent, but 
 the uncertainty of the time is expressed by the little 
 Greek word an, which is untranslatable in English. 
 
 26. And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the 
 end, to him will I give authority over the nations. 
 
 He that overcometh and , . . keepeth. In this letter 
 the promise to the victor precedes the proclamation to hear 
 what the Spirit saith to the churches. (See notes on 2 : 
 7, II, 17.) Here the victory consists in remaining faith- 
 ful unto the end. My works. Which belong^ to me, — 
 
II. 27, 28.] CHAPTER II. 47 
 
 not only those which I command. Note how essential 
 to the Christian life are personal purity and holines.s, — 
 the believer must closely walk in the footsteps of Christ, 
 and aim at a perfect Christian development. I will 
 give authority over the nations. In scriptural lan- 
 guage this can only refer to the time of the Farousia or 
 Second Advent, when the nations are given to Christ for 
 His inheritance (Ps. 2 : 8, 9), and He begins His rule in 
 the midst of His enemies (Ps. no : 2, 5, 6j, and when the 
 saints shall reign with Christ in His kingdom. The reign 
 of the saints is prominent in the Apocalypse (3:21; 5 : 
 10 ; 20 : 4 ; 22 : 5). There are many references in Scrip- 
 ture to the time when and the manner in which the 
 saints shall exercise this authority (Ps. 149 : 5-9 ; Dan. 
 7 : 22, 27 ; Matt. 19 : 28 ; i Cor. 6 : 2). See Exciirsiis I. 
 on TJie Kingdom of God. 
 
 27. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the 
 potter are broken to shivers ; as I also have received of my Father. 
 
 All these promises do not refer to this present life, out 
 to the future. The same power that Christ has received 
 of the Father (Ps. 2 : 8, 9), and which He Himself will 
 exercise over His enemies (Rev. 12 : 5 ; 19 : 15), He will 
 confer upon His victorious servants (Luke 22 : 29). 
 The victor shall share in the glory of the Messiah's 
 kingly rule, and Christ shall sJiepJicrdize the nations 
 " with as absolute a mastery as is expressed in crushing a 
 potsherd " (SiMCOX). 
 
 28. And I will give him the morning star. 
 
 A difficult passage. This morning star does not des- 
 ignate the devil, with reference to Isa. 14 : 12; nor the 
 king of Babylon (Zuellig) ; nor the bright glory, the 
 heavenly doxa, with which the victor is to be endowed 
 (De Wette, Duesterdieck) ; nor does it symbolize the 
 
48 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ii. 29. 
 
 full dawn of the new day of Jesus Christ (Lange, 
 Luthardt); but it is far better, from the title which 
 Christ gives to Himself in 22 : 16, to regard this iJiorning 
 star as the Lord Jesus Himself, displayed in all His 
 heavenly beauty before the hearts of His people, as their 
 proper portion and hope. He gives Himself to His 
 people, as the sum of every spiritual blessing (Trench), 
 the fruition of His glorious presence (Plumptre), sharing 
 with them His royal dominion (3 : 21). (So Calovius, 
 Bengel, Ebrard, Lee, Milligan, and others.) 
 
 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churclies. 
 
 On this formula see notes on 2 : 7. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 10, The Epistle to the Church in Sardis (Hi. i-6). 
 
 I. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write ; 
 
 These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven 
 stars : I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou 
 art dead. 
 
 The angel. See note on Rev, i : 20. The name of 
 this bishop we do not know. During the middle of the 
 second century (170 A. D.) it was the residence of the 
 learned Melito, who wrote a commentary on the Apoca- 
 lypse (Eusebius, H. E. IV. 26). Sardis. This ancient 
 capital of Lydia, the residence of its kings, including 
 Croesus, was situated upon the river Pactolus, the golden 
 sand, about fifty miles due east of Smyrna and twenty- 
 three miles due south of Thyatira. It was noted for its 
 riches and its luxury, famous for its manufacture of 
 Persian carpets, and also on account of a magnificent 
 temple of the goddess Cybele, the rites of whose worship 
 were noted for their impurity. He that hath the seven 
 Spirits of God. These seven Spirits represent the Holy 
 Spirit as seven-fold in His operations. (See notes on 
 Rev. I : 4.) This phrase illustrates the doctrine of 
 the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and 
 the Son. Christ is here spoken of as having the Spirit, 
 not so much because in the days of His flesh He was 
 anointed with the Spirit above measure (John 3 : 34), 
 " but because, as the Son of God, the Spirit of God is 
 His Spirit (Rom. 8 : 9), and because He sends the Spirit 
 4 49 
 
50 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [lir. 2, 3. 
 
 (John 15 : 26; 20 : 22 ; Acts 2 : 33), who acts as His 
 representative (John 15:26)" (Craven). And the 
 seven stars. See notes on i : 16, 20 ; 2 : i. " Since the 
 stars are the angels of the seven churcJies (i : 20), we must 
 see in this combination a hint of the relation between 
 Christ, as the giver of the Holy Spirit, and as the author 
 of a ministry of living men in His Church (Eph. 4 : 7-12 ; 
 John 20 : 22, 23 ; Acts i : 8 ; 20 : 28) " (Trench). Thou 
 hast a name that thou livest. A reputation of being 
 a Christian church, but this is contrary to the real facts 
 of the case, for thou art spiritually dead. 
 
 2. Be thou watchful, and stablish the things that remain, which were 
 ready to die : for I have found no works of thine fulfilled before my God. 
 
 Watchful. Very expressive in Greek, the present par- 
 ticiple being used, — become zvatehing, i. e. " awake and 
 watch." Stablish the things that remain. Most modern 
 commentators incorrectly refer this phrase to persons, 
 the members of the church which remain (Duesterdieck, 
 De Wette, Ebrard, Trench, etc.). The context, however, 
 implies that the things that remain refer to " those thy 
 remaining few graces which in thy spiritual deadly 
 slumber are not yet quite extinct." (So Alford, Bengel, 
 Ewald, Milligan, etc.) I have found no works of thine 
 fulfilled. Many ancient authorities read not found thy 
 works. For they have not reached the standard which 
 God requires, nor hast thou fulfilled thy duties to which 
 as a church thou wast called. Before my God. These 
 works may have appeared praiseworthy in their own eyes 
 and in those of the world, but not before God. 
 
 3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and 
 keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a 
 thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 
 
 Remember . . . how thou . . . didst hear. Sardis 
 had kept what she had received, for the doctrine of the 
 
III. 4.] CHAPTER III. 51 
 
 church was not heretical, — but she had lost tJie manner 
 in which she had once received the Gospel, and the 
 manner in which she heard and gave heed to the doc- 
 trine. Keep the divme truth which tJioit hast received and 
 didst hear, and repent, for if the truth is maintained it 
 has in itself power to work true repentance. The aorist 
 imperative {repent) implies " a quick and decisive act of 
 amendment " (Alford). If thou shalt not watch. In 
 the aorist, " if thou shalt not awake and become watch- 
 ful." I will come as a thief. This does not here refer 
 to Christ's Second Advent, but to some special punish- 
 ment which He would suddenly and unexpectedly visit 
 upon the church at Sardis, in case they did not repent of 
 their coldness, their want of spirituality, and of their 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 4. But thou hast a few names in Sardis which did not defile their gar- 
 ments : and they shall walk with me in white ; for they are worthy. 
 
 A few names. Bengel calls our attention to the fact 
 that these few faithful Christians had not separated them- 
 selves from the church in Sardis, notwithstanding its 
 dead state. Which did not defile their garments. Who 
 had not sullied the purity of their Christian life by fall- 
 ing into the impure sins so common among the heathen. 
 They shall walk with me in white. White is the color 
 of victory, innocency, and purity, and white garments are 
 peculiar to those in heaven (6 : 1 1 ; 7 : 9 ; 19 : 8). " They, 
 who in their earthly lives have kept their garments un- 
 defiled, will walk with Christ (John 17 : 24) in white gar- 
 ments, since, thus adorned, they will live in the state of 
 immortal glory, before the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb, in the full and blessed enjoyment of His fellow- 
 ship " (DUESTERDIECK). For they are worthy. Not in 
 the Roman Catholic sense of merit, as if they had earned 
 
52 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [iii. 5. 
 
 this reward by their own powers. But there is a fitness 
 and propriety in thus rewarding them. Calovius reminds 
 us that " Christ alone, by faith, renders them worthy." 
 
 5. He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I 
 will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his 
 name before my Father, and before his angels. 
 
 He that overcometh. See notes on 2 : 7. The over- 
 coming in this Epistle has especial reference to their 
 victory over the flesh and the worldly spirit. Thus. As 
 those mentioned in the preceding verse. In no wise blot 
 his name out of the book of life. This expresses the 
 certainty of the salvation of those who overcome. 
 Whether a name once written in the Book of Life can be 
 blotted out depends on the meaning we assign to "be- 
 ing written in the book of life " (13 : 8 ; 17 : 8). If we 
 \6.txv\.\{y \.\\\?> \\\'0i\ \\\Q eternal cJioosing oi the believer in 
 Christ {election in the sense as used in i Pet. i : 1,2) (see 
 notes on Rev. 13:8; 17:8), there can be no blotting 
 out, for this election of God is in itself unchangeable and 
 eternal (see notes on i Pet. i : i, 2 ; 2 Pet. i : 10). But 
 if we maintain that a man is written in the Book of Life 
 only when he becomes an heir of the kingdom through 
 faith in Christ, simultaneously with his calling and con- 
 version, or his admission into the Church by baptism, then 
 this name may be blotted out. But this is not the question 
 here. What we are told is, not that some names shall be 
 blotted out, but that certain names shall in no wise be so. 
 This book of life is conceived of in Scripture as contain- 
 ino" a register of all those who are to inherit eternal life 
 (Ex. 32 : 32, 33 ; Ps. 69 : 28 ; Isa. 4:3; Ezek. 13:9; 
 Dan. 12:1; Luke 10 : 20 ; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 
 17:8; 20 : 12, 15 ; 21 : 27). I will confess his name. 
 The promise to the victor includes three things : (i) glo- 
 rious apparel ; (2) certainty of salvation ; (3) public recog- 
 
II r. 6, 7.] CHAPTER III. 53 
 
 nition. " The promise implies that in the great day the 
 Judge will expressly acknowledge the name thus written 
 in the book of life, as belonging to one of His " (Alforu). 
 Before my Father. Matt. 10 : 32, " Every one who shall 
 confess me before men, him will I also confess before my 
 Father which is in heaven." Before his angels. Luke 
 12:8," Every one who shall confess me before men, 
 him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels 
 of God." 
 
 6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. 
 
 See notes on 2 : 7. The usual exhortation with which 
 the last four Epistles end. 
 
 II. The Epistle to the Church in Philadelphia 
 
 (iii. 7-13). 
 
 7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write ; 
 
 These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key 
 of David, he that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth, and none 
 openeth. 
 
 The angel. See notes on i : 20. The Apostolic Con- 
 stitutions (VII. 46) speaks of '' Demetrius as bishop of 
 Philadelphia." Some have identified him with the De- 
 metrius of 3 John 12. Philadelphia. A city in Lydia, 
 at the foot of Mount Tmolus, about twenty-eight miles 
 southeast of Sardis, built by Attains Philadelphus 
 (whence its name), king of Pergamum, died 138 B. C. 
 A letter written by Ignatius to this church is still extant. 
 Though frequently visited by earthquakes, the city still 
 exists, " a living monument of the faithfulness of Divine 
 promises in the midst of ruins" (Lange). He that is 
 holy . . . true. The three-fold description here given 
 of Christ is in harmony with i : 12-18, but takes this 
 
54 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [in. 8. 
 
 special form with reference to the contents of this 
 Epistle. Christ is the one absolutely Iioly ijiagios), sep- 
 arated from all evil, and hating evil, an attribute be- 
 longing to God alone ; He is also the true, i. e. *' the 
 actual and genuine Messiah, heir and Lord of the truly 
 abiding theocracy " (DliESTERDlECK). This is evidently 
 the meaning of true in its relation to the context, al- 
 though others maintain that it means truthful, ox fait li- 
 ful, or perfect. Christ is the true Messiah, for He has 
 the key of David. The key is the symbol of authority 
 and power in the kingdom of God, and this power is 
 exercised by Jesus Christ. In Isa. 22 : 20-22 we read 
 that the key of the house of David was laid upon the 
 shoulder of Eliakim (2 Kings 18 : 18), as a steward, but 
 now it is held by Jesus the Messiah. It is not necessary 
 to draw a distinction between the key of Daviddind the 
 key of the house of David, as some do, for both desig- 
 nate the kingdom of David, and this kingdom in Script- 
 ure language is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. This key 
 is not the key of knozuledge, " the power to open the un- 
 derstanding of the Scriptures (Luke ii : 52 ; 24: 32)," 
 nor so much the key of discipline (although this is in- 
 cluded), — but rather the key of poiuer, for Christ as the 
 Supreme Lord admits into the kingdom and excludes 
 from it, — as it is emphatically expressed in the latter 
 part of the verse. 
 
 8. I know thy works (behold, T have set before thee a door opened, 
 which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my 
 word, and didst not deny my name. 
 
 I know thy works. See notes on 2 : 2. A word of 
 commendation and consolation. I have given before 
 thee a door opened. The context shows that the mean- 
 ing is, the church will have an opportunity to do success- 
 ful mission work. " He has opened a door before his 
 
III. 9.] CHAPTER III. 55 
 
 faithful and stedfast church, through which a multitude 
 of still unbelieving Jews are to enter (3 : 9) " (DuESTER- 
 DIECK). The Greek woxd^ given, translated set, " is deliber- 
 ately chosen to bring out the fact that every advantage 
 we possess, ever}^ privilege we enjoy, every victory we 
 gain, is the gift of Christ " (MiLLlGAX). Thou hast a 
 little power. This phrase marks the first of three good 
 qualities now affirmed of this church. The church had 
 not failed ; it had some power. We are not to under- 
 stand as if this meant that there was a spiritual weakness 
 in the church, but it refers rather to the smallness of the 
 church, and its poverty in comparison with the richer 
 Jewish synagogue. And didst keep my word. Making 
 open confession of the sanie before the Jews and the 
 heathen. Didst not deny my name. Even in the time 
 of the greatest trial and tribulation. 
 
 9. Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them which say they 
 are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come 
 and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
 
 Of the synagogue of Satan. The partitive genitive, 
 i. e. certain persons from out of the synagogue. These 
 were Jews, but on account of their enmity towards their 
 Messiah, they had no right to the honorable name, but 
 were rather a synagogue of Satan. See notes on 2 : 9. 
 To come and worship. The mission of this church among 
 the Jews shall be very successful. Just as in the O. T. it 
 is prophesied that the Gentiles shall be converted and 
 come unto Zion (Ps. 72 : 9 ; Isa. 2 : 3 ; 49 : 21-23 ! 60 : 
 14-16; Zech. 8 : 20-23), so here it is predicted that the 
 Jews shall in their conversion come to the Church of 
 Christ, and seek to enter the kingdom, which He, who 
 has the key of David, has set up. This conversion of 
 the Jews, here at Philadelphia, may be a type of the 
 future conversion of the Jews in connection with the 
 
56 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [iii. lo, ti. 
 
 events of the Last Day. To know that I have loved 
 
 thee. Duesterdieck here sees a reference to the life of 
 Christ as manifested by His death upon the cross. But 
 the interpretation of Alford suits the context better: " It 
 is the love, bestowed on the Philadelphian church, in 
 signalizing its success in the work of Christ, that these 
 converted enemies shall recognize." 
 
 10. Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep 
 thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole 
 world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
 
 The word of my patience. Thou didst obey the word 
 which teaches thee to endure with patience, even as I 
 endured and suffered. I will keep thee from the hoar of 
 
 trial. A special promise given to the church at Pliila- 
 delphia as a reward for their faithful endurance under 
 trial. This does not mean that they shall be preserved 
 in trial, as was the promise to Peter (Luke 22 : 32), but 
 preserved from this great trial and temptation. Which 
 is to come upon the whole world. If we take this in its 
 historical sense, we have here the prediction of a general 
 persecution of the Church which shall be visited upon all 
 Christians, but from which the church at Philadelphia 
 shall be exempt. The object would then be to try them 
 that dwell upon the earth, — that is, to believers it would 
 be a trial, making manifest their fidelity, — to unbelievers 
 a temptation, leading to still greater hardening of hearts. 
 But the context proves that Christ is here pre-eminently 
 referring to the great tribulation which shall come before 
 His revelation to destroy Antichrist. 
 
 11. I come quickly : hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take 
 thy crown. 
 
 I come quickly. This is written for the comfort and 
 encouragement of the church at Philadelphia, for the 
 time of Christ's coming to reward her was near at hand. 
 
III. 12.] CHAPTER III. 57 
 
 Hold fast that which thou hast. The strength, the faith- 
 fuhiess, and patience under trial, described in verses 8-10. 
 That no one take thy crown. The crown of Hfe, which 
 is the victor's reward. See notes on 2 : lo. For unless 
 thou perseverest unto the end thou mayest fail to win 
 what seems almost within thy grasp. 
 
 12. He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my 
 God, and he shall go out thence no more : and I will write upon 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 mine own new name. 
 
 Overcometh. See notes on 2 : 7. A pillar in the 
 
 temple of my God. The glorified Church in the heavenly 
 Jerusalem is here represented as a temple, the inner 
 sanctuary {jiaos), and the saints compose the living stones 
 of the same, and some even are rewarded as occupying 
 important places, 2.% pillars in the temple of God. The 
 image used of the Church militant (i Cor. 3 : 16 ; Eph. 
 2 : 19-22; I Pet. 2 : 5) is here transferred to the Church 
 triumphant. Futurists lay stress upon this passage as 
 setting forth " the pre-eminence of the victorious saints 
 of the present dispensation, in the future aeon of blessed- 
 ness and glory " (Craven). He shall go out thence no 
 more. This emphasizes the permanence of the reward 
 given to the victorious saints, and to the stedfastness and 
 purity with which they shall serve God in their exalted 
 and responsible ofifices. I will write upon him the name 
 of my God. Upon the forehead of the victor (14 : i ; 
 22 : 4), not upon the pillar. Possibly this name of God 
 \s Jehovah, — at least it signifies that the one who bears it 
 belongs to God. Of the city of my God. This would sig- 
 nify citizenship. Some have thought it might hQ/ehovah- 
 shammah, "The Lord is there" (Ezek. 48 : 35). Christ 
 Himself, however, calls the city the new Jerusalem, and 
 describes it as that which cometh down out of heaven. 
 
58 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [iii. 13, 14. 
 
 See notes on 21 : 2, 10. And mine own new name. This 
 neiv name is not the one mentioned in 19 : 16, King of 
 kings, and Lord of lords, which is known to all, nor the 
 one given in 19 : 13, TJie Word of God, but that incom- 
 municable name referred to in 19 : 12, " which no one 
 knoweth but he himself." " He who bears the new name 
 of the Lord is thereby designated as eternally belonging 
 to the Lord as though with the Lord's own signature" 
 (Duesterdieck). These three names " express in one 
 way or another the relation of the victorious believer 
 to God as his Father, to Christ as the Revelation of the 
 Father, and to the privileges and joys of citizenship in 
 the kingdom made known to us in the Father and the 
 Son" (Milligan). 
 
 13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. 
 
 He that hath an ear. See on 2 : 7. 
 
 12. The Epistle to the Church in Laodicea 
 (iii. 14-22). 
 
 14. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write; 
 
 These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning 
 of the creation of God. 
 
 The angel. See on i : 20. An ancient tradition makes 
 the Archippus mentioned in Col. 4:17 the bishop to 
 whom this letter was addressed. Laodicea. One of the 
 renowned cities of Asia, rich in manufactures and com- 
 merce, situated in Phrygia, on the river Lycus, in the 
 neighborhood of Hierapolis and CoIossje, about forty-five 
 miles southeast of Philadelphia, and one hundred and 
 fifteen east of Ephesus. A Christian church already 
 existed in 62 A. D., at the time that Paul wrote his letter 
 totheColossians (Col. 2 : 2 ; 4 : 13, 15, 16), and it appears 
 
in. 15.] CHAPTER III. 59 
 
 that Paul had appointed Archippus as their first bishop 
 (Col. 4 : 16, 17). The second bishop is said to have been 
 Nymphas (Col. 4 : 15), and the third Sagaris, who was 
 martyred about 165 A. D. The Amen. Christ is the 
 Amen, a title evidently taken from Isa. 65 : 16, " He who 
 blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the 
 God of Avicn^' translated God of triitJi, "and he . . . 
 shall swear by the God of Amen" The titles here given 
 to Christ imply the absolute certainty of what He here 
 affirms. Compare 2 Cor. i : 20. The faithful . . . wit- 
 ness. See on i : 5. His testimony is trustworthy and 
 absolutely true. The beginning of the creation of God. 
 Compare the parallel passage in Col. 1:15, 16, "the first- 
 born of all creation." This does not mean "the first of 
 all God's works, the first creature of God," as the Arians 
 taught, but " the principle, the original source, of the 
 creation of God," the active principle of creation. Dues- 
 terdieck very correctly asks : " How could Christ have 
 caused even the present Epistle to be written, if He Him- 
 self were a creature? How could every creature in 
 heaven and earth worship Him (5 : 1 3), if He Himself were 
 one of them ? " He then adds : " In the Alpha lies the 
 fact that Christ is the beginning of the creation, while 
 in the Omega lies the fact of Christ's coming to make 
 an end of the visible creation." See also notes on i : 8, 18. 
 Lee : " Christ is the source not only of the first Crea- 
 tion, but also of the nczv Creation, which springs from Him 
 as the Second Adam : — Behold, I make all things nezu 
 (21 : 5)." 
 
 15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot ; I would thou 
 wert cold or hot. 
 
 The hot are those who are filled with a fervent zeal for 
 
 the Lord. Many understand the cold to be those hostile 
 
 and actively opposed to Christ, as Saul was as long as he 
 
6o THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [iil. i6, 17. 
 
 was a persecutor (so Duesterdieck, De Wette, Alford, 
 Milligan), but it is probably better to regard the r(?/c/those 
 unbelievers who have " hitherto been untouched by the 
 power of grace " (so Bengel, Trench, Lee, Lange, Ebrard, 
 and others). TRENCH : " The hikcivarni is one who has 
 tasted of the good gift . . . but in whom the grace has 
 failed to kindle more than the feeblest spark. The pub- 
 licans and harlots were cold, the Apostles Jiot, the Scribes 
 and Pharisees (Luke 7 : 36-50) lukcivann. It was from 
 among the cold, and not the lukezvarm, that Christ drew 
 recruits." 
 
 16. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew 
 thee out of my mouth. 
 
 This figure is evidently taken from the nauseating effect 
 of lukewarm, water when taken into the mouth. See also 
 Lev. 18 : 28 ; 20 : 22. It implies utter rejection on the 
 part of Christ. WORDSWORTH : " Heathen ignorance 
 is better than Christian indifference. There is more hope 
 of influencing those who have no knowledge of the Gospel, 
 than those who have a little knowledge, and are self-satis- 
 fied in it. . . . Men are not so liable to be led astray by 
 open unbelievers as by indifferent Christians." 
 
 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have 
 need of nothing; and kaowest not that thou art the wretched one and 
 miserable and poor and blind and naked. 
 
 A graphic description of the inner nature of lukeivarm- 
 iiess. It consists in self-sufficiency and self-righteousness, 
 indolence and indifference, and self-deception. Notice 
 that the three expressions affirming their wealth form a 
 climax. The context shows that these Laodiceans were 
 boasting of their spiritual riches, — but it is very likely 
 that they were also rich in earthly goods, and no doubt 
 worldly prosperity had been the main cause for making 
 
III. 18.] CHAPTER III. 61 
 
 this church lukcivarin. The wretched one. The most 
 deplorable state of all is that of those who seem and deem 
 themselves religious, and in their self-satisfied and self- 
 deceived condition are unconscious of their spiritual 
 needs, and do not realize their lost condition. 
 
 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest 
 become rich ; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and 
 that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest ; and eyesalve to 
 anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see. 
 
 I counsel thee. "There is a deep irony in this word. 
 OwQ who has 7iccd of nothing, yet needs counsel on the 
 vital points of self-preservation " (Alford). To buy. 
 "That one who is poor should be advised to buy gold and 
 raiment and ointment, might of itself show what kind of 
 buying is meant, even if Isa. 55:1, Buy . . . without 
 money and without price, had not clearly defined it. Yet 
 notwithstanding such clear warning not to go wrong, the 
 Roman Catholic expositors have here again handled the 
 Word of God deceitfully, and explained, as Lyra, to buy, 
 i. e. with good works " (Alford). Of me. Your only 
 Saviour. If we should aim to particularize and to distin- 
 guish between the three spiritual blessings with which 
 this church needed to be endowed, we might refer the 
 gold refined by fire to the merits of Christ resulting from 
 His passive obedience and suffering, which avails for the 
 forgiveness of sins, — the white garments that thou 
 mayest clothe thyself to the righteousness of Christ, ob- 
 tained through His active obedience and fulfilment of the 
 law, apprehended by faith, — and the eyesalve to the 
 anointing of the Holy Ghost (i John 2 : 20, 27), who 
 opens our eyes and hearts to see the wondrous things 
 of God's kingdom. These three blessings correspond to 
 \}!\Q poor, blind, and naked oi verse 17, although the order 
 is different. 
 
62 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [iii. 19, 20. 
 
 19. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore, 
 and repent. 
 
 I reprove and chasten. In this way Christ's love is 
 manifested to this church. He reproves (or convicts) by 
 bringing them to a knowledge of their sins and guilt, and 
 chastens, i. e. educates and disciplines them by means of 
 fatherly correction. Repent. Repent from your luke- 
 warmness and indifference. This applies both to the 
 bishop and to the members of the congregation. This 
 verse evidently predicts that outward afflictions shall be 
 visited upon the Laodiceans (Heb. 12 : 6). 
 
 . 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice 
 and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he 
 with me. 
 
 The verse calls attention to Christ's continual presence, 
 and emphasizes His readiness to forgive every one who re- 
 pents of his sins. I stand at the door and knock. This 
 door is the door of the heart, and Christ knocks at every 
 signal manifestation of His providence, and whenever 
 the Word of God reaches us. Some would explain the 
 figure by a reference to Luke 12 : 36 and Cant. 5 : 2, 
 but it is a question whether there is here any reference 
 to the marriage supper of the Lamb. It is better to 
 limit this verse entirely to the blessed communion of the 
 truly penitent with the Lord in this life. And open the 
 door. This passage does not teach Synergism or Pela- 
 gianism, as if the sinner had power by his own strength 
 to receive Christ, " as though men could open the door of 
 their heart when they would, as though repentance was 
 not itself a gift of the exalted Saviour (Acts 5 : 36). They 
 can only open when Christ knocks, and they would have 
 no desire at all to open unless He knocked " (Trench). 
 While the Word of God is enlightening the intellect, the 
 Holy Ghost is working inwardly, stirring up the con- 
 
m. 21, 22.] CHAPTER III. 63 
 
 science, awakening the heart, and bringing about peni- 
 tence and faith. Will sup with him, and he with me. 
 
 This figure expresses the most intimate communion. It 
 is best to understand this of the spiritual blessings of this 
 life. Compare John 14 : 23, " If a man love me, he will 
 keep my word : and my Father will love him, and we 
 will come unto him, and make our abode with him." 
 Alford : "This blessed admission of Christ into our 
 hearts will lead to His becoming our guest, ever present 
 with us, — and then the guest Himself becomes the host, 
 because He is the Bread of Life, — and thus we are ever 
 in close union with Him, partaking ever of His fulness, 
 until we sit down at His table in His kingdom." 
 
 21. He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my 
 throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne. 
 
 He that overcometh. See notes on 2 : 7. To sit down 
 with me in my throne. A promise that shall receive its 
 fulfilment in the life of glory hereafter. See notes on 
 2 : 26, 27. As I also overcame. The reference is to 
 Christ's resurrection, ascension, and exaltation at the 
 right hand of God. 
 
 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. 
 
 See notes on 2 : 7. 
 
 Wordsworth calls especial attention to the fact that in 
 each of the Epistles the special warning or promise " is 
 appropriately adopted and adjusted to the attribute 
 under which Christ presents Himself to each church in 
 succession. It is also accommodated to the special diffi- 
 culties and dangers which have been overcome, or are to 
 be overcome by that particular church. There is also a 
 gradual scale of ascent in the dignity and blessedness of 
 the promises made by Christ to them tliat overcome^ 
 
64 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [ill. 22. 
 
 Isaac Williams: "(i) The variety of circumstance 
 and of trial in the case of these churches is so great that it 
 seems to comprehend the state of every church that can 
 arise, — so that every church that would understand itself 
 will find itself in that mirror. In every case an individual 
 is addressed, as well as his church, for good or evil. . . . 
 (2) The fact that the church and its angel or bishop are 
 so blended as to have rendered it matter of question 
 which is addressed, is in itself instructive, as proving that 
 as the bishop, so is the church in the long run ; as the 
 church, so the bishop. ... (3) These seven Epistles are 
 to the churches of all time what the parables of the 
 Gospel are to individuals — a glass in which they may de- 
 tect themselves, and the judgment of God. It is, in 
 fact, beholding themselves ' in the mind of Christ.' Hence 
 this, their searching depth of application to all times, 
 has led to those fanciful interpretations which suppose 
 them successive historic periods until the end." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 13. The Vision of the Divine Majesty (iv. 1-8). 
 
 \\''e now come to the second of the three great divis- 
 ions of the Book of Revelation (4: i — 22 : 5). Chap- 
 ters iv. and v. form a kind of introduction to the events 
 which are afterwards recorded. They unfold to us the 
 scene in heaven in relation to the judgments which are 
 about to take place on earth. In chapter iv. St. John 
 in a vision beholds the absolute majesty and holiness of 
 God. 
 
 I. After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and 
 the first voice which I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one 
 saying, Come up hither, and I will shew thee the things which must come 
 to pass hereafter. 
 
 After these things. This marks that John now 
 beholds a new vision, following the one recorded in i : 
 10 — 3 : 22. I saw. In his ecstatic state, for St. John 
 was " in the Spirit " (i : 10) during the entire revelation 
 (i : 10 — 22 : 16). A door. For heaven is regarded as a 
 house, the temple of God, in which He is enthroned (Ps. 
 11:4; 18:6; 29 : 9). Opened. " Observe the perfect 
 participle, the door had been opened and was standing 
 open. The veil of the heavenly Holy of Holies had been 
 removed by Christ (Heb. 10 : 19, 20), and heaven was 
 laid open to view " (WORDSWORTH). The first voice 
 ... as of a trumpet. The voice which he had heard at 
 first (i: 10), probably that of Christ Himself. Come up 
 5 6s 
 
66 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [iv. 2, 3. 
 
 hither. Into heaven, through the open door. The 
 things which must come to pass after these things. 
 
 After the things referred to in the Seven Epistles. See 
 I : 19. 
 
 2. Straightway I was in the Spirit : and behold, there was a throne set 
 in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne. 
 
 \ was in the Spirit. Although John had been pre- 
 viously in an ecstatic state, a fresh outpouring of the 
 Spirit is now given here (cf. Ezek. 11 : i, 5). John is 
 transported in vision through the open door up into 
 heaven, where he can see things occurring in heaven and 
 on earth. We are reminded of St. Paul's vision (2 Cor. 
 12 : 1-4). A throne set. John sees two things, <? //<;;'£';/<? 
 set, occupying a certain fixed position, and one sitting 
 upon the throne. This tJirone is the symbol of God's 
 established government. Although men may not recog- 
 nize it on earth, in heaven it is manifest to all. It is 
 difficult to decide whether " He who sitteth upon the 
 throne " is the Father, as distinguished from the Son 
 (5 : 6 ; 6 : 16; 7 : 10) and from the Holy Spirit (4 : 5), or 
 the Triune God. It is probably best to refer the title to 
 the Triune God on account of the Trisagion in 4 : 8, and 
 the parallel vision in Isaiah (6 : 1-3), where the reference 
 unquestionably is to the Trinity. "God is here intro- 
 duced to us as He is in Himself, and not according to 
 that separation of hypostases or personalities revealed to 
 us in other passages of Scripture " (Milligan). " The 
 references in 4:5 and 5 : 6 to the Second and Third 
 Persons of the Trinity do not oppose this view ; neither 
 does the doxology in 4 : 11" (Lee). 
 
 3. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius : 
 zx\d there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an emerald to look 
 upon. 
 
 Like in vision to a jasper and a sardine stone. " The 
 
IV. 3] CHAPTER IV. 67 
 
 entire form of the enthroned one appears in the two- 
 fold, yet united, brilliancy of the jasper and the sar- 
 dius, just as the entire form of the Lord, in i : 16, 
 was in appearance like intense light of the sun " 
 (DUESTERDIECK). The jasper and the sardius were the 
 last and the first stones in "the breastplate of judg- 
 ment" (Ex. 28: 17-20). It is difficult to decide what 
 gem is exactly meant by the iaspis (jasper) of John, as 
 some, from the passage in 21 : 11, "a stone most pre- 
 cious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal," identify 
 it with the diamond. The bright sparkliug whiteness of 
 the jasper (21 : ii) makes it a symbol of the holiness 
 and glory of God. The sardius was of a fiery red color, 
 our carnelian, and this gem is the symbol of the justice 
 and wrath of God as manifested towards all uncrodli- 
 
 o 
 
 ness and unrighteousness. " The double brilliancy of 
 the two stones shining through one another is to be 
 regarded as a profound designation of the essential unity 
 of the holiness and righteousness of God" (DUESTER- 
 DIECK). A rainbow . . . like an emerald. The bow 
 that John saw round about the throne, forming a com- 
 plete circle, surrounding the throne vertically, had the 
 form of a rainbow, but instead of having seven colors, it 
 was emerald green, " the color even more refreshing and 
 more directly symbolizing grace and mercy. So far at 
 least we may be sure of as to the symbolism of this ap- 
 pearance of Him that sitteth on the throne : that the 
 brightness of His glory and fire of His judgment is ever 
 girded by, and found within, the refreshment and surety 
 of His mercy and goodness. So that as Duesterdieck has 
 well said, ' This fundamental vision contains all that may 
 serve for terror to the enemies, and consolation to the 
 friends, of Him that sitteth on the throne'" (Alford). 
 
68 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [iv. 4, 5. 
 
 4. And round about the throne tvcre four and twenty thrones : and upon 
 the thrones / saiv four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white gar- 
 ments; and on their heads crowns of gold. 
 
 Round about the throne four and twenty thrones. 
 
 Evidently lower and smaller than the grand central 
 throne. Four and twenty elders. These elders are not 
 angels, for two things mark them, white robes and crowns 
 of gold, the rewards of conflict, endurance, and victory 
 (3 : 4, 5 ; 2 : 10). " They are representatives of the entire 
 congregation of all believers, to whom, as to these elders, 
 belong the holiness and glory indicated by the white 
 robes, and the royal dominion by the thrones and crowns " 
 (Duesterdieck). These elders represent the triumphant 
 Church in heaven, including both the Old and the New 
 Testament saints. In the O. T. the elders were the 
 representatives of the Church (Ex. 4 : 29 ; 12 : 21 ; etc.), 
 as well as in the New Testament (Acts 20 : 17 ; 21 : 18 ; 
 etc.), and these tivciity-four elders evidently symbolize 
 the twelve Patriarchs, representing the Old Testament 
 Church, and the twelve Apostles, representing the New 
 Testament saints. " This follows (i) from 5 : 8-10 ; (2) 
 from Matt. 19 : 28; Luke 22 : 30 (Eph. 2 : 4-6); (3) 
 from 21 : 12, 14, where the Twelve Tribes and the Twelve 
 Apostles are conjoined ; (4) from the union of the Old 
 and New Covenants in 15 : 3 ; and (5) from the functions, 
 distinctly representative, of the elders, as described in 
 5 : 5» 8; 7:13" (Lee). Sitting. Implying the attitude 
 of rest and honor in the kingdom already come. 
 Arrayed in white garments. Inplying that all their 
 sins have been washed away and that they are clothed in 
 robes of purity, the robes of priests. And on their 
 heads crowns of gold. For they are " priests of God 
 and of Christ, and shall reign with him" (20 : 6; 5 : 10). 
 
 5. And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders. 
 
IV. 5, 6.] CHAPTER IV. 69 
 
 And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the 
 seven Spirits of God. 
 
 These lightnings and voices and thunders ever proceed- 
 ing out of the throne represent the sovereignty and al- 
 mighty power of God (Ex. 19: 16; Ps. 29: 3-8), and 
 indicate that God's throne is a throne of judgment. 
 ''Th.Qse. seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of 
 God indicate nothing else than that the eyes of the Lord 
 are * as a flame of fire ' (i : 14), and that the Holy Spirit 
 is to be regarded chiefly as illuminating, seeing, and 
 searching all things (i Cor. 2 : 10), and for that very rea- 
 son everywhere active in His holy judgments" (DuES- 
 TERDIECK). See notes on i : 4 and i : 14. 
 
 6. And before the throne, as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal ; and 
 in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creat- 
 ures full of eyes before and behind. 
 
 What John saw before the throne of God appeared to 
 him as a sea of glass clear and pure as crystal. Many 
 attempts have been made to explain the significance of 
 this symbol — nearly all different. As examples of the 
 more probable, Ebrard thinks that as the stormy sea rep- 
 resents the mass of the nations in their ungodly state 
 (17 : 15), so here the pure and calm sea designates " crea- 
 tion in its true relation to the Creator; " Alford maintains 
 that by this figure is signified " the purity, calmness, and 
 majesty of God's rule ; " Luthardt, on the other hand, 
 sees in this symbol " the fulness of the divine life (22 : i), 
 which is nothing but peace and calm, in contrast with 
 the stormy disquietude of the life of the world (13:1; 
 Dan. 7:2);" Wordsworth : " Sea in this Book repre- 
 sents the element of tnuinlt and confusion in the lower 
 world (13 : i). But here, by way of contrast, there is in 
 the Jieavenly Church a 's.&d.oi glass, expressive of smooth- 
 ness and brightness ; and this Jieavenly sea is of crystal, 
 
•JO THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [iv. 7. 
 
 declaring that the calm of heaven is not, like earthly 
 seas, ruffled by winds, but is crystallised \nto an eternity of 
 peace ; " MiLLlGAN : " In the glassy sea of this verse we 
 have an emblem of the course of Providence by which 
 God conducts those who place themselves in His hands 
 to their final rest in His immediate presence." Probably 
 it would be better to lay more stress upon the bearing of 
 the symbol upon the righteous Judgments of God, to indi- 
 cate the depth and purity of divine justice. In Ps. 36: 
 6 the judgments of God are spoken of as " a great deep," 
 and in strict harmony with this explanation, those who 
 sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb (15 : 2-4), — 
 " Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the 
 Almighty : righteous and true are thy ways , . . for thy 
 righteous acts have been made manifest," — are represented 
 as standing " by the glassy sea mingled with fire, having 
 harps of God" (15 : 2). In the midst . . . and round 
 about the throne. From Isaiah's vision (6 : 1,2) we may 
 infer that the four living creatures stood above, and not 
 on the same level as the throne, one in the centre of each 
 side of the throne. " They stand so free as to be able to 
 move (15:7); and because they have manifestly turned 
 with their faces towards the throne, John can see that 
 they are ' full of eyes before and behind ' " (DUESTER- 
 DIECK). In these four living creatiires we have a com- 
 bination of the Seraphim of Isaiah (6 : 2, 3) and the 
 Cherubim of Ezekiel (i : 5, 6; 10 : 5, 12). 
 
 7. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a 
 calf, and the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature 
 was like a flying eagle. 
 
 Each one of the living creatures in Ezekiel's vision (i : 
 6, 10) had all four faces, while here each one has but one 
 face. The greatest diversity of opinion exists among 
 commentators as to the significance of these four symbols. 
 
IV. 8.] CHAPTER IV. 7 1 
 
 Most of these explanations are extremely fanciful or 
 mere surmises. Many of the ancient commentators 
 (Augustine, Jerome, Bede), and some moderns (Williams, 
 Wordsworth, and others), maintain that these four living 
 creatures designate the Four Evangelists, or the Four 
 Gospels (Matthew the man, Mark the lion, Luke the 
 r^//John the eagle) ; others, the/<?z/r Patriarchal Churches 
 (Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople) ; others, 
 the /^//r mysteries of the faith (the Incarnation, Passion, 
 Resurrection, Ascension) ; or, the four great Apostles 
 (Peter, James, Matthew, Paul) ; or, the four cardinal 
 virtues ; or, the attributes of God (wisdom, power, om- 
 niscience, creation) ; or, \\\q four faculties of the human 
 soul, etc. But it is best with the great majority of our 
 ablest modern commentators of allschoolsto regard these 
 four cherubic forms as representing the whole animate 
 creation. " We have thus the throne of God surrounded 
 by His Church and His animated world ; the former rep- 
 resented by the twenty-four elders, the latter by the 
 four living creatures " (Alford). " These four forms are 
 to be taken as the heads of the four classes of animated 
 creation — rational beings, birds, tame animals, and wild 
 animals. That is, we have here, ideally represented, the 
 collective, living creation on which the judgments of the 
 first four seals (6 : i-8) are inflicted— each of the Living 
 Creatures inviting the Seer to behold. So also, w^hen the 
 wrath of God is poured out on the created universe (15 : 
 7 ; 16 : 1-2 1), one of the Living Creatures gives to the 
 ministering Angels the Seven Vials. The number Four, 
 too, is the recognized signature of the assemblage of 
 created life ; it is, in fact, the signature of the world (7 : 
 I ; 21 : 13; "(Lee). 
 
 8. And the four living creatures, having each one of them six wings, 
 are full of eyes round about and within : and they have no rest day and 
 
72 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [iv, 8. 
 
 night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, which was 
 and which is and which is to come (or lohich cometh). 
 
 We must understand the six tvings in the same way as 
 the six wings of the Seraphim in the vision of Isaiah (6 : 2), 
 "each one had six wings; with twain he covered his 
 face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain 
 he did fly," as representing the dependent and ministerial 
 relation in which each living creature stands to its Creator, 
 — for this statement in Isaiah indicates azve, for the 
 Living Creatures dare not look upon God ; Jmmility, for 
 they stand in His presence ; obedience, for they are ready 
 to execute His commands (After Bengel). Full of 
 eyes round about and within. The statement of verse 6 
 is repeated in order to emphasize the fact that the eyes 
 were round the outside of each wing, and up the inside of 
 each when expanded, and on that part of the body 
 beneath the wing. So also in Ezek. i : 18; 10: 12. 
 These eyes signify the wakeful activity with which they 
 celebrate their ceaseless praise of God. Holy, holy, holy. 
 We are reminded of the hymn of praise sung by the 
 Seraphim (Isa. 6 : 3). This Trisagion, thrice repeated 
 attribute of holiness, has ever been rightly understood 
 by the Church to refer to the Blessed Trinity. 
 
 Lee : " It is generally admitted that the Four Living 
 Creatures here, and in Ezek. i : 5, are of the same char- 
 acter as the chcrubiin of the Tabernacle of Moses 
 (Ex. 25 : 20; 37 : 9), and of the Temple of Solomon 
 (i Kings 6 : 23-26). When the different descriptions are 
 compared, it results that the figure of the Cherub had no 
 fixed, definite form ; and that the conception was that of 
 a symbolical image." Cremer {Lexicon) : " They are 
 usually the signs and tokens of majesty, of the sublime 
 majesty of God, both in His covenant relation and in 
 His relation to the world (Ps. 99 : i) ; and, therefore, it 
 
IV. 9, 10.] CHAPTER IV. 73 
 
 is that they are assigned so prominent a place, though 
 no active part in the final scenes of sacred history 
 (Rev. 6 : 1-7). . . . They do not, hke the angels, fulfil 
 the purposes of God in relation to men ; they are distinct 
 from the angels (Rev. 5:11). We are thus led to con- 
 clude that they materially represent the ideal pattern of 
 the true relation of creation to its God." 
 
 14. The Unceasing Hymn of Praise (iv. 9-11). 
 
 9. And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks 
 to him that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth for ever and ever (Gr. 
 unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 This adoration is paid to the Triune God, to him that 
 sitteth on the throne (see 4 : 2, 3). The future implies a 
 continued repetition of the act, which the regular sub- 
 junctive would not suggest. 
 
 10. The four and twenty elders shall fall down before him that sitteth 
 on the throne, and shall worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and shall 
 cast their crowns before the throne, saying. 
 
 It has been remarked " that the living creatures only 
 celebrate and declare ; the elders worship with under- 
 standing." All God's works will praise Him, as repre- 
 sented by the four living creatures (4 : 9), but only the 
 redeemed, as represented by the twenty-four elders, recog- 
 nize in the fullest sense their dependence and debt to 
 their King and Lord. Three acts of worship and hom- 
 age on the part of the elders are described, " falling 
 down," " worshipping," and "casting their crowns before 
 the throne." Though made kings (5 : 10), yet they cast 
 down their crown before God as attributing all true 
 kingship to Him, the one and only Potentate, in whose 
 presence no creature whatever has any glory or honor of 
 its own (Ps. 115 : i). "If the beings who dwell so near 
 about His throne act so reverentially towards Him, how 
 
74 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [iv. ii. 
 
 much more humbly does it behoove us to conduct our- 
 selves, who dwell in cottages of clay ! Were our hearts 
 penetrated with a just dread of Him, we should also 
 come to possess an assurance of His favor, confidence in 
 Him, desire after Him, delight in Him, and a more zeal- 
 ous endeavor to do what is pleasing in His sight" 
 (BENGEL). 
 
 II. Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and 
 the honor and the power : for thou didst create all things, and because of 
 thy will they were, and were created. 
 
 " Here the praise of the elders refers not to redemp- 
 tion itself, — which first occurs in 5:9, 10, — but to the 
 power and glory of God revealed in creation, so that the 
 words of the elders stand in beautiful harmony with the 
 praise of the four living creatures, representing the entire 
 living creation (4 : 7-9), as well as with the significance of 
 the entire vision " (Duesterdieck). Our Lord and our 
 God. Probably the our of these twenty-four elders rep- 
 resenting the Redeemed Church marks that the re- 
 deemed ones are standing in a more intimate relationship 
 to God than the four living creatures. The elders sub- 
 stitute the word power for the tJianks of the four living 
 creatures, not that they fail in gratitude, but because " in 
 this ascription of praise they look on creation from with- 
 out, and that thanksgiving which creation renders for its 
 being becomes in their view a tribute to Him ivho called 
 them into being, and thus a testimony to His creative 
 power " (Alford). Because of thy will they were. 
 They existed, in contrast to their previous non-existence. 
 The existence of all things was owing to the will of God, 
 and the manner by which all things came into existence 
 was by the definite act of creation at a definite time, for 
 all things were created. As is well known this verse is 
 the Eucharistic Hymn of the Ancient Liturgies. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 15. The Book with Seven Seals (v. 1-7). 
 
 The general vision recorded in the fourth chapter still 
 continues in this fifth chapter, only that there is a prog- 
 ress in the vision, a particular scene now appearing. In 
 the fourth chapter we beheld God as the Creator and 
 Governor of all things, in this we behold Christ as the 
 Redeemer of His people. 
 
 I. And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the the throne a book 
 written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals. 
 
 The Greek is " on the right hand,'' i. e. the book lay on 
 the open hand, implying " that 07i God's part there was 
 no withholding of His future purposes as contained in 
 this book " (Alford). This book was a scroll, written on 
 both sides (Ezek. 2 : 9, 10), so that every part of the roll 
 was covered with writing, indicating that we have here 
 the complete record of God's counsels respecting the 
 earth (4:1," the things which must come to pass here- 
 after ") and the judgments which shall be visited upon it 
 (6 : I — II : 18). As Ezekiel's book contained the judg- 
 ments on the foes of Jerusalem, this book contains those 
 upon the foes of Christ's Church. The close-scaling with 
 sevoi seals indicates the mysterious character of the con- 
 tents, and the completeness of the sealing, which can only 
 be opened by the Lamb of God (5 : 5, 7, 9). Sixteen 
 interpretations as to what is meant by this Roll and its 
 contents have been enumerated by Todd {Lectures on the 
 
 75 
 
76 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [v. 2-4. 
 
 Apocalypse), among which we may mention the more 
 prominent : It is the Old Testament ; it is the whole 
 Bible; it is Christ Himself; it is the title deed of man's 
 inheritance ; it is the book of divorce giving an account 
 of the rejection of the Jews; it is the book of God's 
 purposes and providence ; it is the Apocalypse ; it is that 
 part of the Apocalypse containing the judgments to be 
 visited on the foes of Christ and His Redeemed Church. 
 It is best to regard this last as the most natural interpre- 
 tation, and that its contents extend not only to what is 
 written from 6 : i to 8 : i, but that it includes the seven 
 seals and the seven trumpets (6 : i — 11 : 18). 
 
 2. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice, Who is 
 worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof ? 
 
 A strong angel . . . with a great voice. For his 
 
 voice penetrated heaven, earth, and Hades (5 : 3). " That 
 an angel raises the cry may remind us of the interest 
 taken by angels in the plan of redemption and in the 
 fortunes of the Church (i Pet. i : 12)" (MiLLlGAN). 
 Worthy. In the sense of having the moral qualifica- 
 tions. 
 
 3. And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was 
 able to open the book, or to look thereon. 
 
 As in Phil. 2 : 10, the whole universe is here designated 
 under its three divisions. No one of created beings 
 could be found even to attempt to open the book, for 
 there was not one, from Gabriel downwards, who had the 
 requisite qualifications to undertake the task. 
 
 4. And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the 
 book, or to look thereon. 
 
 He wept, probably because he thought that this would 
 put an end to further revelations. *' Without tears the 
 
V. 5, 6.] CHAPTER V. -j-j 
 
 Revelation was not written, neither without tears can it 
 be understood " (Bengel). 
 
 5. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not : behold, the Lion 
 that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome, to open 
 the book and the seven seals thereof. 
 
 This one " of the elders " represented the twenty-four 
 elders, and therefore the whole Church of the Redeemed 
 in heaven, who knew what Christ had done for them as 
 their Redeemer, and that all power was given unto Him 
 in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28: 18). Christ, "the 
 Lamb that hath been slain " (5 : 6, 12), is here designated 
 as the Lion that is of the tribe of JtidaJi, with reference 
 to Gen. 49 : 9, 10, " for it is evident that our Lord hath 
 sprung out of Judah " (Heb. 7 : 14), and the Root of 
 David, with reference to Isa. 11 : i, 10, " for Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of God, was born of the seed of David according 
 to the flesh " (Rom. i : 1-3). Hath overcome. The 
 aorist in Greek. He overcame once for all, at the time of 
 His Resurrection, Ascension, and Exaltation at the right 
 hand of God, and by virtue of His great victory it is in 
 His power to open the book and the seven seals thereof 
 
 6. And I saw in the-midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, 
 and in the midst .of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been 
 slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of 
 God, sent forth into all the earth. 
 
 The words seem to indicate that the Lamb was stand- 
 ing immediately before the middle point of the throne. 
 The Greek word isarnion, "a little lamb," not amnos, " a 
 lamb," as in other passages (John i : 29, 36 ; i Pet. i : 19 ; 
 Acts 8 : 32), and also in Isa. 53 : 7 (" as a lamb that is led 
 to the slaughter," the very passage to which reference is 
 here made), — and no doubt this diinimitive is used to 
 give prominence to the idea of innocence and meekness. 
 
78 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [v. 7. 
 
 Standing. For the Lamb is livings but it bears its death- 
 wounds still on its body, the marks of its sacrificial death 
 showing that it has once been slain. Having seven 
 horns. The symbol of perfect power, — the horn being 
 the well-known emblem of might (i Sam. 2 : 10; Ps. 
 112 : 9; 148 : 14; Dan. 7 : 7, 20,21 ; 8 : 3,4; Rev. 17 : 3), 
 and seven the number of perfection (Matt. 28 : 18). 
 And seven eyes. The symbol of perfect knowledge, 
 expressly interpreted as designating the seven Spirits of 
 God, sent forth into all the earth. See notes on 4 : 5 ; 
 3: I, and I : 4. "That Christ Jias these spirits (this 
 Spirit) of God is symbolized here by the seven eyes of 
 the lamb, just as before the throne of God the same 
 Spirit appears as seven lamps (4 : 5). Because Christ has 
 the Spirit, He knows everything, even things upon earth, 
 whither the Spirit is sent, — the doings of His enemies, 
 and the state of His own people " (DUESTERDIECK). 
 
 7. And he came, and he taketh it out of the right hand of him that sat 
 on the throne. 
 
 To raise the question whether the Lamb also had hands 
 is to miss the whole aim of the symbol. " St. John sees 
 the Lamb not merely take the roll, but keep it. It is 
 His, — His by the right of the victory He has won " 
 (Milligan). 
 
 This has a special significance if we understand the 
 book to contain the judgments which are to be visited 
 upon the earth in connection with Christ's coming to 
 destroy Antichrist. It is not simply as divine Son of 
 God, but also and principally as victorious Saviour and 
 King of His people, that Christ takes the book. " His 
 worthiness has been established in conflict and temp- 
 tation (John i4:30;Heb. 2:914: 15)" (Boyd-CaR' 
 PENTER). 
 
V.8,9.] CHAPTER V. 79 
 
 1 6. The Adoration of the Lamb (v. 8-14). 
 
 8. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the 
 four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, 
 and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the Saints. 
 
 The Lamb shares in the divine glory of Him that 
 sitteth on the throne (4:9-11). The phrase having each 
 one a harp and golden bozvls, according to grammar, the 
 context, and the symbolical significance, applies only to 
 the elders. Each of the elders, the representatives of 
 the Redeemed Church, has a harp in one hand, with 
 which they accompany their song of praise (compare 
 14 : 2, 3 ; 15:2), and each one has a golden bowl in the 
 other hand. These bowls or censers are full of incense, 
 and this incense represents the prayers of the saints. 
 Who these saints are, that are spoken of, is not revealed, 
 though as these twenty-four elders represent the Re- 
 deemed Church in heaven, and in person offer the praises 
 and thanksgivings of the glorified saints, it is most prob- 
 able that this incense cannot refer to the prayers of the 
 Redeemed Church in heaven, but most likely to the 
 prayers of the saints on earth, who are passing through 
 the great tribulation in connection with the revelation 
 of Antichrist (compare 6 : 9-11; 8 : 3-5; Luke 18: 
 7, 8). " It is to be noted, on the one hand, that the 
 elders do not pray for themselves, that for themselves 
 they praise ; and on the other, that they are not inter- 
 cessors for the saints on earth, that they but offer to the 
 Lamb the prayers of the suffering saints " (MiLLIGAN). 
 
 9. And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, 
 and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and didst purchase 
 unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and 
 nation. 
 
 This song is that of the twenty-four elders alone. It 
 is 7tezv because it celebrates a special occasion, the worthi- 
 
8o THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [v. lo. 
 
 ness of the Lamb to open the seals ; new, because its 
 theme is new, the glory of a completed redemption ; 
 «^w, because it is sung for the first time by the Redeemed 
 Church in heaven. Thou wast slain, and didst purchase. 
 The work of Redemption is the great theme of this song. 
 The tenses point to the definite act when Christ purchased 
 us by His death on the Cross. (See notes on i Pet. i : 
 1 8, 19.) Unto God. For Christ, through the eternal 
 Spirit, offered Himself without blemish unto God (Heb. 
 9 : 14), and gave Himself up for us, as an offering 
 and a sacrifice to God (Eph. 5 : 2). Of every tribe . . . 
 and nation. The thought here is not that Christ has 
 died for all men, which is indeed true (Rom. 5 : 15-19; 
 Heb. 2 : 9; 2 Cor. 5:15; i Tim 2 : 6; i John 2 : 2), but 
 that the Redeemed Church in heaven has been gathered 
 out from every quarter of the globe, — universality being 
 indicated by the mention of four sources from which they 
 come. 
 
 10. And madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests ; and 
 they reign upon the earth. 
 
 There are three particulars mentioned here. The first 
 two are already included in John's doxology of praise to 
 Christ (see notes on i : 6). We here have the important 
 addition, " and they reign upon the earth.'' This is prob- 
 ably the correct reading, though the weight of ancient 
 authority seems to be almost equally divided between the 
 present and the future, tJicy shall reign. The tense does 
 not really affect the meaning. The song of the elders 
 anticipates the opening of the seals, the visitation of the 
 judgments upon the earth, the destruction of Antichrist, 
 and the establishment of Christ's kingdom. Most com- 
 mentators refer this reigning to the present condition of 
 the Church. So Alford : "The present is not to be 
 rendered as future, but keeps its own meaning (the whole 
 
V. II, 12.] CHAPTER V. 8 1 
 
 aspect and reference of this heavenly vision being not 
 future, but present : the world and Church as now exist- 
 ing, cf. Eph. 2 : 6). The Church even now, in Christ her 
 Head, reigns on the earth." The weakness of the posi- 
 tion of all those accepting this view lies in this, that they 
 take it for granted that these visions do not refer to the 
 future. The Futurists maintain that this passage refers to 
 the personal reign of the Redeemed Church hereafter 
 with Christ, at the time of the establishment of His king- 
 dom. " They shall reign as kings, not in worldly power 
 on the earth as it is now ; but when restored to that state 
 originally designed for man (Gen. i : 26, 27), over the new 
 earth (Rev. 22 : 5) " (Burger). It is best to refer this 
 reigning to the time of the Millennium. (See Excursus I.) 
 
 11. And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the 
 throne and the Uving creatures and the elders ; and the number of them 
 was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. 
 
 The order of the three choral songs recorded in this 
 chapter is very significant. First we hear the song of 
 praise by the Redeemed Church in heaven (5 ; 9, 10), 
 then the song of the angels (5 : 11, 12), and finally the 
 song of Creation itself (5 : 13), closed with the Amen of 
 the four living creatures. 
 
 John now sees innumerable hosts of angels whose song 
 he hears. Although angels are not themselves partakers 
 of redemption (Heb. 2 : 16), they take the deepest interest 
 in the history of salvation (Luke 15 : 10; Eph. 3 : 10; 
 I Pet. 1:12; Heb. i : 14). This statement of the 
 number of the angels, as in Dan. 7 : 10, only indicates 
 their actual innumerability, " myriads of myriads," " the 
 innumerable hosts of angels" (Heb. 12 : 22). 
 
 12. Saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain 
 to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and 
 glory, and blessing. 
 
 6 
 
82 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [v. 13, 14. 
 
 Notice that this ascription of praise by the angels to 
 the Lamb \s seven-fold ; so also is the ascription which is 
 addressed by the angels to God in 7 : 11,12, Notice that 
 only one article is prefixed to the seven nouns. " These 
 seven words of praise must be expressed as though they 
 were a single word, because they all stand with one an- 
 other after a single article " (Bengel). 
 
 13. And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, 
 and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard 
 I saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the 
 blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and 
 ever (Gr. unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 Every animated creature, including the angels and the 
 glorified saints, and the whole inanimate creation, join in 
 this universal chorus celebrating the glory of God and 
 the Redeemer, — for the time has come for Christ to enter 
 upon His universal kingdom (Phil. 2 : 10, 11 ; Heb. 8 : 
 19-22). " The chorus proceeds from universal nature, 
 from all created things without exception. It is the har- 
 mony of the universe in the thought of the completion 
 of God's purposes, in the perfect execution of that which 
 He originally contemplated in Jesus Christ. ... At last 
 the regeneration of the world has come : and in one burst 
 of song all created things send up their shout of triumph 
 and their hymn of praise " (Milligan). 
 
 14. And the four living creatures said. Amen. And the elders fell down 
 and worshipped. 
 
 As the Four Living Creatures, representing the entire 
 living creation, had begun this series of hymns (4 : 8), so 
 now they pronounce the Amen to Creation's chorus of 
 praise. The Elders, representing the Redeemed Church 
 in heaven, can only in silent adoration fall down and 
 worship God and the Lamb. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 17. The Opening of the First Seal (vi. i, 2). 
 
 I. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I 
 heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 
 Come. 
 
 We still have a continuation of the general Vision to 
 which chapters iv. and v. were preparatory and intro- 
 ductory. The opening of these seals unfolds to us the 
 events which shall take place on earth in the future, pre- 
 paratory to, and in connection with, the great day of the 
 Lord's Revelation to destroy Antichrist. This sixth 
 chapter contains a description of the opening of the first 
 six seals and of their contents. Notice that on the 
 breaking of a seal John does not read the contents of the 
 book, but sees a Vision disclosing the contents. The key 
 to these visions is Matt, xxiv., in which our Lord also de- 
 clares the signs of His coming. It is with this sixth 
 chapter that the great differences between commentators 
 begin. 
 
 This voice of thunder evidently belonged to each one 
 of the four living creatures, although mentioned only in 
 the case of the first that speaks. As the four living creat- 
 ures represent Creation, it seems very fitting that the 
 opening of the first four seals, which represent the judg- 
 ments which shall in the future overtake the earth, should 
 be introduced by them. The great majority of commen- 
 tators maintain that the cry Come is addressed to John, 
 having accepted the gloss and see, which some of the an- 
 
 83 
 
84 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHIT. [vi. 2. 
 
 cient authorities have added to the text ; others think 
 that these invitations (6 : i, 3, 5, 7) are addressed to the 
 respective Riders, but it is better (with Alford, Hofmann, 
 Kliefoth, MilHgan, and others) to regard it as addressed 
 to Christ Himself (as in 22 : 17, 20). The remarks of 
 Alford are suggestive : " It is a cry addressed, not to John, 
 but to the Lord Jesus: and as each of these first four 
 seals is accompanied by a similar cry from one of the four 
 living creatures, I see represented in this four-fold Come 
 the groaning and travailing together of creation for the 
 manifestation of the sons of God, expressed in each case 
 in a prayer for Christ's coming : and in the things revealed 
 when the seals are opened His four-fold preparation for 
 His coming on earth. Then at the opening of the fifth 
 seal the longing of the martyred saints for the same con- 
 summation is expressed, and at that of the sixth it 
 actually arrives." 
 
 2. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a 
 bow ; and there was given unto him a crown : and he came forth conquer- 
 ing, and to conquer. 
 
 Everything that underlies this verse expresses the vic- 
 torious conqueror, — tJie white horse, the rider with the 
 bow and crotvn, his going forth conquering, and to conquer. 
 The imagery of these horses and riders is evidently closely 
 related to that in the visions of Zech. i : 7-1 1 ; 6 : 1-8. 
 But the great question is. Who is this Rider and what is 
 here represented ? Most commentators answer. The Son 
 of God riding forth in the power of His Gospel, or Chris- 
 tianity personified. But to maintain, that because the 
 Lord Himself came out of heaven on a white horse 
 (19 : 11), it is also Christ who here appears on the white 
 horse, is to overlook the plainest teachings of the vision. 
 The horses and riders in the seals that follow give us the 
 keynote to a better solution, for all agree that these rep- 
 
VI. 3-] CHAPTER VI, 85 
 
 resent three great judgments that shall overtake the 
 earth, war, famine, diwd pestilence. The first seal also rep- 
 resents 2i Judgment, the oppression and devastation of a 
 conqueror, who shall bring in his train the plagues that 
 follow. The rider had a boiv, setting forth his warrior 
 character, and a crown was given to him, suggesting that 
 he is not a monarch when he first appears, but will ob- 
 tain a crown by his energy and victories. As all four 
 seals usher \x\. judgments that shall come upon the earth 
 as opposing Christ and His reign, it is highly probable 
 that this first Rider represents a false Christ (Matt. 24 : 5), 
 whom God may use, as a blind instrument, to punish the 
 nations of the earth. It may be that we have here the 
 counterpart of "the first beast" of Rev. 13 : l-io. It is 
 also highly probable that the Seal Visions represent the 
 circumstances of our Lord's Revelation to destroy Anti- 
 christ under different aspects, many of them being syn- 
 chronous. " Many think that this Rider is Christ, or at 
 least the representative of Christ's kingdom. But is it 
 possible that when He has come, the plagues that follow 
 should come after Him ? or why should the living creat- 
 ures continue to cry to Him to come, if He be come 
 already ? It would be more credible that the first Rider 
 is -A. false Christ, just as Matt. 24 : 5 precedes verses 6, 7 " 
 (SiMCOX). 
 
 18. The Opening of the Second Seal (vi. 3, 4). 
 
 3. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living 
 creature saying, Come. 
 
 The vision which followed the opening of the first seal 
 has ended, but we need not infer that the rider of the 
 first horse will have finished his career of conquest before 
 the rider of the second horse makes his appearance upon 
 earth. It is most likely that the judgments represented 
 
86 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vi. 4, 5. 
 
 by these horses and their riders will all appear simultane- 
 ously on the earth in connection with the events accom- 
 panying the Revelation of Antichrist. 
 
 4. And another ho7-se came forth, a red horse : and to him that sat 
 thereon it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should 
 slay one another : and there was given unto him a great sword. 
 
 The color of each horse corresponds to the mission of 
 its rider, — here red, to indicate war and bloodshed. In 
 agreement with this, it is given to this rider to take peace 
 out of the earth, for " ye shall hear of wars and rumours 
 of wars: for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
 against kingdom ; but the end is not yet " (Matt. 24 : 6, 
 7), and the inhabitants of the earth, opposed to Christ 
 and His kingdom, shall kill one another, — and of all this 
 i\\e great sword given to the rider is the symbol. Nearly 
 all expositors are united concerning the general meaning 
 of this vision, but apply it differently. MiLLIGAN cor- 
 rectly remarks ; " The earth out of which peace is taken 
 is the ungodly world, and the slaughtering of which we 
 read is not produced by the attacks of the wicked on the 
 good, but by those of the former on one another." All 
 these judgments belong to the days immediately preced- 
 ing the Revelation of Christ to destroy Antichrist. 
 
 19. The Opening of the Third Seal (vi. 5, 6). 
 
 5. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third hving creature 
 saying, Come. And I saw, and behold, a black horse ; and he that sat 
 thereon had a balance in his hand. 
 
 The color black implies mourning, sadness, and iva7it ; 
 the balance is the symbol of scarcity, bread being doled 
 out by weight. Compare Ezek. 4 : 16, 17, "they shall 
 eat bread by weight, and with carefulness ; and they shall 
 drink water by measure, and with astonishment : that 
 they may want bread and water." 
 
VI. 6, 7-] CHAPTER VI. 87 
 
 6. And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living creat- 
 ures saying, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley 
 for a penny, and the oil and the wine hurt thou not. 
 
 Famine is to follow in the footsteps of war and blood- 
 shed. A cJioinix measure (less than a quart) of wheat, 
 usually sold for an eighth of a denarius, and sufficient for a 
 man's daily nourishment, will then cost a denarius, the 
 amount a laboring man can earn in one day (Matt. 20 : 
 2), and the daily pay of a soldier. A man can then only 
 earn enough to buy choice food for himself, to say nothing 
 of his many other wants, or of the wants of his family. He 
 may indeed buy three measures of barley for the same 
 sum, but that in itself is an evidence how hard the times 
 will be. This famine, in accord with Christ's own words, 
 shall immediately precede His own Coming (Matt. 24 : 
 7). But there is to be a limit even to this famine. God 
 takes pity upon the needs of His creatures, and limits the 
 effects of the famine by sparing the oil and the wine, 
 which in Eastern lands are as needful to the poor as to 
 the rich. Alford : " By this third seal we learn that 
 Famine — the pressure of want on men, not sweeping 
 them away by utter failure of the means of subsistence, 
 but keeping them far below the ordinary standard of com- 
 fort, and especially those who depend on their daily labor 
 — will be one of the four judgments by which the way of 
 the Lord's coming will be opened. This seems to point, 
 not so much to death by famine, which belongs to the 
 next vision, as to agrarian distress with all its dreadful 
 consequences." 
 
 20. The Opening of the Fourth Seal (vi. 7, 8). 
 
 7. And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth 
 ving creature saying, Come. 
 
 Each one of the four living creatures (4 : 7), represent- 
 
88 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [vi. 8, 9. 
 
 ing living creation, invites Christ to come. See notes on 
 6: I. 
 
 8. And I saw, and behold, a pale horse : and he that sat upon him. his 
 name was Death ; and Hades followed with him. And there was given 
 unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, 
 and with famine, and with death {ox pestilence), and by the wild beasts of 
 the earth. 
 
 This horse has the color which agrees with his mission. 
 The word translated /^'/^^ indicates the greenish pallor of 
 fear and of death, livid, the color of a corpse in incipient 
 decay. The signification of this vision is expressly given, 
 — the Rider was Death. Hades, the place and condition 
 belonging to Death and Satan, where all the souls of the 
 ungodly are (see notes on i : 18, and Excursus II. on 
 Hades), is here personified and represented as accompany- 
 ing Death, ready to engulf and detain all the souls of the 
 ungodly which perish by the judgments symbolized by 
 this fourth seal. A fourth part of all the ungodly shall 
 perish. Mention is here made of \.\vq four sore judgments 
 also enumerated by Ezekiel (14 :'2i), the sword, famine, 
 pestilence, and zvild beasts ; — i\\Q famine, the result of the 
 sword ; pestilence, that of famine ; and the tvild beasts 
 multiplying because of the deserted places. By death 
 in the text is evidently meant death by the pestilence. 
 
 21. The Opening of the Fifth Seal (vi. 9-11). 
 
 9. And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the 
 souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testi- 
 mony which they held. 
 
 The character of the vision now changes. John sees 
 an altar in heaven, and underneath it the souls of martyrs 
 whose blood has been shed on account of their faithful 
 testimony to the Word of God. They are symbolically 
 represented as underneath the altar, because they had 
 
VI. 10, II.] CHAPTER VL 89 
 
 offered themselves to the Lord as a sacrifice. The im- 
 agery is taken from the O. T. ritual. The souls of the 
 martyrs correspond to the blood of the sacrifice poured 
 out beneath the altar (Lev. 4 : 7 ; 8 : 15). These souls 
 are those who, like in 20 : 4, have been slain on earth 
 during the persecutions which accompany the manifesta- 
 tion of Antichrist. 
 
 10. And they cried with a great voice, saying. How long, O Master, the 
 holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that 
 dwell on the earth t 
 
 It is the blood of the martyrs that calls to God for venge- 
 ance upon the ungodly inhabitants, that dwell on the 
 earth. And the martyrs may rightly expect a judgment, 
 for God is lioly and true. The opening of this seal dis- 
 closes to us the great tribulation which shall overtake 
 believers in connection with the manifestation of Anti- 
 christ. To these events Christ also refers in Matt. 24 : 
 9-1 1, 21, 24; especially Luke 18 : 7, 8, "And shall not 
 God avenge his elect, which cry to him day and night, 
 and he is long suffering over them ? I say unto you, that 
 he will avenge them speedily. Howbeit when the Son 
 of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?" 
 
 11. And there was given them to each one a white robe; and it was 
 said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little time, until their fellow- 
 servants also and their brethren, which should be killed even as they were, 
 should be fulfilled. 
 
 A zvhite robe designates victory, innocence, and purity. 
 See note on 3 : 4. The bestowal of the white robe desig- 
 nates that they receive their glory and blessedness, and 
 await their glorious resurrection. They however receive 
 the promise that the judgment of the Lord shall soon 
 {rest yet for a little time) overtake the ungodly world, 
 but the end is not yet. There are still other faithful 
 ones who will offer up their lives during this period of 
 
50 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vi. 12, 13. 
 
 tribulation. Possibly two classes are here referred to, 
 their fellozv-servants and their brethren. These have not 
 yet fulfilled their course (accepting the margin of the 
 Revised Version as possibly the correct reading). Ben- 
 GEL writes : " These first martyrs were chiefly from 
 Israel ; their felloiv-servants, future martyrs from the 
 Gentiles, and their bretJiren, martyrs of Israel." But 
 this cannot be positively decided. 
 
 22. The Opening of the Sixth Seal (vi. 12-17). 
 
 1 2. And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great 
 earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole 
 moon became as blood. 
 
 This Seal brings us to the very eve of the final con- 
 summation, for in this vision we see disclosed to us the 
 events of the great day of the Lord's Coming. We have 
 here only a fuller description of what Christ Himself 
 revealed to us in Matt. 24 : 29, 30. " The most striking 
 features of earlier prophecies are also combined here — 
 Isa. 2 : 19 ; 34 : 4 ; 50 : 3 ; Ezel<- 32:7-8; Hos. 10:8; 
 Joel 3 : 30, 31 ; Nah. 1:6; so the ancient and most 
 modern expositors " (Lee). This sixth Seal is '' one of 
 the clearest and most magnificent descriptions of the 
 Day of Judgment which is to be found in the Bible" 
 (Todd). A great earthquake. The vengeance for which 
 the martyrs prayed for under the fifth Seal has now come. 
 See Matt. 24 : 7. Sackcloth. The sun appears as a great 
 black orb (Isa. 50 : 3). Whole moon. The full moon 
 looks like blood, suggesting the thought of wild devas- 
 tation. 
 
 13. And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth 
 her unripe figs, when she is shaken of a great wind. 
 
 Compare Matt. 24 : 27 ; Luke 21 : 25, 26. The ima- 
 
VI. i4-i6.] CHAPTER VI. 91 
 
 gery is taken from Isa. 34 : 4. Unripe figs. Probably 
 the winter figs, which almost always fall off unripe. See 
 also Nah. 3 : 12. "As to the stars falling to the earth, 
 Scripture describes natural phenomena as they would 
 appear to the spectator, not in the language of scientific 
 accuracy ; and yet, whilst thus adapting itself to ordinary 
 men, it drops hints which show that it anticipates the 
 discoveries of modern science " (Fausset). 
 
 14. And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and 
 every mountain and island were removed out of their places. 
 
 Compare Isa. 34 : 4, " the heavens shall be rolled to- 
 gether as a scroll : and all their host shall fade away, as 
 the leaf fadeth from off the vine." Every mountain . . . 
 removed. " The whole earth is broken up by a change 
 as total as any of those previous ones which have pre- 
 pared it for its present inhabitants " (Alford). The 
 confusion and destruction are complete. 
 
 15. And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, 
 and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid them- 
 selves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. 
 
 The Day of Judgment has come. Terror seizes upon 
 all the enemies of Christ and His kingdom. " The sig- 
 nificant classification (given in this verse) proves how no 
 kind of earthly greatness or power, the previous cause of 
 insolent assurance, can afford any protection whatever. 
 Kings share the anguish with the humblest slaves '* 
 (Duesterdieck). In the caves. For the imagery see 
 Isa. 2 : 19. MiLLlGAN : " The righteous have no place 
 in this enumeration ; but the ungodly without exception, 
 whatever their rank or station, are divided into seven 
 groups in order to indicate that none escape." 
 
 16. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and 
 hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
 of the Lamb. 
 
92 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vi. 17. 
 
 Compare Isa. 2 : 10, 19; Hos. 10 : 8 ; Nah. 1:6; espe- 
 cially Luke 23 : 30, "Then shall they begin to say to 
 the mountains, Fall on us ; and to the hills, Cover us." 
 So great is their terror of the impending judgment of 
 wrath, that all the ungodly long for death and annihila- 
 tion, rather than face their God and His Lamb. 
 
 17. For the great day of their wrath is come ; and who is able to stand ? 
 
 "The expression the great day depends upon Joel 
 2:31; 1:15; 2:1, 2; Isa. 63 : 4-6; and the question 
 Who is able to stand? on Nah. 1:6; Mai. 3:2" (DUES- 
 TERDIECK). 
 
 AlfoRD correctly remarks: "We are thus brought to 
 the very threshold itself of the great day of the Lord's 
 Coming. It has not yet happened ; but the tribes of the 
 earth are troubled at its immediate approach, and those 
 terrible signs with which all Scripture ushers it in have 
 taken place. We are now then arrived at the time de- 
 scribed in Matt. 24 : 30: the coming itself of the Son of 
 Man being for a while kept in the background, as here- 
 after to be resumed. He is seen, as it were, coming, but 
 before the vengeance is fully accomplished, the elect of 
 God then living on the earth must be gathered, as Matt. 
 24 : 31, out of the four winds of heaven, from among the 
 inhabitants of the earth. To this ingathering the sealing 
 in our text is the necessary preliminary." 
 
 Fausset calls attention to the fact that Matt. xxiv. 
 plainly forms a perfect parallelism to the six seals, not 
 only in the events, but also in the order of their occur- 
 rence : Matt. 24 : 3, the first seal ; 24 : 6, the second seal ; 
 24 : 7, the third seal; 24 : 'jb, the fourth seal ; 24 : 9-28, 
 the fifth seal, with its persecutions ; 24 : 29, the sixth 
 seal. 
 
 For a brief presentation of the various interpretations 
 given to the First Six Seals, see Excursus III. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The seventh chapter contains two episodes that in- 
 tervene between the opening of the sixth and seventh 
 Seals. Although the great day of the wrath of God and 
 of the Lamb has been anticipated in the opening of the 
 sixth Seal (6 : 12-17), that day with its woes will only 
 befully described at the opening of the seventh Seal. 
 Before that day fully approaches, our attention is called 
 to two classes ivJio are able to stand before tJie faee of the 
 Lord and the Lamb at that great day (6 : 17) : (i) the 
 servants of God who are sealed (7 : 1-8,) and (2) the 
 saints who have come out of the great Tribulation (7 : 
 
 9-17)- 
 
 23. The Sealing of the Servants of God 
 (vii. 1-8). 
 
 I. After this I saw four angels standing at the four comers of the earth, 
 holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, 
 or on the sea, or upon any tree. 
 
 Angels, as ever, are servants of God and of the heirs 
 of salvation, fumiling His Word (Ps. 103 : 20; Heb. i : 
 14). There is no reason why we should attempt to 
 allegorize, as so many do,i the particular statements of 
 this verse. These angels are here represented as the 
 executors of God's judgments, " to whom it was given to 
 hurt the earth and the sea " (7 : 2), — now indeed restrain- 
 
 1 Refering winds to " wars and calamities," the earth to " Asia," the sea 
 to " nations and to peoples," the trees to " kings and great men," etc. 
 
 93 
 
94 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [vii. 2, 3. 
 
 ing the disturbing winds (7 : 3), but in God's own time 
 executing vengeance upon the ungodly world. 
 
 2. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal 
 of the living God : and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to 
 whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. 
 
 John sees anotJier angel, not Christ, as maintained by 
 Bede, Calovius, Hengstenberg, and others. He ascends 
 from the \\ox\zox\, froin the siairising, whence rises the 
 source of light, life, and blessing upon the earth (Duester- 
 dieck, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Lee, etc.), " as naturally 
 agreeing with the glorious and salutary nature of his 
 employment (Ezek. 43 : 2 ; Matt. 4:2)" (Alford). 
 This angel has a seal in his hand belonging to the living 
 God, to that God who has and is the giver of life 
 (Duesterdieck, Bengel, Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, Lee, 
 etc.). We cannot infer from the context what the mark 
 of the seal is. Some (Bede, Grotius, etc.) regard it the 
 sign of the cross ; others (De Wette, Ebrard, etc.) pro- 
 pose the name of God and of the Lamb. He cried with 
 a o-reat voice, not because he was so anxious to restrain 
 the four angels who were just ready to unloose the 
 winds (Bengel), nor to emphasize the command 
 (Hengstenberg), but probably that the call might 
 penetrate to the four corners of the earth (7 : i) (DuES- 
 TERDIECK). 
 
 3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall 
 have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. 
 
 The angels were not to let loose the winds which they 
 held and which would bring judgments upon the world 
 and its inhabitants, until the servants of God, who would 
 have to endure the great tribulation, were sealed. Some 
 maintain that the purpose of this sealing is to prevent 
 these servants of God from experiencing these trials 
 which are to come upon the earth (so Vitringa, Stern, 
 
VII. 4] CHAPTER VII. 95 
 
 Bengel, De Wette, Bleek, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Alford, 
 etc.), but it is far better to regard this sealing not as a 
 preservation and protection/ir^;^ tribulation, but preserva- 
 tion from Apostasy under tribulation. DuESTERDIECK 
 rightly remarks : " The servants of God do not remain 
 entirely untouched by all the sufferings whereby judg- 
 ment comes upon the world. . . . The sealing of those 
 who already are servants of God designates nothing else 
 than the immutable firmness of their election (Matt. 24 : 
 22-24), which is not to be affected even by the trial of 
 the last great tribulation. Striking analogies to this 
 interpretation of the sealing are 2 Cor. i : 22 ; Eph. i : 
 13 ; 4 : 30. To the servants of God, therefore, upon 
 whose forehead the seal of the living God is impressed, 
 the divine warrant is thereby given that in the greatest 
 tribulations they remain the servants of God, until they 
 have been preserved in their fidelity unto the end, and 
 are victoriously conducted to eternal glory in God's 
 kingdom." Till we shall have sealed. The plural 
 indicates that the angel had associates, but we are not to 
 think of the four angels holding the four winds. That 
 these servants of God are Jewish Christians will appear 
 from the next verse. They are sealed on their foreheads 
 as the noblest and most conspicuous part of the human 
 body. The act of sealing is assumed as taking place 
 between this and the next verse. 
 
 4. And I heard the number of them which were sealed, a hundred and 
 forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel. 
 
 We are not to take the number 144,000 literally, as if 
 just 12,000 of each of the twelve tribes were sealed, no 
 more or no less. The number is symbolical and desig- 
 nates perfection and completion. It signifies a perfect 
 number reserved for the kingdom. They were sealed 
 out of every tribe of the children of Israel. It is one of 
 
96 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [vii. 5-8. 
 
 the important questions in the interpretation of this book 
 whether Israel is here to be understood in the literal or 
 spiritual sense. There is no reason why we should 
 identify it with spiritual Israel, " the Israel of God " 
 (Gal. 6 : 15, 16), as consisting of Jewish and Gentile 
 Christians. It is far better to take it in its literal sense 
 as Rom. xi., and in answer to the arguments presented 
 by Mede, Vitringa, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth, Alford, 
 Gebhardt, Philippi, Kliefoth, Beck, and others, we simply 
 answer, it is not so written Jiere. These 144,000 repre- 
 sent Jewish believers chosen out of the literal Israel. So 
 in substance Bengel, Williams, Ebrard, Godet, Duester- 
 dieck, Auberlen, Burger, Fausset, and, in general, all 
 Futurists. They are the believing Jews v/ho shall faith- 
 fully resist the seductions of Antichrist during the time 
 of the great tribulation. 
 
 5. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand : 
 Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand: 
 
 Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand : 
 
 6. Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand : 
 Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand : 
 Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand : 
 
 7. Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand : 
 Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand : 
 
 Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand : 
 
 8. Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand : 
 Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand: 
 
 Of the tribe of IJenjamin wo-e sealed twelve thousand. 
 
 Commentators call our attention to various interesting 
 points in this catalogue : 
 
 (i) As to the number 12,000, fixed for each of the 
 twelve tribes. This indicates " that the Lord knoweth 
 and sealeth His own : that the fulness of their number 
 shall be accornplished and not one shall fail" (Alford); 
 " that in the divine gifts of grace all have like share, but 
 no one from any one right " (DueSTERDIECK). 
 
VII. 5-8.] CHAPTER VII. 97 
 
 (2) In no two places in the Bible are the names and 
 order of the catalogue of the Twelve Tribes the same. 
 "With the exception of Judah being placed first, the 
 order of the tribes here given does not seem to follow 
 any assignable principle " (Alford). 
 
 (3) The tribe of Dan is omitted. Three reasons have 
 been assigned for this : {a) From this tribe the Anti- 
 christ was to come. So the Church Fathers, Bede, Stern, 
 and others, relying on Gen. 49 : 17 ; ip) Because Dan had 
 been given to idolatry (Judg. 18 : 1-3 1). So among 
 others, Wetstein, Vitringa, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth ; 
 {c) Because it had died out long already before the time 
 of John. So Duesterdieck, Grotius, Ewald, De Wette, 
 Ebrard, Alford, and others. Bossuet thinks that the 
 name of Dan is omitted here merely in order to preserve the 
 number Twelve, Joseph appearing twice — once in his own 
 person (7 : 8), and once in the person of Manasseh (7 : 6). 
 
 (4) Levi is included. Bengel: "Since the Levitical 
 ceremonies have been abandoned, Levi again is found on 
 an equal footing with his brethren. All are priests ; all 
 have access, not one through the other, but one with the 
 other." So Duesterdieck, Milligan, and others. 
 
 (5) Instead of Ephraim, we have the name Joseph. 
 Compare Num. 13 : n. Some think this is due to the 
 fact that throughout the O. T. history Ephraim was pecul- 
 iarly "untheocratic," a syrnbol of opposition to faithful 
 Judah (Isa. 7 : 17 ; Jer. 7 : 15). So Duesterdieck, Mil- 
 ligan, Wordsworth, and others. 
 
 Synopsis of Interpretations. Grotius and the Preterists 
 in general refer this to the Jewish Christians who fled 
 from Jerusalem to Bella at the time of the siege and 
 destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Continuous Historical School interpret this sealing 
 variously, some referring it to the Jewish and Gentile 
 7 
 
98 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vii. 5-8. 
 
 converts succeeding the age of Constantine ; others to 
 the Albigenses and Waldenses ; or to the Reformation ; 
 or to the times succeeding the fall of Bonaparte (1815). 
 Others again refer it to the seaHng of the Redeemed going 
 on all the time that the Church is on earth. 
 
 The view of the Futurists in general may be repre- 
 sented by Fausset, who remarks : " It is clear though 
 Israel may elsewhere designate spiritual Israel, Jiere, 
 where the names of the tribes one by one are specified, 
 these names cannot have any but the literal meaning. 
 The second advent will be the time of the restoration of 
 the kingdom to Israel, when the times of Gentiles shall have 
 been fulfilled and the Jews shall at last say, ' Blessed is 
 he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' The period 
 of the Lord's absence has been a blank in the history of 
 the Jews as a nation. . . . Israel, at the eve of the 
 Lord's coming, shall be found re-embodied as a nation ; 
 for its tribes are distinctly specified (Joseph, however, 
 being substituted for Dan ; whether because Antichrist 
 is to come from Dan or because Dan is to be Antichrist's 
 especial tool, Gen. 49 : 17 ; Jer. 8:16; just as there was 
 a Judas among the twelve). Out of these tribes a be- 
 lieving rem)iant will be preserved from the judgments 
 which shall destroy all the antichristian confederacy 
 (6 : 12-17), which remnant shall faithfully resist the 
 seductions of Antichrist, while the rest of the nation, 
 restored to Palestine in unbelief, are his dupes and at last 
 his victims." 
 
 Another able writer of this school says : " The differ- 
 ence between this sealing and that of believers now with 
 the Holy Ghost will be at once perceived by the in- 
 structed reader. Believers of this dispensation are sealed 
 immediately in the forgiveness of sins, and they are 
 sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4 : 30). The 
 
vii. 9-] CHAPTER VII. 99 
 
 144,000 of this chapter are sealed with the seal of the 
 living God for preservation through the judgments that 
 will fall upon the w^orld, and which will constitute for 
 Israel the day of Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:4-9; Matt. 
 24 : 21, 22)." 
 
 24. The Triumph of the Tribulation Saints 
 (vii. 9-17). 
 
 9. After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no 
 man could number, out of every nation, and of all tribes and peoples and 
 tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white 
 robes, and palms in their hands. 
 
 This innumerable multitude which are seen in heavenly 
 glory are described in 7 : 14 as those " which came out 
 of the great tribulation." They are not to be regarded 
 as exactly identical with the 144,000 sealed ones of 
 7 : 1-8, for they include more than these. The former 
 could be numbered, but these are innumerable ; the 
 former referred to the Jewish Christians alone, this in- 
 numerable number not only consists of these, but in- 
 cludes also those servants of God among the Gentiles who 
 have victoriously passed through the great tribulation of 
 the days of Antichrist. The sealing of the 144,000 is rep- 
 resented as taking place before the judgments were visited 
 upon the world, and here this scene implies that the days 
 of tribulation are passed. Duesterdieck gives us the 
 true explanation of the relation of these two visions to 
 each other and of their meaning : " In the tribulation 
 with which the Lord comes in judgment upon unbelieving 
 Israel, the 144,000 servants of God are to be kept in 
 security, even though they are to suffer ; thus the vision, 
 7 : 1-8, looks towards what the seventh seal is to bring 
 upon unbelieving Israel (8 : i — ii : 14). But that also the 
 servants of God from the Gentiles, together with the 
 
lOO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vil. lo, U. 
 
 144,000 sealed from Israel, are to come out of great trib- 
 ulation, and to enter glory as faithful warriors of Christ, 
 the other vision states, 7 : 9-17, which thus refers to the 
 tribulation with which the Lord shall visit Babylon." 
 
 Out of every nation . . . and tongues. Including 
 Jews and Gentiles. Standing before the throne. " The 
 standing before the throne of God and of the Lamb 
 (7:15; 22 : 3) points to the eternal communion with 
 God and the Lamb, whose heavenly glory and blessed 
 joy are also expressed by white robes, and palm branches 
 in the hands of those who have finished their course." 
 The white robes are the attire of victory, the emblem of 
 purity and righteousness. See notes on 3 : 4 and 6:11. 
 TVq palms are signs of peace and festal joy. 
 
 10. And they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God 
 which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. 
 
 They cry. Present tense, indicating their unceasing 
 praise. With a great voice. In the intensity of their 
 joy and gratitude. They praise God as the ultimate 
 Author of their salvation, and the Lamb as their Mediator. 
 " This salvation is not victory in general, but the entire 
 sum of the salvation which the blessed now perfectly 
 possess, since they have been removed from all want, 
 temptation, sin, and death, and have come into the 
 presence of their God " (DUESTERDIECK). 
 
 11. And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about 
 the elders and the four living createres; and they fell before the throne on 
 their faces, and worshipped God. 
 
 These angels were the innumerable hosts of angels 
 spoken of in 5 : 11, which see. As in 5 : 14 the elders 
 fall prostrate and worship, so here the angels do the same, 
 as they join in the celebration of the great theme of re- 
 demption. 
 
VII. 12-14.] CHAPTER VII. lOi 
 
 12. Saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, 
 and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 The song of praise, uttered by the tribulation saints in 
 7 : 10, is now confirmed by an Amen (see 5 : 14), and 
 then the angels themselves take up the strain of praise. 
 Here as in 5 : 12 the doxology of the angels is seven-fold, 
 but the words and the order differ. Here the article in 
 an emphatic way is prefixed to each of the nouns, while 
 in 5 : 12 it belongs only to the first noun. The remark 
 of Lange is suggestive: "'T\\q Amen which the angels 
 utter proclaims the unison of the whole spirit-world with 
 that redemption of which the earth is the scene (Col. 
 I : 20); and their present understanding of the great fact 
 so long hid from their gaze (Eph. 3 : 10 ; i Pet. i ; 12) 
 is expressed in their doxology. In accordance with their 
 universal standpoint, they merge the praise of the Lamb 
 in the general praise of God." 
 
 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me. These which are 
 arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they ? 
 
 One of the twenty-four elders (5 : 4), who represent 
 the Redeemed Church in heaven (4 : 4), appropriately 
 acts as interpreter of this vision. " The form of a dialogue, 
 with its dramatic vividness, serves to emphasize the point 
 under consideration. The elder presents the two points 
 concerning which one unacquainted would naturally ask 
 first " (Duesterdieck). Both inquiries are answered in 
 the next verse. 
 
 14. And I say (Gr. have said) unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And 
 he said to me, These are they which come out of the great tribulation, and 
 they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 My Lord. An address, Jure, of proper respect. Thou 
 knowest. Compare Ezek. 37 13. "I do not know it, 
 yet it may be heard from you, as you know it " (so Dues- 
 
I02 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vil. 14. 
 
 terdieck, Bengal, Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenberg, etc.). 
 These are they which come out of the great tribulation. 
 
 This is the tribulation announced by the Lord in Matt. 
 24 : 21, which shall come upon the world, and through 
 which the ungodly as well as believers who are on the 
 earth at that time must pass during the evil times of 
 Antichrist. Those who come out of \.\\\'s> great tribulation 
 are the sealed Jewish Christians of 7 : 1-8, and those 
 Gentile Christians who shall remain faithful during those 
 terrible times which shall try the saints before the com- 
 ing of the Lord. Daniel already prophesied of this time 
 of trouble (Dan. 12 : i), "And there shall be a time of 
 trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even 
 to that same time ; and at that time thy people shall be 
 delivered, every one that shall be found written in the 
 book." Our Lord, using almost the same phraseology, 
 speaks of the same tribulation (Matt. 24 : 21) and calls it 
 2i great tribulation, and it is immediately to precede the 
 coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24 : 29, 30). They 
 washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb, There is no reference here to the blood of 
 martyrs, as if there was a cleansing power in martyrdom. 
 " Observe, we must not separate the two acts washing 
 and making luhite, as Hengstenberg, interpreting the 
 former of forgiveness of sins, the latter of sanctification : 
 the latter is only the result of the former: they washed 
 them, and by so doing made them white. The act was 
 a life-long one, — the continued purification of the man, 
 body, soul, and spirit, by the application of the blood of 
 Christ in its cleansing power " (Alford). " It is the 
 delicate feature of correct ethics," remarks Duesterdieck, 
 "that they who, in this earthly life, have washed their 
 robes white in the blood of the Lamb appear in the 
 future life, arrayed in white garments "(3:4; 19 : 8). 
 
VII. 15-17] CHAPTER VIL 103 
 
 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him 
 day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread 
 his tabernacle over them. 
 
 This entire passage (7 : 15-17) can only refer to the 
 glorious condition of the Redeemed in heaven after the 
 final consummation of all things. Though in reality these 
 saints have not yet passed through the great tribulation, 
 the vision puts them into their condition of the final 
 glory, and discloses to us what the final issue of glory 
 shall be. Therefore. On this account, because they 
 washed their robes white in Christ's atoning and purify- 
 ing blood. They serve. The life of glory in heaven is 
 one of continued service of God. Shall spread his 
 tabernacle over them. " It is exceedingly dilTficult to 
 express the sense of these glorious words, in which the 
 fulfilment of the O. T. promises, such as Lev. 26 : 11 ; 
 Isa. 4 : 5, 6; Ezek. 37 : 27, is announced. They give the 
 fact of the dwelling of God among them, united with the 
 fact of His protection over them, and assuring to them 
 the exemption next to be mentioned " (Alford). " We 
 have here a description of the eternal, immediate, and 
 personal presence of God enthroned in His glory, and 
 the holiness and blessedness of believers perfected there- 
 in " (Duesterdieck). 
 
 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall 
 the sun strike upon them, nor any heat. 
 
 This whole passage is based upon Isa. 49 : 10, which 
 ends with the prophecy, " for he that hath mercy on 
 them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall 
 he guide them." Compare the next verse. 
 
 17. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their 
 shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life : and God 
 shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. 
 
 Compare Isa. 49 : 10, quoted under the last verse. 
 
I04 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [vii. 17. 
 
 The elder here designates the Lamb as the one who, as 
 the Mediator and Redeemer of the flock, feeds His own, 
 and leads them into living fountains of waters. The 
 latter part of the verse is based upon Isa. 25 : 8, " He 
 hath swallowed up death for ever ; and the Lord God 
 will wipe away tears from off all faces." " It is not with- 
 out many tears that they come out of great tribulation 
 (7 : 14) ; but when they have overcome, God Himself 
 shall dry their tears, and change their weeping into joy " 
 (Duesterdieck). 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 25. The Opening of the Seventh Seal (viii. i). 
 
 1. And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in 
 heaven about the space of half an hour. 
 
 After the Lamb had opened six of the seven seals, as 
 recorded in chapter vi., and before the seventh was 
 opened, two comforting visions were seen, as recorded in 
 chapter vii. in view of the approaching judgments which 
 will precede and usher in the coming of Christ, as more 
 fully revealed by the opening of the seventh seal. The 
 first six seals bring in preliminary judgments, constituting 
 perhaps the " beginning of travail " (Matt. 24 : 8). The 
 seventh seal will introduce the great tribulation, partly 
 anticipated already under the sixth seal (6 : 12-17). 
 A silence in heaven. Expressing the solemnity of 
 the crisis which has now arrived, " the earnest adoring 
 expectation with which the blessed spirits and the angels 
 await the succeeding unfolding of God's judgments" 
 (Fausset). 
 
 26. The Sounding of the First Trumpet (viii. 2-7). 
 
 2. And I saw the seven angels which stand before God; and there were 
 given unto them seven trumpets. 
 
 Seven particular angels are meant, but we need not 
 think of archangels. These trumpets were given unto 
 them to proclaim the judgments described in 8 : 7 ; 8:8, 
 9; 8 : 10, 11; etc. "They are trumpets of war and 
 battle, like those whose sound brought down the walls of 
 
 105 
 
lo6 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN, [vni. 3, 4. 
 
 Jericho, or those whose blast struck terror into the 
 hosts of Midian (Judg. 7 : 22) " (Milligan). The entire 
 series of trumpet-visions is developed out of the seventh 
 seal. 
 
 3. And another angel came and stood over (or, at) the altar, having a 
 golden censer ; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should 
 add (Gr. give) it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar 
 which was before the throne. 
 
 This angel is not to be identified with Christ. This 
 altar, called also in this verse the golden altar, is the 
 same as that mentioned in 6 : 9, under which were seen 
 the souls of the martyrs. The Greek word for censer is 
 elsewhere translated incense, but evidently here a vessel 
 for incense is meant. There was given unto him much 
 incense. "The angel does not provide the incense ; it is 
 given to Jiim by Christ, whose meritorious obedience and 
 death are the incense, rendering the saints' prayers well- 
 pleasing to God. It is not the saints who give the angel 
 the incense ; nor are their prayers identified with the in- 
 cense ; nor do they offer prayers to him. Christ alone is 
 the Mediator, through whom, and to whom, prayer is to 
 be offered " (Fausset). There is no reference here to 
 the Roman Catholic doctrine of intercession by angels or 
 by saints. The significance of this act of incensing the 
 prayers of the saints was already suggested by Calovius, 
 that he might render these prayers of the S2i\\\\.s pleasing 
 to God. Christ's merits alone can thus incense our pray- 
 ers. Here in the text the special reference is to the 
 prayers of the saints who must pass through the great 
 tribulation now to be disclosed, for the Lamb from whom 
 comes the incense is about to execute judgment upon 
 the earth. 
 
 4. And the smoke of the incense, with (ox, for) the prayers of the saints, 
 went up before God out of the angel's hand. 
 
VIII. 5-7-] CHAPTER VIII. 107 
 
 The whole imagery suggests that the saints' prayers on 
 earth and the angel's incensing in heaven are simul- 
 taneous, and that God will graciously hear the prayers of 
 His saints during the great trials which come upon the 
 earth by means of the judgments disclosed by the seven 
 trumpets. 
 
 5. And the angel taketh (Gr. hath taketi) the censer ; and he filled it 
 with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon (or, into) the earth : and there 
 followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 
 
 The angel, after having shaken the incense on the altar 
 (see verse 3), while the smoke of the incense was ascend- 
 ing, fills his censer with glowing coals taken from the 
 altar, and casts the hot ashes towards the earth, thus 
 signifying that the answers of the saints are heard, and 
 that the fire of God's vengeance is about to descend upon 
 the earth and its ungodly inhabitants. The immediate 
 consequence of the casting down of these glowing coals 
 on the earth are thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and 
 an earthquake, the symbolic precursors of the divine 
 judgments coming upon the earth, which the seven 
 trumpets now begin to sound. 
 
 6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared them- 
 selves to sound. 
 
 See notes on 8:2, They raised their trumpets to 
 their mouths and stood ready to sound them. 
 
 7. And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with 
 blood, and they were cast upon (or, into) the earth : and the third part of 
 the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and 
 all green grass was burnt up. 
 
 Commentators call our attention to the fact that the 
 judgments indicated by the first four trnnipets affect 
 natural objects, while the last three, the ivoe-trttinpets 
 (8 : 13 ; 9 : 12), are expressly said to be inflicted on men 
 (9 : 4, 15). The language of these judgments is evidently 
 
lo8 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [viii. 7. 
 
 reproduced from the plagues of Egypt, — five, in fact, six 
 out of the ten exactly corresponding, — for we have the 
 hail and fire, reminding us of the seventh plague (Ex. 
 
 9 : 24), the water turned to blood of the fa'st plague 
 (Ex. 7 : 19, 20), the darkness of the ninth plague (Ex. 
 
 10 : 21 ; Rev. 8 : 12), the locusts of the eighth plague (Ex. 
 10 : 12; Rev. 9 : 3), and the infliction of death of the 
 tenth (Ex. 12 : 29; Rev. 9 : 18). These trumpets are not 
 to be regarded so much a recapitulation of the six seals, 
 as of the sixth seal, for they only disclose more fully the 
 terrors that are coming upon the earth in connection with 
 the destruction of Antichrist. 
 
 In a vision John saw the judgments that followed the 
 sounding of the first trumpet come upon the earth — hail- 
 stones and balls of fire fell in a shower of blood. Compare 
 also Joel 2 : 30. In Ex. 9 : 24 we read, " The Lord sent 
 thunder and hail, and fire ran down unto the earth," — but 
 nothing is said of the blood. The effect upon the earth 
 was also seen by John. In Ex. 9 : 24 the devastation 
 was wrought by the hail, but here fire is the prevailing 
 element of destruction. Terrible and fearful as is this 
 first judgment, two-thirds of the earth and of the trees 
 escape, but all the green grass is scorched and consumed. 
 To explain this imagery symbolically or allegorically, as 
 so many do, that " the third part " means simply " a large 
 part," the trees " the great ones of the earth," the green 
 grass " general prosperity," or " the people," is, as 
 Duesterdieck rightly remarks, " an undertaking which, 
 since it has no foundation in the text, can lead to nothing 
 but arbitrary guess-v/ork." So likewise all attempts of 
 the Preterists to refer it to events preceding the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, or of the Continuous Historical inter- 
 preters to refer it to the wars under Trojan and Hadrian 
 (Bengel), to the invasion of the Goths (Elliott, Barnes, 
 
VIII. 8, 9-] CHAPTER VIII. 109 
 
 Wordsworth), to the pestilence and famhie under Decius 
 and Gallus (Vitringa), to early heresies (Stern, Gaertner), 
 to spiritual famine (Ebrard), are equally unsatisfactory. 
 Those who think we ought not to look for any historical 
 fulfilment of these prophecies (like Milligan, Alford, Lee, 
 and others) are not agreed, however, what mystical, or 
 allegorical, or symbolical, or spiritual, or moral fulfilment 
 is to be given to any one of these judgments. But why 
 attempt to explain away the plain significance of this 
 trumpet of judgment ? If the ten plagues of Egypt were 
 historical and were visited upon the enemies of God's 
 people, why may we not expect a repetition of these 
 judgments in the days of Antichrist? And although we 
 may not fully understand what special form these judg- 
 ments may assume, their reality, the certainty of their 
 coming, and their terribleness are here clearly disclosed. 
 
 27. The Sounding OF the Second Trumpet (viii. 8,9). 
 
 8. And the second angel sounded, and as it were agreat mountain burn- 
 ing with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became 
 blood. 
 
 The imagery reminds us of Jer. 51 : 25, where we also 
 read of " a burnt mountain," or volcano. Probably we 
 may understand a fiery mass or meteor falling into the 
 sea, causing putrescence and pestilence. In the first 
 plague of Egypt (Ex. 7:20, 21) all the water turned 
 into blood, but Jure a tliird part of the sea becomes 
 blood. 
 
 9. And there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, 
 even they that had hfe ; and the third part of the ships was destroyed. 
 
 This trumpet is specially distinguished from the first 
 in that its judgments are visited on the sea instead of on 
 the land. Symbolical interpreters take these living create 
 
I lo THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [viii. lo. 
 
 ures to be ** men living in the sea of this world," and the 
 ships to be churches, while most commentators allegorize 
 and see in this trumpet the devastation of war, some like 
 the Preterists referring it to the distresses of the Jewish- 
 Roman war (Grotius), others, of the Historical School, to 
 later events in the history of the Roman Empire, — no 
 two agreeing in the interpretation of details. But it is 
 far better to accept the plain signification of the text, as 
 describing a great pestilence and the ruin of many ships, 
 including commercial means of prosperity, for the text 
 contains nothing allegorical. It is highly probable that 
 \.hQSQ first /z£'(? judgments will be held back until the serv- 
 ants of God in the days of Antichrist will be sealed, for 
 the command was, " Hurt not the earth, neither the 
 sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants 
 of God on their foreheads " (7 : 3). These judgments 
 therefore bring us down to the very eve of Christ's com- 
 ing to destroy Antichrist, and still lie in the future. 
 
 28. The Sounding of the Third Trumpet 
 (viii. 10, 11). 
 
 10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great 
 star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and 
 upon the fountains of the waters. 
 
 One blow follows another until finally the Lord comes, 
 and as the judgments of God are sent forth they deepen 
 in intensity. The first two judgments affected nature, 
 and man only indirectly, but this third judgment brings 
 about the death of many men. This judgment differs 
 altogether from the preceding. Whether i\\[s great star, 
 burning as a torch, is a meteor, or comet, we cannot tell ; 
 at least John saw it in the form of 2^ falling star. In its 
 fall it scattered its sparks, and the fragments fell upon a 
 third part of \.\\q. fresh water on the earth. 
 
vrii. II, 12.] CHAPTER VIII. HI 
 
 11. And the name of the star is called Wormwood : and the third part 
 of the waters became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters be- 
 cause they were made bitter. 
 
 The star is called Wonnivood (Greek absinthe), because 
 it made the water bitter as wormwood, and by its poison- 
 ous bitterness John saw that it brought death to many 
 men. It is not said that all who drank died. " The con- 
 sideration that wormwood is no deadly poison is not at all 
 pertinent, because it is not natural wormwood that is here 
 treated of " (DUESTERDIECK). There shall come a time, 
 when as a divine punishment men will again drink " of 
 the waters of Marah " (Ex. 15 : 23-25), for which there is 
 no healing, and in many cases death shall result, as in 
 the days of Elisha (2 Kings 2 : 19-21). 
 
 Many expositors refer this trumpet to heresies (Bede, 
 Williams, Wordsworth, Stern, etc.), more definitely still, 
 Pelagius (de Lyra), Origen (Luther), Arius (Bengel, Vit- 
 ringa, etc.) ; others, as the Preterists, refer it to events 
 contemporaneous with John ; still others, as the Histori- 
 cal School, see in it events affecting the history of the 
 Roman Empire, as the invasion of the barbarians, Attila, 
 the scourge of God (Elliott, Keith, etc.), or the Vandals 
 (Isaac Newton), etc. All this only proves how arbitrary 
 these methods of interpretation are, and how hopeless to 
 solve the problem of the Apocalypse from their stand- 
 point. 
 
 29. The Sounding of the Fourth Trumpet 
 (viii. 12). 
 
 12. 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 ; 
 that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not 
 shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner. 
 
 This fourth trumpet brings us to the disturbances 
 
IIS THE REVELA TION OF ST. fOHN. [viii. 13. 
 
 which shall take place in the heavenly bodies, parallel to 
 Matt. 24 : 29, and to the sixth seal (6 : 12, 13). This 
 miraculous eclipse of the sun, moon, and stars is a sign 
 of the coming day of judgment (Amos 8 : 9). This 
 plague is in many respects of the same character as the 
 ninth plague of Egypt (Ex. 10:21). For the third of 
 the day the sun shall not shine, and for the third of the 
 night neither moon nor stars. Symbolical interpreters 
 refer this fourth trumpet either to political confusion or 
 to the obscuring of spiritual truth, as the heresy of 
 Eutyches (de Lyra), Islam (Stern), Novatus (Luther), 
 etc. Others refer it to the incursions of the nations. 
 
 30. Introduction to the Three Woe-Trumpets 
 (viii. 13). 
 
 13. And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid heaven, saying with a 
 great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of 
 the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound. 
 
 John saw an eagle flying in that part of the sky where 
 the sun is at noon, in mid-heaven, that it might be seen, 
 and its far-sounding, menacing cry might be heard, by 
 all. It is best, as in Deut. 28 : 49 ; Hos. 8:1; Hab. i : 8, 
 to regard the eagle as a symbol of judgment " that hast- 
 eth to devour " (Hab. i : 8). Its piercing cry proclaims 
 the greatness of the three woes that are yet to come 
 upon the world, which are now to be announced more 
 fully by the last three trumpets. We need not ask who 
 or what this eagle signifies. This episode in the main 
 vision only calls attention to the greatness of the woes 
 that are yet to come. The Preterists see in it the eagle 
 of the Roman legions (Herder, Boehmer, etc.); Williams 
 sees in it St. John himself; Wordsworth, a special mes- 
 senger, probably Christ Himself; Elliott (as Joachim 
 
VIII. 13.] CHAPTER VTII. 113 
 
 formerly) thinks the eagle to be Pope Gregory the Great 
 protesting against the title universal Bishop. Is it a 
 wonder that men regard the Apocalypse an enigma with 
 such interpreters as guides ? (See Excursus IV. on 
 the First Four Trumpets^ 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 31. The Sounding of the Fifth Trumpet, or 
 THE First Woe (ix. 1-12). 
 
 I. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen 
 unto the earth ; and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. 
 
 This star, not falling, but having already fallen out of 
 heaven unto the earth, to whom the key of the pit of 
 the abyss was given in order that he might bring an in- 
 fernal plague upon those who " have not the seal of God 
 on their foreheads '" (9 : 4), is not to be regarded as a 
 good angel (Bengel, Bleek, De Wette, etc.), but accord- 
 ing to the analogy of Isa. 14 : 12 ; Luke 10 : 18 ; Rev. 
 10 : 9, as an ^z^// angel (so Bede, Vitringa, Alford, Todd, 
 Duesterdieck, and others). Some indeed take this angel 
 to be Satan himself, and identify him with " the angel of 
 the abyss" of 9 : ii, but of this we have no hint in the 
 text. In the power of God this evil angel is the instru- 
 ment of carrying out God's purpose with reference to 
 the ungodly world, for there was given to him the key of 
 the bottomless pit. If the four previous judgments were 
 judicially inflicted by God, this judgment, though still 
 under God's control, is diabolical in its origin and nature. 
 This abussos, here and in 9 : 2, 11 ; 1 1 : 7 ; 17 : 8 ; 20 : 
 1,3; Luke 8:31, denotes the present abode of the devil 
 and his angels, as distinguished from Gehenna, the lake of 
 fire and brimstone (Rev. 20 : 10), which will be their 
 abode after the final judgment of all things. It is 
 114 
 
rx. 2-4.] CHAPTER IX. 115 
 
 evidently included in Hades or Sheol, the present abode of 
 all the souls of the ungodly dead. (See Excursus II. on 
 Hades.) 
 
 2. And he opened the pit of the abyss ; and there went up a smoke out 
 of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were 
 darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 
 
 In vision it appeared to John as if this abyss was under 
 "the earth, having a shaft, after the manner of a well, 
 leading to it, and this well or pit was shut down by a 
 cover and locked. The angel receives the key, unlocks 
 the shaft or well leading down to the abyss, and behold, 
 a smoke like that of a great furnace (Gen. 19 : 28, the 
 destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah) rushed forth 
 obscuring the light of the sun. 
 
 3. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth ; and power 
 was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 
 
 John sees, under the covering of the smoke, and out of 
 the smoke, infernal locusts coming out of the pit and 
 swarming upon the earth, and they differed from earthly 
 locusts in that God gave them power to sting like earthly 
 scorpions, such as are referred to in Deut. 8:15. These 
 infernal locusts are able to hurt men, while common 
 locusts are not. 
 
 4. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the 
 earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have 
 not the seal of God on their foreheads. 
 
 They are thus sharply distinguished from all common 
 locusts which only injure the very things which these 
 infernal locusts are not to touch. These locusts are sent 
 forth as a plague upon a special class of men — those Avho 
 have not received the seal of God on their forehead 
 (7 : 3). As the sealed ones of 7 : 3-8 evidently are 
 believers among the Jews, there are some who maintain 
 
Il6 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [ix. 5-7. 
 
 that these unsealed ones upon whom the plague falls 
 must be unbelieving Israel, but of this there is no hint in 
 the text. The plague shall fall upon all, whether Jews or 
 Gentiles, who Jiave not the seal of God on their foreheads, 
 and of this plague the saints are not partakers. 
 
 5. And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they 
 should be tormented five months : and their torment was as the torment of a 
 scorpion, when it striketh a man. 
 
 But God sets a limit to the evil effect of the stings of 
 the infernal locusts (9 : 10), for their sting does not in- 
 flict death, but instead brings with it great bodily tor- 
 ment, as when men are stung by scorpions. For five 
 long months the dreadful sufferings upon the unsealed 
 will continue. 
 
 6. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it ; 
 and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. 
 
 As the vision represents prophetically what shall come 
 to pass in the days of Antichrist, so John in this verse in 
 plain prophecy describes the terrible effect of the plague. 
 Their longing to die arises from the excruciating pain of 
 the sting of the infernal locusts. Compare Jer. 8 : 3, 
 " and death shall be chosen rather than life by all the 
 residue that remain of this evil family." "A terrible 
 counterpart to the desire of the Apostle springing from 
 the hohest hope (Phil, i : 23) " (DUESTERDIECK). 
 
 7. And the shapes (Gr. likenesses) of the locusts were like unto horses 
 prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, 
 and their faces were as men's faces. 
 
 We have now a description of the appearance of these 
 infernal locusts. This resemblance of locusts to horses 
 (Joel 2 : 4) has often been noticed by travellers. Espe- 
 cially is this true when the horse is equipped for war. 
 Crowns like unto gold. Alford : "Just as the wings 
 of some of the beetle tribe might be said to blaze with 
 
IX. 8-n.] CHAPTER IX. 117 
 
 gold and gems." As men's faces. Even the common 
 locust has a distant resemblance to the human counte- 
 nance, but these demoniacal locusts bear this resemblance 
 in a still more remarkable manner. 
 
 8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the 
 teeth of lions. 
 
 An Arabic proverb compares the antennae of locusts 
 to the hair of women. Whether these miraculous locusts 
 had antennae like the natural locusts, or whether this 
 hair was attached to the other parts of the body, we can- 
 not tell. Joel (i : 6) already uses the same image of the 
 natural locusts. 
 
 9. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ; and the 
 sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing 
 to war. 
 
 The thorax of these infernal locusts is stronger than 
 that of the natural locusts, for it is as if of iron. These 
 demoniacal locusts have wings as natural locusts, and 
 the noise of their wings is like the sound produced by 
 the whirling of many chariot-wheels and the noise of the 
 hoofs of swift horses, all rushing headlong to war (Joel 
 2 : 5). It is said that natural locusts in their flight make 
 a most fearful noise. 
 
 10. And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings ; and in their 
 tails is their power to hurt men five months. 
 
 The special difference between the demoniacal locusts 
 and natural locusts is here stated. They have tails like 
 scorpions and have the power to sting, which natural 
 locusts do not have, and it is this sting, not their bite, 
 which causes such great torment for five months 
 (9 : 5, 6). 
 
 11. They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in 
 Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon 
 (that is. Destroyer). 
 
I r8 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [ix. 12. 
 
 These infernal locusts differ also from the natural locusts 
 in having a king, because these latter "have no king" 
 (Prov. 30 : 27). This angel of t lie abyss is not to be iden- 
 tified with Satan, but is rather a chief among Satan's 
 angels, serving under him, and who is here distinctly 
 mentioned as the king of the locusts rising from the abyss. 
 Some regard him in a special way as the overseer of the 
 abyss (Bengel, Ewald, De Wette, Duesterdieck). His 
 name is given as Abaddon. This is a Hebrew word 
 meaning destruction. In Job 26 : 6 it is conceived of as 
 part of Sheol, and in Job 28 : 22 it is coupled with death, 
 just as Death and Hades are in Rev. 6:8. It is espe- 
 cially regarded as a place of punishment for the wicked 
 ("a fire that consumeth unto Abaddon," Job 31 : 12) 
 (Ps. 88 : 11); " Sheol and Abaddon are before the Lord " 
 (Prov. 15 : 11), and " are never satisfied " (Prov. 27 : 20). 
 We may safely identify it with the abyss of the N. T., 
 and just as Hades of the N. T. corresponds to Sheol of 
 the O. T., so Abaddon of the O. T. and the abyss of the 
 N. T. are regarded as that special place in Sheol or 
 Hades where the devil and his angels and all demoniacal 
 power have their sway. The angel of the abyss, the king 
 of these infernal locusts, very appropriately therefore 
 bears the name Abaddon. The Greek equivalent for 
 Abaddon or Destroyer is Apollyon. 
 
 12. The first Woe is past; behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter. 
 
 These are the words of John, who thus tersely con- 
 cludes the first woe, and strikingly calls attention to the 
 two that are yet to follow. 
 
 As to the significance of this fifth trumpet there is no 
 reason why we should depart from its plain meaning. 
 This first woe- as a terrible judgment will fall upon the 
 ungodly immediately preceding the Second Advent of 
 our Lord, and still lies in the future. DUESTERDIECK 
 
IX. 12.] CHAPTER IX. 119 
 
 remarks : " He who, like Hebart {Die ziveite sicJitbare 
 Ziikiinft Christi, Erlangen, 1850), looks for the literal ful- 
 filment of all these visions, expecting, for instance, the 
 actual appearance of the /^«^j-/5- described in 9 : i-ii, cer- 
 tainly does more justice to the text than any allegorist." 
 Hebart himself says (quoted by Lange) : " The fact that 
 such creatures have never yet been seen should not make 
 us conclude that they never can or never will come. In 
 the last times many things, till then unheard of, shall 
 come to pass — much thitherto unseen shall greet mortal 
 vision." 
 
 Synopsis of Interpretation. AlfORD very properly re- 
 marks : " There is an endless Babel of allegorical and his- 
 torical interpretation of these locusts front tJie pit. The 
 most that we can say of their import is, that they belong 
 to a series of judgments on tlie ungodly which will imme- 
 diately precede the second advent of our Lord : that the 
 various and mysterious particulars of the vision will no 
 doubt clear themselves up to the Church of God, when 
 the time of its fulfilment arrives ; but that no such clear- 
 ing up has yet taken place, a very few hours of research 
 among histories of apocalyptic interpretation will serve to 
 convince any reader who is not himself the servant of a 
 preconceived system." 
 
 I. The Preterists. — The fallen star of 9 : i is " the 
 demon Nero " (Volkmar) : the locusts are the Roman 
 wars in Judea (Grotius, Wetstein, Herder, etc.). 
 
 n. The Continuous Historical School.' — (i) In general 
 Mohammed and the ravages of Mohammedanism, So 
 Mede, Elliott, Barnes, Wordsworth, Isaac Newton, Bishop 
 Newton, Daubuz, Keith, Faber, Williams, Doddridge, 
 Frere, Scott, etc. (2) Heretics (Bede and many others), 
 Roman Catholics as well as Protestants, each one apply- 
 ing the prophecy to the heretics of his own day. The 
 
I20 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ix. 12. 
 
 Roman Catholic writers (Bellarmine) see in the locusts 
 Luther and the Protestants, while the Protestant writers 
 (Ussher, Forbes, etc.) apply the prophecy to the Pope, 
 the monks, and the inquisition. Stern sees in the fifth 
 trumpet all kinds of heresy, from the end of the fourth 
 century, including the Pantheists of our own day. 
 
 III. The Futurists. — Some think that these locusts 
 symbolize evil spirits, their appearance being still in the 
 future (the ancient opinion) ; others think that literal 
 locusts are intended (De Burgh, etc.). The torment is to 
 continue five literal months (Todd, etc.). Fausset re- 
 marks : " I agree with Alford, De Burgh, etc., that these 
 locusts from the abyss refer to judgments about to fall on 
 the ungodly immediately before Christ's second advent. 
 None of the interpretations which regard them as past 
 are satisfactory. Joel i : 2-7; 2 : i-ii, is strictly 
 parellel, and expressly refers (2 : 11) to the day of the Lord 
 great and very terrible ; Joel 2 : 10 gives the portents 
 accompanying the day of the Lord's coming, tJie earth 
 quaking, the heavens trembling, the sun, moon, and stars 
 wit Jidr awing their sJiining ; Joel 2 : 18, 31, 32, also point 
 to the immediately succeeding deliverance of Jerusalem. 
 . . . De Burgh confines the locust-judgment to the 
 Israelite land, even as the sealed in Rev. vii. are Israel- 
 ites. ... I incline to agree with him." 
 
 IV. The Spiritual System. — This is best represented 
 by Milligan, whose summary we give : " All application to 
 the host of the Mohammedans may be at once dismissed. 
 The woe falls upon the whole world, not merely upon a 
 part of it, and it is not permitted to affect the Redeemed 
 Church. At the same time it cannot find its fulfilment 
 in mere war, or in the calamities which war brings. The 
 woe is obviously spiritual." 
 
ix. 13, i4-] chapter ix. 121 
 
 32, The Sounding of the Sixth Trumpet or the 
 Second Woe (ix. 13-21). 
 
 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of 
 the golden altar which is before God. 
 
 This voice John heard coming from between the four 
 horns of the golden altar already previously mentioned 
 (see notes on 8 : 3 ; 6:9). Alford : " The voice prob- 
 ably proceeded from the altar itself, represented as 
 uttering the cry of vengeance for the blood shed on it ; 
 compare 6 : 9, with which cry of the martyred saints the 
 whole series of retributive judgments is connected." 
 
 14. One saying to the sixth angel, which had the trumpet, Loose the 
 four angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. 
 
 Alford calls attention to the fact that this whole 
 imagery has been the cross of interpreters, and ventures 
 to point out " amidst the surging tumult of controversy " 
 three points of " apparent refuge to which we must not 
 betake ourselves." (i) We are not to identify these angels 
 with the four angels spoken of in 7 : 1-3, as Bede, Elliott, 
 and others do. Certainly not, for their mission and 
 locality is totally distinct. (2) We need not decide whether 
 there are good or bad angels. But Bossuet, Hengsten- 
 berg, Wordsworth, and others maintain that they are 
 good angels, and some of the early commentators even 
 go so far as to suggest that their names were Michael, 
 Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. On the other hand, it is 
 far better to regard these as evil angels, chiefs among 
 Satan's angels, who in the power of God are compelled 
 to carry out His purposes in the punishment of the un- 
 godly world. This is seen from the fact that they zuere 
 bound ■A.wA'CtizX they lead forthwith them an innumerable 
 infernal army, that has its origin in the abyss, for they 
 bring with them " fire and smoke and brimstone " (9 : 17, 
 
122 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ix. 15. 
 
 18). So in general, Bede, Bengel, Ebrard, Ewald, Stern, 
 Stuart, Williams, Duesterdieck, and others. (3) There is 
 nothing in the text to prevent " the great river Eu- 
 phrates " from being taken in a literal sense. At least John 
 in his vision sees these four angels standing bound at the 
 great river Euphrates, whence all the chastisements on 
 Israel have always come. ToDD calls our attention to 
 the fact that " it was the almost universal opinion of the 
 ancients that Antichrist shall arise from this region," and 
 he himself thinks that the region of the Euphrates shall 
 hereafter become the scene of the last great struggle 
 between the Prince of this world and the people of God. 
 The Pretcrists either understand the Euphrates literally 
 as the frontier of the Roman Empire (Grotius, Ewald, 
 Renan, etc.), or as referring to the Tiber, because Babylon 
 is Rome (14 : 8) (VVetstein, Hammond, and others). 
 Most of the Historical School also take the Euphrates 
 literally, referring this trumpet to the invasions of the 
 Tartars and Turks, who dwelt beyond the Euphrates. 
 So in general Mede, Vitringa, Elliott, Daubuz, Faber, 
 Forbes, Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, Keith, Doddridge, 
 and others. But this judgment lies in the future instead 
 of in the past, and it is highly probable that we have 
 come to the days of the beginning of Antichrist. 
 
 15. And the four angels were loosed, which had been prepared for the 
 hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of 
 men. 
 
 These four angels have been appointed of God to 
 carry out His purpose of punishment upon the ungodly 
 world, and at a certain appointed time — the very hour 
 determined upon— it shall begin. One third part of the 
 ungodly shall perish, in the same proportion as the 
 creatures, trees, and sliips in 8 : 7, 9, 1 1, 12 suffer. To 
 give a synopsis of the surprising chronological calcula- 
 
IX. i6, 17.] CHAPTER IX. 123 
 
 tions which have been based upon this verse by the 
 Historical interpreters would not be very edifying. 
 
 16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thou- 
 sand times ten thousand; I heard the number of them. 
 
 Compare Ps. 68 : 17, "the chariots of God are twenty 
 thousand, even thousands upon thousands." We are 
 not to be surprised at the vastness of their armies, two 
 hundred miUions, for John himself heard the number of 
 them. LeE: " Two armies are described in the Apoca- 
 lypse : (i) that which is described here and in 16 : 14, 16 ; 
 20 : 8, and of which the aspect has been foreshown in 
 Ezek. 38 : 4, 15 ; and (2) in opposition to this host, the 
 Armies of Heaven of which we read in 19 : 14." JACOBS 
 (in Duesterdieck) calls attention to the fact that Beck 
 would interpret this immense number of a future literal 
 army, explaining it by a universal war involving all races 
 of men, analogous to the migrations of nations, the first 
 appearance of Mohammedanism, the Crusades, and illus- 
 trating its probability by referring to the now estimated 
 one thousand millions of the earth's inhabitants. But 
 FauSSET more correctly than Beck remarks: " The hosts 
 here are evidently, from their number and their appear- 
 ance (9 : 17), not merely human hosts, but probably in- 
 fernal, though constrained to work out God's will." 
 This whole vision undoubtedly belongs to the period in 
 connection with the manifestation of Antichrist. 
 
 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, 
 having breastplates flJ of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the 
 heads of the horses are as the heads of lions : and out of their mouths pro- 
 ceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone. 
 
 John now describes more particularly the horses and 
 their riders as he beheld them in his vision. It is best 
 to refer the breastplates to both horses and riders, and 
 their breastplates were of three colors. One part of the 
 
124 "^^^ REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [ix. i8, 19. 
 
 host was covered with breastplates red like fire, another 
 part with those of a dark red or bluish red like hyacinth, 
 and the rest with those of a light yellow, such a color as 
 would naturally be produced by the fumes of brimstone, 
 — corresponding to the fire, smoke, and brimstone com- 
 ing forth from the mouths of the horses. These horses 
 had a monstrous appearance, for their heads were as 
 the heads of lions, possibly " in the size of the mouths and 
 the length of the manes" (DUESTERDIECK). 
 
 18. By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire 
 and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. 
 
 The fire and the smoke and the brimstone are here 
 expressly designated as three plagues whereby these 
 armies are to kill one third of all the ungodly. 
 
 19. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails; for 
 their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads ; and with them they do 
 hurt. 
 
 The power of the horses lies in their mouth, because 
 out of the mouth proceed these plagues which kill one 
 third part of men. But these horses also inflicted great 
 pain with their tails, for these ended in the heads of ser- 
 pents, and with them they did bite, and brought much 
 suffering upon mankind, just as the locusts tormented 
 men with their scorpion bites (9 : 5). That all this ima- 
 gery describes a judgment of plagues coming upon the 
 earth in connection with the days of Antichrist is plainly 
 evident, but to attempt to set forth the exact character 
 of these plagues would be the height of presumption, for 
 no one knows. According to the analogy of 14 : 10 ; 
 19 : 20; 21 : 8, the fire, smoke, and brimstone give evi- 
 dence of the infernal character of the plagues. The Pre- 
 terists, as a rule, refer the whole vision to events con- 
 nected with the destruction of Jerusalem, while the 
 Historical ixxicv'pvettxs, see in it events which took place 
 
IX. 20.] CHAPTER IX. 125 
 
 in connection with the inroads of the Turks and Saracens. 
 Luther, Calovius, and others have specially in view the 
 erroneous doctrine of the Turks, — Calovius sees the 
 Koran proceeding from the mouths of the horses. Elliott 
 sees in these tails of the horses the horsetails borne as 
 symbols of authority by the Turkish Pashas, of which 
 view Alford tersely says: "I will venture to say, that 
 a more self-condemnatory interpretation was never 
 broached." In fact, the variety of interpretation is end- 
 less, and all equally unsatisfactor)^. 
 
 The remarks of TODD, who represents the Futurists, 
 are suggestive : " It must be observed that the four 
 angels are said to have been bound at or in the river 
 Euphrates, and we are therefore probably to look to that 
 region as the scene of this great judgment ; inasmuch as 
 the prophecy seems distinctly to assert that from thence 
 shall issue the great multitude of horsemen who are to 
 be the instruments of the predicted massacre, wherein 
 the third part of men shall be slain. This conclusion is 
 in exact conformity with the inferences to which we 
 were led from a consideration of the prophecies of Daniel, 
 namely, that the countries in the region of the Euphrates, 
 once the seat of such mighty empires, are destined at 
 some future period to recover their political power, and 
 to become the scene of the last great struggle between 
 the princes of the world and the people of God." 
 
 20. And the rest of mankind, which were not killed with these plagues, 
 repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship 
 devils (Gr. demons), and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of 
 stone, and of wood ; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. 
 
 That this judgment of plagues fell only on the ungodly, 
 and aimed at their repentance, is clearly indicated by this 
 verse. But man in those antichristian days will not 
 accept the loving forbearance of God (2 Pet. 3 : 9), but 
 
1 2 6 THE RE VELA TTON OF ST. JOHN. [ix. 21. 
 
 continue in their old sins, which are more particularly 
 described as demon-worship and idolatry, for " the 
 Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall 
 away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and 
 doctrines of demons" (i Tim. 4 : i). The sins are the 
 same as those against which Israel was warned and into 
 which Israel fell (Deut. 4 : 28 ; Ps. 106: 34-40; Acts 
 7:41). Which neither see. Compare Ps. 115 : 4-7; 
 135 '• 15-17 ; I Cor. 10 : 19, 20. 
 
 21. And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of 
 their fornication, nor of their thefts. 
 
 We have here a characterization of the terrible state 
 of society in the times immediately preceding the mani- 
 festation of Antichrist. LUTHARDT remarks : " These 
 are the chief sins of heathenism. Such moral corruption 
 will occur at the end, in spite of advanced culture ; for 
 culture of itself does not promote morality, but, as 
 history teaches, may be employed as well in the service 
 of ungodliness and immorality." On \.\\q. \v ox 6. fornica- 
 tion Bengel comments: "Other crimes are committed 
 by men at intervals ; fornication alone is perpetual with 
 those who are lacking purity of heart." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 33. The Vision of the Little Book (x. i-ii). 
 
 The sixth trumpet has sounded which brought with it 
 the destruction of a third part of the ungodly by the 
 demoniacal armies from the East, but before the seventh 
 is heralded with its accompanying woe (11 : 14), there is 
 an interval consisting of two episodes, the vision of the 
 Little Book (10 : i-n) and the measuring of the Temple 
 (11 : 1-13), similar to what occurs between the opening 
 of the sixth and seventh seals (7:1-8; 7 : 9-1 7)- The 
 events indicated by these episodes are closely connected 
 with the events signified by the sixth trumpet, for it is 
 not until their close that the proclamation is made : 
 •* The second woe is past : behold, the third woe cometh 
 quickly" (ll : 14). 
 
 I. And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed 
 with a cloud ; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the 
 sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. 
 
 This strong angel {another in contrast with the one 
 spoken of in 5 : 2) is not to be identified with Christ Him- 
 self. Lange : " This angel, in the might and victorious 
 confidence of his appearance, reminds us of the archangel 
 Michael." There is a general unanimity among commen- 
 tators that the r^«^ characterizes the angel as a messenger 
 of divine judgment, tJie rainbow indicating the sign of 
 God's covenant of mercy, his face shining as the sun the 
 
 divine glory with which he was invested, and his feet as 
 
 127 
 
128 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN'. [x. 2-4. 
 
 pillars of fire \nt\n\dii'n\g the fire of judgment. Alford : 
 " The symbols with which this angel is accompanied, as 
 those which surrounded the throne of God in 4:2, 3, 
 betoken judgment tempered with mercy." 
 
 2. And he had m his hand a Uttle book open : and he set his right foot 
 upon the sea, and his left upon the earth. 
 
 This book was in the angel's left hand (10 : 5), and in 
 comparison with the book of 5 : 2 was a little book, for it 
 contained but a small portion of God's purposes, and it 
 was open, for God was ready to disclose its contents. The 
 fact that the angel stands zuith his right foot upon the sea, 
 and his left upon the earth, indicates that God's power, 
 whose messenger he is, extends in judgment over the 
 whole earth. 
 
 3. And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth : and when he 
 cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. 
 
 We have a right to infer that this outcry of the angel 
 was of a threatening character, but the nature of its con- 
 tents we do not know. Bengel would refer the cry to 
 the contents of 10 : 6, That the seven thunders brought 
 to the ears of John some intelligible revelations may be 
 clearly inferred from the next verse. 
 
 4. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to 
 write: and I heard a voice from heaven .saying, Seal up the things which 
 the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 
 
 The remarks of Alford are very suggestive : " Many 
 speculations have been raised as to the purport of the 
 utterances of the seven thunders, and the reason for con- 
 cealing them. From the very nature of the case, these 
 must be utterly in vain. ... It is matter of surprise and 
 grief therefore, when we find historical interpreters of our 
 day explaining them of the papal anathemas of the time 
 of the Reformation. . . . Thus much we may infer ; from 
 
X. s, 6.] CHAPTER X. 129 
 
 the very character of thunder, — that the utterances were 
 of fearful import : from the place which they hold, that 
 they related to the church : from the command to con- 
 ceal them, first, encouragement, that God in His tender 
 mercy to His own does not reveal all His terrors: 
 secondly, godly fear, seeing that the arrows of His quiver 
 are not exhausted, but besides things expressly foretold, 
 there are more behind not revealed to us." Hofmann 
 imagines that the seven thunders disclosed the blessed 
 mystery of the new world ; Vitringa sees in them the 
 seven crusades ; others, seven future acts of God ; or, 
 seven terrible judgments on the persecutors of the 
 Church. 
 
 5. And the angel which I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth 
 lifted up his right hand to heaven. 
 
 He does not lift up both hands as the angel in Dan. 
 12 : 7, because the little book lay open on his left (10 : 2). 
 To lift up the hand toward heaven, as God's dwelling 
 place, was customary in taking a solemn oath (Gen. 
 14 : 22 ; Ex. 6:8; Num. 14 : 30). 
 
 6. And svvare by him that liveth for ever and ever (Gr. unto the ages of 
 the ages), who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and 
 the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that 
 are therein, that there shall be time (or, delay) no longer. 
 
 This formal designation of God as the Creator of all 
 things is appropriate, because the subject of the angel's 
 oath, the consummation of the mystery of God (10 : 7), 
 can only be brought about by that Almighty Power who 
 made all things (Alford, Duesterdieck, Fausset, and 
 others). There shall be time no longer. This does not 
 mean that time shall end and eternity begin, but' there is 
 evidently an allusion to the answer given to the cry of 
 the souls of the martyrs, " that they should re?,t yet for a 
 little timcy until their fellow-servants also and their breth- 
 9 
 
130 THE REVELATIOAT OF ST. JOHN. [x. 7, 8. 
 
 ren, which should be killed even as they were, should be ful- 
 filled "(6:1 1). Alford correctly remarks : " This whole 
 series of trumpet-judgments has been an answer to the 
 prayers of the saints, and now the vengeance is about to 
 receive its entire fulfilment : the appointed delay is at an 
 end." 
 
 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about 
 to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings 
 which he declared to his servants the prophets. 
 
 The moment that the seventh trumpet shall sound, the 
 mystery shall be made clear, for the fulfilment comes in 
 the days when it sounds. This verse is an anticipation 
 of II : 15-18. This finishing of the mystery of God is 
 the glorious consummation of God's kingdom, when "the 
 kingdom of the world shall have become the kingdom of 
 our Lord, and of his Christ ; when he shall reign for 
 ever and ever" (11 : 15), — the great theme of all O. T. 
 prophecy. It is the time when Christ shall enter upon 
 the possession of His rightful inheritance ( I Cor. 15 : 24-28). 
 These good tidings God revealed unto His servants the 
 prophets (Amos 3 : 7), especially to the prophet Daniel, 
 and they have everywhere spoken of Christ's coming 
 kingdom. 
 
 There are many who maintain that the days of the 
 seventh trumpet, mentioned in this verse, are identical 
 with the three and a half times spoken of in Dan. 7 : 25 ; 
 12:7, known as the times of Antichrist, and referred to 
 in Rev. 11:2; 13 : 5, as " forty and two months." 
 
 8. And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking 
 with me, and saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the 
 angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 
 
 Bengel suggests that this voice (10 : 4) belonged to 
 Christ, as in I : II. John is commanded to go and take 
 
X. 9, 10.] CHAPTER X. 131 
 
 the little book out of the hand of the strong angel, who 
 represented God's power of judgment over all the world. 
 
 9. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me 
 the Httle book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall 
 make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. 
 
 It seems that according to John's vision he now left 
 heaven to be near the angel standing on earth and sea. 
 The significance of the angel's command to eat the book 
 can be learnt from Ezek. 2 : 9 — 3 : 3, where Ezekiel was 
 also commanded to eat the roll, and thus received the 
 contents of the prophecy in his heart (Ezek. 3 : 10), and 
 then go and speak unto the house of Israel (Ezek. 3 : i). 
 By eating the book John is made able to proclaim its con- 
 tents. It shall make thy belly bitter. When the con- 
 tents of the book were fully revealed to him, though at 
 the time of eating (the time of the reception of the reve- 
 lation) it might taste siveet as Jioney, — as in the case of 
 Ezekiel's roll (Ezek. 3 : 3), who, however, after eating it 
 sat down astonished seven days in great bitterness 
 (Ezek. 3 : 14, 15) when the contents of the roll were fully 
 revealed to him, that " there was written therein lamenta- 
 tions, and mourning, and woe" (Ezek. 2 : 10). 
 
 10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; 
 and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my belly 
 was made bitter. 
 
 See notes on last verse. John had the same experience 
 as Ezekiel. John Gerhard: "The pleasure of the mouth 
 is a symbol of the pleasure which the godly derive from 
 the revelation of divine mysteries before they fully per- 
 ceive them. The bitterness of the belly is a symbol of 
 the pain which they derive from the consideration of the 
 persecution to be described in the succeeding prophecy, 
 which Antichrist will exercise against the Church at the 
 end of the world." 
 
132 THE RE VELA TION OF S T. JOHN. [x . 1 1 . 
 
 II. And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over (or, concern- 
 ing) many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. 
 
 They say. The expression is very indefinite. Auber- 
 len remarks that the third person plural, as in Dan. 7 : 5, 
 13, refers to angels. Thou must prophesy, Because 
 such is God's will. Again. Not after his return from 
 exile, nor as referring to the composition of John's Gos- 
 pel, but to proclaim the contents of the book which he 
 has eaten, and which evidently is given in that part of 
 the Apocalypse which begins at Rev. xii. Concerning 
 many peoples . . . lyings. This prophecy is evidently 
 found in the Apocalyptic visions beginning with Rev. 
 xii., and contained in the following chapters of the book. 
 
 Synopsis of Inter prctatio7i. We meet in this chapter 
 with as many variations of interpretations as elsewhere. 
 The Historical Interpreters refer it either to the propaga- 
 tion of Christianity in general (Primasius, Bede, etc.), or 
 to the Reformation (Elliott, Keith, Daubuz, etc.). The 
 scheme of Elliott reads almost like a life of Luther an- 
 notated with illustrations from Revelation. The Preter- 
 ists as a rule see in it the Prelude to the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. As to details of interpretation : (i) The 
 strong angel. Many take this angel to be Christ (so Bede, 
 Aretas, Mede, Calovius, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth, etc.); 
 others, an angel (so Stern, Bengel, De Wette, Lange, 
 Duesterdieck, Alford, Sadler, Boyd Carpenter, Simcox, 
 Fausset, and others) ; others, the Emperor Justinian (de 
 Lyra), or evangelical preachers (older Protestant exposi- 
 tors), or Luther (Daubuz), or the French Revolution 
 (Cunninghame) ; etc. (2) The sea and earth (verse 2). 
 C. a Lapide and Alcazar refer this to the Gentiles and Jews 
 to whom the Gospel is preached ; Bengel sees Europe and 
 Asia ; Hengstenberg, the sea of peoples, and the cultivated 
 earth; Keith, England (sea) and Germany (earth); etc. 
 
X. II.] CHAPTER X. 133 
 
 (3) There shall be time no lo7iger (verse 6). Cessation of 
 time (so Bede, Aretas, CEcumenius, Williams, etc.); there 
 shall be no longer delay, but the beginning of the fulfil- 
 ment has come (so Calovius, Vitringa, C. a Lapide, 
 Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Duesterdieck, etc.) ; 
 no longer a season of grace (Ebrard, Wordsworth) ; a 
 chromis oi \\\\\y&diXs (Bengel), thus making the end of 
 all things in the year 1836, counting from 725 A. D. ; etc. 
 
 (4) Tlie contents of the little book (verse 10). The con- 
 tents of 1 1 : 1-13, the fate of Jerusalem (the Preterists, 
 Grotius, Wetstein, Ewald, etc.) ; the Codex Jnstiniamis 
 (de Lyra) ; the New Testament (Aretas, etc.) ; the Old 
 Testament (Bede) ; judgments on the degenerate Church 
 (Hengstenberg) ; the special commission to Luther and 
 the preachers of the Reformation (Elliott, etc.) ; what is 
 written in the Apocalypse itself, and that, too, in the 
 part which follows Rev. x. (Grotius, Calovius, Vitringa, 
 Bengel, Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Fausset, etc.) ; 
 the contents of Rev. xi. (Ebrard) ; the testimony of the 
 Two Witnesses (De Burgh); summed up in 11 : 1-13, 
 including a reference to Antichrist, announcing the 
 conversion of Israel (Godet) ; " the little roll of St. John 
 concerns the power which is called the Little Horn, by 
 Daniel (7 : 8, 20), namely, the spiritual power of Rome " 
 (Wordsworth) ; etc. 
 
 Summary. As has been expounded in our notes, we 
 believe that this episode refers to the future, and indi- 
 cates that after the judgments announced by the sixth 
 trumpet have come upon the ungodly world, the begin- 
 ning of the final consummation will soon come, and this 
 little book contains the judgments which shall immedi- 
 ately come upon the world and the Church in connection 
 with the times of tribulation in the days of Antichrist. 
 The remarks of Fausset, "the eating of the book (10: 
 
134 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. x. ii.] 
 
 lo, ll), as in Ezekiel's case, marks John's inauguration to 
 his prophetical office — here to a fresh stage of it, — the re- 
 veaHng of the things which befall the holy city and the 
 Church of God — the subject of the rest of the book," and 
 of Lee, " John's new consecration now places him side by 
 side with Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah ; and points to 
 the change in the Apocalyptic announcements introduced 
 by Rev. ii : 1-14, and beginning at Rev. 12 : i," cannot 
 be far from indicating the true idea underlying this whole 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 34. The Measuring of the Temple (xi. i, 2). 
 
 We come now to the second of the two episodes 
 separating the sixth and seventh trumpets. (See notes 
 introductory to the tenth chapter.) John is commanded 
 to perform a symbolic action such as we read of that the 
 prophets of the Old Testament also at times performed 
 (Amos 7 : 7-9; Ezek. xl. — xliii. ; Zech. 2 : 1-4). It is 
 unquestionably one of the most difficult passages to ex- 
 plain in the whole Apocalypse. It seems to be of an 
 anticipatory character, giving us a general glimpse of the 
 events to occur in the times of Antichrist, which are 
 described more in detail in the visions beginning with 
 chapter xii. It is properly a compendium of the more 
 detailed prophecies which follow. And Alford correctly 
 remarks : " We cannot understand this prophecy at all 
 except in the light of those that follow : for it introduces 
 by anticipation their dramatis personcs." 
 
 I. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and one said (Gr. 
 saying), Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that 
 worship therein. 
 
 There was given me. By whom is not said, probably 
 an angel, possibly by Christ, who seems to be the speaker 
 in II : 3 (Bengel). In 21 : 15 and Ezek. 40 : 3 the reed 
 is in the angeFs hand. A reed. To serve as a measure 
 (Ezek. 40 : 3 ; Rev. 21 : 15). The reed was straight as a 
 rod of iron {2 \ 2^). Saying. Indefinite,— the participle 
 
 135 
 
136 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: [xi. i. 
 
 being out of construction. He who gives the reed \s the 
 speaker. Arise, This does not imply that John had 
 been sitting or kneeling, but simply calls to action. 
 Measure. The form of the vision is the same as that in 
 Ezek. 40 : 3 and Zech. 2 : i, which see. The two most 
 probable explanations of the significance of this measur- 
 ing are (l) that it signifies separation for preservation or 
 exemption from destruction (so many of most diverse 
 schools, as Duesterdieck, Hengstenberg, etc.); (2) that it 
 denotes to rebuild as in Ezek. xl., whether literally in 
 the future, or allegorically by the restoration of the true 
 Church. It is probably best, after the O. T. type given 
 us in Ezekiel, with Bengel, Godet, De Burgh, Todd, and 
 Futurists in general, to refer this measuring to the rebuild- 
 ing of the temple. The temple of God. This naos is that 
 part of the sacred temple {hieron) which contained the 
 sanctuary, including the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. 
 The Futurists maintain that we are now transferred to 
 Jerusalem, which will have been rebuilt by the Jews, 
 while in unbelief, after their return to their own land, for 
 we read here of the temple, the altar, the worshippers in 
 the temple, the holy city, of Gentiles in contrast with 
 Jews, and of their conquest of the city. The Pretcrists 
 (Duesterdieck, Renan, Reuss, etc.) understand all this, too, 
 in a literal sense, but refer it to the temple and Jerusalem 
 of John's own time, and maintain that when John wrote 
 the Apocalypse the temple was still standing, and that 
 the symbolism of the whole chapter refers to the capture 
 of the city and the destruction of the temple by Titus. 
 The altar. The altar of incense, which alone stood in 
 the sanctuary {naos). And them that worship therein. 
 Godet takes those who worship in the sanctuary to be 
 the body of faithful Jews, who refuse to worship Anti- 
 christ at the time of his reigning in Jerusalem. So in 
 
XI. 2.] CHAPTER XL 137 
 
 substance also Fausset : " The measurement of the holy 
 place seems to me to stand parallel to the sealing of the 
 elect of Israel under the sixth seal. Literal Israel in 
 Jerusalem, and with the temple restored (Ezek. 40 : 3-5, 
 where also the temple is measured with the measuring reed 
 xli.-xliii.), shall stand at the head of the elect church. 
 The literal temple at Jerusalem shall be the typical fore- 
 runner of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which there shall 
 be all temple, and no portion exclusively set apart as 
 temple. . . . The temple shall be rebuilt on the return 
 of the Jews to their land. Antichrist shall there put 
 forward his blasphemous claims. The sealed elect of 
 Israel, the head of the elect Church, alone shall refuse 
 his claims." 
 
 2. And the court which is without the temple leave without (Gr. casf 
 withoid), and measure it not ; for it hath been given unto the nations : and 
 the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 
 
 Only the sanctuary {naos) is to be measured, — all the 
 rest of the temple is to be rejected, — and the reason is 
 added — by God's appointment the court and the holy 
 city Jerusalem " shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, 
 until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21 : 
 24). 
 
 The view of the Futurists is very clearly stated by 
 Todd : " The act of measuring the temple denotes its 
 restoration to the worship of God and to the offices of 
 Divine service. The testimony which this prophecy, 
 literally understood, has given us is clearly this, that, at 
 the time predicted, Jerusalem shall be inhabited again, 
 and the temple rebuilt ; that after this restoration the 
 city shall be taken and sacked by the Gentiles, the outer 
 court also of the temple seized and profaned, but the 
 sanctuary itself and a remnant of them that worship 
 therein graciously preserved in the midst of the sur- 
 
138 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [XT. 2. 
 
 rounding desolation, which desolation shall be of very 
 limited duration, three years and a half. . . . There is 
 nothing impossible, nothing inconsistent with faith or 
 reason, nothing which can furnish the smallest justifi- 
 cation to us for departing from the natural meaning of 
 the words." And Sadler, who also quotes Todd, re- 
 marks, " Now it is to be remembered that all this may 
 be if God continues in the future to take an interest in 
 Jerusalem as He has done in the past." Sadler him- 
 self also says : " We have reason to believe that the 
 restored temple and altar will be rebuilt in Jerusalem 
 before the Second Advent and the consummation, and 
 in this case, i. e. on this explanation, the court which is 
 without, which is to be left unmeasured, will be the court 
 of the restored temple, which will be under the power of 
 Antichrist." Forty and two months. Nearly all com- 
 mentators are agreed that this period occurs in three 
 forms in this book : (i) here and in 13 : 5 as 42 months ; 
 (2) in II : 3 and 12 : 6 as a period of 1,260 days ; and (3) 
 as " a time, and times, and half a time " (12 : 14), which 
 last designation is also found in Dan. 7 : 25 ; 12 : 7. There 
 are many commentators who identify these three periods, 
 but the remarks of Alford are suggestive : " Equal as 
 they certainly seem to be, we have no right to suppose 
 them, in any two given cases, to be identical, unless the 
 context requires such a supposition. For instance, in 
 these two verses (11 : 2, 3), there is strong temptation to 
 regard the two equal periods as coincident and identical : 
 but it is plain that such a view is not required by the 
 context ; the prophecy contains no note of such coinci- 
 dence, but may be very simply read without it, on the 
 view that the two periods are equal in duration, but in- 
 dependent of one another." Alford is probably correct. 
 It is probably best, on the basis of Dan. 9 : 27, " he shall 
 
XI. 3.] CHAPTER XL 139 
 
 make a firm covenant with many for one week," to re- 
 gard the whole of Antichrist's reign to extend over seven 
 years, dividing it into two periods of 3)^ years each, 
 " for the half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and 
 the oblation to cease " (Dan. 9 : 27). During the first 
 half of the week (3^ years), Antichrist is in covenant 
 with the unbelieving Jews (Dan. 9 : 27) and the two wit- 
 nesses are prophesying (Rev. 11 : 3), and then in the midst 
 of the week, at the end of the first 3>^ years. Antichrist 
 shall reveal himself as the man of sin (2 Thess. 2 : 3), as 
 the beast coming out of the sea (Rev. 13:1), stop the 
 daily sacrifices (Dan. 9 : 27 ; 12 : 11), slay the two wit- 
 nesses (Rev. II : 7), begin to tread under foot the holy 
 city (Rev. 11 : 2), begin to wear out the saints of the 
 Most High (Dan. 7 : 25), and enter upon the full exercise 
 of his diabolical authority for the last 3^ years preced- 
 ing his destruction by the coming of Christ at His Reve- 
 lation. If this explanation be correct then the first half 
 of Daniel's week (Dan. 9 : 27), and the 1,260 days during 
 which the two witnesses are prophesying, are identical, 
 while the second half of Daniel's week (Dan. 9 : 27) cor- 
 responds to the 42 months of the treading under of the 
 holy city (i i : 2), — to the time and times and half a time 
 of Dan. 7 : 25, — and to the 42 months of authority exer- 
 cised by the beast (13 : 5). 
 
 35. The Prophesying of the Two Witnesses 
 (xi. 3-14). 
 
 3. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
 thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 
 
 The article (in Greek) seems to imply that two personal 
 and well-known individuals are designated as the wit- 
 nesses. That which is given to them is power and 
 
1 40 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 4. 
 
 authority to prophesy. Like prophets of old they pro- 
 claim the impending judgments of God, preaching repent- 
 ance, and above all bear testimony to Christ. The fact 
 that they were clothed in sackcloth shows that they 
 preached repentance and the approaching judgment 
 (Jen 4 : 8 ; 6 : 26 ; Jonah 3 : 5). The period of their 
 prophesying was during the first half of Daniel's week, 
 before the beast was manifested as the Man of Sin (11 : 7 ; 
 13:1), for when they had finished their testimony at the 
 beginning of the second half of Daniel's week. Antichrist 
 made war with them, and killed them (i i : 7). (See notes 
 on last verse.) 
 
 4. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks (Gr. lamp- 
 stands), standing before the Lord of the earth. 
 
 We have here a further description of the character of 
 these two witnesses. This whole verse is based upon the 
 prophetic symbolism of Zech. 4 : 1-14. Zechariah be- 
 holds a golden candlestick, and seven lamps thereon, and 
 two olive trees on either side thereof. The purpose of 
 the vision was to encourage Zerubbabel and the high- 
 priest Joshua not to put their trust in the arm of flesh 
 but in the Spirit of Jehovah (Zech. 4 : 6). The tivo olive 
 trees are explained by the angel as being " the two sons 
 of oil that stand by the Lord of the whole earth " (Zech. 
 4 : 14), evidently designating Zerubbabel and Joshua as 
 these "two sons of oil," although some commentators 
 suggest that the prophets Zechariah and Haggai are 
 meant. In the Apocalypse the symbolism of Zechariah 
 is transferred to these two witnesses, only that here they 
 are called not only tJie tzvo olive trees, but also the two 
 candlesticks (in Zechariah we have only one candlestick). 
 Like the two anointed ones in Zechariah these two wit- 
 nesses are God's testifying servants and prophesy for 
 Christ, and the fact that they standhefore the Lord of the 
 
XI. 5-7-] CHAPTER XI. 141 
 
 earth implies that they come not in their own might or 
 power, but in the power and Spirit of God (Zech. 4 : 6). 
 
 5. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their 
 mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any man shall desire to hurt 
 them, in this manner must he be killed. 
 
 As these two witnesses are sent by God they are en- 
 dowed with miraculous powers. The nature of these 
 miracles is described in this and the following verse. 
 Just as the opponents of Moses were consumed by fire 
 (Num. 16 : 35), and fire came down from heaven at the 
 word of Elijah and consumed the two companies sent by 
 the king of Samaria (2 Kings i ; 10-12), so these two 
 witnesses shall destroy with fire all who seek to hurt them. 
 
 6. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the 
 days of their prophecy : and they have power over the waters to turn them 
 into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall 
 desire. 
 
 Just as Elijah for three years and six months had power 
 to shut the heaven, that it rained not (i Kings 17:1; 
 James 5 : 17), so these two witnesses have the same power 
 for the same length of time ; and like Moses they also 
 have power over the waters to turn them into blood (Ex. 
 7 : 19, 20), and to smite the earth with plagues, only that 
 the power given to the two witnesses shall be greater 
 than that given to Moses, for these have unlimited power 
 " to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they 
 shall desire.'' 
 
 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that 
 Cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome 
 them, and kill them. 
 
 The two witnesses shall prophesy 1,260 days, or three 
 and a half years, during the first half of Daniel's week 
 (Dan. 9 : 27). Then the beast shall make war with them, 
 
142 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 8. 
 
 and succeed in killing them. This is the first mention of 
 the tJicrion, or wild-beast, although we have a fuller de- 
 scription of tJie beast in later visions, in chapters xiii. and 
 xvii. This beast is spoken of by Daniel as that horn of 
 the fourth beast which "made war with the saints and 
 prevailed against them " (Dan, 7:21). The infernal na- 
 ture of the beast can be seen from his rising out of t lie abyss 
 {here and 17 : 8). {On abj'ss see notes on 9 : i, 11.) This 
 beast is evidently Antichrist, who now manifests himself 
 in all his disabolical power as the Man of Sin (2 Thess. 
 2 : 3-9). (See notes on 1 1 : 2.) 
 
 8. And their dead bodies (Gr. carcase) lie in the street of the great city, 
 which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was 
 crucified. 
 
 This dishonor shown to their dead bodies is in great 
 contrast to their later glorification (11 : 11-13). There 
 is no reason why we should not regard Jerusalem itself 
 as the scene of this dishonor. For in the times of Anti- 
 christ Jerusalem can rightly be called Sodom and Egypt 
 (Isa. 1:9; Ezek. 16 : 48), by reason of its corruptions. 
 In the same Jerusalem where Christ was crucified, there 
 the two witnesses suffer a martyr's death and dishonor. 
 FausseT: ** This identifies the city as Jerusalem, though 
 the Lord was crucified outside of the city. Eusebius 
 mentions that the scene of Christ's crucifixion was inclosed 
 within the city by Constantine ; so it will be probably at 
 the time of the slaying of the two witnesses. . . . The 
 difficulty is, how can Jerusalem be called ' the great city,* 
 i. e. Babylon ? By her becoming the world's capital of 
 idolatrous apostasy, such as Babylon originally was, and 
 then Rome has been ; just as she is here called also 
 Sodom and Egypt. . . . Whence it follows that Jerusalem 
 shall be the last capital of the world-apostasy, and so re- 
 ceive the last and worst visitation of all the judgments 
 
XI. 9, 10.] CHAPTER XI. 143 
 
 ever inflicted on the apostate world, the earnest of which 
 was given in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem." 
 
 9. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do 
 men look upon their dead bodies (Gr. carcase) three days and a half, and 
 suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 
 
 Antichrist will then have possession of the city, and 
 the treading under foot of the holy city by the Gentiles 
 shall have made its beginning by this time (see notes on 
 II : 2). The comment of SiMCOX on this verse is sug- 
 gestive: ''There seems no reason why we should not fol- 
 low the traditional view, and understand this chapter as 
 foretelling a sign which shall literally come to pass in the 
 last days. The prophets Moses and Elijah will appear 
 upon earth — or at the least two prophets will arise in 
 their spirit and power : the scene of their prophecy will 
 be Jerusalem, which will then be re-occupied by the Jewish 
 nation. Antichrist (under whose patronage, it is believed, 
 the restoration of the Jews will have taken place) will 
 raise persecution against them, and kill them : but they 
 will rise from the dead, and then, and not till then, the 
 heart of Israel will turn to the Lord." 
 
 ID. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make 
 merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two proph- 
 ets tormented them that dwell on the earth. 
 
 The followers of Antichrist will greatly rejoice at the 
 downfall of these two witnesses who forever had been 
 preaching repentance and judgment, — and so they will 
 make merry and show their gratification by sending 
 mutual gifts to one another as on festival occasions, — for 
 were not these men who had continually been torment- 
 ing them with all manner of plagues now happily out of 
 the way ! Fausset : " The antichristianity of the last 
 days shall probably be under the name of philosophical 
 enlightenment and civilization, but really man's deification 
 
144 ^-^^ REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. XI. 11-13. 
 
 of himself. Fanaticism shall lead Antichrist's followers 
 to exult in having at last seemingly silenced in death 
 their Christian rebukers." 
 
 II. And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God 
 entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon 
 them which beheld them. 
 
 But the Lord will avenge His faithful servants. The 
 language very closely resembles that used in the vision 
 of the dry bones of Ezekiel, where we read, " And the 
 breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up 
 upon their feet" (Ezek. 37 : 10). When the followers of 
 Antichrist will see that these two witnesses are raised 
 from the dead, great fear, such as fell on the soldiers 
 guarding Christ's tomb at His resurrection (Matt. 28 : 4), 
 will overcome them. 
 
 12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come 
 up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud ; and their enemies 
 beheld them. 
 
 The narrative is very simple. The risen witnesses 
 heard the heavenly voice, and immediately they ascended 
 into heaven, in a cloud, just as Christ Himself had as- 
 cended (Acts I : 9), visibly, — but these two witnesses 
 will go up into heaven in the sight of their enemies. 
 
 13. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part 
 of the city fell ; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand 
 persons (Gr. names of men, seven thousand) : and the rest were affrighted, 
 and gave glory to the God of heaven. 
 
 The very hour of the glorification of the two witnesses 
 brings with it the punishment of God upon the followers 
 of Antichrist. A great earthquake destroys a tenth part 
 of Jerusalem, and slays 7,000 persons. So great is the 
 effect of the whole scene, — the terror occasioned by the 
 earthquake, and the fear caused by the manifestation of 
 God's power in the resurrection and ascension of the two 
 
XI. 13-] CHAPTER XT. 145 
 
 witnesses,— that the rest, the remnant of the Israelites who 
 were not killed, were converted, and gave glory to God. 
 It is highly probable that at this time the conversion of 
 the 144,000 sealed ones of 7 : 4 will take place. 
 
 Synopsis of Interpretations.— \. The Preterists. All 
 these, whether of the Rationalistic type (Grotius, Wet- 
 stein, Herder, Eichhorn, Reuss, Renan, etc.), or the Or- 
 dinary Preterists (Hammond, Stuart, Duesterdieck, etc.), 
 no matter how differently they may explain the various de- 
 tails of the vision, at least agree in this, that this episode 
 was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 A. D. 
 Lee and Duesterdieck give good summaries of the differ- 
 ent^ews. Grotius refers the chapter to the destruction 
 of Jerusalem by Hadrian ; the tzvo ivitncsses are a He- 
 brew-speaking and a Greek-speaking church at Jerusa- 
 lem ; the Beast is Barchochab. In the txvo zvitnesses 
 Herder, Eichhorn, and others see two High Priests, 
 Ananus and Jesus, put to death in Jerusalem by the 
 Zealots ; etc. 
 
 II. The Continuous-Historical Viezv. This large class, 
 which includes some of the ablest commentators of the 
 past, will perhaps be best represented by Elliott, who 
 has written so voluminously upon this subject. This 
 episode can refer to nothing else than the Reformation 
 and the causes which led to it. The reed is a type of 
 the authority given by the Elector John to Luther and the 
 Reformers to preach the Gospel. The measuring of the 
 naos of the temple and the non-measurement of the outer 
 court Elliott refers to " the measuring or ecclesiastically 
 constituting what was called the Evangelic Church, the 
 mystic temple; of the authorization and introduction 
 throughout the Saxon Churches of new formularies of 
 public worship drawn on Evangelic principles by Luther 
 and Melanchthon ; of the removal from the church and 
 
146 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 13. 
 
 church worship of Romish images and superstitions; 
 etc. ; " the tivo zvitnesses are the long Hne of witnesses for 
 Christ through the 1,260 years of the Papal Antichrist 
 preceding the Reformation ; their death signifies the 
 entire cessation of such witness during the few years pre- 
 ceding the Reformation; their bodies lying iinburicd for 
 three days and a half, indicate '^precisely., to a day,'' the 
 3^ years which elapsed between the ninth session of 
 the Lateran Council, May 5, 15 14, and the posting up of 
 the theses of Luther at Wattenberg, Oct. 31, 1517 ; their 
 resurrection was the revival of Gospel preaching by Luther 
 and his associates ; their ascension indicates the peace of 
 Augsburg (1555) whereby in the fullest measure toleration 
 was accorded to Protestantism. " In short," Elliott adds, 
 " it was the fulfilment of the apocalyptic figuration of 
 the witnesses' ascent into the political heaven in Ger- 
 many." And the Historical interpretations are all of 
 about the same character. Is it a wonder that the Book 
 of Revelation has fallen largely into disrepute and been 
 regarded as an enigma, when such interpretations are 
 seriously set forth, and considered as bringing out the 
 meaning of God's Word ? 
 
 III. TJie Allegorical Interpretation. We will select 
 Wordsworth as one of the most sober and conservative 
 among this large class of commentators. This vision of 
 the measuring and the witnessing, according to Words- 
 worth, signifies what is now and what has always been 
 going on in the Church. It has been fulfilled " by the 
 preservation of the Holy Scriptures, and of the Sacra- 
 ments, of Christ, and of an Apostolic Ministry, offering the 
 Incense of Prayer, and ministering the Word and Sacra- 
 ments." The reed represents the Canon of Holy Script- 
 ure as the Rule of Faith ; the tzvo zvitnesses are the Old 
 and New Testaments, not Enoch and Elijah, or Moses 
 
XI. 13-] CHAPTER XI. 147 
 
 and Elijah, as some of the ancient Fathers thought ; the 
 fire coming out of the mouth of the two witnesses is being 
 fulfilled in the insults now offered to the Two Testaments, 
 and it will be fulfilled completely in their future triumph. 
 With him Jerusalem designates the corrupt Church (as 
 with Hengstenberg) ; the spirit described in this vision is 
 seen in the acts of the rulers of Papal Rome, — especially 
 in the dogma of Papal Infallibility ; etc. 
 
 IV. TJie Futurists. These maintain that the whole 
 vision refers to the future. The city is the literal Jeru- 
 salem ; the Jews shall return to Palestine ; the temple 
 shall be rebuilt ; two literal prophets are to be sent to 
 Israel, probably Moses and Elijah ; Jerusalem shall be 
 under the dominion of Antichrist; the Gentiles under 
 Antichrist shall destroy the city ; etc. 
 
 The Forty and Tzuo Months. Three main views have 
 been maintained: (i) That it represents the whole period 
 from the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, 70 
 A. D., to the Second Coming of Christ ; (2) That each 
 day represents a year, so that these periods represent 
 1,260 years. So nearly all those who accept the Histor- 
 ical scheme (Vitringa, Bishop Newton, Calovius, Faber, 
 Elliott, etc.). Mede brings the end of the period to 1625 
 or 1 71 5 A. D. ; Calovius reckons from the time of Leo 
 the Great (440 A. D.), and so closes with 1700 A. D. ; 
 Elliott sees the end of the period 1 809 A. D., where the 
 Pope's temporal authority over the Roman States was 
 abolished by Napoleon ; etc. ; (3) That this period is to 
 be interpreted literally. (So as a rule the Preterists and 
 the Futurists.) 
 
 The Two Witnesses. It was the almost unaminous 
 opinion of the Early Church that in the time of Anti- 
 christ two prophets would again appear at Jerusalem, 
 and that everything would literally befall them just as 
 
148 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 14. 
 
 it is written in this chapter. All were agreed that ElijaJi 
 would be one of these witnesses, and the large majority 
 of the Fathers considered that Enoch would be the 
 second, — and especially since it is directly stated of these 
 two alone of mankind that they had not tasted death. 
 Some however thought that the text more naturally sug- 
 gested Moses, and then it was argued that his passing 
 away, just as in the case of Elijah and Enoch, was also a 
 miraculous one (Deut. 34 : 5) ^5 Jude 9). Victorinus, 
 however, suggests Elijali and Jeremiah, because Jer. i : 
 5, " I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations,'' 
 not having been fulfilled in Jeremiah's former life, must 
 still be fulfilled, after he has been raised from the dead. 
 A few like Tichonius, Primasius, and Bede, followed by 
 some moderns, adopted the figurative interpretation, 
 understanding by the Tivo Witnesses the Old and the 
 New Testaments. Commentators of the Historical 
 School are by no means agreed as to the identity of these 
 two witnesses. De Lyra supposes them to be Pope 
 Silverius and the Patriarch Mennas, others speak of a 
 long line of witnesses or of Huss and Jerome of Prague, 
 or of Luther and Melanchthon. Of modern commen- 
 tators, including representatives of nearly all schools, 
 who favor the idea that this chapter refers to the still 
 future destruction of Jerusalem, the majority favor the 
 view that Moses and Elijah, or at least two prophets with 
 miraculous powers similar to those once possessed by 
 Moses and Elijah, are the two witnesses referred to in 
 this passage. And this interpretation is most probably 
 the true one. 
 
 14. The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly. 
 
 The first Woe ended with the sounding of the fifth 
 trumpet. See notes on 9:12. The second Woe began 
 with the sounding of the sixth trumpet (9 : 13-21), and 
 
XI. 15-] CHAPTER XL 149 
 
 continued through the two episodes, the Vision of the 
 Little Book (10 : i-ii), and the events indicated by the 
 Measuring of the Temple (ii : 1-13), for these events are 
 closely connected with the events indicated by the sixth 
 trumpet. (See notes introductory to the tenth chapter.) 
 We are still under the seventh seal, for the entire series 
 of trumpet-visions is developed out of the seventh seal 
 (8 : I, 2, 6), the first six seals (6 : 1-17) bringing in pre- 
 liminary judgments, while the coming seventh trumpet 
 under the seventh seal introduces the final end, partly 
 anticipated under the sixth seal (6 : 12-17). See notes 
 on 8 : I, 2. 
 
 36. The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, or 
 THE Third Woe (xi. 15-18). 
 
 15. And the seventh angel sounded ; and there followed great voices in 
 heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of 
 our Lord, and of his Christ : and he shall reign for ever and ever (Gr. 
 unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 It is best to restrict the seventh Trumpet to 11 : 15- 
 18, and to regard this as the close of the main vision 
 beginning wirh chapter iv. We have here the announce- 
 ment that the final end has come, although in later visions 
 we will have a fuller description of the details of this 
 consummation. The great voices that John heard were 
 probably those of the armies of heaven. The time of 
 the final judgment has come, — in fact, it is conceived as 
 past, for Ps. 2 : 2 has been fulfilled, "The kings of the 
 earth did set themselves, and the rulers did take counsel 
 together against the Lord and against his Anointed," 
 and Satan, the prince of the world, and Antichrist has 
 been overcome, for " the kingdom of the world is become 
 the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ." And His 
 dominion is an everlasting dominion (Dan. 7 : 14), for 
 
150 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 16-18. 
 
 He shall reign for ever and ever. This is no temporal 
 rule on earth, but eternal in the heavens. The Lord 
 God, the Almighty (11 : 17), is to reign, but Christ, His 
 Anointed One, shall reign coequal with the Father. 
 Compare i Cor. 15 : 24, 28, "Then cometh the end, when 
 he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the 
 Father ; . . • and when all things have been subjected 
 unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected 
 to him that did subject all things unto him, that God 
 may be all in all." 
 
 16. And the four and twenty elders, which sit before God on their 
 thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. 
 
 These twenty-four elders represent the Redeemed 
 Church in heaven. See notes on 4 : 4, 10; 5 : 8, 9, 14. 
 
 17. Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, which 
 art and which wast ; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst 
 reign. 
 
 On the titles ascribed here to God, see notes on i : 8 ; 
 4 : 8. The Redeemed Church, represented by the twenty- 
 four elders, gives thanks to Almigiity God, that He has 
 now finally assumed the full exercise of the sovereignty 
 and dominion. God is now no longer described as " He 
 which is to come "as in i : 8 ; 4 : 8, for His Coming is 
 here regarded as past. He has now assumed the power 
 which these same twenty-four elders sang that He was 
 worthy to receive (4 : 11). 
 
 18. And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of 
 the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the 
 prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and 
 the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. 
 
 We have here a graphic description of the events that 
 will take place at the final day, viewed here as already 
 past : (i) and the nations were wroth, i. e. Antichrist 
 and his armies shall rise up against Christ (compare Ps. 
 
XI. 19-] CHAPTER XI. 151 
 
 2 : 1-3) ; (2) and thy zvrath came, i. e. Christ broke them 
 with a rod of iron, and dashed them in pieces like a 
 potter's vessel (compare Ps. 2 : 4, 5, 9) ; (3) the dead shall 
 be raised and judged ; (4) believers shall be rewarded 
 according to their works ; (5) and the wicked shall be 
 punished. The later visions will describe the events of 
 the last day more in detail, for with this verse the second 
 main vision of the Apocalypse (4 : i — 11 : 18) ends. We 
 are not to suppose that what follows (11: 19 — 14 : 20) is 
 to be regarded as following consecutively in the history 
 of the events of the Last Day. Alford is in the main 
 correct when he says : " The visions are not continuous, 
 but resumptive: not indeed going over the same ground 
 with one another, either of time or of occurrence, but 
 each involving something which was not in a former, and 
 putting the course of God's Providence in a different 
 light." 
 
 This seventh Trumpet brought also the third Woe, but 
 for the description of the terrific and woful aspect of 
 this Coming of Christ, which is only implied here, we 
 must turn to the parallel account of the events of the 
 Last Day as given in 6 : 12-17, for there we have an 
 exhibition of what the wrath of the Lamb signifies, for 
 in our passage here (11 : 15-18) we have only a descrip- 
 tion of Christ's glorious Advent as the Deliverer of His 
 people. This, then, is the second time that the events 
 of the Last Day have been definitely brought before us. 
 
 37. The Vision of the Woman and the Great 
 Red Dragon (xi. 19 — xii, 6). 
 
 19. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven ; and 
 there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant (or, testame7it) ; and 
 there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and 
 great hail. 
 
152 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xi. 19. 
 
 We come now to a new vision which extends from 
 II : 19 to 14 : 20, and is introduced by ligJitnings, and 
 voices, and thunders, just as the second main vision (4 : 5), 
 only that here they were accompanied by an earthquake 
 and great hail; for it is in judgment that God will pro- 
 ceed to restore His people to His favor — judgment upon 
 His enemies, as upon His people (Zech. xii. — xiv.). John 
 now sees the door of the temple of God in heaven stand- 
 ing open, and he beheld the ark of the covenant. This 
 ark is the pledge of God's faithfulness to His covenant 
 people, and this symbolizes that the succeeding visions 
 will have special reference to Israel and to His dealings 
 with His people. This verse is properly the transition 
 between the close of the last Vision, ending with the 
 seventh trumpet, and the Visions that follow. All that 
 follows in this Vision may be regarded as the contents of 
 the Little Book (10 : lO, ll). 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I. And a great sign was seen in heaven ; a woman arrayed with the sun 
 and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. 
 
 Alford is probably correct when he remarks " that the 
 principal details of the present section are rather de- 
 scriptive than strictly prophetical: relating, just as in the 
 prophets the descriptions of Israel and Judah, to things 
 passed and passing, and serving for the purpose of full 
 identification and of giving completeness to the whole 
 vision." Instead of a continuous narrative, we have now 
 a recapitulation of God's dealings with the Church and 
 the world (see notes on 1 1 : i8, 19), especially during 
 that period covered by the last half of Daniel's week 
 (Dan. 9 : 27), the period of Antichrist, parallel to the 
 sixth and seventh seals. The symbolism is of a different 
 character from that which has hitherto been employed. 
 
 John sees the figure of a iconian in heaven. This 
 figure has a deep meaning and important signification, 
 for it is a great sign, bringing with it momentous revela- 
 tions. " A sign, because St. John saw things not in their 
 proper nature, but in figure and enigma, as the Church 
 under the form of a woman, Satan under that of a 
 dragon " (Hengstenberg). The woman is all glorious 
 in appearance, completely enveloped in light, — her gar- 
 ments are the glittering rays of the sun, and she stands 
 as a victor, for her feet rest on the moon, and a crown of 
 twelve stars composed her victor's crown. Compare the 
 picture of the Shulamite in the Song of Songs (6 : 10), 
 
 153 
 
154 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xil. 2. 
 
 " Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, Fair as 
 the moon, Clear as the Sun?" 
 
 2. And she was with child : and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and 
 in pain to be delivered. 
 
 A most vivid description of the anguish and pangs that 
 overtake women at the time of child-birth. 
 
 It is a difficult question to decide what is represented 
 hy the zvoman. There are four leading interpretations: 
 
 (i) The ivojiian represents the Virgin Mary (so Ber- 
 nard, Sadler, and others) ; (2) She represents the O. and 
 N. T. Church in undivided unity (Victorinus, De Wette, 
 Hengstenberg, Auberlen, etc.) ; (3) She represents the 
 Christian Church (Irenseus, Bede, N. de Lyra, Ham- 
 mond, Calovius, Vitringa, Bengel, etc.), particularly at 
 the time of Antichrist (C. a Lapide, Stern, Christiani, 
 etc.) ; (4) The woman represents the Old Testament 
 Church (Hofmann, Ebrard, Duesterdieck, Luthardt, etc.). 
 A careful exegesis will show that the last is probably 
 the correct interpretation. We evidently have here the 
 ideal Old Testament Church, as she appears in God's 
 covenant relation to her, destined finally, according to 
 God's purpose, at His appointed time, to attain the 
 victor's crown, as seen in the light of Rom. 11 : 25-32. 
 With Ebrard and Hofmann we may refer to Isa. 7 : 14; 
 Micah 4: 10; and with Duesterdieck to Micah 5 : 2-4, 
 as aiding in solving this difficult problem. The remarks 
 of FauSSET are suggestive: "Clothed with the sun, the 
 Church is the bearer of Divine supernatural light in the 
 world. . . . The woman of whom Jesus was born rep- 
 resents the Old Testament congregation of God. The 
 woman's travail-pains (12:2) represent the O. T. be- 
 lievers' ardent longings for the promised Redeemer. . . . 
 The twelve stars, the crown around her head, are the 
 
XII. 3-] CHAPTER X 11. 155 
 
 twelve tribes of Israel." So in substance also Luthardt. 
 The moon is under her feet, for the Jewish Church, not- 
 withstanding her trials, will finally " triumph over night, 
 which for her has passed away " (Luthardt). 
 
 3. And there was seen another sign in heaven ; and behold, a great 
 red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven 
 diadems. 
 
 In this same chapter (12:9, 13, 15) we are informed 
 that this great red dragon is tlie old serpent, lie that is 
 called the Devil and Satan. Unquestionably, there is a 
 reference to Gen. 3:1; as wellastolsa. 27 : i. He ap- 
 pears ^.s fiery red, because fire is a symbol of destruction, 
 and because he was a murderer from the beginning (John 
 8 : 44), and as such seeks to destroy the child of the 
 woman (12 14), as well as the rest of her seed (12 : 17). 
 Satan, as the source of universal hostility to God and of 
 every antichristian power, appears here as the archetype 
 of the beast (or Antichrist) of 13 : i and 17 : 3, as having 
 seven heads and ten horns. In 17 : 9-13 (which see) John 
 gives us an explanation of these heads and horns. There 
 these heads and horns are explained as so many kings. 
 The fourth beast of Daniel (7 : 7, 8, 20-24) also had ten 
 horns, signifying ten kings (Dan. 7 : 24). Fausset calls 
 attention to the fact that in Dan. vii. the antichri'^tian 
 powers up to Christ's Second Coming are represented by 
 four beasts, which have among them seven heads ; i. e. the 
 first, second, and fourth beasts have one head each ; the 
 third, four heads. It is the fourth beast that has the ten 
 horns. According to Auberlen these seven heads of the 
 Dragon are a caricature of the Seven Spirits of God 
 (1:4; 3 : I ; 4 : 5 ; 5:6), and the ten horns are a symbol 
 of his worldly power. The sezrn diadems on his seve^i 
 heads indicate Satan's universal dominion as Prince of 
 this fallen world. Note that the Dragon has se^'en diadems 
 
156 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xii. 4, 5. 
 
 on his heads ; the Beast of 13 : i (Antichrist) has ten 
 diadems on his horns. 
 
 4. And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did 
 cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood before the woman which was 
 about to be delivered, that when she was delivered, he might devour her 
 child. 
 
 The dragon's fury is graphically described, for in the 
 lashing of its tail many stars are removed from their 
 places. So tJie little Jiorn in Dan. 8 : 10, " cast down to 
 the ground some of the host of heaven and of the stars, 
 and trampled upon them." This tJiirdpart of tJie stars of 
 heaven evidently also has reference to the angels which 
 the Devil drew down with himself to perdition at the 
 time of his fall (see Jude 6) (Victorinus, Williams, Sadler, 
 etc.). This standing of the dragon before the woman 
 evidently "symbolizes the enmity of the serpent against 
 the seed of the woman, beginning with the intended 
 treachery of Herod and massacre of the innocents ; but 
 including also the malice that pursued Him through life, 
 the temptation, and at last the cross " (SiMCOX). 
 
 5. And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the 
 nations with a rod of iron : and her child was caught up unto God, and 
 unto his throne. 
 
 We agree with Alford in his very emphatic comment 
 on the words, zvlio is to rule (shepherdize) all the nations 
 zvith a rod of iron ; " These words, cited verbatim from 
 the Greek text of Ps. 2 : 9, leave no possibility of doubt 
 who is here intended. The man-child is the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and none other. And this result is a most im- 
 portant one for the fixity of reference of the whole 
 prophecy. It forms one of those landmarks by which the 
 legitimacy of various interpretations may be tested. . . . 
 The exigencies of this passage require that the birth 
 
XII. 6.] CHAPTER XII. I57 
 
 should be understood literally and historically, of that 
 Birth of which all Christians know." DUESTERDIECK 
 remarks: "These words, which are referred also to 
 Christ in 19 : 15, make it indubitable that the child born of 
 the woman is the Messiah." (So also De Wette, Rinck, 
 Hengstenburg, Ebrard, Lee, Simcox, Currey, Sadler, 
 Boyd-Carpenter, etc.). Any other interpretation is 
 simply made in the interests of some preconceived theory 
 of Apocalyptic interpretation. In vision John saw that 
 the child was caught up unto God and unto his tJirone, and 
 this had been fulfilled when Christ ascended into heaven, 
 and sat down at the right hand of God. John sees in 
 vision the whole history of the O. T. Church and of Israel, 
 in God's covenant relation to His chosen people, down to 
 the very end of time. The thought here, that this viaii- 
 child is to rule all the nations ivith a rod of iron, brings 
 by anticipation this very period of the final end before 
 us, as we see in the next verse. 
 
 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place pre- 
 pared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred 
 and threescore days. 
 
 This whole verse is anticipatory. John here briefly 
 summarizes what is described more minutely in the latter 
 part of this chapter (12 : 13-15)- This also shows that 
 the zvar in heaven (12 : 7-9) does not follow in time after 
 the flight of the woman, but occurs before it, — in fact 
 occurs contemporaneously with the Ascension of Christ 
 into heaven. We believe that the only true solution of 
 this difficult chapter lies in understanding it in its most 
 simple and natural way. The passage 12 : I-5 refers to 
 events connected with the life of Christ, and has been 
 fulfilled with Christ's Ascension into heaven ; the one 
 verse 12 : 6 is parallel to 12 : 13-17. is anticipatory, and 
 lies still in the future, referring evidently to the last ^iVz 
 
158 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [Xii. 6. 
 
 years of Antichrist's reign, the last half of Daniel's week 
 (Dan. 9 : 27); the passage 12 : 7-9 refers to events that 
 took place at the time of Christ's ascension; while 12: 
 10-12 is a continuation of the vision and refers to events 
 in connection with the days of Antichrist. This would 
 imply, contrary to the whole scheme of the Continuous- 
 Historical interpreters, that no notice is taken here, or in 
 the Apocalypse anywhere, of what is known as the His- 
 torical Church Period, elapsing between Christ's Ascen- 
 sion and the times of the Second Advent, The remarks 
 of Sadler are very suggestive on this point : " I desire to 
 put on record the enunciation of a great principle, which 
 is this : that from the departure of our Lord, at the 
 moment of His Ascension to the moment of His Second 
 Advent, it is not lawful for us to assume that any definite 
 lapse of time intervenes. ... I believe that there is no 
 time allotted to the world or to the Church between the 
 disappearance of Christ on Mount Olivet and His return. 
 During the whole of these 1,800 years and more He 
 might have been expected at any moment ; so that I 
 think that it is not permitted to us to make the history 
 of the events which have occurred since the visions of the 
 Apocalypse to be the subject of these visions, so that so 
 many centuries should elapse between the time in which 
 St. John saw them and the present time. Where there 
 appears to be visions of successive events, it is only in 
 appearance." And we might add, that with Daniel also 
 there is no time between the close of the 69 weeks when 
 the Anointed one was to be cut off, and the final week 
 when the prince that shall come shall make afrni covenant 
 with many for one zueek, but in the midst of the iveek he shall 
 cause the sacrifice and the meat offering to cease (Dan. 9 : 
 26, 27). This also explains why in Christ's prophecy of 
 the signs of His Coming and of the end of the world, there 
 
XII. 7] CHAPTER XII. 1 59 
 
 seems to be such a close connection between the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem and the final consummation. 
 
 The zvojiian represents the remnant of Israel (see notes 
 on 12 : 2), now converted by the events connected with 
 the preaching and the resurrection of the two witnesses 
 (see notes on 1 1 : 13), and the 1,260 days are the same as 
 the time, and times, and half a time of 12 : 14, and 
 both are to be identified with the last 3>^ years of the 
 reign of Antichrist, corresponding to the last half of 
 Daniel's week. For further explanation see the parallel 
 passage 12 : 13-15- 
 
 38. The War between Michael and the Dragon 
 
 (xii. 7-9). 
 
 7. And there was- war in heaven : Michael and his 2i\\ge\& going forth 
 to war with the dragon ; and the dragon warred and his angels. 
 
 It is probably best to connect this war in heaven with 
 the events recorded in 12 : 5, as occurring at the time of 
 Christ's Ascension into heaven. Although Satan and his 
 angels had been cast out of heaven at sometime previous 
 to the fall of man (see notes on 2 Pet. 2:4; and Jude 6), 
 yet it seems that, in the counsel of God, he was still per- 
 mitted, in O. T. times, before Christ's work of Redemp- 
 tion was completed, to enter into the presence of God in 
 heaven. In Job i : 6-12 ; 2 : 1-7, he appears before God 
 as the accuser of Job, and in Zech. 3:1,2, as the accuser 
 of Joshua, the high priest. No matter how mysterious 
 this passage (Rev. 12 : 7-9) may seem, it is evident that 
 the casting down of Satan from his ofhce of accuser in 
 heaven is connected with the great justifying work of re- 
 demption. John here gives us a glimpse into the world 
 of spirits which can be compared with what Christ re- 
 veals to us in Luke 10 : 17, 18, "I beheld Satan falling 
 as lightning from heaven," and John 12 : 31, "Now is the 
 
l6o THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: [xii. 8. 
 
 judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this 
 world be cast out ; " with what Peter unfolds in i Pet. 
 3:19, 20, and 4 : 6 (see Lutheran Commentary on General 
 Epistles), and with the revelations given by Paul in Col. 
 2:15 and Eph. 4 : 8-10. We have a right to infer that 
 Satan, when he found himself unable to overcome Christ 
 here on earth by subtlety, carried his war into heaven 
 itself, returning thither with his angels, with the vain 
 hope of supplanting Christ on the throne of heaven — 
 God permitting it, in His eternal counsels, for the sake of 
 the glory of His Son. In fact, in the Bible we find that 
 the history of the ever deeper downfall of Satan has/<7«r 
 periods : (i) From his original fall to the first Coming of 
 Christ, during which time he still had access to heaven 
 as the accuser {Devil) and adversary {Satan) of man ; (2) 
 from Christ's Ascension to His Second Advent, during 
 which time he is still the prince of this zuorld, and rages 
 especially during the short time immediately preceding 
 Christ's Coming to destroy Antichrist ; (3) his being bound 
 during the period of the Millennium (20 : 1-3) ; and (4) his 
 final judgment (20: 10). The Archangel Michael {]\xdQ 
 9) is not to be identified with Christ, as some commen- 
 tators maintain. He was the adversary of Satan, in their 
 strife about the body of Moses (see notes on Jude 9), and 
 in the O. T., as the guardian of the Jewish people in their 
 conflict with heathenism, he is represented as the leader 
 of the good angels in their conflict with the power of 
 Satan (Dan. 10 : 13, 21 ; 12 : i). 
 
 8. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in 
 heaven. 
 
 Not only were the dragon and his angels defeated, but 
 they were cast out of heaven, no more to enter therein. 
 Satan had now, for the believer, been utterly vanquished, 
 and the great work for which the Son of God had come 
 
XH. 9, 10.] CHAPTER Xn. i6i 
 
 into the world was accomplished (see notes on i John 
 3:8). 
 
 9. And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is 
 called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world (Gr. inhabited 
 earth) ; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with 
 him. 
 
 A fuller description of what was meant by the preced- 
 ing verse. The names here given to the dragon describe 
 his character. First, he is called the old serpent, with 
 reference to Gen. 3:1. This is the serpent which be- 
 guiled Eve (2 Cor. 11:3), the old serpent, because he zvas 
 a murderer from the beginning (John 8 : 44). Secondly, 
 he is called the Devil, that is, Slanderer or Accuser, h&- 
 cause he slanders God to man (Gen. 3 : 4. 5) and man to 
 God (Job I : 9-1 1 ; 2 : 4, 5 ; Rev. 12 : 10), and Satan, that 
 is, Adversary, because he is the great opposer of God 
 and man. Thirdly, he is described as the deceiver of the 
 whole inhabited ivorld, of which he is the prince and god. 
 He does not, indeed, succeed in betraying all, but he en- 
 deavors even to deceive the saints. This casting dozvn of 
 Satan and his angels to the earth is the consequence of 
 their being cast out of heaven, — and though the abyss is 
 the home of Satan and his angels (see notes on 9 : 11), 
 still as "the prince of this world" (John 12 : 31 ; 
 16: 11), he is very active here on earth among men dur- 
 ing the time intervening between the Ascension of Christ 
 and the Second Advent, but especially during the short 
 time of the days of Antichrist. 
 
 39. The Rejoicing in Heaven at the Fall of 
 Satan (xii. 10-12). 
 
 10. And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salva- 
 tion, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his 
 Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them 
 before our God day and night. 
 II 
 
i62 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN [xii. ii. 
 
 In the heavenly choir, no notice, is taken of the long 
 period elapsing between Christ's Ascension and His 
 Second Coming to assume His Kingdom. See notes on 
 12:6. The heavenly song, probably proceeding from 
 the 24 elders as representing the Redeemed Church (the 
 expression our brethren suggests this), celebrates the final 
 consummation as at hand, and Christ as entering upon 
 His universal Kingdom. This song is introductory to 
 the final events occurring during the times of Antichrist 
 as described more fully, 12 : 13 — 14 : 20. Duesterdieck 
 calls attention to the fact that the individual ideas of this 
 song are very significant. The Salvation refers to " the 
 sum total of all righteousness, blessedness, and holiness, 
 as they have been prepared for the creature by God 
 through His Christ " (7 : lO ; 19 : i) ; the power of God has 
 special reference to His victory over the Dragon, not only 
 contemplated as having taken place at Christ's Ascen- 
 sion, but in view of the final and complete victory over 
 Satan, which is here anticipated ; the poiver or authority 
 " is ascribed to God's Christ, because it is the definite, 
 supreme power peculiar to God's Christ as such." They 
 rejoice because he who has always had the habit of 
 accusing saints is now cast down. Simcox, Lee, and 
 others correctly see in the present accuseth the mark of 
 the habitual act, rather than that of the present. The 
 sense is illustrated by the scene in the Prologue of Job 
 and in Zech. 3:1,2, already referred to. 
 
 II. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and 
 because of the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their life even 
 unto death. 
 
 The song now celebrates the victorious faith of those 
 believers who endured the trials of the days of Antichrist, 
 which are here regarded as victoriously overcome. They 
 overcame Satan, not by their own power or might, but 
 
XII. 12, 13.] CHAPTER XII. 163 
 
 the cause on account of which the victory was won was 
 Christ's victory over Satan, won by the shedding of His 
 precious blood, and this victory of believers was also the 
 consequence of their having given a faithful testimony 
 of their faith even unto death. " It is because they have 
 given a faithful testimony, even unto death, that they 
 are victorious " (Alford). 
 
 12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell (Gr. tabernacle) in 
 them. Woe for the earth and for the sea : because the devil is gone down 
 unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. 
 
 The inhabitants of heaven are to rejoice, for the final 
 consummation has come. Christ will now enter upon 
 the full exercise of his universal Kingdom. Only a short 
 time will elapse. He cometh quickly. But woe to the 
 earth and its inhabitants. For the devil is still the prince 
 of this world, and now in the days of Antichrist he has 
 but a short time. Great is his wrath, and it is inflamed 
 anew, for he has but little time to wreak his anger upon 
 those who resist either him, or his beast, or his authority. 
 
 40. The Deliverance of the Woman (xii. 13-17). 
 
 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he 
 persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 
 
 John now explains more freely the cause of the flight 
 of the woman, to which reference had been made in 
 12:6. When the dragon saw that he could no longer 
 succeed in destroying the man-child, he turned his hatred 
 towards the mother of the child. No notice whatever is 
 here taken of the time elapsing between the snatching 
 up of the child and its accompanying war, and the final 
 persecution of the woman, the remnant of Israel converted 
 by the preaching of the two witnesses (see notes on 
 II : 13) — in the days of Antichrist. Of course it is im- 
 plied that the dragon always persecuted Israel from the 
 
1 64 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xii. 14. 
 
 time of the Ascension of Christ into heaven, — and the 
 whole history of the Jewish people ever since is but the 
 living illustration of the truth of this great fact, for Satan 
 not only stirred up in them a bitterness and hatred 
 against the Man-CJiild, but has even used the professing 
 church as an instrument to punish the Jews during the 
 whole period, — but of this there is no reference here. 
 John describes simply the final end, for we are again at 
 the beginning of the last 3^ years of the reign of Anti- 
 christ (13 : i), just as we were by anticipation at 12 : 6. 
 
 14. And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great 
 eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is 
 nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the 
 serpent. 
 
 The two wings of the great eagle. This figure is 
 taken from Ex. 19 : 4, " ye have seen what I did unto 
 the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and 
 brought you unto myself," for " as an eagle stirreth up 
 her nest, that fluttereth over her young, he spread 
 abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his 
 pinions" (Deut. 32: 11). Tivo wings are mentioned to 
 indicate the rapid and sure escape which was made by 
 the believing Jewish remnant. DUESTERDIECK correctly : 
 " As God formerly bore His people, when they fled from 
 the Egyptians, on eagles' wings, so, for her sure escape, 
 a pair of eagle's wings is given the woman fleeing from 
 the dragon." Into the wilderness. Just as Israel was 
 delivered out of Egypt by the flight into the wilderness, 
 so, in the oppression and bondage of the Egypt of Anti- 
 christ, will deliverance come to the believing Jewish 
 remnant, by the flight into the zvilde?'7icss. There is 
 nothing incredible in this, and this is in perfect harmony 
 with Ezek. 20 : 35-38. Unto her place. This is the 
 place prepared of God, mentioned in 12 : 6. Just as the 
 
XII. 15] CHAPTER XII. 165 
 
 wilderness of Sinai had been the place especially prepared 
 for the deliverance of Israel (Ex. 23 : 20, " Behold, I send 
 an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to 
 bring thee itito the place which I have prepared''), so God 
 in these last days of trial and tribulation has a special 
 place of deliverance and safety prepared for His suffering 
 people. Where she is nourished. Just as God nourished 
 Israel with manna in the wilderness, so s\\d\\ the xvonian 
 be nourished in the wilderness y<3r a time, and times, and 
 half a time, corresponding to the 1,260 days of 12 : 6, the 
 period of Antichrist referred to in Dan. 7:25; which is 
 the same as the last half of Daniel's week (Dan. 9 : 27), 
 — all corresponding to the 42 months during which the 
 beast exercises his authority (13 : 5-7)- 
 
 15. And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a 
 river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 
 
 In contrast to the miraculous preservation of Israel by 
 the waters of the Red Sea and the destruction of the 
 Egyptians by the same, we have here the attempt of Satan 
 to destroy the saints by a flood. Although we do not pro- 
 fess to understand or explain any of these prophecies con- 
 cerning events still lying in the future, we deem it far 
 better to accept the idea that God will in some way bring 
 about all these events as here indicated, than to adopt the 
 strange and arbitrary fancies with which the allegorists 
 and historical interpreters seek to becloud us. Alford, 
 although he himself is unable to see any definite solution, 
 is, however, clear in his own mind that the historical inter- 
 pretation given by so many to this whole passage (12 : 
 13-17), is utterly wrong. He remarks: " Then the river 
 which the dragon sent out of his mouth after the woman 
 might be variously understood, — of the Roman armies 
 which threatened to sweep away Christianity in the wreck 
 of the Jewish nation, — or of the persecutions which fol- 
 
l66 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: [xii. i6, 17. 
 
 lowed the church into her retreats, but eventually became 
 absorbed by the civil power turning Christian, — or of the 
 Jewish nation itself, banded together against Christianity 
 wherever it appeared, but eventually itself becoming 
 powerless against it by its dispersion and ruin, — or again, 
 of the influx of heretical opinions from the Pagan phi- 
 losophers which tended to swamp the true faith, I con- 
 fess that not one of these seems to me satisfactorily to 
 answer the conditions : nor do we gain anything by their 
 combination. But anything within reasonable regard for 
 the analogies and symbolism of the text seems better 
 than the now too commonly received historical interpre- 
 tation, with its wild fancies and arbitrary assignment of 
 words and figures." 
 
 16. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, 
 and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 
 
 Just as God once miraculously saved His people by their 
 passage through the Red Sea, so now by a similar miracle 
 He will again save His people, but in another way, for the 
 earth shall open its mouth, just as once before it did, 
 when it swallowed up all those concerned in the matter 
 of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num. 16 : 26-35), and 
 receive the rushing torrent in its gaping mouth 
 
 17. And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to 
 make war with the rest of her seed, which keep the commandments of God 
 and hold the testimony of Jesus : and he stood upon the sand of the sea. 
 
 The woman, as we have seen, represents the converted 
 remnant of Israel, which the dragon sought to destroy, 
 but as she has been delivered out of his hands in a mirac- 
 ulous way by God, Satan now vents his anger against 
 those believers among the Gentiles which remain faithful 
 to God, and keep the testimony of Jesus. How the 
 dragon makes war with the believing Gentiles is more 
 fully related in the next chapter. He is here represented 
 
XII. 17.] CHAPTER XTL 167 
 
 as standing upon the sand of the sea, in order that he 
 may call forth the beast, to whom he will give all his 
 power and authority (13 : 2). 
 
 Synopsis of Interpretations. The Pretcrists as a rule 
 (Herder, Ewald, Renan, etc.) refer the whole chapter to 
 events preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 A. D., 
 especially to the flight of the Christians from Jerusalem 
 to Pella beyond Jordan. The Dragon is the symbol of 
 the Roman Empire. The Continuous-Historical interpre- 
 ters, no matter how they may differ in details, see in this 
 vision a prediction of the triumph of Christianity in the 
 Roman Empire, and the majority of commentators see 
 in it especially the victories of Con'stantine and Theo- 
 dosius (Elliott, Mede, Vitringa, Brightman, Bishop New- 
 ton, etc.). The Futurists as a rule maintain that this 
 chapter sets forth the state of things at the close of the 
 first half of the last week of Daniel, after the general 
 conversion of the Jews. 
 
 The Woman. — In addition to the interpretations given 
 under 12 : 2, we have other theories as to the signification 
 of tJie woman, — as the primitive Church, or the invisible 
 Church, or the pure Church, or the true visible Church, or 
 humanity, etc. 
 
 The Dragon. — (i) Satan inspiring Herod, Judas, and 
 others ; (2) the Roman Empire under Nero ; (3) the 
 Roman Empire as a persecuting power hostile to Chris- 
 tianity ; (4) the rulers of the Roman Empire ; etc. 
 
 The Man-Child. — (i) Christ formed mystically in His 
 members ; (2) all regenerated children of God ; (3) the 
 origin of the Christian Empire ; (4) Con.stantine ; (5) 
 Christ's kingly dominion ; (6) the Nicene Creed ; (7) the 
 Roman Catholic Church ; etc. 
 
 The Woman s Flight. — (i) The flight of the faithful in 
 the days of Antiochus (Doellinger) ; (2) at the time of the 
 
1 68 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xil. 17. 
 
 threatened destruction of Jerusalem (the Preterists) ; (3) 
 the passage of Christianity from the Jews to the Gentiles 
 (Vitringa, Bengel, Auberlen, and others) ; (4) the division 
 of the Roman Empire into the Greek and Latin Empires 
 (Isaac Newton) ; (5) the corruptions of the Church (Cun- 
 ninghame) ; etc. 
 
 TJie War in Heaven. — (i) The original fall of Satan 
 and his angels ; (2) occurred at the time of the Ascension 
 of Christ ; (3) will take place in the future, at the end of 
 days (Ebrard, De Burgh, Stern, etc.) ; (4) the conflict 
 between paganism and Christianity (Elliott and others) ; 
 (5) the struggle between a faithful and apostate priest- 
 hood (Faber) ; etc. 
 
 T]ie Two Wings of the Great Eagle. — (i) The Old and 
 New Testament (Wordsworth) ; (2) the two divisions of 
 the Roman Empire, under its successive rulers, protect- 
 ing the Church (Mede, Bengel, Auberlen, and others) ; 
 
 (3) the Roman Empire under Theodosius (Elliott) ; 
 
 (4) the faith of Jesus Christ ; etc. 
 
 The Flood of Water. — (i) The Roman persecution ; (2) 
 the deluge of barbarous nations, the Goths and Huns 
 (Wordsworth) ; (3) the Arian heretics ; (4) the Turks ; (5) 
 the streams of the migration of nations (Auberlen) ; (6) 
 the hosts of Antichrist : (7) the French Revolution ; etc. 
 
 The Rest of her Seed. — (i) Those to whom the woman 
 was to give birth in the wilderness (Mede) ; (2) the 
 churches of the Dispersion (Renan) ; (3) the Eastern 
 Church ; (4) the Western Church, especially the Walden- 
 ses, etc. ; (5) faithful witnesses, like Augustine and 
 others ; (6) the Gentile Christians (Ebrard, Bisping, and 
 others) ; etc. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 41. The Vision of the First Beast, (xiii. i-io). 
 
 I. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and 
 seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of 
 blasphemy. 
 
 John in his vision saw a beast coming up out of the 
 sea, evidently called forth by the dragon, who was stand- 
 ing upon its visible shore (see last verse). To the large 
 majority of commentators the sea represents the con- 
 fused multitude of the nations of the world (Hengsten- 
 berg, Ebrard, Kliefoth, Wordsworth, Lee, and others). 
 This beast is the same already referred to in 11:7, and 
 more fully described in Rev. xvii. He sees that the 
 beast has ten horns and seven heads, the same number 
 each that the dragon had, in whose interests the beast 
 appears. The horns are here mentioned first, because 
 they are first seen as the beast comes up out of the sea, 
 afterwards the heads are always mentioned first (17 : 3, 7). 
 There was the difference, however, between the dragon 
 and the beast — the dragon had seven diadems upon its 
 seven heads (12 : 3), but the beast had ten diadems upon 
 its ten horns, and upon each of its seven heads there was 
 written a name of blasphemy. Throughout our whole 
 exposition we must keep in mind the Vision of Daniel 
 (Dan. 7), but John's Vision differs in some particulars 
 and supplies details which are not given there. 
 
 Daniel s^w four beasts coming out of the sea (Dan. 
 
 7 : 3), which were explained to him as representing four 
 
 169 
 
170 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xill. 2. 
 
 kings (Dan. 7 : 17), or kingdoms (Dan. 7 : 23). We 
 have here to do especially with h.\s fourth beast which 
 had ten Jiorns (Dan. 7 : 7, 20), among which tho. little horn 
 came up, having plucked up three of the first horns by 
 the roots (Dan. 7 : 8, 20), and made war with, and wore 
 out the Saints of the Most High (Dan. 7:21, 25). It 
 was explained to Daniel that the ten Jiorns signify that 
 out of the fourth kingdom ten kings should arise (Dan. 
 7 : 24), and that tJie little horn represents another king 
 who shall put down three kings, and who from the whole 
 presentation may be regarded as the Old Testament type 
 of Antichrist. In John's Vision we are also informed of 
 the meaning of the seven heads and ten horns of the first 
 Beast, for the angel explains that the seven heads are seven 
 kings, — " the beast is himself also an eighth, and is of the 
 seven," — and the ten Jiorns are ten Icings which *' receive 
 authority as kings with the beast, for one hour" (Rev. 
 17 : 10 — 12). 
 
 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were 
 as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon 
 gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. 
 
 Daniel saw four beasts, representing four kingdoms 
 (Dan. 7 : 17, 23); St. John sees one beast uniting the 
 characteristics of the four. It is almost certain that the 
 four kingdoms represented by the four beasts of Daniel 
 are, (i) the Babylonian or Assyrian; (2) the Medo-Per- 
 sian ; (3) the Macedonian or Greek ; and (4) the Roman. 
 
 This is the traditional view and defended by Caspari, 
 Keil, Pusey, Wordsworth, and others. The Preterists as 
 a rule maintain that the four kingdoms are Babylonia, 
 Media, Persia, and Greece. The remarks of WORDS- 
 WORTH are very suggestive : " In the Vision of Daniel — 
 who looks forzvard from the Assyrian Dynasty, under 
 which he was living, to the three succeeding ones, the 
 
XIII. 2.] CHAPTER XIII. 171 
 
 Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman — we see first the As- 
 syrian Lion (Dan. 7 : 4), next the Medo-Persian Bear 
 (Dan. 7 : 5), and then the Greek Leopard (Dan. 7 : 6). 
 In the Vision of the Apocalypse of St. John — who looks 
 backzvard from the Royian Dynasty, under which he was 
 living, to the XXwqq preceding dynasties — we see the three 
 Animals of Daniel, mentioned in an inverted order, d^nd 
 combined in the first Beast, here displayed." 
 
 But this First Beast cannot be identified with the 
 Fourth Beast of Daniel, or the Roman kingdom. The 
 whole description given of the First Beast in Rev. 17 : 9-13 
 shows that it corresponds with the Little Horn which 
 arises among the ten horns of the Fourth Beast (Dan. 
 7 : 20-25). This is very clearly brought out by WIL- 
 LIAMS : " This Beast of John is in itself composed of the 
 four Beasts of Daniel. It has the leopard-likeness of the 
 third, the Grecian or Macedonian ; it has the bear-feet of 
 the second, the Persian ; the lion-mouth of the first, the 
 Babylonian ; and the ten-horned head of the fourth 
 beast, which is the Roman kingdom. Nor is that all, 
 for it has also seven heads, which make up the heads of 
 the four beasts, inasmuch as the leopard of Daniel has 
 four heads (Dan. 7 : 6), which four, together with the 
 other three, form the seven. This appears to indicate 
 that he represents some great principle of evil found in 
 all the heathen kingdoms. It is therefore a mistake to 
 suppose that this is the fourth beast of Daniel, or the 
 Roman power; it will rather be found to grow out of 
 that, the last of the four. For it corresponds with the 
 Little Horn which arises among the ten horns. ... St. 
 John has a nearer and fuller view of the Little Horn of 
 Daniel, which he sees as this great Beast of universal 
 dominion ; and this ten-horned Beast is undoubtedly 
 Antichrist." The dragon gave him his power. Satan, 
 
172 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xni. 3. 
 
 asprinceof this world (John 12 : 31 ; 16 : 11 ; Eph. 2 : 2), 
 will equip Antichrist with all his own diabolical power, 
 in order to use him as an instrument of his wrath against 
 " the rest of the seed of the woman," that is, the Gentile 
 Christians (12 : 17). Duesterdieck calls attention to the 
 inner relation existing between Satan's pozver, tJirone, 
 and authority. This diabolical authority imparted to 
 Antichrist will be seen in his power over freedom and 
 life (13:7, 10), and over the business of men (13 : 17), 
 and the mention of a tJirone gives us a more definite view 
 of the zvorldly dominion which will be exercised by the 
 beast (16 : 10). SiMCOX : "It is the devil's interest and 
 policy to disguise his working under the forms of the 
 world ; at present, he has actually persuaded many to 
 disbelieve in his existence," Antichrist thus becomes 
 the vice-regent and instrument of the devil, his earthly 
 persecuting power. 
 
 3. And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten (Gr. slain) 
 unto death ; and his death-stroke was healed : and the whole earth 
 wondered after the beast. 
 
 Lee remarks : " Nowhere is it more important for the ' 
 correct interpretation of the Apocalypse to adhere to 
 historical facts than here," but we add, if any one thing 
 is certain, it is this, that every explanation hitherto 
 offered by historical interpreters has utterly failed to 
 satisfy the text or the context. It is evident that when 
 the beast rose from the sea, John saw the deadly wound 
 on one of the heads of the beast, but this death-blow was 
 apparently healed. In 17 : 10, 11, we read: TJie seven 
 heads are seven kings ; t lie five are fallen, the one is, the 
 other is not yet come ; and the beast is himself also an 
 eighth, and is of the seven. This death-blow must have 
 been given to one of the five kings that are fallen. These 
 seven kings or kingdoms have been variously understood: 
 
XIII. 3-] CHAPTER XIII. 173 
 
 (i) as seven personal Kings or Emperors of Rome (Pre- 
 terists) ; (2) as seven world-powers, eitJicr (i) Egypt, 
 (2) Assyria, (3) Babylonia, (4) Medo-Persia, (5) Greece, 
 
 (6) Rome, (7) the Roman Empire with its Ten Horns 
 after the Barbaric Invasion, under which we now live 
 (Hengstenberg, Auberlen, Burger, Keil, Alford, and 
 others), ^r (i) Assyria, (2) Babylonia, (3) Persia, (4) Mace- 
 donia, (5) Syria under Antiochus Epiphanes, (6) Rome, 
 
 (7) the future Apocalyptic Kingdom (Hofmann, Ebrard, 
 Fuller, Luthardt, and others). Luthardt takes courage 
 to name the five fallen kings as Sennacherib (Assyria), 
 Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonia), Cyrus (Persia), Alexander 
 the Great (Macedonia), and Antiochus Epiphanes (Syria), 
 and favors the idea that the Antichrist of the future will 
 in some form or other be another Antiochus Epiphanes 
 restored to life. And there is nothing incredible in this. 
 The Preterists see in this verse the death of Nero, and 
 his expected re-appearance as Antichrist ; others see in 
 it the effect of Christ's death on the Cross ; or the fall of 
 Napoleon's Empire (Faber) ; or the fall of the Roman 
 Pagan Empire and the establishment of the Christian 
 Roman Empire (Alford) ; or the blow which the Roman 
 Empire received from the Barbarian invaders, etc. But 
 the manifestation of Antichrist lies still in the future, and 
 when he makes his appearance, the whole earth shall 
 wonder, and their wonder leads to worship. 
 
 Fausset : " The beast, healed of its temporary and 
 external wound, returns not only from the sea (13:1) 
 but from the abyss (17 : 8), whence it draws new anti- 
 christian strength of hell (13 : 12, 14; ii : 7). A new 
 and worse heathenism breaks in upon the Christianized 
 world, more devilish than the old one of the first heads 
 of the beast. The latter was an apostasy only from the 
 general revelation of God in nature and conscience ; but 
 
174 I^HE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiii. 4. 
 
 this new one is from God's revelation of love in His Son. 
 It culminates in Antichrist, the man of sin, the son of 
 perdition (17: 11; 2 Thess. 2 : 3)," in those grievous 
 times described by Paul (2 Tim. 3 : 1-4) as being marked 
 with all the characteristics of old heathenism (Rom. 
 I : 29-32). 
 
 4. And they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto 
 the beast ; and they worshipped the beast, saying. Who is Uke unto the 
 beast ? and wlio is able to war with liim ? 
 
 Two effects, awful to contemplate, follow the aston- 
 ishment with which the world beholds the power and 
 success of Antichrist. They will worship Satan and his 
 beast. Such is to be the final issue of modern civiliza- 
 tion, of all this vaunted progress in thought, art, science, 
 and methods of education. So blinded will men become 
 that they will no longer be able to discern between what 
 is of Satan and what is of God. Williams: " Our Lord's 
 temptation is renewed in some mysterious manner, so 
 that men worship Satan on account of the wealth and 
 power of the world which he bestows, under this sway of 
 Antichrist." Boyd-CarpeNTER : " The spirit of the 
 wild beast is adored wherever worldliness prevails. 
 There is nothing so successful as success, and the homage 
 of men is more often paid to power than to principle." 
 Commentators call attention to the fact that even the 
 phraseology in which they express their worship of the 
 beast " seems like a blasphemous parody of the praise 
 with which the O. T. Church celebrated the incomparable 
 glory of the living God " (DUESTERDIECK). (Compare 
 Ex. 15:11: Ps. II : 3, 5 ; Micah 7 : 18.) Who is able to 
 make war with him ? The reference seems to be to the 
 great battle for which all things in the Apocalypse are 
 preparing (12:17; 13:7; 19 : 19). 
 
XIII. 5, 6.] CHAPTER XIII. 175 
 
 5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blas- 
 phemies ; and there was given to him authority to continue forty and 
 two months. 
 
 In this verse the words and deeds of the first beast are 
 described. We here find consolation for beUevers, for 
 the beast has no power beyond what is given to him. 
 " Only in accordance with God's will can the dragon 
 equip his beast, and only within the limits fixed by God 
 can the beast do his works" (DUESTERDIECK). The 
 little horn of Daniel, which is evidently the same as the 
 First Beast in his later stage of existence, i. e. Anti- 
 christ, is also described as having " a mouth speaking 
 great 'things" (Dan. 7 : 8, 20, 25). This mouth speak- 
 ing great things and blasphemies (2 Thess. 2 : 4) may be 
 regarded as the outcome of the highest arrogance, self- 
 glorification, and self-deification— the result of the 
 boasted culture and selfish civilization of the last times,— 
 the echoes of which are already resounding in many of 
 the antichristian utterances of the present day. Anti- 
 christ will receive power to continue, better, as in the 
 margin of the Revised Version, to do his works during 
 " forty and two months." Compare " and he shall do his 
 pleasure " of Dan. 8 : 24 ; 1 1 : 28, 30. This period of 42 
 months refers to the last half of Daniel's week (Dan. 7 : 
 25 ; 9 : 27 ; 12:7), the well-known period of 3j^ years or 
 
 1,260 days', during which Antichrist shall persecute the 
 slints. See notes on 11:2; 12 : 6, 14, and compare 
 
 Matt. 24 : 9. 
 
 6 And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blas- 
 pheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell {tabenmele) in 
 the heaven. 
 
 We have here a more particular description of the 
 blasphemies referred to in the last verse. Even if we 
 omit and before " them " and read even as in the Revised 
 
1 7 6 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiii. 7. 
 
 Version, regarding the last clause in apposition with the 
 preceding, we may see here a reference to tJiree forms of 
 blasphemy : (i) the blasphemy of God's name, — in that 
 the Beast usurps for himself the names, honor, and wor- 
 ship of God, " exalting himself against all that is called 
 God or that is worshipped " (2 Thess. 2 : 4) — thus deny- 
 ing the Son of God, — the great characteristic of Anti- 
 christ ; (2) the blasphemy of the tabernacle or dwelling- " 
 place of God, whether we regard it on earth — " so that 
 he sitteth in the sanctuary {jiaos) of God, setting himself 
 forth as God " (2 Thess. 2 : 4) — or in heaven, for Anti- 
 christ blasphemes also heaven itself ; and (3) the 
 blasphemy of the Redeemed Church in heaven, the 
 gracious work of God,— including the holy angels. 
 Blunt, following Williams and some of the ancient com- 
 mentators, suggests that the three forms of blasphemy 
 are : (i) against God in His Divine Nature ; (2) against 
 the Tabernacle of God, that is, God Incarnate taberna- 
 cling in Human Nature, or Christ Himself ; and (3) against 
 the Mystical Body of God Incarnate, that is, the Church : 
 and that this blasphemy " represents the extreme form 
 of all words spoken against God, Christ, and His Church." 
 
 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to over- 
 come them : and there was given to him authority over every tribe and 
 people and tongue and nation. 
 
 Compare Dan. 7 : 21, 22, "I 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." Antichrist shall ex- 
 ercise universal dominion, for his empire shall extend 
 over the whole earth, — the four specifications, tribe, 
 people, to7ig2ie, and ttation, covering all the inhabitants of 
 the earth. In Dan. 7 : 22 (quoted above) we find the 
 
xiii. 8.] CHAPTER XIII. 177 
 
 consolation for true believers on earth at the time of this 
 tribulation. Though many shall fall away and worship the 
 beast even among professing believers (Matt. 24 : 9-12), 
 the true believers shall be preserved through the great 
 tribulation (Matt. 24: 13). In the Providence of God 
 and by His permission " the devil gives to Antichrist 
 what he offered to Christ (Luke 4:6)" (SiMCOX). 
 
 8. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose 
 name hath not been written in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been 
 slain from the foundation of the world. 
 
 All shall worship the beast, as well as the dragon whom 
 the beast represents (13:4), except the elect, whose 
 names have been written in the book of life. All this 
 points to the great final apostasy predicted by our Lord 
 (Matt. 24: II, 12) and by St. Paul (2 Thess. 2 : 3). 
 From the foundation of the world. These last words 
 may belong either to " written " or to " slain." The 
 former connection is suggested by the similar one in Rev. 
 17:8, and advocated by Bengel, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, 
 Duesterdieck, Milligan, margin of Revised Version, and 
 American Revisers, and others ; the latter seems to be 
 the most natural, according to the order of the words in 
 the Greek text. If not contrary to the analogy of faith, 
 it is always far better to interpret according to the exact 
 language of Scripture. Here there is no doctrinal diffi- 
 culty, whichever way we translate. If in Biblical phrase- 
 ology the kingdom was prepared for believers " from the 
 foundation of the world " (Matt. 25 ; 34), and if before 
 the foundation of the world (John 17 : 24; Eph. i : 4) it 
 was a part of God's plan, known and provided for, that 
 Christ should redeem the world by His blood (i Pet. i : 
 20), it is equally biblical to say that in the counsels of 
 God, Christ was slain from the foundation of the world 
 (so in substance Bede, Alford, Blunt, Plummer, Lee, 
 12 
 
178 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiii. 9, 10. 
 
 Pearson, Wordsworth, Sadler, Boyd-Carpenter, Currey, 
 and others). WORDSWORTH : " The Lamb is said to 
 have been slain from the foundation of tJie ivorld, because 
 in the Divine Mind He was foreseen as our Propitiation, 
 and we were foreknown in Him (Eph. i : 4-1 1), and His 
 death was represented in Types, and foretold in Prophe- 
 cies, even from the beginning (Gen. 3 : 15)." 
 
 Lee : "Observe that in this description of the First 
 Beast there is something wanting to complete our idea 
 of Antichrist ; there is none of that hypocrisy and 
 deceiveableness which other parts of Scripture lead one 
 to expect. This is supplied by the Second Beast (13 : 
 11); see 2 Thess. 2:9-13 " (After Williams). 
 
 9. If any man hath an ear, let him hear. 
 
 For this description of the great apostasy and of the 
 power of the beast demands our most solemn attention. 
 See notes on 2:7. It is also a warning that believers be 
 prepared for the trials that will overtake them in the 
 days of Antichrist. 
 
 10. If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth : if any man 
 shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the 
 patience and faith of the saints. 
 
 Compare Jer. 15:2," Such as are for death, to death ; 
 and such as are for the sword, to the sword ; and such as 
 are for the famine to the famine ; and such as are for 
 captivity, to captivity." The Greek text of the first clause 
 is somewhat uncertain, — the margin of the Revised Ver- 
 sion gives us the alternative reading — If any man leadeth 
 into captivity. It is difficult to decide whether this verse 
 is designed as a consolation, or as a warning to believers. 
 Some maintain that it is a eonsolation, teaching that God 
 will in due time avenge His elect, — that the persecutors 
 of the Church shall experience the vengeance of God, 
 
XIII. 1 1 .] CHAPTER Xlir. 1 7 9 
 
 and suffer the same evils as they had inflicted on the 
 saints. But it is better to regard it as a ivarning, teach- 
 ing behevers to suffer with patience, without having re- 
 course to weapons of carnal welfare, " for all they that 
 take the sword shall perish with the sword," Matt. 26 : 52. 
 The patience and the faith of the saints will be displayed 
 in their confidence in God, and in their meek endurance 
 of the trials through which they will have to pass. If we 
 accept the reading of the text of the R. V., then these 
 words " form a prophetic declaration how it shall fare 
 with the saints in the day of persecution, and declare 
 also that in holy suffering of captivity and death consists 
 their faith and patience " (AlfoRD). 
 
 42. The Vision of the Second Beast (xiii. 11-18). 
 
 II. And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth ; and he had 
 two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 
 
 This Beast out of the earth is identical with the False 
 Prophet (16 : 13 ; 19 : 20; 20 : 10). It seems that the 
 little horn of Daniel, the O. T. emblem of Antichrist, is 
 here represented by tivo figures, the First Beast and 
 the False Prophet, for these two are very closely con- 
 nected. The First Beast evidently corresponds to the 
 " mouth speaking great things " and the False Prophet to 
 the " eyes like the eyes of a man " of Dan. 7 : 8, 20. We 
 have thus a hellish trinity of evil in contrast to the 
 Divine Trinity,— Satan or the Dragon as opposed to God 
 the Father, the First Beast or Antichrist as opposed to 
 Christ, and the Second Beast or the False Prophet as op- 
 posed to the Holy Spirit, author and bestower of all 
 true prophecy. Duesterdieck suggests that the Beast 
 arises out of the earth, because he is to work upon the 
 inhabitants of the earth, while Milligan and others, 
 reo-arding the sea as the nations as opposed to God 
 
1 8o THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN: [xill. 1 1. 
 
 (13 : i), would refer the earth to the Jews, as God's pro- 
 phetic and priestly people, the Beast thus having a re- 
 ligious, not a secular origin. Lee sees here a symbol of 
 earthly wisdom, " earthly, sensual, demoniacal " (James 
 3 : 15). This second Beast appears innocent and harm- 
 less in appearance, having two horns like a lamb, and 
 some commentators suggest that these tivo horns signify 
 that he claims to exercise the power of Christ, but as the 
 Lamb of God is described as having seven horns (5 : 6), 
 the tivo denote the great inferiority of the Beast's power 
 to that of Christ. Others also call our attention to 
 Matt. 7: 15, where Christ warns us against '^ false 
 prophets, which come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly 
 are ravening wolves." His speaking as a dragon de- 
 scribes the treacherous and seductive character of this 
 demoniacal lamb-like Beast (13:14). SiMCOX: "He 
 looks like Christ and is like Satan." Fausset : " The 
 dragon gives his external power to the first beast (13 : 2), 
 his spirit to the second, so that it speaks as a dragon'' 
 Williams : " In the description of the first Beast there 
 is something wanting to complete our idea of Antichrist ; 
 for there is none of that hypocrisy and deceivableness 
 which other parts of Scripture lead one to expect. This 
 is filled up by the second Beast. The Man of Sin as de- 
 scribed by Paul seems to comprehend both of these 
 Beasts (2 Thess. 2 : 3-12). As Primasius says, * both 
 Beasts evidently form but one body, practise one course 
 of wickedness.' Both combined describe that intimate 
 connection with religion which we suppose Antichrist to 
 have." So close is the connection between these two 
 Beasts that there are some who would even identify the 
 Second Beast with Paul's Jllan of Sin, the personal Anti- 
 christ, — regarding the first Beast as the antichristian 
 Empire. But that the first Beast represents Antichrist is 
 
XIII. 12.] CHAPTER XIII. l8l 
 
 evident from 17: 11-13. CURREY: "The second Beast 
 differs from the first, to which it is auxiliary. The first has 
 the power, the second prompts its exercise. The first is 
 openly overbearing and violent, the second is in appear- 
 ance mild, but really crafty and cruel. As the first repre- 
 sents the world-power wielded by ungodly rulers, the 
 second signifies the more subtle yet more deadly influence 
 of false teachers." Boyd-Carpenter : " Some see in this 
 second wild beast the Pagan priesthood aiding the im- 
 perial power, the embodiment of the first wild beast ; 
 others see in it the Papal sacerdotal power, the heir of 
 Pagan rites ; others, again, would combine the two, and 
 view the second wild beast as the sacerdotal persecuting 
 power. Pagan and Christian. I believe that, though there 
 is truth in these views, they are too narrow. . . . All who 
 use their knowledge, their culture, their wisdom to teach 
 men that there is nothing worthy of worship save what 
 they can see, and touch, and taste, are acting the part of 
 the second wild beast ; and be they apostles of science, 
 or apostles of culture, or apostles of logical immorality, 
 or apostles of what is called materialism, if their teaching 
 leads men to limit their worship to the visible and the 
 tangible, they are making men worship the beast." 
 
 12. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. 
 And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first 
 beast, whose death-stroke was healed. 
 
 This second Beast acts for the first Beast, in his pres- 
 ence, as his representative, and performs all acts of 
 authority, as a prime-minister would serve his king. He 
 uses all his arts of persuasion to cause all the inhabitants 
 of the earth to pay religious service to Antichrist, his 
 lord. Those who worship the first Beast are the worldly 
 minded, including the unfaithful Christians, "whose 
 names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" 
 
l82 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xiii. 13, 14. 
 
 (13 : 8). The first Beast is here described as in 13 : 3, as 
 the one whose death-stroke was healed, that is in his later 
 stage of manifestation. 
 
 13. And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come 
 down out of heaven upon tlie earth in the sight of men. 
 
 In the times of Antichrist, " whose coming is according 
 to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and 
 lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2 : 9), diabolical miracles shall 
 be visibly performed by the second Beast to lead men 
 astray from God. They will be wrought by the power of 
 Satan, as were those performed by the Egyptian magi- 
 cians in the time of Moses. Probably this special miracle 
 of calling down fire from heaven is mentioned to suggest 
 that the second Beast is endowed by Satan with the 
 spirit and power of an Elijah, showing how the False 
 Prophet seeks to counterfeit the work of the two wit- 
 nesses (11 : 5), as well as of Elijah in the time of Ahab 
 (i Kings xviii.). Christ had already foretold this mirac- 
 ulous power which will be displayed in the times of Anti- 
 christ (Matt. 24 : 24). Just as Christ shall again be 
 accompanied by a second Elijah as His witness, so Anti- 
 christ has his Elijah in the second Beast. Mere miracles 
 are no criterion of the truth (Deut. 13 : 1-3). Sadler : 
 " These miracles will deceive, if possible, the very elect. 
 And I cannot help thinking that the widespread denial of 
 the reality of the miracles of the Bible will prepare the 
 way for the ready acceptance of the miracles of Anti- 
 christ." 
 
 14. And he deceivelh them that dwell on the earth by reason of the 
 signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast ; saying to them 
 that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, who 
 hath the stroke of the sword, and lived. 
 
 The worldly-minded are deceived by the diabolical 
 miracles performed by the False Prophet (2 Thess. 
 
xni. 15] CHAPTER XIIT. 183 
 
 2 : 10-12). This power to perform miracles was given to 
 him by Satan, subject to the will of God. The False 
 Prophet, seeing how he has beguiled the worldly-minded, 
 now suggests that they set up an image of Antichrist, 
 so as to show how greatly they honor and glorify him. 
 For had he not been slain, and by the fact that he lived 
 again, established his right to divine majesty! Just as 
 Paul maintains that Jesus Christ was declared to be the 
 Son of God by His resurrection (Rom. i : 4), so in the 
 times of Antichrist stress will be laid on the fact, that 
 though the first Beast had received his death-stroke, 
 nevertheless he had /zw^,— and that this established his 
 right to claim divine majesty and worship. We are re- 
 minded of Daniel's narrative respecting the golden image 
 set up by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iii.). 
 
 15. And it was given imto him to give breath to it, even to tlie image of 
 the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as 
 many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 
 
 To the second Beast was also given power by Satan to 
 put a demoniacal spirit of life into the image of Anti- 
 christ, so that it became alive and spoke, and caused those 
 who did not worship the image to be killed. Note that 
 "image" is the subject of both verbs. Probably this 
 image of Antichrist will be placed in the temple at 
 Jerusalem, and it may be that It is to this abomination of 
 desolatiott t\\d.tOxv\st refers in Matt. 24 : 15, and to which 
 Daniel three times refers (Dan. 9 : 27 ; 11 : 3^ ; 12 : 11). 
 Antichrist however proceeds to more severe measures 
 than Nebuchadnezzar. Wordsworth sees here, as every- 
 where, the Papacy : " The f^rst Beast itself is the Papacy ; 
 and the image of it is the personification of the Papacy, 
 in the visible form of the Pontiff for the time being. 
 Every one who is created Pope is immediately made into 
 an Image or Idol, and this process has now been con- 
 
i84 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xiii. i6, 17. 
 
 tinued for many centuries. This verse describes the pro- 
 cess by which the Papal Image gives utterance to what is 
 breathed into it by the Papal HicrarcJiy. A striking speci- 
 men how this prophecy is fulfilled in the Papacy has 
 been recently displayed to the world. On the 8th De- 
 cember, 1854, the Pope promulgated the new Doctrine of 
 the Immaculate Conception, and affirmed that it was 
 thenceforth necessary to salvation to believe that the 
 Blessed Virgin was exempt from original sin, and now, 
 on July 18, 1870, breath has been given by the Hierarchy 
 to the Image, which their own hands had made, and had 
 set up to be adored, for the Pope has been declared to be 
 Infallible, and to be revered as having the attribute of 
 God ; and all who contravene that dogma have been ana- 
 thematized by him and consigned to perdition." 
 
 16. And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the 
 poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their 
 right hand, or upon their forehead. 
 
 The False Prophet, in his zeal for promoting the cause of 
 Antichrist, compels all to receive his mark either upon 
 their right hand or upon their forehead, — that is, upon 
 some conspicuous part of the body, where it can be readily 
 seen by every one. Fausset : " The mark in the right 
 hand and on the forehead implies the prostration of bodily 
 and ijitellectual powers ' to the beast's domination." 
 Blunt : " This ' mark ' of Antichrist is plainly imitative 
 of the ' seal of God ' which the faithful received ' on their 
 foreheads '(9:4); and as that seal is identified with the 
 'new Name' of Christ (3 : 12) and the Name of God 
 (14 : I ; 22 : 4), so the mark of the Beast is elsewhere 
 called ' the mark of his name ' (14 : 1 1)." 
 
 17. And that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath 
 the mark, eve7i the name of the beast or the number of his name. 
 
 It seems that Antichrist will try to regulate the labor 
 
XIII. i8.] CHAPTER XIII. 185 
 
 troubles of his day somewhat on the method some agitators 
 seek to solve the problem in our own days. In order to 
 possess the liberty to buy and sell, one must join the 
 organization of which Antichrist is the head, and bear the 
 mark of allegiance to the Beast. DENNETT : " Under 
 the mask of the welfare of the empire, all will be sub- 
 jected to this awful tyranny under the pains and penalties 
 of the deprivation of the commonest liberty of the in- 
 dividual. Foreshadowings of this forgetful abuse of 
 authority are frequently seen even in this tolerant age, 
 affording a sufficient warning to those whose eyes are 
 opened, that the most absolute despotism may often be 
 cloaked under a profession of the most liberal ideas, and 
 giving also an indication of the ultimate goal of modern 
 politics under the concealed guidance and inspiration of 
 Satan." This mark which all must receive will be either 
 the name of Antichrist stamped in letters, or the number 
 of the name thus stamped. Most commentators, however, 
 think that we dare not interpret here literally of an 
 actual mark impressed, — that as in the case of the serv- 
 ants of God no actual visible mark is intended, so here 
 the mark " signifies rather conformity and addiction to 
 the behests of the beast" (Alford). 
 
 18. Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the 
 number of the beast ; for it is the number of a man : and his number is Six 
 hundred and sixty and six. 
 
 Here is wisdom. He who is able from the number of 
 the beast to find out the name of Antichrist gives evi- 
 dence of wisdom and deep understanding. " The terms of 
 the challenge serve to show that the feat proposed is 
 possible, and that it is difficult " (Alford). The niiviber 
 of a man may mean either "according to man's mode of 
 reckoning" as "the measure of a man" in 21 : 17, or 
 "the number of a particular individual." It is best to 
 
l86 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xiil. i8. 
 
 refer it to an individual. In Hebrew and in Greek letters 
 are used as numerals, every letter having its proper value 
 as a number. If the numerical values of each letter in a 
 word are added together the sum would represent the 
 word. This process was called by the Jews Gematria, a 
 corruption of the Greek Geometria. Most commentators 
 maintain that this sum is meant by " the number of a 
 man " or of a name. There are many words, even proper 
 names of men well known in history, the sum of whose 
 letters will amount to 666, whether we use Hebrew, Greek, 
 Latin, or German letters. Over lOO attempted solutions, 
 some very ingenious, may be tabulated. Some insist that 
 as the book was written in Greek and for Greek readers, 
 we must use Greek letters, while others, appealing to the 
 Hebraistic coloring of the Apocalypse, maintain that we 
 must employ the Hebrew alphabet. Among the various 
 attempted solutions we may mention Lateinos, Caligula, 
 Nero, Titus, Trajan, Julian the Apostate, Genseric the 
 Vandal, Mohammed (Maometis), Benedict IX., Paul V. 
 (the Catholics have found to their satisfaction the names 
 of Martinus Lauterus, i. e. Luther, Joannes Calvinus, and 
 Beza Antitheos), Louis XIV., Napoleon Bonaparte, and 
 Napoleon III. A great deal of ingenuity has been 
 wasted in manipulating the spelling of words, and in 
 conjuring with numbers, and Dr. SALMON {Introdiiction 
 pp. 230, 23 1), after having shown how deceptive this whole 
 method of solution is, suggests "three rules by the help 
 of which I believe an ingenious man could find the re- 
 quired sum in any given name. First, if the proper name 
 by itself will not yield it, add a title; secondly, if the sum 
 cannot be found in Greek, try Hebrew, or even Latin; 
 thirdly, do not be too particular about the spelling." 
 
 Of the various names that have been suggested, two es- 
 pecially have been accepted by a large number of commen- 
 
XIII. i8.] CHAPTER XIIL 187 
 
 tators. The first is Lateinos. The numerical vaUie of this 
 word in Greek letters is 666, as follows : / = 30 + « = i + 
 
 ^=300 + ^=5 + z= 10 + ;/= 50 + ^ = 70 + -y = 200 = 
 
 total 666. This interpretation is the oldest we know of, 
 and was already mentioned by Irenseus, who, however, pre- 
 fers Teitan ; i. e. Titus. Lateinos has been accepted in sub- 
 stance as the true interpretation by Calovius, De Wette, 
 Bleek, Ebrard, Duesterdieck, Alford (with much hesita- 
 tion), Wordsworth, Lee, Schaff, Sadler, Fausset, and 
 Qthei-c^ — some referring it to some individual person, 
 some to the heathen Roman Empire, others to the Latin 
 Empire, and still others to the Papacy. 
 
 The second solution, which at present is the most 
 popular interpretation, and which the modern school of 
 rationalism boastingly claims as the only possible solution, 
 and to which some conservatives enthusiastically give their 
 consent, is that the number 666 signifies Ncron Kaisari 
 written in Hebrew characters N R O N KS R, and counting 
 according to the numerical value in the Hebrew alphabet, 
 thus : « = 50' -h r = 200 + ^ = 6 + « = 50 + /^ = 
 100 -\- s =60 -f r = 200, or in all, 666. So Fritzsche, 
 Benary, Hitzig, Reuss, Ewald, Baur, Hilgenfeld, Volkmar, 
 Hausrath, Gebhardt, Renan, Davidson, Stuart, Cowles, 
 Farrar, and others. Gebhardt suggests that both Lateinos 
 and Nero Caesar \wq\-q intended, and both solutions are at 
 one in making the number point to the great Roman 
 Power, though some would refer it to the past, and others 
 still to the future. 
 
 But all these attempts to solve the mystery are unsat- 
 isfactory. We may be pretty certain that it will be im- 
 possible to discover the secret before the beast's appear- 
 ance, and then believers will be able to recognize him by 
 this number. Deeply significant is the fact, noticed by 
 many commentators, that the number of the m.mQ/esiiS^ 
 
l88 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xili. i8. 
 
 our Redeemer's personal name, according to the numerical 
 value of the letters in its Greek form, is 888. The 
 number eight has a deep significance. It is the number 
 of the resurrection. It has the same relation to the 
 number of Christ, as six has to the number of Antichrist. 
 8-I-80+800 is the number of Christ, and six the world 
 number, raised to its tens and hundreds, 6+60+600, gives 
 us the number of Antichrist. When the personal Anti- 
 christ comes, then his number will enable believers readily 
 to identify him, — but until he comes the mystery will not 
 be solved. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 43. The Vision of the Lamb with the 144,000 
 (xiv. 1-5). 
 
 This is still a continuation of the Vision which extends 
 from II : 19 to 14 : 20, to the close of this chapter. The 
 Vision brings us down to the very end. It also intro- 
 duces reference to events which will be more clearly de- 
 scribed in later visions. 
 
 I. And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and 
 with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the 
 name of his Father, written on their foreheads. 
 
 This is the same Lamb which has been standing in the 
 
 midst of the throne (5 : 6). The Lamb is now set as 
 
 King upon the holy hill of Zion (Ps. 2 : 6). This Mount 
 
 Zion here is not in heaven but probably on the earth, for 
 
 the hour of judgment has come (14 : 7), and the new 
 
 Jerusalem has not yet appeared (21 : 2). The vision is 
 
 for the comfort and encouragement of those believers 
 
 who will have to endure the persecutions of the beast. 
 
 It points to the final victory that shall surely be theirs, 
 
 and depicts the glory in store for the faithful. These 
 
 144,000 are probably identical with the faithful sealed 
 
 ones of 7 : 4 (see notes on this passage). They are those 
 
 from among the Jews who are converted during the 
 
 times of Antichrist. They are described as 144,000 in 
 
 number, being the complete and full number, according 
 
 to the counsels of God. They have the seal of God on 
 
 their foreheads (7 : 2, 3), described here as the name of 
 
 189 
 
IQO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 2, 3. 
 
 the Lamb of God, and of His Father, so that they can 
 readily be recognized as children of God. DENNETT: 
 " In chapter xiii. the frightful oppression and persecution 
 of the saints is seen ; and in this vision they are displayed 
 as having been tried and come forth as gold. In contrast 
 with chapter xiii. this chapter opens like a magnificent 
 sunrise after a stormy night. The vision overleaps all 
 the intervening sorrows and judgments, and, as in the 
 scene on the Mount of Transfiguration, permits us to be- 
 hold His majesty and glory in the seat of His earthly 
 rule and dominion." 
 
 2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and 
 as the voice of a great thunder : and the voice which I heard was as the voice 
 of harpers harping with their harps. 
 
 This voice came from heaven, and the volume sounded 
 like the rushing of many waters (i : 15), loud as thunder 
 (6 : i), but at the same time it was a charming sound, 
 like the melody of players on the harp, " divinely ter- 
 rible, yet divinely sweet." Boyd-Carpenter : " The 
 saints stand with their Lord, the Lamb, on Mount Zion, 
 and just as of old a voice came from heaven bearing wit- 
 ness to Christ, so round the abode of the saints heavenly 
 voices are heard, full of majesty, terribleness, and sweet- 
 ness, as though the sounds of sea and thunder blended 
 with the music of heavenly harps." 
 
 3. And they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before 
 the four living creatures and the elders; and no man could learn the song 
 save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been 
 purchased out of the earth. 
 
 The harpers, probably angels, are in heaven, and sing 
 their neiv song before the throne, and in the presence 
 of the four living creatures and the four elders, i. e. in 
 the presence of God Himself, of creation and the Re- 
 deemed Church (see notes on 4 : 2, 4, 6). It is nciv, prob- 
 
XIV. 4.] CHAPTER XIV. 191 
 
 ably because it is a song of victory to the praise of the 
 Lamb, " the song of Messiah's kingdom " (De Burgh). 
 No one can learn the melody and words of the song, save 
 the 144,000, for " the song has regard to matters of trial 
 and triumph, of deep joy and heavenly purity of heart, 
 which none other among men but these pure and holy 
 ones are capable of apprehending " (Alford). " Amid 
 the world-noises of Babylon, men can neither hear nor 
 sing aright the Lord's song (Ps. 137 14); but the Re- 
 deemed (the purchased out of the earth) of the Lord can 
 come with singing unto Zion (Isa. 51 : 11)" (Boyd-Car- 
 PENTER). 
 
 4. These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are vir- 
 gins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
 These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and 
 unto the Lamb. 
 
 In this and the next verse four things are predicated 
 of these 144,000 saints: (i) They had lived the life of 
 virgins while on earth ; (2) They have the special privilege 
 of being the personal attendants of our Lord ; (3) They 
 are the firstfruits from among the redeemed ; (4) Perfect 
 truthfulness had always marked their earthly life. It is 
 probably best to interpret virgins in the literal sense. In 
 the trying circumstances peculiar to the days of Anti- 
 christ, the sealed among the Jews who have to pass 
 through the great tribulation, "by reason of the distress " 
 of those times (i Cor. 7 : 26), will remain unmarried, in 
 order that they may be " careful for the things of the 
 Lord, how they may please the Lord " (i Cor. 7 : 32). 
 Not in the sense as if there were any defilement in mar- 
 riage (Heb. 13 14), or that there was any pecuHar sanctity 
 in celibacy, but if " every one that hath left houses or 
 brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother (or wife, Luke 
 18 : 28), or children, or lands, for Christ's sake, shall re- 
 
192 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 5. 
 
 ceive a hundredfold " (Matt. 19 : 29), so shall these, who, 
 for Christ's sake in the times of the great tribulation, re- 
 nounce all family ties, receive their special reward, and 
 become tJie first fruits jinto God and unto the Lamb'xn the 
 Messianic kingdom. " In the regeneration when the Son 
 of man shall sit on the throne of his glory " (Matt, 19 : 
 28), they shall be the consant retinue of the Lamb. Al- 
 though all the redeemed share in the glory of the Lamb, 
 yet these, in an eminent sense, shall partake of the same. 
 SiMCOX : " A devout and unselfish celibacy gives special 
 means for serving God, and so we need not be surprised 
 to learn here that it has a special reward from Him." 
 
 5. And in their mouth was found no lie : they are without blemish. 
 
 It is best to understand lie in its general sense. They 
 lived their earthly life in utter truthfulness. Possibly 
 there is a reference to Ps, 15 : 1,2," Who shall dwell in 
 thy holy hill ? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh 
 righteousness, and speaketJi trutJi in his heart.'" The 
 sealed ones among Israel, who endured the persecutions 
 of the days of Antichrist, were noted for their moral per- 
 fection, in contradistinction to the impurity and sinful- 
 ness of the followers of Antichrist. 
 
 Duesterdieck brings out clearly the purpose of this 
 whole vision : " The manifestation of the blessed with the 
 Lamb in eternal glory is intended to give believers who 
 are on earth, and exposed to persecution on the part of 
 the dragon, a pledge inspiring courage and patience, that 
 if they remain faithful they shall also attain to that 
 glory." 
 
 44. The Vision of the First Angel of Judgment 
 
 (xiv. 6, 7). 
 In verses 6-1 1 we have the description of three great 
 events which will immediately precede Christ's Coming 
 
XIV. 6, 7-] CHAPTER XIV. I93 
 
 to destroy Antichrist : (i) The announcement that the 
 "eternal gospel" is to be proclaimed to all men (14 : 6, 
 7) ; (2) The Fall of Babylon (14 : 8) ; (3) A warning to all 
 who worship the Beast and his image (14 : 9-12). 
 
 6. And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal 
 gospel to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every 
 nation and tribe and tongue and people. 
 
 Another angel, besides those already mentioned (11 : 
 15). Flying in mid=heaven. See notes on 8:13. The 
 voice of the angel is to reach all dwelling on the earth. 
 An eternal gospel. Ebrard : " He brings a message 
 which is eternal as to its contents, and, therefore, is eter- 
 nal also, according to its announcement, as since the 
 foundation of the world there has been no other message 
 of joy and salvation, and in eternity there will be no 
 other." The judgment is at hand, and as preparatory to 
 it the gospel is to be proclaimed to all that sit on the earth 
 (so in Greek, probably with reference to their false 
 security, "dwelling in worldliness and carnal indiffer- 
 ence," Luke 21 : 35), in accordance with our Lord's words, 
 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in 
 the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations : and 
 then shall the end come" (Matt. 24 : 14). The four-fold 
 enumeration of the inhabitants of the earth shows how 
 universal the proclamation of the gospel shall be (see also 
 5 : 9). Fausset: " Here begins the portion relating to 
 the Gentile world, as the former portion related to Israel. 
 Before the end the gospel is to be preached for a WITNESS 
 unto all the nations ; not that all nations shall be con- 
 verted, but all nations shall have the opportunity given 
 them of deciding whether they will be for or against 
 Christ." 
 
 7. And he saith with a great voice. Fear God, and give him glory ; for 
 the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made the heaven 
 and the earth and sea and fountains of waters. 
 
 . 13 
 
1^4 THE HE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 8. 
 
 The end is at hand (Matt. 24 : 14), and the hour of 
 judgment upon the nations, and the time for the destruction 
 of the Beast, even of Antichrist, has come. Just before 
 the end, by supernatural means, as in Apostolic times, 
 the greatest era of Christian missions is inaugurated, and 
 men are everywhere exhorted to repent (Acts 17 : 30), 
 and " to turn unto God from idols, to serve a living and 
 true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He 
 raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivereth us 
 from the wrath to come " (i Thess. i : 9, 10). No doubt 
 the angel makes this proclamation in opposition to the 
 False Prophet, who during this same period is forcing all 
 the inhabitants of the earth, at the threat of death, to 
 worship the Beast and his image (13 : 12, 15). Fausset: 
 ''TXris judgment is not the general judgment, but that 
 upon Babylon, the beast, and his worshippers (14 : 8-12)." 
 Simcox calls attention to the fact that " the substance of 
 the angel's message is pure natural theism." It may be 
 the final warning to the ungodly world, reminding them 
 of the utter degradation into which they have fallen 
 (Rom. I : 18-25). There is a four-fold diivsion of creation, 
 probably with reference to 8 : 7-12, — for as peculiar 
 judgments had been visited upon these objects of crea- 
 tion, so now God will remove every plague, and all His 
 works will glorify Him. 
 
 45. The Vision of the Second Angel of Judg- 
 ment (xiv. 8). 
 
 8. And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Baby- 
 lon the great, which hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the 
 wrath of her fornication. 
 
 This is the second angel of judgment. We have here 
 the first mention of Babylon, in anticipation of a fuller 
 description hereafter (see 16 : 19 ; 17 : 5 ; 18 : 2, 10). So 
 
XIV. 3-] CHAPTER XIV. 195 
 
 sure and near is this impending judgment of the destruc- 
 tion of Babylon, that it is prophetically regarded as already 
 fulfilled. The imagery is taken from Jer. 5 1 : 7, 8, " Baby. 
 Ion hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made 
 all the earth drunken ; the nations have drunk of her 
 wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is sud- 
 denly fallen and destroyed." Babylon is the type of the 
 world-power which persecutes the Church of God. It is 
 the representative of the world, as Jerusalem is of the 
 Church of God. The history of the Babylon of Jeremiah's 
 time shall be repeated in the times of Antichrist. The 
 wine of the wrath. AlfoRD correctly : " Two things are 
 mingled : (i) the wine of her fornication, of which all na- 
 tions have drunk (xvii. 2) ; and (2) the wine of the wrath 
 of God which He shall give her to drink (xiv. 10 ; xvi. 19). 
 The latter is the retribution for the former ; the former 
 turns into the latter ; they are treated as one and the 
 same." ^y fornication is meant in the text idolatry, the 
 worship of the Beast and his image, and the general un- 
 faithfulness towards God, so prevalent in the days of Anti- 
 christ. The Preterists understand by Babylon, Pagan 
 Rome ; the Continuous- Historical interpreters refer it to 
 Papal Rome ; the Futurists, as a rule, refer it to the chief 
 city of the antichristian world-power of the Last Days— 
 the Capital of Antichrist,— some maintaining it is Rome 
 of the future; others, Jerusalem ruled over by Antichrist. 
 Now is finally fulfilled in its fullest significance the proph- 
 ecy of Isaiah (Isa. 21 : 9). BoyD-CarpENTER : "Baby- 
 lon belongs not to one age. Pagan Rome was Babylon to 
 St. John; papal Rome was often Babylon to a later 
 age. Dante, Savonarola, Tauler, Luther, felt her to be 
 so in the days when their eyes were enlightened ; but 
 Babylon was not on the Euphrates alone ; she has reared 
 palaces on the Seine, and on the Thames, Tiber, and on 
 
196 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 9, 10. 
 
 the Bosphorus, She may yet erect her power in more 
 imposing form." 
 
 46. The Vision of the Third Angel of Judg- 
 ment (xiv. 9-12). 
 
 9. And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, 
 If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on 
 his forehead, or upon his hand. 
 
 This third angel proclaims the Judgment that shall 
 surely overtake all worshippers of the Beast and his image 
 (xiii. 15, 16). Bengel : "This threatening and warning 
 (xiv. 9-11) stands by itself, and is the most dreadful of 
 all contained in the whole of Scripture." 
 
 10. He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is pre- 
 pared (Gr. tnmgled) unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tor- 
 mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in 
 the presence of the Lamb. 
 
 He also, as well as Babylon and the nations of verse 8, 
 shall have to drink of the foaming cup of the wrath of 
 God, for " surely the dregs thereof all the wicked of the 
 earth shall drain out and drink them " (Ps. 75 : 8). See 
 also Jer. 25 : 15. The wine of wrath shall be unmixed, 
 pure, working with all its power and heat, not tempered 
 with mercy, " for judgment is without mercy to him that 
 hath showed no mercy " (James 2 : 13), and the wicked 
 shall feel the full force of God's righteous anger. This 
 wrath of God is nothing more than the manifestation of 
 God's holiness towards sin and those who have contin- 
 ually persisted in abiding in sin. Tormented. The 
 punishment of Gehenna, of Hell proper, is here described 
 in all its terrible reality (see also 19 : 20 ; 20 : 10 ; 21 : 8). 
 The figure seems to be taken from Isa. 34 : 8-10. An ag- 
 gravation of their punishment is signified, notes Duester- 
 dieck, by the fact that the holy angels and the despised 
 
XIV. II.] CHAPTER XIV. 197 
 
 and persecuted Lamb are spectators ; and he refers to 
 II : 12 and Luke 16 : 23, etc. Note specially that this 
 warning is given to men now, and also to those living in 
 the days of Antichrist, while there is still time to repent. 
 
 II. And the smoke of the torment goeth up for ever and ever (Gr. 
 unto ages of ages) ; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship 
 the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. 
 
 The source of this description evidently may be traced 
 to Gen. 19 : 28 ; Isa. 34 : 10 ; 66 : 24, — especially to the 
 last two passages. This statement is very emphatic. 
 Every one who receives the mark of the Beast, or who 
 worships him or his image, shall surely suffer eternal tor- 
 ment in GeJienna. Williams: " Very awful is every ex- 
 pression in the torments that ensue ; for the * cup of for- 
 nication ' becomes a ^z<!/ ^/ wr^'//; unmixed and without 
 alloy ; no water in the wine, no mitigation, no repentance, 
 no third part smitten, but entire, irremediable. It is, 
 moreover, in the presence of the angels, as infinitely in- 
 creased by the sense of their purity and bliss ; and in the 
 presence of the Lamb, ' as in remembrance,' Aretas observes, 
 * of that sacrifice of salvation which they had despised.' 
 And the smoke ascending intimates the cloud of wailing 
 which ascends, not for a time only, but for ever ; which 
 Isaiah has expressed by ' the undying worm, and the fire 
 which is not quenched ' (Isa. 66 : 24). It is ' the wrath of 
 God adiding (John 3 : 36) on them." It is surprising how 
 little notice is taken by some commentators of the awful 
 truths underlying these verses. Have men become afraid 
 to lay stress upon the eternal realities which underlie all 
 God's revelation, and out of respect to corrupted Reason 
 shirk to expound the plainest truths of God's word? Is 
 the spirit of Antichrist already working, preparing the 
 way for the apostasy of the professing Christian Church? 
 Nothing can be plainer than the truths here taught in the 
 
198 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 12. 
 
 most concrete way. This statement of the eternity a7id 
 everlasting duration of the punishment of the wicked is 
 in strict agreement with the universal teaching of Script- 
 ure. There is an eternity of sin as well as an eternity of 
 punishment. There is no foundation whatever in the 
 Bible for the doctrine of Universalism or Restorationism, 
 nor for Annihilationism. Unending existence in a state 
 of punishment is in multiplied passages asserted of the 
 wicked. Nothing short of absolute immortality and un- 
 ending existence for the wicked, as truly as for the right- 
 eous, will adequately interpret such solemn declarations 
 as Matt. 25 : 41, 46 ; Mark 3 : 29 ; 9 : 43, 48 ; John 3 : 36; 
 5 : 28, 29; Rom. 2 : 7-9; 2 Thess. i : 8, 9 ; Jude 7; Rev. 
 20 : 10. Dennett: " It is instructive to note, in a day 
 when Universalism is so popular, even among professing 
 Christians, the character of this judgment. True, it falls 
 upon a class; but if there were only some who will have 
 to endure their punishment for ' ages of ages,' and who 
 will ' have no rest day and night,' the contention that 
 there is no such thing as ' eternal punishment ' is utterly 
 disproved." 
 
 12. Here is the patience of tiie saints, they that keep the command- 
 ments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 
 
 " He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved " 
 (Matt. 24 : 13). These saints have two marks: (i) they 
 keep the commandments of God, and do not worship the 
 beast nor his image, but patiently endure the persecutions 
 of Antichrist, even death itself ; and (2) they keep the faith 
 of Jesus once for all delivered to the saints, and remain 
 faithful in the midst of all temptation. And they shall 
 also receive their reward, for they shall inherit the king- 
 dom and glory of God, while all the worshippers of the 
 beast and his image shall surely suffer eternal punishment. 
 See 13 : 10, and end of notes there. 
 
xiv. 13-] chapter xiv. i99 
 
 47. The Proclamation of the Blessedness of 
 THE Holy Dead (xiv. 13). 
 
 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the 
 dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
 may rest from their labours ; for their works follow with them. 
 
 We need not determine from whom the heavenly voice 
 comes. It brings consolation to all believers, but especi- 
 ally to those who have to suffer during the persecutions 
 of Antichrist. From JieiiccfortJi belongs to the first part 
 of the sentence, as in the text of the R. V., not as in the 
 marg'ui. It is also better to connect it with the verb die 
 than with blessed. It is true, indeed, that ever since 
 Christ's death and resurrection all who die in the faith of 
 Christ are blessed and immediately are with Christ, and 
 rest from their labors, but the context implies that this 
 verse refers especially to the saints in the days of Anti- 
 christ. Those who maintain that the natural meaning of 
 this passage is that this blessedness is affirmed as dating 
 from the utterance of the heavenly voice to John, sever 
 this verse entirely from its context. Those who die in 
 the Lord are those who believe in Christ, — and remain 
 faithful to Him even unto death, — which here probably 
 refers mainly to a martyr's death. From henceforth, for 
 " the glorious end, which will bring condemnation to ene- 
 mies and complete blessedness to all believers " (DuESTER- 
 DIECK), is at hand. Alford : " The harvest of the earth 
 is about to be reaped ; the vintage of the earth to be 
 gathered. At this time it is that the complete blessed- 
 ness of the holy dead commences: when the garner is 
 filled and the chaff cast out." Yea, saith the Spirit. This 
 is not the utterance of John himself, nor of another voice, 
 but the same voice from heaven still continues. Alford : 
 " The affirmation of the Spirit ratifies the blessednes.s 
 
200 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN: [xiv. 14. 
 
 proclaimed, and assigns a reason for it." That they may 
 rest. The conjunction tliat must be connected with 
 blessed, not with the previous clause whicJi die. Alford: 
 " They rest from their labors, because the time of work- 
 ing is over, their works accompanying them not in a life 
 of activity, but in blessed memory ; wherefore not labor, 
 but rest is their lot." Their works follozv zvitli them, not 
 simply, however, only in memory (as Alford), but there is 
 evidently a reference to their reward. Every work done 
 for Christ and for His sake shall surely be rewarded. 
 FausseT: ''Th.Q\r inW blessedness \s now from henceforth, 
 i. e. from tJiis time, when the judgment on the beast, and 
 the harvest-gathering of the elect are imminent. . . . 
 Their zvorks are specified because respect is had to the 
 coming judgment wherein every man shall be judged ac- 
 cording to his works " (Rom. 2 : 6-1 1). 
 
 48. The Vision of the Harvest or Ingathering 
 OF THE Saints (xiv. 14-16.) 
 
 14. And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud T saw one 
 sitting like uuto a son {the Son) of man, having on his head a golden crown, 
 and in his hand a sharp sickle. 
 
 John in vision sees Christ sitting on a white cloud, for 
 the Day of His Coming, and of the Judgment upon the 
 nations, has arrived (Dan. 7 : 13 ; Matt. 24 : 30 ; 26 : 64 ; 
 Mark 13 : 26). He sits, because He comes in judgment. 
 His having 2i golden crozvn on His head implies that the 
 time for His triumphant victory has come, and for the 
 establishment of the Messianic Kingdom. The sJiarp 
 sickle implies that the earth is ripe for judgment, and 
 the time for the harvest is come (Mark 4 : 29). Just as 
 in 6 : 12-17 and 11 : 15-18, we here again come to the 
 end, — a proof that we are not to regard the Apocalypse 
 as a consecutive history of the end of all things. The 
 
XIV. 15.] CHAPTER XIV. 201 
 
 end is here described under a two-fold aspect : (i) as a 
 harvest, in which the saints are gathered (14: 14-16); 
 (2) as a vintage, in which the wicked are gathered for the 
 winepress of the wrath of God (14 : 17-20). Both these 
 acts of Grod are combined in one passage in Joel 3 : 12, 13, 
 " Let the nations bestir themselves and come up to the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat : for there will I sit to judge all the 
 nations round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the 
 harvest is ripe ; come, tread ye ; for the winepress is full, 
 the fats overflow ; for their wickedness is great." 
 
 15. And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great 
 voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap : for the 
 hour to reap is come ; for the harvest of the earth is over-ripe (Gr. dried 
 up). 
 
 This angel is represented as coming from the inner 
 sanctuary or naos, from the immediate Presence of God, 
 bringing a message from the Father to the Son. Alford 
 rightly remarks that this message is one regarding the 
 times and seasons, which the Father hath kept in His 
 own power (Acts i : 7). This verse reminds us of Christ's 
 words, " When the fruit is ripe, straightway he sendeth 
 forth the sickle, because the harvest is come " (Mark 
 4 : 29). Wordsworth : ** The Harvest is mentioned 
 first ; and this priority shows that Christ's first desire is 
 that all should be saved (i Tim. 2 : 4). The Harvest is 
 the manifestation of God's love in the ingathering of the 
 good wheat into the heavenly barn (Matt. 13 : 30, 39). 
 In like manner when Christ describes the transactions of 
 the Great Day, He speaks first of the rewards to them on 
 the right hand (Matt. 25 : 34), and afterwards He pro- 
 nounces the doom of those on the left hand." Wil- 
 liams : "Judgment first begins at the house of God. 
 The good are taken, the evil left. The harvest precedes 
 the vintage. The righteous are called into the kingdom 
 
202 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. iG, 17. 
 
 prepared of the Father ; and then the wicked are sent 
 away into condemnation. ... It is questionable whether 
 the harvest and vintage are of the final judgment, or 
 some previous coming of Christ." 
 
 16. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth ; and the 
 earth was reaped. 
 
 The angel who brought the Father's message takes no 
 part in the act of reaping. That act is performed by the 
 Son alone, by Him who sat on the cloud, — not directly, 
 but indirectly, — for the Son of man " shall send forth 
 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 : 3 1 ; Mark 1 3 : 27), 
 for "the reapers are angels" (Matt. 13 : 39). Lange : 
 " The beginning of the judgment, therefore, precedes the 
 actual Parousia of Christ." Bengel : " By means of the 
 harvest a great multitude of the righteous, and by means 
 of the vintage a great multitude of the ungodly, are re- 
 moved from the world." Fausset: " By the harvest- 
 reaping the elect righteous are gathered out ; by the 
 vintage the anti-Christian offenders are removed out of 
 the earth, the scene of Christ's coming kingdom." 
 
 49. The Vision of the Vintage or Ingathering 
 OF THE Wicked (xiv. 17-20). 
 
 17. And another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he 
 also having a sharp sickle. 
 
 Now an angel comes forth from the naos, from the 
 very Presence of God, from whom all judgments proceed 
 (11 : 19). Christ Himself in the Harvest has the sickle 
 and presides over the reaping, but now when the vintage 
 for the winepress of the wrath of God is to be gathered, 
 the vintage is altogether intrusted to angels. 
 
XIV. iS, 19.] CHAPTER XIV. 203 
 
 18. And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power 
 over fire ; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, 
 saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of 
 the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 This angel, having power over fire, coming out from 
 the altar beneath which the souls of the martyrs were, 
 crying for vengeance (6 : 9, 10), is evidently the same as 
 the one mentioned in 8 : 3-5 as presenting the prayers of 
 the Saints, and as casting some of the fire of the altar 
 upon the earth, introductory to the judgments of the 
 trumpets. This whole description shows that the vintage 
 here spoken of differs from the harvest of 14 : 14-16. 
 DUESTERDIECK: "This angel, since he has power over 
 fire, manifests himself as one whose sending brings an 
 answer to the prayers of the martyrs, and thus, by his 
 entire manner and appearance, recalls the blood-guiltiness 
 of the enemies whose blood is to cover the earth (14 : 
 20)." The verse refers only to the vintage of the wicked 
 (Joel 3 : 13; Isa. 63 : 1-4). 
 
 19. And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the 
 vintage (Gr. vi7ie) of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great 
 winepress, of the wrath of God. 
 
 The vintage is now described. This can only refer to 
 the ingathering of the wicked. Fausset maintains that 
 the apostate world of Christendom, not the world of 
 heathendom, which has not heard of Christ, is the object 
 of this judgment. We have here (in Greek) in the ex- 
 pression the great winepress, a masculine adjective agree- 
 ing with a feminine noun, possibly to emphasize the 
 terrible nature of the wrath of God. Weiss holds that 
 God's great wrath is itself the winepress. 
 
 20. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out 
 blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a 
 thousand and six hundred furlongs. 
 
204 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [xiv. 20. 
 
 This verse describes the terrific nature of the punish- 
 ment that shall overtake the enemies of Christ at the 
 time of His Coming to destroy Antichrist. The city is 
 evidently earthly Jerusalem, where the whole scene seems 
 to lie (14 : i). The whole figurative description is based 
 upon Joel 3:13 and Isa. 63 : 3, which see. DUESTER- 
 DIECK : " How fearful the bloodshed is, is illustrated by 
 designating it as a stream of blood which is so deep as to 
 reach to the reins of the horses wading therein, while its 
 extent is given as 1600 furlongs." It is probably best to 
 understand the number 1600 in a schematical, or sym- 
 bolic sense, as indicating the magnitude and completeness 
 of the most terrible punishment ever visited upon man. 
 Why just this particular number 1600 is chosen no one can 
 positively tell. Some have suggested that it is derived 
 from the square of four, the signature of the created world, 
 multiplied by the square of ten, which is the sign of com- 
 pleteness, thus indicating that no created being can 
 escape God's judgments. Ebrard suggests 40x40= i^oo 
 as the symbol of terrible punishment (Num. 14:33; 
 Judg. 13 : I ; Ezek. 29 : 11). WORDSWORTH : "The 
 casting of grapes into a winepress, and the act of treading 
 them under the feet, so that the juice flows out of them 
 in purple streams, is emblematic in Holy Scripture of 
 destruction of enemies in battle, with great carriage. . . . 
 When the day of grace and salvation is passed, and the 
 Day of Doom is come, and the season of the World's 
 Vintage, then will He tread all His enemies tinder His 
 feet (i Cor. 15 : 25, 27) with the same ease as the treader 
 of grapes in a winepress tramples the ripe, luscious fruit 
 (Isa. 63 : 1-6; Joel 3 : 13)." This vision is evidently 
 parallel to that of 19 : 11-16. As our Lord has suffered 
 " without the gate " (Heb. 13 : 12), so this winepress shall 
 be trodden "without the city." Bengel is correct when 
 
XIV. 20.] CHAPTER XIV. 205 
 
 he maintains that the slaughter of the wicked is here in- 
 timated, not their eternal punishment. Williams : 
 '* Here, again, we come to the termination of all things 
 and pause. The visions again begin to traverse the same 
 period with another form of prophetic description. This 
 continual hurrying to the end, and then breaking off, as 
 it were, with a pause ; and then bringing all things again 
 suddenly to an abrupt conclusion, is surely very striking: 
 and has in it something awful and mysterious." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 50. The Vision of the Seven Angels (xv. i). 
 
 1. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels 
 having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath 
 of God. 
 
 This verse briefly describes the contents of this and the 
 sixteenth chapter, referring to events that shall take place 
 on earth immediately before Christ's coming to destroy 
 Antichrist. It maps out more fully the punishment that 
 shall overtake his followers. This vision extends to the 
 end of the sixteenth chapter, and in it we have a recapit- 
 ulation in some respects of events already referred to in 
 the vision recorded in ii : 19-14 : 20. In 12 : i, 3. great 
 sign was seen in heaven, and here another sign is seen. 
 It was great and juarvellons, probably because of the ter- 
 rible nature of the events signified by these seven vial- 
 angels, which bring upon the earth the seven last plagues, 
 — last because they introduce the final and victorious 
 Coming of Christ, and because " in them is finished the 
 wrath of God." 
 
 51. The Song of the Victors (xv. 2-4). 
 
 2. And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire ; and them that 
 come victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number 
 of his name, standing by (or, upott) the glassy sea, having harps of God. 
 
 A glassy sea. See notes on 4 : 6. This is evidently the 
 same glassy sea before the throne of God, mention being 
 made in both passages of the foiir living creatures (4:6; 
 206 
 
XV. 3-] CHAPTER XV. 207 
 
 15:7). Here the glassy sea was mingled with fire, a 
 symbol of judgment, for all the surroundings have to do 
 with judgment. Before the vision of the seven Vial- 
 Angels is continued, another vision, showing the glorious 
 issue of the patient endurance of the persecutions of 
 Antichrist, is interposed. This is given for the en- 
 couragement of those who will have to pass through the 
 great tribulation. From the beast. See notes on 13 : 4, 
 7, 8. From his image. See notes on 13 : 15, 16 ; 14 : 9. 
 From the number of his name. See notes on 13 : 17, 18. 
 Harps of God. So called because used solely for the 
 praise of God. Compare also 5:8; 14:2. WORDS- 
 WORTH : " Standing on the shore of this heavenly sea 
 are seen those who come forth conquerors out of the 
 bondage of the Beast, that is, those who are delivered 
 from his sway, as the Israelites were in the Exodus from 
 the land of Pharaoh, and from the house of bondage, and 
 who emerged in triumph from the waters of the Red 
 
 S»> 
 ea. 
 
 3. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song 
 of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, 
 the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. 
 
 They sing a song of victory similar to that sung by 
 Moses and the children of Israel, as recorded in Ex. xv. 
 Moses is here called the servant of God as in Ex. 14 : 31 ; 
 Num. 12:7; Josh. 22 : 5 ; Heb. 3 : 5. The same song is 
 also called the victorious song of the Lamb, not however 
 because it is composed by Moses and the Lamb, and 
 taught to the victors, as suggested by Duesterdieck, but 
 rather as Gerhard suggests, " Just as the Israelites, after 
 their deliverance from Pharaonic bondage praised God in 
 the song of Moses (Ex. xv.), so the blessed, after their 
 deliverance from the tyranny of persecutors, and all the 
 adversities of this life, praise God in the song of the 
 
2o8 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xv. 4. 
 
 Lamb, or of Christ." For the Lamb has redeemed them, 
 even as Moses has redeemed Israel. This song, like that 
 in 4 : 8 (which see) is addressed to the Lord God, the 
 Almighty, The ground of their praise is the marvelous 
 character of the works of God, especially as seen in the 
 judgments visited upon the oppressors of God's people. 
 The ways of God's government have been vindicated, for 
 though at times they seemed obscure, now that the end 
 has come, they confess that all His ways are both 
 righteous and true. Thou King of the ages. There is no 
 manuscript authority for King of saints as in A. V. It is 
 difficult to decide whether ages or nations is the correct 
 reading. All modern critical editors of the Greek text, 
 save Wescott and Hort, read nations, but W. and H. 
 place ages in the text (so also Revised Version) and put 
 nations in the margin. The reading nations would best 
 suit the context, for these judgments especially con- 
 cern the nations, but the reading ages would also be 
 biblical. In i Tim. i : 17 we have an inscription to " the 
 incorruptible, invisible, the only God, tJic King of the 
 «^^^,"translated however in the R. V. " the King eternal.'" 
 Fausset: "The Lamb leads the song in honor of the 
 Father amidst the great congregation. This is the * new 
 song' mentioned in 14 : 3. The singing victors are the 
 144.000 of Israel, ' the first fruits,' and the general 
 ' harvest ' of the Gentiles." 
 
 4. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name ? for thou only art 
 holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy right- 
 eous acts have been made manifest. 
 
 On the first part of the verse compare Jer. 10 : 6, 7. 
 The three clauses for . . . for . . . for . . . give the 
 reasons for fearing and glorifying God : (i) because God 
 is holy {hosios, only used of God here and in 16 : 5) ; (2) be- 
 cause all nations shall yet worship Him ; (3) because His 
 
XV. 4.] CHAPTER XV. 209 
 
 righteous acts in the destruction of His enemies have 
 been made manifest to all. The last clause, however, 
 may give the reason why "all the nations shall come and 
 worship before " God. Milligan suggests that this wor- 
 ship of the nations here referred to is one " of awe, of 
 terror, and of trembling," and illustrates it by Phil. 
 2 : 10, II, but it is probably better to refer this worship 
 of the nations to the events occurring after the Coming 
 of Christ, during the thousand years' reign spoken of in 
 20 : 4-8. It is only then that the conversion of the 
 world will take place. Compare Ps. 86 : 9 ; Isa. 2 : 2-4 ; 
 66 : 23 ; Micah 4:2-4; Zech. 8 : 22. Bengel: " Here 
 is declared the conversion of all nations, and the moving 
 cause, together with the time of the conversion." De 
 Burgh maintains that this verse proves " that not until 
 the coming of Christ in judgment does the conversion of 
 the world take place," and that it is an error " to expect 
 the conversion of the world as an event " to occur before 
 the coming of Christ to destroy Antichrist. Fausset : 
 '• The conversion of all nations, therefore, shall be when 
 Christ shall come, and not till then ; and the first moving 
 cause will be Christ's manifested judgments preparing all 
 hearts for receiving Christ's mercy. He shall effect, by 
 His presence, what we have in vain tried to effect in His 
 absence. The present preaching of the gospel is gather- 
 ing out the elect remnant ; meanwhile ' the mystery of 
 iniquity ' is at work, and will at last come to its crisis, 
 and then shall judgment descend on the Apostates. The 
 confederacy of the Apostates against Christ becomes, 
 when overthrown with fearful judgments, the very means, 
 in God's overruling providence, of preparing the nations 
 not joined in the Anti-Christian league to submit them- 
 selves to Him." 
 14 
 
2 1 o THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xv. 5-7. 
 
 52. The Seven Angels receive Seven Bowls of 
 Wrath (xv. 5-8). 
 
 5. And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of 
 the testimony in heaven was opened. 
 
 Compare 11 : 19, where "the ark of the covenant " was 
 seen, reminding of mercy, — but here although the same 
 ark is seen, it is called the tabernacle of testimony, remind- 
 ing of judgment, and of God's faithfulness in avenging 
 His people. 
 
 6. And there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the 
 seven plagues, arrayed \i\\\\ precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about 
 their breasts with golden girdles. 
 
 From the presence of the Lord came forth these mes- 
 sengers of His wrath. The office of these seven angels 
 is to usher in the last seven plagues. Their dress is here 
 described. It is very difficult to decide whether the 
 correct reading \slinon {linen), or lit Jion {stone) as accepted 
 by Lachmann, Tregelles, Wescott and Hort, and the Re- 
 visers. Alford, Tischendorf, and Weiss, accept the reading 
 lition, i. e. arrayed in linen, " pure and bright," — a descrip- 
 tion of the angelic priestly attire. Those who accept the 
 reading stone, the more difficult reading, and all other 
 things being equal, therefore, presumably the better 
 reading, refer us to Ezek. 28 : 13, " every precious stone 
 was thy covering," — this reading indicating that each 
 angel wore raiment studded with precious stones. They 
 \N&re girt about zuith golden girdles, like our Lord Him- 
 self (i : 13), possibly because they were clothed with 
 authority and girded by divine righteousness to act for 
 Christ in bringing the plagues upon His enemies (Isa. 
 22 : 21). 
 
 7. And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven 
 golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 
 
XV. 8.] CHAPTER XV. 2ii 
 
 As the representative of life on the earth, for these 
 plagues pertain to all earthly creatures (i6 : 3), one of 
 the four living creatures (see notes on 4 : 6-9), gives to 
 the seven angels seven golden bozvls full of the wrath of 
 God. This translation bozvls is much better than the 
 vials of the A. V., for the Greek word designates a shal- 
 low bowl or cup, rather broad than deep. It is highly 
 probable that seven angels are chosen and seven bowls 
 poured out, in order to show that in them is completed 
 the wrath of God (15 : i). This figure of pouring out 
 God's wrath in Judgment is taken from the O. T. (Ps. 
 79 : 6 ; Jen 10 : 25 ; Zeph. 3 : 8). The description of 
 God, as He who liveth unto the ages of the ages increases 
 the terribleness of the idea of this wrath of God. 
 
 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and 
 from his power ; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven 
 plagues of the seven angels should be finished. 
 
 In the smoke we have a symbol of the glory of the 
 Divine Presence, " the covering of the Divine majesty " 
 (Bengel). The glory and power of God so filled the 
 temple, that God was unapproachable, until the comple- 
 tion of the judgments. MiLLIGAN : ''God cannot be 
 approached at the moment when He is revealing Him- 
 self in all the terrors of His indignation (Ex. 19:21)." 
 The whole description conveys an impression of the 
 awful sacredness of God's presence. Bengel : "When 
 God pours out His fury, it is fit that even those who 
 stand well with Him should withdraw for a little, and 
 should restrain their inquiring looks. All should stand 
 back in profound reverence, till by and by the sky be- 
 comes clear again." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 53. The First Bowl of Wrath (xvi. i, 2). 
 
 I. And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven 
 angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the 
 earth. 
 
 Just as the visions of the opening of the seals (6 : 12- 
 17 ; 8 : i), and those of the sounding of the trumpets 
 (11 : 15-18), and those of the harvest and vintage (14 : 14 
 -20), in each case bring us down to the end, so Hkewise 
 the pouring out of these bowls of the wrath of God 
 brings us a fourth time to the coming of Christ to destroy 
 Antichrist (16 : 17-21). . All these visions are therefore 
 more or less synchronous and depict different aspects of 
 the end, which will be described more in detail in Rev. 
 xvii.-xx. 
 
 The Temple wdiS filled with the glory of God (15 : 8), 
 and now the voice of God is heard commanding the 
 seven angels to begin their work of punishing all who 
 worship the beast and his image. God now begins in a 
 direct way to bring to an end the great tribulation 
 through which his faithful ones are passing, by visiting 
 judgment upon the followers of Antichrist. Blunt: 
 " The pouring forth of these vials belongs altogether to the 
 reign of unfulfilled prophecy, and they are called 'the seven 
 last plagues' (15 : i), as belonging to the epoch which is 
 so often described as * the end ' or ' the end of the world '; 
 and they appear to represent those human woes and con- 
 vulsions of nature to which our Lord refers when He 
 212 
 
XVI. 2.] CHAPTER XVI. 213 
 
 speaks of the signs that will precede His Second Coming 
 (Matt. 24: 29; Luke 21 : 11)." The kingdom of Anti- 
 christ will be scourged by plagues like those which fell on 
 Pharaoh and his people. Fausset: "The trumpets 
 shook the world-kingdoms in a longer process ; the vials 
 destroy with a swift and sudden overthrow the kingdom 
 of the beast in particular who had invested himself with 
 the world-kingdom . . . These seven vials (the detailed 
 expansion of the vintage (14 : 18-20), being called the 
 last, must belong to the period just when the term of the 
 beast's power has expired (whence reference is made in 
 them all to the worshippers of the beast as to the objects 
 of the judgments), close to the end or Coming of the Son 
 of Man. . . . The first four are more general, affecting 
 the earth, the seas, springs, and the sun, not merely a 
 portion of these natural bodies, as in the case of the 
 trumpets, but the whole of them ; the last three are more 
 particular, affecting the throne of the beast, the Eu- 
 phrates, and the grand consummation. Some of these 
 particular judgments are set forth in detail in chapters 
 xvii.-xx." 
 
 2. And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth ; and it 
 became (or, there came) a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which 
 had the mark of the beast, and which worshipped his image. 
 
 In vision John sees the first angel leaving heaven and 
 approaching the earth, pouring out his bowl of the 
 incense of God's wrath into the earth. This reminds us 
 of the sixth plague of Egypt (Ex. 9 : 8-12). For as the 
 ashes of the furnace which Moses sprinkled toward 
 heaven became small dust over all the land of Egypt, 
 and became grievous ulcers breaking forth upon man and 
 beast, so likewise in the last days grievous sores shall be 
 supernaturally brought upon all the followers of Anti- 
 christ. Note that the human race alone is smitten, but 
 
2 1 4 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. 3. 
 
 all the worshippers of the beast and his image are 
 included. Note the use of the prepositions i)ito and tipon 
 (Greek). WORDSWORTH : " The first three vials are 
 poured into the earth, into the sea, into the rivers ; the 
 last four vials are poured 7ipon the sun, upon the throne 
 of the beast, 2ipon the river Euphrates, upon the air," — 
 probably, as WoRDSWORTH suggests, into "denoting infzi- 
 sion into and admixture ivitJi the object of punishment ; " 
 upon "denoting the divine dominion over the object^ 
 which has exalted itself against God." There is no rea- 
 son why we should spiritualize this plague, as so many 
 do, for there is nothing incredible in its literal fulfilment. 
 
 54. The Second Bowl of Wrath (xvi, 3). 
 
 3. And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became 
 blood as of a dead man ; and every living soul (Greek, soul of life) died, even 
 the things that were in the sea. 
 
 Just as in the first Egyptian plague the waters of the 
 Nile turned to blood and the fish died, and the river 
 stank (Ex. 7 : 20, 21), so now the whole sea is changed 
 into blood, and becomes tainted with corruption, and 
 every living creature in it dies. What is most horrible of 
 all is that the sea becomes like the clotted and putrefy- 
 ing blood of a dead man. Whether this is to be taken 
 literally or symbollically the future alone can decide, but 
 the Egyptian plague suggests that there may be a literal 
 fulfilment. Most commentators interpret all these vials 
 symbolically, — the sea representing nations in a restless 
 state, tossed about by the winds and storms of passion, 
 and this bozvl of zvrath designating the moral and spiritual 
 death among the nations. But this interpretation is very 
 unsatisfactory. Notice the similarity and the difference 
 between this plague and that of the second trumpet 
 (8 : 8, 9), The judgments of God grow more and more 
 terrible as wickedness increases and the end approaches 
 
XVI. 4, S-] CHAPTER XVL 21$ 
 
 55. The Third Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 4-7). 
 
 4. And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains 
 of the waters; and it became blood. 
 
 Some ancient authorities read and they (that i.s the 
 waters, neuter plural) became blood. This third plague 
 was even more terrible in its nature than the second, for 
 the fresh water of the earth was turned into blood. Com- 
 pare Ex. 7 : 19-24, the account of the first Egyptian 
 plague. In the corresponding judgment of the third 
 trumpet (8 : 10, 11) only a third part of the waters were 
 affected and became bitter. 
 
 5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, which 
 art and which wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge. 
 
 This plague is now acknowledged by heavenly voices 
 as a just retribution (16 : 5-7) visited upon the persecu- 
 tors of the saints. Probably the angel who celebrates the 
 righteous acts of God is the same one who has poured 
 out the bowl of wrath, and to whom power was given 
 over the waters. Righteous art thou. See notes on 15 : 
 3,4. Which art. See notes on i : 4 ; 4 : 8 ; 1 1 : 17. 
 The attribute ivJiich is to come (i : 4; 4 : 8) is omitted 
 here and in 11 : 17, probably because the coming to judg- 
 ment is considered as already in the process of fulfil- 
 ment. Thou Holy One. See notes on 4 : 8 ; 15 : 4. 
 Bengel : " At the beginning and at the close of the 
 Apocalypse the Lord is called the Almighty ; here where 
 judgments show themselves, He is called the HolyT 
 Craven : " The term hosios has reference to the covenant 
 love and mercy of Jehovah toward His own people. It 
 is here used as the most fitting ascription to Him who 
 has avenged the blood of His saints or consecrated ones, 
 upon their persecutors." The latter part of the verse we 
 
2 1 6 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. 6-9. 
 
 can literally translate, " because thou didst judge tJiese 
 things'' ; i. e. the judgments described in verse 4. 
 
 6. For they poured out the blood of samts and prophets, and blood 
 hast thou given them to drink ; they are worthy. 
 
 The punishment visited upon the followers of Anti- 
 christ is a just and righteous one, for they persecuted the 
 saints to death, and killed the prophets, notably the two 
 witnesses (11 : 7). As they poured out blood, so now in 
 retribution they must drink blood as their punishment. 
 They have merited this severe judgment, for they are 
 worthy, deserving of just such a punishment. 
 
 7. And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true 
 and righteous are thy judgements. 
 
 This is an answer to the cry of the souls under the 
 altar, " How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost thou 
 not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on 
 the earth?" See notes on 6 : 9, 10. WORDSWORTH: 
 " The Altar speaks, as the Blood of Abel is said to cry 
 (Gen. 4 : 10; Heb. 12 : 24), and the stones of Jerusalem 
 to cry out (Luke 19 : 40). The Altar speaks, because the 
 souls of the Martyrs, who had been slain by the Beast, 
 are described as victims whose blood has been poured out 
 upon God's Altar (6 : 9)." 
 
 56. The Fourth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 8, 9). 
 
 8. And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun ; and it was given 
 unto it to scorch men with fire. 
 
 The fourth plague brings great physical suffering upon 
 all who worship the beast and his image. The sun shall 
 shine with intense power and his rays shall produce terrific 
 heat, so as to scorch men with fire. 
 
 9. And men were scorched with great heat : and they blasphemed the 
 
XVI. 10, II.] CHAPTER XVI. 217 
 
 name of God which hath the power over these plagues ; and they repented 
 not to give him glory. 
 
 So great will the wickedness of men become in the 
 latter days of Antichrist, that although they perceive 
 that these plagues are a visitation of God, they, like 
 Pharaoh of old, instead of repenting, will only harden 
 their hearts, and curse and blaspheme the name of God. 
 We have a right to infer that there would still be forgive- 
 ness, if men only would repent of their sins. But the 
 statement is that they will not repent to give glory to 
 God. Williams sees here a reference to the times of 
 which Daniel speaks, when " many shall run to and fro, 
 and knowledge shall be increased," when " the wicked 
 shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall under- 
 stand " (Dan. 12 : 4-10). 
 
 57. The Fifth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. lo, ii). 
 
 ID. And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast ; 
 and his kingdom was darkened ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain. 
 
 This fifth plague affected the power and rule of 
 Antichrist himself, and the lands over which he ruled 
 were covered with darkness, as in the ninth Egyptian 
 plague (Ex. 10 : 21-23). ^^ learn from this and the 
 next verse that these plagues were visited upon the fol- 
 lowers of Antichrist so quickly one after another, that 
 they were contemporaneous, and not successive. Their 
 character was cumulative, each one intensifying the ter- 
 ror and suffering of the preceding ones. 
 
 II. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and 
 their sores; and they repented not of their works. 
 
 In addition to the terror of darkness which overspread 
 the whole land ruled over by Antichrist, all his followers 
 will endure great physical suffering, caused by the 
 
2i8 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. I2. 
 
 grievous ulcers inflicted by the first plague, and by the 
 scorching heat of the fourth plague, the effects of 
 which are still most keenly felt. But they only will 
 harden their hearts, and will not repent of their evil 
 works. Lange : " The blasphemy is directed no longer 
 simply against tJie name of God, revelation, but against 
 the God of heaven, the primeval revelation of God, and 
 God in his universal revelation — hence, against all that is 
 Divine." 
 
 58. The Sixth Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 12-16). 
 
 12. And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river 
 Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be 
 made ready for the kings that cotiw from the sunrising. 
 
 The sixth trumpet also had reference to " the great 
 river Euphrates." See notes on 9 : 14. God in a super- 
 natural way prepares a great highway by which the kings 
 that come from the East may gather together their 
 armies unto the great battle against Christ (16 : 14), 
 which, however, to their utter amazement, shall turn 
 out so disastrously to the beast, to the false prophet, 
 and to all the followers of Antichrist (19 : 19-21). 
 Just as the Euphrates was once the means of bring- 
 ing punishment upon the enemies of God's people, 
 when Cyrus took Babylon (538 B. C), so now in 
 the last days of Antichrist this river shall again indi- 
 rectly be the means of bringing punishment upon the 
 enemies of Christ. There is here no reference to the 
 conversion of the Eastern nations, the hundreds of 
 millions that swarm over Eastern and South-Eastern 
 Asia, for these kings from the sunrising do not come to 
 worship Christ, but come with their immense armies to 
 assist Antichrist in the final battle at Har-Magedon (16 : 
 j6) against Christ and his armies (19 : 19). BLUNT: 
 
XVI. 13.] CHAPTER XVI. 219 
 
 "The drying up of the Euphrates is also connected in 
 the prophecy of Isaiah with some great deliverance of 
 the people of God at the time of our Lord's Second 
 Advent (Isa. 11 : 15, 16). So also in the prophecy of 
 Zechariah (Zech. 10 : 10, 11). The drying up of the 
 Euphrates, on which Babylon was situated, may therefore 
 signify the preparation of a way for God's people to come 
 out of her (Rev. 18 : 4) as well as a way for the kings of 
 the East to follow them, as Pharaoh did God's people of 
 old, on the road to their own destruction." 
 
 13. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the 
 mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three un- 
 clean spirits, as it were frogs. 
 
 During this whole period known as the days of Anti- 
 christ, the dragon or the devil is giving his power to 
 the First Beast or Antichrist (13 : 2-4), and the Second 
 Beast or the False Prophet is deceiving the followers of 
 Antichrist (13 : 14). In vision John beholds three evil 
 spirits proceeding from this trinity of evil, diabolical in 
 character, and loathsome in appearance, likened unto 
 frogs, sent forth to mislead and deceive the kings and 
 nations of the earth. We must insist that these three 
 spirits are just as real as the dragon and his two beasts, 
 from whose mouths the spirits actually proceed. 
 MiLLIGAN : "■ The spirits are as frogs, unclean, boasting, 
 noisy, offensive." There are unclean spirits ; Burger 
 very aptly refers to the contrast afforded by the dove- 
 like form of the Holy Spirit of God (Luke 3 : 22). The 
 Second Beast of 13 : 11 is here for the first time called 
 the False PropJiet (so also 19 : 20; 20 : 10). CURREY : 
 " From the dragon, or Satan, goes forth the spirit of re- 
 bellion ; from the beast, or World-power, his agent, the 
 spirit of persecution ; from the second beast, the false 
 
220 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. 14. 
 
 prophet, their subordinate, the spirit of falsehood (com- 
 pare Zech. 13 : 2)." 
 
 14. For they are spirits of devils [demons), working signs; which go 
 forth unto the kings of the wliole world, to gather them together unto the 
 war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 
 
 It is here clearly stated that these are demoniacal 
 spirits, able to perform Satanic miracles. This is in strict 
 accordance with the teaching of Christ and of Paul, that 
 in the days of Antichrist diabolical miracles shall be 
 performed (Matt. 24 : 24 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 9). In what way 
 these spirits influence the kings of tJie inliabited earth we 
 are not told, but the result is that they array themselves 
 on the side of Antichrist and gather together their armies 
 against God and His Christ. For the details of this war 
 see 19:11-21. Compare also Zech. 14 : 1-5. MiLLIGAN: 
 " The representation may rest upon i Kings 22 : 20-22 
 when a lying spirit goes forth to persuade Ahab to rush 
 upon his fate. These lying spirits in like manner per- 
 suade the kings of the whole godless world to rush upon 
 the fate prepared for them in the last great judgment of 
 God — ' His day.' " The remarks of Boyd-Carpenter 
 are very suggestive : " These spirits of demons go forth 
 to gather every world-power to the struggle. . . . There 
 are three radical foes of Christ, and His righteousness : 
 the dragon, representing the hate of evil spirits ; the 
 wild beast, representing the hostility of world-power ; 
 the false prophet, representing the antagonism of world- 
 culture and intellectualism — these three send forth each 
 their emissary appealing to the pride and passions of 
 men. . . . The world-power would have us worship the 
 things seen. It sends forth the spirit of earthliness, the 
 spirit which works in the voluptuary, the ambitious, and 
 the avaricious, the spirit which makes earthly things its 
 end (Phil. 3 : 19). The world-culture sends forth its 
 
XVI. 15, i6.] CHAPTER XVI. 221 
 
 spirit of intellectualism, which denies the spiritual nature 
 of man, and substitutes taste and culture for spirituality. 
 The dragon sends forth the spirit of egotism, of proud, 
 self-sufficient independence, which culminates in an utter 
 hatred of the Creator. The three spirits combined make 
 up that wisdom which St. James described as earthly, 
 sensual (unspiritual, psychical), devilish (James 3 : 15)." 
 
 1 5. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth 
 his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) 
 
 Some think that John is here speaking in the name of 
 Christ, but it is better to refer these words to the Lord 
 Himself. These words of comfort and exhortation con- 
 tain two main thoughts, (i) the suddenness of Christ's 
 coming, and (2) the destruction which it brings to the 
 ungodly. Alforu : " In the spiritual sense, the gar- 
 ments are the robe of righteousness put on by faith in 
 Him who is our Righteousness ; and the walking naked 
 is that destitution of these garments which will at that 
 day bring shame before assembled men and angels." On 
 the suddenness of Christ's coming see Matt. 24 : 42, 44 ; 
 I Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3 : 10 ; Rev. 3:3. On garments 
 see notes on 3 : 17, 18 ; 7 : 14. The believer must ever 
 be clothed in " the wedding-garment " (Matt. 22 : 11) of 
 Christ's righteousness, and never lay aside " the whole 
 armor of God " (Eph. 6 : 13-18). 
 
 16. And they gathered them together into the place which is called in 
 Hebrew Har-Magedon. 
 
 The evil spirits accomplished their purpose (16 : 14) 
 and gathered the kings and their armies together to assist 
 Antichrist in his conflict with God and His Christ. This 
 battle, however, does not yet take place. The place of 
 the struggle is mentioned here only by anticipation. 
 The battle itself is described in 19 : 19-21. There is no 
 
222 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. i6, 
 
 reason why we should not regard Har-Magedon as the 
 name of a real place. If we read Har, it means the 
 mountain, if Ar, the city, of Megiddo, or of slaughter. 
 In the O. T. we read of the plain or valley of Megiddo 
 (2 Chron. 35 : 22 ; Zeck, 12 : 11), and of the waters of 
 Megiddo (Judg. 5 : 19), in the plain of Esdraelon, the 
 battle-field of Jewish history. The historical interpreta- 
 tion is more in keeping with the Apocalypse than the 
 etymological, but the latter has also its significance. 
 The plain of Esdraelon has been in O. T. history the 
 scene of four great battles, of which two were great vic- 
 tories, (i) when Deborah and Barak annihilated the host 
 of Sisera and of the kings of Canaan (Judg. 4 : 4-24 ; 5 : 
 19), (2) when Gideon with his 300 men put to flight and 
 routed the Midianites (Judg. 7 : 4-25), and two were great 
 disasters, (3) when the Philistines overcame Israel and 
 slew Saul in Mount Gilboa (i Sam. 31 : 1-13), and (4) 
 when the Egyptians under Pharaoh Necho overcame and 
 slew Josiah (2 Kings 23 : 29 ; 2 Chron. 35 : 20-24). The 
 historical reference seems to be to Judg. 5 : 19, for when 
 these antichristian kings assemble against Christ at Har- 
 Maeedon, their fate shall be the same as that of the kings 
 of Canaan who fought against Deborah and Barak, for 
 the Lord shall also overcome and discomfit them, and 
 utterly destroy them. GODET : " If the antichristian 
 Jewish Monarchy is hereafter to have its seat in the 
 East, at Jerusalem, the rival of Rome, the choice of this 
 battlefield, normal in Palestine, need not surprise us." 
 It is evident that we must distinguish between the battle 
 of Har-Magedon, and the Day of Judgment, for in Zech. 
 14 : 4, 5, the Mount of Olives, and in Joel 3 : 12, the Val- 
 ley of Jehosaphat, is represented as the scene of that 
 great event. 
 
XVI. 17, 19.] CHAPTER XVI. 223 
 
 59. The Seventh Bowl of Wrath (xvi. 17-21). 
 
 17. And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air, and there came 
 forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done. 
 
 This bowl of wrath was poured out upon the air, prob- 
 ably because it is the abode of the powers of darkness, 
 as Satan is called " the prince of the power of the air " 
 (Eph. 2 : 2). The voice of God is now heard saying that 
 the end has come. We are reminded of our Lord's dy- 
 ing words on the Cross (John 19 : 30). The time has 
 now come for the complete overthrow of Antichrist and 
 of all that opposes Christ and His Kingdom. 
 
 18. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was 
 a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, 
 so great an earthquake, so mighty. 
 
 See notes on 8 : 5 ; 11 : 19. These are the signs which 
 usually accompany the judgments of God. But the ter- 
 rors of this earthquake are especially dwelt upon. Al- 
 though closely connected with the events depicted under 
 the sixth seal (6 : 12-17), ^"^1 with those following under 
 the seventh trumpet (11 : 19), still it seems that this 
 earthquake is specially characteristic of the terrors of the 
 seventh bowl, although all these descriptions are in a cer- 
 tain sense contemporaneous, ushering in the second com- 
 ing of Christ. 
 
 19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the 
 nations fell : and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, 
 to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 
 
 By the great city is probably meant Jerusalem, as in 
 II : 8 (so Bengel, Hofmann, Milligan, Ebrard, Simcox, 
 and others), not heathen Rome (Ewald, De Wette, Bleek, 
 Hengstenberg), nor Papal Rome, nor is it to be under- 
 stood as identical with " Babylon the Great," as most 
 commentators hold. Possibly Jerusalem is still at this 
 
224 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvi. 20, 21. 
 
 time the seat of Antichrist, and although Jerusalem is to 
 be converted at the very last (11 : 13), still this will prob- 
 ably not happen until towards the end of Antichrist's 
 reign, — so that it is most likely that this judgment takes 
 place upon Jerusalem while it is still antichristian. 
 Zechariah also refers to this division of the city of Jeru- 
 salem into three parts, at the coming of the Lord (Zech. 
 14 : 4, 5). But also the other cities of the hostile nations 
 shall be overwhelmed by the earthquake. There may 
 be a reference to Micah 5 : 10-15. Ii'i connection with 
 this earthquake, and as a part of the outpouring of the 
 seventh bowl of wrath, judgment shall especially fall 
 upon Babylon the Great, whose fate is here referred to 
 by anticipation, as in 14 : 8, the destruction of which is 
 so vividly depicted in the next two chapters, which see. 
 
 20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 
 
 Such were the effects of the great earthquake men- 
 tioned in 16 : 18. The terrors of the last day are de- 
 scribed as in 6 : 14, (which see). BURGER: " Islands and 
 mountains disappear, but the earth remains. The case 
 is different in 20 : 11." 
 
 21. And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh 
 down out of heaven upon men : and men blasphemed God because of the 
 plague of the hail ; for the plague thereof is exceeding great. 
 
 Hailstones will fall from heaven sixty times heavier 
 than ever known before, masses of ice weighing 57 lbs 
 (Attic talent), or probably 96 lbs. (Hebrew talent) avoir- 
 dupois. And still those who are not killed will not 
 repent, but only blaspheme God. Frightened by the 
 earthquake, it seems that men will fly for safety to the 
 open fields, but they cannot escape the just judgment of 
 God. Contrast the result of this earthquake with that 
 in u : 13, when man gave glory to the God of heaven. 
 
XVI. 21.] CHAPTER XVI. 225 
 
 Josephus speaks of stones which were thrown from 
 machines in the siege of Jerusalem as each of a talent 
 weight, but in the last days hail of so monstrous a size 
 shall fall from heaven. Hailstones are everywhere in 
 Scripture regarded as a symbol of divine wrath. On the 
 history of the interpretation of the Seven Vials or Bowls 
 of Wrath, see Excursus V, 
 15 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 60. Description of the Great Harlot (xvii.i-6.) 
 
 A new series of Visions begins here, closely connected 
 with what precedes, but we now have a more particular 
 description of the events of the period immediately 
 preceding the Second Coming of Christ. Twice already 
 has the Fall of Babylon been introduced by way of 
 anticipation (14 : 8 ; 16 : 19 ), and twice also has the Beast 
 by anticipation been referred to (11 : 7 ; 13 : i — 10), but 
 now we obtain a clearer glimpse of the days of Anti- 
 christ and of the destruction of Babylon (chapters xvii. 
 and xviii.). 
 
 r. And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, 
 and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the judgement of 
 the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters. 
 
 One of the seven angels that brought the last seven 
 plagues, — probably the seventh, because it was during the 
 outpouring of the seventh bowl that reference is made to 
 the fact that God remembered Babylon the Great in the 
 fierceness of his wrath (16 : 19), — invited John to ap- 
 proach in order to behold the judgment impending, which 
 will surely be visited upon the great harlot, which in 17 : 
 18 is explained as being a symbol of "the great city which 
 reigneth over the kings of the earth." T\\\'s, great harlot 
 is Babylon the Great (17 : 5), the center of the God- 
 opposing world-power, the city in which the throne of 
 the beast will be set up (16 : 10). Alford maintains that 
 
 226 
 
XVII. 2.] CHAPTER XVII. 227 
 
 by the harlot we must understand Papal Rome : " God's 
 Church and people that had forsaken Him and attached 
 herself to others." He remarks : " In eighteen places 
 out of twenty-one where the figure occurs, such is its 
 import ; viz. in Isa. 1:21; Jer. 2 : 20 ; 3 : i, 6, 8 ; Ezek. 
 16 : 15, 16, 28, 31, 35, 41 ; 23 : 5, 19, 44 ; Hosea 2:5 13:3; 
 4:15 (Micah I : 7). In three places only is the word ap- 
 plied to heathen cities : viz. in Isa. 23 : 15, 16, to Tyre, 
 and in Nah. 3 : 4 to Nineveh." So in substance, Vitringa, 
 Wordsworth, Elliott, Barnes, and others. Others, how- 
 ever, maintain that the image of the harlot is taken from 
 the O. T. description of the heathen cities of Tyre and 
 Nineveh, and SiMCOX remarks : " The truth is, the Anti- 
 christian Empire is conceived as embodying the various 
 forms of evil that existed in previous earthly empires." 
 But whether Babylon the Great refers to the Apostate 
 Church of the future, or to a real city on earth, the 
 heathen Rome of John's time, or the papal Rome of the 
 future, or to heathen Rome of the future, or to Jerusalem, 
 or to Babylon rebuilt on the Euphrates, a careful exegesis 
 of these two chapters (xvii. and xviii.) will aid us in decid- 
 ing. In 17 : 15 the interpreting angel explains that "the 
 waters which thou sawest," (compare Jer. 51 : 13), 
 " where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, 
 and nations, and tongues," — thus showing that this city 
 shall have sovereigntyover many nations, " reigning over 
 the kings of,the earth," (17 : 18). 
 
 2. With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they 
 that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. 
 
 For all the kings of the earth, as well as all the nations, 
 were seduced by the beast (13 : 7, 8), especially by the 
 sins of the great city, Babylon the Great, wherein was 
 the throne of the beast (14 : 8 ; 16 : 10). The terms Jiarlot 
 and fornication suggest that this city will seduce men 
 
228 THE REVELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 3. 
 
 from the worship of the true God to worldliness and sin 
 and to the worship of the beast (Isa. i : 21). Blunt : 
 " The words indicate a great city or community which 
 is entirely given up to worldhness and false worship, — a 
 city exceedingly prosperous, as Tyre was on account of 
 her commerce, and as Rome was on account of her po- 
 litical power, and dangerously opposed to true religion. 
 . . . That such a power will arise in the future is made 
 certain by this prophecy ; and when it revives it may be 
 expected that the great harlot of the last days will be an 
 empire conspicuous for its commercial wealth and for its 
 hatred of Christ's religion ; whether it will spring up 
 from the midst of any Christian people, .... or from any 
 heathen people, none can tell ; perhaps it may prove 
 in the end to be a new power altogether, of which 
 the elements are as yet scattered far and wide, to be 
 gathered together through the personal influence, the 
 intellectual and political power, of the yet future Anti- 
 christ." 
 
 3. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness : and I saw a 
 woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, 
 having seven heads and ten horns. 
 
 Fausset : " As the dragon is fiery-red, so the beast is 
 blood-red in color ; implying its blood-guiltiness, and also 
 deep-dyed sin." This beast is the same as the one de- 
 scribed in 13 : 1-9, for it also has seven heads and ten 
 horns. In 13 : i it is stated that " upon his heads were 
 names of blasphemy," and here it is stated that the 
 whole beast was also covered with names of blasphemy, 
 for at this stage of development the beast has become 
 tenfold more blasphemous in its titles and assumptions 
 than before. See notes on 13: i. The woman is seen 
 sitting upon the beast, not because she exercises control 
 and power over it, but rather because the woman relies 
 
XVII. 4, 5-] CHAPTER XVII. 229 
 
 upon the beast for support. In verses 8-12 we have a 
 more definite explanation of the beast or Antichrist. 
 
 ^ 4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked (Gr. 
 gilded) with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden 
 cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication. 
 
 We here have a fuller description of the woman her- 
 self. Many Protestant commentators see in this verse a 
 description of the robes of Roman bishops and cardinals, 
 and perhaps not altogether unjustly. Purple indicates 
 royal dominion, and the scarlet evidently refers to her 
 being stained with the blood of the saints (17 : 6). We 
 then have a further description of her rich and gorgeous 
 apparel (cf. 18 : 16), but the golden eup in her hand is 
 filled with tJie iinelean tilings of her fornieation where- 
 with she seduces and corrupts the nations of the earth. 
 Compare the description of the King of Tyre (Ezek. 28 : 
 13), also Jer. 51:7," Babylon hath been a golden cup in 
 the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken ; the 
 nations have drunk of her wine." 
 
 5. And upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON 
 THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE 
 ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 
 
 It is difficult to decide whether the word mystery is to 
 be regarded as a part of the name, or as indicating the 
 symbolical character of this city, probably the latter. In 
 the ancient world it was customary for harlots to have 
 their names attached to their foreheads. This city, 
 Babylon the Great, is the concrete representative of the 
 whole antichristian empire, in the days of Antichrist, 
 and is the source of all spiritual idolatry and of all cor- 
 ruption, both as to teaching and example. DUESTER- 
 DIECK : " As the Mother of harlots, she has made her 
 daughters, i. e. the cities of the Gentiles, harlots, and 
 
230 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 6, 7. 
 
 given them to drink of her own cup of abominations." 
 Lee : " The sins of the World-city — unbehef, supersti- 
 tion, sensuahty — are all included under the Harlot's 
 title." 
 
 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and 
 with the blood of the martyrs (or, witnesses) of Jesus. And when I saw 
 her, I wondered with a great wonder. 
 
 In his vision, John beholds that the woman is drunken, 
 and he learns, how we are not told, probably by revela- 
 tion, that the cause of her drunkenness is the blood of 
 the saints which she has caused to be shed, for she has 
 been the tool of the beast or Antichrist in persecuting 
 those who remained faithful to Christ. Stuart : " The 
 phraseology is derived from the barbarous custom (still 
 extant among many pagan nations) of drinking the blood 
 of enemies slain in the way of revenge. Here, then, the 
 fury of the persecutors is depicted in a most graphic 
 character." John, when he saw this woman greatly 
 wondered, for he did not understand this mystery of the 
 woman, nor that of the beast. 
 
 61. Explanation of the Scarlet-Colored Beast 
 
 (xvii. 7-14). 
 
 7. And the angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou wonder ? I will 
 tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, 
 which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. 
 
 Although there is a distinction between the woman, 
 or World-c//;'', and the Beast, or Antichrist (the World- 
 kingdoni), they are nevertheless so closely united, that 
 there is but one mystery, that " of the woman and of the 
 beast." In the verses that follow (8-14) we have a fuller 
 description of the beast with its " seven heads and ten 
 horns," (cf. 13 : 1-8); and in verses 15-18 and chapter 
 
XVII. 8.] CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 231 
 
 xviii., we have a full description of Babylon the Great, 
 and her fall. 
 
 8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not ; and is about to come 
 up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they that dwell on the 
 earth shall wonder, they whose name hath not been written in the book of 
 life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how 
 that he was, and is not, and shall come (Gr. shall be present). 
 
 Four stages are marked in the existence of the Beast 
 or Antichrist : (i) it zvas ; (2) it is not now ; (3) it shall 
 again reappear; (4) it shall suffer in the lake of fire (19: 
 20). All the inhabitants of the earth, who do not re- 
 main faithful to Christ, shall wonder after the beast, 
 whose death-stroke was healed, and shall worship him 
 (See notes on 13 : 3, 4, 8). The fuller statement con 
 cerning the beast is given in verses 9, 10. The beast 
 goeth into perdition, referred to also in verse 11, but the 
 event is only fully described in 19: 20. Written in the 
 book of life. See notes on 13: 8. Abyss. See notes 
 on Rev, 9: i, 2, 11; 11 : 7, No matter how difficult of 
 interpretation this question of the beast may be, this 
 verse contains no reference to Nero, or to his supposed 
 rising from the grave. This prophecy is a continuation 
 of that of Daniel, and refers to greater events than those 
 concerning any single emperor of Rome. Not only is 
 this Beast the same as that described in 13 : 1-8, but 
 there are so many points of resemblance between it and 
 St. Paul's prophecy concerning " the mystery of lawless- 
 ness," " the son of perdition " (2 Thess. 2 : 3-10), that it 
 is evident that the reference in both cases is to a future 
 Antichrist. SiMCOX, who accepts the Nero hypothesis, 
 remarks : " On the whole, ancient tradition, where it 
 speaks, and modern criticism agree in the interpretation 
 of these words, he was, and is not. Nero, who killed 
 himself in June, 68 A. D., Jiad been, and ivas not at the 
 
232 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 9. 
 
 date of this vision : but his reappearance was looked for 
 by many, with various feelings of hope and fear. . , It 
 is possible that John means to tell us, that the Anti- 
 christ who is to come will actually be Nero risen from 
 the dead : more probably. Antichrist will be a new Nero 
 in the same way as he will be a new Antiochus, an enemy 
 of God as they were, typified by them inasmuch as they 
 were actuated by his spirit." 
 
 9. Here is the mind (or, meaning) which hath wisdom. The seven heads 
 are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. 
 
 As in 13:18, with reference to the number of the 
 beast, so here special wisdom is required to understand 
 what is now revealed. Most commentators maintain 
 that the seve)i nioiuitains of this verse, as well as 17 : 18, 
 point definitely to Rome as the city designated. Lee : 
 " That the expression Seven Mountains points to the City 
 of Rome, seated on the Palatine, Quirinal, Aventine, 
 Caelian, Viminal, Esquiline, and Janiculan hills — in St. 
 John's age the capital of the Universal World-empire 
 to which the imagery points — need not be questioned. 
 This result, indeed, is plainly indicated in verse 18," others 
 again question this interpretation, and SADLER, after 
 quoting a writer, who says, "no one acquainted in the 
 slightest degree with ancient literature can doubt that 
 Rome is the place to which this description points," re- 
 marks : " But may I, notwithstanding such confident as- 
 sertions, be permitted humbly to ask this question : If it 
 undoubtedly fixes the beast to the city of Rome, why 
 should St. John have prefaced what he is about to say 
 with the words. Here is the mind ivhicJi hath wisdom^ 
 whereas it requires no divine wisdom to see the city of 
 Rome on the seven hills, for it is described as such in 
 some of the best-known heathen authors, as will be seen 
 in such commentaries as those of Alford and Words- 
 
XVII. 9-] CHAPTER XVII. 233 
 
 worth ! Evidently by these words the Apostle must al- 
 lude to something more secret and more mysterious. 
 Now the numeral seven is itself a deeply mysterious num- 
 ber, and may signify here divine completion, and may 
 indicate something far more extensive than Rome." So 
 likewise, Isaac Williams calls attention to the fact that 
 " it requires no divine wisdom to see the City of Rome 
 on the Seven Hills. . . . but to understand the mystic 
 power of the symbolic language requires Scriptural 
 wisdom. According to the analogy of the allegoric in- 
 terpretation of the Apocalypse it need not be the city of 
 Rome ; but as the ten-horned beast is something far 
 more extensive than Rome, so would its seveii heads ap- 
 pear to be." He nevertheless adds : " Still it must be 
 allowed that the prophecy does in some awful manner 
 hover, as with boding raven wing, over Rome." Wil- 
 liams also gives us a summary of the explanation giv- 
 en by the Greek interpreters : " The seven heads and 
 seven hills on which the universal Babylon is seated are 
 seven places pre-eminent in power, on which the King- 
 dom of the world is established : Nineveh, of the Assyri- 
 ans ; Ecbatana, of the Medes ; Babylon, of the Chal- 
 deans ; Susa, of the Persians ; the Kingdom of Macedon ; 
 the ancient Rome, and the new Rome. And with these 
 they connect the seven kings, as Ninus, Arbaces, Nebu- 
 chodonosor, Cyrus, Alexander, Romulus, and Constan- 
 tine." Other commentators call attention to the fact 
 that there are many cities which can boast of their seven 
 hills — Constantinople, Brussels, and especially Jerusalem, 
 which \\2.'s, four larger (Zion, Akra, Moriah, Bezetha) and 
 three smaller hills, (Ophel, Castle Antonia, and the hill of 
 the three towers). Zuellig, Hartwig, Herder, and others, 
 therefore maintain that by Babylon the great, Jerusalem 
 is meant. The remarks of Boyd-Carpenter are sug- 
 
234 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. lo. 
 
 gestive : " The description seems to be drawn from Rome, 
 the seven-hilled city. This keeps the reference to Rome 
 before us, but at the same time the further explanation 
 (in verse lo) widens our thoughts, and shows us that the 
 literalism on which the imagery is based is used to convey 
 a broader symbolical meaning. The woman rides on the 
 seven-headed beast, even so Rome dwells on her seven 
 hills, and so also the world-city, seen in vision, sits among 
 the various empires which have risen, like great mountains, 
 in the history of the world." 
 
 lo. And they are seven kings ; the five are fallen, the one is, the other 
 is not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 
 
 Alford (condensed) : " To interpret these kings as 
 emperors of Rome, or as successive forms of government 
 over Rome, is to miss the propriety of the symbolism and 
 to introduce utter confusion. They belong to the 
 beast, which is not Rome, nor the Roman Empire, but a 
 general symbol of secular antichristian power. They 
 are in substance the same seven crowned heads which 
 we saw on the dragon in 12 : 3, — the same which we 
 saw, with names of blasphemy on them, on the beast 
 of 13 : I, to whom the dragon gave his power and his 
 throne. The five fell, i. e. the first five out of seven. 
 If I understand these y^'Z'^ of individual successive kings, 
 if I understand them of forms of government adopted 
 and laid down on occasion, I can give no account of 
 this verb fell, or are fallen ; but if I understand them 
 of forms of empire, one after another heading the an- 
 tichristian secular power, one after another violently 
 overthrown and done away, I have this verb in its right 
 place and appropriate sense. Egypt is fallen, the first 
 head of the beast that persecuted God's people (Ezek. 
 xxix., XXX.) ; Nineveh is fallen, the bloody city (Nahum 
 3: 1-19) ; Babylon is fallen, the great enemy of Israel 
 
xvn. TO.] CHAPTER XVII. 235 
 
 (Isa. 21:9; Jer. chaps. 50 and 51) ; Persia is fallen (Dan. 
 10:13 ; 11:2); GrcEcia is fallen (Dan. 11:3, 4)- The one is, 
 the Roman empire ; the other (required to complete the 
 seven) is not yet come. I agree with Auberlen in regarding 
 this seventh as tlie Christian empire beginning with 
 Constantine." Alford also maintains that the true mean- 
 ing of he must continue a little ivhilc is not that " of short 
 continuance," but rather of duration. On the other hand, 
 Hofmann, Ebrard, Luthardt, and others enumerate As- 
 syria, Babylonia, Persia, Macedonia and Syria under Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes, as the five fallen kingdoms, and the Ro- 
 man as the sixth kingdom, the ^;/^ existing in John's time. 
 Luthardt also names the representative sovereigns of the 
 five fallen kingdoms — Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 He, however, does not name the representative of the 
 sixth kingdom or the Roman empire, but only mentions 
 " the Roman emperor." As the seventh empire, which 
 shall follow that of the Roman and precede that of 
 Antichrist, Luthardt refers to "' the present period of the 
 European systems of government." The Preterists, as 
 a rule, see in these five fallen kings, the first five em- 
 perors, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. 
 According to their view, when the Apocalypse was writ- 
 ten (69 A. D.), these five were fallen, Nero having died 
 the year before. Many see in the one who is, Vespasian, 
 and in the other who is not yet come, Titus, who reigned 
 " a little while," that is two years. WORDSWORTH, who 
 represents the anti-papal school of interpreters, differs in 
 some respect from the Continuous-Historical School, 
 with reference to these kingdoms : " Six of these seven 
 kingdoms are described by the prophet Daniel, whose 
 predictions are repeated and continued in the Apoca- 
 lypse ; they are, (i) the Babylonian ; (2) the Medo-Per- 
 
236 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvir. ii. 
 
 sian ; (3) the Macedonian or Greek ; (4) the Syrian : (5) 
 the Egyptian ; (6) the Roman Heat lien Imperial. . . The 
 seventJi king represents some power which was first ex- 
 trinsic to Rome, and was afterwards added to Rome. . . 
 This was the Imperial Power of Germany.'' 
 
 It matters very Httle whether we refer the five fallen 
 kingdoms to Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and 
 Macedonia, on the one hand, or to Assyria, Babylonia, 
 Persia, Macedonia, and Syria, on the other, for in either 
 case tJie Roman Empire of John's time would be the sixth 
 kingdom. The seventh kingdom was still to come in 
 John's time, and of the various views held concerning 
 the seventh kingdom, " the Christian empire beginning 
 with Constantine " (Alford), " the imperial power of 
 Germany " (Wordsworth), " the antichristian World- 
 power which is to succeed the power of pagan Rome " 
 (Lee), " the world-empire which is to come between the 
 Roman empire and Antichrist " (Ebrard), " a new heathen 
 power to rule in the last age of Christianity " (some 
 Roman Catholic writers), — although many of these in 
 general mean the same thing, — still we think it best, with 
 Luthardt, Keil, and others, to regard this seventh empire 
 as represented by the world-powers of modern Europe 
 that have taken the place of the Roman empire. See 
 notes on 13 : 3. 
 
 II. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is 
 of the seven ; and he goeth into perdition. 
 
 The beast here referred to is identical with the one 
 named in verse 8. It is the eighth world-power concen- 
 trating in itself all the rage and God-opposed spirit of 
 the seven preceding kingdoms, and is the last and worst 
 manifestation of the ungodly power of the world. Its 
 king will be Antichrist, prefigured already by the Little 
 Horn of Daniel, and especially described by Paul in 2 
 
XVII. 12.] CHAPTER XVII. 237 
 
 Thess. 2: 3-10. This eighth kingdom or king is a new 
 power or person proceeding out ^/the seven, embodying 
 all the antichristian features of the preceding seven. 
 Himself also an eighth. Fausset : "The He is em- 
 phatic in the Greek. He, peculiarly and pre-eminently 
 answering to ' the little horn ' with eyes like the eyes of 
 a man, and a mouth speaking great things, before whom 
 three of the ten horns %vere plucked up by the roots (Dan. 
 7 : 8, 20), and to whom the whole ten ' give their power 
 and authority' (17: 12, 13, 17). That a /^r^^;/^/ anti- 
 christ will stand at the head of the anti-Christian king- 
 dom, is likely from the analogy of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 the O. T. Antichrist, 'the little horn ' in Dan. 8: 9-12 ; 
 also ' the man of sin,' ' the son of perdition ' (2 Thess. 2 : 
 3-8), answers here to goeth into perdition!' This last 
 kingdom, and its king. Antichrist, does not fall like the 
 other seven (17 : 10), but he is overcome by the Lord in 
 person, and cast into perdition, " cast alive into the lake 
 of fire that burneth with brimstone " (19: 20). SADLER: 
 " It seems as if the world-power in its last stage would 
 not act through some empire, but directly through Anti- 
 christ himself." Ebrard refers the sixth kingdom to 
 the Roman world-power; the seventh world-power to the 
 ten kings of verse 12, and the eighth world-power to Anti- 
 christ, or the Beast from the abyss (17 : 8), and this seems 
 to be the best interpretation. So also in substance 
 Williams: " For this Apocalyptic Beast corresponds 
 with the Little Horn of Daniel, which arises among the 
 ten horns of the seventh head, and by its rising roots up 
 three, by which it becomes itself the eighth. 
 
 12. And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, which have re- 
 ceived no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the 
 beast, for one hour. 
 
 The best commentary on this verse is that given by 
 
238 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 12. 
 
 Daniel (7 : 23-27) : '' The fourth beast shall be a fourth 
 kingdom upon earth " (the Roman Empire of John's 
 time), " which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, 
 and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
 and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of 
 this kingdom shall ten kings arise : and another shall 
 arise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the 
 former " (the kingdom of Antichrist), " and he shall put 
 down three kings. And he shall speak words against the 
 Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most 
 High : and he shall think to change the times and the 
 law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time 
 and times and half a time " (the last three and-a-half years 
 of Antichrist's reign. " 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 the do- 
 minion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the 
 whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints 
 of the Most High; His kingdom is an everlasting king- 
 dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." 
 Alford remarks : " Ten kingdoms shall arise out of the 
 fourth kingdom of Daniel : ten European powers, which 
 in the last time, in concert with and subjection to the 
 antichristian power, shall make war against Christ. In 
 the precise number and form here indicated, they have 
 not yet arisen. It would not be difficult to point out 
 the elements and already consolidating shapes of most of 
 them ; but in precise number we have them not as yet. 
 What changes in Europe may bring them into the re- 
 quired tale and form, it is not for us to say." 
 
 In some way these ten horns seem to belong to the 
 beast as represented in the seventh kingdom. These ten 
 kings had not yet received their power in John's time, 
 for that was still the period of the sixth kingdom, — and 
 
XVII. 13.] CHAPTER XVII. 239 
 
 it seems as if this seventh kingdom is simply now in its 
 course of development, — for these ten kings will only re- 
 ceive their authority, about the time that Antichrist's 
 manifestation draws near. They will receive authority 
 as kings with the beast, at least for one hour ; i. e. for a 
 short time, at the beginning of Antichrist's appearance. 
 According to Daniel, presupposed but not mentioned by 
 John, Antichrist will overcome three of the te)i kiugs or 
 kingdoms, and reduce the rest to his rule. These ten 
 kings or kingdoms evidently represent the ultimate king- 
 doms of the world which will wage war against Christ. 
 Blunt : " The gradual de-Christianization of European 
 governments points to the possibility of a not very dis- 
 tant time when they may become permanently Anti- 
 christian, as that of France became so temporarily when 
 it established the worship of Reason in the place of the 
 worship of God." Fausset : "Antichrist is in existence 
 long before the fall of Babylon; but it is only at its fall 
 he obtains the vassalage of the ten kings. He, in the first 
 instance, imposes on the Jews as the Messiah, coming in 
 His own name ; then persecutes those of them who refuse 
 his blasphemous pretensions. Not until in the latter 
 part of his reign does he associate the ten kings with him 
 in war with the Lamb, having gained them over by the 
 aid of the spirits of demons working miracles. His con- 
 nection with Israel appears from his sitting ' in the tem- 
 ple of God ' (2 Thess. 2 : 4), and as theantitypical ' abom- 
 ination of desolation standing in the holy place ' (Dan. 
 9:27; 12: II; Matt. 24 : 15),' in the city where our Lord 
 was crucified ' " (Rev. 1 1 : 8). 
 
 13. These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto 
 the beast. 
 
 We have here a description of the universal antichris- 
 tian character of these future kingdoms. They are one 
 
240 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 14, 15. 
 
 in their opposition to God and His Christ, and they be- 
 come allies of the Beast or of Antichrist, and act in con- 
 cert with him, whether his enmity is directed against the 
 Lamb (17 : 14), or against the harlot (17 : 16). 
 
 14. These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome 
 them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and they also shall over- 
 come that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. 
 
 This gathering together of the beast and the kings of 
 the earth to make war against the Lamb is described in 
 19 : 19 (which see). The victory of the Lord over the 
 beast, the false prophet, and their hosts, is graphically 
 depicted in 19 : 20, 21 (which see). It is here stated that 
 not only the Lamb, because He is Lord of lords, and 
 King of kings, but also the saints who are with the Lamb, 
 shall share in this victory over these kings. The re- 
 deemed are represented as sharers in the victory. The 
 order of the description of the redeemed, as called, chosen, 
 diYid fait Iif 7(1, is significant. The elect, or chosen, are first 
 called, and they prove that they are the elect in that they 
 remain faithful unto the end. Plummer : " These 
 three epithets describe the progressive life of those who 
 share Christ's victory. They are called — as all men are 
 — to serve Him ; having heard the call, they dedicate 
 their lives to His service, and become His chosen servants ; 
 finally, having remained faithful to Him, they share in 
 His victory." SADLER : " It seems incredible that men 
 should gather themselves together and fight against Christ 
 Himself appearing personally ; but men opposed Him 
 when He came the first time. . . why may they not go 
 a step further and fight against Him when He rides on 
 the white horse leading the armies of the saints?" 
 
 62. The Mystery of the Woman (xvii. 15-18). 
 
 15. And he saith unto me. The waters which thou sawest, where the 
 harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 
 
XVII. i6.] CHAPTER XVII. 241 
 
 We have now an explanation of the symbol of the 
 harlot sitting upon many waters (17 : i). The waters sig- 
 nify the sum total of the inhabitants of the earth, for the 
 great city Babylon sliall reign over the kings of the earth 
 (17 : 18). See notes on 17 : 1-6. 
 
 16. And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall 
 hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her 
 flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire. 
 
 We have here by anticipation a statement of the cause 
 of the fall of Babylon the Great, the theme of the next 
 chapter. The kings of the earth shall rebel against her 
 dominion, and the Beast, by their aid, shall utterly de- 
 stroy her. Alford : " Her former lovers shall no longer 
 frequent her nor answer to her call ; her rich adornments 
 shall be stripped off. She shall lose, at the hands of 
 those whom she formerly seduced with her cup of forni- 
 cation, both her spiritual power over them and her tem- 
 poral power to adorn herself." The moving cause of this 
 terrible catastrophe which shall overtake this world-city 
 is God (17 : 17), but the immediate occasion is not re- 
 vealed ; it is simply stated that the beast and his allied 
 kings shall hate the harlot. It is evident that Antichrist 
 and these kings continue after the Fall of Babylon. It 
 seems as if the reign of Antichrist and the development 
 of his power immediately follows on the fall of Babylon. 
 
 Those who regard the Harlot or Babylon the Great as 
 signifying the Apostate Church see here a description of 
 what is in store for the faithless. So Fausset : " As 
 Jerusalem used the world-power to crucify her Saviour, 
 and then was destroyed by that very power, Rome ; so 
 the church, having apostatized to the world, shall have 
 judgment executed on her first by the world-power, the 
 beast and his allies ; and these afterward shall have judg- 
 ment executed on them by Christ Himself in person." 
 II 
 
242 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xvii. 17. 
 
 Wordsworth, on the other hand, maintains that " the 
 Harlot sitting on the beast is the City of Rome. . . . This 
 verse reveals the wonderful results, that the Horns of the 
 Beast, that is, some Powers that have grown out of the 
 Roman Empire, will one day be alienated from the 
 Papacy, and will Jiate the Harlot and devour Jier fiesJi. . . 
 The ruin of Papal Rome will not be effected by Prot- 
 estant Nations, but by Papal Princes and people rising 
 against her." Godet maintains that the last political 
 power of which Antichrist shall be the head is Israel ; 
 Babylon the Great denotes the city of Rome ; at Rome 
 the Monarch of Israel (Antichrist) shall first take up his 
 abode ; but as God has made use of Rome to chastise 
 Israel, so now He will make use of Israel to judge Rome. 
 His exact words are : " It is the old antagonism between 
 Jew and Pagan — the most profound antithesis of history 
 — which now attains to its supreme crisis. Rome is re- 
 duced by triumphant Israel to the actual state of Nin- 
 eveh or of Babylon. After this act of vengeance. Anti- 
 christ will go to establish as we have seen (11:7, 8), at 
 Jerusalem, his natural capital ; " then, according to Godet, 
 follows the struggle of the Beast with the Two witnesses 
 (12 : 7, 8), and the conversion of Israel (11 : 13), which 
 had already been restored politically. 
 
 17. For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to one 
 mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God 
 should be accompUshed. 
 
 Here it is directly stated that God used Antichrist and 
 his allied kings as instruments to punish Babylon. In 
 three things did this confederation agree : (i) in deter- 
 mining the destruction of the city, and thus carrying out 
 the righteous will of God ; (2) in their hatred of the 
 harlot ; (3) in giving all their authority unto Antichrist. 
 This unanimity of sentiment prevailed until the words of 
 
XVII. i8.] CHAPTER XVII. 243 
 
 God concerning the destruction of Babylon were fulfilled. 
 The great influence of this great city became oppressive 
 to Antichrist, and so he determined to destroy it, and 
 thus was an instrument of God to punish Babylon the 
 Great, the harlot. 
 
 18. And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth 
 {hath a kingdom) over the kings of the earth. 
 
 If we interpret this verse grammatically there seems to 
 
 be no difficulty in deciding what is meant by the great 
 
 city or tlie ivonian. The statement is — this zvonian which 
 
 John saw sitting upon many waters (17 : i, 15), is the 
 
 great city, and this city is the one having a kingdom over 
 
 the kings of the earth. The present participle the one 
 
 having points to the time when the words were uttered, 
 
 and to the dominion then exercised by the city. It is 
 
 evident that when John wrote, Rome was just such a city 
 
 as this verse describes. It is highly probable, almost 
 
 certain, that the City of Rome is here referred to. 
 
 The only question that can arise is whether by tJie 
 
 great city is meant Pagan Rome, or Papal Rome, or 
 
 Rome under both aspects, or Rome as it shall be in the 
 
 future days of Antichrist. There can be only one answer, 
 
 it is Rome as it shall be in the future time to which this 
 
 vision refers. That the Woman of this Vision, under 
 
 the symbol of Babylon, represents Rome in some form, 
 
 has been the common opinion of the great majority of 
 
 commentators of all schools. This has been the case 
 
 since the days of Tertullian and Jerome. In the Middle 
 
 Ages, Rome is often styled " the Western Babylon." 
 
 CURREY : " Luther, and others before him, in their earnest 
 
 struggles against the corruptions of a dominant Church, 
 
 and suffering under its persecutions, found in Babylon the 
 
 symbol of their foe, and applied to Papal Rome all the 
 
 epithets and adjuncts here attached to Babylon ; and 
 
244 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN [xvii. i8. 
 
 many still insist upon this view of the Apocalypse." 
 Luther speaks of the Pope as " the very Antichrist " {Art. 
 Snialc. IV.) and Melanchthon writes — " the marks of Anti- 
 christ plainly agree with the Kingdom of the Pope and 
 his adherents "(/(?w^r and Primacy of the Pope). Some 
 of the other Reformers (Calvin), as many moderns, identi- 
 fied the Harlot with the Apostate Church, and main- 
 tained that this corresponds with the Papacy. In oppo- 
 sition to this Protestant interpretation, there arose in 
 the Church of Rome a school of expositors, which with 
 the Protestants, identified Babylon with Rome, but with 
 Rome of the future, Rome again become Pagan. Stern, 
 a representative of this Roman Catholic school, remarks : 
 ** Babylon is really the City of Rome, not only, how- 
 ever, according to the old-heathenish, but also according 
 to the new-heathenish signification of the World's history. 
 So long as Rome maintains Christianity, so long God for- 
 gets, humanly speaking, her ancient guiltiness. But in 
 the last times of the New Testament World-history, many 
 inhabitants of the Roman obedience will abandon their 
 holy Catholic faith ; will unite with the revolutionists of 
 all lands ; nay, unmeasured wickedness will rear its 
 throne in Rome, after the Holy Father with his faithful 
 Bishops and priests and the pious believers shall have 
 been hunted into the desert." 
 
 Those who maintain that Babylon the Great represents 
 the Apostate Church may be right in so far that it is cer- 
 tain that the Babylon of the days of Antichrist will be 
 utterly antichristian in its character, and its inhabitants 
 may be largely apostates from a professed worldly Chris- 
 tianity ; and they who refer it to Papal Rome may be 
 right in a certain sense, for the Papacy may have been 
 the great factor and instrument in the development of 
 the Antichristian spirit of those days ; and they who 
 
XVII. i8.] CHAPTER XVII. 245 
 
 refer it to a heathen or pagan Rome of the future, may 
 be right in so far that the spirit of Babylon, in the days 
 of Antichrist, before its destruction, represents a type of 
 wickedness more diabolical than the worst kind ever 
 known in heathenism. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 63. The Fall of Babylon Announced (xviii. 1-3). 
 
 1. After these things I saw another angel comnig down out of heaven, 
 having great authority ; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 
 
 Another angel. Besides the one who showed John 
 the mystery of the Woman and the Beast (17 : 1-7). He 
 had great authority^ and may be the instrument of carry- 
 ing out God's will in the punishment of Babylon, which 
 however is not acted out before the Seer, but only de- 
 scribed. His aiitliority was manifested in his very ap- 
 pearance, for the glory of the Lord accompanied Him, 
 so that the earth shined with His glory (Ezek, 43 : 2). 
 
 2. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying. 
 
 Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. 
 
 And is become a habitation of devils (Gr. demons). 
 
 And a hold (or, prison) of every unclean spirit, 
 
 And a hold (or, prison) of every unclean and hateful bird. 
 
 See notes on 14 : 8. Compare Isa. 21:9," Babylon is 
 fallen, is fallen." The fall of Babylon had also been fore- 
 told in 16 : 19; and 17 : 16, The description of the de- 
 struction of Babylon the Great is largely based upon the 
 writings of the O. T. prophets. In describing the future 
 desolation of Babylon the very words which Isaiah and 
 Jeremiah used concerning the ancient Babylon on the 
 Euphrates are here employed. Compare especially Isa. 
 13 : 19-22 ; 34 : 14, I5 i Jer. 50 : 39 ! 5^ : 37- So com- 
 plete will also be the desolation of this future Babylon 
 
 246 
 
XVIII. 3-] CHAPTER XVI II. 247 
 
 after it has been destroyed by Antichrist and his allied 
 kings (17 : 16). As the prophecies concerning ancient 
 Babylon were exactly fulfilled, this fact is a pledge that 
 the prophecies of this book shall also be fulfilled in the 
 case of the Babylon of the days of Antichrist. Some 
 have thought that this future Babylon might be the old 
 Babylon rebuilt, but the prophecy is that Babylon of old 
 " shall be no more inhabited forever " (Jer. 50 : 39, 40). 
 A more graphic description of the utter desolation of 
 Babylon can scarcely be conceived of— beasts and birds 
 of prey dwelling in the deserted ruins, and demons (evil 
 angels) making their abode there. We are reminded 
 how our Lord speaks of unclean spirits passing through 
 waterless places seeking rest, and finding it not (Matt. 
 12 : 43). 
 3. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen ; 
 And the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, 
 And the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her 
 wantonness (or, luxury). 
 
 Some authorities omit the ivine of, and some read all 
 the nations have drunk. We have in this verse a state- 
 ment of the cause of the fall of Babylon. See notes on 
 14 : 8 ; 17:2. So great shall be the wealth, luxury, and 
 resources of this great city of the future, that all the 
 merchants of the earth shall be enriched thereby. 
 Wantonness. " This word signifies overweening pride 
 and insolence and wantonness, arising from superfluity of 
 wealth, and gifts." (Plummer). "It is applied to de- 
 scribe insolence and voluptuousness breaking out into 
 boastful vauntings of pride, and dissolute riot and revelry ; 
 like those of Babylon of old on the eve of her fall" 
 (Wordsworth). "Rome was in St. John's day a 
 wealthy and luxurious city, not a commercial city pri- 
 marily, in the same sense as ancient Tyre and modern 
 
248 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xviit. 4. 
 
 London, but a city with an immense commerce. . . 
 What Rome was then it may, and probably will, be 
 again : and there is thus no need to look elsewhere than 
 at Rome for the literal fulfilment of St. John's descrip- 
 tion" (SiMCOX). 
 
 64. Warning to the Saints (xviii. 4-8). 
 
 4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 
 Come forth, my people, out of her, 
 That ye have no fellowship with her sins, 
 And that ye receive not of her plagues. 
 
 The apostle hears an angel's voice warning God's 
 people to come out of Babylon. Compare Jer. 50 : 8 ; 
 51 : 6, 45. We have aright to infer that some of the 
 saints will be dwelling in the midst of the wicked city 
 even almost up to the time of her fall, " and that there 
 will be danger of their being, through a lingering fond- 
 ness of the city, partakers in the coming Judgment " 
 (Alford). Two reasons are given why they should 
 come out of Babylon, (i) that they may not participate 
 in her sins, and (2) that they may not participate in her 
 punishment. At all times in the history of the develop- 
 ment of God's kingdom on earth have the people of God 
 been warned to flee from the City of Destruction. See 
 Gen. 19:15, 22 ; Num. 16 : 26 ; Isa. 48 : 20 ; 52 : 1 1 ; 
 Matt. 24 : 16. " Remember Lot's wife " (Luke 16 : 32). 
 Sadler: " This, of course, will not come as an audible 
 voice from heaven, but it will be a secret, yet universal 
 intimation to all that are in the mystical Babylon, that 
 they are to leave her society, her fellowship, and it may 
 be, as of course it was in the case of the Babylon of old, 
 to leave the city, if it is Rome or any other city." 
 Williams : " The period of this command in the Apoca- 
 lypse appears to be on the great rising of Antichrist 
 
XVIII. 5-7-] CHAPTER XVIII. 249 
 
 above all ; and on the destruction apparently of the out- 
 ward and visible frame and form of Christianity, which 
 is to precede the end." 
 
 5. For her sins have reached {clave together) even unto heaven, 
 
 And God hath remembered her iniquities. 
 
 So great will be the accumulation of the sins of Babylon, 
 that these sins being heaped up, they will reach unto 
 heaven (see Jer. 51 I 9)- WORDSWORTH: "the Babel- 
 tower of sin is a tower which man builds in pride, and 
 when its top reaches to heaven, then it is suddenly 
 thrown down (18 : 19)." Remembered. Compare 16 : 19- 
 
 6. Render unto her even as she rendered, 
 
 And double ujito her the double according to her works : 
 In the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. 
 
 The words of this and the next verse are addressed to 
 those who are the executioners of God's judgments, and 
 probably refer to Antichrist and his allied Kings, who are 
 the instruments by which God punishes Babylon (17 : 16). 
 The words are based upon Jer. 50 : 15, 29, " as she hath 
 done, do unto her " ; Jer. 16 : 18, " I will recompense their 
 iniquity and their sin double." A double share of the 
 wine of the wrath of God shall be her portion (14 : 8 ; 17 : 
 2, 4), The punishment shall be proportioned to the sin 
 (Jer.' 17: 18). 
 
 7. How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, 
 So much give her of torment and mourning : 
 For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, 
 And am no widow, and shall in nowise see mourning. 
 
 The thought is still of retribution. We have here are- 
 echo of the prophecies against Babylon of old (Isa. 47 : 
 7-9), and against Tyre (Ezek. 27 : 3 ; 28 : 2). According 
 to the deo-ree of her boasting and wantonness, so shall 
 punishment and sorrow overtake her. 
 
250 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xviii. 8, 9. 
 
 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, 
 Death, and mourning, and famine; 
 And she shall be utterly burned with fire ; 
 For strong is the Lord God which judged her. 
 
 Compare the prophecy against ancient Babylon (Isa. 47 : 
 9-1 1). Alford : " The judgments here are more fear- 
 ful ; death, for her scorn of the prospect of widowhood ; 
 mourning, for her inordinate reveling ; famine, for her 
 abundance ; fire, as the punishment of the fornicatress." 
 See also 17 : 16. The reason of the severity of the judgment 
 lies in the fact that the Lord God is tJie Almighty (1:8). 
 Antichrist and the allied Kings are the executors of the 
 judgment but, they are really carrying out the will of God 
 (17 : 16, 17). Williams : " This suddenness is the great 
 characteristic carried out from the Babylon of old, whose 
 destruction came upon her suddenly as a snare and a net ; 
 how to be fulfilled in this, the antitype, is a great 
 mystery." Fausset : " Literal fire may burn the literal 
 city of Rome, which is situated in the midst of volcanic 
 agencies. . . . Bengel is probably right in thinking Rome 
 will once more rise to power. The carnal, faithless, and 
 worldly elements in all churches, Roman, Greek, and 
 Protestant, tend toward one common centre, and prepare 
 the way for the last ' form of the beast, i. e. Antichrist." 
 
 65. The Lament of Kings, Merchants, and 
 Mariners over the Fall of Babylon, (xviii. 9-19). 
 
 Three classes of persons are now introduced as bewail- 
 ing the fall of Babylon — kings (verses 9, 10), merchants 
 (verses ii-iya), and mariners (verses lyb-ig). Note that 
 the lamentations are all of a selfish character. 
 
 9. And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived 
 wantonly (or, luxuriously) with her, 
 Shall weep and wail over her, 
 When they look upon the smoke of her burning. 
 
XVIII. 10.] CHAPTER XVIII. 251 
 
 See notes on 17:2. Lee : " Compare the dirge over 
 Tyre (Ezek. 26 : 15 ;27 : 36), into which the description 
 here passes imperceptibly." We have here the lamenta- 
 tion of the Kings of the earth who have been the instru- 
 ments of God in destroying Babylon (17 : 16, 17). 
 MiLLlGAN : " The deeds of the wicked, even when ef- 
 fecting the purpose of God, bring no joy to themselves." 
 Wordsworth, who everywhere sees the Papacy, re- 
 marks : " A marvelous prophecy. Some of those very 
 Powers, who were once vassals of Rome, will one day 
 rise against her ; they will be instruments in God's hands 
 of His retributive justice upon her ; . . . . And yet when 
 they have done the deed, they will weep over her. The 
 reason of this is, that the Fall of Papal Rome will be 
 followed by a triumph of Anarchy and an outbreak of 
 Infidelity." It is very likely that the fall of Babylon will 
 occur before the greatest development of the power of 
 Antichrist. Dennett: " Babylon, with its outspreading 
 roots, will have interlaced itself with almost every social 
 fibre of the life of the nations ; and her fall, therefore, 
 will spread universal dismay and confusion as well as 
 render human governments unstable and powerless. 
 This will account for the wail of these kings." 
 
 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, 
 
 Saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city ! 
 For in one hour is thy judgment come. 
 
 Very graphic is this description of the lamentation of 
 the kings. They are represented as standing at a dis- 
 tance from the burning city, afraid that the destruction 
 might also reach them. The reference to the greatness 
 and power of the city, and her sudden destruction, only 
 heightens the impression made by the awful catastrophe. 
 Compare Ezek. 26 : 16, 17. Blunt : " As regards its future 
 
252 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xviii. 11. 
 
 fulfillment it seems to apply to some immense maritime 
 city such as London or New York. Should a distinct 
 and professed Antichristianity ever gain the upper hand 
 in either of these cities, the elements of wealth and 
 wickedness which they contain would be greatly de- 
 veloped, and a vast Babylon or Tyre would be the result, 
 one which would fully meet the terms of the prophecy." 
 
 II. And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, 
 For no man buyeth their merchandise (Gr. cat-go) any more. 
 
 We come now to the lament of the merchants of the 
 earth ( 1 1- 1 7^). The sorrow of these merchants is even 
 more purely selfish than that of the kings. The descrip- 
 tion is based upon the lament over Tyre in Ezek. xxvii., 
 and in Isa. xxiii. The merchants can no longer find 
 purchasers for their cargo, or ship's burden, as in Acts 21 : 
 3, — their freight, and this only emphasizes how immense 
 the traffic of this luxurious city will be. Relying on the 
 meaning of the word cargo, many commentators think 
 that Babylon does not refer to the future city Rome, be- 
 cause it does not lie on the sea, and cannot have a large 
 maritime commerce. But the answer is very simple. 
 What Rome was once in the past, the centre of all com- 
 merce by sea and land, it may again become in the 
 future. For this very reason we may question the state- 
 ment of Alford : " I leave this difficulty unsolved. . . 
 For Rome never has been, and from its very position 
 never could be, a great commercial city. . . The details 
 of this mercantile lamentation far more nearly suit Lon- 
 don, than Rome at any assignable period of her history." 
 Wordsworth sees here the spiritual traffic of Papal Rome. 
 Williams : " The lamentation passes imperceptibly in- 
 to that which is descriptive not of Babylon, but of Tyre ; 
 the depth and breadth of meaning in the Apocalypse is 
 
XVIII. 12, 13-] CHAPTER XVIIL 253 
 
 such that it must indicate some especial reference in the 
 latter ages to maritime nations, in which the corruption 
 of the Church will extend. . . The Tyre of the last ages 
 is to be restored, and sing as an harlot." 
 
 Merchandise (Gr. cargo) of gold, and silver, 
 And precious stone, and pearls, 
 And fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet ; 
 And all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, 
 And every vessel made of most precious wood, 
 And of brass, and iron, and marble. 
 
 Compare Ezek. xxvii. The various articles of mer- 
 chandise, representative of the great commercial activities 
 of the world, are mentioned in suitable groupings, " a 
 gorgeous picture of worldly riches and extravagances " 
 (Milligan). Zuellig arranges them into seven classes 
 of articles of luxury: (i) of precious wares ; (2) of mate- 
 rials of rich attire ; (3) of materials for costly furniture ; 
 (4) of precious spices (verse 13^); (5) of articles of food 
 (verse \},U)\ (6) of merchandise for agricultural and do- 
 mestic uses (verse 13^); (7) of the trafific in men (verse 
 \ld). Thyine wood. Possibly the white cedar or citrus 
 of the Romans, used for costly doors, fine tables, panels, 
 and ceilings, noted for its sweet scent. 
 
 13. And cinnamon, and spice. 
 
 And incense, and ointment, and frankincense, 
 
 And wine, and oil, 
 
 And fine flour, and wheat, 
 
 And cattle, and sheep ; and tiierc/ianJise of horses and chariots, 
 
 And slaves (Gr. bodies) ; and souls (or, lives) of men. 
 
 Spice. Greek ainojmun, a precious ointment made 
 from an Asiatic shrub, used for the hair. Chariots. The 
 luxurious carriages used in the Rome of John's time by 
 the wealthy and the nobles. Slaves . . Souls of men. 
 The most probable explanation is that these words refer 
 to two classes of slaves, the Jirst to such slaves (the 
 
254 ^^^ REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xviii. 14, 15. 
 
 grooms or coachmen of the last times) as have to do 
 with horses and chariots, and the second (souls of men), 
 to slaves in general. Boyd-Carpenter : "The climax 
 of wicked worldliness is reached in this last; it gives the 
 finishing touch to the picture of society wholly engrossed 
 in pleasure and indolence and selfishness, which lays 
 every market under tribute to add to its luxuriousness, 
 and sacrifices not only the happiness, but the lives and 
 liberties of their fellow-creatures, to their own enjoy- 
 ment." What Rome was in the past, the Babylon of the 
 future shall be, only on a larger scale. Many commen- 
 tators interpret this merchandise spiritually, and refer 
 these things to the Papacy, but Sadler correctly re- 
 marks : " Not one of these commodities can be connected 
 particularly with any ecclesiastical state of things. It is 
 impossible, as regards the greater part of them, to inter- 
 pret them spiritually." 
 
 14. And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, 
 And all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from 
 
 thee, 
 And men shall find them no more at all. 
 
 This verse seems to be addressed to Babylon either by 
 the merchants in their lamentation, or (which is probably 
 the better interpretation) by the voice from heaven (18 : 
 4). Babylon of the future will seek all the merchandise 
 and sumptuous things of earth for selfish enjoyment, and 
 to satisfy earthly lust and worldly glory. But the day 
 of reckoning shall come. 
 
 15. The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, 
 Shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, 
 Weeping, and mourning. 
 
 Just as in 18 : 9, 10, the kings of the earth made their 
 lament, so here the merchants who were enriched by the 
 
XVIII. i6, iia. 19.] CHAPTER XVIII. 255 
 
 trade of Babylon will make their lament over the sudden 
 and awful punishment visited upon Babylon. See notes 
 on 18 : 10. 
 
 16, 17 a. Saying, Woe, woe, the great city, 
 
 She that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, 
 
 And decked (Gr. oilded) with gold and precious stone and pearl ! 
 
 For in one hour so great riches is made desolate. 
 
 Woe. See notes on 18 : lO. Arrayed. Compare 17 : 
 4; 18: 12. One hour. Compare 18: 10. Stress is laid 
 upon the luxurious glory of the city, and its sudden deso- 
 lation. The expression in one hour is thrice repeated 
 (18 : 10, here, and 19). In each case the lamentation is 
 not only over the loss of riches, but their sudden and un- 
 forseen ruin. 
 
 17 b. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, 
 And mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, 
 Stood afar off. 
 The description includes all who in any way make their 
 living by the sea, whether as pilots, captains, sailors 
 sailing merchants, fishermen, divers for pearls, etc. 
 Compare Ezek. 27 : 25-36. Like the kings (18 : 10) and 
 the merchants (18 : 15), they are represented as standing 
 afar off, to avoid being overwhelmed in the destruction 
 of the city. 
 
 18. And cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, 
 
 Saying, What city is like the great city > 
 Smoke of her burning. See notes on 18 : 9. What 
 great city. Compare Ezek. 27 : 32. BOYD- 
 CarpeNTER : " The outcry of those who call to mind, 
 with pain, a glory that was great, but now is gone. It is 
 not to be taken as meaning ivhat city has suffered as she 
 has ? . . . . The lingering of the mind over delights now 
 vanished is one subtle element of misery." 
 
2S6 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xviii. 20. 
 
 19. And they cast dust on their heads, 
 
 And cried, weeping and mourning, saying, 
 
 Woe, woe, the great city, 
 
 Wherein were made rich all that had their ships in the sea by 
 
 reason of her costliness ! 
 For in one hour is she made desolate. 
 
 Cast dust on their heads. A sign of their great 
 mourning. See Ezek. 27 : 30. The Babylon of the 
 future will become the source of great wealth to all sea- 
 merchants, on account of the extravagance and luxury 
 which marks her inhabitants, — her costliness. Tiie splen- 
 dor of her buildings and palaces shall make levy on all 
 parts of the world (18 : 11-13), One hour desolate. . . . 
 Compare notes on 18 : 10, 17. 
 
 Sadler seems to be correct when he maintains that 
 this description of Babylon given in this chapter cannot 
 refer to Papal Rome, — " these references to cargoes, to 
 freights, to ships, ship-owners, etc., lead us to look to a 
 collapse of a great commercial system. ... It is as if 
 London and Liverpool and Glasgow and New York were 
 all amalgamated together and involved, as in a moment, 
 in one common and irreversible ruin." Dennett : " All 
 this description is symbolical, the import of which is 
 that the whole commercial system of the empire is utterly 
 deranged, if not destroyed, by the judgment upon Baby- 
 lon. The blow that falls upon her destroys with her 
 the prosperity of the habitable world ; and hence the 
 universal sorrow ; for men are ever ready to bewail the 
 loss of the means of their comforts, wealth, and af- 
 fluence." 
 
 66. The Angel calls upon the Inhabitants of 
 Heaven to Rejoice (xviii. 20). 
 
 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, 
 
 And ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; 
 For God hath judged your judgment on her. 
 
XVIH. 21, 22.] CHAPTER XVIII. 257 
 
 The saints, and apostles, and prophets, are regarded 
 as being in heaven. The answer to the prayer of the 
 saints has now been given (6 : 10), for the judgment of 
 God upon the guilty city is supposed to have taken place. 
 Blunt : " It is plain that the words have a compre- 
 hensive character, relating to the martyrs who suffered 
 under Roman dominion in the Apostolic age, and to 
 those who shall fall as martyrs in the Great Tribulation 
 of the last times." Your judgment. Alford : " God 
 hath exacted from her that judgment of vengeance which 
 is due to you." 
 
 e-j. Symbolic Proclamation of Babylon's Fall 
 (xviii. 21-24). 
 
 21. And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone, and 
 cast it into the sea, saying, 
 Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, 
 and shall be found no more at all. 
 
 A symbolical act, immediately explained by the angel, 
 presenting in a most vivid manner the suddenness and 
 completeness of the destruction of Babylon. Both the 
 might of the angel and W\& greatness of the millstone are 
 emphasized. At the basis of this passage lies Jer. 51 : 63, 
 64. Andreas of Crete has already given us the true 
 meaning : " Just as the millstone sinks by its impulse 
 into the sea, so also the destruction of this Babylon shall 
 be all at once, so that not a trace of it shall be preserved 
 for posterity." 
 
 22. And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trum- 
 peters shall be heard no more at all in thee ; 
 
 And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more 
 at all in thee ; 
 
 And the voice of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. 
 
 For the imagery see Jer. 25 : 10 (which denunciation, 
 
258 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xviii. 23, 24. 
 
 however, refers to Jerusalem) and Ezek. 26: 13 (where 
 the reference is to Tyre). MiLLlGAN : " The destruction 
 spoken of is enlarged on in strains of touching eloquence, 
 but it is unnecessary to dwell on the particulars. They in- 
 clude everything belonging either to the business or to the 
 joy of life." The phrase " no more at all " occurs six times 
 in verses 21-23. I"^ this verse, emphasis is laid upon the 
 fact that three kinds of the activities of life have ceased — 
 the life of pleasure, the life of business, and domestic life. 
 
 23. And the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee ; 
 
 And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no 
 
 more at all in thee ; 
 For thy merchants were the princes of the earth ; 
 For with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. 
 
 Compare the denunciation against Babylon in Isa. 47 : 
 9-12. In the latter part of this verse and ■zrrjTd' 24 we have 
 a threefold statement of the sins of Babylon and of the 
 cause of her downfall : (i) her covetousness, luxury, 
 wealth, and extravagance — her " mercJiants were the 
 princes of the earth " ; (2) her idolatry and licentiousness — 
 " with her sorcery were all the nations deceived ; and (3) 
 her persecution of the saints {verse 24). 
 
 Sadler : " No one can read these verses over without 
 being struck with their extraordinary sublimity and 
 beauty. It is as if the Apocalyptic seer lamented with 
 all his heart the desolation which it was laid upon him to 
 foretell." 
 
 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, 
 And of all that have been slain upon the earth. 
 
 The future Babylon, the great world-city of the Last 
 Days, will be the central power from which all the per- 
 secutions of the saints will arise, especially in the earlier 
 part of Antichrist's rule, before Babylon is destroyed by 
 him and his allied kings (17 : 6). 
 
XVIII. 24-] CHAPTER XVIII. 259 
 
 Here, as everywhere, Wordsworth sees Papal Rome. 
 He thinks that the awful words of this divine prophecy 
 demand some practical application : " The Book of Reve- 
 lation delivers a warning from Almighty God to the 
 world. It proclaims the peril and unhappiness of those 
 who are enthralled by Rome, and its prophetic and 
 comminatory uses ought to be pointed out by Christian 
 ministers, and to be acknowledged by Christian congre- 
 gations. We may forfeit a great blessing and incur 
 great danger, if we neglect these divinely-appointed uses 
 of the Apocalypse, particularly in the present age, when 
 the Church of Rome is busily employed in spreading her 
 snares around us, to make us victims of her deceits, 
 prisoners of her power, slaves of her will, and partners of 
 her doom." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 68. The Song of Triumph in Heaven (xix. i-8). 
 
 I. After these things I heard as it were a great voice of a great multi- 
 tude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah; Salvation, and glory, and power, be- 
 long to our God. 
 
 In the former chapter the Fall of Babylon was an- 
 nounced. In this chapter it is assumed to have taken 
 place, and now the overthrow is celebrated in heaven, by 
 a Song of Victory. As in i8 : 20 the angel calls upon 
 Heaven and its inhabitants to rejoice, so now here, in 
 19 : 1-8, we have the response. This Hallelujah, from 
 the heavenly hosts, the Redeemed Church, and the four 
 living creatures (ig : 4) representing Creation, celebrates 
 the first act of the final sentence upon the antichristian 
 world manifested in the utter destruction of Babylon. 
 Lee calls attention to the fact that from this point on- 
 wards the Apocalypse follows the course of the closing 
 chapters of Ezekiel from Ezek. xxxvi. to the end : 
 " There the land of Israel is comforted, and a resurrec- 
 tion of the dead is described (Ezek. xxxvi., xxxvii.) ; 
 then comes the Gog-catastrophe (Ezek. xxxviii., xxxix.) ; 
 then we read of a new Heaven and a new Jerusalem in a 
 new Holy Land resembling Paradise." 
 
 This great vmltitude evidently consisted of the heav- 
 enly hosts of angels standing round about the throne, 
 and about the elders and the four living creatures (see 
 7 : 11). Hallelujah. That is. Praise ye, Jah or Jehovah, 
 
 an exalted ascription of praise, common to the Psalms, 
 260 
 
XIX. 2-5-] CHAPTER XIX. 261 
 
 repeated in this song four times, and only found here 
 in the whole N. T. Salvation . . . power. See notes 
 on 7 : 10 ; 12 : 10. Songs of praise are also found in 
 4 : 8-11 ; 5 ; 9, 12, 13 ; 7 : 10, 12 ; 11 : 15, 17 ; 15 : 3, 4 ; 
 16 : 5-7. 
 
 2. For true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the 
 great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and he hath 
 avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 
 
 True and righteous. See notes on 15 -: 3 ; 16 : 7. 
 
 Her fornication. See 14 : 8 ; 17 : 2, 4 ; 18:3, Alforu : 
 
 " The vengeance is considered as a penalty exacted, 
 
 forced out of the reluctant hand (Ezek. 33 : 6)." The 
 
 judgments of God correspond to reality and propriety 
 
 of things. Note how this verse is an answer to the prayer 
 
 of 6 : 10. 
 
 3. And a second time they say, Hallelujah. And her smoke goeth up 
 for ever and ever {unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 The smoke of the burning Babylon (18 : 8, 9, 18) shall 
 ascend for ever and ever. Her punishment shall never 
 cease. Lange : " This far surpasses modern sentirnen- 
 talities." It is probably best to refer this to the temporal 
 destruction of Babylon and her worldly glory. This 
 implies, however, that her wicked inhabitants shall suffer 
 everlasting punishment (see notes on 14 : 10, 11). 
 
 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures fell 
 down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen ; 
 Hallelujah. 
 
 See notes on 4 : 8, 10 ; 5 : 8, 1 1-14 ; 7 : 1 1, 12 ; 14 : 3. 
 The representatives of the Redeemed Church and of 
 Creation confirm the praise given by the heavenly host. 
 The mind of heaven is one, both in praising God, and in 
 rejoicing over the vengeance that has overtaken Babylon. 
 
 5. And a voice came forth from the throne, saying. Give praise to our 
 God, all ye his servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great. 
 
262 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. 6, 7. 
 
 It is not necessary to decide whose voice it was that 
 calls upon all servants of God to praise Him. Compare 
 
 Ps. 134: I ; 115 : 13- 
 
 6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the 
 voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Halle- 
 lujah : for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. 
 
 There is an immediate response to the call for praise, 
 given in the last verse. The description of the sound 
 heard suggests an innumerable number of heavenly- 
 voices. Compare i : 15 ; 14 : 2. Basil and Ambrose com- 
 pare the full harmonious response of the congregations 
 in their day to the noise of the sea on the shore ; Jerome 
 likens it to " the heavenly thunderings." Almighty. 
 See notes on i : 8. Reigneth. Though the Greek verb 
 is in the aorist tense, this can only be here properly 
 translated by the present ; or, we might translate, did take 
 the kingdom. Compare also 11 : 15, 17. Boyd-Car- 
 PENTER : " This anthem expresses the exultation of 
 the servants of God that the Kingship of their God is 
 manifested, and vindicated against those who denied, or 
 hated His rule. . . . Their joy arises also from the pros- 
 pect of the nearer union between the Lamb and His 
 Bride. This close union is more fully spoken of later ; 
 here the glorious close is for a moment anticipated : the 
 morning glow announces the coming day ; it is near 
 even at the doors." The things hereafter to take place 
 are here spoken of as if they were already accomplished 
 (see 14 : 8 and 16 : 19). Christ is prophetically con- 
 sidered as already reigning, for His Advent follows so 
 soon after the fall of Babylon. 
 
 7. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto 
 him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made her- 
 self ready. 
 
XIX. 7] CHAPTER XIX. 263 
 
 Alford probably gives the true relation of this verse 
 to what follows in the Apocalypse : " These words in- 
 troduce to us, transitionally, a new series of visions respect- 
 ing the final consummation of the union between 
 Christ and His Church, which brings about the end (21 : 
 
 1, 2) : the solemn opening of which now immediately 
 follows (19 : 11-16). This series, properly speaking, in- 
 cludes in itself the overthrow of the kings of the earth, 
 the binding of Satan, the thousand years' reign, the loos- 
 ing of Satan, the final overthrow of the enemy, and the 
 general judgment : but is not consummated except in 
 the entire union of Christ and His Church with which the 
 book concludes." In its prophetic aspect it is assumed 
 that the time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, though 
 it has not yet occurred in the vision, and will not happen 
 until after the events foretold in Rev. 19 : 11 ; 20 : 15, 
 have taken place. But it is in perfect harmony to speak 
 of this event as having come, for an actual beginning of 
 its fulfilment has been made, for Babylon, the great 
 Harlot, has now in vision received already her merited 
 punishment. This marriage is not here described, and is 
 not fully consummated until after the final judgment (21 : 
 
 2, 9, etc.). 
 
 Others, however, maintain that the song of triumph 
 has not reference to the entire future, but only to the 
 immediate future, and that this marriage of the Lamb 
 takes place at the beginning of the millennial period, and 
 that 21 : 2, 9, 10, do not refer to this marriage but to a 
 nezv manifestation of the Bride. This view implies (i) 
 that the Bride consists only of those saints (the quick 
 and the dead) who have believed on Christ up to the time 
 of His Second Advent and the beginning of the Millen- 
 nium ; (2) that the marriage consists in the union of these 
 saints (the subjects of the First Resurrection) with Christ 
 
264 "^HE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. 8. 
 
 in the glory and government of the millennial kingdom ; 
 (3) that the New Jerusalem state (21 : 2, 9, 10) is not a 
 simple continuance of the millennial kingdom, but the 
 kingdom of Christ raised to a higher plane,— or as 
 Craven presents it (in Lange) : "The millenial kingdom 
 is the reign of the saints over a race and earth freed indeed 
 from the assaults of Satan, but still in measure, in sin 
 and under a curse ; the New Jerusalem period is that of 
 the reign of the saints over a race and earth perfectly 
 purified." A careful exegesis of the passages here in 
 question can alone help us to decide whether there is any 
 foundation for such an interpretation. 
 
 The rejoicing in this verse is in anticipation of the 
 events that will now occur, there being evidently a ref- 
 erence also to the punishment to be visited upon the 
 Beast and the False Prophet, as well as to the near ap- 
 proach of the marriage of the Lamb. This marriage is the 
 blessed union of the Lord with His chosen Bride, the 
 Church. The figure of marriage is borrowed from the 
 O. T. (Isa. 54 : 1-8 ; Ezek. 16:7, 8 ; Hos. 2 : 19, 20). 
 Compare also Matt. 9 : 15 ; 22 : 1-14 ; 25 : 1-13 ; John 
 3 : 29 ; Eph. 5 : 25-32. Respecting the marriage itself, 
 see 21 : 2, 9, etc. His wife hath made herself ready. 
 For the Bride, His Church, has arrayed herself in a be- 
 coming manner. In what her raiment consists, we learn 
 from the next verse. 
 
 8. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, 
 bright ««(/pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 
 
 It is difficult to decide whether these words are apart 
 of the song, or an explanation given by the angel, or by 
 John himself. That this garment of fine linen, bright 
 and pure, is bestowed upon the Church by the grace of 
 God is implied in the expression it was given unto her. 
 
XIX. 9-] CHAPTER XIX. 265 
 
 The reference here is not so much to the robe of Christ's 
 righteousness imparted to the believer by faith, as to the 
 righteous acts of the saints, tlie inherent righteousness, 
 the fruit of the new life, which, however, is also the work 
 of God. This reference to the deeds of the saints is very 
 appropriate here, for the question is of reward to be 
 given to the saints for their fidelity. See also 14 : 13. 
 FauSSET : " Though in one sense she ' made herself 
 ready,' having by the Spirit's work in her put on ' the 
 wedding garment,' yet in the fullest sense it is not she, 
 but her Lord, who makes her ready by granting to her 
 that she be arrayed in fine linen. It is He who by giving 
 Himself for her, presents her to Himself, a glorious 
 Church, not having spot, but holy and without blemish. 
 It is He also who sanctifies her, naturally vile and with- 
 out beauty, and with the washing of water by the Word, 
 and puts His own comeliness on her, which thus becomes 
 hers," 
 
 69. The Blessedness of those Bidden to the Mar- 
 riage Supper of the Lamb (xix. 9). 
 
 9. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are bidden to 
 the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true 
 words of God. 
 
 The speaker is probably the angel of 17:1, This 
 blessedness is affirmed particularly of the individual, 
 for he shall have blessed communion with the Lord. 
 This is one of the six benedictions of the Apocalypse 
 (i : 3 ; 14 : 13 ; 19 : 9 ; 20 : 6 ; 22 : 7, 14). On the mar- 
 riage supper compare the Parable of the Wedding Gar- 
 ment (Matt. 22 : i-i4),and of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 
 25 : 1-13). These are true words of God. Referring 
 especially to what has been revealed concerning Babylon 
 and the Bride (18 : i — 19 : 9). MiLLIGAN : "After the 
 marriage will come the marriage supper, the fulness of 
 
266 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. lo, ii. 
 
 blessing to be enjoyed by the redeemed. It may be a 
 question whether we are to distinguish between the 
 bride herself and those who appear rather to be spoken 
 of as guests at the marriage supper. But the analogy of 
 Scripture, and especially of such passages as Matt. 22 : 2 ; 
 26 : 29, leads to the conclusion that no such distinction 
 can be drawn. Those who are faithful in the Lord are 
 at once the Lamb's bride, and the Lamb's guests." 
 
 70. The Angel Forbids John to Worship Him 
 (xix. 10). 
 
 10. And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And he saith unto 
 me, See thou do it not ; I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy 
 brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God: for the testi- 
 mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 
 
 John was so overcome by the awful ness of the vision 
 that out of undue reverence to the angel who showed 
 him these latter visions (17 ; i), he fell at his feet to 
 adore him. But the answer came — Worship God alone ; 
 I am also a servant of God as thou art. The argument 
 of the angel is somewhat as follows: Both he and John 
 are engaged in the same work, prophesying concerning 
 Christ, and as in both cases the witness borne to Jesus is 
 the spirit of prophecy, the result of the Spirit working in 
 them (i Pet. i : 11), so both stand on the same footing 
 before God, and both must worship God alone. Lee : 
 " Worship God, whose servants we both are (see 22 : 6, 9) 
 — of whose prophetic Spirit we alike partake in this our 
 common ministry ; and therefore one of us may not 
 worship the other." 
 
 71. The Vision OF THE Second Advent (xix. 11-16). 
 
 11. And I saw the heaven opened ; and behold, a white horse, and he 
 that sat thereon, called Faithful and True ; and in righteousness he doth 
 judge and make war. 
 
XIX. II.] CHAPTER XIX. 267 
 
 Although the opening words of this vision are the 
 same as that recorded in 6 : 2, the two do not refer to 
 the same event (see notes on 6 : 2). Here we have a 
 description of the Revelation of Christ to destroy Anti- 
 christ, and He is represented as sitting on a white horse, 
 as the Conqueror. As in 3 : 7, 14, so here Christ is called 
 and described as the Faithful 2ind True, f ait hful hecdiUSQ 
 He will keep His promises to those who have remained 
 faithful, and true, for He manifests Himself as their true 
 Saviour, the Messiah announced in the O. T. Righteous- 
 ness also marks His progress in war, as clearly foretold in 
 Isa. 1 1 : 3-5, for " he shall not judge after the sight of his 
 eyes," " and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the 
 wicked, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, 
 and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Compare also 
 
 Ps. 45 : 3-5- 
 
 FauSSET calls especial attention to the fact that we 
 must distinguish between this Coming of Christ to de- 
 stroy Antichrist (Matt. 24 : 27, 29, 30, 37, 39), and the 
 end or final Judgment (Matt. 25 : 31 ; i Cor. 15 : 23, 24 ; 
 Rev. 20: 11-15). Dennett: "Until this point, from 
 chapter iv. and onwards, we have been occupied with 
 actings and events, whether in heaven or on earth, which 
 take place between the rapture of the saints at the com- 
 ing of the Lord, as described in i Thess. iv., and His 
 public appearing in glory. The time of His patience 
 has now ended ; and heaven opens for Him to come forth 
 in judgment, when ' every eye shall see Him, and they 
 which pierced him ; and all the tribes of the earth shall 
 mourn over him ' (i : 7). It may also be remarked, as 
 helping to understand this section of the book, that 
 from 19 : II to 21 : 8, we have a consecutive history, be- 
 ginning with the appearing of Christ, and closing with 
 the eternal scene in the new heaven and the new earth. ' 
 
268 THE REVELATION OF ST JOHN. [xix. 12, 13. 
 
 12. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many dia- 
 dems ; and he hath a name written, which no one knoweth but he himself- 
 
 Hiseyes a flame of fire. A type of purity and judg- 
 ment. See notes on i : 14. Many diadems. Probably 
 because He is King of kings (19 : 16}. The true Heir 
 waited till the time determined by the Father, and now, 
 after His long sitting at the right hand of God, He comes 
 forth, crowned with many crowns, to take His inheri- 
 tance, and to reign till He hath put all His enemies under 
 His feet (i Cor. 15 : 25). A name written. Evidently 
 the neza najue reierred to in 3 : 12 (which see). It cannot 
 be the name given in 19 : 13 or in 19 : 16, for both these 
 names are known. CURREY : " This betokens that 
 there is in the Nature and the Person of our Lord that 
 which it is beyond the capacity of man to comprehend. 
 It is not so much t/ie name, as the full import of the 
 name, which no man can know." " No one knoweth the 
 Son, save the Father " (Matt. 1 1 : 27). 
 
 13. And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood : and his name 
 is called The Word of God. 
 
 Now the prophetic description of Isaiah {6^^ : 1-6) 
 receives its true fulfilment : " Who is this that cometh 
 from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? . . . 
 I have trodden the winepress alone. ... I trod 
 them in mine anger, and trampled them in my fury ; and 
 their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I 
 have stained all my raiment. For the day of vengeance 
 was in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is 
 come. . . ." The reference here in Isaiah as well as 
 in the Apocalypse is to the blood of the enemies of 
 Christ. Some ancient authorities read " garment dipped 
 in blood." The Word of God, Only used by St. John, 
 —a strong argument in favor of his authorship of the 
 
XIX. 14, IS-] CHAPTER XIX. 269 
 
 Apocalypse. Lee : " At His first coming, in humility, 
 He is known as ' The Son of Man ' ; at His Second Com- 
 ing, in glory, as ' The Word of God.' " 
 
 14. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white 
 horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. 
 
 These armies will consist of myriads of holy angels and 
 all the glorified saints, who were raised and translated at 
 the time of the Rapture (l Thess, 4 : 15-17), which will 
 precede the great Tribulation. This mighty host is not 
 equipped for war, they have no armor, neither do they 
 wear crowns. They are but spectators of the glories of 
 their Lord and triumph with Him, and no blood is 
 sprinkled upon tJieir garments. Compare also Ps. no: 
 3-6. By the linen, white and pure, is symbolized the 
 holiness and purity of the armies of heaven. 
 
 15. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he 
 should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and 
 he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. 
 
 This szvord is the word of God in its judging power. 
 See notes on i : 16. The whole symbolism is descriptive 
 of warfare, victory and judgment. He shall rule them. 
 See notes on 2 : 27 ; 12 : 5. All these passages are based 
 on Ps. 2 : 9. Treadeth. See notes on 14 : 10, 19, 20. 
 Compare also Lsa. 63 : 2-6. The two images of the 
 "cup of his anger "and of the " winepress " in 14: 10, 
 19, 20, are here combined, Dennett : " In these few 
 brief sentences the coming of Christ in judgment, the ex- 
 ecution of God's vengeance, the establishment of His 
 throne, the subjection of all kings and all nations to His 
 sway, and His supreme exaltation in the earth, are all 
 comprised. It is the complete fulfilment of the second 
 psalm. The sharp sword is the Word of God, according 
 to which the nations will be judged, and with which they 
 
270 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. 16. 
 
 will be judicially smitten. The rod of iro?i expresses the 
 absolute and inflexible character of His government, 
 while the ivinepress, as the context shows, as well as the 
 vintage judgment of chapter xiv., speaks of the unspar- 
 ing and unmitigated vengeance which will be poured out 
 upon that awful day." Boyd-Carpenter: " The power 
 of this Word found an illustration in the falling back of 
 the hostile band which came to take Him in the day of 
 hishumilation (John 18 : 5); yet more gloriously will the 
 power of His Word now be felt (compare Isa. 11: 4; Jer. 
 23 : 29 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 8) when He will slay the wicked 
 with the word of His wrath. The passage in Ps. 2 : 9 
 must be borne in mind. Christ comes as king ; His is a 
 rule in righteousness ; those who oppose this kingdom of 
 righteousness find the shepherd's staff as a rod of iron ; 
 the stone rejected falls upon the builders, and grinds 
 them to powder. It is thus that the winepress of God's 
 wrath is set up, and the righteous king appears as one 
 who treads it (Isa. 63 : 1-3). He Himself (the emphasis 
 lies here) treads it. We have again the figure of the 
 vintage made use of (14 : 20). It is the harvest of ret- 
 ribution ; the wicked are filled with the fruit of their own 
 doings." The wrath of Almighty God. Fausset : 
 " The fierceness of Christ's wrath against His foes will 
 be executed with the resources of omnipotence." 
 
 16. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, king 
 
 OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 
 
 It is probably best to regard the name written partly on 
 the garment, and partly on the thigh itself, at the part 
 where, in an equestrian figure, the robe drops from the 
 thigh. The name itself was a pledge that He will con- 
 quer all the kings of the earth, and manifest Himself 
 King of all kings. See notes on 17 : 14. Boyd-Carpen- 
 
XIX. t6.] chapter XIX. 271 
 
 TER : " The King rides at the head of His host. On 
 His robe, where it spreads out from the waist, His title 
 is inscribed ; it proclaims Him to be the one who is the 
 true supreme King of all. . . . The title anticipates the 
 final victory ; His power is irresistible, His kingship is 
 universal." 
 
 The whole context shows that in this section we have 
 a description of the Second Advent, and that it takes 
 place before the Millennium spoken of in 20 : 4-6. This 
 question, however, has been the occasion of much dis- 
 cussion during the last two hundred years. For the view 
 of the Futurists, which as a rule are Pre-Millennialists, see 
 pages xxix.-xxxv. of the Introduction, and also Excursus 
 I., where nearly all the scripture passages are given upon 
 which the greatest stress is laid. Those who wish to 
 make this subject a special study will find an excellent 
 presentation of the view held by Pre-Millennialists in 
 Blackstone's/r.y//.y is Coming, a small volume of 160 pages.i 
 
 1 Craven (in Lange, pp. 339, 340) gives a concise summary of the Pre- 
 millennarian view : " The Piemillennarians rely principally on two classes 
 of passages : (i) Those which seem to connect the future Advent with the 
 restoration of Israel, the destruction of Antichrist, or the establishment of 
 a universal kingdom of righteousness on earth, such as Isa. 11 : i — 12: 6; 
 56: 20, 21, compared with Rom. 11 : 25-27; Jer. 23: 5-8; Ezek. 43: 2, 
 etc.; Dan. 7: 9-27; Joel 3: 16-21: Zech. 14: 1-2 1 ; Rom. 11: 1-27; 2 
 Thess. I : 1-8; Acts 3: 19-21 ; (2). Those passages which speak of the 
 coming of the Lord as imminent (in connection with those which declare 
 that there is to be a period of generally diffused peace and righteousness 
 preceding the final consummation), such as Matt. 24: 42-44: Mark 13: 
 32-37 ; Luke 12 : 35-40 ; i Thess. 5 : 2, 3 ; Tit. 2 : 1 1-13 ; James 5:7.8. 
 
 In a special note on Acts 3 : 19-21, Dr. Craven maintains that a careful 
 study of all Scripture passages bearing on the restoratioti here spoken of 
 seems to warrant us in affirming: (i) A restoration of the hearts of the 
 fathers to the children (Mai. 4 : 6). (2) The restoration of the rejected 
 seed of Jacob to holiness and the consequent favor of God (Isa. 1:25; 
 Jer. 24: 7) (3). The restoration of Israel to their own land. (4) The estab- 
 lishment of Israel, not again to be dispersed (Jer, 24 : 6, 7). (5) The estab- 
 
272 THE R EVE LA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. 17. 
 
 The ablest presentation of the view held by the Post- 
 Millennialists is that given in Dr. David Brown's Chrisf s 
 Seco7id Comings the standard work on this subject. For 
 the presentation of thfe' view of the Post-Millennialists 
 see Excursus VI. 
 
 •]2. The Victory over the Beast and the False 
 Prophet (xix. 17-21). 
 
 17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun : and he cried with a loud 
 voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, Come and be gathered 
 together unto the great supper of God. 
 
 Verses 17 and 18 emphasize the vastness, universality, 
 and terribleness of the slaughter that will take place in 
 this final conflict with Antichrist and his armies. Both 
 verses are based upon Ezek. 39 : 17-21, which is in 
 substance here reproduced. Compare also Matt. 24 : 28. 
 In the sun. Duesterdieck : " Because from this stand- 
 point, and at the same time with the glory suitable to an 
 angel, he can best call to the fowls flying in mid-heaven." 
 The great supper of God. Not the supper spoken of in 
 19 : 9, but rather just the very opposite, the supper which 
 is reserved for the ungodly, in which they are the prey. 
 
 lishment of the kingdom of righteousness as a visi ble kingdom, in power 
 and great glory, with its seat at Jerusalem (Isa. i : 25, 26; 2 : 2, 3; 58 : 12- 
 14; Jer. 23: 5-8; 33: 7-13- (6) The gathering of all nations as tributary 
 to Israel or the Church. (7) The Palingenesia, the new heavens and the 
 new earth (Isa. 11 : 1-9 : 65 : 17-25). 
 
 Dr. Craven, in order to give due stress to the Scripture passages on which 
 the Post-Millennialists base their arguments for the view that Christ will 
 not come until after the Millennium and at the time of the Final Consum- 
 mation, suggests that it is evidently the teaching of Scripture "that two 
 Advents still future are predicted — the one for the establishment of the 
 kingdom (at which shall take place a partial resurrection and judgment) ; 
 the other at the final consummation, at which time shall take place the 
 general judgment." 
 
XIX. i8, 19.] CHAPTER XIX. 273 
 
 We have here one aspect of " the war of the great day of 
 God, the Almighty "(16 : 14). 
 
 18. That ye may eat the flesh of khigs, and the flesh of captains, and 
 the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit 
 thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great. 
 
 Such is the terrific nature of the awful slaughter that 
 shall overtake Antichrist and his armies. Compare 
 Ezek. 39 : 17-21. Flesh. WORDSWORTH calls attention 
 to the fact that the word flesh is repeated five times "to 
 denote the completeness and universality of God's retri- 
 bution, and the destruction of all His cardial ioQs." All 
 men. That is, all the ungodly. Compare the parallel 
 description of the Coming of Christ in 6: 15-17. DEN- 
 NETT: "The flower of Europe in men and arms will be 
 gathered together, and in anticipation of their dreadful 
 fate this angelic summons resounds in the heavens." 
 
 19. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, 
 gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and 
 against his army. 
 
 This is the same beast mentioned in 13:1 and in 17 : 
 II, 13, 14, even Antichrist himself. This is the war of the 
 great day of God (16 : 14), the war against the Lamb (17 : 
 14), that shall take place at Har-Magedon (16 : 16). The 
 kings of the earth are the same as those spoken of in 17 : 
 12-14. The armies of the Lord are referred to in 19: 14, 
 spoken of here in the singular " in order to mark the holy 
 unity of the entire army of Christ, in contrast with the great 
 body of his enemies " (Duesterdieck). A clear summary 
 is given by WORDSWORTH : " Here is an ampler descrip- 
 sion of the battle pre-announced in the Sixth Vial (16 : 
 13-16). See also 17 : 13, 14. The battle itself does not 
 take place till now. Thus we are now brought again to 
 the eve of the end. Observe the sequence of events. 
 The mystical Babylon is now fallen (18 : 2 ; 19:2). After 
 
274 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xix. 20. 
 
 her fall, the Beast and False Prophet still survive, and 
 they muster their forces against Christ, and rise up against 
 Him in a great rebellion, called the conflict of Har- 
 Magedon (16 : 16). They are there routed by Christ and 
 His army; and the' Beast and false Prophet are seized 
 and cast into the Lake of fire (19 : 20). And now there re- 
 mains one great enemy, the Dragon. . . . This will be 
 the final struggle." SADLER : '* Is the Beast, then, to be 
 distinguished as one personal entity from the kings of 
 the earth and their armies? It would seem so, and yet, 
 where all is so involved in mystery, it is impossible to 
 speak certainly. Many things in this book would lead 
 us to believe that he is not a mere figure, a mere imper- 
 sonation of the world-power. He cannot be any Kingdom, 
 for the kings and kingdoms are distinguished from him." 
 Sadler, however, belongs to that class which holds that 
 tJie false propliet is Antichrist, and hence his dilemma. 
 
 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that 
 wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had 
 received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image : they 
 twain were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. 
 
 The beast was taken. In what way, the future alone 
 can reveal. On the false prophet, who is identical with 
 the Second Beast, see notes on 13:11-17. Both the 
 Beast and the False Prophet will be cast into Gehenna, 
 or Hell proper (Matt. 5 : 22, 29, 30 ; 10 : 28 ; 18:9; Mark 
 9 : 43, 45, 47), See Excursus II. on Hades. Into this 
 Gehenna, Satan also will be cast after the Millennium (20 : 
 10), and it is also distinctly stated, that after the Final 
 Judgment all those whose names are " not found written 
 in the book of life " shall be " cast into the lake of fire," 
 which is " the Second Death" (20: 14, 15). Were cast 
 alive. This heightens the idea of the terror and awful- 
 ness of their punishment. Two men in Old Testament 
 
XIX. 21.] CHAPTER XIX. 275 
 
 times passed alive into heaven, and here these two arch- 
 enemies of God and His Christ are cast alive into the 
 lake of fire. De Wette : " They are judged earlier than 
 Satan because their existence and activity have attained 
 their end ; whilst, on the other hand, Satan, by virtue of 
 the course of development of things, still has a root in 
 the world, and must again make his appearance, although 
 bound for a thousand years." Fausset makes a very sug- 
 gestive comment : " Many expositors represent the first 
 beast to be the secular, the second beast to be the eccle- 
 siastical power of Rome. . . . I think it not unlikely that 
 the false prophet will be the successor of the spiritual 
 pretensions of the Papacy : while the beast, in its last 
 form, as the fully revealed Antichrist, will be the secular 
 representative and embodiment of the fourth world- 
 kingdom, Rome, in its last form of intensified opposition 
 to God. (Compare with this prophecy, Dan. 2 : 34, 35, 
 44 ; 1 1 : 44, 45 ; 12 : i ; Joel 3 : 9-17 ; Zech. xii., xiii., 
 xiv.) The first Beast is a political power; the second, a 
 spiritual power. But both are Beasts, the worldly anti- 
 christian wisdom serving the worldly antichristian power. 
 . . . Between the judgment on Babylon, and the Lord's 
 destruction of the Beast, will intervene that season in 
 which earthly-mindedness will reach its culmination, 
 and antichristianity triumph for a short time. It is char- 
 acteristic that Antichrist and his kings, in their blindness, 
 imagine that they can wage war against the King of 
 heaven with earthly hosts." 
 
 21. And the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the 
 horse, even the sword which came forth out of his mouth ; and all the birds 
 were filled with their flesh. 
 
 By the rest are meant " all the followers of Antichrist," 
 the armies of verse 19, not " all the inhabitants of the 
 earth." Probably they all suffered bodily death, and 
 
276 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xrx. 21. 
 
 their souls went into Hades, there to await the resurrection 
 of the wicked and the Final Judgment (20 : 13-15). They 
 may have been stricken down by the word of Christ, Hke 
 Ananias and Sapphira (Acts v.). On this verse compare 
 Isa. II : 4; 2 Thess. 2:8; and notes on 19: 17, 18. 
 Alford : " All this must not be spiritualized. For if so, 
 what is this gathering? what is indicated by the coming 
 forth of the Lord in glory and majesty? Why is His 
 personal presence wanted for the victory ? " 
 
 The Scriptures very plainly teach that this Second 
 Advent of Christ will be visible and will precede the Mil- 
 lennium. Thus AUBERLEN : " This coming of Christ to 
 establish His kingdom of glory upon earth must be care- 
 fully distinguished from His coming to the Final Judg- 
 ment. It is this coming which both Daniel and John 
 describe (Rev. 19 : 11, 12 ; Dan. 2 : 44 ; 7 : 9-14, 26, 27) ; 
 it is this coming by which all shall be fulfilled which the 
 prophets of the O. T. have prophesied concerning the 
 Messianic time of peace and prosperity ; it is this com- 
 ing which the Lord Jesus refers to in His discourse, 
 Matt. 24 : 29-31, as distinguished from that spoken in 
 Matt. 25 : 31. 
 
 Duesterdieck maintains that the allegorical exposition 
 of this chapter arrays itself against the whole context, 
 and he gives a brief history of its interpretation. Some 
 think that the fozvls of verses 17 and 21 are the Goths 
 and Vandals, others, the Turks ; some see in the kings of 
 verse 19, Julian and his nobles, etc. ; others, as C. a La- 
 pide, have thought that the fulfilment of this prophecy 
 could be shown in the horrible death and burial of here- 
 tics, and the latter, a Roman Catholic, " cites authors 
 who report of Luther that he committed suicide, and 
 that at his burial not only a multitude of ravens, but 
 also the Devil, who had come from Holland, appeared." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 73. The Binding of Satan (xx. 1-3). 
 
 1. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of 
 the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 
 
 This angel is a real angel, not Christ Himself, probably 
 Michael, who once before had conquered Satan. See 
 notes on 12 : 7-9. Tlie key of the abyss is here given by 
 Christ (i : 18) to a powerful angel to carry out God's 
 purpose with reference to Satan. On abyss, see notes on 
 9 : I, 2, II. This abyss is the present abode of Satan 
 and his angels, and is to be distinguished from the lake 
 of fire (20 : 10), the final place of Satan's punishment. 
 A great chain. Upon his hand, and hanging down on 
 both sides, lay a great and heavy chain, in order that 
 Satan might be bound securely, — a very concrete picture, 
 suggesting the power and craftiness of the Devil. 
 
 It seems almost certain that we have here a continu- 
 ous narrative, beginning with the event recorded in 19 : 
 II, and closing with 21 : 8. 
 
 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil 
 and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 
 
 This is the same great dragon mentioned in 12 : 9. 
 
 (See notes on 12 : 7-9.) MiLLlGAN : "The binding is 
 
 more than a mere limitation of Satan's power. It puts a 
 
 stop to that special evil working of his which is in the 
 
 Seer's eye." Blunt : " If we ask why the Evil One 
 
 should not be bound forever, so that he should be able 
 
 to do no more harm to God's people, the question is but 
 
 277 
 
278 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 3. 
 
 a reopening of the ancient problem of the world's spirit- 
 ual history, the mystery of God's permission of the pres- 
 ence of evil in the world at all. But there is also the 
 answer that all events await the times destined for them 
 in the Divine Providence ; and that it is also clearly repre- 
 sented as His purpose for Satan to be overthrown by 
 successive stages, and not at one blow." 
 
 3. And cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that 
 he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be 
 finished : after this he must be loosed for a little time. 
 
 Notice with what clearness and correctness the descrip- 
 tion of the fate of Satan is given in these two verses — he 
 is laid hold of, then bound, then cast into the abyss, then 
 shut in, then sealed in, that he should deceive the nations 
 no more until the end of a certain definite period. It is 
 clearly presupposed and implied here, that after the de- 
 struction of the hosts of Antichrist in 19 : 21, there will 
 remain nations on earth who did not take part in that 
 conflict, and that these same nations shall continue on 
 earth during the period in which Satan is bound, and 
 that at the end of this period, when Satan is loosed 
 again, he will again deceive some of these nations, espe- 
 cially tliose " which are in the four corners of the earth, 
 God and Magog " (20 : 8). Bengel : " This period it- 
 self, of a thousand years, is distinguished by a new, great, 
 pure, and long-continued exemption from internal and 
 external evils, since the authors of these evils are removed, 
 and by an abundance of varied happiness, such as the 
 Church hitherto has not beheld. . . . He must deny the 
 perspicuity of Scripture altogether zvJio persists in denying 
 this, and who endeavors to refute it. . . . There is no error, 
 much less danger, in maintaining that the thousand years 
 SiXC future, but rather in interpreting these years, whether 
 future or past, in a carnal sense. The doctrine respect- 
 
XX. 3-] CHAPTER XX. 279 
 
 ing the Son of God is a mystery, His ^r<?^.y is a mystery, 
 and lastly, YWs glory also." 
 
 Most commentators, since the time of Augustine, sup- 
 pose that this binding of Satan for a thousand years be- 
 gan when Christ gained the victory over Satan by His 
 death on the cross, or that it began at some definite 
 period in the past. But such an interpretation is incon- 
 sistent with the whole teaching of the Apocalypse, with 
 the history of the Church in the past, and with Christian 
 experience. If any one thing is clear, it is this, that the 
 power of Satan has not as yet been bound. This bind- 
 ing still lies in the future. Satan will not be bound until 
 after Christ's victory over Antichrist, and until after His 
 Second Coming. There is every reason to maintain that 
 this chapter follows the preceding one in chronological 
 order, and that there is no recapitulation here. 
 
 Sadler : " All this is evidently in the future. . . . 
 Now let the reader remember that no matter what mean- 
 ing — spiritual or literal— we give to this sealiiig and this 
 chain, yet, if we are to be guided by Scripture, the abyss 
 is evidently a real, actual place (Luke 8:31). With 
 respect to his deceiving the nations no more, this cannot 
 signify that sin is put an end to, because the nations have 
 not yet risen again in their sinless bodies : so that in 
 each person there yet remains original sin (and sin must 
 involve deception), but there is no longer that combina- 
 tion on the side of evil which it is the especial preroga- 
 tive of Satan to bring about." LuTHARDT : "The 
 thousand years of the binding of Satan cannot lie in the 
 past — say, for example, in the time of the German 
 Empire, from Charlemagne 800 A. D. to 1806 ; for Satan 
 was not then bound, but loose in Rome and elsewhere, 
 and Luther himself caused the Church to sing : 
 " ' And check the stroke of Pope and Turk.' 
 
2 8o THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [XX. 4. 
 
 Consequently, here a period of the future is meant, in 
 which no longer sin, but Christ and His Word, shall be 
 the controlling power in history, although the obedience 
 shown by all may not be the inner obedience of the 
 heart." 
 
 74. The Millennial Kingdom of Christ (xx. 4-6). 
 
 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given 
 unto them : 2a\A I sazv the souls of them that had been beheaded for the 
 testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not 
 the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their fore- 
 head and upon their hand ; and they Uved, and reigned with Christ a thous- 
 and years. 
 
 Compare Dan. 7:9,"! beheld till thrones were placed, 
 and one that was ancient of days did sit ; " Matt. 19 : 28, 
 " Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when 
 the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye 
 also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel;" Dan. 7 : 22, " 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." John saw thrones, where it is not definitely 
 stated, but evidently in heaven, although some would 
 place their thrones on earth. The number of these 
 thrones is not given, probably many, including the 
 thrones for the Apostles. They sat upon them. Who 
 these were, we are not expressly told, probably the 
 Apostles, and such saints as are worthy, — possibly those 
 mentioned in this verse as reigning with Christ. Judg= 
 ment was given unto them. The reference can only be 
 to a judicial rule over the nations on the earth during the 
 thousand years, the nature of which we cannot explain. 
 Two special objects are seen in this vision, (i) thrones; 
 and (2) souls, that lived and reigned with Christ. The 
 
XX. 4.] CHAPTER XX. 281 
 
 souls. Two classes of souls are here spoken of as living 
 rt'^rtzw and reignifig with Christ : (i) all martyrs who were 
 beheaded for Christ's sake ; and (2) all martyrs who suf- 
 fered during the great persecution raging during the 
 times of Antichrist. They lived. They revived, lived 
 again. LUTHARDT : " The words can only be under- 
 stood of a bodily resurrection, but of course in a glori- 
 fied body." Alford : " I cannot consent to distort 
 words from their plain sense and chronological place in 
 the prophecy, on account of any consideration of diffi- 
 culty, or any risk of abuses which the doctrine of the 
 millennium may bring with it. Those who lived next to the 
 Apostles, and the whole Church for three hundred years, 
 understood them in the plain literal sense : and it is a 
 strange sight in these days to see expositors who are 
 among the first in reverence of antiquity complacently 
 casting aside the most cogent instance of consensus 
 which primitive antiquity presents. As regards the text 
 itself, no legitimate treatment of it will extort what is 
 known as the spiritual interpretation now in fashion. If 
 in a passage where tzvo resurrections 3.re mentioned, where 
 certain souls lived at the first, and the rest of the dead 
 lived only at the end of a specified period after the first, 
 — if in such a passage the first resurrection maybe under- 
 stood to mean spiritual rising with Christ, while the 
 second means literal rising from the grave ; — then there 
 is an end of all significance in language, and Scripture is 
 wiped out as a definite testimony to anything. If the 
 first resurrection is spiritual, then so is the second, which 
 I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain ; but if 
 the second is literal, then so is the first, which in common 
 with the whole primitive Church and many of the best 
 modern expositors, I do maintain, and receive as an 
 article of faith and hope." And reigned with Christ. 
 
282 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 4. 
 
 This passage gives us no foundation for the view that the 
 Lord Himself, with His risen and glorified saints, shall be 
 visibly present on earth during this period. The reign- 
 ing of the saints with Christ over this earth takes place 
 from heaven. The thrones which the Apostle saw are 
 not on earth, but in heaven. In Rev. 4 : 4 the thrones 
 are in heaven, so also in 1 1 : 16, we have the same scene 
 repeated, and 3:21 helps us to determine more definitely 
 the place, " I will give to him to sit down with me in my 
 throne, as I sat down with my Father in his throne." 
 The Father's throne, and Christ's throne is in heaven, 
 and it is best, therefore, to regard these thrones which 
 John saw as in heaven, and the risen saints will therefore 
 reign with Christ front heaven, for they partake of His 
 Glory and Kingdom. So also Delitzsch : " Is it con- 
 ceivable that the glorified Lord will permanently dwell 
 upon the old unglorified earth ? . . . Bengel could not 
 conceive of that ; and as little could Jacob Boehme, 
 the German philosopher, whose tendency was realistic, 
 and whose mind was also given to mystery. I have al- 
 ways preferred the exegesis of Bengel, according to 
 which, Rev. 20 : 4, ' they lived, and reigned with Christ a 
 thousand years,' indicates a reigning of ascended saints 
 who rule, with Christ, from heaven." AUBERLEN, who 
 discusses this subject very fully, takes the same view of 
 the reigning of these Risen Saints : " They likewise 
 reign with Christ a thousand years. After having gath- 
 ered His Church, and after having taken His bride to 
 Himself, Christ returns with her to heaven. Earth is not 
 as yet transfigured, and can, consequently, not be the 
 locality meet for the transfigured Church. But from 
 heaven the saints now rule the earth, whence we may 
 conclude, that one of the glories of the millennium shall 
 consist in the much freer and more vivid communion of 
 
XX. 5, 6.] CHAPTER XX. 283 
 
 the heavenly and earthly churches in particular, and the 
 lower and higher world in general ; a type of which state 
 may be seen in the forty days of the Risen Saviour, 
 during which He appeared to His disciples. ... In 
 this respect we must view the millennial kingdom as a 
 time of new divine revelations, which reappear after the 
 long pause during the Church-historical period." A 
 thousand years. This number, as the duration of the 
 millennial kingdom, is peculiar to the Apocalypse. 
 Whether it is to be regarded as denoting with chrono- 
 logical accuracy the duration of the kingdom, or is to 
 be used in its symbolical signification, as denoting that 
 the world will now during a certain definite period be 
 penetrated perfectly by the divine element, will always 
 remain an open question, but there is no reason why we 
 should reject the literal meaning. See also Exairsus 
 Vn. on the Millemihim. 
 
 5. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be 
 finished. This is the first resurrection. 
 
 If we accept the Futurist view that all the believing 
 dead, including the O. T. saints, are raised at the time of 
 the Rapture, when the saints are caught up to meet Christ 
 in the air (i Thess. 4 : 15-17), — all this occurring before 
 the tribulation, — then the first resurrection refers to the 
 Tribulation Saints alone. The remaining dead are not 
 raised until the day of the Final Judgment, as described 
 in 20 : 11-15. In the first resurrection here referred to, 
 only the two classes of dead believers take part, in order 
 to reign with Christ during a thousand years. See Excur- 
 sus VIII. on the First Resurrection. 
 
 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; over 
 these the second death hath no power ; but they shall be priests of God 
 and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 
 
 Those who become partakers of this first resurrection 
 
284 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 6. 
 
 shall be eternally holy and blessed ; before the final judg- 
 ment and their abode in the new heavens and new earth, 
 they shall already, during the thousand years of the Mil- 
 lennium, partake of a regal and priestly glory. They shall 
 not come into the judgment (John 5 : 24), for the Second 
 death hath no authority over them, but they shall be 
 present at the Judgment (Rom. 14 : 10 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 10), 
 and in some mysterious way even take part in the judg- 
 ment, for Paul twice asks : " Know ye not that the 
 saints shall judge the world ? " " Know ye not that we 
 shall judge angels?" (i Cor. 6 : 2, 3). The second death. 
 This is "the lake of fire" (19 : 14), the eternal punish- 
 ment of the whole man, body and soul united (Matt. 
 25 : 46). This does not mean annihilation, the blotting 
 of the soul and body out of existence. See notes on 
 14 : II. Priests of God. See notes on i :6; 5 : 10. Shall 
 reign. See notes on 5 : 10; 20:4; and Excursus Yll. 
 on the Millennium. SADLER : " We are assured by the 
 words of the most Apocalyptic book of the O. T. that 
 angels take a part, of course under God, in the direction 
 of kingdoms (Dan. 10 : 5-7, 13, 20, 21; 12 : i). . . . 
 And if angels, why not glorified saints ? In the few places 
 in which the Son of God speaks of the future state of 
 the saints. He speaks of it as a state of rule, and noth- 
 ing better brings into exercise the whole intellectual, 
 moral, and spiritual powers of redeemed man than such a 
 state." A thousand years. See notes on 20 : 4. Lu- 
 THARDT : "Here, consequently, is taught the so-called 
 Chiliasm ; i. e. the rule of Jesus Christ and His glorified 
 Church of faithful confessors over the rest of mankind, 
 which is to follow the present course of the world and 
 the resurrection of the righteous. By the thousand 
 years is meant a great world-day. Not a fleshly rule 
 (compare Augsburg Confession, Art. XVH.), but a 
 
XX. 7, 8.] CHAPTER XX. 285 
 
 spiritual, heavenly reign of peace, and state of blessedness 
 on earth — of which, indeed, inasmuch as it does not per- 
 tain to the present order of things, we have no concep- 
 tin, nor can we frame any idea. But we may be satisfied 
 that we shall ever be with Christ, and that He will glorify 
 His Church before the world — a doctrine which in the 
 first centuries belongs to orthodoxy, but was allowed to 
 decline subsequently. For, as Bengel says : ' When 
 Christianity had attained, through Constantine, the upper 
 hand in the world, the hope of the future became greatly 
 weakened by the enjoyment of the present.' The doc- 
 trine thereby fell into the hands of the fanatics, and was 
 basely perverted." 
 
 75. The Final Victory over Satan (xx. 7-10). 
 
 7. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out 
 of his prison. 
 
 After the completion of the Millennium, during which 
 time Satan has been bound, he shall be loosed for a little 
 time. See notes on 20 : 3. In the providence of God, 
 Satan is once more permitted to turn his demoniacal 
 power against the Church, that the glory of God may be 
 manifested in his irrecoverable overthrow. The reign of 
 the saints with Christ does not cease, and it is highly 
 probable that this final struggle will be as brief as it is 
 fierce. 
 
 8. And shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four 
 corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: 
 the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
 
 When Satan is set loose he shall deceive those nations 
 who are furthest removed from the centre of Christ's 
 kingdom, and stir them up in rebellion against Christ and 
 His Church. Now the prophecies of Ezekiel (38 and 39) 
 
286 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 9. 
 
 receive their final and complete fulfilment. Magog in 
 Ezek. 38 : 2 seems to be a general name for the northern 
 nations, and Gog is their prince. Ever since Ezekiel's 
 time, the names Gog and Magog have been used to desig- 
 nate the enemies of Christ, who shall come up against 
 Jerusalem, in the last day, to destroy it. In the Targum 
 (of Jerusalem) on Num. 1 1 : 27 we read: " At the end of 
 the extremity of the days shall Gog and Magog, and their 
 army, come up against Jerusalem ; but by the hand of 
 King Messiah shall they fall, and seven years of days 
 shall the children of Israel kindle their fires with their 
 weapons of war" (quoted by Duesterdieck). Gebhardt : 
 " After the course of a thousand years, the personal 
 principle of all ungodliness will be loosed from his 
 prison, and, according to the purpose of God, will again 
 become active on earth ; the Devil has still a footing- 
 there ; evil yet exists, and must show its activity in op- 
 position to God and His kingdom. Christianity has 
 spread and triumphed even to the end of the earth ; but 
 there are yet nations who are not subject to it, but who, 
 enslaved and led by the Devil, seek to destroy it." 
 
 9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the 
 camp of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire came down out of 
 heaven, and devoured them. 
 
 So large will be the armies of these nations, that in 
 their march they overspread the land of Palestine, and 
 will sweep everything before them, until they surround 
 the armies of the saints encamped round about Jerusalem. 
 Then the final catastrophe, like a flash of lightning, shall 
 suddenly strike them (Ezek. 38 : 22 ; 39 : 6). Jerusalem 
 shall again be rebuilt and is destined yet to play a most 
 glorious part in the history of the kingdom of God on 
 earth. The Jerusalem here spoken of is not yet the new 
 Jerusalem, of which we will hear in the next chapter. 
 
XX. 10, II.] CHAPTER XX. 287 
 
 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and 
 brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet ; and they shall 
 be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Gr. unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 The devil. Compare notes on 2 : 10 ; 12 : 9, 12 ; 20 : 2. 
 Deceived. Now that judgment will overtake the devil, 
 stress is laid upon his peculiar guilt. Lake of fire. See 
 notes on 19 : 20. Beast and the false prophet. See notes 
 on 19:20. Tormented. See notes on 14 : 10, 11. TJiey 
 shall be tormented ; i. e. the devil, the beast, and the false 
 prophet. The three great enemies of God's kingdom 
 have now been judged and punishment awarded to them. 
 Satan has now been cast into that Gehenna of which our 
 Lord declared that it had been " prepared for the devil 
 and his angels " (Matt. 25 : 41). See also Excursus II. 
 on Hades. 
 
 76. The Final Judgment of the Wicked 
 (xx. 11-15). 
 
 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from 
 whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found no 
 place for them. 
 
 The day of judgment and of the final consummation 
 has come. In vision John beholds the awful scene — a 
 great throne, great corresponding to the glory of the 
 Judge, and zuhite, as symbolizing the purity of His justice. 
 He sees the Father sitting on the throne, for the Day of 
 Judgment has now come. Although the Father hath 
 given all judgment to the Son (John 5 : 22), nevertheless 
 all must receive their judgment before the Father. This 
 does not conflict with Matt. 25 : 31, for the Son sitteth 
 with the Father on His throne (Rev. 3 : 21), and there is 
 only one throne, that " of God and of the Lamb" (22 : i). 
 The earth and the heaven fled away. In 2 Pet. 3 : la- 
 12 we have a full statement of the manner in which this 
 
288 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 12. 
 
 occurs, for this passing away of the earth and heaven 
 shall be by fire. The whole description implies that now 
 the final consummation takes place. The heavens and 
 earth of this corruptible world shall be dissolved, and a 
 new heavens and a new earth, glorious and incorruptible, 
 shall appear (2 Peter. 3 : 13). The old earth and heavens 
 will be completely destroyed, for there was f on fid no place 
 for them. 
 
 12. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the 
 throne ; and books were opened : and another book was opened, which is 
 the book oi \\iQ : and the dead were judged out of the things which were 
 written in the books, according to their works. 
 
 In vision John now sees the Judgment. As the first 
 resurrection referred to believers alone, it seems that this 
 resurrection refers to unbelievers alone. John sees " the 
 rest of the dead " of verse 5, who rose as described in 
 verse 13, standing before the throne. Books were opened. 
 Compare Dan. 7 : 20, " the judgment was set, and the 
 books were opened." In Scripture books are spoken of 
 as the register of all human actions (Ps. 56 : 8 ; Mai. 3 : 
 16 ; Matt. 12 : 37). All these dead are judged according 
 to the words recorded in these books. There are there- 
 fore degrees of punishment, as well of reward. In con- 
 tradiction to the books there is the book of life, one book, 
 which contains only the names of those who will become 
 partakers of the eternal blessed life in heaven (20 : 15). 
 It is highly probable that Hengstenberg and others are 
 correct in maintaining that the books are " those of guilt, 
 condemnation, and death," and that " a name cannot be 
 written both in the books, and in the Book of the Lamb." 
 This then would also favor the view that this judgment 
 refers to unbelievers alone. MiLLIGAN : " The dead are 
 here the wicked alone ; and the books contain a record of 
 no deeds but theirs. There is not the slightest indication 
 
XX. 12.] CHAPTER XX. 289 
 
 that the book of life was opened for judgment. The 
 only purpose for which it is used is that mentioned in 
 verse 15. It will be observed, moreover, that no works 
 are referred to except those of the ivicked. So far, there- 
 fore, from being led by a vicious literalistn to confine the 
 judgment before us to the wicked, such an interpretation 
 appears to be demanded by a plain and natural exegesis 
 of the text." The remarks of Faussett are very sug- 
 gestive : " The wicked who had died from the time of 
 Adam to Christ's Second Advent, and all the righteous 
 and wicked who had died during and after the Millennium, 
 shall then have their eternal portion assigned to them. 
 The godly who were transfigured and reigned with Christ 
 during the Millennium shall also be present, not indeed to 
 have their portion assigned as if for the first time, but to 
 have it confirvied for ever, and that God's righteousness 
 may be vindicated in the presence of the assembled uni- 
 verse'. The living saints are not specially mentioned ; as 
 these all shall probably first (before the destruction of 
 the ungodly of v. 9) be transfigured and caught up with 
 the saints long previously transfigured ; and though pres- 
 ent for the confirmation of their justification by the 
 Judge, shall not then first have their eternal state as- 
 signed to them, but shall sit as assessors with the Judge." 
 These remarks of Fausset raise two questions, which the 
 curious are anxious to have answered : First, What be- 
 comes of the wicked who die after the first resurrection, 
 either during the Millennium or during the rebellion led 
 by Satan ? The answer would be — Their souls descend 
 to Hades to await their resurrection at the Final Judg- 
 ment, as described in the next verse. The second ques- 
 tion is, Do any believers die after the first resurrection, 
 either during the Millennium or afterwards? Various 
 answers have been given by Pre-Millennialists, of which 
 19 
 
290 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xx. 13, 14. 
 
 one kind is represented by the remarks of Fausset. Some 
 maintain, however, that few deaths of beHevers will 
 occur, and if they should die they will be immediately 
 glorified, and that before the passing away of the heav- 
 ens and the old earth, the living are transfigured. But 
 nearly all these questions are mainly matters of specula- 
 tion, for we know, after all, very little of the nature of 
 the Millennium. 
 
 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and 
 Hades gave up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every 
 man according to their works. 
 
 All the ungodly dead, whether buried on earth or 
 drowned in the sea, over whom Death had gained his 
 victory, arose. Death and Hades are both personified. 
 See notes on i : 18 ; 6 : 8. Hades is the place of Death, 
 and all these souls were in Hades. This is another evi- 
 dence that the resurrection here is of the wicked alone. 
 See Excursus H. on Hades. According to their works. 
 The constant teaching of Scripture, repeated from verse 
 12, — the burden of the Judgment. Compare Rom. 2:6; 
 etc. 
 
 14. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the 
 second death, even the lake of fire. 
 
 Death and Hades are here personified, and Hades is 
 regarded as the receiver of the prey of death. See Ex- 
 cursus n. on Hades. The lake of fire. The Gehenna, 
 the final abode of punishment for the wicked. See notes 
 on 20 : 10. Second death. The intensified death, the 
 coming of sinners in their risen bodies to eternal death or 
 perdition (Rev. 17 : 8, 11). See notes on 2 : 1 1 ; 20 : 6. 
 There is no final restoration for the unbeliever. The 
 great conflict between heaven and hell, between God and 
 the Devil, finally comes to an end. 
 
XX. 15.] CHAPTER XX. 291 
 
 The crisis has come, but it ends in an absolute dualism. 
 God and Heaven have obtained the victory. The Devil 
 and Hell have been defeated and overcome. But the 
 Devil is not changed, Hell is not purified, nor are they 
 destroyed in the sense of ceasing to exist. The wicked 
 are not annihilated, but after the day of judgment con- 
 tinue eternally in the lake of fire and brimstone. Death 
 for believing and glorified humanity has now been abol- 
 ished for ever (i Cor. 1 5 : 26); but for unbelieving humanity 
 it exists for ever as the second death, as eternal fire. 
 
 15. And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast 
 into the lake of fire. 
 
 MiLLIGAN : " Here, then, is the purpose, and the only 
 one, for which tJie book of life h spoken of as used at the 
 judgment before us. It was searched in order that it 
 might be seen if any one's name was not written in it ; 
 and he whose name could not be discovered in the pages 
 was cast into the lake of fire." 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 'J']. The Vision of the New Heavens and New 
 Earth (xxi. i-8). 
 
 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and 
 the first earth are passed away ; and the sea is no more. 
 
 The final judgment has taken place, as well as the final 
 consummation of all things. What follows in these last 
 two chapters refers to the eternal kingdom of God in the 
 new heavens and new earth. The purified and renewed 
 earth has now become the abode of glorified humanity, 
 and the tabernacle of God is with men. Now Isa. 65 : 17 ; 
 66 : 22, have received their fulfilment. See also 2 Pet. 
 3:13. Alford : " The vision does not necessarily suppose 
 the annihilation of the old creation, but only its passing 
 away as to its outward and recognizable form, and renewal 
 to a fresh and more glorious one. And though not here 
 stated on the surface, it is evident that the method of 
 renewal is that described in 2 Pet. 3 : 10-12, namely, a 
 renovation hy fire. This alone will account for the un- 
 expected and interesting feature here introduced, that the 
 sea exists no longer." Bengel : " It is not a flourishing 
 state of the Church in the last time which John here de- 
 scribes, but he speaks of all things entirely new and per- 
 fect for eternity." 
 
 2. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven 
 from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 In vision John had seen the new heavens and the new 
 292 
 
XXI. 3-] CHAPTER XXL 293 
 
 earth, prepared by God as the new and eternal abode for 
 His Redeemed, and now in vision John sees the glorified 
 Church coming down out of heaven from God upon the 
 renewed earth. John sees the glorified Church coming 
 as the bride of the Lamb, but this idea passes over into 
 the identifying of the bride with the holy city, the new 
 Jerusalem, the dwelling-place of the bride. Lange : 
 " The new Jerusalem, as the sum of perfected individuals, 
 is the city of God ; in its unity, it is the bride of Christ T 
 Bengel: "This new city has no connection with the 
 Millennium, but belongs to the state of perfect renovation 
 and eternity, as is shown by the series of visions, the 
 magnificence of the description, and the opposition to 
 the second death (20 : 1 1, 12 ; 21 : i, 2, 5, 8, 9 ; 22 : 5)." 
 The description of the holy city, Jerusalem, given in 
 verses 10-27, reproduces in a condensed and transfigured 
 form the corresponding vision of Ezekiel. Hengsten- 
 BERG : " A threefold Jerusalem is peculiar to the N. T. : 
 (i) The heavenly community of the righteous (Gal. 4 : 26 ; 
 Rev. 14 : 1-5) ; (2) The Church in her militant state (11:2; 
 20 : 9) ; (3) The New Jerusalem on the renovated earth, 
 as here ; after whose descent from heaven the two other 
 forms are seen no more. In this tJiird form Jerusalem 
 combines the heavenly character of the first and the 
 earthly existence of the second^ On tJie holy city FauS- 
 SETT comments: "There is no longer merely a Paradise 
 as in Eden, no longer a mere garden, but now the city of 
 God on earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, but at 
 the same time the result of labor and pains such as had 
 not to be expended by man in dressing the primitive 
 garden of Eden." 
 
 3. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, Behold, the 
 tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall 
 be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, a7id be their God. 
 
294 ^-^^ RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 4, 5. 
 
 This voice, coming from the throne of God, describes 
 the blessed condition of the glorified humanity on the 
 renovated earth, for God Himself shall then dwell with 
 His people, composed not only of the Jews — as when in 
 symbol He dwelt in an earthly tabernacle among His 
 chosen people, on the old earth — but now including also 
 the nations (Gentiles), for they also shall partake of the 
 glory of God (21 : 23, 24). WORDSWORTH : " This reali- 
 zation began when the Son of God came down from 
 heaven and tabernacled in our flesh (John i ; 14). It 
 will be consummated in the new Jerusalem, as had been 
 pre-announced in the sixtJi seal, the language of which 
 supplies the best exposition of the present vision." See 
 7 : 15-17. C. A Lapide : '' As a king is with his people, 
 a father with his children, a master with his disciples, so 
 God will be for ever with the blessed in Heaven, re- 
 freshing, feeding, gladdening, blessing them." On this 
 verse compare Rev. 26 : 11, 12 ; Ezek. 37 : 27, 28. 
 
 4. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and death shall 
 be no more ; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any 
 more : the first things are passed away. 
 
 John now describes the eternal consolation of the re- 
 deemed. All this is revealed to encourage believers who 
 are yet on earth. Every tear. Compare Isa. 25 : 8. 
 Death. See notes on 20 : 14. Mourning. Compare Isa. 
 35 : 10. Crying. Compare Isa. 65 : 19. MiLLlGAN : 
 " From all sorrow, whether sharp or dull ; from all burdens, 
 whether proceeding from the body or the mind, the 
 dwellers in the New Jerusalem shall be for ever free. 
 These trials belonged to the first things, to the old earth ; 
 and the old earth, the first things, have passed away." 
 
 5. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things 
 new. And he saith, Write : for these words are faithful and true. 
 
 He who sat on the throne is the same before whom 
 
XXI. 5-] CHAPTER XXL 295 
 
 the Judgment took place (see notes on 20: 11). It is 
 possible that the words, Write . . . true, may have been 
 spoken by an angel, but it is probably best to regard God 
 Himself as the speaker. He assures John that His words 
 are faithful and true, that " the new heavens and the 
 new earth are the end towards which He has been always 
 working" (Milligan). Oa faithful and true, see notes 
 on 3 : 14. On the words, / make all things new, BLUNT 
 remarks : " This New Creation may be viewed chiefly 
 with regard to the bodies and souls of men and their 
 spiritual work, (i) The Body will be re-created in such a 
 manner that it shall be incorruptible (i Cor. 15 : 50). 
 Such bodies as are suitable for the work of this world 
 will not be suited for the immediate Presence-chamber 
 of the all-glorious and all-holy God. ... In the new 
 heaven and the new earth we cannot imagine hunger, 
 thirst, and the capacities and desires which are wef char- 
 acteristic of bodily life as it now is to have any place. . . 
 for He 'shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, 
 that it may be conformed to the body of His glory ' 
 (Phil. 3 : 21). (2) The Soul of man will also be re-created 
 in such a manner that it may befitted for the highest form 
 of spiritual life, that of uninterrupted communion with 
 God by unhindered consciousness of His presence .... 
 From the perpetual shining upon the soul of that light 
 which no man in his mortal condition can approach unto, 
 there must ensue a never-ceasing growthof saintliness and 
 intelligence. (3) The spiritual ivork of man will also be 
 renovated; its one object and purpose will be the wor- 
 ship and contemplation of God ; and whether or not 
 adoration be the sole work of a future life, it is undoubt- 
 edly the typical form of the spiritual work in which all 
 the redeemed will be engaged. The occupations of the 
 saints will be in accordance with their new condition, 
 
2g6 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 6. 
 
 occupations which will engage them wholly in a service 
 of obedience and of adoration." In general agreement 
 with this presentation we find the words of our Saviour : 
 " The sons of this world marry, and are given in mar- 
 riage : but they that are accounted worthy to attain to 
 that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage ; for neither can they 
 die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and 
 are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection " (Luke 
 20:34-36; also Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25). This 
 teaching of Christ holds true, not only during the Millen- 
 nium, but also after the Final Consummation, in the new 
 heavens and new earth. 
 
 6. And he said unto me, They are come to pass. I am the Alpha and 
 the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is 
 athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 
 
 It matters very little whether we regard the Father 
 as speaking, or Christ, probably the latter, for the throne 
 is that " of God and of the Lamb " (22 : i). They are 
 come to pass. All ////;;^5 determined by God, the passing 
 away of the first things (21 : 4), the making of all things 
 new (21 : 5). The end to which all things pointed is 
 reached. The Alpha. See notes on i : 8. The begin- 
 ning. See notes on i : 17; 2 : 8. That is athirst. It is 
 true, as Milligan maintains, that these words are neither 
 a call nor a promise to those in search of the fountain of 
 life, but are spoken rather of those who have already drunk 
 of the living water, nevertheless, we may regard these 
 words, including verses 7 and 8, as written for the warn- 
 ing and encouragement of believers yet in this life. Com- 
 pare also 22 : 13-17. FaUSSET: " This is added lest any 
 should despair of attaining to this exceeding weight of 
 glory. In our present state we may drink of the stream, 
 then we shall drink at the Fountain. Even in heaven 
 
XXI. 7, 8.] CHAPTER XXI. 297 
 
 our drinking at the Fountain shall be God's gratuitous 
 gift." Compare also Isa. 55 : I. Bengel : " Twice it 
 is said in this book, ' It is done.' First at the completion 
 of the wrath of God (16 : 17), and here at the making of 
 all things new." 
 
 7. He that overcometh shall inherit these things ; and I will be his God 
 and he shall be my son. 
 
 Overcometh. See notes on 2 : 7, 1 1, 17. These things. 
 
 The glories of the New Jerusalem. This inheritance 
 includes all the joys of the eternal life in the new heavens 
 and new earth. His God ... my son. Compare 21 : 3. 
 The perfect fulfilment of Lev. 26: 12; 2 Sam, 7: 24, 
 —now fulfilled not only for the house of David, but for 
 all the Redeemed. 
 
 8. But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, 
 and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall 
 be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the second 
 death. 
 
 In the preceding verses we have had a description of 
 the blessed condition of the righteous in the new heavens 
 and earth, and now, in contrast with this, and as a terri- 
 ble warning, we have a brief statement of the punish- 
 ment that shall befall the ungodly. First the ungodly 
 are described in general terms, and then classified accord- 
 ing to the particular sins which they commit. The sins 
 specified are much the same as those mentioned in the 
 sixth Trumpet (9 : 21). Fearful, Coivards, who are afraid 
 to do their duty. Unbelieving. The unfaithful are 
 also included. Abominable. This means more than 
 " polluted with idols," — it includes the foul and abomin- 
 able sins committed in the licentious rites practised in 
 idol-worship. The lake that burneth with fire. See 
 notes on 20 : 14. The second death. See notes on 2 : 
 II ; 20 : 6, 14. 
 
298 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHJST. [xxi. 9, 10. 
 
 78. The Vision of the New Jerusalem (xxi. 9-27). 
 
 9. And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, 
 who were laden with the seven last plagues ; and he spake with me, saying, 
 Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb, 
 
 One of these seven angels had shown to John the 
 vision of the great harlot, Babylon the Great (17 : 1-3). 
 Compare the great contrast between these two visions. 
 In 17 : 1-3 the woman represents the worldly city, Baby- 
 lon the Great, and here the bride, the wife of the Lamb, 
 is the holy city Jerusalem, MiLLlGAN : "The combina- 
 tion of the terms bride diVi^ the Lamb's ivife is remarkable. 
 The Church is not only espoused but married to her 
 Lord, yet she remains for ever in a virgin purity." 
 
 ID. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, 
 and shewed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from 
 God. 
 
 Note the sharp contrast between the scene of this 
 vision and that of 17:3. There it was a zvilderness, 
 here a mountain, great and high. Compare the parallel 
 vision in Ezek. 40 : 1,2. Alford : " The city must not 
 be conceived of as on or covering the mountain, but as 
 seen descending to a spot close by it," so also in Ezek. 
 40 : 2, whether we read by luhich (A. V.), or whereon (R. 
 v.). The height of the mountain " assures the seer of 
 the complete view of the city spread out before hjm, 
 which at all events does not lie upon the mountain " 
 (Duesterdieck). Here in 21 : 9-27 we have a closer 
 view of the holy city, a glimpse of which John saw in 21 : 
 2. It is probably best, with Duesterdieck, to understand 
 this in such a way, that while the city is descending from 
 heaven to earth, John is carried away in the Spirit by 
 the angel to the mountain, and thence gazes upon the 
 holy city lying before him. Some, relying on Ezek. 40 : 
 
XXI. II, 12.] CHAPTER XXI. 299 
 
 2; Lsa. 2:2; Heb. 12 : 22, think that the city itself was 
 situated upon " the mountain," or at least upon some 
 outlying peaks. Coming down out of heaven. Faus- 
 SET : " Even in the millennium, the earth will not be a 
 suitable abode for transfigured saints, who, therefore 
 shall then reign in heaven over the earth. But after the 
 renewal of the earth at the close of the millennium and 
 judgment, they shall descejid from heaven to dwell on an 
 earth assimilated to heaven itself." ZuELLiG gives us an 
 interesting analysis of this whole vision : " The interpret- 
 ing Angel shows the Seer the new City of God, — its ap- 
 pearance as a whole (verses 10, 11) ; its walls with their 
 gates and foundations (12-14) ; its measurements (15-17); 
 its special features also, — such as its magnificence (18- 
 21), its unique character (22, 23), the life-movement with- 
 in it (24-27)." 
 
 11. Having the glory of God: her light (Or. himhtary) was like unto a 
 stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 
 
 The glory of God, His abiding presence, did lighten the 
 city ; for it hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon 
 to shine upon it (21 : 23). Her light is the Lamb, for 
 "the lamp thereof is the Lamb" (21 : 23). Compare 
 lsa. 60 : 19. This brilliancy, the most glorious conceiv- 
 able, likened unto the crystalline clearness of the jasper 
 stone, probably the diamond (see notes on 4 : 3), irradiates 
 the whole city and makes the deepest impression upon 
 John. There shall be no night in the City of God (21 : 
 25 ; 22 : 5). LeE: " Here begins the description of the 
 city, following Ezek. 48 : 30-35. In verses 11-23 are de- 
 scribed the structure and plan ; in verses 24-27 what 
 takes place within its walls ; in 22 : 1-5 the felicity of the 
 life within it." 
 
 12. Having a wall great and high ; having twelve gates, and at the 
 
300 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 13. 
 
 gates twelve angels ; and names written thereon, which are the names of the 
 twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 
 
 The description of the city and of its gates is based 
 upon Ezek, 48 : 30-35. The wall is a type of the abso- 
 lute security of the heavenly city. The gates were twelve 
 in number, arranged like the gates of the encampment of 
 Israel around the Tabernacle. These gates, Greek por- 
 tals, include the gate-towers under which the traveller 
 passes to this day into many Eastern cities. The tivclve 
 angels typify the heavenly protection bestowed on the 
 people of God. Upon the gates, as on the stones of the 
 ephod (Ex. 28 : 9), and on the breastplate (Ex. 39 : 14), 
 were written the names of the Twelve Tribes (Ezek. 48 : 
 31), as representing the whole people of God. Lee : 
 " Each gate bears the name of one of the Twelve Tribes. 
 It is thus denoted that the Church made perfect is no 
 confused multitude, but an organized body, each mem- 
 ber has its special vocation and peculiar glory." The 
 gates being never shut (21 : 25) imply perfect liberty and 
 peace. SADLER : " The names of the Patriarchs occur- 
 ring here startle us, seeing that in the citizenship of this 
 city there is neither Jew nor Greek — all are one in Christ, 
 and so we should have supposed there would be in such 
 a city no remembrance of Reuben or Simeon, or Levi 
 or Judah, but God's thoughts are not our thoughts. In 
 some way unknown to us, and which all will acknowledge 
 to be just and right, there will be an association of the 
 Israel of God with the former Israel." 
 
 13. On the east were three gates ; and on the north three gates ; and on 
 the south three gates : and on the west three gates. 
 
 In Ezekiel the gates on the east are those of Joseph, 
 Benjamin, and Dan (48 : 32) ; on the north, those of 
 Reuben, Judah, and Levi (48 : 31) ; on the south, those 
 of Simeon, Issachar, and Zebulun (48 : 33) ; on the west, 
 
XXI. 14, 15-] CHAPTER XXI. 301 
 
 those of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali (48 : 34). In Num. 
 2 : 1-3 1 the order of encampment is different. See notes 
 on Rev. 7 : 5-8. Some commentators see in this fact 
 that the city faces to each of the four quarters of heaven, 
 an emblem of the universality or oecumenical character 
 of the New Jerusalem. 
 
 14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them 
 twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
 
 It seems that the wall around the city was in twelve 
 sections, each of which was supported by a visible founda- 
 tion, the splendor of which could be seen (verses 19, 20), 
 as well as the inscriptions thereon. Four of these founda- 
 tion stones were evidently the four corners of the wall. 
 On these foundation stones the names of the Twelve 
 Apostles were written, because they by their doctrine 
 founded the Church, and it rests upon them as on an im- 
 movable foundation (Eph. 2 : 20) (after Calovius). Those 
 who raise the question whether the name of Matthias or 
 of Paul is substituted for that of Judas altogether miss 
 the significance of this symbol. Some think that we are 
 to understand these foundations as twelve courses of 
 stones, each course encompassing the city, and constitut- 
 ing one foundation (21 : 19). It does not follow from 
 this verse that the writer was not himself one of the 
 twelve Apostles. Blunt calls attention to the fact that 
 " the continuity and unity of the Church of God are 
 symbolized by the names of the twelve tribes on the 
 gates and those of the twelve Apostles on the walls ; 
 this being analogous to the unity symbolized by the four 
 and twenty elders." 
 
 15. And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to 
 measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 
 
 The angel wishes to give John a clear idea of the great 
 
302 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. i6. 
 
 size of the city by measuring it. The reed was golden 
 because of the splendor of the objects to be measured. 
 Now follows the measurement of the city (verse i6), the 
 wall (17-20), and the gates (21). SADLER: "What is 
 intended by this elaborate measuring ? Evidently, I 
 think, to impress upon us that the things revealed are not 
 spiritual visions, beautiful dreams, signifying some spirit- 
 ual grace and moral character in those who, being pure 
 spirits, need no local habitation, but the exact contrary." 
 
 16. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as 
 the breadth : and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand fur- 
 longs : the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. 
 
 The city forms a perfect square. It is difificult to 
 decide whether the entire circuit of the city was twelve 
 thousand stadia, three thousand to a side, or that the 
 city was an enormous cube, which measured twelve thou- 
 sand stadia in length, in breadth, and in height. The 
 last is the plain meaning of the text. If we would inter- 
 pret this literally it would mean that the city was about 
 1,400 miles long, 1,400 miles wide, and 1,400 miles high. 
 Probably Plumner is correct when he remarks : " The 
 plain meaning seems to be that the city forms a vast 
 cube, and this is typical of its perfect nature. The ac- 
 count given is that of a vision, and not of a reality, and 
 therefore there is no need to attempt to reduce the 
 enormous dimensions given here, as is done by some 
 writers." No doubt there is a reference to the Holy of 
 Holies, which was also cubical in shape. The original of 
 the symbolism seems to be Ezek. 48 : 16. Fausset : 
 " The city being measured implies the entire consecra- 
 tion of every part, all things being brought up to the 
 most exact standard of God's holy requirements, and 
 also God's accurate guardianship henceforth of even the 
 most minute parts of His Holy City. . . . The stupen- 
 
XXI. 1 7-] CHAPTER XXL 303 
 
 dous height, length, and breadth, being exactly alike, 
 imply its faultless symmetry, transcending in glory all 
 our most glowing conceptions." WILLIAMS: ^^ Equal 
 every way in length and breadth and height, as setting 
 forth the love of God infinite and perfect on every side 
 (Eph. 3 : 18)." 
 
 17. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four 
 cubits, acco7-diiig to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 
 
 Probably the thickness of the wall is now given. In 
 the measuring, that of the angel is the same as if a man 
 had taken the measure. MiLLlGAN : " It is hardly pos- 
 sible to think that we have here the height of the wall. 
 . . . The wall is a part of the city as strictly as the 
 foundations are, and. is itself, like them, radiant with the 
 light which shines forth from the city as a w^hole. It 
 seems better, therefore, to think here of the breadtli of 
 the wall. Its length and height had been measured, and 
 its thickness is now added, to complete the description 
 of its strength." This may be the case. Lange : " The 
 figure of the wall approaches the idea of Zechariah (2 : 5), 
 ' For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round 
 about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her,' The 
 prodigious extent of the city is expressive of the ideal 
 fact that it extends, with unseen limits, through the 
 universe, and towers up into the height of eternity ; that 
 it belongs to Heaven, whence it has descended to earth," 
 Burger comments : " The sacred tzvelve, the signature of 
 the Church, which we have already met in the Tivelve 
 gates, the Tivelve foundations, the Tivelve thousand stadia, 
 is here multiplied by itself. The zuall is intended for 
 the protection of the city ; and its true defence con- 
 sists in this, that it is the City of the perfected Church of 
 Christ, of which the number is 144." Williams ; " The 
 
304 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. i8, 19. 
 
 measuring of the %vall must be of its thickness. . . . But 
 everything by multiples of the Sacred Twelve," 
 
 18. And the building of the wall thereof was jasper: and the city was 
 pure gold, like unto pure glass. 
 
 DUESTERDIECK calls attention to the fact that in verses 
 18-21 the splendor of the holy city " is described with the 
 greatest glory whereof human fantasy is capable." The 
 material used in the building of the wall ^q.s jasper (see 
 notes on 4 ; 3), and that for the city itself vj^iS pure gold, 
 but not of the kind known now on earth, but far surpass- 
 ing this in splendor, for it is transparent gold. MlLLl- 
 GAN : " Pure gold, the most precious metal known, but in 
 this case transfigured and glorified, for it was like unto 
 pure glass.'' 
 
 19. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner 
 of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; 
 the third, chalcedony ; the fourth, emerald. 
 
 Foundations. See 21 : 14. Adorned. These precious 
 stones were not merely set upon the foundations, but it 
 seems the foundations ^^wj-w/r*^ of them. Jasper. Prob- 
 ably the diamond. See notes on 4 : 3. Sapphire. 
 Probably the modern lapis lazuli, of a clear blue color, 
 and very precious. Chalcedony. Probably an agate, 
 sky-blue, with stripes of other colors, brought from the 
 mines of Chalcedon. Emerald. The same as the 
 modern stone, of a green color peculiarly pleasing to the 
 eye. See notes on 4 : 3. Lange : "The general sym- 
 bolic significance lies in the nature of the precious stones, 
 and also, particularly, in their colors'' WORDSWORTH : 
 " Some ancient expositors have proceeded to distinguish 
 the symbolical meaning of these several jewels as follows : 
 jasper, an emblem of the brightness of faith ; sapphire, 
 of hope ; chalcedony, the flame of love. Their meaning 
 
XXI. 20.] CHAPTER XXL 305 
 
 may be more fully revealed hereafter in the Heavenly 
 City itself. It is now enough to know that the City is 
 adorned with every precious stone ; that nothing is want- 
 ing in the Church for her growth in grace here and for 
 her everlasting glory hereafter." 
 
 20. The fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; 
 the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase ; the eleventh, 
 jacinth ; the twelfth, amethyst. 
 
 On this verse compare Ezek. 28 : 13. Sardonyx. A 
 kind of ojiyx, valued for its use in engraving into cameos. 
 Sardius. Probably our carnelian (see notes on 4 : 3). 
 Chrysolite. A variety of the gem known as the topaz, of 
 yellow color. Some have suggested that it is identical 
 with the modern amber. Beryl. A variety of emerald, of 
 a bluish-green color, like the pure sea. Topaz. Our 
 topaz is yellow and transparent, but the topaz of the 
 ancients seems to have been of a yellowish-green color. 
 Chrysoprase, Probably a variety of the emerald, of a 
 yellowish pale-green hue. Jacinth. Probably a stone of 
 yellow amber color. Amethyst. Probably the purple 
 stone now known by that name. MiLLlGAN : " Two things 
 are especially noteworthy in regard to these precious 
 stones when they are taken as a whole, (i) All are pre- 
 cious, fitly representing the splendor of the celestial 
 city. (2) All are different from each other, though they 
 blend into a harmonius unity." The stones here men- 
 tioned are nearly the same as the twelve in the breast- 
 plate of the High Priest (Ex. 28 : 17-20)." Sadler: "It 
 is impossible to attempt to give a separate spiritual or 
 moral meaning to each of these foundation stones, though 
 we may be sure that they represent every spiritual grace 
 bestowed upon God's faithful servants. . . . Equally 
 impossible is it to assign to each of these stones the name 
 
 of an Apostle. . . . The one thing to keep in mind is 
 20 
 
3o6 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 21, 22. 
 
 that these stones are the most precious things of the earth ; 
 they are as rare as costly, and are assigned as the founda- 
 tions of the city in order to illustrate how God builds it 
 up with what must be new creations of His power." 
 
 21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; each one of the several 
 gates was of one pearl : and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were 
 transparent glass. 
 
 This whole description only emphasizes the surpassing 
 splendor of the city. We are not to think of only one 
 street, for a city so large, and with so many gates, must 
 have many streets, and all are of pure transparent gold. 
 
 22. And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God, the Almighty, and 
 the Lamb, are the temple thereof. 
 
 The inhabitants of the holy city need no fixed places 
 of worship, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb 
 are ever present with them. The glory of God iills the 
 New Jerusalem, and the City itself is the bride of the 
 Lamb. The people of God dwell in His presence, ever 
 worshipping and adoring Him. See notes on 21 : 3. Lee : 
 "The City is in form a perfect cube, like the Holy of 
 Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem. The entire City is 
 now that which the Holy of Holies had formerly been — 
 the locality of the immediate presence of God." Boyd- 
 Carpenter : "In Ezekel's vision the vast and splendid 
 proportions of the Temple formed a conspicuouspart : its 
 gigantic proportions declared it to be figurative (Ezek. 
 48 : 8-20) ; but the present vision passes on to a higher 
 state of things. I saiv no temple: Ezekel's vision de- 
 clared that the literal temple would be replaced by a far 
 more glorious spiritual temple." Williams : " In the 
 vision of Heaven throughout the Apocalypse, the temple 
 and the temple service has supplied the figures, as denoting 
 that it spoke of the Church as yet militant on earth before 
 
XXI. 23, 24.] CHAPTER XXI. 307 
 
 the final judgment ; but this has now ceased, the temple 
 is no more, there is none seen in Heaven." 
 
 23. And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
 upon it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp thereof is the 
 Lamb. 
 
 Such is the glorious brilliancy of the glory of God and 
 of Christ that all other light in comparison is without 
 lustre. See notes on 21 : 11. Compare Isa. 60 : 19, 20. 
 Lee : " The glory of God is the Sun which illumines the 
 New Jerusalem ; and His light is reflected from the Lamb, 
 who is ' the brightness,' — ' the effulgence,' — ' the re- 
 flexion,' of the Father's glory (Heb. i : 3)." Sadler : 
 " In the intense splendor and joy of that city of light, 
 the remembrance of Him who was 'led as a lamb to the 
 slaughter ' gives depth and fulness to its joy." 
 
 24. And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings 
 of the earth do bring their glory into it. 
 
 This description is based entirely upon the language of 
 Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah prophesies of this when 
 he says : " Nations shall come to thy light, and kings to 
 the brightness of thy rising ; thy gates also shall be open 
 continually ; they shall not be shut day nor night ; that 
 men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and 
 their kings led with them ; 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 ever- 
 lasting light, and thy God thy glory " (60 : 3, 1 1, 19). 
 
 We are not to interpret this as if besides the glorified 
 saints in the holy city there shall still be dwelling on the 
 renewed earth, nations, organized under kings, who shall, 
 from time to time, visit the Holy City and bring their 
 treasures unto her, and be saved (22 : 2) by means of 
 the influence of the heavenly city, as Alford suggests. 
 Some would also refer this whole section (21 : 9-27) to the 
 
3o8 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 24. 
 
 period of the Millennium, but as to this question, there 
 can be only one answer. This holy city which John saw 
 coming down out of heaven from God (21 : 10) is the 
 same city which is referred to in 21 : 2, and belongs to 
 the new heavens and new earth of 21 : i. The final 
 consummation has taken place, and on this renewed earth 
 there shall be no other inhabitants save the glorified 
 saints, which compose the Holy City Jerusalem, even the 
 bride, the wife of the Lamb (21 : 9). Any other inter- 
 pretation is contrary to the whole context, and belongs 
 to the crudities of exegesis. This verse (24), from the 
 prophetic standpoint of the time of the vision, portrays the 
 blessed fact that Gentiles also shall be among the glori- 
 fied saints of that New Jerusalem, and among them shall 
 be some of the greatest of earth, even those who in this 
 earthly life had ruled as kings. The interpretation of 
 DUESTERDIECK is the Correct one: "In the tone and 
 language of the ancient prophets, John describes the peo- 
 ple who are to find entrance into the future city. In 
 general, as is said In verse 27 in a decisive way, they 
 are only such as are written in the Lamb's book of life ; 
 but here, in verses 24-26, the Gentiles are expressly des- 
 ignated as those who, according to the ancient prophecies, 
 are to find admission into the city. The Gentiles, just as 
 the Jews receive full citizenship in the new Jerusalem, 
 and, in like manner, participate in the blessed glory of 
 the holy city." This interpretation is not in any way af- 
 fected, even if we should maintain that Isa. 60 ; 3, 11, 
 will receive their fulfilment, in a certain manner, already 
 in the Millennium. Fausset : " The kings of the earth, 
 who once had regard only to their own glory, having 
 been converted, now in the new Jerusalem do bring their 
 glory into it to lay it down at the feet of their God and 
 Lord." It is surprising to what extremes some students 
 
XXI. 25, 26.] CHAPTER XXL 309 
 
 of prophecy are led. They see things that the prophets 
 never saw, and expound most definitely and positively 
 what the apostles themselves did not understand. Like 
 Dante they describe the future with the accuracy of eye- 
 witnesses and ear-witnesses. It is one thing to maintain 
 that there will be nations on earth, and a perpetuation of 
 the race, during the Millennium, for that period still on 
 earth belongs to the Militant Church, the glorified saints 
 reigning with Christ, from heaven, over the earth, — but 
 it is quite a different matter to teach that there shall be 
 nations on the renovated earth, outside of the New Jeru- 
 salem, and that there shall be a perpetuation of humanity, 
 by the propagation of a holy race, after the final consum- 
 mation, and after the appearance of the new heavens and 
 new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. There is no 
 Scripture foundation whatever for the view suggested by 
 some that nations shall still dwell on the renewed earth, 
 outside of the New Jerusalem, and not inhabitants there- 
 of, and " that, even after the new creation, the human 
 race is to be continued (ever propagating a holy seed, 
 such as would have been begotten had Adam never 
 sinned), under the government of the glorified Church" 
 dwelling in the New Jerusalem. 
 
 25. And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there 
 shall be no night there). 
 
 The reason why the gates of the New Jerusalem are 
 always open is because it is always day. An emblem of 
 peace and security. This prophetically also implies the 
 readiness with which the Gentiles are admitted into the 
 kingdom, both before and during the Millennium, up to 
 the final consummation. 
 
 26. And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it. 
 
 They need not necessarily refer to the kings of verse 
 
3IO THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxi. 27. 
 
 24. See notes. The verb is used impersonally. All 
 these are among those whose names are found "written 
 in the Lamb's Book of Life "(21:17; 20 : 15), before the 
 final day of judgment. The New Jerusalem possesses 
 for ever the glory and the honor of the Gentiles and the 
 kings of the earth, converted before the final day of 
 judgment. 
 
 27. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean, or he that 
 maketh an abomination and a lie : but only they which are written in the 
 Lamb's book of life. 
 
 Just as in the last three verses, we have a prophetic 
 statement describing the persons who shall find admission 
 into the Holy City, so now we have in this verse a defi- 
 nite statement describing those who shall not find admis- 
 sion. And it is definitely affirmed that only those whose 
 names were found written in the book of life before the 
 final judgment can be admitted. It is thus evident that 
 tJie nations of verse 24 are among the redeemed, and that 
 our interpretation of that verse is the correct one. 
 Blunt : " This verse may be said to be retrospective, re- 
 ferring to the times preceding the last judgment, since 
 all evil was then destroyed." 
 
 Lee : " In the picture here given of the New Jerusalem 
 we have once more before us the descriptions given in 
 Isa. Ix., and in Ezek. xl.-xlviii. St. John, however, 
 follows the order in Ezekiel, who, after his account of 
 Gog and Magog, exhibits, in vision, the Holy City and 
 the Temple, and the return to it of God's glory." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 79. The Paradise of God (xxii. 1-5). 
 
 I. And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceed- 
 ing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
 
 In this Paradise of God "there is a river, the streams 
 whereof make glad the city of God " (Ps. 46 : 4), here 
 called the water of life. The whole description is based 
 upon Ezek. 47 : 1-12 ; Zech, 14 : 8. Compare Gen. 2 : 10 ; 
 Joel 3:18. This river proceedeth from one and the same 
 throne (3 : 21). In John 7 : 38, 39, Christ speaks of " rivers 
 of living water," and John remarks " this spake he of the 
 Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive," 
 and so many commentators think that we have here a 
 reference to the Holy Ghost, But we need not take it 
 here in a purely spiritual sense. Lange : " It denotes 
 the spiritual-corporeal life-power which, as an eternal re- 
 newing power, ensures the imperishability and vital fresh- 
 ness of the new world (Ezek. 47 : i ; Zech. 14:8). The 
 properties of the river of paradise, which operated as a 
 purely natural blessing (Gen. ii.), and those of the spirit- 
 ual foimtain of healing, fivsi promised by the prophets, 
 and subsequently opened in Christ, are united in this 
 river. . . . As the trees of life are ensured by this eter- 
 nally clear river, so the river is ensured by the Divine 
 throne itself." Blunt :" Water so constantly signifies 
 the grace of God and the work of God the Holy Ghost 
 (Isa. 55:1; John 7 : 37-39), that it cannot be doubted its 
 signification here is the same also; the grace of God still 
 
 3" 
 
312 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxil. 2. 
 
 flowing to His redeemed people as the means for renew- 
 ing their spiritual life day by day." 
 
 2. In the midst of the street thereof, and on this side of the river and 
 on that was the tree (or, a tree) of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, 
 yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the heal- 
 ing of the nations. 
 
 Compare Ezek. 47 : 7, 12, " upon the bank of the river 
 were very many trees on the one side and on the other. . . 
 On this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for 
 meat, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit 
 thereof fail : it shall bring forth new fruit every month, 
 because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary : 
 and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf there- 
 of for healing." John seems to see the main street of the 
 Holy City through which the river is flowing. On both 
 banks of the river he sees the trees of life — a mass of trees, 
 the fruit of which serve the blessed for food. The Greek 
 does not say the tree of life, but tree of life, and it is best 
 to regard /r^^ as collective. DUESTERDIECK correctly re- 
 marks : " The expression designates the entire mass of 
 trees in general. In eternity, the continually growing 
 fruits of the tree of life serve the blessed for food." Just 
 as it is implied that the fruits of the tree of life are for 
 the nourishment of the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem 
 in general, so it is stated that the leaves of the tree are 
 especially for the converted Gentiles who are among the 
 glorified saints. DUESTERDIECK very clearly brings out 
 the meaning : " The expression for the healing of the 
 nations is as little to be pressed, in the sense that a still 
 present sickness of the heathen were presupposed, as it 
 is to be inferred that the tears which God will wipe away 
 from the blessed (21 : 4) are the sign of pains still en- 
 dured ; but as the tears which are wept because of earthly 
 sorrow are wiped away in eternal life, so the healing 
 
XXII. 3, 4-] CHAPTER XXII. 313 
 
 leaves of the tree of life serve for the healing of the sick- 
 ness from which the heathen have suffered in their 
 earthly life, but shall suffer no longer in the new Jeru- 
 salem. If they were previously hungry and thirsty, now 
 they are also to be satisfied ; if they were previously blind, 
 miserable, and without the power of life, now they are to 
 share in the enjoyment of all glory, holiness, and blessed- 
 ness." Sadler : " According to all analogy of God's 
 dealings, the various forms of life have to be sustained by 
 nourishment, and here God provides the water of life as 
 well as the fruit of the tree of life to sustain the eternal 
 life of His people." Bearing twelve manner of fruits or 
 tzvelve crops of fruit. " Signifying," notes Ebrard, " the 
 ever new enjoyments of the Blessed." The idea is rather 
 that of continuous nourishment than of variety of bless- 
 ings. 
 
 3. And there shall be no curse any more ; and the throne of God and 
 of the Lamb shall be therein : and his servants shall do him service. 
 
 Better as in the margin of R. V., tJiere shall be no more 
 anytliing accursed, for everything evil has been judged, 
 and punishment has been meted out (20 : 15). Compare 
 Zech. 14 : 11. Nothing evil can come into the city, for 
 within it are found only the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb and the glorified saints, the servants of God, who 
 do His good pleasure. 
 
 4. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their fore- 
 heads. 
 
 For they shall be so near God, in His glorious Presence. 
 Name . . . forelieads. See notes on 3:12; 14 : i. 
 Blunt : " Beyond all the blessedness which belongs to the 
 mystical presence of God Incarnate in the Church mil- 
 itant, and His visible presence in Paradise, there is yet fur- 
 ther reserved for the glorified people of God that they 
 
3 t4 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxii. 5, 6. 
 
 will be admitted to His immediate Presence and have the 
 Beatific Vision of His unveiled glory. Thus will the 
 pilgrimage of the saints be ended in a restored Paradise, 
 where the voice of God will be heard as it was heard by 
 our first parents before the Fall, and where there will be 
 a more glorious privilege than that of Paradise, that of 
 * seeing God as He is.' " 
 
 5. And there shall be night no more ; and they need no light of lamp, 
 neither light of sun ; for the Lord God shall give them light : and they 
 shall reign for ever and ever (Gr. unto the ages of the ages). 
 
 Compare notes on 21 : 23, 25. They shall reign. In a 
 
 far higher sense than during the Millennium. They sit 
 down with their Lord in His throne, even as He overcame, 
 and sat down with His Father in His throne (3 : 21). 
 Sadler : " Over whom shall they reign ? Perhaps over 
 countless worlds which God has created, and will create. 
 Again, let us remember that the one great distinctive em- 
 ployment of those who have overcome will be reigning. 
 An employment which will exercise throughout eternity 
 their highest and best faculties." 
 
 With this verse the Apocalypse proper (4 : 1-22 : 5) 
 comes to a close. 
 
 80. An Assurance of the Truth of the Apoca- 
 lypse (xxii. 6, 7). 
 
 6. And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true : and the 
 Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to shew unto 
 his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. 
 
 The angel, probably the one mentioned in i : i, now 
 informs John that he can rely that the visions he has 
 seen will surely come to pass. There is an absolute cer- 
 tainty that the testimony here vouchsafed about the 
 future is trustworthy and true. See also, 3 : 14 ; 19 : 11 ; 
 
XXII. 7] CHAPTER XXII. 3^5 
 
 21:5. The angel evidently refers to the whole of the 
 Apocalypse. The same God who worked upon the 
 spirits of the prophets, who spake from God, being moved 
 by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. i : 21), also sent His angel to 
 reveal these things to John. See notes on i : i. It is 
 best by the spirits of the prophets to understand the 
 spirit of each prophet, which God inspires and guides by 
 His divine spirit. 
 
 We come now to the concluding part of the Apocalypse, 
 and the practical lessons of the book are now enforced. 
 There is a close correspondence between this Epilogue 
 and the Introduction. Bengel seems to have the true 
 idea of this Epilogue when he remarks: ''There is a 
 wonderful disagreement between interpreters respecting 
 the distribution of the speeches in this Epilogue. But if 
 my interpretation pleases any one, there speaks— the angel 
 (22 :6), Jesus (7), John, respecting his own action, and his 
 correction by the angel (8, 9). Again, in the same order, 
 the angel (10, 11), Jesus (12-17), John (18, 19), John and 
 Jesus, and again John (20, 21)." 
 
 7. And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keep eth the word 
 of the prophecy of this book. 
 
 Alford thinks the speech now passes into the words 
 of Christ Himself reported by the angel. At least we 
 must insist that the first part of the verse are the words 
 of Christ. I come quickly. So also in 22 : 12, 20. See 
 3:11. The prophecy of this book. Probably spoken by 
 the angel. The command given in i : 11, 19, is now sup- 
 posed to have been carried out. See also notes on i : 3. 
 Williams: "The expression I come quickly intimates the 
 shortness of the time, in the sight of God, between the 
 first and second coming of our Lord ; and of the space in 
 which all these things occur." 
 
3i6 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxii. 8, 9. 
 
 81. The Testimony of John Himself (xxii. 8, 9). 
 
 8. And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I 
 heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which 
 shewed me these things. 
 
 John now bears witness to the reality of the visions 
 which he has seen. The reference is to all the events 
 narrated in the Apocalypse. I fell down to worship. 
 
 MiELlGAN : " Once before (19 : 10) he had done the same 
 thing, and had been corrected for it. We need not won- 
 der that he should do it again. Such had been the glory 
 of the revelations that a mistake of this kind might easily 
 be made more than once." It may be possible, however, 
 that there is no repetition of the act of worship, but that 
 now at the close of the whole vision John refers again to 
 the event recorded in 19 : 10. 
 
 9. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not : I am a fellow-servant with 
 thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them which keep the 
 words of this book: worship God. 
 
 See notes on 19 : 10. The words are almost the same 
 save that here the thought is added that the angel is a 
 fellow-servant of God, just as believers themselves are. 
 Blunt: "The words of the angel also confirm those of 
 St. Paul respecting angels: 'Are they not all ministering 
 spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that 
 shall inherit salvation ?' (Heb. i : 14), for he declares him- 
 self to be a fellow-servant of the Apostle, of his brethren 
 the prophets, and of all the faithful who shall keep the 
 words of the book." SADLER : " This incident is very 
 decisive against anything approaching to saint or angel 
 worship, but it yields a still deeper lesson suited to our 
 times, which is this, that the best, the most devout, the 
 holiest of men maybe betrayed into thus falling." FaUS- 
 SET : "Rapturous emotion, gratitude and adoration at 
 
XXII. lo, II.] CHAPTER XXII. 317 
 
 the prospect of the Church's future glory transport Him 
 out of Himself, so as all but to fall into an unjustifiable 
 act." 
 
 82. The Final Message of the Angel (xxii. lo, ii). 
 
 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this 
 book ; for the time is at hand. 
 
 To Daniel the directions were given to seal up the book, 
 even to the time of the end (Dan. 12:4, 9), because the 
 vision belonged to niaiiy days to come (Dan. 8 : 26). But 
 here the words are not to be sealed up, for the time is at 
 /land {i : 3). DUESTERDIECK : " The nearer the time is, 
 the more the churches need warning and consolation 
 with respect to what is contained in this revelation." 
 
 11. He tliat is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still : and he 
 that is filthy, let him be made filthy still : and he that is righteous, let him 
 do righteousness still : and he that is holy, let him be made holy still. 
 
 Alford brings out the meaning very clearly : " The 
 saying has solemn irony in it : the time is so short, that 
 there is hardly room for change — the lesson conveyed in 
 its depth is ' change while there is time.' " Compare Matt. 
 26 : 45, " Sleep on now, and take your rest ; behold, 
 the hour is at hand ; " also Ezek. 20 : 39, " Go ye, serve 
 every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not heark- 
 en unto me." Hengstenberg : "If men will not 
 sanctify Him, He will sanctify Himself upon them. If 
 they will have it so, let it be so ; — if it is right in their 
 view, so it is also in God's." Fausset : "The punish- 
 ment of sin is sin, the reward of holiness is holiness. 
 Eternal punishment is not so much an arbitrary law as a 
 result necessarily following in the very nature of things, 
 as the fruit results from the bud. No worse punishment 
 can God lay on ungodly men than to give them up to 
 themselves." The exhortation to the righteous is prob- 
 
3i8 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. [xxii. 12-15. 
 
 ably best explained in the way that Sadler suggests : 
 " No matter how short the time is, slacken not in your 
 efforts to preserve righteousness and holiness. The Lord 
 has not come yet ; take care that when He comes you 
 may be found of Him as He would have you to be." 
 
 83. The Testimony of Jesus (xxii. 12-17). 
 
 12. Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to 
 each man according as his work is. 
 
 Addressed to believers, for their encouragement. Com- 
 pare also Isa. 40 : 10 ; 62 : 11. We shall be saved by 
 faith alone, but rezvardcd according to our works. 
 
 13. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning 
 and the end. 
 
 See notes on i : 8, 17 ; 21 : 6. The Lord Jesus plainly 
 speaks here. The three clauses used before in the 
 Apocalypse, Christ here applies to Himself, a manifest 
 proof of His divinity. 
 
 14. Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the 
 right io come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the 
 city. 
 
 Wash their robes. See notes on 7 : 14. Compare also 
 I : 5. All those whose sins are forgiven, and whose names 
 are written in the book of life (21 : 27) have a right to eat 
 of the tree of life (22 : 2), and to enter into the city. 
 Blunt : " Cleansed in the blood of Christ they enter 
 into the Paradise of God, and there eat of the tree of life 
 in the midst of it and live for ever (2 : 7)." 
 
 15. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and 
 the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a 
 lie. 
 
 See notes on 21:8. 27. Dogs. Lnpure, filthy per- 
 sons. All these have no right to enter the city. This 
 
XXII. i6, 17.] CHAPTER XXTI. 
 
 319 
 
 verse pronounces a sentence of eternal exclusion of all 
 such from the City of God. BOSSUET (quoted by Lee) : 
 " I am not sure if any portion of Scripture can be found 
 in which terrors and consolations are better intermingled 
 than they are in these last two chapters. There is every- 
 thing to attract in this most blessed City; all in it is rich 
 and glorious ; but everything also is fitted to inspire one 
 with dread, — for we perceive still more of purity than of 
 grandeur." 
 
 16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you tiiese things for 
 the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the 
 morning star. 
 
 Angel. The one spoken of in i : i. For the churches. 
 
 LUTHARDT : " A book for the congregation ; not a book 
 merely for the few and for a select circle, is this book of 
 prophecy. And Jesus Himself expressly confirms the 
 fact that it is from Him. Who will dare to contradict 
 Him?" Root , , . of David. See notes on 9:5. 
 Compare Rom. 1:3, " Who was born of the seed of 
 David according to the flesh." The morning star. See 
 notes on 2 : 28. 
 
 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let 
 him say. Come. And he that is athirst, let him come : he that will, let him 
 
 ^ take the water of life freely. 
 
 The Holy Spirit, working in the Prophets and in the 
 Church, and the Bride, the Church herself, say, Come, 
 Lord Jesus. Let each individual say. Come. MiLLlGAN 
 maintains that the latter part of the verse must be taken 
 in the same sense as the similar words in 21 : 6. "The 
 thirst referred to is not the first thirst after salvation. 
 It is the constant longing of one who has already been 
 refreshed for deeper and fuller draughts. The persons 
 referred to are already believers, within the city, within 
 the reach of the water of life." It is best, however, to 
 
320 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. [xxii. i8, 19. 
 
 understand this passage, as if Christ here for the last 
 time gives the invitation to the weary and heavy laden, 
 and the thirsty, to come unto Him and partake of the 
 water of life freely. " It is the last, full evangelic tone 
 in the New Testament," comments Lange. In this 
 verse there seems to be a double meaning to the word 
 Come. In the first half, it is, Come, Lord Jesus ; in the 
 last half, Come to Me, the Water of Life, On the latter 
 Bengel remarks : " By thirst, which in itself is no act 
 of the will, each one is moved to long, to pray, to cry, to 
 take. O gracious invitation ! Take and be filled — 
 acknowledge it as a mere gift of grace, and take freely." 
 
 84. Conclusion (xxii. 18-21). 
 
 18. I testify unto every man that lieareth the words of the prophecy of 
 this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the 
 plagues which are written in this book. 
 
 We have here the final solemn warning of the Apostle. 
 This is addressed to every one who becomes acquainted 
 with the contents of the Apocalypse. Compare notes 
 on I : 3. Wordsworth : " Here is a prophetic protest 
 against the spurious Revelations forged by false teachers 
 in the name of Apostles. Here, also, is a prophetic pro- 
 test against all additions to the words of Holy Scripture ; 
 whether those additions be made by unwritten traditions, 
 or by Apocryphal books, as of equal authority with Holy 
 Scripture." Bengel : " To change, is at once to add 
 and to take away. An unskilful expounder, who is blind 
 and rash, offends, and especially if he deems himself to 
 be endowed Avith a singular prophetical gift and 
 faculty." 
 
 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this 
 prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the 
 holy city, which are written iu this book, 
 
XXII. 20, 21.] CHAPTER XXII. 321 
 
 Compare Deut. 4:2; 12 : 32. We may refer also to 
 a similar denunciation of St. Paul (Gal. i : 8, 9). Lu- 
 THARDT : " As Paul, Gal. i : 8, 9, invokes the curse on the 
 man who corrupts the doctrine of faith, so John invokes 
 the curse here on the man who corrupts the doctrine of 
 hope ; for the subject-matter here is the true consolation 
 and light of the Church in the heaviest tribulation, and 
 also the Word which has power to preserve the faithful 
 so that they may not fall in the great Temptation, and 
 perish." Alford : " This is at least an awful warning 
 both to those who despise and neglect this book, and to 
 those who add to it by irrelevant and trifling interpreta- 
 tions." 
 
 20. He which testifieth these things saith, Yea : I come quickly. Amen : 
 come, Lord Jesus. 
 
 It seems as if Christ Himself was the speaker of the 
 first part of the verse. The last part is the reply of the 
 Apostle. We have here the last recorded words of the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 21. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen. 
 
 With the benediction of grace the Apocalypse opens, 
 and with the same benediction it closes. Compare i : 4. 
 To this, his last prayer and blessing, may be added St. 
 John's own words: "And now, my little children, abide 
 in Him ; that, if He shall be manifested, we may have 
 boldness, and not be ashamed before Him at His com- 
 ing" (i John 2 : 28). 
 
 UNTO HIM THAT SITTETH ON THE THRONE, 
 AND UNTO THE LAMB, BE THE BLESSING, 
 AND THE HONOR, AND THE GLORY, AND 
 THE DOMINION, FOR EVER AND EVER, 
 AMEN. 
 21 
 
Excursus I. 
 
 TJie Kingdom of God. — The expressions " the kingdom 
 of God," "the kingdom of heaven" (used only by Mat- 
 thew), " the kingdom," "the kingdom of Christ" (Eph. 
 5 : 5), are evidently synonymous. But these different 
 phrases have been used in various senses, and often by 
 the same writer. Sometimes the kingdom of God is 
 spoken of as existing now, in the heart of the believer, or 
 in the Church (visible or invisible), having been estab- 
 lished by Christ at His First Advent, and again it is re- 
 ferred to as something to be established at Christ's Second 
 Advent. All are agreed that Scripture teaches that the 
 fulness and consummation of this kingdom still lies in the 
 future, but here two different views must be sharply dis- 
 tinguished, — (i) that which maintains that by the kingdom 
 is meant the future kingdom of glory in a new heaven and 
 earth, and (2) that which maintains that by the kingdom 
 is meant an earthly kingdom, like that of David, to be 
 established here on earth by the glorious Second Advent 
 of Christ, to continue during the millennial era. The 
 Futurist interpreters of the Apocalypse, as a class and 
 almost unanimously, maintain that not only is the king- 
 dom prophesied by DanieP future, but that this prophecy 
 
 ^ Dan. 2 : 44, " And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven 
 set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty 
 thereof be left to another people ; but it shall break in pieces and consume 
 all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever; " 7 : 13, 14, 18, " And behold 
 there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he 
 came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 
 322 
 
EXCURSUS I. 323 
 
 cannot mean simply a spiritual reign in the hearts of 
 Christians, but that the true and proper signification is 
 that the Lord Jesus Christ will yet have a kingdom on this 
 earth, with universal dominion. 
 
 I. They maintain that our Lord and His Apostles at 
 every stage of the N. T. referred to the establishment of 
 this kingdom as still future, {a) Indefinitely as being at 
 hand, but not yet established. The principal passages 
 quoted are Matt. 4 : 17; (Mark i : 14); Matt. 6 : 10 ; 
 (Luke II : 2) ; Luke 10:9; (Matt. 10:7); Luke 19 : 11; 
 22 : 18, 29, 30; (Matt. 26 : 29; Mark 14 : 25) ; Acts i : 3, 
 6, 7 ; James 2 : 5.1 {b) By representing that this king- 
 dom should be established at the time of Christ's Second 
 Coming. The principal passages quoted are Matt. 16 : 
 28 ; (Matt. 8 : 38 ; 9 : i ; Luke 9 : 27) ; Luke 21 : 31 ; 
 
 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the 
 peoples, nations, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an ever- 
 lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
 shall not be destroyed. ... The saints of the Most High shall receive the 
 kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." 
 
 1 Matt. 4: 17, "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
 
 Matt. 6 : 10, " Pray ye : . . . Thy kingdom come." 
 
 Luke 10 : 9, " Say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto 
 
 you." 
 
 Luke 19: II, "He spake a parable (Of the Poiuids), hec^wsQ they sup- 
 posed that the l<ingdom of God was immediately to appear." 
 
 Luke 22 : 18, "I say unto you, I will not drink from henceforth of the 
 fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come ; Luke 22 : 29, 30, " I 
 appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me, that 
 ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom ; and ye shall sit on 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
 
 Acts 1 : 3, 6, 7, " Appearing unto them ... and speaking the things 
 concerning the kingdom of God .... They therefore asked him, saying, 
 Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel ? And he said 
 unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father 
 hath set within his own authority." 
 
 James 2:5," Heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love 
 him." 
 
32 4 THE RE VELA TION OF S T. JOHN. 
 
 especially our Lord's last discourse (Matt, xxiv., xxv. *, 
 Mark xiii. ; Luke xxi.), in which they claim that He had 
 the prophecies of Daniel (7 : 9-27; 9 : 27 ; 12 : 1-13) in 
 view throughout.^ 
 
 2. They maintain that Christ brought the kingdom, 
 but His being rejected by the Jews altered the character 
 of the kingdom for the time being, and postponed the 
 establishment of it in power and glory. The kingdom is 
 now in a sort of interregnum. The King came and was 
 rejected. He has now, like the nobleman of the Parable 
 of the Pounds, gone forth " to receive for himself a king- 
 dom, and to return " (Luke 19 : 12). When He will come 
 the second time he will execute judgment upon His ene- 
 mies and establish His Kingdom, for " the kingdom of the 
 world shall become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of 
 His Christ ; and He shall reign for ever and ever " (Rev. 
 II : 15). The principal passages quoted (in connection 
 with those already given under the preceding head) are 
 Luke 19 : 41-44 (the weeping over Jerusalem) and the 
 subsequent addresses in the temple as recorded in Matt. 
 21 : 23 — 23 : 39, especially Matt. 21 : 42, 43 ; 23 : 37-39.^ 
 
 Dr. Craven, whose valuable and scholarly note in 
 
 ^ Matt. 16 : 28, " Verily I say unto you, there be some of them that stand 
 here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man 
 coming in his kingdom." 
 
 Luke 21 : 31, " Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, 
 know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh." 
 
 2 Matt. 21 : 43, " Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be 
 taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the 
 fruits thereof." 
 
 Matt. 23 : 37-39, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, 
 and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how of ten would I have gathered 
 thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
 wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 
 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, 
 Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' ' 
 
EXCURSUS I. 325 
 
 Lange's Coniniciitary on Revelation (pp. 93-100) we have 
 been closely following, maintains that if we interpret the 
 prophetic passages referring to the kingdom, as any other 
 Scripture passages, especially as the N. T. interprets all 
 prophecies in the O, T. bearing on the First Advent of 
 Christ, we will find that the following characters of the 
 future kingdom of our Lord are emphasized : 
 
 (i) It was a government to be established in a glorious 
 visible advent of "the Son of man " (Dan. 7 : 13, 14). 
 The only passage which really seems opposed to this is 
 Luke 17 : 20, 21 ; but this Dr. Craven maintains can be 
 satisfactorily explained. 
 
 (2) This kingdom shall be established in " the time of 
 the end" (Dan. 9 : 27 ; 12 : 4, 13). This was directly 
 taught by Christ and in manifest reference to the proph- 
 ecy of Daniel (Matt. 24 : 3, 6, 13 ; Mark 13 : 7; Luke 
 21 :9, 31). 
 
 (3) It shall be established after a period of great tribu- 
 lation (Dan. 12 : I ; 7 : 25-27).^ This is strictly con- 
 firmed in the N. T. (Matt. 24: 21, 29; Mark 13 : 19, 
 20; etc.).2 
 
 (4) The members of this kingdom are to be governors 
 
 1 Uan. 12 : I, "And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was 
 since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy 
 people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the 
 book." 
 
 Dan. 7: 25-27, "And he shall speak words against the Most High, and 
 shall wear out the saints of the Most High. . . . And the kingdom and the 
 dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, 
 shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." 
 
 2 Matt. 24: 21, "There shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been 
 from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be." 
 
 Matt. 24 : 29, " But immediately, after the tribulation of those days, . . . 
 then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." 
 
 Mark 13 : 20, "And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh 
 would have been saved ; but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he 
 shortened the days." 
 
326 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 (the subject nations were under, not members of the 
 kingdom), Dan. 7:18, 22, 27.1 Dr. Craven maintains 
 that this doctrine was never controverted by our Lord, 
 but He always took its truth for granted. Witness 
 Matt. 19 : 28 ; 24 : 47 ; 25 : 21, 23 ; Luke 12 : 44 ; 19 : 
 17, 19 ; Luke 22 : 29, 30.^ See also i Cor. 6 : 2, 3 ; Rev. 
 3 : 21 ; 5 : 10 ; 20 : 6 ; 22 : 5.3 
 
 (5) This kingdom or government shall be over all the 
 earth (Dan. 7 : 14, 27 ; etc.).* No one afifirms that this 
 characteristic was ever denied by our Lord. 
 
 (6) This kingdom is described in the prophets as a 
 political one, in the proper sense of the term, indicat- 
 ing an external government over persons and things. It 
 is also universally admitted that the Jews were expecting 
 such a kingdom of the Messiah, an expectation which 
 was shared by the Apostles. Throughout His whole 
 ministry he never corrected them if they were in error, 
 and often used language which must have confirmed them 
 
 ^Dan. 7: 18, " But the saints of the Most High shall receive the king- 
 dom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever." 
 
 Dan. 7 : 22, " And the time came that the saints possessed the king- 
 dom." 
 
 2 Matt. 19 : 28, " Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, 
 in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his 
 glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel." 
 
 3 I Cor. 6 : 2, 3, " Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world ? . . . 
 Know ye not that we shall judge angels.'"' 
 
 Rev. 5 : 10, •' Thou madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and 
 priests ; and they reign upon the earth." 
 
 Rev. 20: 6, "They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign 
 with him a thousand years." 
 
 Rev. 22 : 5, " And they shall reign for ever and ever." 
 
 * Dan. 7 : 14, " That all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve 
 him." 
 
 Dan. 7 : 27, " And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole 
 heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." 
 
EXCURSUS I. 327 
 
 in their belief on this point (Luke 22 : 29, 30 ; Acts i : 
 
 3-7)-^ 
 
 (7) The members of this kingdom shall be the risen 
 and changed Saints of a former dispensation. Dr. Craven 
 refers to the passages already quoted, Dan. 7:18, 22, 
 27 ; 12 : 4, 13 ; especially Luke 13 : 28 ; i Cor. 15 : 50-52, 
 compared with I Thess. 4 : 14-17. Only glorified saints 
 will inherit the kingdom. 
 
 (8) This kingdom shall be a government in which right- 
 eousness (spiritual and external) shall prevail. Lito this 
 kingdom nothing impure shall enter. 
 
 According to this presentation of the nature of the 
 kingdom, the Futurists draw a distinction between the 
 Church and the kingdom. They maintain that the 
 Church militant which really began its true existence on 
 the Day of Pentecost will be caught up to meet Christ 
 in the air (the Rapture of i Thess. 4 : 15-17) before the 
 great Tribulation, that the kingdom begins only with 
 the Revelation of Jesus Christ, at the close of the Tribu- 
 lation (2 Thess. I : 7-10). Li Peter's Theorcatic Kingdom 
 (3 vols. New York, 1884) will be found a verbose exposi- 
 tion of this whole subject, with allied topics, gathered 
 from all kinds of sources. If the substance of these 
 2,100 pages were succinctly presented in a readable volume 
 of about 450 pages, there would be considerable merit 
 in the work. 
 
 1 Acts I : 6, 7, " They asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time 
 restore the kingdom to Israel ? And he said unto them, It is not for you 
 to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own 
 authority." 
 
Excursus II. 
 
 The N. T. TcacJiing concerning Hades} — Of the many 
 treatises written on this topic we know of none that de- 
 velops the biblical teaching more clearly than the presen- 
 tation made by Dr. Craven in his long Excursus on Hades 
 in Lange's Commentary on Revelation (pp. 364-377). Our 
 aim in this note will be to give the substance of his dis- 
 cussion, and on the basis of his article to present what 
 we deem the N. T. teaching. 
 
 I. The Difficulties in the Way. There are three reasons 
 why such diverse views have been held, (i) The impres- 
 sion has been that little has been revealed in Scripture 
 on this point. But more is revealed than is generally 
 supposed. (2) The whole matter has been obscured by 
 a mistranslation in the Authorised Version. The words 
 Sheol in the O. T., and its Greek equivalent Hades in the 
 N. T., have a fixed and definite meaning indicating tJie 
 place of departed spirits, distinct from both Heaven and 
 Hell {Gehenna), yet in the A. V. the word Sheol (which 
 occurs sixty-five times in the O. T.) is translated thirty-one 
 times hy grave, thirty-one times by Hell, and three times 
 by /// / and Hades (which occurs eleven times in the N. T.) 
 is translated once by grave and ten times by Hell. In 
 but a few instances has the true biblical idea been clearly 
 and distinctly presented by the A. V., although the at- 
 tempt has been made to remedy this in the Revised Ver- 
 
 1 See also Weidner's Biblical Theology of the New Testame7tt. Vol. I. 
 pp. 94-101, 184-195 ; vol. II. pp. 37-40, 265, 283. 
 328 
 
EXCURSUS II. 329 
 
 sion. (3) It has been the general impression that the 
 Bible teaches that the dwelling-place of the souls of the 
 righteous dead has been the same since the Resurrection 
 and Ascension of Christ that it was before that event. 
 This has led to two serious errors: first, of those who 
 affirm the existence of an intermediate place, located in 
 Hades, into which the souls of those who noiv die in the 
 Lord are carried ; and secondly, of those who deny that 
 there is now a Hades, or ever has been, into which the 
 souls of the wicked at death must enter. 
 
 2. Hades is not the Grave, (a) Old Testament Teach- 
 ing. Dr. Craven, in his scholarly examination of all the 
 passages in which SJieol occurs in the O. T., most con- 
 clusively shows that the term Sheol was not used by the 
 O. T. writers to designate the literal grave, (i) The 
 word Sheol is never construed as qebJier (grave), the place 
 of the burial of the body. (2) It is spoken of with ex- 
 pressions of comparisons utterly inconsistent with the 
 idea of the literal grave (Deut. 32 : 22 ; Ps. 86 : 13 ; Prov. 
 9: 18; Ezek. 32 : 21). (3) In two instances Sheol is 
 clearly distinguished from the grave (Gen. 37 : 33, 35 ; 
 Isa. 14 : 15, 19). (4) It is used in antithesis with Heaven 
 under circumstances which show that the literal grave 
 cannot be intended (Job.. 11:8; Ps. 139 : 8 ; Amos 9 : 2). 
 (5) Sheol is used as synonymous with two other terms 
 {pit and nether parts of the earth) which cannot be re- 
 garded as indicating the literal grave. The word bor (pit) 
 occurs fifteen times, and that it is synonymous with 
 Sheol, or indicates a compartment thereof, is abundantly 
 evident. (See especially Ps. 30 : 3 ; Prov. i : 12 ; Isa. 
 14 : 15 ; Ezek. 31 : 14-18.) The Hebrew for nether parts 
 of the earth in Ezek. 31 : 14, 16, 18 ; 32 : 18, 24; 26 : 20, 
 is manifestly synonymous with Sheol. So likewise Ps. 
 63 : 9 ; Isa. 44 : 23. (6) Those in Sheol are spoken of as 
 
330 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 being in a state of conscious existence, which never oc- 
 curs in the case of those in tJie grave (Isa. 14 iq-i/; 
 Ezek. 32 : 21-25 ; 2 Sam. 22 : 6; Ps, 18 : 5 ; 116 : 3). 
 
 {b) New Testament Teaching. Still clearer is the 
 teaching of the N. T. on this point, for there is not a 
 single instance in which the word Hades means tJie grave. 
 In the Revised Version Hades occurs ten times, textual 
 authority being in favor of the reading death in i Cor. 
 15 : 55 instead of Hades. That the word will not bear 
 the translation ^rrt;^'^ is evident from the mere reading of 
 these passages : 
 
 Matt. II : 23, "And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? 
 thou shalt go down unto Hades." 
 
 Matt. 16: 18, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
 church ; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." 
 
 Luke I : 15, "And thou, Capernaum, . . . thou shalt be brought down 
 unto Hades." 
 
 Luke 16: 23, "And the rich man . . . was buried. And in Hades he 
 lifted up his eyes, being in torments." 
 
 Acts 2 : 27, " Because thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt 
 thou give thy Holy One to see corruption." 
 
 . . . 2: 31, David "foreseeing spake of the resurrection of the Christ, 
 that neither was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption." That is, 
 the body of Christ did not see corruption although it was placed in a 
 sepulchre, and His soul was not left in Hades, — implying that His soul had 
 gone down to Hades at His death. 
 
 Rev. I: 18, "I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and 
 of Hades." 
 
 Rev. 6: 8, "And I saw, and behold, a pale horse: and he that sat upon 
 him, his name was Death; and Hades followed with him." 
 
 Rev. 20 : 13, "And death and Hades gave up the dead which were in 
 them." 
 
 Rev. 20 : 14, " And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire." 
 
 Hades, therefore, neither in the O. T. nor in the New 
 ever has the meaning of the literal grave. 
 
 3. Hades is not Hell (Gehenna) regarded as the Place 
 of Final Pwiishment. — In the Parable of the Rich Man 
 and Lazarus (Luke 16 : 19-31), we have the clearest rev- 
 
EXCURSUS II. 331 
 
 elation in the N. T. of the state of the dead before 
 Christ's death and resurrection. This parable, taken in 
 connection with Luke 23 : 43 and Acts 2 : 24-32, implies 
 that the generic Hades was a world into which the souls 
 of all the dead entered before Christ's resurrection, hav- 
 ing two compartments — one of joy and comfort (Paradise, 
 Luke 23 : 43), and the other of misery (specific Hades, 
 Luke 16 : 23), separated by an impassable gulf (Luke 
 16 : 26). The specific Hades, as the place of misery, re- 
 ceived all the souls of the wicked, and Paradise, as the 
 place of joy, received all the souls of the pious ; and 
 these two parts were embraced in that one place, generally 
 known in the O. T. as SJicol, and in the N. T. as Hades. 
 Into this Sheol or Hades, antecedent to the resurrection 
 of Jesus, descended all the righteous dead, but into that 
 part of Hades which Christ calls Paradise (Luke 23 : 43). 
 Thither descended the patriarch Jacob (Gen. 37 : 35), the 
 pious Job (Job 17 : 13), the inspired David (Ps. 16 : 10), 
 the righteous Hezekiah (Isa. 38 : 18), and our Lord and 
 Saviour Himself (Luke 23 : 43 ; Acts 2:31). 
 
 But this Hades is not Hell or Gehenna, the place of 
 final punishment. The word Gehenna properly translated 
 Hell, occurs tivelve times in the N, T., and is always used 
 by Christ to describe the place or condition where the 
 wicked, with body and soul re-united, after the judgment, 
 shall suffer everlasting punishment. Christ speaks of a 
 Gehenna or hell as " the unquenchable fire " (Mark 9 : 43, 
 45, 47), " where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
 quenched " (Mark 9 : 48), and Gehenna, is represented as 
 the place of the destruction of the body (Matt. 5 : 29, 
 30) ; as a place of destruction to both soul and body 
 (Matt. 10 : 28) ; as the place of wickedness for the chil- 
 dren of hell (Matt. 23 : 15); as the place of damnation 
 (Matt. 23 : 33) ; and God is represented as that Supreme 
 
332 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Being who has power to cast into Gehenna, and who will 
 assign to it the wicked (Matt. lo : 28 ; 18 : 9; Luke 12 : 
 5 ; Matt. 23 : 33). 
 
 All admit that the ungodly are at present in Hades, 
 but they are not yet in their place of final and everlast- 
 ing punishment — they are not yet in Gehoina or Hell. 
 Not until after the final judgment shall the wicked enter 
 therein. 
 
 4. Hades does 7iot include Heaven as the blessed abode of 
 the righteous. We must sharply distinguish between 
 Hades as existing before the resurrection of Christ, in 
 two parts (Paradise as the abode of the pious, and spe- 
 cific Hades as the home of the ungodly), and Hades as it 
 now exists after Christ's Resurrection and Ascension, as 
 the present abode of the disembodied spirits of the 
 wicked. Before Christ's resurrection all the souls of the 
 pious descended to Hades, but into that part of Hades 
 known as Paradise. 
 
 (i) It is unquestionable that the idea of the SJieol or 
 Hades 0/ the good presented in the O. T. is that of a sub- 
 terranean place, distinct from Heaven. Of Elijah (im- 
 plied also in Enoch's case) alone of all the O. T. saints is 
 it said that he ascended, and of him alone it is said that 
 he went into Heaven. 
 
 (2) That the Sheol or Hades of the good was not Heav- 
 en is evident from the fact that it was always spoken of 
 as a place of imperfect happiness — a place to be delivered 
 from. The inspired Psalmist exclaims, " But God will 
 redeem my soul from the power of Sheol " (Ps. 49 : 15), 
 as of deliverance from a prison, and David, who had 
 bright visions of a future glory, wrote not only propheti- 
 cally concerning the Messiah (Acts 2 : 31), but also con- 
 cerning himself, " For thou wilt not leave my soul to 
 Sheol" (Ps. 16: 10). So also Paul, speaking of the ecu- 
 
EXCURSUS II. 333 
 
 dition of the O. T. worthies, makes reference to the in- 
 completeness of their blessedness antecedent to Christ's 
 death and resurrection (Heb. ii : 39, 40). 
 
 (3) That the Hades of the righteous was not Heaven is 
 proved by the fact of their deliverance therefrom at the 
 time of the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord. 
 In connection with Christ's descent into Hades as the 
 risen and glorified God-Man (immediately after His revi- 
 vification and before His visible manifestation to His 
 disciples in His resurrection body) and as the result of 
 His descent, great changes took place in the kingdom of 
 Hades. (See my notes on i Pet. 3 : 19 and 4 : 6 in 
 LiitJicran Cominentary}) Then took place that wondrous 
 scene to which Paul refers, when Christ " put off from 
 himself the principalities and the powers, and made a 
 show of them openly, triumphing over them in it " (Col. 
 2 : 15), and it was in connection with His ascension into 
 heaven that another great triumphal act of the risen 
 Christ took place, when that part of Hades, which had 
 been known as Paradise before Christ's descent as the 
 risen God-Man, yielded up its captives, for Paul also dis- 
 tinctly states, that "when Christ ascended on high, he led 
 captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men " (Eph. 4 : 8). 
 Christ opened the prison-house of Hades for the right- 
 eous of the O. T., and the gifts which the exalted Christ 
 gave to them were freedom from the dominion of Hades, 
 and the glory of being with Him in heaven, for from this 
 time, according to the constant testimony of the N. T., 
 the souls of the blessed dead are in heaven with Christ — 
 and the souls of all believers who now die enter immedi- 
 ately into heaven, and not into Hades, to be with Christ 
 in joy and glory, — there in blessedness to await the glori- 
 ous resurrection, when with body and soul re-united, they 
 shall enter upon their eternal glory. That our Lord de- 
 
334 ^-^^ RE VELA TION OE ST. JOHN. 
 
 scended into Hades is admitted by all, and equally clear 
 is the teaching that between the period of His death and 
 ascension He delivered from Hades a captivity detained 
 therein, and that the place to which our Lord ascended, 
 leading " captivity captive," was Heaven, none deny, and 
 to the writer it is equally clear that the "captivity" con- 
 sisted of the pious dead of Old Testament times. Hades 
 therefore was a place distinct not only from Gehenna or 
 Hell proper, but also from Heaven. All that we can say 
 is that Hades for the believer has been conquered, and 
 that the souls of believers no longer enter into Hades, — 
 but that Hades as such still remains, only that now it is 
 a fore-hell as it were, the abode of the ungodly dead (Rev. 
 20 : 13), into which the souls of all unbelievers still enter, 
 reserved under punishmerit until the day of judgment 
 (2 Pet. 2 : 9), and it evidently will finally become the 
 Gehenna, the Hell proper, where, after the resurrection, 
 the ungodly shall suffer eternal punishment. 
 
 (4) That this interpretation is the true and scriptural one 
 is shown from the fact that {a) it brings into perfect har- 
 mony two apparently discrepant classes of scripture pas- 
 sages, and that {b) it sheds light on several obscure pas- 
 sages in the Bible, {a) The two views that seemed to be 
 antagonistic are now harmonized. For there are many 
 passages, as we have already shown, written before the 
 death and resurrection of Christ, in which it is clearly 
 taught that Hades was a place distinct from Heaven, to 
 which the souls of the righteous as well as of the wicked 
 were consigned, and all these statements are true, for 
 such was Hades before Christ Himself descended thither 
 to conquer death, Satan, and Hades. But all the N. T. 
 teachings given since the resurrection of Christ, most 
 clearly teach that the souls of believers at their death do 
 immediately enter Heaven to be with Christ in glory. 
 The testimony of the Apostles as to the immediate en- 
 
EXCURSUS II. 335 
 
 trance of the redeemed at death on their heavenly state 
 is very exphcit, we need only quote a few : 
 
 John 17 : 24, "Father I will that where I am, they also may be with me; 
 that they may behold my glory." 
 
 2 Cor. 5 : 6-7, " Knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
 absent from the Lord ... we are willing rather to be absent from the 
 body, and to be at home with the Lord." 
 
 Phil. I : 23, " But I am in a strait betwixc the two, having the desire to 
 depart and be with Christ ; for it is very far better." 
 
 That the souls of believers enter now immediately into 
 Heaven and are with God, is also distinctly implied in 
 Rev. 6 : 9-1 1 ; 7 : 9-17; etc. 
 
 {b) It sheds light on many obscure passages, (i) It en- 
 ables us to enter more deeply into Christ's saying to His 
 disciples, John 14 : 2, " In my Father's house are many 
 mansions ; if it were not so, I would have told you ; for 
 I go to prepare a plaee for you'' Christ did prepare a 
 place, and the pious dead are now no longer in Hades, 
 but in Heaven, whither Christ ascended. (2) So likewise 
 our interpretation throws light upon Heb. ii : 39, 40. 
 " These all," i. e., the O. T. worthies, " received not the 
 promise, God having provided some better thing con- 
 cerning us, that apart from us, they should not be made 
 perfect," taken in connection with Heb, 12 : 22, 23, " but 
 ye are coine unto Mount Zion, . . . and to the spirits 
 of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a 
 New Testament." When Christ led " captivity captive" 
 (Eph. 4: 8), these " spirits of just men " received their 
 heavenly blessedness and the promise. (3) Our inter- 
 pretation also throws light upon i Pet. 3:19 and 4 : 6, 
 and illustrates, as has been shown, the great importance 
 of these passages as bearing upon the mystery of Christ's 
 Avork of redemption. (4) It gives a new and higher mean- 
 ing to all the O. T. passages in which the word Sheol oc- 
 curs. (5) It sets forth in clearer-light the N. T. teaching 
 concerning Christ's relation to his saints. 
 
Excursus III. 
 
 TJie First Six Seals. — We did not regard it as wise to in- 
 troduce into our notes an account of all the various views 
 held by commentators, believing it to be far better for 
 the student and reader of these annotations that we de- 
 velop what we regard to be the plain biblical teaching of 
 the book, and allow the testimony of God's word to 
 speak for itself. But it may be of interest to many to 
 know what the different interpretations are, which have 
 been advocated by the different schools as represented 
 by the Preterists, the Continuous-Historical School, and 
 the Spiritualists. To give a historical setting to the brief 
 outline, we will also add the views of the Early Church. 
 
 I. The Early Church. — Maitland : " Down to the year 
 II20 every writer that had handled the seals had agreed 
 on the meaning of the Jirst, sixth, and seventh. The first 
 had been taken to mean the Gospel Triumph ; the sixth 
 the precursor of the last Judgment ; the seventh the be- 
 ginning of the eternal rest." There was also a general 
 agreement that the seeond, third, and fourth seals signi- 
 fied wars, famines, and pestilences, but with some di- 
 vergences in their application. So, in general, Victorinus 
 (about 290 A. D.), Tichonius (about 380 A. D.), Pri- 
 masius (about 553 A. D.), Bede (about 735 A. D.), and 
 others. Some of these referred these wars to the perseeu- 
 tions, and the famines to heresies. WORDSWORTH, who 
 lays much stress on the ancient interpretation, says : On 
 the whole, we may acquiesce in the ancient interpretation 
 336 
 
EXCURSUS III. 337 
 
 of the first three seals. The early expositors may be safely 
 followed here, because they are speaking of prophecies 
 which had been fulfilled in their day. Their judgment on 
 this matter is thus expressed in the commentary published 
 under the name of Aquinas : 
 
 " ' The first seal represents the primitive state of the 
 
 Church. 
 
 " ' The second seal displays the perseeution of the 
 Church by the heathen, in the days of the martyrs. 
 
 " ' The third seal unfolds the persecution of the Church 
 by heretics.' " Andreas explains the fifth seal as the 
 martyrs' cry for vengeance; the sixth as a transition to 
 the days of Antichrist, or, he adds, as some hold, the 
 siege of Jerusalem under Vespasian, Tichonius and 
 Primasius refer the fifth seal to martyrdom generally, 
 and the sixth to the last persecution. 
 
 II. The Preterist School. — We may select Grotius, Bos- 
 suet, Moses Stuart, and Renan as representatives of this 
 class (see Introduetion, p. xxvi). 
 
 Grotius regards the first horseman as Christ, identical 
 with the horseman of 19:11-13 (so Victorinus, Bede, 
 Lyra, Vitringa, Calovius, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Boehmer, 
 Kliefoth, Duesterdieck, etc.) ; the second seal refers to the 
 Jewish war (also Wetstein, Herder, Boehmer, Eichhorn, 
 etc.); the tJiird to the famine under Claudius (Wetstein, 
 Herder, Boehmer, etc.) ; the fourth to the diseases and 
 rapine and sufferings of the Jewish war (Wetstein, Her- 
 der, Boehmer, etc.) ; the fifth refers to the sufferings of 
 the Jews in Judaea ; and the sixth seal relates to the events 
 during the siege of Jerusalem by Titus (Wetstein, Her- 
 der, Boehmer). 
 
 Bossuet (ydied 1704) finds the fulfilment of the Apoca- 
 lypse in the conquest of pagan Rome by Alaric. The 
 rider of the first horse is Christ ; the second seal repre- 
 22 
 
338 THE REVEL A TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 sents war : the tJiird famine ; the fourtJi pestilence ; the 
 altar of the fiftli seal is Christ (Col. 3:3,4); the sixth 
 seal designates the divine vengeance, which is to fall first 
 on the Jews, and then on the persecuting empire. 
 
 Moses Stuart held that the Apocalypse was written 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that the greater 
 portion of the book, including chapter xix., referred to 
 that great catastrophe. According to him the first four 
 seals indicate the assembling and preparing of an awful 
 array against the enemies of the Church. A mighty 
 conqueror leads on the hosts of destruction. In the train 
 comes famine, Death, Hades, and the luild beasts. The 
 fifth seal presents the persecuted and slaughtered mar- 
 tyrs as crying aloud to the God of justice ; while in the 
 sixth "calamitous events" are foretold. 
 
 According to Renan the first seal represents the 
 Roman Empire; \.\\q second, war, the revolt of Judaea; the 
 third,\\\& famine of the year 68 A. D. ; the fourth, death ; 
 the fifth, the cry of the souls of the martyrs of the year 
 64 ; the sixth, the convulsion of the universe at the last 
 judgment. 
 
 III. The Continuous-Historical School. — As representa- 
 tives of this class we select Mede, Vitringa, Bengel, 
 Elliott, and Wordsworth, noting incidentally also the 
 views of the most important modern commentators. 
 
 Mede {died 1638) regards the seven seals as a syllabus of 
 Roman History. The same general view is adopted by 
 Bishop Newton, Fleming, Daubuz, Scott, Lowman, Dod- 
 dridge, Hales, and others. Lee gives a good summary 
 of Mede's views : In the seven seals we see (i) the Empire 
 in peace, after the Jewish war under Vespasian ; (2) the 
 Empire under Trajan and Aurclian ; (3) the balance of 
 justice under Septimius and Severus ; (4) the evils under 
 Decius, Callus, and Valerian ; (5) the persecution under 
 
EXCURSUS III. 339 
 
 Diocletian ; (6) the overthrow of paganism and the 
 changes under Constantine ; and (7) the last seal, as ex- 
 plained by the seven trumpets, reveals the inroads of the 
 barbarians, and the fall of the Empire. 
 
 Vitringa {died 1722) regards the _^ri-/ Seal as describing 
 the peaceful condition of the Apostolic primitive Church 
 prior to persecutions (so Bede, de Lyra, C. a Lapide, Cal- 
 ovius, etc.) ; the second, persecutions (Bede, de Lyra, 
 Calovius, Wordsworth, etc.) ; the tJiird, the heresies and 
 calamities from Constantine to the ninth century (in gen- 
 eral Bede, C. a Lapide, Stern, Wordsworth, Lord, etc.) ; 
 the. fourth, the Saracenic and Turkish inroads (a Lapide) ; 
 tkt fifth, the sufferings of the Albigenses and Waldenses 
 and others ; the sixth, the fall of the Jewish nation ; or 
 the changes under Constantine ; or the commotions at 
 the time of the Reformation ; or the destructions of Anti- 
 christ. Bengel (<^/Vc/ 1752) maintains that \\\q first four 
 seals denote the bloom of imperial power and refer to 
 what is visible and past ; the last three Seals relate to 
 things invisible ; i\\Q fifth Seal, to the blessed dead, the 
 Apostolic Martyrs, including also the Waldenses ; the 
 sixth Seal, the unrighteous dead ; and the seventh Seal, 
 to the holy angels with their service. Elliott identifies 
 the Horses of the first four Seals with the Roman Em- 
 pire at different times, and the Riders with Emperors. 
 The first six seals extend from the date of the Apoca- 
 lypse (95 or 96 A. D.) to 395 A. D., the year in which 
 Augustine became Bishop of Hippo. Th.Q first Seal, the 
 golden age, extends from Nerva to the second Antonine ; 
 the second, from Commodus to the accession of Diocle- 
 tian (183-284 A. D.). the tliird, overlapping the last, tax- 
 ation under Caracalla's Edict (212 A. D.) ; the fo2irth, 
 fearful mortality from War, Famine, Pestilence, and Wild 
 Beasts (248-268 A. D.) ; the fifth, the persecution under 
 
340 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Diocletian (303-312 A. D.) ; the sixth, the destruction of 
 the poHtical supremacy of heathenism at the time of 
 Constantine (323 A. D.). Barnes adopts the same inter- 
 pretation for the first five Seals, but refers the sixth to 
 the invasions of the Northern hordes of Goths and 
 Vandals. 
 
 According to Wordsworth, the Seals represent a pro- 
 phetic view of the history of the Christian Church from 
 the first Advent of Christ to the end of the world. The 
 first S&2i\ displays the marvellous success of Christianity ; 
 the second Seal represents the ten successive persecutions, 
 (i) under Nero ; (2) under Domitian ; (3) under Trajan ; 
 (4) under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ; (5) under Sep- 
 timius Severus ; (6) under Maximus : (7) under Decius ; 
 (8) under Valerius ; (9) under Aurelian ; (10) under Dio- 
 cletian ; making a period of 240 years, from 64 to 304 
 A. D. ; the third represents the machinations of heresy 
 against the Church ; the fourth Seal shows that the evil 
 is multiforni, the sivord representing the violence of the 
 Goths (410 A. D.), the Huns (452 A. D.), the Vandals 
 (455 A. D.), the ravages of Mohammedanism (622 A. D.), 
 — famine ^wd death signify the woes consequent on here- 
 sies and schisms ; the fifth Seal discloses the blessed 
 condition of the faithful departed in Paradise (Luke 23 : 
 43) ; the sixth Seal " reveals the crisis of greatest suffer- 
 ing for the Church ; it is the Friday of her Passion Week. 
 But it is also the eve of the Sabbath oi her rest. It brings 
 us down to the last age of the Church and the world. 
 It appears to be now being fulfilled in the confusions, 
 conflicts, and convulsions of kingdoms and states at thin 
 time." 
 
EXCURSUS III. 341 
 
 General Synopsis. 
 
 The First Seal. CJiristiaiiity Conquering. So in gen- 
 eral, Duesterdieck, Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Kliefoth, 
 Lange, Alford, Lee, Currey, Sadler, etc. 
 
 TJie Second Seal. War and Bloodshed. So in general, 
 Hengstenberg, Ebrard, Duesterdieck, Lange, Lee, and 
 most commentators. Some think that the red horse is 
 Nero (de Lyra) ; some, the devil (Bede, Calovius, etc.). 
 
 The Third Seal. Scarcity and Famine. The general 
 interpretation. Some would refer it to a particular dearth 
 (Calovius, Bengel, Huschke, etc.), others some kind of 
 plague (Duesterdieck, De Wette, Hengstenberg, Ebrard). 
 
 The Fourth Seal. . General Plagues. So Duesterdieck, 
 Lange, etc. 
 
 The Fifth Seal. The Souls of Martyrs. So commen- 
 tators in general. 
 
 The Sixth Seal. The Day of Judgment. Still future. 
 So Duesterdieck, Lange, Ebrard, Wordsworth, Alford, 
 Lee, Currey, etc. Figurative descriptions of events per- 
 taining to the development of the CJiurcJi. So Victorinus, 
 Bede, de Lyra, Vitringa, Hengstenberg, and others. 
 
 IV. The Spiritual System. — Milligan is the best repre- 
 sentative of this school. He remarks : " The reader 
 must observe that throughout the whole of this section 
 we have to deal with principles, not with particular his- 
 torical events. . . . The seven seals are divided into two 
 groups of four and three. . . . At the opening of the fifth 
 seal, we pass from the visible to the invisible world (6 : 
 9)." In \.\\.& first Seal he sees our Lord in His cause and 
 kingdom " riding prosperously " as in Ps. 45 ; in the second 
 seal Christ comes in war and with the sword ; the judg- 
 ment of the third SQdiX is famine; in \.h.e fourth death is 
 
342 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the judgment that comes upon the world. The fii'st 
 four seals must be viewed ideally. They refer to no 
 specific war or famine or pestilence, nor do they even 
 necessarily follow one another in chronological succession. 
 They express the great principle borne witness to by the 
 whole course of human history — that the world draws 
 down upon itself the righteous judgments of God. The 
 martyrs of t\\Q fifth seal are the saints of the O. T. Dis- 
 pensation waiting for the completion of their happiness ; 
 in the sixth Seal we reach the beginning of the end, but 
 the end is not yet described. 
 
Excursus IV. 
 
 TJie First Four Trumpets. — -In the exposition of the 
 first four tru)}ipets, as has been seen in our notes, we 
 meet with the greatest variety of interpretations. It 
 may be of interest to the reader to summarize these 
 views : 
 
 I. The Rationalistic Preterists, as represented by Volk- 
 mar and Renan. The first four trumpets refer to the 
 times before the Apocalypse was written, — to the fearful 
 storms and eclipses of the years 63, 68, and 69. The 
 eagle is the standard of the Roman Empire. 
 
 II. Ordinary Preterists, represented by Bossuet, Her- 
 der, and Farrar. In these four judgments respectively 
 Bossuet sees (i) The desolation of the Jews under Trajan ; 
 
 (2) under Hadrian ; (3) the great star was Barchochab ; 
 (4) the darkening was the malice of the Jews : Christ 
 being the sun, the Church the moon, the Apostles the 
 stars. Herder regards the first four trumpets as the signals 
 of tumults, massacres, and wars in Judaea. Farrar main- 
 tains that the times of Nero furnished abundant instances 
 to satisfy these judgments. The language is obviously 
 that of daring symbolism. 
 
 III. Sj'Wi^t^/zVrt;/ Interpretation. De Lyra sees in the 
 four trumpets heresies: (i) Arius, (2) Macedonius, 
 
 (3) Pelagius, (4) Eutyches ; Luther, however, sees here : 
 (i) Tatian, (2) Marcion, (3) Origen, (4) Novatus. 
 
 Many who combine the symbolical and historical inter- 
 pretation refer the third trumpet to heresies (Words- 
 
 343 
 
344 ^•^^' REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 worth, Arianism (Bengel), Arius, Eutyches, Apollonaris, 
 Sabellius, Nestorius (Williams), etc. 
 
 IV. The Historical School. The greatest divergence 
 appears among the commentators who adopt the histori- 
 cal method of interpretation, with reference to the four 
 trumpets. 
 
 1. TJie First Triiinpct. (i) Williams sees in it the fall 
 of Jerusalem ; (2) Bengel, the wars of Trajan and Hadrian ; 
 (3) Frere, Cunningh?.me, etc., maintain it ends with the 
 death of Theodosius, 395 A. D. ; (4) Mede, Keith, Elliott, 
 Barnes, Wordsworth, maintain that it begins with the 
 death of Theodosius ; (5) Birks sees in it the invasion of 
 the Eastern Roman Empire (250-365 A. D.) ; (6) Vitringa 
 recognizes the pestilence and famine under Decius and 
 Gallus, etc. 
 
 2. TJie Second Trumpet. There seems to be a general 
 consent on the part of many that this trumpet refers to 
 the invasion of the Goths, Vandals, and Visigoths, but 
 there is much disagreement in details. So in general 
 Mede, Bengel, Vitringa, Newton, Keith, Elliott, Barnes, 
 Wordsworth, Faber. Sander sees in it the Arian contro- 
 versy. 
 
 3. TJie Third Trumpet. Some refer this to the Van- 
 dals, others to Attila and the Huns, others to various 
 heresies. 
 
 4. TJie FourtJi Trumpet, (i) Mede sees in it the final 
 desolation of Rome (542 A. D.) ; (2) Birks, the eclipse of 
 the Greek Empire (540-622 A. D.) ; (3) Bengel, the gen- 
 eral devastation of the Roman Empire in the fifth cent- 
 ury ; (4) Wordsworth, the confusion of the seventh 
 century ; (5) Cunninghame, Whiston, and others refer it 
 to the fall of the Empire (476 A. D.), etc. 
 
 Faber, who belongs to the continuous-historical school, 
 referring to the fact that scarcely any two expositors 
 
EXCURSUS IV. 345 
 
 agree, observes : " So curious a circumstance may well be 
 deemed the opprobrium of Apocalyptic interpretation, 
 and may natrually lead us to suspect that the true key to 
 the destined application of the first four trumpets has 
 never yet been found, or, if found, has never yet been 
 satisfactorily used." Sadler, who also belongs to this 
 same school in. general, is candid enough to say: '' I can- 
 not find anything in human history which can with any 
 probability be identified with the four visions at the 
 sounding of the first four trumpets, and so I must content 
 myself with giving the interpretations of various exposi- 
 tors, not one of which I can accept as the undoubtedly 
 true meaning." 
 
 Those who have carefully followed us in our exposition 
 will have seen that a careful exegesis of each passage, 
 step by step, has led us to accept at least so much of the 
 Futurist system of interpretation, as to maintain that 
 these judgments represented by the four trumpets are to be 
 regarded as of the same general character as the plagues 
 of Egypt, and that they will usher in the great tribulation 
 of the days of Antichrist. They disclose more clearly 
 the events immediately preceding the coming of Christ, 
 and set forth more fully the end as already depicted by 
 the opening of the sixth seal. 
 
Excursus V. 
 
 The Seven Boivls of Wrath. — As a rule the Expositors 
 of the Early Church referred the Vials or Bowls of Wrath 
 to events occurring in the times of Antichrist, still 
 future. Modern expositors may be classified here in 
 their interpretations as (i) Ordinary Prctcrists ; (2) 
 Rationalistic Prctcrists ; (3) Contiiiuoiis-Historical ; (4) 
 Anti-Papal ; (5), Allegorical, and {6) Futurists. 
 
 1. Ordinary Prcterist Pitcrprctation. One of the best 
 representatives of this view is Moses Stuart, who regards 
 these Bowls as a series of judgments upon the enemies of 
 the Church, terminating primarily in the death of Nero 
 and the destruction of Jerusalem, and finally in the de- 
 struction of the Pagan power under Constantine. 
 
 2. The Rationalistic Prctcrists. All these maintain 
 that these Seven Bowls of wrath refer to the days of 
 Nero. 
 
 3. Continuous-H istorical Viciv. Most of the interpre- 
 ters of this School, with many variations, refer these 
 Bowls of Wrath to different events between 1494 and 
 the Present Day. According to Bengel, the seventh con- 
 cerns Antichrist, and should have occurred between 1832 
 and 1836. Glasgow thinks the first Bowl was poured 
 out by the preaching of Luther (1517) ; the second, in the 
 Protest of 1529; the third \s the shedding of Protestant 
 Martyrs' blood, beginning in 1546; the fourth began at 
 the rising of the Council of Trent ; the fifth, at the 
 Thirty Years' War ; the sixth began with the French 
 
 346 
 
EXCURSUS V. 347 
 
 Revolution ; the seventh is the present period, to termi- 
 nate in the destruction of the systems of the heathen 
 world and of the power of Romanism. All of the Anti- 
 Papal expositors also belong to this School, but their ex- 
 position has a special polemic character directed against 
 Roman Catholicism. 
 
 4. The Anti-Papal Expositors. We will present the 
 views of two representative commentators. Elliott 
 holds that ii : 15-19; 14 : 6-8; 16 : 1-14, relate to the 
 same period, and that the first six Vials cover the era of 
 the French Revolution, extending from 1789 A. D. to 
 1848 A. D. The first Vial is the outbreak of social and 
 moral evil which marked the French Revolution of 1789 ; 
 the grievous sore is traceable to the corruptions of Papal 
 Rome, etc. According to Elliott, 16 : 15 — 22 : 15, to- 
 gether with 14 : 9-20, refers to " the present and the 
 future, from 1849 ^- -^- ^° ^^^ Millennium and Final 
 Judgment." Barnes, in the main, agrees with Elliott. 
 Wordsworth : The First Vial. " The contempt of 
 God's Holy Word has already brought forth many foul 
 boils, and blotches, and eruptions upon those who are 
 subject to the Papacy," such as enforced celibacy, the 
 Confessional, desecration of Holy Things. The Third 
 Vial. " This may be applied to the traffic of the Papacy 
 in Indulgences and Legendary Fables, and Miracles, 
 which were for many centuries like wells and rivers of 
 wealth to the See of Rome." The Fourth Vial. " The 
 temporal splendor of the Papacy has already had an 
 effect similar to that which is here described. 
 The usurpations and corruptions of the Papacy have 
 already produced a baneful harvest of Infidelity and 
 Blasphemy." The Fifth Vial. " This vision is now in 
 course of fulfilment in the dethronement of the Pope 
 by the Italian People (1871)." The Sixth Vial. " Prob- 
 
348 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 ably now being poured out. . . . The drying up of the 
 stream of Papal Supremacy. . . . Thus St. John fore- 
 shows that the Papacy, when distressed by the drying 
 up of its Euphrates, will resort for help to superstitious 
 means, such as false Miracles, Apparitions, Pilgrimages, 
 and other impostures." The Seventh Hal. ''The great 
 city Babylon is divided into three parts, and the cities of 
 the Nations or Gentiles fall. This prophecy is being ful- 
 filled. The Papal World is now divided into tJiree parts : 
 (i) Those who accept the dogma of Infallibility; (2) 
 the Old Catholics, who reject it ; (3) those who are 
 driven by it to iinbelief, called here tlic cities of the 
 nations, i. e. States (like Italy, France, Spain), which lapse 
 into Secularism and infidelity, and are torn asunder by 
 Anarchy (Red Republicanism, Communism, etc.) and 
 fair 
 
 5. Allegorical or Sy7)ibolical Interpretation. MiLLIGAN : 
 " These plagues cannot be literally understood, for 
 literal interpretation is wholly inapplicable to the sixth 
 bowl, and all the bowls must be interpreted on the same 
 principles." Boyd-Carpenter : (i) "The plague of 
 the evil sore denotes some throbbing and hateful sore, 
 perhaps spiritual or mental." (2) " The sea represents 
 the tumultuous impulses and passions of the masses." 
 (3) The rivers and the fountains *' are the powers and 
 influences which go to the making up of the great 
 popular sentiment ; these are smitten by the same cor- 
 ruption." (4) " Not only the pleasant gifts and influ- 
 ences, which, like streams, were made to gladden men, 
 grow corrupt, but the very source of light and knowledge 
 become a power to destroy. . . . The fierce pride of 
 vaunted light which scorches." (5) " When men shut 
 out the higher light, the smoke of their own candles will 
 soon obscure the whole heaven." (6) The kings from 
 
EXCURSUS F. 349 
 
 the siinrising " represent the forces ©f rude and open 
 evil which have been long restrained ; " etc. 
 
 6. Futurists. According to Todd, these bowls of wrath 
 do not bring us "to the great Day of final account, but 
 to the fall of Babylon, and to the consequences of that 
 event which are immediately to usher in the Day of 
 Christ's Coming." De BurGH: "I need not state that 
 I consider them one and all as unfulfilled." Craven : 
 " The vision of the Seven Vials relates to events still 
 future — events the last of which will immediately pre- 
 cede the advent of Christ for the establishment of His 
 Millennial Kingdom. The plagues predicted are to be 
 executed upon the opposers of Christ and His true fol- 
 lowers — upon the followers of the Beast (i. e. the world- 
 power) and Babylon (i. e. the Apostate or world- 
 allied Church). ... By tlie frogs (16 : 13, 14) we may 
 understand teachers of evil, instigated by Satan, and 
 some having civil and others ecclesiastical authority, and 
 working miracles, who shall seduce the nations into an 
 assault on Christ and His true Church. . . . The seventh 
 Vial poured out upon the air may indicate an effect pro- 
 duced upon the literal atmosphere, at once universal in 
 its influence, and producing fearful convulsions in the 
 realms of nature and in human society (comp. Isa. 13 : 
 6-10 ; Joel 2 : I, 2, 10, 30, 31 ; 3:15; Matt. 24 : 29 ; 
 Mark 13 : 24, 25 ; Luke 21 : 25, 26 ; Acts 2 : 19, 20 ; 
 Rev. 6 : 12-17). 
 
Excursus VI. 
 
 Post-Millcnnialisni. — To present the view of those who 
 maintain that the Second Advent will not take place 
 until the time of the general Resurrection and Final Judg- 
 ment, it will be best to give a summary of the argument 
 in David Brown's famous work, Christ's Second Comings 
 to which reference has already been made. We follow 
 very closely the summary given by CRAVEN in Lange : 
 
 (i) The Church will be absolutely complete at Christ's 
 Coming (i Cor. 15 : 23 ; Eph. 5 : 25-27; 2 Thess. i : 10 ; 
 Jude 24 ; Col. i : 22 ; i Thess. 3:13)- 
 
 (2) Christ's Second Coming will exhaust the object of 
 the Scriptures, in reference — {a) to the Saints (Luke 19 : 
 13 ; 2 Pet. I : 19 ; James 5:7; i Pet. 1:13; 2 Tim. 4 : 
 8 ; Phil. 3 : 20) ; {b) to sinners (2 Thess. i : 7-10 ; 2 Pet. 
 3 : 10 ; Luke 12 : 39, 40 ; 17 ^ ^^^ 27, 30). 
 
 (3) The Sacraments will disappear at Christ's Second 
 Coming (Baptism, Matt. 28 : 20 ; The Lord's Supper, 
 I Cor. 1 1 : 26). 
 
 (4) The Intercession of Christ, and the work of the 
 Spirit for saving purposes, will cease at the Second Ad- 
 vent — {a) the Intercession of Christ stands intermediate 
 between His first and second Coming ; {b) the work of 
 the Spirit is dependent upon the Intercession, and ter- 
 minates with it (John 7 : 38, 39 ; 14 : 16, 17, 26 ; 15 : 26 ; 
 16 : 7, 14 ; Acts 2 : 33 ; Tit. 3:5,6; Rev. 3 : i ; 5 : 6). 
 
 (5) Christ's proper kingdom is already in being ; com- 
 mencing formally on His Ascension to the right hand of 
 God, and continuing unchanged, both in character and 
 form, till the final judgment (Acts 2 : 29-36 with Zech. 
 
 350 
 
EXCUI^SUS VI. 
 
 351 
 
 6 : 12, 13 ; Rev. 3 : 7, 8, 12 with Isa. 22 : 22 ; 9 : 6, 7 ; 
 Acts 3 : 13-15, 19-21 ; Acts 4 : 25-28 with Ps. ii. ; Acts 
 5 : 29-31 ; Ps. no : I compared with Acts 2 : 34-36 ; 
 Heb. 10 : 12, 13 ; i Cor. 15 : 24-26). 
 
 (6) When Christ comes, the whole Church of God will 
 be " made alive" at once — the dead by resurrection, and 
 the living immediately thereafter by transformation 
 (i Cor. 15 : 20-23 ; John 6 : 39, 40 ; 17:9, 24). 
 
 (7) All the wicked will rise from the dead, or be 
 " made alive," at the Coming of Christ (Dan. 12:2 with 
 John 5 : 28, 29 ; I Cor. 15 : 15, 52 with i Thess. 4 : 16 ; 
 Matt. 13 -.43 with Dan. 12:3; Rev. 20 : 1 1-15). 
 
 (8) The righteous and the wicked will be judged to- 
 gether, and both at the coming of Christ (Matt. 10 : 32, 
 33 ; Mark 8 : 38 ; Rev. 21 : 7, 8 ; 22 : 12-15 ; Matt. 16 
 24-27 ; 7 : 21-23 ; 25 : lO, 1 1, 31-46 ; 13 : 30, 38-43 
 John 5 : 28, 29 : Acts 17 : 31 ; Rom. 2 : 5-16; 2 Cor. 5 
 9-1 1 ; I Cor. 4 : 5 ; 2 Thess. i : 6-10 ; I Cor. 3 : 12-15 
 Col. I : 28 ; Heb. 13:17;! Thess. 2 : 19, 20 ; i John 2 
 28 ; 4 : 17 ; Rev. 3:5;! Tim. 5 : 24, 25 ; Rom. 14 : 10, 
 12 ; 2 Pet. 3 : 7, 10, 12 ; Rev. 20 : 11-15 ; 2 Tim. 4 : i). 
 
 (9) At Christ's Second Appearing " the heavens that 
 now are, and the earth," " the elements being dissolved 
 with fervent heat," shall give place to " new heavens and 
 a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteosuness without any 
 mixture of sin (2 Pet. 3 : 7, 10-13 ; Rev. 20 : ii ; 21 : i). 
 
 Such is Dr, Brown's argument, but a careful examina- 
 tion of all these passages only shows how weak the case 
 of the Post-Millennialists is, for in most cases the inter- 
 pretation insisted on, though it may be true in itself, 
 presents only one part or aspect of the truth, and in 
 many other cases, the true meaning of the passages har- 
 monizes far better with the view as held by the Pre- 
 Millennialists, 
 
Excursus VII. 
 
 The Millentiiiini. — This word, from the Latin inille, 
 "thousand," and annus, " year," designates the thousand 
 years' reign of Christ mentioned in 20 : 4-6. Those who 
 hold to the view that Christ will yet establish His king- 
 dom on earth after the destruction of Antichrist, and 
 who distinguish between two resurrections, one of the 
 saints, for the kingdom of a thousand years, and one of 
 the rest of the dead, at the Final Judgment, are in gen- 
 eral known in English as Millennarians, but the usual Ger- 
 man designation is Chiliasts. In general, those who 
 adopt this view may be divided into two classes : (i) 
 Those who maintain that the Millennial period belongs to 
 the past ; and (2) those who look for it in the future. 
 
 (i) Of the Prcterist theories it may be of interest to 
 mention what are known as the Augustinian and Grotian 
 views. The best modern representative of the A2ignstin- 
 ian theory is WORDSWORTH, who very ably defends this 
 view in his Commentary. Its main elements are: (i) This 
 Vision (20 : 1-6) is not a continuation of Rev. 19, but a 
 Recapitulation, beginning at Christ's First Advent ; (2) 
 " The commencement of the thousand years here men- 
 tioned, — whatever that period may signify, — is, therefore, 
 to be dated from the First Coming of Christ ; (3) The 
 number, a thousand years, has a prophetical value and 
 spiritual significance, and expresses completeness, — the 
 whole time of the Gospel Dispensation from the First 
 Advent of Christ until the time of the last persecution, 
 352 
 
EXCURSUS VIL 353 
 
 when Satan will be loosed, and will rage with impious 
 fury against God and His Saints; (4) T\\q first Resurrec- 
 tion is the Spiritual Resurrection of the soul, begun in 
 Baptism; (5) The second Resurrection is that of the 
 body, and its re-union with the soul, at the time of the 
 general Resurrection. 
 
 The Grotian theory, first propounded in the sixteenth 
 century, finds its best modern representative in BuSH, 
 and is briefly condensed by CRAVEN (in Lange) : (i) " By 
 the Beast is denoted Pagan Rome, whose destruction 
 under Constantine was predicted in Rev. 19; (2) The 
 power of Satan was then broken, as was manifested in 
 the establishment of the Christian religion as the religion 
 of the state ; (3) The Millennial period began in that es- 
 tablishment, and continued to the fourteenth century 
 and closed with the attack on Christendom by the Otto- 
 man Turks ; (4) Gog and Magog denote the Moham- 
 medan power, at the close of whose gradual destruction 
 will take place — the universal resurrection, the general 
 judgment, and the eternal blessedness of the saints in 
 heaven. 
 
 (2) Of the Futurist theories we need to speak also only 
 of two — the Post-Millennial and the Pre-Millennial views. 
 The Post-JMillcnnial view was first fully developed by 
 Whitby {died 1726). and has been largely adopted by 
 English-speaking Protestant Theologians since his time, 
 and among moderns, David Brown, Barnes, and Cowles, 
 are good representatives. Although there are great 
 diversities of views among Post-Millennialists, there seems 
 to be a general agreement on the following points: (i) 
 The Millennium of Rev. 20 : 1-6 can hardly be identical 
 with the whole period of the Gospel dispensation, but 
 still lies in the future ; (2) it seems to denote an ex- 
 tended season of tranquillity arfd prosperity which the 
 23 
 
354 "^^^ REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Church shall enjoy before the Coming of Christ and the 
 end of time ; (3) it will be brought about by the Divine 
 blessing upon the means employed by the Church for 
 the conversion of the world ; (4) this glorious revival, 
 which may include the conversion of the Jews, is called 
 a resurrection, not because the bodies of the saints shall 
 be raised, as that will not take place till the last day, but 
 because it is a spiritual resurrection of "souls"; (5) at 
 the close of this period there will be a sharp but short 
 and unsuccessful attack upon the Church, soon sup- 
 pressed ; (6) immediately after this, Christ will come the 
 second time corporeally to the earth, in glorious majesty, 
 to judge both the quick and dead ; (7) there is to be but 
 one literal resurrection, and that is to take place " at the 
 last day " — " the just and unjust " shall be raised simul- 
 taneously, and together stand before God (Rev. 20 : ii- 
 15); and this is to be after the Millennium; (8) when 
 Christ makes His Second Advent it will not be to reign 
 a thousand years upon the earth, but to burn up the 
 earth and the works that are therein ; (9) then will take 
 place the Final Judgment, and the good and bad will be 
 assigned to their eternal destinies; (10) to be followed 
 by the new heavens and new earth. 
 
 As a rule, those who hold this view are amazed that a 
 subject so simple should have bewildered so many minds 
 and occasioned so much controversy. 
 
 For the Pre-Millemiial view held by many moderns 
 see Introduction (pp. xxix-xxxv), but probably the in- 
 terpretation given by AUBERLEN represents more clearly 
 the Pre-Millennarianism of the German School of theolo- 
 gians, represented by such writers as Rothe, Ebrard, 
 Delitzsch, Hofmann, and others. AUBERLEN presents 
 his view most fully in Daniel and Revelation (pp. 324- 
 358): "After the destruction of the antichristian power 
 
EXCURSUS VII. 355 
 
 of the beast and of the false prophet (19 : 17-21), the 
 history of the world assumes a character totally different 
 from its character hitherto. In place of the kingdom of 
 the Beast comes the kingdom of the Son of Man, and of 
 His Saints. Dan. 2 ; 35, 44; 7 : 14, 27, contains a short 
 summary of all O. T. prophecy, and Rev. 20 : 1-6, a sum- 
 mary of all N.. T. prophecy, concerning this kingdom of 
 glory on earth, but a great number of prophetic passages, 
 and many beautiful and deep passages in gospels and 
 epistles, serve to fill up these grand general outlines. . . 
 The kingdom of God has different periods ; it is come in 
 Christ (Matt. 12 : 28) ; it spreads in the world by internal 
 spiritual, hidden processes (Matt. 13 : 33) ; but as a king- 
 dom, in the strict sense of the word, in royal glory, it 
 shall only come with the Parousia of Christ (Luke 19 : ii, 
 12, 15). And hereby is not meant the eternal blessed- 
 ness after the final judgment, which is, indeed, the last 
 and perfect consummation of the Kingdom (Matt. 25 : 
 34) ; but anterior to that event, it shall come as an 
 earthly, Jewish, although not carnal, kingdom of glory. 
 Thus the prophets described it, and Jesus does in no way 
 contradict them, but, on the contrary, pre-supposing their 
 prophecies. His own prophecies start from them (Matt. 
 19:28; Acts I : 6-8). ... In the millennium, humanity 
 will be freed, as it were, from the nightmare which 
 weighed upon it. Though sin will not be absolutely 
 abolished, — for men will be still living in the flesh upon 
 earth, — sin will no longer be a universal power, for the 
 flesh is not any longer seduced and assisted by the pow- 
 ers of Satan. This is the difference between tJiis ceon and 
 t\\& cojniJig cEon ; in this aeon the devil is still ruling on 
 earth (2 Cor. 4:4); in the future, Christ shall reign with 
 his saints. ... Of the saints' participation in the glory 
 and reign of Christ, the N. T. throughout speaks often 
 
356 THE RE VELA TION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and fully (" glorified with him," Rom. 8:17; " reign with 
 him," 2 Tim. 2 : 12 ; i Cor. 4:8; Luke 12 : 32 ; 22 : 29). 
 To this refer also sayings concerning the inheritance of 
 the children of God, the inheriting of the kingdom (Rom. 
 8:17; Matt. 5:5; Acts 20: 32; I Cor. 6:9, 10; 15 : 50; 
 Gal. 5:21; etc.). ... Of the first resurrection our Sav- 
 iour likewise speaks (Luke 14 : 14), and designates it as the 
 resurrection of the just; and Paul also (i Cor. 15:23), 
 where he evidently distinguishes three gradations of 
 resurrection : Christ, the firstfruits, rose first ; then they 
 who belong to Him at His appearing; then — eita corre- 
 sponding to epcita that preceded, and again introducing a 
 considerable interval — the end, that is, the general resur- 
 rection, the judgment of the world, the separation of the 
 wicked ; — the end, when Christ delivers the Kingdom to 
 the Father, and God will be all in all. . . . The reign of 
 the saints will be essentially a reign of priests (20 : 6). 
 Christ and His saints will, by their spiritual rule, direct 
 all external relations and circumstances. 
 
 " It is now that Christianity will pervade the world and 
 all relations of life in spirit and in truth ; the union of 
 the royal and priestly ofifice, in the ruling saints, will be 
 mirrored in their kingdom upon earth, in the union of 
 Church and State. Spiritual-mindedness will manifest 
 itself everywhere in corresponding forms. All poetry, 
 all art, all science, all social life will be Christian ; for the 
 kingdoms of the world are now become the Kingdom of 
 our Lord and His Christ. 
 
 "The majority of humanity living at the destruction of 
 Antichrist were neither followers of Antichrist, nor were 
 they followers of Christ, they remain after the Parousia 
 on earth and consist of Jews and heathens. At the be- 
 ginning of the millennial kingdom humanity will be in a 
 condition similar to that in which it was at the commence- 
 
EXCURSUS VII. 357 
 
 ment of the church-historical time after the ascension of 
 Christ. But everything is now on a higher degree of de- 
 velopment. The wonderful events attending the appear- 
 ance of our Lord, the coming of Christ in glory, the 
 destruction of all antichristian power, the transfiguration 
 of the Church of believers, the binding of Satan and the 
 ceasing of his influences, necessarily produce an unspeak- 
 ably deep impression on the nations. Now the veil of 
 Moses is taken from Israel (2 Cor. 3 : 14-16). Israel is 
 again to be at the head of all humanity. Israel shall be 
 the chosen people through which God executes His plans 
 concerning humanity. The O. T. predictions concerning 
 the conversion and glorious re-establishment of Israel in 
 the Holy Land, have not yet been exhaustively fulfilled. 
 The curse lies even this day on the Jewish nation, and 
 the promised restoration awaits yet its fulfilment and 
 realization. The doctrine of the future glorious restora- 
 tion of Israel is such an essential and fundamental idea 
 of all prophecy, that the difficulty is not so much to find 
 passages in which it is taught, as to select from the 
 great number. We point out as specimens, Isa. 2 : 2-4 ; 
 4: 2-6; 9: 2-6 ; 1 1 : 1-16 ; 12 : 1-6 ; 24 : 6 ; Jer. 30: i — 33 : 
 26; Ezek. 34 : 23 — 31 : 36 : i — 37 : 28 ; Hos. 2 : 16-23; 
 3 :4, 5 ; 11: 8-1 1 ; Joel, 3 : 1-5, 16-21 ; Amos 9: 1 1-15 ; 
 Obad. 17-21; Micah 2 : 12, 13 ; 4: 1-13 ; 5 : 1-15 ; 7: 12- 
 20; Zeph. 3 : 14-20; Zech. 2:4; 8:7; 9:9; 10: 8-12 ; 
 12 : 2 — 13 : 6 ; 14 : 8-2 T. Israel, brought back to its own 
 land, will now be the people of God in a much higher and 
 more internal sense than it was before, for now the power 
 of sin is checked, the knowledge of God fills the whole 
 land, and the Lord dwells again among His people at 
 Jerusalem, A new time of divine revelation will begin, 
 the Spirit of God will be poured out abundantly, and 
 a fulness of gifts of grace {charismata) be bestowed, — 
 
3S8 THE REV EL A TION OF ST. JOHN: 
 
 even as the apostolic church possessed it typically. In 
 the millennium, Jews and Gentiles are united, and all 
 humanity, the whole organism united under the first- 
 born brother, walks in the light of God, and thus the 
 true and full life of humanity is at last realized (Rom. 
 II : 30-32). And this blessed state of general salvation 
 will extend even to the kingdom of nature ; the soil 
 will bring forth with inexhaustible and ennobled fer- 
 tility ; the animal world be freed from murder and fury, — 
 even heaven and earth be united in corresponding har- 
 mony. In agreement with this is moreover a circum- 
 stance, which may be inferred from Isa. 65 : 20-25, — 
 people of a hundred years are called children, the days 
 of men are to be as the days of trees — that men will 
 not have to leave their life-work unfinished and unen- 
 joyed (what a glorious, beautiful feature). 
 
 " The upper and the lower congregation, although sep- 
 arate during the millennium, are yet closely connected ; 
 and it is to this that the Lord refers in the promise 
 which He gives to the twelve (Matt. 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : 
 28-30). After the millennial kingdom — after the universal 
 judgment, when heaven and earth are renewed, and the 
 New Jerusalem descends from heaven, then all limita- 
 tions shall disappear and cease. To this time the 
 Apocalypse looks in the twenty-first and twenty-second 
 chapters. 
 
 " But not even the millennial kingdom is the final end 
 of the development of God's kingdom. For even dur- 
 ing the millennium, there is a separation between heaven 
 and earth — between humanity transfigured and humanity 
 still living in the flesh. Hence it is possible that an 
 apostasy should take place at the end of the millenium. 
 This kingdom is not yet the new world." — \_Condensed.^ 
 
 The Pre-Mille7tnial theory, in its general features, is 
 
EXCURSUS VII. 359 
 
 the most ancient, and has been taught with various n:iodi- 
 fications in all ages of the Church. We may briefly state 
 the main elements of this view as follows: (i) The Mil- 
 lennium is to begin in the glorious personal advent of 
 Christ, immediately after the destruction of Antichrist ; 
 (2) Satan is to be bound ; (3) The duration is to be one 
 thousand years (literal or symbolical) ; (4) The first resur- 
 rection is to be a literal resurrection of saints (either of 
 martyrs alone, or of all saints) ; (5) Christ and His risen 
 and transformed saints shall rule over the earth ; (6) The 
 Jews and all nations having been converted to Christ, 
 Jerusalem shall become the capital of Christ's kingdom ; 
 (7) At the close of this period there shall be a great 
 apostasy under the leadership of Satan ; (8) Then follows 
 the destruction of the rebels (20 : 7-10); (9) Then comes 
 the universal resurrection of the remaining dead ; (10) 
 The Final Judgment; (11) The new heavens and the 
 new earth. 
 
Excursus VIII. 
 
 Tlie First Resurrection. — If we accept the clear and dis- 
 tinct teaching of scripture in Rev. 20:4-6, ii-i5,and 
 interpret literally, we must conclude that John speaks of 
 two resurrections, with the Millennium intervening — the 
 first of believers alone, and the second of the general resur- 
 rection to judgment. There is no conflict here with the 
 teaching of Jesus, only a clearer statement of what was 
 already taken for granted by Christ Himself. There may 
 be a reference to the first Resurrection in Luke 14 : 14, 
 " Thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the 
 just," at least there is no conflict, but in Luke 20 : 35, 36, 
 " They that are accounted worthy to attain to that cEon, 
 and the resurrection from the dead," this reference has a 
 peculiar significance, and can best be explained, if we re- 
 gard it the teaching of Jesus that the resurrection here 
 referred to is a special privilege granted only to faithful 
 believers. The passage in John 5 : 28, 29, is also not 
 against the view of 2. first resurrection of believers alone, 
 for the passage does not necessarily teach that all men 
 shall be raised at the same time. Those who object to 
 this teaching on account of Christ's statement that he 
 will raise the believer " at the last day " (John 6 : 39, 40, 
 44, 54), are simply laboring under the idea that the last 
 day is one of twenty-four hours. It is true that the 
 resurrection of believers takes place at the last da)^ but 
 it is at the beginning of the last day, immediately after 
 the destruction of Antichrist, while the general resurrec- 
 360 
 
EXCURSUS VIII. 361 
 
 tion takes place at the end of the last day, for the last 
 day is a longer period than is generally conceived, and it 
 has a beginning and an end. Nor does their doctrine of 
 the first resurrection come in conflict with Christ's de- 
 scription of judgment as recorded in Matt. 25 : 31-46; 
 for this description is in harmony with Rev. 20 : 11-15, 
 for all the risen saints shall be present at the final judg- 
 ment, although they do not come into the judgment 
 (John 5 : 24), and shall even in some way take part in the 
 judgment (i Cor. 6 : 2, 3). And it is only after the final 
 judgment recorded in Rev. 20 : 11-15 that the saints 
 shall enter upon their complete and full glory and inheri- 
 tance in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21 : i). 
 Nor is there a conflict with the teaching of St. Paul. 
 In I Thess. 4 : 16, 17, Paul, on the one hand, does not 
 draw a distinction between the first resurrection of be- 
 lievers and the second resurrection of unbelievers, but on 
 the other hand, this passage does not exclude such a dis- 
 tinction. In I Cor. 15 : 22-26, Paul marks the time when 
 Christ's people shall be raised from the dead as "at 
 Christ's coming " — " each in his own order " : (i) Christ ; 
 (2) *' then they that are Christ's ; (3) " then the end." We 
 know that the interval marked by the " then " between 
 the rising of Christ as the first-fruits, and the rising of 
 those "that are Christ's," at His coming, is for certain 
 more than eighteen hundred years, and we ought not to 
 find fault if John in 20 : 4-6 reveals to us that there is an 
 interval of a period described as " a thousand years " be- 
 tween the resurrection of believers at the coming of Christ, 
 and the time of the resurrection of unbelievers unto judg- 
 ment. The most definite reference, however, to the first 
 resurrection of believers in Paul's writings is formed in 
 Phil. 3:11, "if by any means I may attain unto the 
 resurrection from the dead." If St. Paul had been re- 
 
362 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 ferring simply to the general resurrection, he need not 
 have been so anxious, or made any sacrifice to attain to 
 that, for to it all men must come ; — but to attain to the 
 first resurrection he had need to press forward for the 
 prize of that calling. This peculiar expression suggests 
 very plainly the first resurrection, which includes only 
 true believers. It is therefore a mistake to maintain that 
 the doctrine of the first resurrection rests solely upon 
 Rev. 20 : 4-6. 
 
INDEX TO SUBJECTS. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abaddon, ii8. 
 
 Abyss, 114, 118. 
 
 Advent, Second, 47, 90, 92, 150, 151, 
 266-270. 
 
 Alford, xlii-xliv. 
 
 Almighty, 12. 
 
 Angels, 81. 
 
 Angels of churches, 22, 23. 
 
 Angel with eternal gospel, 193. 
 
 Antichrist, xxxii, xxxiv, 139, 143, 169- 
 179, 230-240, 244 ; victory over, 
 269-276. 
 
 Antipas, 38. 
 
 Apocalvpse, authenticity of, v-x ; 
 unity of, x ; canonicity of, x, xi ; 
 date of, xi-xvii ; place 'of writing 
 of, xvii ; importance of study of, 
 xviii, xix ; text of, xix ; aim of, 
 xix-xxi ; structure of, xxii-xxiv ; 
 interpretation of, xxiv-x.xxvi ; 
 numerals of, xxxvi-xli ; select 
 literature of, xlii-lxi ; analysis of, 
 Ixi-lxv; truth of, 314-316. 
 
 Apollyon, 118. 
 
 Auberlen, xliv, xlv. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babylon, the fall of, 194, 195, 246-248, 
 
 259 ; the great harlot, 226-230, 
 
 241-244 
 Balaam, 38, 39. 
 Balak, 38, 39. 
 Beast, the first, 169-179, 230-240 ; 
 
 victory over, 269-276. 
 Beast, the -second, 179-185 ; victory 
 
 over, 269-276. 
 Beiigel, xlv, xlvi. 
 Book of life, 52. 
 Book of seven seals, 75-78. 
 Bowls of wrath, 210-225, 346-349. 
 Boyd-Carpeiifer, xlvi, xlvii, 
 Bride, 293, 294, 298. 
 
 Candlesticks, 16, 23 ; the two, 140. 
 
 Celibacv, 191, 192. 
 
 Church 'discipline, 39, 42, 43. 
 
 City of God, 298-314. 
 
 Continuous-Historical School, xxvii, 
 
 xxviii. ' 
 
 Conversion of Israel, 95-98, 145. 
 Conversion of the nations, 209. 
 Crown of life, 36. 
 Currcy, xlvii. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daniel, the four kingdoms of, 170, 
 
 171. 
 Dead, the blessedness of the holy, 
 
 199, 200. 
 De Biirgli, xlviii. 
 Devil, 155, 156, 161 ; binding of, 277- 
 
 280 ; final victory over, 285-287. 
 Dionvsius, vi. 
 Dragon, the, 155, 156, 161 ; binding 
 
 of, 277-288 ; final victory over, 
 
 285-287. 
 Duesterdieck, xlviiL 
 
 E. 
 
 Ebrard, xlviii, xlix. 
 Eight, the number, xxxix, 188. 
 Elders, the twenty-four, 68. 
 Eliiah, 144, 148. 
 EU'iott 1, li. 
 
 Ephesus, letter to church at, 26-33. 
 Epistles to the seven churches, 24-26. 
 Eternal punishment, 197, 198. 
 Euphrates, the loosing of the four 
 angels at the, 121-126. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faithful dead, blessedness of, 199, 20(^ 
 
364 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 False prophet, 179-185 ; victory over' 
 
 272-276. 
 Farrcir, Ixii. 
 Final judgment upon the wicked, 
 
 287-291. 
 Fire, lake of, 290, 291. 
 First resurrection, xxxii, 281-284, 360- 
 
 362. 
 Forty-two months, 138, 139. 
 Four, the number, xxxviii. 
 Futurist School, xxviii xxxv. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gcbhardt, li. 
 
 Gehenna, 196-198, 290, 291, 330-332. 
 Glassy sea, 69, 70, 206, 207. 
 Gog and Magog, 2S5, 286. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hades, 20, 21, 115, 328-335. 
 Harlot, the great 22()-2t,o. 
 Har-Magedon, battle of, 221,222, 273, 
 
 274. 
 Harpers, 190. 
 Harvest, 200, 202. 
 Hell, 196-198, 290, 291, 330-332. 
 Hciigsfciihcrg, h. 
 Horn, the Little, 171. 
 
 I. 
 
 Israel, literal or spiritual, 95-97. 
 
 J. 
 
 Iews, conversion of, 95-98, 145. 
 ezebel, 43. 
 ohn the Apostle, the Author of the 
 Apocalypse, v-x ; banished to 
 Patmos, xiv. 
 Judgment, the, xxxii, x.xxiii ; upon the 
 
 wicked, 289-291. 
 Judgment, the Last, 91, 92, 150, 152. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kingdom, the, 322-327. 
 
 Kingdoms, the four, of Daniel, 170, 
 
 179 
 Kliepth, 111 
 
 Lake of fire, 290, 291. 
 
 Lamb, 77, 78, 189, 190. 
 
 Langc, lii, liii. 
 
 Laodicea, epistle to the church at, 
 
 5«-63- 
 Lee, liii. 
 
 Letters to the seven churches, 24-26. 
 Little Horn of Daniel, 171. 
 Living creatures, 70, 71, 72. 
 Locusts, 115-118. 
 Lord's Day, 14. 
 Ltithardt, liii. 
 
 M. 
 
 Maitlatid, liii. 
 Man-child, 156, 157, 164 
 Marriage of the Lamb, 262-264. 
 Martyrs, the cry (A the souls of, 89. 
 Measuring of the temple, 135-139. 
 Michael, 159, 160. 
 MiHigaJi, liv. 
 Millennium, xxxi, x.xxiv, xxxv, 81, 
 
 280-285, 352-359- 
 Moses, 148. 
 
 N. 
 
 New heavens and new earth, 292- 
 
 297. 
 New Jerusalem, 293-296, 298-314. 
 Nicolaitans, 39. 
 Number of the beast, 185-188. 
 Numerals of the Apocalypse, xxxvi- 
 
 xl. 
 
 P. 
 
 Paradise, 32, 33, 311, 314. 
 
 Patmos, xiv, xvii, 13. 
 
 Pergamum, epistle to church at, 36- 
 
 41. 
 Persecution, 56. 
 Peters, 327. 
 Philadelphia, epistle to the church at, 
 
 53-58- 
 Plagues, the seven last, 210-225. 
 Plitmmer, liv. 
 
 Post-millennialism, 271, 350, 351. 
 Prayers of the saints, 79, 106, 107. 
 Predictive prophecy, xx, xxi. 
 Pre-millennialism, xxxi, 271, 272. 
 Preterist school of interpretation, 
 
 xxvi. 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 365 
 
 Prophecy, xx, xxi. 
 Punishment, eternal, 197, ic 
 
 R 
 
 Rapture of the saints, xxxi. 
 Recapitulation theory, xxiii, xxiv, ixv. 
 Reign ot the saints. Ho, iSi. 
 Resurrection, the first, xxxii, 281-284, 
 
 360-362. 
 Resurrection, the second, xxxii, 281- 
 
 283, 288-291. 
 
 Sadler, Iv. 
 
 Sardis, epistle to the church at, 49-53. 
 
 Satan, 155, 156, 161 ; binding of, 277- 
 280 ; final victory over, 285-287. 
 
 Seals, the seven, 83-105 ; interpreta- 
 tion of, 336-342. 
 
 Sealing of the servants of God, 93-99. 
 
 Second death, 36, 290. 
 
 Seiss, Ivii. 
 
 Seven, the number, xxxviii. 
 
 Seven bowls of wrath, 210-225, 34^ 
 
 349- 
 Seven churches, 5, 6. 
 Seven epistles, 24-26, 64. 
 Seven heads, 169, 172. 
 Seven kings, 172-174, 234-236. 
 Seven mountains, 232-234. 
 Seven seals, 83 92. 
 Seven Spirits, 7, 49. 
 Seven stars, 18, 22, 50. 
 Seven vials, 212-225, 346-349. 
 Seven visions, Ixv. 
 Seventy weeks, xli. 
 Sheol, 328, 329. 
 Simcox, Ivi. 
 
 Six, the number, xxxviii, 188. 
 Smvrna, epistle to the church at, 
 
 "33-36. 
 Spiritual system of interpretation, 
 XX, xxi, xxiv-xxvi. 
 
 T. 
 
 Temple, measuring of the, 135-139. 
 Ten, the number, xl. 
 
 Ten days, 35. 
 
 Ten kiiigs, 237-242. 
 
 Thousand years, 283, 284. 
 
 Three, the number, xxxvii. 
 
 Three and a half years, xxxix, 138, 
 
 139- 
 
 Three unclean spirits, 219, 220. 
 
 Throne, (<x 
 
 Thunders, seven, 128, 129. 
 
 Thyatira, epistle to the church at, 
 41-48. 
 
 Todd, Iviii. 
 
 Tree of life, 32, 311-313. 
 
 Tribes of Isr"ael,\j5-98' ' 
 
 Tribulation, the great, xxxii, IC2. 
 
 Tribulation saints, 99-102. 
 
 Trumpets, the six, 105-126 ; the sev- 
 enth, 149-151 ; interpretation of, 
 
 343-345- 
 Twelve, the number, xl. 
 Two, the number, xxxvii. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vangluiii, lix. 
 
 Vials, seven, 212-225, 346-349- 
 
 Vintage, 202-205. 
 
 Virgin Mary, 154. 
 
 Virgins, 191, 192. 
 
 W. 
 
 War in heaven, 157-161. 
 
 IlV/i's, lix. 
 
 Wicked, final judgment of, 287-291. 
 
 Will la ins, Ix. 
 
 Winepress, 203-205. 
 
 Witnesses, the two, 139-148. 
 
 Woe, the first, 114-120; ihe second, 
 121-126 ; the third, 149-151. 
 
 Woman, the vision of, I5i-i'4, 156- 
 159 ; deliverance of, 163-1^8 ; the 
 gVeat harlot, 226-230. 241-244. 
 
 Wordsivorth, 1.x. 
 
 Wormwood, iii. 
 
 Year-day theory, xli, xlii. 
 
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