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AN 
 
 AMERICAN COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 ALVAH HOVEY, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 \L± 
 
 PIIILAUELPIIIA: 
 
 AMEKICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 1420 Chestnut Street. 
 
COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 BY 
 
 JUSTIN A. SMITH, D. D., 
 
 IN CONSULTATION WITH 
 
 JAMES ROBINSON BOISE, Ph. D., D. D., LL. D. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 1420 Chestnut Street. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by the 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A Commentary on the Apocalypse could not probably be so written as to 
 meet the views of all students of the New Testament. The interpretation of 
 prophecy is always difficult. In this case it is made especially so by the Apocalyptic 
 character of the book. Made up, as Stuart says, " of one continued series of 
 symbols, unaccompanied for the most part by such plain and explicit declarations 
 with regard to their meaning as are generally to be found in like cases among the 
 prophecies of the Old Testament," whatever theory of interpretation for the book 
 is adopted remains still a theory, however confidently presented, with no such 
 ultimate test of its accuracy as to compel assent. The only course open to an 
 expositor, in such a case, is to study the book itself faithfully, with such helps as 
 may be available to him, keeping strictly to the text, and making it his business 
 to ascertain and state the meaning of the text, leaving at one side, so much as is 
 possible to him, all preconceptions and prepossessions. 
 
 It is only just that the writer of this preface should assume the entire responsi- 
 bility of the method of interpretation used in the commentary now offered to the 
 reader, as well as of the work in general, which appears in it. Dr. Boise's state 
 of health, together with the pressure of professional duty, has made it impossible 
 for him to undertake more than what relates to Greek construction • and critical 
 exegesis, save that the section in the Introduction upon the language and literary 
 style of the Apocalypse is written by him. All the manuscript, however, has been 
 read to him, and questions of textual reading, of rendering, and of exegesis as 
 involved in these, have been carefully examined ; the present writer havin^ o-reat 
 pleasure in leaving all such questions to be determined by one whose life-lono- 
 experience as a Greek instructor, and whose devotion, now, to sacred studies, 
 together with his recognized eminence as a scholar, entitle him to rank as an 
 authority in whatever concerns New Testament criticism. 
 
 The nature of the work here undertaken seemed to warrant the writer of this 
 commentary in varying somewhat the procedure which may be preferred by those 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 who are culled upon* to deal in a similar way with other of the New Testament 
 books. Points present themselves from time to time that require more of expan- 
 sion than is practicable in the exposition proper. These are treated in the form 
 either of " General Comments," or of " Excursus." Some of the more general 
 aspects of the exposition itself are considered in connection with these separate 
 divisions. It is hoped that a more clear, as well as a more full presentation of 
 some of the more difficult subjects requiring distinct treatment has thus been 
 
 practicable. 
 
 Perhaps there is no book of the Bible the literature of which is in a certain 
 
 way so little helpful to an expositor, as that of the Apocalypse. Learned works 
 
 upon this remarkable portion of the inspired volume do, indeed, abound, and 
 
 these in matters of special exegesis are often very serviceable. But the views of 
 
 the writers are so utterly conflicting, for the most part, as to the general scheme 
 
 of interpretation adopted, that the student of them soon finds himself driven to 
 
 take from each whatever of useful suggestion he may find there, and then proceed 
 
 independently in his search for the meaning and lesson of the book. In preparing 
 
 this commentary, a somewhat wide range of reading and investigation has been 
 
 practicable. The works mainly used have been those of Alford, Lange, Hengsten- 
 
 berg, Diisterdieck in Meyer, Carpenter in Ellicott, The Speaker's Commentary, 
 
 Stuart, Auberlen, Ziillig, Wetstein, Elliott's Horoe. Apocalypticce, Wordsworth, 
 
 Farrar, besides lectures of Edward Irving, and of Dr. Vaughan, formerly of the 
 
 Middle Temple : and, as among older writers, Bengel, Brightniau, Dunbar, jSIede, 
 
 and others. The scheme of interpretation adopted is in some measure eclectic, and 
 
 still to a considerable extent independent. The w'riter has not been ambitious to 
 
 construct a scheme of his own, but has aimed to combine what seemed susceptible 
 
 of use and safe to adopt, in the commentaries, especially of Ellicott, Alford, and 
 
 Lange, with much use, in matters of critical exegesis, of Diisterdieck and Stuart. 
 
 To the great scholars and writers who have been his companions in this study 
 
 during some three years and a half, he owes a debt of obligation which no merely 
 
 formal words of recognition and thanks could ever repay. 
 
 For the most part, the Greek text of Westcott and Hort, which was made also 
 
 the chief textual basis of the Revision printed in this volume along with the 
 
 auth(jrized version, has been followed in our own exposition. There is less occasion 
 
 to go back of the excellent work of Westcott and Hort, and the manuscripts so 
 
 much relied upon by them, in any inquiry after the true text, as the variations in 
 
 the Apocalypse among manuscripts, though very numerous, are less vital in 
 
 character than in some other of the New Testament books. Manuscript authority, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 however, has been consulted where thought necessary, and the aim has been, so far 
 as possible, to ascertain the text which most accurately represents that of the 
 inspired author himself. 
 
 To the writer of these pages, the months of study devoted to this marvelous 
 book make up a section of his life hereafter to be looked back upon with peculiar 
 feelings. So difficult a work would not, probably, have been undertaken, only for 
 the assurance of cooperation on the part of the beloved and honored scholar who 
 has more than redeemed every promise of aid, ani as well the conviction that in 
 passing through the hands of the Editor of that series of commentaries, what he 
 should write would be met with a scrutiny than which none could be more capable 
 or more generous. To have been associated with Dr. Boise and Dr. Hovey in a 
 service of this kind is of itself occasion for the deepest satisfaction, while the work 
 itself has been self-rewarding in no common degree. 
 
 J. A. SMITH. 
 
 Chicago, Januaiy 15, 1883. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 I. ITS AUTHOR. 
 
 At the opening of the Book of the Acts, we find two of the apostles standing forth 
 with special prominence, and in intimate association. These are Peter and John. In 
 those events which signalized the opening of the New Dispensation, these two are intro- 
 duced in company, and so acting and speaking as jointly to represent their brethren in 
 the apostleship. Of the two, however, Peter is the one who speaks and acts most in the 
 capacity of a leader, and who, contrary to what we should have anticipated of him — as 
 that disciple whose courage and loyalty so signally failed at the critical moment — appears, 
 evidently, as the organizer of the infant church. 
 
 In due time another figure appears upon the scene. The function of the organizer 
 becomes less conspicuous, while that of the doctrinal teacher fills the foremost place. 
 This is assigned to Paul. But there remained still another. A time was to come when, 
 the organization and order of the church having been settled, and its doctrine so fully 
 set forth as to endow it for the office it should fill to the end of time, as a witness to the 
 truth, the opening scenes of its contact and conflict with the world-powers, which should 
 resist, and sometimes hinder its progress, would be unfolded in such a manner as to 
 make it fitting that some indication be given as to what the future of the church should 
 be. Thus it comes about that the last of the sacred books — the consummating pages 
 of Inspiration — takes the form of pi-nphecj/. And so while to Peter was assigned pre- 
 eminently the organizing, and to Paul the teaching function, to John was assigned that 
 of the prophet of the New Dispensation. 
 
 Of all the apostles — not excepting Paul himself — John was that one on every ac- 
 count best suited to the Apocalyptic office which thus fell to him. As we study this final 
 book of the New Testament revelation ; as we enter into its spirit ; and especially as we 
 observe in what prominence the person of the glorified Jesus comes forth into the field 
 of view — we realize the fitness of that selection which makes the Beloved Disciple the 
 recipient of these divine communications, and the medium through which they should be 
 transmitted to the church of all the future ages. No one of the whole number — as his 
 Gosjiel and Epistles testify when comjiared with other writings of the New Testament, 
 rose so easily to the plane of those revelations which exhibit the person of the Son in 
 his divine oneness with the Father, and in which all spiritual realities stand forth, less 
 as doctrinal media through which to grasp eternal things, than as the eternal things 
 themselves. No one of them could say with such truth as himself: "Truly, our fellow- 
 ship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ" (1 John i. 3) ; it is he that 
 we find saying: "The Life was manifested, and we have seen it and bear witness, and 
 show unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto 
 
 7 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 us" (1 John i. 2). John entered, as none of his brethren did or could, into the spiritual 
 arcana of the New Dispensation, and was prepared bj^ his very mental constitution, still 
 more by his peculiar spiritual attainments, for the wonderful visions in which a Revela- 
 tion, in form and substance so transcendent, was to be made. 
 
 Over the (jucstion whether the Apostle John was indeed the author of this book, 
 there has been much controversy. Two facts in this connection are significant : (1) that 
 his authorship was first questioned through what Carpenter, in EUicott's Commentary, 
 terms "doctrinal prejudice" ; (2) that, as is agreed on all hands, the oldest and earliest 
 witnesses testify to the Johannean authorship, beginning with Justin jNIartyr, about the 
 middle of the Second Century, and coming down to the middle of the Third. At the 
 date last given, an active controversy was in progress between two schools of Scripture 
 interi>retation — one of these carrying the allegorical, the other the literal, method to an 
 extreme. By the latter school, passages, especially in the Apocalypse, referring to the 
 millennium, had been taken in a grossly literal and material sense, giving offense to those 
 better instructed and more judicious. Dionysius of Alexandria, who belonged to the 
 former school — the allegorical — in opposing these views, was much disturbed by the use 
 made of the Apocalypse; and not satisfied with showing that the Chiliastic teachings 
 which he combated were a perversion of the teaching of this book, he went so far as 
 to question the apostolical authority of the book itself He admitted it to be the work 
 of some "holy and inspired man" ; but denied that he was an apostle. It was at this 
 time (about A. D. 247), and under these circumstances, that the Johannean authorship 
 of the book was first called in question, at least in any reputable quarter. 
 
 The later objections to the Johannean authorship of the Apocalypse, originate in 
 much the same way as the earlier ones, and proceed upon very much the same grounds. 
 "Doctrinal prejudice" predisposed to a hostile view of the question — the Christology 
 of this book, perhaps, so distinct and emphatic in its recognition of our Lord's divinity, 
 offending one class ; while its millenarian teachings were equally offensive to others. 
 The critical tendencies and methods, also, of the present age, find in the book a peculiar 
 opportunity. Its character and structure are remarkable. In its style, it bears some 
 features of singular contrast with other writings of the same apostle. It is difficult 
 of consistent interpretation, and has so often been used in support of wild theories 
 as to fulfillments of prophecy, that some of the discredit justly suffered bj' them reacts 
 upon the authority so unjustifiably quoted in their behalf From all this it has resulted 
 that first the inspiration, and then as involved in this, the apostolical authorship, of the 
 book have been denied ; meanwhile even some, who would allow it a certain measure of 
 canonical authority, are unwilling to admit that it was written by the Beloved Disciple 
 himself The subject cannot be treated at large, here. Briefly we touch upon the 
 evidences sustaining the view so long, and still held by the great body of instructed 
 Christians, classifying them as follows : 
 I. External Evidences. 
 
 (a) The testimony of Christian writers nearest in point of time to the date of the 
 book itself— such as Justin Martyr, A. D. 96 (?)-]66; Melito of Sardis, died 171 ; Theoph- 
 ilus of Antioch. died 180; Irenaeus. 140-202; Tertullian, 160-220; Clement of Alexan- 
 dria, 160-215; Origen, 185-253. All these are express in their testimony to the fact 
 that John wrote the Apocalypse. Though Eusebius, the historian, treats the point as 
 undetermined, he does so in the face of these testimonies; while writers subsequent to 
 his date, such as Basil the Great, Athanasius, Ambrose, Cyprian, Augustine, Jerome, 
 SI) far from sharing in his doubt, constantly quote the book as written by the Ajjostle 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 9 
 
 John. Such a concurrence of testimony on the part of those in a position to determine 
 a question of this sort, and in every other way deserving of credit, could be set aside 
 only by opposing evidence of the most conclusive kind. 
 
 (/>) The only other theory as to the writer in whose behalf the authorship of the 
 book may be claimed, deserving of notice, is that which assigns it to a person of whom 
 very little is known, named John the Presbyter. He is mentioned by Papias, in a pas- 
 sage of doubtful import, not as making him the author of the Revelation, but as one 
 of those to whom he represents himself as applying for information upon subjects of 
 Christian teaching. Eusebius also mentions a report that at Ephesus there were two 
 monuments, each bearing the name of John, the one being taken for that of John 
 the Apostle, the other for that of John the Presbyter. Jerome, however, referring 
 to the same tradition, adds that some in his time were of the opinion that the two 
 monuments were memorials of the same person — Johaimis Eoaiigelhtce — "John the 
 Evangelist." In a word, the very identity of the second John — John the Presbyter — is 
 so doubtful, and there is such an utter lack of indication that, even if this person ever 
 existed, he was capable of writing such a book as the Revelation, that the naming of him 
 in this connection seems like the desperate expedient of the mere controversialist. 
 
 II. Internal Evidences. 
 
 (a) Of these should "be mentioned : first, the fact that the author of the book names 
 himself John. In four places he does this (1 : 1, 4, 9 ; 22 : 8). The manner in which the 
 name is introduced in these places implies (1) that it was a name well known, and the 
 identity of the writer sure to be recognized by those to whom the book was originally ad- 
 dressed ; (2) that his relation to the Seven Churches named in the early part of the book 
 was such as to make him a suitable medium for communication to them in that tone of 
 authority and admonition which he employs. It is known that the Apostle John spent 
 the closing years of his life among the churches of Asia Minor, and that he held amongst 
 them a position wholly consistent with the attitude toward them that he here assumes ; 
 (3) in the third mention of his own name by the author of the book (1 : 9), one is re- 
 minded of those words of the Lord to John, with his brother James (Mark 10 : 38, 39), 
 while they are at the same time in eminent keeping with what is known of the tender, 
 sympathizing, and fraternal spirit of the Apostle John; (4) Prof. Stuart calls attention 
 to the similarity, in language and tone, between the allusion to himself by the writer of 
 the Revelation in chapter 22 : 8, and a like allusion in the Gospel by John, 21 : 24, 
 as having struck him "with great force." In the latter place we read : "This is the 
 disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things" ; in the former : "And 
 I, John, saw these things and heard them." In every one of these instances, therefore, 
 it may be claimed that the mention made of himself by the writer, is in perfect con- 
 sistence with the theory that he is none other than the Apostle John. 
 
 {h) The light in which John exhibits Christ in this book — its Christology — is an 
 important point of internal evidence. The expression, for example, in 1 : 1, "which God 
 gave unto him," Christ, harmonizes with the general teaching of John's Gospel as to 
 our Lord's divinity, where, as Hengstenberg saj^s, the apostle "constantly makes state- 
 ments which imply that the Son has everything that the Father has, and yet has 
 nothing but what he has received of the Father." Stuart, taking the same view in 
 general, mentions as an important point of internal evidence, "the Christology of the 
 Apocalypse in respect to the dependence of the Saviour on God the Father, for his 
 doctrinal and instructions, '^ as being "strikingly in unison with that of John." Having 
 compared the words, "which God gave unto him," with such passages in the Gospel as 
 
10 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 17:7,8; 5:19,20; 7:16, he adds: "Elsewhere in the New Testament different 
 modes of expressing this relation may be found ; but they are unfrequent, and wanting 
 in the special resemblance here indicated." 
 
 (c) The use of the term Logos as indicative of a person, and as a distinctive title 
 of our Lord. This usage occurs nowhere in the New Testament, save in the Gospel 
 by John, in his first Epistle, and in the Apocalypse. As Stuart says, "it seems to be 
 purely Johannean." 
 
 ((/) Among resemblances between the Apocalypse and the Gospel by John, which 
 may be viewed as in some sense casual, and still for that reason all the more noticeable, 
 Ls the circumstance that while John is the only one of the evangelists who, in the 
 history of our Lord's crucifixion, mentions the fact that his side was pierced with a 
 spear, we find in the llevelation an allusion to the same circumstance at 1 : 7 — "they 
 also wliich pierced him." Those who have treated the two passages critically, call 
 attention also to the fact that the Greek word used, both in the Gospel and the Revela- 
 tion, for "pierced," is different from that in the Septuagint Version of the prophet 
 Zechariah (12:10), which in the Gospel is mentioned as fulfilled in the incident 
 described. The Septuagint translators use one word (KaropxeVoc), and the author of the 
 Gospel and the Revelation another {tKK(vTi<^. This difference on the one hand and 
 identity on the other, in the use of words to express the same idea, is regarded as 
 pointing to identity of authorship in the case of the two books last mentioned. 
 
 (') It is in the Gospel of John that Jesus is pointed out as "the Lamb of God 
 which taketh away the sin of the world." No other of the evangelists gives him this 
 title. In the Revelation it is so given no less than twenty-two times. This free use 
 of the symbol seems highly consistent with the marked and emphatic manner in which, 
 twice in the same chapter (John 1 : 29, 36), the same writer records the testimony of 
 John the Baptist concerning the Messiah : "Behold the Lamb of God ! " 
 
 (/) Other points of evidence might be named, in the verbal usage of the Revela- 
 tion, as compared with other writings of the Apostle John. These, however, require for 
 their adequate presentation a more critical treatment than will be practicable here. 
 
 II. LANGUAGE AND LITERARV STYLE. 
 
 "VVe present above, all that our limits will allow, in support of the commonly 
 received opinion, that the writer of the Fourth Gospel, of the Epistles of John, and of 
 the Apocalypse, is one and the same person ; though at different periods in his life, with 
 widely different surroundings and mental conditions. A point of difficulty is suggested 
 as regards the language and literary style. How the three causes just named may 
 influence the style of a writer, might be illustrated at length. Our own literature 
 presents many and striking examples. Whatever difficulties, therefore, we encounter in 
 Ktuilyini: the language of those parts of the New Testament attributed to John, the 
 Beloved Discii)le and Apostle, though they may appear great, they are not, we think, 
 insurmountable, and may be intelligently explained by a suitable regard to the points 
 above mentioned. 
 
 A word will be in place here respecting the nature of the linguistic difficulties. 
 The fJreek scholar, in reading the Fourth Gospel, finds it written in tolerably good 
 Greek, with comparatively few di^partures from the literary language of the time ; but on 
 turning to the Apficalyp.se, he is at once struck with ungrammatical constructions, more 
 numerous and more marked than in any other part of the New Testament. Those 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 11 
 
 which we have noticed most frequently are a neglect of the ordinary rules of agree- 
 ment, and the repetition of the personal, after the relative pronoun, in the manner of 
 Hebrew writers. 
 
 By the side of this difficulty, which we shall frequently attempt to account for, and 
 more than counterbalancing it in our judgment, we will mention one point that we have 
 not seen presented elsewhere. The young scholar finds all the writings attributed to 
 John very easy Greek. He can in the same time and with the same eifort, "get out" a 
 much longer lesson, so as to recite it satisfactorily, in the Apocalypse, or the Fourth 
 Gospel, or in the Epistles of John, than in any other part of the New Testament. The 
 contrast in this one respect to the style of Paul, or of Peter, or of Jude, is most remark- 
 able, and is something which the young student, comparatively unfamiliar with Greek, 
 can appreciate even better perhaps than the most profound Greek scholar. This 
 undoubted fact must be owing to the structure of the language ; and marks it, not only 
 as peculiar, but also as similar. 
 
 Granting, therefore, that there is a similarity in this one respect, at least, in all the 
 writings commonly attributed to the Apostle John, we next inquire. Is there any possible 
 way, any rational method of accounting for the irregularities in the style of the 
 Apocalypse? The comparison which we now make, with a view to this question, will be, 
 as is usual, between the Fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse. Supposing the Gospel to 
 have been written about 78 A. D., and the Apocalypse about 95 or 96 A. D. (the dates 
 more commonly given), we have an interval of seventeen or eighteen years. The Gospel 
 was probably written before the vigor of manhood had at all abated, and while the writer 
 was surrounded with a Greek-speaking population. It was perfectly natural that the 
 Gospel should be composed with care, with patient thought, and in tolerably correct 
 Greek, such as the writer daily heard around him. The Apocalypse, on the other hand, 
 seems to have been composed in extreme old age, in the rapture of ecstatic visions, and 
 in a desolate island. Circumstances and states of mind differing more widely can hardly 
 be imagined. It was natural that the man of advanced years should revert in some 
 respects to the dialect of his youth, to the inaccurate Greek which he must often have 
 heard and spoken in his native Galilee. A similar phenomenon is often witnessed, if we 
 mistake not, in old age. It was also natural that the gorgeous visions which passed 
 vividly and rapidly before him, filling him with rapture, should give to his style a peculiar 
 form and coloring, which did not appear when the writer was in a more calm and 
 deliberate frame of mind. These two considerations, both separately and in combination, 
 do not seem to have been sufficiently weighed. They are to us a satisfactory explanation 
 of the differences in language between the earliest and the lategt writings of John 
 the Apostle. 
 
 We mention one consideration more, which might lead one to expect a new and 
 peculiar style in the Apocalypse. The subject-matter is new ; differing widely from 
 that of any other book of the New Testament. It more nearly resembles portions of 
 the Old Testament. While therefore we find many words and expressions in the 
 Apocalypse that remind us of the other writings of John, it is not strange that we 
 discover much in the phraseology that is new, with Hebraisms originating in the fact 
 that so often the visions and imagery of the ancient Hebrew prophets are reproduced 
 in his own. 
 
 If, then, these four points — difference of age of the writer, difference of sur- 
 roundings, difference of mental conditions, and difference of subject-maitter — if all 
 these are properly weighed, we need not be surprised at the discovery of some marked 
 
12 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 diflFerences of style and of language ; and that they would be just what we find them 
 Bcems natural. 
 
 III. WHERE AND WHEN WRITTEN. 
 
 The place where the book was written is sufficiently indicated by the author himself 
 —"the isle that is called Patnios" (1 : 9). " Patmos, now called Patina and Patmosa, 
 is a locky island in the ^gean Sea, situated not far from the coast, to the south 
 of Ei)hesus, a short distance from Samos. It is little more than one huge rock 
 proji'cting out of the sea; and at the time of the apostle's exile was probably without 
 inhabitants, unless it might be other prisoners, and those who had charge of the place 
 aij a ])rison." — {MaalotKtld.) 
 
 The date of the authorshii) is a question of more difficulty. Upon this point, only 
 two theories will need to be noticed here : (1) That which fixes this date near the end 
 of the reign of the Emperor Domitian, about A. D. 95, or A. D. 96 ; and (2) that which 
 places it in the reign of Nero, about A. D. 68. This latter date would make the writing 
 of the Revelation precede the destruction of Jerusalem, an event that occurred A. D. 
 70. An important question of interpretation thus becomes involved in that of the time 
 at which the book was written. Stuart, with others, adopting the historical method of 
 treating the synibolism of the book, makes an important portion of it — chapters 5-11. — 
 relate to the overthrow of Jerusalem, the final destruction of the Jewish State, and the 
 close of the Judaic Dispensation. To this theory it becomes necessary, of course, that 
 the writing of the book should antedate these events ; and as it is agreed that the 
 exile to Patmos occurred under the reign of a persecuting emperor, that of Nero is 
 fixed upon. 
 
 The limits necessary to be observed in this Introduction will allow us, in speaking 
 of these two theories, to notice only the chief points of evidence touching the question 
 in hand. 
 
 I. It is natural to revert, first of all, to such witness as may be found on the part 
 of those who were in a position to have personal knowledge upon this subject. Of this 
 — the testimony of early Christian writers — there is not much of a specific kind ; and 
 even this appears to rest mainly upon a single passage of one writer — Irenasus. But 
 Irenjcus is very explicit, to the efiiect that "the Apocalypse was seen not long ago; but 
 nearly in our own time, near the end of the reign of Domitian." Irenaeus, as a disciple 
 of Polycarp, who was himself a disciple of John,, was in a position to be well informed 
 upon a subject of this kind. Other writers near the time of Irenaeus, make similar 
 statcniciits, following, apparently, the authoi'ity of Irenaeus himself. Various attemjits 
 an; made to explain away this passage in Irenasus ; to invalidate its authority, as itself 
 founded — so these writers claim — upon a doubtful tradition, or as susceptible, in some 
 parts of it, of a different rendering. After careful study of the argument, we find 
 ourselves unconvinced, that by any such means the testimony in question can be set 
 aside, or substantially shaken. 
 
 H. The argument in favor of the earlier date (a. d. 68, or at some time imdcr the 
 reign of Nenj), rests, apart from its criticism of reasons given for the later one, largely 
 upon pa.s.sagt's in the Apocalypse itself, which are supposed to demand for their exposi- 
 tion a date lor the writing preceding that of the destruction of Jeru.salem. It is quite 
 clear that the interpnitation cannot be allowed to fix the date, and then the date to 
 determine the interjiretation. That method of reasoning cannot, of course, be admitted 
 in any case. The objectitms to this date are such as follow : 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 13 
 
 (1) The positive testimony of the early Cliristian writers, who name Domitian as the 
 emperor under whose reign the persecution occurred in wliich John was exiled to 
 Patmos, and the Revelation was written. 
 
 (2) The lack of historical evidence, that the persecution under Nero reached so far 
 as to Asia Minor ; or, indeed, was felt beyond Rome itself Numerous passages in the 
 Revelation imply that it was written at a time when bloody persecutions of the Chris- 
 tians widely prevailed, as was the case under Domitian, but not under Nero ; white 
 the exile of the writer himself to Patmos, which may well have occurred under 
 Domitian, is not likely, for the reason named, to have done so under Nero. 
 
 (o) The condition of the Seven Churches of Asia to whom the epistles in the opening 
 chapters of the book are addressed, make it seem impossible that the date of the writing 
 should have been so early. Hengstenberg justly regards this evidence as decisive. If 
 the Revelation was written in the time of Nero, not above six or seven years can have 
 elapsed since the writing of the Epistle to the Ephesians by Paul. What the condition 
 of the church was at that time, may be inferred from the tone of this epistle. Is it con- 
 ceivable that in so short a space of time so great a change can have taken place ? The 
 condition of all these seven churches, unless it should be that of Philadelphia, is such as 
 could occur only after the lapse of a considerable period, when the influence of the per- ' 
 sonal apostolic ministry had in some degree declined, when the false teachers, such as the 
 Nicolaitanes, had crept in, and when an insidious spirit of worldliness had corrupted the 
 original simplicity and purity. If we fix the date of these seven epistles toward the end 
 of Domitian' s reign, some thirty years will have passed since the founding of the 
 churches in Asia Minor ; an interval sufficient, but only sufficient, for the development 
 of such changes as the whole record implies. ' 
 
 The various theories that assign for John's exile and the writing of the book other 
 dates, such as the reign of Claudius, that of Galba, or that of Trajan, need not be dis- 
 cussed here. We may close what we have to say on this point with the words of Alford : 
 "We have a constant and unswerving tradition that St. John's exile took place, and the" 
 Apocalypse was written, towards the end of Domitian' s reign. With this tradition, as 
 has been often observed, the circumstances seem to agree very well. We have na 
 evidence that the first, or Neronic, persecution extended beyond Rome, or found vent in 
 condemnation to exile. Whereas, in regard to the second, we know that both these were 
 the case. . . . These things then being considered — the decisive testimony of primitive 
 tradition, and the failure of all attempts to set it aside, the internal evidence furnished 
 by the book itself, and equal failure of all attempts by an unwarrantable interpretation to* 
 raise up counter evidence — I have no hesitation in believing with the ancient Fathers and 
 most competent witnesses, that the Apocalypse was written near the end of the reign of' 
 Domitian, i. e., about the year 95 or 96 A. D." 
 
 IV. THEORIES OF INTERPRETATION. 
 
 The various theories of interpretation adopted in the exposition of the Apocalypse 
 may be classed as principally three. As Auberlen states them, these are: (1) "The 
 church-historical view," which "regards the Revelation 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." 
 (2) "The second view is peculiar to those circles of modern German theology who deny ' 
 the genuineness of Daniel. They start with a conception of pro]ihecy which excludes a 
 real beholding of the future, revealed by God. Hence they limit the view of John, as ' 
 
14 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 well as that of Daniel, to his contemporary history. . . . This exegetical view is 
 . generally accompanied by the critical view, that the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse 
 cannot be by the same author." (3) The third view starts from a belief in real 
 predictions. It does not even deny the possibility of prophecies so minute and special 
 _as the interpreters belonging to the first class find in the Apocalypse; but it denies 
 "that the New Testament Apocalypse, as it lies before us, de facto, is or was intended 
 to be a detailed history of the future. 
 
 These general schemes of interpretation are, of course, variously modified in the 
 hands of different writers. Bengel, for example, with whom the first, or ''church- 
 historical" view originated, carries chronological calculations to an extreme, leading 
 the way in those interpretations that claim to find exact explanations of Apocalyptic 
 numbers, and even fix the dates of events yet future. Elliott, in ""Horce Apocali/pti^ce," 
 employs the same general method, but dwells less upon efforts to determine with 
 exactness questions of "times and seasons," and differs from Bengel, at many points, 
 in the historical events he selects as fulfillments of Apocalyptic traditions. Gaussen and 
 Barnes follow Elliott in many things ; but differ from him as to some of the methods 
 proposed for bringing the history and the prophecy into unison. The "church- 
 historical" method was, at one time, the favorite one with writers upon this book. 
 The often arbitrary manner, however, in which expositors have chosen out of the 
 liistory the events to be claimed as fulfilling the prophecy, and the many instances in 
 which interpretations before the event, based upon chronological computations, have 
 failed of support in the event itself, have cast much discredit upon it, and have placed 
 it, in the view of many at least, in the category of conjectures, or as mere exploits of 
 human ingenuity. 
 
 The second general method of interpretation needs only a bare mention here. It is 
 thoroughly rationalistic, unscriptural, aud self-destructive. Surely, nothing can be less 
 "rational" than to expound a "revelation" as revealing only that which history has 
 already recorded — a "prophecy" as being no prophecy at all! Besides that this 
 theory, whether applied to Daniel or the Revelation, creates far more difficulties than it 
 removes. 
 
 The latest results of careful, scholarly study of this subject, seem, for the most part, 
 to favor the third method of interpretation noticed above. This theory recognizes, 
 without reserve, the prophetical character of the Apocalypse. It views the book as a 
 "revelation," in prophetic form, of the purpose of God, as respects both the Church 
 of Jesus Christ and the world in which it abides, from the opening of the Christian 
 Dispensation to its very close. In this general and large sense, it is therefore " church- 
 historiciil." But it does not attempt details of the kind so often found impracticable 
 and delusive. The actors on the great Apocalyptic scene it views more as powers and 
 prinn'ph's, than as intlin'dudJs, and traces fulfillments, therefore, more in the line of great 
 movements, than in that of special events. The unfolding and application of this 
 method of interpretation in the exposition which follows must, for the most part, be 
 left t^) ajtpcar in the expo.sition itself A few chief points only can be indicated here. 
 
 As all writers upon the Apocalypse, so far as we know, are agreed, the outline study 
 of the book finds its contents falling naturally into three main divisions. The first is 
 introductory, and embraces the three first chai)ters. This includes the exordium proper, 
 and those letters or niessages to the Seven Churches, which, while supplying a basis to 
 what follows, are suited to prepare the reader of every age for the mingled admonition 
 and encouragement of the succeeding visions. With the fourth chapter, the more 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 15 
 
 strictly Apocalyptic portion of the book begins. To the end of the eleventh chapter, 
 in a series of striking pictures, future things in their relation to the Kingdom of God in 
 this world are set forth, in a way to forewarn the church in each age of the testing 
 trials that are coming, and at the same time to show how God is "for" it, in judgments 
 visited upon a persecuting and ungodly world, and in the final complete triumph, when 
 the kingdoms of this world finally "become the kingdom of our Lord and of his 
 Christ." With the twelfth chapter another series of visions opens, in which the same 
 general scene is presented ; but at new points of view, and in a new aspect. It begins 
 with the very opening of the Dispensation — the birth of the man-child. Consistently 
 with this feature at the beginning, it personifies, under a new system of imagery, the 
 forces entering into the great spiritual contest, running through centuries, with such 
 variety of awful vicissitude, to the end of time. This division of the book closes with 
 the nineteenth chapter. The twentieth chapter may be treated as transitional. In it "the 
 mystery of God ' ' is finally finished, and " the time of the end" comes. From the begin- 
 ning of the twenty-first chapter to the close of the book, the final happy condition of the 
 redeemed is set forth, under a vivid symbolism, which might almost be said to exhaust 
 the capabilities of even inspired imagination. 
 
 In connection with the general view of the method of interpretation followed in our 
 exposition, a variety of special questions arise, which, however, our space will not allow 
 us to consider now. We leave them, therefore, for particular examination in our treat- 
 ment of the text. 
 
 V. SYMBOLISM OF THE BOOK. 
 
 The symbolism of the Apocalypse we regard as susceptible of a classification which 
 may shed light upon its exposition. This classification is based upon the outline view of 
 the book already indicated. Passing by the Introduction, when we come to the first 
 series of visions (ch. 4-11), we find upon examination that while, as in those which 
 follow, there is a reproduction of the symbolism used in Old Testament prophecy, it is 
 that symbolism as it occurs in a particular connection. Even the opening of this part of 
 the Revelation, its Theophany — its sublime description of that manifestation of God 
 which the seer beholds through the open door of heaven — is strictly in keeping with that 
 found in the opening chapters of Ezekiel, and which introduces the long array of God's 
 judgments, alike in punishment of his people's degeneracy, and in the destruction of 
 their enemies. The symbolism that follows, as foreshadowing the retributive dispensa- 
 tions coming upon the apostate church and the ungodly world, is almost a reproduction 
 of that in Ezekiel and in Joel. Compare, for example. Rev. 6 : 4-6, with Ezek. 4 : 9-17, 
 where the symbols representative of famine are used ; also. Rev. 6 : 8, 9, with Ezek. 5 : 
 10-13, where pestilence is threatened and described. Then, where the locusts are intro- 
 duced in Revelation, with other attendant judgments and miseries, the reader recognizes, 
 at once, the imagery already made familiar in the prophecy of Joel. In the description 
 of the Two Witnesses, distinct reference is made to that passage in Zechariah which 
 speaks of Joshua the high-priest, and Zerubbabel the civil governor, as representing the 
 spiritual order of the Judaic Dispensation, on the one hand, and its secular order upon 
 the other, symbolized in the candlesticks and the olive trees, "standing before the God 
 of the earth." The measurement of the Temple, in Rev. 11, reminds us at once of a 
 like representation of the Jewish polity found in Ezekiel ; while the direct and specific 
 mention of "the great city, where also our Lord was crucified" (Rev. 11 : 8), in a yet 
 more pointed way indicates that the symbolism in this part of the book follows a line of 
 
16 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 representation having reference to the kingdom of God in its Judaico-Christian concep- 
 tion. In other words, we view this part of the prophecy as representing the church, in 
 its general idea as the kingdom, under that view which Paul, in some of his epistles, 
 malvos so prominent, viz., as the true Israel. A marked indication of this is the sealing 
 of the " luindred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of Israel," described in the 
 seventh chapter. 
 
 When we come to the second division in our analysis of the book (ch. 12-19), we 
 notice a remarkable change in the character of the symbolism. The likeness to Old 
 Testament symbolism is retained, but to this, as we find it in another of the Old Testa- 
 ment books — the Book of Daniel. The imagery used by him to represent certain great 
 world-powers, in their nature, action, and destiny, is again used by John in his picture of 
 like things and hke events. It is a change in the sjaubolism corresponding to the change 
 ill the point of view. There is a succession of "beasts" combining in themselves attri- 
 butes of those most ferocious, and seeking, as is their nature, to waste, consume, and 
 destroy ; yet, as it is represented in Daniel, themselves consumed and destroyed in the 
 end. The representation of organized antichrist! ui powers as "Babylon," recalls the 
 very scene of Daniel's own visions and prophecies, while the angelic ministries used 
 remind us of that which he himself enjoyed. The conception of the church as a woman 
 in heaven clothed with the sun, symbolizing the Kingdom of God, and the man-child to, 
 whom she gives birth, recalls Daniel's " one like the Son of man," who "came with the 
 clouds of heaven." Under this symbolism, as a whole, we seem to have presented the 
 Kingdom of God in its more direct conflict with the power of the world ; a more distinct 
 personification of those forces that stand arrayed against each other during the whole 
 period of gospel propagation — spiritual, heavenly, gracious upon the one hand ; worldly, 
 devilish, destructive on the other — and a more decided and exj^ress indication of the 
 essential character of each. 
 
 In the concluding chapters of the book (21, 22), the imagery carries us back to the 
 first chapters of the Old Testament, and to the beginning of things in this world, as if 
 to make more vivid the truth that, in making "all things new," the Redeemer follows 
 the pattern of that which, as Creator, he originally framed. There are " new heavens " 
 and "a new earth" ; not as the old, but a heaven and an earth "wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness." There is a paradise, after the similitude of the original one; only in 
 this the garden becomes a city. It is no longer open to invasion, as the first Eden was ; 
 but has walls and gates for defence ; and into it shall enter no manner of abomination, 
 nor anything that '' loveth and maketh a lie." Through this city flows the River of 
 Life, and in the midst of the broad street of the city is the Tree of Life. Thus is the 
 old restored in the new — restored in myriad-fold splendor, beauty, and delight ; and so 
 as to be tluinceforth forever secure. 
 
 Any dis(;ussion in detail of Apocalyptic symbolism, including that of Apocalyptic 
 numbers, will be best reserved for the exposition. 
 
 VI. CHARACTER OF THE BOOK. 
 
 As John is the prophet of the New Dispensation, so the book we arc to study is its 
 propheri/. Whatever of this nature appears in earlier parts of the New Testament is 
 mostly what we may venture to term prophetic glimpses. It conies into the narrative 
 or tlie discussion as incidental, rather than as composing the main subject. This is true 
 ev«Mi iif thdsi; mnarkabli! predictions of our L)rd in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 
 of Matthew. These are given in answer to an inquiry of the disciples ; and while they 
 
INTEODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 17 
 
 are not, indeed, to be treated as merely casual utterances, but weighty announcements 
 as to things even now future — some of them — deserving the most reverent and thought- 
 ful study ; yet it is made plain in many ways, there and elsewhere in the record, that our 
 Lord did not appear as a prophet, in the sense of having it for his peculiar office to 
 declare things to come. Indeed, he more than once checked his disciples when they 
 sought to gain from him something of that knowledge of the future which it is so 
 natural for men to desire. The day and the hour, the "times and seasons," especially, 
 he treated as things not within the province of his personal nnnistry ; and indeed only 
 announced those coming events that stood in some such relation to the purpose of 
 that ministry as made their announcement not only suitable, but necessary. 
 
 In the preaching and the epistolary writing of the apostles, a like thing appears. 
 There is a certain reserve apparent in the allusions made to future things as revealed by 
 the Spirit of inspiration. The language used is general, and to some extent vague, 
 while the prophetic utterance is evidently made, at all, only with reference to the 
 general purpose in view in the passage where it occurs. The mention made by Paul of 
 the "mystery of iniquity" and the "Man of Sin" ; to the coming of the Lord and the 
 resurrection of the dead ; and by Peter to the melting of the elements, the passing 
 away of the heavens, and the new heavens and new earth, may be quoted as examples. 
 It seems clear that all fullness of New Testament prophecy, not only in details, but in 
 general outline, was left to be the subject of that one of these writings in which the 
 whole Book of divine records and revelations should have its consummation and 
 completion. 
 
 It is further to be noticed that the prophecy in this book is Apocalyptic. Between 
 that which is Apocalyptic and that which is simply prophetic, a distinction is to be made. 
 When we speak of prophecy, we allude to the disclosure of what is future more upon its 
 human side. It is the utterance of the prophet. Apocalypse — the nncovering of that 
 which is hidden — or revelation — is a divine act. The revealing element is in both ; only 
 in the one it is the utterance of the revelation that is chiefly implied ; in the other its 
 communication to the prophet himself. In the book before us, the divine side of 
 prophecy is peculiarly manifest. It is the divine disclosure of divine purpose ; the 
 unsealing of the Book of the divine purpose by a divine hand : '''the Revelation of Jesus 
 Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly 
 come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John." The 
 human instrument in its record here, is almost lost in the grandeur of that which he has 
 to disclose. We see him as if rapt away amidst the wonders of the transcendent vision, 
 and even his voice is to us like that of one speaking from behind a veil, or lost in the 
 clouds. 
 
 VIL WHY WAS IT WRITTEN? 
 
 Prophecy seems to be, in part, a response to that in man which prompts the desire 
 for a knowledge of the future. This, as is well known, has sometimes led to results 
 highly pernicious in their nature, offering opportunity for those who trade upon the 
 credulity of mankind, and inducing the resort to means more than questionable for 
 penetrating the veil that hangs between the future and the present. In itself, no doubt, 
 the tendency is a right one, fdr the very reason that it belongs so much to the essential 
 nature of man. We are therefore not surprised to find the Spirit of inspiration 
 addressing it in the interest of what most deeply concerns alike the individual and 
 the race. 
 
 But this, of course, does not explain the whole purpose of Scripture prophecy in 
 
 B 
 
18 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 general, or of this one now before us in particular. It would further seem to be 
 appropriate to the very nature of a collection of inspired writings, that it should include 
 aecrediti'(l pn.'dictions of future things. Having their ultimate source in that Infinite 
 Mind to which the future is as the present, it might well be presumed that the scope of 
 such writings would partake somewhat of the character of the mind that inspired them, 
 and be accredited as thus inspired by the very fact that they prove their independence 
 of limitations that affect all human productions. Thus the writing, when in the event 
 prediction reaches its fulfillment, becomes its own ample witness, the Author of the 
 Bible revealing himself in his word, as the Author of nature in his works. 
 
 A moment's further reflection suggests how incomplete and, in a sense, unsatis- 
 factory a book like the Bible would be without this feature. Its subject may, in the 
 most general way, be said to be the Kingdom of God in the world. That kingdom in 
 its own nature embraces for its period the entire history of the human race. It is well 
 nigh inconceivable that the account of it given through inspiration should be limited to 
 any section of this period, or alone specially adapted to the men of that generation to 
 which it is first of all given. It is not enough that it is a history, or a body of doctrine. 
 The very essential purpose of it requires that it should still look forward from the point 
 of view of any one age, however far down the stream of time that age may be, and still 
 have something to disclose, appealing to hope and desire ; something future, to which 
 the people of the covenant may still look as a coming glory or a coming struggle. 
 Having that feature in the measure in which we find it there, the Bible is an inspiration 
 to one age in the same way that it is to another ; its riches of impulse and admonition 
 ^nd encouragement being as exhaustless as its riches of instruction and reproof and 
 present comfort. 
 
 Consi.stently with this view of Scripture prophecy in general, we think it sufficient to 
 say of the Apocalypse in particular, that it is a foreshowing of the fortunes of the 
 Christian church, viewed as the spiritual Kingdom of God, during the ages of its militant 
 state ; to which is superadded a prophetic glimpse of that final triumphant and perfect 
 state which comes in the restoration of all things. Its purpose must be to forewarn 
 upon the one hand, to inspirit and sustain with courage upon the other. These ends it 
 has served efficiently, during the centuries of the Christian Dispensation thus far, and 
 these ends it still continues to serve. But to this may be added the fact that scarcely 
 any one of the sacred writings has answered the end alike of intellectual and spiritual 
 iruipimtiou so fully as the Apocalypse ; and this also we must presume to have been con- 
 templated in it. The book is a wonderful one, even for those who deny its prophetic 
 character : a marvelous creation of imaginative genius, even were it this alone. But it has 
 commended itself as more than this to so many superior minds, has supplied such 
 impulse to inquiry, and iiisjjired so much of elevating and quickening study, that it may 
 truly be said, in its intellectual and spiritual influence, to crown and consummate those 
 Scriptures, all of which have been in the world such an element of both spiritual and 
 intellectual power. 
 
 " To show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. . . . Blessed," 
 indeed, " is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep 
 those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand." 
 
 VI. THE PAROUSIA. 
 
 If any one theme can be nanu-d as the absorbing and comprehensive one in this 
 book, it must be given to us in the words (1 : 7), "Behold, he comoth with clouds." 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 19 
 
 With this announcement the book opens. With the Lord's own declaration, "Behold; 
 I come quickly " (22 : 7), and the response of his servant, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," 
 the book closes. The Dispensation whose events and issues the book in the main 
 prophetically traces, so far from being a final one, is but preparatory to that which is 
 final. Of this fact, indications appear everywhere in the book itself, down to its closing 
 chapters. The scene presented is not that of a final condition, settled and permanent, 
 but a broken and changeful one ; a theatre upon which warring forces meet, a vast stage 
 of human history crowded with actors and issues, while in some of the changes of the 
 tremendous drama, heaven itself seems in suspense as to what the final act shall be. 
 The souls of martyred ones under the altar, through many centuries of ordeal, are 
 crying, ' ' How long ! Lord ? ' ' while it is only in the finishing of ' ' the mystery of God ' ' 
 that any final answer is given. 
 
 All this indicates a continual looking forward; the attitude is one of expectation; 
 only as this consummation is reached is the key to the m^'steries of divine providence 
 at last found. And that consummation reaches its climax in the personal coming of the 
 Lord. Now, the crucial point in the interpretation of this book is, for these reasons, that 
 which concerns this second personal advent, more especially in its relation to that peculiar 
 and significant feature of the whole prophecy — the millennium. This is not the place to 
 set forth the reasons which influence us in placing this personal second advent after the 
 millennium, rather than before. It must suffice, here, to simply announce the fact that 
 our convictions, after careful study of the prophecy, compel this conclusion. The 
 grounds upon which these convictions rest will appear in the proper place. For the 
 present, we simply declare our acquiescence in that view of this second coming of our 
 Lord which makes it the great event of the future ; which regards it as bearing a rela- 
 tion to all that is now passing, and is yet to come in the present Dispensation, no less 
 vital than the first advent bore to the four thousand years of human history that pre- 
 ceded it ; and which claims that only as this event is set in its true relations, can this 
 consummating Book of the New Testament be adequately understood or explained. 
 
 IX. GENERAL ANALYSIS. 
 
 A phrase rich in significance occurs at ch. 10 : 7, in this book — "the mystery of 
 God:" — "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" {Revised Version). This "mystery of God" may, in 
 general, be said to be the subject of the book. One finds in it, indeed, when carefully 
 studied, what seems like a gathering up, in brief and sublime summary, of the whole of 
 that inspired prophecy, the details of which we find sown all through the earlier books 
 of Scripture. It is a panoramic exhibition of the divine procedure in dealing with the 
 church and the world. It is human history at the point of view of the Kingdom of God 
 in its origin^ its ordeal, its progress., its con.snmma.tion. 
 
 Of course, a group of visions and allegories cannot be subjected to processes of 
 logical analysis as other writings may. It is only after much study of such that the 
 adjusting principle begins to disclose itself, and only after the details have been in some 
 degree understood, that the general system in which these appear in orderly arrange- 
 ment is even suspected. If we proceed to state, here, our own impressions as to the 
 adjusting principle and the general system of the Apocalypse, as it appears to us after 
 much study of it, verse by verse and chapter by chapter, we keep in mind the fact that 
 
20 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 very many such have been already proposed ; and that if others have failed to grasp the 
 idea of this difficult writing, so also may we. 
 
 Assuming that what we term the adjusting principle in this remarkable series 
 of visions and allegories is as we have stated — a comprehensive disclosure under pro- 
 phetic forms, of that " mystery of God" which is the substance of " the good tidings " 
 declared ''to his servants the prophets "—we find the subject of the book falling 
 naturally into four general divisions. 
 
 I. The first is the origin, or hcgiiming, of that Kingdom of God which is the central 
 and regulating fact in the annals of our race. This is given to us, consistently with the 
 general character of the book, under the forms of symbol and allegory. That in the 
 history of this spiritual Kingdom of God which antedates Christianity is brought to' 
 view in the theophany that forms the subject of the fourth chapter. The King 
 is there seen enthroned. The encircling Elders, on their four and twenty subordinate 
 thrones, represent at once that ancient divine order which anticipated and foreshadowed 
 the gospel, and the later and consummating one seen in the Church of the Lord Jesus. 
 The four living creatures — symbols of the sentient creation — represent, in the vision, the 
 fact that this Kingdom of God comprehends all being, while in those acts of adoration 
 ahd worship in which they join with the elders, they recognize the supremacy of the 
 enthroned One, and the universality of his reign. In the midst of these stands the 
 Lxmb, "as it had been slain," receiving the sealed book, and alone, in all the universe, 
 found worthy to "open the book and loose the seals thereof" ; symbolizing the central 
 place filled in all history, sacred and secular, by the fact of redemption, and also the 
 truth that the key to all history is the incarnation, the death, the resurrection, and the 
 ascension of the Son of God. We shall have frequent occasion to observe how in all the 
 succession of visions, the many and striking changes of scene throughout the Apoca- 
 lyptic drama, these several features of the theophany remain as fixed elements. He 
 "that sitteth upon the throne," the Lamb, the elders, and the living creatures, from 
 time to time re-appear, as if to remind us how this fact of the Kingdom of God — the 
 reign in righteousness of the Righteous King — is to be everywhere kept in view. 
 
 In so far as the origin of this Kingdom concerns Christianity, it is brought to view 
 at three points in the succession of the visions : (1) In the opening of the first seal 
 (ch. 6:1,2); (2) in the sounding of the first trumpet (ch. 8:7); (3) in the appearance 
 of the woman, "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head 
 a crown of twelve stars" (ch. 12 : 1, 2). In the first of these, the Kingdom of God, or 
 Christianity, is seen in its opening, triumphant era ; in the second, those providences are 
 indicatcil wliich signalized that era, more especially in the dispersion of the Jewish 
 nation, the destruction of their city, and the passing away of the former Dispensation ; 
 in the third, we have presented the incarnation, the birth of the man-child, in whom, 
 as "ruling the nations," the might and the dominion under this new order should 
 centre, and by hiiii in subsequent history be exercised. 
 
 n. Next is the ordml Like everything else in this world, the Kingdom of God 
 must liav(! its ordeal, and demonstrate its right of recognition in all that it claims to be. 
 The ordeal, in this case, embraces centuries, and is fierce and testing beyond all previous 
 example. The experiences of ancient Israel in Egypt and in the wilderness were but a 
 shadow of those which were to be the lot of the anti-typical Israel, the church of the 
 liord Jesus, in the centuries of its own hot ordeal. This ordeal is set forth in throe ways : 
 (1) Under the second, third, fourth, and fifth seals, the special features being the out- 
 break of I'agan hostility (the second seal, ch. 6 : 4), the mischiefs of the Antichristian 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 21 
 
 Apostasy (third seal, C : 5), and persecution in its Pagan form (fourth and fifth seals, 6 : 
 7-10) ; the whole ending in the fall of Paganism, and its burial under the ruins of the 
 Roman Empire itself (sixth seal, 6 : 12-17). (2) Under the trumpets, which bring to 
 view events occurring upon a wide theatre, and exhibiting the Kingdom of God in respect 
 to what is more exterior, and concerned more with its general fortunes : the first 
 trumpet exhibiting under striking imagery the providential events which signalized the 
 beginning of this long history (ch. 8:7); the second trumpet, the fall of the Roman 
 Empire, with its consequences as affecting the national life of Christendom (ch. 8 : 8, 9) ; 
 the third and fourth, those effects of the Apostasj^ which were seen in the general condition 
 of nominal Christendom, especially in the failure of Christian knowledge, and the preva- 
 lence of false teaching, with its consequent ignorance and superstition (ch. 8 : 10-12); the 
 fifth, the opening of the abyss and the issuing forth of Satanic influence and agency, 
 filling Christendom with violence, crime, and misery — the terrible centuries of the Dark 
 Ages (ch. 9 : 1-12) ; and the sixth, the prevalence of desolating wars, more especially 
 the assault upon apostolic Christendom by the Saracens. (3) Antichrist in his mani- 
 festation as the wild beast out of the sea, or the hostile world-power, imperial and other, 
 in all ages (ch. 13 : I-IO) ; and the wild beast out of the earth, corrupt and oppressive 
 ecclesiasticism (ch. 13 : 11-18), known also as the false prophet — false teaching in religion 
 and the various forms of infidelity, having, more or less, their root in such teachings, or 
 taking occasion from it to "deceive the nations." In all these forms the ordeal is 
 exhibited under imagery intense and vivid to the last degree. The tenth and eleventh 
 chapters are interposed with a view to show how in the midst of all God preserves to 
 himself a " remnant," a "church in the wilderness," a seed for the harvest of a better 
 era. A like truth is symbolized in the sealing of the servants of God. 
 
 III. This better era appears to be signalized by the appearance of the strong angel 
 coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, a rainbow upon his head, his face 
 shining as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire (ch. 10 : 1, 2). He holds in his hand a 
 little book, open, the symbol of a restored gospel and of a rapidly approaching consum- 
 mation. He announces the speedy sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the finishing 
 of the mystery of God — the fulfillment of prophecy and promise in respect to ultimate 
 victories of the Kingdom of God. Like things are signalized by the resurrection of the 
 slain witnesses (ch. 11 : 11-13), and their ascension into heaven; also by the angel flying 
 in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to the whole world 
 (ch. 14: 6-7), by the proclamation of the fall of Babylon, and by the choruses of 
 heavenly praise (ch. 11-15-18; 15: 3, 4). 
 
 IV. The fourth general division is that of the consummation. It is heralded by 
 the outpouring of the vials, with "the seven last plagues" ; by the fall of Babj'lon, or 
 the Papal Antichrist ; the Beast, or Antichrist in its manifestation as a hostile world- 
 power ; and the False Prophet, or falsehood and deception, misleading and ruining the 
 souls of men. Then comes the binding of the Dragon, or Satan (eh.- 20 : 1-3), the full 
 establishment of the Kingdom during the millennial period (ch. 20 : 4) ; to be followed, 
 at the end of the thousand years, by the ultimate victory over Satan and his host, the 
 coming of the Son of man, the great wnite throne, the general resurrection, the final 
 judgment, the new heavens and the new earth. 
 
 We offer this as what seems to us an analysis of the contents of this difficult book, 
 which may afford some general idea of the arrangement into which, upon careful study, 
 its several parts appear to fall. 
 
22 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 X. ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS BY CHAPTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ver. 1-3. The Prologue. 
 
 Ver. 4-8. The Salutation. 
 
 Ver. 9-20. The Vision of the Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EPISTLES TO THE CHURCHES. 
 
 1. To the Church in Ephesns. 
 
 Ver. 1. Inscription. 
 
 Ver. 2, 3. Commendation. 
 
 Ver. 4-6. Reproof and Admonition. 
 
 Ver. 7. Promise and Encouragement. 
 
 2. To the Chtirch in Smyrna. 
 
 Ver. 8. Inscription. 
 
 Ver. 9, 10. Commendation and Assurance. 
 
 Ver. 11. Promise. 
 
 3. To the Church in Pergamos. 
 
 Ver. 12. Inscription. 
 
 Ver. 13. Commendation. 
 
 Ver. 14-16. Reproof and Warning. 
 
 Ver. 17. Promise. 
 
 4. To the Church in Thyatira. 
 
 Ver. 18. Inscription. 
 
 Ver. 19. Commendation. 
 
 Ver. 20-23. Reproof and Threatening. 
 
 Ver. 24-29. Promise. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EPISTLES TO THE CHURCHES (CONTINUED). 
 
 5. To the Church in Sardis. 
 
 Ver. 1. In.scription. 
 Ver. 1-3. Admonition. 
 Ver. 4-6. Promise. 
 
 6. To the Church in Philadelphia. 
 
 Ver. 7. Inscription. 
 
 Ver. 8-13. Commendation and Promise. 
 
 7. To the Church in Laodicea. 
 
 Ver. 14. In.scription. 
 Ver. ]r>-][). Admonition. 
 Ver. 20-22. Promise. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE THEOPHANY. 
 
 Ver. 1-3. The Vision of God. 
 
 Ver. 4. The Four and Twenty Elders — Representing the Kingdom of God as 
 (1) Judaic ; (2) Christian. 
 
 Ver. 5. The Throne and the Lamps of Fire. 
 
 Ver. 6-8. The Crystal Sea and the Four Living Creatures — Representing (1) 
 Righteousness and Purity of the Divine Government ; (2) its Comprehension of the 
 Sentient Creation. 
 
 Ver. 8-11. Worship of the Creatures and the Redeemed. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE SEALED BOOK. 
 
 Ver. 1-4. The Book— Who is Worthy to Open It ? 
 
 Ver. 5-7. The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne. 
 
 Ver. 8-10. The New Song. 
 
 Ver. 11-14. The Angelic Response and the Chorus of Creation. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OPENING OP THE SEALS. 
 
 Ver. 1-8. The First Four Seals. 
 
 (1) The White Horse and its Rider — Opening Era of Christianity. 
 
 (2) The Red Horse and Rider — Outbreak of Opposition and Violence. 
 
 (3) The Black Horse and Rider— Famine of the Word. 
 
 (4) The Pale Horse and Rider — Persecution. 
 
 Ver. 9-11. The Fifth Seal— The Souls Under the Altar; Delay of Providential 
 Vindication Symbolized. 
 
 Ver. 12-17. The Sixth Seal — ^The Great Earthquake; National Convulsion, with 
 Dismay of Rulers and People. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. 
 
 Ver. 1. The Angels of the Winds. — Symbols of God's Restraining Providence. '■ 
 Ver. 2, 3. Another Angel, Having the Seal of the Living God. The Sealing a 
 Sign of Preservation Amidst the Ordeal. 
 Ver. 4-8. The Number of the Sealed. 
 Ver. 9-17. The Great Multitude and their Chorus of Praise. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SEVENTH SEAL AND THE FIRST POUR TRUMPETS. 
 
 Ver. 1. Opening of the Seventh Seal. 
 
 Ver. 2-6. The Trumpet Angels — Fire from the Altar of Incense Cast into the Earth. 
 
 Ver. 7. The First Trumpet Sounds — Hail and Fire Mingled with Blood ; Providential 
 Portents at the Opening of the Christian Dispensation. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. The Second Trumpet Sounds — A Burning Mountain Cast into the Sea; 
 Overthrow of Pagan Imperialism. 
 
 Ver. 10, 11. The Third Trumpet Sounds— The Falling Star ; Christian Apostasy. 
 
24 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 Ver. 12. The Fourth Trumpet Sounds — The Sun and Stars Darkened ; Results of the 
 Apostasy in False Teaching and Hierarchical Usurpation. 
 Ver. 13. The Three Woe-Trumpets Announced. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TirE FIFTH AND SIXTH TRUMPETS. 
 
 Ver. 1-12. The Fifth Trumpet Sounds— The Angel of the Pit, Satan; Locusts Out 
 of the Pit — Satanic Influence and Agencj'. 
 
 Ver. 13-21. The Sixth Trumpet Sounds — The Four Euphrates Angels Loosed; 
 Armies of Horsemen, Destructive Wars in Punishment of Apostasy. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE STRONG ANGEL AND THE LITTLE BOOK. 
 
 Ver. 1-7. The Angel — Angel of the Covenant. 
 
 Ver. 8-11. The Little Book. A Recovered Grospel, Prophecy of the Consummation. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE TWO WITNESSES AND THE SEVENTH TRUMPET. 
 
 Ver. 1, 2. Measurement of the Temple — ^The True Church, Separate and Safe. 
 
 Ver. 3-13. The Two Witnesses — Adequate Christian Testimony in Time of Per- 
 secution. 
 
 Ver. 14-19. The Seventh Trumpet Sounds— End of the Ordeal- Era of Gospel 
 Progress and Triumph. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 The Vision Reverts to ""The Beginning of the Gospel^ 
 Ver. 1-6. The Woman and the Dragon. — The Church as Mother of the Man-child ; 
 Satan as the Dragon, Persecution of the Church. 
 
 Ver. 7-12. Michael and the Dragon. — War in Heaven ; Symbolizing the Victories 
 of Redemption. 
 
 Ver. 13-17. The Flight of the Woman— Wilderness State of the True Church. 
 
 EXCURSUS A— THE FORTY-TWO MONTHS AND THE TWELVE HUNDRED 
 
 AND SIXTY DAYS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 REVELATION OF ANTICHRIST. 
 
 Ver. 1-10. The Wild Beast Out of the Sea— Antichrist as a Hostile World-Power. 
 Ver. 11-18. The Wild Beast Out of the Earth— Antichrist as Corrupt and Oppres- 
 sive Ecclesiasticism. 
 
 EXCURSUS B.— ANTICHRIST 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 VICTORIES OP REDEMPTION ANTICIPATED. 
 
 Ver. 1-5. The Lamb on Mount Zion. With Him the Redeemed Multitude. Result 
 of the Pending Conflict Anticipated. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 25 
 
 Ver. 6-12. Angelic Proclamations. The Gospel Angel Fljang in jMid-Heaven. The 
 " Second Angel ' ' Announcing the Fall of Babylon. The ' ' Third Angel ' ' Proclaiming the 
 Doom of the Adherents of Antichrist. 
 
 Ver. 13. A Voice from Heaven. The Blessed Dead. 
 
 Ver. 14-20. The Harvest and the Vintage. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SEA OF GLASS AND THE SEVEN LASP PLAGUES. 
 
 Ver. 1-4. The Sea of Glass, the Redeemed Company, and the New Song. 
 
 Ver. 5-8. The Angels of the Vials — Ministers of Judgment in the World's Last Ages. 
 
 EXCURSUS C— THE VIALS. 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 POURING OUT OF THE VIALS. 
 
 Ver. 1, 2. The Fourth Vial Poured Out into the Earth — God's Judgment upon 
 Corrupt Ecclesiasticism. 
 
 Ver. 3. The Second Vial Poured Out into the Sea — God's Judgment upon Corrupt 
 and Hostile Nationalities. 
 
 Ver. 4-7. The Third Vial Poured into the Rivers and Fountains — Corruption of the 
 Sources of Intellectual, Moral, and National Life — Depraved Tendencies and Effects 
 Overruled as Punishment. 
 
 Ver. 8, 9. The Fourth Vial Poured upon the Sun — Perversions of Revealed Truth 
 through Fanaticism and Infidelity. 
 
 Ver. 10, 11. The Fifth Vial Poured upon the Seat of the Beast — Visitations upon 
 Antichrist. 
 
 Ver. 12-16. The Sixth Vial Poured upon the River Euphrates. Hostile Influences 
 Let Loose. Unclean Spirits of Antichristian Malice. 
 
 Ver. 17-21. The Seventh Vial Poured into the Air — Confusions and Tumults of tke 
 Last Times. 
 
 EXCURSUS D.— THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON. 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 MYSTICAL BABYLON. 
 
 Ver. 1-7. The Woman and the Beast — Apostate Christianity Sustained by Aiiti- 
 christian Powers. 
 
 Ver. 8-18. Angelic Exposition of the Vision. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 Babylon's fall. 
 Ver. 1-3. Angelic Proclamation — Babj'lon's Doom Announced. 
 Ver. 4-8. The Voice from Heaven — " Come out of Her, niy People." 
 Ver. 9, 10. Lament of the Kings. 
 Ver. 11-16. Lament of the Merchants. 
 Ver. 17-19. Lament of the Shipmasters. 
 
25 INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION. 
 
 Ver. 21-24. The Stone Cast into the Sea— "Thus with Violence shall that Great 
 City Babylon be Thrown Down.' ' 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY TRIUMPH. 
 
 Ver. 1-4. A Song of DeUverance — Celebrating the Judgment of Babylon. 
 
 Ver. 5-10. A Heavenly Chorus. All the Servants of God, Angels and Redeemed 
 Spirits, Rejoice in his Righteous Sovereignty. They Welcome the Marriage of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 Ver. 11-16. The Conquering AVord. Consummating Triumph of the Gospel. 
 
 Ver. 17-21. Final Doom of Antichrist. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MILLENNIUM AND FINAL JUDGMENT. 
 
 Ver. 1-3. The Binding of the Dragon — Satan and Satanic Agency Omnipotently 
 Restrained. 
 
 Ver. 4. The Millennial Reign. The Kingdom of God in its Consummation of Power 
 and Blessing. 
 
 EXCURSUS E.— I. THE FIRST RESURRECTION. II. THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 Ver. 7-10. The Loosing of Satan and the Final Overthrow. 
 Ver. 11-15. General Resurrection and Last Judgment. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ALL THINGS NEW. 
 
 Ver. 1. The New Heaven and New Earth. 
 
 Ver. 2-4. New Jerusalem. The Tabernacle of God with Men. 
 
 Ver. 5-8. The Life Eternal and the Second Death. 
 
 Ver. 9-27. The Holy City Described. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PARADISE RESTORED. 
 
 Ver. 1, 2. The River and the Tree of Life. 
 
 Ver. 3-5. Security and Felicity. 
 
 Ver. 6-20. The Epilogue. 
 
 Ver. 21. " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." 
 
 EXCUR^rS F.-THE COMING OF THE LORD. 
 
THE 
 
 REVELATION OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, "which God gave 
 unto him, to shew unto his servants things whicli 
 *niust shortly come to pass; and "he sent and signided 
 it by his angel unto his servant John : 
 
 2 ''Who bare record of the word of God, and of the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things 'that he 
 saw. 
 
 3 /Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the 
 words of this prophecy, and keep those things which 
 are written therein: for » the time is at hand. 
 
 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God igave 
 hiju to shew unto his ^servants, even the things which 
 must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified 
 
 2 '■^it by his angel unto his servant John ; who bare wit- 
 ness of the word of God, and of the testimony of 
 
 3 Jesus Christ, seen of all things that he saw. Blessed 
 is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of 
 the prophecy, and keep the things which are written 
 therein : for the time is at hand. 
 
 a John 3: 3-2: 8:26; I'i : 49 » ver. :i; oh. 4: 1....C ch. 22: 16.... dl Cor. 1:6; vei-. 9 ; ch. 6 : 9; 12 : 17... .e I John 1 : l..../Liilie 
 
 11: 28; ch. 22: 7 g Rom. 13:11; James 5:8; 1 Pet. 4: 7; ch. 22: 10. 1. Or, gave unto Mm, to shew unto his servants the 
 
 things, etc 2 Gi'. bondservants : and so throughout this book 3 Or, them. 
 
 Ch. 1 : 1-3. The Prologue. 
 
 1. Revelation. The word implies that the 
 book which opens thus is to have a special 
 character. As already pointed out in the 
 Introduction, it implies that the contents of 
 the book are to be more than simply inspired 
 teaching; they are prop hecy, and more even 
 than in the general sense prophetic, for they 
 are apocalyptic. They are an "uncovering" 
 (a7roicaAui/(is) of things hidden. Of Jesus 
 Christ. The form of the expression may im- 
 ply, either that Jesus Christ is the Revealer, 
 or that he is the subject of the Revelation. 
 The words following, Avhich God gave unto 
 him, seem to make it clear that we are to view 
 Jesus Christ as revealing, and as revealed 
 only in a remoter sense of the phrase, if at 
 all. The things here to be made known are 
 given to him of God, and by him so commu- 
 nicated, as to show unto his servants 
 things which must shortly come to pass. 
 By "servants" must be meant all followers of 
 Christ, and students of his word. Perhaps the 
 term used implies something as to the temper 
 in which those to whom the things herein con- 
 tained shall be effectually disclosed, must be 
 found; not a captiously critical temper, least 
 of all one of hostility to the great aims and 
 methods of Christ's spiritual kingdom; but 
 one in which he is acknowledged as supreme 
 Lord, and in which there shall be loyal and 
 fervent sympathy with him in all that he pur- 
 poses, all that he claims, and all that he does. 
 ^The things revealed must shortly come to 
 pass, because made necessary by the will and 
 purpose of the divine mind; and "shortly," 
 inasmuch as it is the very aim of the book to 
 exhibit, in apocalyptic vision and symbol, the 
 future of the Church of Christ in its relation 
 
 to worldly history, beginning with the very 
 period itself to which the writer of the book 
 belongs. And he sent and signified it by 
 his angel. An angelus interpres, "inter- 
 preting angel," is supposed by some to be 
 meant. Of this we have more to say further 
 on. — Unto his servant John. He here indi- 
 cates himself by the phrase so often used by 
 his fellow-apostles, "the servant of Jesus 
 
 Christ ' (tu) SouAu 'I>)(rou XptffToO). 
 
 2. Who bare record of the word of 
 God, and of the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ, and of all things that [lit. as many 
 things as] he saw. The rendering in the re- 
 vised version gives a true sense, although less 
 literal than the one in brackets, above. Stuart 
 labors quite unnecessarily to .so connect the 
 clauses as to make it appear that the reference 
 thoughout this second verse is to former writ- 
 ngs of this apostle, and thus to find in the 
 words additional proof that the writer of the 
 Apocalypse was the same as the writer of the 
 Fourth Gospel. Alford very justly argues 
 that the words "as many things as he saw," 
 cannot be understood of the contents of the 
 Gospel; for John there expressly says that 
 he wrote only a small part of the things of 
 which he had knowledge, as connected with 
 the life and teachings of the Lord. 
 
 3. Blessed is he that readeth. Many 
 expositors take this as an allusion to the cus- 
 tom then necessary, of assigning to a particu- 
 lar person the reading of the Scripture in 
 connection with Christian worship. A very 
 ancient writer on this book, Victorinus, near 
 the end of the third century, makes no 
 mention of such an interpretation, as it would 
 have seemed natural for one to do, living at 
 the time when the custom alluded to waa 
 
 27 
 
28 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. L f 
 
 probably still in use. He takes the word 
 "readeth" in the ordinary sense, as meaning 
 any one who reads. This seems the more 
 probable exposition.— And they that hear. 
 Even the hearing of the message may bring 
 a blessing with it.— And keep those things 
 which are written therein. Plainly show- 
 ing that "how" they "hear," will determine 
 the nature and measure of the blessing.— For 
 the time is at hand. A general intimation 
 that the things made known will be to each 
 reader and hearer of immediate importance; 
 not things to be left apart among the various 
 subjects of Christian study, as concerning only 
 those who may live in some far future age; 
 but as in such a way related, even in point of 
 time, to each Christian student, in whatever 
 age he may live, as to demand of him earnest 
 and heedful attention. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS'. 
 
 That this book is a "Revelation" does not 
 imply that it is easily, or immediately to be 
 understood. While it is a disclosure of divine 
 purpose with reference to future things, noth- 
 ing is necessarily to be hence inferred as to 
 the nature, or method, or measure of this dis- 
 closure; which may be such, and in the pres- 
 ent case is such, as to ta.x the patient industry 
 of the student, and to require of him that he 
 shall not be in too much haste to "know the 
 times and the seasons," especially. 
 
 The nature of the divine Sonship is to us 
 inscrutable; only the fact of it is revealed. 
 The Son is known to us alone in his human 
 manifestation as the Son of man, while yet 
 the Son of God. As a man, Jesus had divine 
 knowledge only through the union of his 
 divinity, as the Son, with the Father. To 
 say of anything, therefore, that it is what the 
 Father only knows, is equivalent to saying 
 that it belongs to the sphere of divine knowl- 
 edge, not that of human or angelic knowl- 
 edge. Jesus, we find, is often spoken of, 
 and often speaks of himself as he was in 
 liis human manifestation. As one with the 
 Father, and divine, he had knowledge of 
 these things " which God gave unto him," 
 of himself; as the Mediator, as the man 
 Christ Jesus, his ac<iuaintance with them 
 came from the fullnc^ss of that divine knowl- 
 edge, and so it is spoken of as that which 
 God gave unto him. 
 
 Alford regards the expression "shortly" 
 
 {iv Tox«i) as "a prophetic formula, conunon 
 with him to whom a thousand j'ears are as 
 one day, and used to teach us how short our 
 time, and the time of this our world is." 
 Hengstenberg says of the phrase, connecting 
 it with the similar one in ver. 3: "These dec- 
 larations are opposed to the view of those who 
 would convert the entire book into a history 
 of the time of the end, and confirm the view 
 which treats it as our companion through the 
 whole course of history." 
 
 There are indications of angelic presence 
 and ministry at various points in the course 
 of these communications. At ver. 10, in this 
 chapter, the voice which John hears, "as of 
 a trumpet," seems to be that of an angel. As 
 is shown further on, the words: "I am Alpha 
 and Omega," etc., at the beginning of ver. 11, 
 must be omitted, because not found in the 
 oldest manuscripts. AVhat is said, therefore, 
 is not the announcement of the dignity and 
 titles of the person speaking, but simply a 
 call to attention, and a direction to write the 
 vision about to be seen, and send it to the 
 churches. It is in tone as the sound "of a 
 trumpet," while the voice of him whom John 
 perceives, as he turns, standing in the midst 
 of the golden candlesticks, is "as the sound 
 of many waters" (ver. 15). The indications 
 are that these are distinct voices: the one of 
 the angel who (as some think) is the seer's at- 
 tendant, more or less, through all the visions; 
 the other that of the Lord himself. The an- 
 gel-voice "as it were of a trumpet" is heard 
 again (ch. 4:i) at the opening of the new series 
 of visions following the present one. There, 
 also, it seems to be, not the voice of the Lord 
 himself, but of the same angelic being per- 
 haps as is mentioned in the clause noted 
 above, "sent and signified it by his angel 
 unto his servant John." Like allusions are 
 found at 19: 10, and at 22: 8, 9. 
 
 As suggested in the exposition, the phrase, 
 "his servant John," is apostolic. " Paul, a 
 servant of Jesus Christ" (R"m.i:i); "James, a 
 servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ" 
 (jiimesi: i); "Jude, the scrvaut of Jesus Christ, 
 and brother of James" (Judei). A reason is 
 here suggested for that view of the author.ship 
 of the book which ascribes it to the apostle 
 John. " The word of God " and " the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ," must be taken 
 as referring to the conti-nts of the Revelation, 
 and not to any former writing of the same 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 .29 
 
 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace 
 be unto you, and peace, from him » wliicli is, and ''which 
 was, and which is to come; ■'and from the seven Spirits 
 which are before liis tlirone; 
 
 5 And from Jesus Christ, <iwho is the faithful witness, 
 and the "first begotten of the dead, and /the prince of 
 the liings of the earth. Unto him »that loved us, ''and 
 washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
 
 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: 
 Grace to you and peace, from him who is and wlio 
 was and i who is to come ; and from the seven Spirits 
 
 5 that are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, 
 who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, 
 and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him 
 that loveth us, and ^loosed us from our sins <iby his 
 
 a Exort. 3: 14; ver. 8 6 John 1:1 c Zech. 3:9; 4: 10; ch. 3:1; 4:5; 5: 
 
 15: 20; Col. 1: 18. ...y'Ephes.'l : 20; ch. 17 : 14 ; 19: 16.... jr John 13: 34; 15 : ! 
 who Cometh 2 Many authoiities, some ancient, ; 
 
 >....(* John 8: 14: 1 Tim. 6: i:{; oh. 3: 14.... e 1 Cor 
 
 ; Gal. 2: 20....ftHeb. 9: 14; 1 John 1 : 7. 1 Or 
 
 ead washed 3 Gr. in. 
 
 apostle. They are "the word of God" as hav- 
 ing been given by him in the manner stated 
 in ver. 1, as also in the general sense in which 
 this phrase is so often used in the Scriptures ; 
 and they are "the testimony of Jesus Christ," 
 not alone because, receiving this " word" from 
 the Father, he gives it to his "servants," but 
 also for the reason that the truth of it is 
 pledged by the fact that it is thus communi- 
 cated. He is "the faithful and true witness." 
 The divine source of the message is made cer- 
 tain by the fact of his personal activity in its 
 communication, which fact is itself made cer- 
 tain by his personal appearance, as described 
 in subsequent verses of this chapter. We know 
 that in receiving what is here declared, we 
 are receiving no "cunningly devised fables," 
 but the word of the very " Lord from heaven." 
 The post filled by the reader in the Chris- 
 tian churches of primitive times, was no doubt 
 far more important when copies of the Scrip- 
 tures were so much more rare than now, 
 when they are found everywhere, especially 
 in Christian families. Even, however, if some 
 reference to this custom is to be understood in 
 the benediction upon them that read and 
 them that hear the sajnngs of this book, the 
 application of the words should not be so 
 limited as to make them purely an allusion to 
 the custom in question. Their broader sig- 
 nificance is that of a benediction upon those 
 who, at any time, in any way, either them- 
 selves personally should come to know these 
 things "and keep" them, or with like effect- 
 ualness bring them to the knowledge of 
 others. 
 
 4-8. The Salutation. 
 
 4. John to the Seven Churches which 
 are in Asia. The names of the churches, 
 given below, suflSciently indicate their local- 
 ity. The designation, Asia, is to be understood 
 of what was really only a section of that part 
 of the continent known as Asia Minor. It 
 included the provinces of Phrygia, Mysia, 
 
 Lydia, Caria, and the islands in the adjacent 
 -^gean Sea. These districts constituted a 
 Roman province, under the jurisdiction of a 
 proconsul, to which the name Asia was given. 
 — Grace be unto you, and peace. The 
 salutation is apostolic, and quite consi.stent 
 with the accepted theory as to the authorship 
 of the book. — From him which [whoj is, 
 and which [who] was, and which [who] is 
 to come. The last part of this clause should 
 not be viewed as implying any allusion to the 
 anticipated second coming of the Lord. Taken 
 with what immediately precedes, it is simply a 
 paraphrase of that venerable Divine Name 
 revealed to JMoses (Exod. 3:i4), and which so sub- 
 limely announces the essential Being of the 
 Eternal God. — And from the seven spirits 
 which are before the [his] throne. This 
 seems to be an anticipatory allusion to what 
 appears in ch. 4: 5, where mention is made 
 of "seven lamps of fire burning before the 
 throne, which are the seven spirits of God." 
 In that place the symbolism presents the 
 Divine Spirit himself; the "fire" indicating 
 him in those offices of his ministry elsewhere 
 mentioned (Matt. 3:11), and the number "seven," 
 as in so many other places, implying perfec- 
 tion. "With that sublime theophany now in 
 mind, as he salutes his brethren in the apos- 
 tolical benediction, John uses a form of desig- 
 nation for the Third Person in the adorable 
 Trinity, suggested by the vision he is soon to 
 relate. 
 
 5. And from Jesus Christ. The Son is 
 named last, and as he is in his form as the 
 Word made flesh, perhaps for the sake of 
 closer connection with the following clauses, 
 in which he is set forth in those characters 
 and offices which make his person so pecu- 
 liarly dear to faith.— The faithful wit- 
 ness — trustworthy — worthy to be believed. 
 The insertion of "wAo is" supplied by the 
 translators, makes the connection more clear. 
 In his Gospel, John had already recorded 
 those words of Jesus (John is: 37): "For this 
 
30 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 6 And hath ■> made us kings and priests unto God and 
 his Father; Ho him be glory aud dominion for ever and 
 ever. Amen. 
 
 7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye 
 shall we him, and Jlhcva/.w/ which pierced him: and 
 all kindreds of the earth shall wail because ot him. 
 Kveu so. Amen. 
 
 6 blood; and he made us to he a kingdom, to he priests 
 unto ihis God and Father; to him he the glory and 
 
 7 the dominion 2 lor ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he 
 cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, 
 and they who pierced him ; and all the tribes of the 
 earth sliall mourn over him. Even so, Amen. 
 
 olPei 2-5 9- ch 5- 10; 20: 6.... i. 1 Tim. 6 : 16; Heb. 13:21; IPet. 4: 11; 5: 11.... c Dan. 7 : 13; Miitt. 24: 30; 26:64; Acta 1: 11. 
 d Zech. 12: 10 ; John 19 : :17. 1 Or, God and Ma Father 2 Gr. unto the ages of the ages. Many ancient authorities omit of the ages. 
 
 cause came I into the world, that I might 
 bear witness unto the truth." We must take 
 the words in our present passage as in a like 
 way broadlj' referring to him in his office as 
 the Redeemer and Teacher of men, and not 
 ah)ne to what is said in verse second of this 
 chapter, of the book before us as in especial, 
 "the testimony of Jesus Christ."— The first- 
 begotten of the dead. Alfordsays: "Death 
 is regarded as the .womb of the earth, from 
 which the resurrection is the birth." The 
 allusion is to our Lord's resurrection, "as the 
 first-fruits of them that slept" (i Covj^2o).— 
 And the prince of the kings of the eSrth. 
 "All these things will I give thee," said the 
 Tempter. From God the Father the Medi- 
 ator received not only all power on earth, 
 but also in heaven.— Unto him that loved 
 us. More correctly, that loveth us, the parti- 
 ciple used {iyaTT^vTi) being in the present 
 tense. — And washed us from our sins in 
 his own blood. The oldest manuscripts — 
 Sinaiticand Alexand. — have, instead of wash 
 (AoUu)), loose from, free {\vu>). If we adopt this 
 reading, the .sense becomes: "and/reerf us 
 from our sins by his own blood." The doc- 
 trinal significance of the pa.ssage is the same, 
 in either case, though the figure employed 
 diflfers. Stuart and Hengstenberg (and appar- 
 ently Ellicott) prefer the reading "washed." 
 Alford and Diisterdieck (in Meyer's Commen- 
 tary) regard the reading "freed" as prefer- 
 able. The principal reason given by the two 
 former is that the imagery in "washed us 
 from our sins" is more in keeping with the 
 Hebrew manner of speech, to which the writer 
 of this book so often conforms?. The words 
 in Ps. 51 : 4, "wash me thoroughly from mine 
 iniquity," are quoted in illustration. After 
 all, it is a question of fact as to the preferable 
 reading in the original Greek. The MSS. 
 authority is certainly on the side of the read- 
 ing, "freed us from our sins," and a critical 
 treatment of the passage would seem to re- 
 quire that this reading be adopted. 
 6. And hath made us kings, (<7 kingdom, 
 
 pa<Ti.\€iav) and priests. The correct render- 
 ing of the Greek in the word we here dis- 
 tinguish, is important. A less ambiguous 
 translation would be, made us to be a kingdom; 
 that is, made a kingdom of us, not for us. 
 Believers are spoken of collectively as a 
 "kingdom," in the sense in which that word 
 is so often used /in the New Testament, not 
 individually as "kings. " The word ' ' priests ' ' 
 applies to them individually, as well as col- 
 lectively, and has reference to the abolishing 
 of that ancient ritual, in which approach to 
 God must be always with priestly interven- 
 tion. — Unto God and his Father. To God, 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the 
 being to whom access is obtained in the privi- 
 leges of Christian priesthood, and in whom 
 all might and dominion and kingship at last 
 culminate. — To him be glory and domin- 
 ion forever and ever. Amen. Glory and 
 dominion unto the ages. Here occurs that 
 phrase {eU tou? alwva^), used so often in the 
 Scriptures to express the idea of eternity. 
 Its literal meaning is, "throughout tlie ages," 
 implying indefinite duration. 
 
 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds. 
 Who cometh? It must be he that "loveth 
 us and loosed us from our sins by his own 
 blood" ; for he is the principal subject in the 
 whole connection. There is, therefore, in 
 this the announcement of that great fact 
 which meant so much to the first Christians, 
 and which either expressly or by implication 
 so pervades the book we are now studying. 
 The phrase, "with clouds," plainly recalls 
 that saying of our Lord himself (Matt. 24: so); 
 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son 
 of man in heaven : and then shall all the 
 tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 
 the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and great glory." It recalls, also, 
 the passage (onn. 7:i3); "Behold, one like the 
 Son of man came with the clouds of heaven." 
 The symbolism of the cloud, we should no- 
 tice, is not that of promise, but of judgment; as 
 in the passage (isaiuh i9: i): "Behold, the Lord 
 
 .^ 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 31 
 
 8 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the | 8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord 
 ending, saith the Lord, 'which is, and which was, and ] God, i who is and who was and 2 who is to come, the 
 which IS to come, the Almighty. I Almighty. 
 
 ch. 4: 8; 11:17; 16: 5. 1 Or, he who 2 Or, who 
 
 rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into 
 Egypt." That the symholism is to be viewed 
 as in its sterner aspect, is indicated, also, in 
 the auxiliary clauses of the verse under con- 
 sideration. — And every eye shall see him, 
 and they also which pierced him, and 
 all kindreds [tribes] of the earth shall 
 wail because of him. By the clause, "they 
 also which pierced him," must be understood 
 a reference to the fact mentioned by this same 
 writer, and alone of the evangelists by him ; 
 as found in ch. 19 : 37 of his Gospel. It 
 singles out those who crucified the Lord, as 
 they who shall above all be filled with con- 
 fusion and dismay, when the Pierced One 
 appears as the Judge. 
 
 8. In the eighth verse, beginning, I am 
 Alpha and Omega, the Divine Being is 
 represented as himself speaking, in the same 
 manner as when in some of the ancient pro- 
 phets, especially Isaiah, the Voice breaks sud- 
 denly and sublimely into the current of pre- 
 diction. In terms consistent with those which 
 he used when first he declared himself by his 
 name (exo.i. 3:i4) the Eternal God, here, not 
 simply as the Father alone, but as the Ever- 
 lasting One, announces himself; as if with 
 that awful name endorsing and confirming as 
 true the things written under this divine dic- 
 tation. Alluding to the words, "Alpha and 
 Omega, the beginning and the end," Heng- 
 stenberg saj^s: "The emphasis is to be laid 
 upon the Omega. It is as much as: I am 
 Alpha, therefore also the Omega. The be- 
 ginning is the surety for the end. The un- 
 conditional supremacy of God over the world, 
 which is placed before our eyes by the be- 
 ginning, since God made heaven and earth, 
 since he spake and it was done, he com- 
 manded and it stood fast, is also brought into 
 notice again at the end." A literal rendering 
 of the Greek would confirm this view: "I 
 am the Alpha, and I the Omega also." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 That we have in this book a writing, meant 
 for the churches of all time, addressed to par- 
 ticular churches, as named, is quite in accord- 
 ance with the apostolical method in general. 
 
 The Epistles to the Romans, to the Corinthians, 
 to the Philippians, have a value and applica- 
 tion as wide as Christendom, and as lasting as 
 the Gospel Dispensation itself; the truth they 
 teach, the lessons and precepts they enforce, 
 while suited to those immediately addressed, 
 being suited no less to all Christians, in all 
 times. The communications in this book, in 
 like manner made to certain churches herein- 
 after called by name, also in like manner con- 
 cern equally the people of God in every age, 
 and are to be regarded as meant for all. The 
 7'eason for individualizing the communica- 
 tion, in its first application, in the present 
 case, must be the same as in the instances 
 abo>^ referred to. There was a special reason 
 in the circumstances of the churches addressed, 
 making the message for them immediately 
 appropriate and needful ; and a general reason 
 in the fact that such individualization serves 
 to illustrate the truth taught and make its 
 presentation more vivid. There may be no 
 sufficient ground for considering these Seven 
 Churches, in their condition as described, 
 typical of certain states of the church in gen- 
 eral. To some extent, however, they may be 
 so treated, at least so far as to make their 
 spiritual state illustrative of that into which 
 individuals and churches, alike, are prone to 
 fall. "The number seven," says Edward 
 Irving {Lectitres on the Revelation), "is em- 
 ployed in this book several times, and always, 
 as we judge, with the same signification, de- 
 noting unity out of diverse things, complete- 
 ness out of diverse particulars; and this pro- 
 perty of expressing completeness, totality, and 
 unity, the number seven deriveth, as I con- 
 ceive, from the only work of God which is 
 finished ; to wit, the work of creation, which 
 was accomplished in seven successive acts, and 
 yet is one complete work." 
 
 The salutation and benediction addressed to 
 these churches are noticeable both for their re- 
 semblance to and their contrast with the apos- 
 tolic benediction in general. Grace and peace 
 are invoked, as always in these salutations. 
 The Divine Names, however, commonly 
 joined with the invocation, are paraphrased 
 in a manner striking and suggestive. It is 
 
32 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 true, as Dii-sterdiecfc says, that John is very 
 far from having in view in this place any dog- 
 matic allusion to the doctrine of the Trinity; 
 yet it is equally true, as the same writer also 
 intimates, that here as elsewhere throughout 
 this hook, the Divine Being is conceived in 
 the three-fold manifestation so familiar under 
 the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 But it did not suit the fervid state of mind 
 of the writer to simply name these. The 
 august formula — which is, and which was, 
 and which is to come, the Almighty — 
 while it expresses the whole Godhead, as when 
 first given to Israel through Moses in the name 
 Jehovah, at the same time designates the 
 Father in a manner suitable to the opening 
 of a book in which so much of his sovereignty 
 and his grace is to be revealed. The Spirit is 
 conceived under a symbolism suggested by 
 the splendors of that vision of the divine glory 
 which was still so recent and so fresh. Around 
 the Saviour's name John gathers conceptions 
 suggested by all he had personally known of 
 the Suffering One, and all that had now been 
 revealed to him of the glory of the Reigning 
 One. 
 
 "That loveth us." The form of the phrase 
 in the more correct version should be noticed. 
 The reference is not merely to that love unto 
 death that Jesus showed in suffering for his 
 people ; but that everlasting love which they 
 find in him upon the throne equally as when 
 he hung upon the cross. 
 
 Whether the version, "washed us from our 
 sins," or the revised version, "loosed us," be 
 preferred, the doctrinal significance of the 
 words is, as we have already said, the same. 
 The allusion is, of course, to that efficacy of 
 the atonement which places pardon and sanc- 
 tification within the reach of every soul, and 
 makes these the actual possession of every 
 believing soul. 
 
 The word "kingdom" — made us to be a 
 kingdom— should be taken as meaning more 
 than simply that all believers are spiritually 
 united, as if in a vast commonwealth, with 
 Jesus as its king. It means that in their union 
 with Christ they partake of his kingship, and 
 80 have fulfilled in them that which is said in 
 such remarkable words of him "that over- 
 cometh" in ch. 2: 26, 27: "To him will I give 
 power over the nations; and he shall rule 
 them with a rod of iron." In these and in 
 like words is foreshadowed that progressive 
 
 and ultimate triumph and reign of Christ him- 
 self, in which his people, by virtue of their 
 union with him, and their participation in all 
 the vicissitudes of the mighty struggle, shall 
 share. 
 
 But the New Testament Church, as realizing 
 the typical aim of the ancient economy now 
 done away, is both a kingdom and a priest- 
 hood. It is so by reason of the fact that in 
 Christ, the Head of the Church, both offices- 
 king and priest — are united; and also by rea- 
 son of that union with himself into which he 
 brings all his people. His kingship differs 
 from all others in this, that it is exercised, not 
 simply as a dominion over those who are sub- 
 jects of it, but as a dominion through them, 
 so that they fully participate with him in all 
 that it imports. The priesthood, also, is pecu- 
 liar in this, that it is exercised not only /or 
 them, but in and by them. The words of the 
 
 hymn — 
 
 My faith would lay her hand 
 
 On that dear head of thine. 
 While like a penitent I stand, 
 
 And there confess my sin — 
 
 have a strict propriety in so far as this — that a 
 Christian believer not only offers prayer for 
 himself and for others, but does this, in the 
 spiritual sense, with his hand upon the slain 
 offering, after the manner of the ancient 
 priest, and so, in a certain way is permitted 
 the privilege and the function of a true priest- 
 hood. In other words, the whole conception 
 exalts both the privilege and the efiicacy of 
 prayer under the New Dispensation. 
 
 The symbolism in "cometh with cloud-s," 
 and its significance, have already been briefly 
 noticed. While we have in these words, the 
 first mention in this book of the event to which 
 all its revelations look forward, we find it 
 consistent, in its intimations, with what we 
 claim to be the relation of our Lord's second 
 coming to other events, and with the purpose 
 of that coming. It is consistent, also, with 
 allusions to the same event found elsewhere ; 
 as in Matt. 25: 31-46: "When the Son of man 
 shall come in his glory, and all the holj' angels 
 with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of 
 his glory; and before him shall be gathered 
 all nations; and he shall separate them one 
 from another, as a shepherd divideth his 
 sheep from the goats." Such representations 
 can safely be interpreted only as having in 
 view tlie end of all things, as concerns the ex- 
 isting Dispensation of Grace, and must there- 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 EEVELATIOK 
 
 33 
 
 9 I John, who also am your brother, and "companion 
 in tribulation, and 'in the kingdom and patience of 
 Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called I'atnios, <^for 
 the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
 
 10 t^I was in the Spirit on «the Lord's day, and heard 
 behind me /a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
 
 9 I John, your brother and partaker with you in the 
 tribulation and kingdom and i])atieiice uiiich are in 
 Jesus, was iu the isle that is called Patmos, for the 
 
 10 word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 1 was in 
 the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me 
 
 oPhil. 1:7; 4: 14; 2 Tlm.l; 8 b Rnm. 8 : 17 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 12 c ver. 2; oh. 6: 9 d Acts 10: 10: 2 Cor. 12: 2; ch. 4 : 2 ; 17: 3; 
 
 21: 10 e Johu 2U ; 26: Acts 2U: 7; 1 Cur. 16: 2..../ch. 4 : 1 ; 10: 8. -1 Or, sted/aUness. 
 
 fore, as will more fully appear hereafter, point 
 to the second advent of the Lord as post- 
 millennial. Vitringa, as quoted by Hengs- 
 tenberg, says: "Nor is it necessary that the 
 words of John be restricted to the last advent 
 of Christ. For Christ is said in Scripture style 
 to come in the clouds of heaven, as often as 
 he displays his glory, and shows himself as 
 present to the church. And there are various 
 gradations of that advent of Christ in which 
 he is seen by his hardened enemies themselves 
 with the greatest anguish and lamentations." 
 
 9-20. The Vision of the Lord. 
 
 9. I John. One is led to observe the simi- 
 larity in John's method, here, of announcing 
 
 himself, to that of Daniel (7: 28; 8: l; 9: 2; 10:2). 
 
 It is, perhaps, not a forced view to regard 
 the expression, with some, as imitated from 
 Daniel. There are many points of resem- 
 blance, in what he communicates, between 
 this prophet of the New Testament and those 
 later prophets of the Old — Daniel, Ezekiel, 
 and Zechariah. That his manner should also 
 resemble theirs is natural. — Your brother, 
 and companion in tribulation. In his 
 Epistles, John addresses those to whom he 
 writes as his "little children." Here he is 
 their "brother." The reason of this differ- 
 ence is not far to seek. He is now more the 
 bearer of a message, than one speaking with 
 apostolical authority. Besides, "tribulation," 
 persecution has come, and the common suffer- 
 ing has imparted to their mutual relationship 
 more of the fraternal character. It is more 
 in keeping with the position of one who 
 suffers with them, to speak of himself as a 
 "brother," than as a father; just as Jesus "is 
 not ashamed to call" them "brethren" with 
 whom and for whom he suffered. — The king- 
 dom and patience of Jesus Christ [or in 
 Jesus]. The "kingdom" of Jesus Christ is 
 that mediatorial kingdom whose beginning, 
 progress, struggle, and triumph are the sub- 
 ject of this book. In the partnerships, hopes, 
 and fruitions of this kingdom, John makes 
 himself the brother of those to whom he 
 
 writes. "Patience," in this place, is properly 
 "endurance," combining the two ideas of 
 suffering or trial, and steadfastness — the latter 
 idea being the more prominent one. That it 
 is spoken of as "the patience of Jesus Christ," 
 implies the closeness of the relation subsisting 
 between himself and his peojile. It is not 
 only endurance for his sake; but in some 
 sense endurance in which he himself shares; 
 just as where (Matt. 25:45), he makes injury to 
 his own, injury to himself. — Was in the isle 
 that is called Patnios. More literally : "/ 
 became — came and remained — in the isle," etc. 
 The reason, or occasion, of this sojourn in 
 Patmos is not given, further than is implied 
 in the words which follow, for the word of 
 God and for the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ [omit Christ, as above]. By this 
 must be understood, in accordance with early 
 Christian testimony, as shown in the General 
 Comments below, a condition of exile on 
 account of his faith, and of his fidelity and 
 eminence as a Christian teacher. 
 
 10. I was in the Spirit. A better transla- 
 would be, "I became [iyivoixriv) in the Spirit." 
 The form of the expression implies a condi- 
 tion superinduced by some special cause. 
 "What this was appears from the words, "in 
 the Spirit." The meaning is, a state of spirit- 
 ual ecstasy or exaltation, induced through 
 divine influence, imparted for this purpose. 
 On the Lord's day. The reasons for hold- 
 ing that this can only mean the First Day of 
 the week (icor. 16:2), are noticed below. This 
 is the first occurrence of the i^hrase, anywhere 
 in the New Testament. The manner of its 
 use, here, however, implies that it was a desig- 
 nation of the Christian day of rest and 
 worship already so common as that it could 
 not fail to be understood. — And heard be- 
 hind me a great voice, as of a trumpeto 
 We are not to regard the voice, or the person 
 speaking, as like what men see^n to see or hear 
 in dreams. They were real ; but as belong- 
 ing to that spiritual world which is so wholly 
 removed from the sphere of the senses, they 
 could be present only to one, like John, in 
 
34 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 11 Saving, "I am Alpha and Onicjia, Hhe first and 
 the la-st': and, What thmi secst, wiiti' in a book, and 
 send it unto ihu sevin lIuhtIu's wliich are in Asia; 
 unto Kphfsus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, 
 and unio Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Wiila- 
 delphia, and unto Laodici-a. 
 
 \1 And I turned to see the voice tliat spake with me. 
 And being turned, 'i saw seven golden (■au<lleslieks; 
 
 l:i ''And in the midst of tlie seviii eandlestieks eon? 
 like unto the Son of man, /clothed witii a garment 
 down to the loot, aud»girt about the pups with a golden 
 girdle. 
 
 11 a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou 
 seest, write in a book, and send U to tlie seven 
 churches; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and un- 
 to Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and" unto Sardis, 
 
 12 and unto Philadelphia, and" unto Laodicea. And I 
 turned to see the voice that spake with me. And 
 having turned I saw seven golden i candlesticks; 
 
 13 and in the midst of the > candlesticks one like unto 
 a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the 
 foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden 
 
 a ver. 8 6 ver. 17. 
 
 .c Exod. a5:37; Zech. 4:2; ver. 20 d ch.2: 1 e Ezek. 1 : 
 
 b....g ch. 15: 6. 1 Gr. lampstands. 
 
 5; Dan. 7: 13; 10:16; ch. 14: 14.... /Dun. 10: 
 
 the Spirit; that is, so delivered from the 
 dominion of sense, and brought into such 
 rehition to the spiritual world, as that spiritual 
 voices could be hoard and spiritual forms 
 seen. 
 
 11. I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
 and the last. In these words we have 
 another question as to the true reading of the 
 original. The words are not found in the 
 oldest manuscripts, and by the best interpre- 
 ters are regarded as introduced by copyists. 
 This judgment should be followed, and we 
 should read: "And heard behind me a great 
 voice, as of a trumpet, saying," "What thou 
 seest write in a book, and send. — In this 
 abrupt and startling way, the extraordinary 
 scene about to open is announced. A mes- 
 sage is to be communicated. John is to re- 
 ceive it, and he must give it a form such as 
 tltat it maj' be sent to those for whom it is first 
 of all intended, and may be preserved for fu- 
 ture ages. — Unto the seven churches Avhich 
 are in Asia. The order in which these 
 churches are named has been noticed. Ephe- 
 sus stands first, because, says Hengstenberg, 
 "the seat of John's labors." The order of 
 the list then "proceeds northward to Smyrna 
 and Pergamos. Then from Pergamos, as the 
 most northerly point, it goes in a regular 
 southeasterlj' direction down by Thyatira, 
 Kardis, Philadelphia, to Laodicea, which is 
 almost in the same parallel of south latitude 
 as Ephesus, but considerably ftirther east." 
 
 12. Turned to see the voice that spake 
 Avith me. The voice is spoken of in verse 10 
 as "a great voice, as of a trumpet." The 
 loudness and the trumpet-tone of the voice 
 were in keeping with the august nature of the 
 vision, the majestic sound of it suggesting 
 something extraordinary, even before the per- 
 son addressed had turned to see whence it 
 came. — Spake. If we translate the word more 
 literallj', "was speaking," so that it may ex- 
 
 press continuous action, we get the incident, 
 as it occurred, mors clearly before the mind. 
 "When the voice is first heard, John turns 
 suddenly, as would be natural, to see who it 
 is that speaks. — Seven golden candlesticks. 
 The word "candlesticks" is misleading. The 
 seven-branched light-holder in the tabernacle 
 and temple, to which the symbolism here 
 refers, was for holding lamps. The better 
 rendering is "lamp-stands." The same sym- 
 bol is used in Zech. 4:2; only with a very 
 notable difference. In Zechariah, a single 
 lamp-stand is seen; here there are seven. 
 This diflerence corresponds to that which is 
 observed in comparing the marked organic 
 unity of the Jewish spiritual and civil econ- 
 omy, and the organic multiplicity of the 
 Christian. The seven distinct light-holders in 
 John's vision represent the individuality and 
 multiplicity of gospel churches. Each, as 
 bearing lights, fulfills that office which the 
 Lord appointed in the words, "Ye are the 
 light of the world." The number seven has 
 no farther reference to the seven churches of 
 Asia just named, than as in their case also, 
 signifying, in accordance with the symbolical 
 force of this number, eoinpleteness. That is 
 to say, these seven light-holders represent all 
 churches in all ages, alike as setting forth 
 their design, their relation to each other and 
 to him who walks in the midst of them, and 
 as all equally addressed in the messages which 
 follow. 
 
 13. And in the midst of the seven can- 
 dlesticks one like unto the Son of man. 
 As in the Greek the article is wanting, Stuart 
 prefers to translate "like unto a son of man," 
 that is, one in the form of a man. He does not 
 doubt, however, that he whom John thus sees 
 is the Lord, in his glorified human body, or 
 that the phrase, "Son of man," is taken from 
 the frequent use of the same phrase by our 
 Lord himself in the Gospels. We cannot fol- 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 35 
 
 14 His head and "his hairs loere white like wool, as 
 white as snow; and 'his eyes tvere as a Hame of fire; 
 
 15 ''And his leet like unto fine brass, as if they 
 burned in a furnace; and <^his voice as the sound of 
 many waters. 
 
 14 girdle. And his head and his hair were white as 
 white wool, white as snow ; and his eyes were as a 
 
 15 flame of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, 
 as if it had been refined in a furnace ; and his voice 
 
 a Dnn. 7:9 6 Dan. 10: 6; cb. 2: 18; 19: 12 c Ezek. 1. 7; Dan. 10: 6; cb. 2 : 18 dKzek. 43: 2; Dan. 10: 6; cb. U: 2; 19: 
 
 low him in his translation, for these reasons: 
 (1) Winer explains (p. 125), that the omis- 
 sion of the article before the word "Son" 
 does not give the word this general, indefinite 
 sense, since "Son" is made definite by the 
 word "man" (av'^pionov), which follows. The 
 same form occurs at John 5 : 27: "And hath 
 given him authority to execute judgment 
 also, because he is (the) Son of man (on vlbi 
 ovSpajTTou cVtiV)." Also at Eom. 1:4, where 
 the phrase, "the Son of God," is in the Greek 
 simply "Son of God." See also Mark 1:1; 
 15, 39; Matt. 27: 43. (2) Alford calls atten- 
 tion to the usage in the phrase "the Spirit of 
 God" (nvevna&eov), where a like omission of the 
 article quite frequently occurs. A significant 
 example is that passage (>nttt. 3:i6), where we 
 read, "And lo, the heavens were opened unto 
 him, and he saw the Spirit of God (n-veO/iiaeeoC) 
 descending like a dove." (3) New Testament 
 usage, therefore, warrants us in retaining here 
 the usual translation. We may add that we 
 cannot well doubt it to have been the purpose 
 of John, in this place, to indicate distinctly 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, as now glorified, when 
 we consider how much of significance and 
 force the identity of the person speaking lends 
 to what is subsequently said by him in the 
 messages to the churches. — Clothed with a 
 garment doAvn to the foot. The long, 
 flowing garment, or robe, was a mark of royal 
 or priestly dignity. — And girt about the 
 paps [the breast] with a golden girdle. 
 That the girding of the robe is at the breast, 
 instead of the loins, does not appear to be an 
 incident so significant as some (Bengel, De 
 Wette, and others) suppose. Bengel led the 
 way in maintaining that a girdle at the loins 
 indicates activity ; at the breast, repose. Ziillig 
 considers the latter mode of girding a sign of 
 dignity and majesty. Diisterdieck quotes Jo- 
 sephus (Antiq. III. 7, 2), as authority for the 
 statement that the priests were customarily 
 girded about the chest. 
 
 14. His head and his hairs were white 
 like wool, as Avhite as snow. The word 
 for "white" {\evK6v), agrees, in the Greek, with 
 "wool" (eptoi/), and not with "snow" {xiuv). 
 
 So that the passage should read, ^^ His head 
 and his hair were as white wool, as S)iow." 
 One is reminded, here, of the passage in 
 Daniel (7: 9) : "I beheld till the thrones were 
 cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, 
 whose garment was white as snow, and the 
 hair of his head like the pure wool ' In 
 the account of the Transfiguration, we read 
 (Luke9:29), " As he prayed, the fashion of his 
 countenance was altered, and his raiment was 
 white and glistering." In the manifestation 
 of himself to John, on the occasion now under 
 consideration, the person of the Lord was in 
 a like manner transfigured and glorified, only 
 3'^et more resplendently, and with more evident 
 signs of divinity. It should be noticed that 
 both the head and the hair are described as 
 "white, like white wool," showing that we 
 are not to take the description of the hair, 
 like wool, too literally, but as indicating in 
 general the majestic splendor of the whole 
 head and face. It is only the ivhiteness of the 
 wool which is intended in the expression. — In 
 a like way we must take the words which fol- 
 low, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. 
 This can mean only that gleaming brilliancy 
 of the eye, which has so much to do in lending 
 force of expression to the whole face. We 
 are reminded, again, of Daniel (i**-" ): "his 
 face as the appearance of lightning, and his 
 eyes as lamps of fire." 
 
 15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as 
 if they [it] burned in a furnace. Much 
 diflSculty has been found in the etymology ot 
 the word (xaAxoAijSa.'a.) translated "fine brass." 
 Alford claims that "this word has defeated 
 all the ingenuity of the commentators hither- 
 to." " Brass" (xoAkos) "from Lebanon" (At'^ai^o?) 
 might seem the most natural explanation, 
 if mention were anywhere made of fine brass, 
 or brass of any kind, as brought from Leba- 
 non. "If conjecture were admissible," says 
 Alford, "(which it is not), I should, in de- 
 spair of a way out of the difficulty, suggest 
 whether the word may not have been x'^^ko^'- 
 ^aSiui, a stream of melted brass." Stuart and 
 Hengstenberg treat the word as of Hebrew 
 origin, and having the meaning of "fine" or 
 
se 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 If) "And lie had in his right hand seven stars: and 
 »oiit of liis mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; 'and 
 his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strengtli. 
 
 17 And ■'when I saw him, I Cell at his feet as dead. 
 And <lie laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, 
 Fear not; /I am the tirst and the last: 
 
 18 (// inn he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, 
 *I am alive for evermore, Ameu ; and 'have the keys 
 of hell and of death. 
 
 16 a-s the voice of many waters. And he had in his 
 right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth pro- 
 ceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and his counte- 
 
 17 nance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And 
 when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And 
 he laid his right hand upon nie, saying, Fear not : 
 
 18 I am the first and the last, and the Living one ; and 
 1 1 was dead, and behold, I am alive * for evermore, 
 
 a »er. 20; ch. 2 : 1 ; 3: 1 M»». 49: 2; Ephes. 6 : 17 ; Heb. 4 : 12 ; ch. 2: 12, 16; 19: 15. 21 c Acts 26: 13; ch. 10: \....d Ezck. 1: 
 
 2a....eDau.8: 18; 10: 10...:/Isa. 41 : 4 : 44 : 6 ; 4S : 12; ch. 2 : fi ; 22 : 13 ; ver. 11.... g R..m. 6: 9....A ch. 4 : 9 ; 5: 14....! hs. 6s: 20; 
 ch. 20: 1. 1 Gr. became 2 Gr. unto the ages of the ages. 
 
 "clear brass" (see Dan. 10: 6). Strictly 
 speaking, the word means bronze, not brass. 
 We should not read, "as if they burned in a 
 furnace"; but, "as if i^ burned," meaning 
 that the brass, or bronze — not the feet — is pure 
 and shining as it would appear while refined 
 in the furnace. — And his voice as the 
 sound of many waters. An impressive 
 image, alluding to the deep murmur of the 
 sea-wave.s, and indicating the peculiar maj- 
 esty of the tone. We have explained above, 
 that the voice which John heard at the open- 
 ing of the vision was not that of him whom 
 he sees, as he turns; but of some attendant 
 angel. 
 
 16. And he had in his right hand seven 
 stars. We are to conceive the hand as ex- 
 tended and held open, and the stars resting 
 upon the palm. We may also suppose them 
 to appear ther^ in a circle, like a wreath or 
 garland. — And out of his mouth went a 
 sharp, two-edged sword. There is some 
 difficulty in conceiving this in a way to make 
 the description appear congruous and seemly. 
 Perhaps we shall be aided in it by recurring 
 to the passage (2Thes8. 2:8), "whom [the lawless 
 one] the Lord shall consume with the spirit 
 [breath] of his mouth, and shall destroy with 
 the brightness of his coming." To this cor- 
 responds, in some measure, what is said in 
 Rev. 2: 16: "Repent, or else I will come unto 
 thee quickly, and will fight against them 
 with the sword of my mouth." (See, also, 
 Heb. 4: 12.) The symbolism in all these 
 passages, including the one now especially 
 studied, must indicate the scrutiny with which 
 the hf^arts and lives of men are tried by him 
 to whom belongs judgment as well as mercy, 
 and alike the rebnke and the pnnis/ittiant Avith 
 wliicli sin is visited. In forming to ourselves 
 some conception of the imagery, we may 
 think of a shining appearance, like a sword, 
 as if it might be visible breath, iirocecding 
 from the mouth. — And his countenance 
 was as the sun shineth in his strength. 
 
 In this the former details seem to be grouped 
 into one view, indicating the majesty of the 
 appearance. 
 
 17, 18. And Avhen I saw him, I fell at 
 his feet as dead. There are many places 
 in Scripture where the eflTect upon humanity 
 of even such a measure of manifestation of 
 the divine glory as has been granted to men 
 in this world, is illustrated. Readers may 
 turn to Isa. 6: 5; Ezek. 1: 28; Dan. 8: 17, 
 18, 27; 10: 7-9. In this present case, we are 
 to note the fact that he in whose person this 
 manifestation appears is that "Son of man" 
 whom John had known so intimately, and 
 between whom and himself the mutual tie 
 had been so peculiarly tender. The effect of 
 this view of him in his glorj' is not to be 
 attributed to any other cause than the sur- 
 passing splendor of the vision itself acting 
 upon the consciousness of human lowliness 
 and sinfulnesss in the person beholding. — 
 And he laid his right hand upon me, 
 saying unto me. Fear not. When Isaiah 
 (6: 5) was in a like manner overcome, one of 
 the seraphim came to him and touched his 
 lips with a live coal from the altar. Ezekiel 
 (1:28), in the same circumstances, heard 
 simply a voice speaking to him, and com- 
 manding him to stand upon his feet. In 
 Daniel's case, the messenger angel touches 
 him, and sets him upright. To John more 
 is granted than to either of these. The right 
 hand of the glorious being is laid upon him 
 in protection, and the voice speaks re-assur- 
 ing words, mingling with what inijdies a 
 present divinity allusions to that human form 
 and history, in the very recollection of which 
 John could not fail to find comfort and sup- 
 port. — I am the first and the last. The 
 division of verses, here, breaks the sense, and 
 is plainly wrong. Verse 18 should be read in 
 immediate association with that which pre- 
 cedes. The connection then becomes, "lam 
 the first and the last; I am he that liveth, 
 the Living One," (6 ii>v). The latter clause 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 87 
 
 19 Write "the things which thou has seen, 'and the 
 things which are, ■'aud the things which shall be here- 
 after ; 
 
 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 flthe seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the 
 seven churches. 
 
 19 and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Write 
 therefore tlie things which thou sawest, and the 
 things whicli are, and the things which shall come 
 
 20 to pass hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars 
 which thou sawest lin my right hand, and the seven 
 golden 2 candlesticks. The seven slurs are the angels 
 of the seven churches: and the seven -candlesticks 
 are the seven churches. 
 
 over. 12, etc ftch. 2: 1, etc c ch. 4 : l.etc. 
 
 r. In e ver. 12.... /Mai. 2:7; ch. 2: 1, etc g Zech. 4: 
 
 -1 Gr. upon 2 Gr. lampstands. ^ 
 
 Matt. 5: 13; 
 
 thus explains the first. If we ask, in what 
 sense is Christ "the first and the hist," the 
 answer is that he is such as being "the Living 
 One"; the Being who has life in himself, 
 "who only hath immortality," the fir.st and 
 the last. It is quite in the manner of those 
 assertions of his own eternal being which 
 Jehovah makes in so many places in the Old 
 Testament. (See Isa. 43: 10-18; 44: 6; 48: 12). 
 It is therefore the attribution to himself of 
 that eternitjr of being (equivalent to "I am 
 Alpha and Omega") which belongs to God 
 alone. — And was dead. The Living One 
 that died; having assumed, in connection 
 with the divinity, a nature capable of death, 
 and in this nature having actually suffered 
 death.— And behold I am alive forever- 
 more. Amen. A glorious fact, now asserted 
 with solemn asseveration, and which warrants 
 the joyful confidence of the trusting soul. 
 "My Redeemer Hveth!" — And have the 
 keys of hell and of death — of death and 
 the world of the dead; not Gehenna, but 
 Hades. This imagery of the gate and its 
 "keys" was natural in a country and a time 
 when walled cities were so common. It may 
 be taken as a symbol of that concentration 
 of power, of which the strong, walled city 
 was itself representative. Hence the personi- 
 fication of Death as some inexorable poten- 
 tate, and the world of the dead as ruled by 
 him, the dread tyrant. "I am he," says 
 the glorified Redeemer, "that hath the 'keys' 
 of that strong city; a power greater than that 
 of him who seems so invincible, so that he 
 rules onlj'' by sufferance." 
 
 19. Write the things which thou hast 
 seen, and the things which are, and the 
 things which shall be hereafter. More 
 fully rendered, write therefore the things, etc. 
 Says Grotius, '^quia me tarn potentem vides'^ ; 
 Because of what you see of my power and 
 present glory, therefore write. John could 
 not doubt of his commission, in this regard, 
 with such a vision before him. Three classes 
 
 of things to write appear to be indicated. 
 Between the first and the second the distinc- 
 tion at first does not seem so clear. It might 
 appear as if "the things which thou sawest" 
 (Rev. Version), and "the things which are" 
 must be the very same things, since the vision 
 is still a present one. In view of this difl[i- 
 culty, some writers prefer to take the words 
 "which are" (& elalv), as better rendered, 
 "what they (the things seen) mean." Per- 
 haps, however, we may regard the second 
 and third clauses as in some sort epexegetical 
 of the first; in that case, the clause, "things 
 which thou hast seen," will comprehend the 
 two classes, "things which are," and "things 
 which shall be hereafter" ; the former being 
 the messages k) the churches soon to be given, 
 with all that appears in that connection; the 
 latter subsequent visions and revelations, as 
 given in later portions of the book. 
 
 20. The mystery of the seven stars . . « 
 and the seven golden candlesticks. By 
 "mystery" (iJ.vaTripi.ov), alike in New Testa- 
 ment and in classic usage, is to be under- 
 stood, not that which is incomprehensible, but 
 simply that which has not as yet been so 
 revealed or expounded as to be actually com- 
 prehended or known. In this sense the word 
 was used in speaking of "the Eleusinian 
 Mysteries." Thus, the seven stars and the 
 seven golden candlesticks have here a hidden 
 meaning, which must be explained, or re- 
 vealed, before it can be known. The general 
 significance, however, is given already in the 
 words which follow. — The seven stars are 
 the angels of the seven churches, and 
 the seven candlesticks . . . are the seven 
 churches. The full significance of what these 
 imply is left to appear more full}^ in what is 
 said later. The words simply present the 
 general sense of the symbol. By "angels of 
 the churches," we understand, for reasons 
 given in connection with the exposition in 
 the next chapter, the chief otficer in each of 
 these churches. 
 
38 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 GKNKRAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It is, perhaps, unnecessary to go at large 
 into the question which has been somewhat 
 discussed, whetiier John simply visited Pat- 
 mos for the purpose of writing the Apoca- 
 lypse, or whether, as has been the almost 
 universal tradition and belief, he was sent 
 thither by the pei'secuting pagan authorities. 
 The first view, held by a few commentators 
 that follow De Wette, is based upon a mean- 
 ing given to the words in verse 9: "for the 
 word of God, and the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ," and more especially upon the as- 
 sumed force of the preposition, by them trans- 
 lated "for the sake of" (Sta). An equally 
 correct translation is ''^because of, ^' or, ''''incon- 
 sequence ofy The former rendering would 
 implj' that the reason of the apostle's stay in 
 Patmos was that he might there receive and 
 record the visions here contained; the latter, 
 that it was on account of "the testimony of 
 Jesus Christ," which he had borne, and "the 
 word of God," which he had preached — on 
 account of his fidelity in this ministry — that 
 his abode had come to be in the desolate 
 island named. While this latter interpreta- 
 tion seems the more consistent and probable, 
 it is borne out by the testimony of those 
 whose witness, in a case like this, should be 
 conclusive. For example, Origen, explaining 
 that passage in Matthew, wliere our Lord 
 inquires of the two sons of Zebedee, John and 
 James: "Are ye able to drink of the cup that 
 I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the 
 baptism that I am baptized with?" mentions, 
 as illustrating the significance of these words, 
 the murder of James by Herod, and the ban- 
 ishment of John to Patmos "by the king of 
 the Romans," meaning, of course, one of the 
 emjierors — though which emperor, he does 
 not say. Victorinus, who suffered martyrdom 
 under Diocletian, in a. d. 303, and who was 
 the first of all who have written commen- 
 taries upon the Apocalypse, says in substance 
 the same thing, adding, however, that the 
 apostle was condemned to work in the mines, 
 in addition to the sentence of exile. There is 
 really no reason to call in question what has 
 been almost frr)m the date of the book itself, 
 the constant testimony of Christian history as 
 to the banishment of John to Patmos, as we 
 have shown elsewhere, by Domitiaii; while, 
 as Stuart makes clear, the construction of the 
 
 passage in question so as to show that it must 
 be taken in this sense, is alone consistent with 
 the usage of the New Testament Greek in 
 like cases. 
 
 The testimony as to the early observance of 
 the first day of the week as the Christian day 
 of rest and worship, and of its designation as 
 "the Lord's Day," is conclusive. Two pas- 
 sages in the New Testament may be cited. 
 Acts 20: 7: "And upon the first day of the 
 week, when the disciples came together to 
 break breatV ; and 1 Cor. 16: 2: "Upon the 
 first day of the week, let every one of you 
 lay by him in store," etc. The natural and 
 consistent, almost the necessary interpreta- 
 tion of these passages is that already, in the 
 apostolic period, and probably from the very 
 date of the formal institution of the church 
 with its observances, "the first day of the 
 week" — the day of our Lord's resurrection — 
 was recognized as that which should be ob- 
 served as the day of Christian rest and 
 worship; when the disciples should come 
 "together to break bread," when they should 
 prepare or make their gifts for the Lord's 
 cause, and when other things t;hould be done 
 as acts of Christian devotion and service. 
 Quite consistently with this, we find Christian 
 writers, at a very early date, speaking of the 
 day as being such as we describe. In the 
 epistle of Ignatius, to the Magnesians, dated 
 about A. D. 101 — only a few years after the 
 date of the Apocalypse itself — the first day of 
 the week is mentioned as the Lord's Day, 
 while Christians are characterized as "no 
 longer observing the Sabbath; but living in 
 the observance of the Lord's Day, on which 
 also our life has sprung up again by him and 
 by his death." Like things are said by 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, Justin Martyr, Ire- 
 nieus, Epiphanius, Eusebius, and others. 
 Stuart quotes, in a foot-note, a highly im- 
 portant passage from Eusebius' Commentary 
 upon the Ninety-second Psalm : "The Word, 
 (Christ), by the new covenant, translated and 
 transferred the feast of the Sabbath to the 
 morning light, and gave us the symbol of true 
 rest, viz., the saving LoriV s Day, the first (day) 
 of the light, in which the Saviour .... ob- 
 tained the victory over death, etc. . . On this 
 day, which is the first [day] of the light and of 
 the true Sun, we assemble, after an interval of 
 six days, and celebrate holy and s])iritual 
 Sabbath . . . All things whatever that it was 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 89 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 UNTO the angel of the church of Ephesus write ; 
 These things saith "he that holdoth the seven 
 stars in his right liand, *who walketh in the midst of 
 the seven golden candlesticks ; 
 
 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write ; 
 1 These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in 
 his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the 
 
 och.l; 16, 20.... 6 ch. 1: 13. 
 
 our duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have 
 transferred to the Lord's Day." With such, 
 and other testimony, so often adduced, as to 
 the authorized nature of this change from the 
 seventh to the first day of the week, there 
 ought not to remain any doubt upon the 
 subject. That construction of the phrase, 
 'Lord's Day," which makes it mean simply 
 the Gospel Dispensation, "the day of salva- 
 tion," as is done by a few ancient commenta- 
 tors, or as by some modern ones, so as to make 
 the verse read: "I was transported by the 
 Spirit (or in spirit) into the daj' of the Lord's 
 coming," is in each case so forced and un- 
 natural as to stand self-condemned. 
 
 Rich as the Bible is in vision, symbol, and 
 allegorj', it is perhaps impossible to name any 
 passage which in suggestiveness, alike sublime 
 and tender, surpasses, or even equals, this in 
 which Jesus in glory appears to John in the 
 desolation of his exile. When we consider 
 the relation in which these two had stood 
 during the Lord's earthly life, the peculiarly 
 tender tie by which the Master and his dis- 
 ciple whom he loved had been united^the 
 recollection of which must have been the very 
 most precious of those memories which John 
 had cherished during the long years of his 
 ministry since — we readily enter into the 
 emotion with which he recognized the familiar 
 form and feature, even amidst the overwhelm- 
 ing splendor of the manifestation. His human 
 nature could not bear the sight ; and still the 
 humanity there, even amidst the overcoming 
 sublimity of the divine, made the vision to 
 him what those which Lsaiah, Ezekiel, and 
 Daniel saw, could not be to them. The hand 
 that touched him, the voice that spoke to him, 
 were the hand and voice of all in the uni- 
 verse most dear and most entirely trusted. It 
 was the "Son of man," although "the Lord 
 from heaven." 
 
 It- is, too, a revelation, to the disciple in 
 each age, of him who walks amid the golden 
 candlesticks, and who never ceases to enjoin: 
 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches." Thus 
 "glorious in holiness, fearful in praises," is 
 
 Zion's king. Yet the hand that holds the 
 seven stars, is the hand that the nail pierced ; 
 and the brow that shines with such awful 
 splendor is the brow on which sat the tortur- 
 ing crown of thorns. 
 
 CHAPS. IL, III.— EPISTLES TO THE 
 CHURCHES. 
 Ch. 11 : 1-7. To THf Church in Ephesu.s. 
 1. Inscription. The angel of the church 
 of Ephesus. We leave for the General Com- 
 ments more particular notice of the title, 
 "angel of the church," contenting ourselves 
 here with indicating briefly the interpretation 
 we prefer. The reasons upon the whole are 
 strongest in favor of that view which regards 
 the term migcL in this place as the title given 
 to the chief officer in the church ; and to him 
 as representing the church. There were rea- 
 sons why Ephesus should head the list of the 
 churches so addressed. It was the oldest and 
 the chief city in this province of Asia where 
 so many other notable cities also stood, its 
 foundation lying back in pre-historic times. 
 It had been distinguished as the personal 
 residence of the great apostle, Paul, and the 
 scene of his labors during three years of active 
 ministry — the longest performed by him in 
 any one place. Here, also, the apostle John, 
 himself, by all accounts, had his home and his 
 ministry in the last years of his life, having 
 been sent, it would seem, from this city to the 
 scene of his exile. This may be inferred from 
 the statement of Clement of Alexandria in one 
 place, that "after the death of the tj'rant 
 [Domitian] he returned to Ephesus, from 
 Patmos." The church itself was an important 
 one, and probably held a leading, if not a 
 foremost place among the churches of that 
 region. Fitly, therefore, the messages to the 
 seven churches begin with the church at 
 Ephesus. — He that holdeth the seven stars 
 in his right hand. To Zion God says, by 
 the mouth of Isaiah (*9=i6 ); "Behold, I have 
 graven thee upon the palms of my hands," 
 indicating how much she is beloved, and how 
 tenderly cherished. The like imagery here, 
 in the passage considered, must be regarded 
 
40 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 2 "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, 
 and liow thou caust not bear them which are evil: and 
 'tlimi liiisl tried them ■'whieh say they are apostles, 
 and arc not, and hiist I'oiind them liars: 
 
 3 And luist borne, and hai^t patience, and for my 
 name's sake hast labored, and hast •' not fainted. 
 
 2 seven golden i candlesticks : I know thy works, and 
 thy toil and -patience, and that thou canst not bear 
 evil men, and didst try them who call themselves 
 apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; 
 
 3 and thou hast ^patience and didst bear for my name's 
 
 .1:6; ver. 9, 13, 19; ch.3: 1, 8, 15.... 6 IJobnl: 1 ci Cor. 11 : 13; 2 Pet. 2:l....d Gal. 6:9; Heb. 12:3, 5. 1 Gr. lamp- 
 stands 2 Or, sted/astness. 
 
 as superadding to this idea, which seems to be 
 in some measure reproduced in John 10; 28, 
 that of tlie supremacy of him who thus holds 
 his servants in his right hand, and that of 
 their function, as performing their ministry 
 
 for him by his power, and with supreme priety of the words which follow 
 
 churches themselves. He walks in the midst 
 of them as a constant presence, and so as to be 
 aware of all that concerns their state, and the 
 measure in which they fulfill their mi.-?sion as 
 "the light of the world." Hence the pro- 
 
 accountability to him. Says Hengstenborg : 
 "Chri-st holds them fast, so that no one can 
 pluck them out of his hand, whether he is 
 minded to protect or to destroy them."— Who 
 walkrth in the midst of the seven golden 
 candlesticks. Here the Lord declares him- 
 self in his relation, not directly as before 
 to the ministry of the churches, but to the 
 
 2, 3. Commendation. I know. The 
 epistle to each church opens with this word, 
 "I know" (SiSa). There is in it both encourage- 
 ment and admonition, since alike what is to 
 be commended and what is to be blamed lies 
 ojien to him, with, at the same time, a jierfect 
 knowledge of what is needed to help inliruiity, 
 to correct evil, to strengthen faith, or1o stim- 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 41 
 
 4 Nevertheless I have xomew/iat against thee, because 
 thou hast lelt thy tirst love. 
 
 5 Remeaiber therelore troui whence thou art fallen, 
 aud repent, and du the first works; "or else 1 will 
 conic unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candle- 
 stick out of his place, except thou repent. 
 
 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of 
 ^the Nicolaitaus, which I also hate. 
 
 4 sake, and hast not grown weary. But I have /his 
 against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. 
 
 5 Keiiiember therefore Iroui wheuce thou art fallen, 
 and repent, and do the first works; or else I conic to 
 thee, and will move thy i candlestick out of its place, 
 
 6 except thou repent. JBut this thou hast, that thou 
 
 a Halt. 21 : 41, 4S....b ver. 15. 1 Gr. lampstand. 
 
 ulate zeal. — Thy works, and thy labor [thy 
 
 toil], and thy patience. "Works" epya), 
 and "labor" (kojtoi'), do not mean the same 
 thing. The former is more a generic term, 
 covering all the deeds of the life, good and 
 bad ; by the latter is meant labor in the sense 
 of service, especially that which harasses and 
 wearies; that which tries the "patience" 
 (uTTojiofTj). The Greek of this last word comes 
 from two words which signify "fo abide 
 under," suggesting that steadfastness which 
 bears up under burdens, whether these be 
 burdens of service or burdens of suffering. — 
 And how thou canst not bear them 
 which are evil. The special force of this 
 commendation seems to be indicated in the 
 sixth verse, below, where it is said, in praise 
 of the Ephesian Church, that it hates the deeds 
 of the Nicolaitanes," which I also hate." This 
 was a ground of commendation, as showing 
 that these Ephesian Cliristians were so of one 
 mind with the Lord that what displeased him 
 displeased them and was intolerable to them. 
 — And thou hast tried them which say 
 they are apostles, and are not. Paul had 
 said to the elders of this church (Acts 20:29): 
 "For I know this, that after my departing 
 shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not 
 sparing the flock." This had now come to 
 pass — wolves, however, not in appearance, 
 but in fact. They claimed to be "apostles," 
 and were not. It was to the credit of the 
 Ephesian Church, that their fidelity and their 
 spiritual discernment protected them against 
 imposition of this kind. They tried these 
 pretenders and found them liars. 
 
 3. And hast borne, and hast patience, 
 and for my name's sake hast labored, 
 and hast not fainted. This repeats the 
 commendation in the previous verse, with the 
 added praise that all this they did " for my 
 name's sake." Better than the service, the 
 harassing toil, the patience, the fidelity, the 
 scrutiny and rejection of the evil, was the 
 motive inspiring all ; that high Christian 
 motive which is at once a stimulus and a sup- 
 
 port — "for my name's sake." Literally, "for 
 my name" (Sm to bvoiid ijlov). The name repre- 
 sents the person. This is equivalent, there- 
 fore, to saying, "for me hast labored and hast 
 not fainted." 
 
 4-G. Keproof. Nevertheless, I have 
 somewhat against thee. This, "I have 
 somewhat against thee," is said also, in sub- 
 stance, as appears below, of the Church in 
 Pergamos and the'Church in Thyatira. The 
 qualifying word "somewhat" is not here in 
 the Greek. Even if it were so, and thus the 
 usual translation justified, it would not war- 
 rant any such inference as that this which the 
 kSaviour finds thus amiss in the Ephesian 
 Church is not of a serious nature. The lan- 
 guage used in the fifth verse, l:)elow, indicates 
 emphatically the contrary of this. We should 
 read: "I have against thee," or, as the re- 
 visers: "I have this against thee." — Because 
 [that] thou hast left thy first love. We 
 do not understand why Stuart should think 
 it necessary to interpret the "love" in this 
 place as meaning "the former benevolent 
 and beneficent course of conduct." That 
 the Ephesians are, in verse fifth, exhorted to 
 "do their first works," is a very inadequate 
 reason for such a sense, inasmuch as "the first 
 works" [ra npuiTa epya.) in that place, so mani- 
 festly include, along with what is outward in 
 act, that which inspires the act from within. 
 Hengstenberg's reference to Jer. 2: 2 — "I 
 remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, 
 the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest 
 after me in the wilderness, in a land that was 
 not sown," as the illustrative passage, is much 
 more to the purpose. Very truly does he 
 also say that it is one of the characteristics 
 of this apostle, "to combine together the love 
 of God, the love of our neighbor, and broth- 
 erly love." There is, plainly', no ground 
 for taking the clause here, "first love," in 
 any other sense than that which has become 
 so common in Christian phraseology — that 
 warm, earnest, active spirit of love to the 
 Saviour so lately found, to all who bear his 
 
42 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 7 « He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saith uuto the churches: To hiui that overcouieth will 
 I give 'to cat ol <^the tree of lile, which is iu the midst 
 ot the paradise of Ood. 
 
 hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also 
 7 hate. He that iiath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith to tlie churches. To him that over- 
 cumeth, to him will 1 give to eat of the tree of life, 
 which IS in the i Faradise of (jod. 
 
 a Mail. 11; 15; 13:9,43; ver. 11, 17,29; ch. 3 : 6, 13,22; 13 : 9....6 ch. 22 : 2. 14.... c Gen. 2: 
 
 -1 Or, garden : as iu tSeu. 2 : 8. 
 
 <feme, to his service, and to souls, that is so 
 much the common and beautiful incident of 
 recent conversion.— Remember, therefore, 
 from Avhence thou art fallen. It is a fall- 
 ing, not from '"grace" in tlie sense of an 
 absolute loss of that which they had pos- 
 sessed; for in that case the words that 
 follow, enjoining effort on their own part at 
 self-recover^', would be wholly out of place. 
 They would in such a case be enjoined to seek 
 for renewed bestowment of the lost spiritual 
 life. It is decline in the fervor and fidelity 
 that characterized them in the beginning. 
 Yet, even so, it should be to them a matter 
 for deep concern ; since the consequences of 
 continued decay in spiritual experience, and 
 its necessary effect, spiritual sloth and unfaith- 
 fulness, must be such as are threatened.^ 
 And repent, and do thy [the] first works. 
 "What is thus required is precisely that which 
 a Christian, who has fallen into a low spirit- 
 ual state must do, with a view to escape out 
 of that condition. There must be change of 
 mind {ixiTdvoia) "repentance," involving that 
 earnest attention to one's own spiritual state, 
 and earnest purpose of reform, which is 
 always the beginning of good. Following 
 this, or attending it, must be the resumption 
 of neglected duty, the taking up of the cross 
 that had been laid down — a return, in short, 
 to that whole course of Christian living to 
 which the "first love" had prompted, and 
 the abandoning of which was so sure a sign 
 that this love had been "left."— Else I will 
 come unto thee quickly, and Avill remove 
 thy candlestick out of his [its] place, ex- 
 cept thou repent. We are to remember 
 tliat tlic words are addressed to a church. In 
 the symbolism of the vision, the Church in 
 Ephesiis is represented by one in the group 
 of seven light-holders. The removal of its 
 "candlestick" out of its place, would, of 
 course, signify the extinction of the church. 
 It ceases, thus, to have a place among those 
 that, as churches of Christ, are holding 
 forth in the world the light of lifo. The 
 threatening had its fulfillment. The Ephesian 
 Church long since ceased to exist, and Ei)hesus 
 
 itself is a ruin. The admonition, however, 
 may have availed for a time; for this church 
 was a spiritual home for the aged apostle in 
 his own last daj's. It shared, nevertheless, 
 the general decline among the churches of 
 the East, and its "candlestick" was long ago 
 "removed." — But this thou hast. Gladly 
 does the Lord Jesus recognize and approve 
 what can be approved in his churches. So 
 he here returns to the language of commen- 
 dation. — That thou hatest the deeds of 
 the Nicolaitanes. There was this remain- 
 ing and hopeful element of a right spiritual 
 state. The evil and the false were hateful to 
 them. There is still a promise of good in 
 that within us which inclines to the good and 
 which repels the bad. — Which I also hate. 
 Thus they were in sympathy with him — 
 Christ-like — at least so far as this, that the 
 mischievous teaching and practice which 
 their Lord so deej^ly disapproved was disap- 
 proved by them. Of the Nicolaitanes, so far 
 as aught can really be known of them, we 
 speak below. 
 
 7. Promise. Conditioned alike upon the 
 commendation and the admonition, there is a 
 promise; so announced and made so wide in 
 its scope as to furnish no obscure intimation 
 of the fact, that what is addressed to this one 
 church is meant for all churches, and all 
 Christians. — He that hath an ear, let him 
 hear. It might not be an undue expansion 
 of the meaning to make the words include 
 every individual of those to whose attention 
 these messages shall in any waj' or in any 
 divine word, whether of admonition or of 
 counsel, be brought. In what is said in the 
 promise to Christians, there is significance also 
 for those who are not Christians. As for the 
 promise, what it holds forth is what every soul 
 should desire; as for the admonition — " if the 
 righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the 
 ungodly and the sinner appear?" It is worth 
 observing that language nearly identical, 
 "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," 
 was used by our Lord in his own earthly 
 ministry, in connection with some of his more 
 striking parables (Man. ii: 15 ; 13-9,43). It is an 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 43 
 
 emphatic intimation that the words spoken, 
 or about to he spoken, should have especial 
 attention. — What the Spirit saith unto the 
 churches. There is here a recognition of 
 the fact that the present Dispensation is a dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit. Jesus had said to his 
 disciples, in closing his own personal minis- 
 try, " For if I go not away, the Comforter will 
 not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you" (Johuis:?).. "He shall receive 
 of mine and shall show it unto you." It is 
 Jesus that in our passage is speaking; but he 
 to whom he speaks is "in the Spirit." The two 
 Divine Persons, as they are one in essence, so 
 are they in perfect accord in their operation. 
 Thus the message is no less what "Me Spirit 
 saith unto the churches," than what the Lord 
 Jesus says. — -To him that overcometh. 
 These words occur in connection with the 
 promise that closes each epistle. They are a 
 clear intimation that what every church and 
 every Christian, and every soul that would be 
 saved, has to do, is to '''overcome.^' The vic- 
 tory to be achieved is alike the victory of 
 faith (iJobn5.4), and the victory of strenuous 
 personal struggle and endeavor. It is worthy 
 of note how consonant the idea and the phrase- 
 ology in this place are with what we find in 
 other writings of this same apostle, especially 
 his First Epistle as just quoted. It is one of the 
 indications of identity of authorship, since, 
 although it is Jesus who speaks in this place, 
 we must regard him as speaking both to and 
 through that in him who is the medium of 
 communication, which is characteristic and 
 personal. — Will I give to eat of the tree of 
 life. The symbolism is founded upon that 
 which appears in the account of the "garden" 
 that God planted "eastward in Eden," as 
 the home of the first human pair. This strik- 
 ing link of connection between the first book 
 of the inspired Scriptures and the last, shows 
 not only the marked unity of the plan of in- 
 spiration, but shows, as well, how far forward 
 that Edenic symbol pointed. Its relation was 
 not merely to the conditions of life in the 
 garden, to the unfallen man ; but to a pro- 
 vision to be made in the far-away centuries, 
 and to the fruits of that provision in the eter- 
 nal life of redeemed souls. — Which is in the 
 midst of the paradise of God. The old- 
 est manuscripts — Sinaitio and Vatican — omit 
 the words, "in the midst of" (iv ^eai> toO), 
 neither do they have the "my" (/ixou) after 
 
 "God" (©eoO), translated "my God," which 
 Stuart and Alford supply. The best reading 
 seems to be, "which is in the paradise of 
 God." This, while it recalls the symbolism 
 in Gen. 2: 9, anticipates that which we find 
 in Kev. 22 : 2, where we shall notice the force 
 of it more particularly. It must suifice to 
 say here that, as cast under this figurative 
 form, the promise is equivalent to that which 
 we have in 1 John 2: 25: "And this is the 
 promise that he hath promised us, even eternal 
 life" ; as also in the words of our Lord him- 
 self (Joim 6: si): "If any man eat of this bread, 
 he shall live forever." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We have judged it best to analyze each of 
 these seven epistles, in the manner shown 
 above, partly for the sake of a more exact 
 method in the exposition, and partly because, 
 thus, alike the resemblances and the difter- 
 ences in the several epistles may be more ap- 
 parent. The communication in each of these 
 seven messages follows a like order; in which 
 we have, first, the title, suggested in the 
 vision as described, by which the august Per- 
 son speaking announces himself; second, an 
 assurance of his omniscient acquaintance with 
 the church addressed, in its spiritual con- 
 dition, and every peculiarity of its faith and 
 life ; third, words of commendation ; fourth 
 (in all save two), words of reproof and ad- 
 monition; fifth, a call to attention, and a 
 promise for "him that overcometh." "\Ve 
 make our analysis in the exposition more 
 general, so as to involve fewer particulars; 
 keeping it, however, in substance the same. 
 
 The views held as to the angel of the church 
 addressed in each of these cases, are mainly 
 two; that which takes the word "angel" in 
 its usual signification, and that which, found- 
 ing upon the more literal sense of the word 
 yayyeKo<;) "messengcr," "legate," views it as 
 simply a term of official designation. It is 
 claimed that the former of these is consistent 
 with Scripture usage ; as where our Lord 
 himself says, speaking of "the little ones" 
 (Miitt. 18: 10) : "Their angels do alwaj^s behold 
 the face of my Father which is in heaven," 
 and those places in Daniel (lO: 21 ; 12: 1) ; as also 
 in the book we are now studying, where men- 
 tion is made of "the angel of the waters" 
 (16:5). No one of these cases, however, seems 
 to be analogous to the present one. There 
 
44 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 are sJ;rong objections, besides, to this view. 
 
 (1) No consistent reason can be given why 
 through such an angelic medium the churches 
 should be addressed. All else introduced, as 
 connected with these churches, views them as 
 visible (irganizations, as actual, not ideal, and 
 as found in tiieir actual condition. The nat- 
 ural medium of communication with them 
 would be those official persons, the pastors, 
 or chief officers, who represented them. (2) It 
 does not seem congruous and consistent that 
 an angelic being should be addressed as if 
 either entitled to the commendation or liable 
 to tlie blame, even in a representative sense, 
 which are expressed in these messjiges. (3) 
 The whole subject of angelic ministry, as 
 connected either with individuals or with or- 
 ganizations, is obscure, being mentioned in 
 Scripture but rarely, and never more than in 
 the merest intimation. (4) If the angels of 
 the churches be viewed as angels in the usual 
 sense of the word, and the difficulty alluded 
 to (in 2) above be met by regarding them as 
 symbolizing the churches themselves, then 
 the objection arises which Rothe, as quoted 
 by Hengstenberg, urges: "There would tlien 
 be one image or symbol used to express 
 another" — the angel as a symbol of the 
 church, and the star as a symbol of the angel. 
 "Besides, the angels and the churches would 
 stand immediately beside each other, and of 
 both it would be spoken in the same sentence, 
 that they are to be understood under the 
 symbols of the stars and the lamps; yet of 
 the.se two symbolized objects, must one only 
 be a reality, and the other a mere symbol ! " 
 
 It should be observed, in studying this 
 point, that (1) The "angel of the church" 
 evidently represents the church. For in each 
 case, we find in a subsequent part of the 
 message: "He that hath an ear, let him hear 
 what the Spirit saith unto the churches;^' so 
 that what is addressed to the angel of the 
 church, is viewed as addressed to the church. 
 
 (2) That there were official persons in each 
 church who held this representative position. 
 "When Paul (acu20:17) would leave with the 
 Church at Ei)hesus a solemn message, he 
 "sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the 
 church." His address to them reminds us of 
 the form adopted in the passage under con- 
 sideration. It was not to the elders as indi- 
 viduals, plainly, that he was speaking; but to 
 the elders as representative persons. (3) We 
 
 find Paul writing to Timothy (i Tim 5 : n) : " Let 
 the elders that rule well be counted worthy 
 of double honor, es2Jecially they who labor in 
 the word and doctrine." This shows that 
 there was a distinction among the elders, 
 some of whom were, more than others, de- 
 voted to "labor in the word and doctrine." 
 (4) It is well known, and admitted on all 
 hands, that one of the elders held a position 
 equivalent to that of the modern pastor, 
 bearing then the designation of "overseer" 
 (sTTto-Koiros), or "superintendent," involving the 
 duty and responsibility of watching over the 
 affairs of a single and separate organized body 
 of Christians. It is most consistent with all 
 that appears in this connection, to regard this 
 person as the one intended in the phrase, 
 "angel of the church." His position was 
 itself on.e of peculiar responsibility; so that 
 for what was amiss in the church he would be 
 held to account beyond even those elders who 
 did not "labor in the word and doctrine." 
 In every sense, too, he would represent the 
 church, which would be with special pro- 
 priety addressed through him. The word 
 "angel" would apply to him in its literal 
 force, as "messenger," "legate." A corre- 
 sponding usage in the Old Testament is at 
 Malachi 2:7: "The priest's lips should keep 
 knowledge .... for he is the messenger, 
 [communicating agent (rnalak)] of the Lord 
 of Hosts," to whom resort may be had for 
 counsel and direction. The Hebrew word, 
 here, corresponds to the Greek "messenger" 
 (ayyeAos), and is applied to the priest of the 
 ancient sanctuary, in a representative sense 
 akin to that which we find in the passage 
 now before us. 
 
 [The question has been raised whether it 
 may be allowed us to admit the po.ssibility 
 that, during the apostle's exile in Patmos he 
 was permitted to receive visits from repre- 
 sentatives of the churches planted ujion the 
 adjacent coast, so near at hand, and between 
 whom and himself there were so many 
 mutual ties. That he should still have on 
 his heart the "care" of these "churches," 
 and that they should be solicitous to know 
 of his welfare, and have his counsel in their 
 affivira, is beyond doubt. Did an occasiimal 
 "messenger" of the church — its pastor, or 
 other chief perscm — visit him? And was the 
 message in each of these cases now con- 
 sidered, supposed to be sent through him? 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 45 
 
 It is a point which cannot be determined; 
 yet we know of no positive reason why it 
 should be thought impossible.] 
 
 It is deserving of remark, as Lyra (quoted 
 by Alford) suggests, that in the commenda- 
 tion in verse (5, our Lord "does not say 
 'hatest' the Nicolaitanes, but the 'deeds' of 
 the Nicolaitanes; because the persons them- 
 selves are to be regarded with charity; their 
 vices only to be hated." The Nicolaitanes 
 are said by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clemens 
 Alexandrlnus, Epiphanius, and Jerome, to 
 have been persons led away into a false 
 doctrine and vicious practice by " Nicolas a 
 proselyte of Antioch," mentioned in Acts 
 6: 5, as one of the Seven appointed by the 
 Church at Jerusalem to relieve the apostles 
 themselves in certain secular matters within 
 the body. They speak of him as a teacher of 
 doctrines encouraging immorality, a species 
 of antinomianism, in which the freedom of 
 the gospel was so abused as to be plead in 
 justification of the worst vices. Other ancient 
 writers say that Nicolas was claimed by 
 these depraved persons as their leader with- 
 out authority, and simply with a view to 
 gain proselytes through the influence of his 
 name. In the "Apostolical Constitutions," 
 dating back to the fourth and fifth century, 
 this sect is spoken of as "the Nicolaitanes, 
 falsely so called." The sect is referred to 
 again in ver. 1.5 of this chapter, as existing 
 also at Pergamos, and where, as some think, 
 it is identified with those teaching "the doc- 
 trine of Balaam," referred to in the verse 
 preceding. Associating these passages, and 
 claiming to find a resemblance of etymology 
 and meaning between the names Balaam 
 ("Lord of the People," or "Destroyer of 
 the People," Heb. ) and Nicolas (NtKoAao?, 
 "Conqueror of the People"), these writers 
 would make the names symbolical, as im- 
 plying the destructive nature of the teach- 
 ing condemned. Such a construction seems 
 fanciful and forced, while unnecessary in any 
 consistent exposition of the passage. The 
 more natural view, and, as already intimated, 
 the more strictly historical one, is to re- 
 gard this sect as undoubtedly holding and 
 practicing the depraved and demoralizing 
 doctrines attributed to them, but as most 
 probably having assumed, as endorsing their 
 "deeds," the name of Nicolas, one of the 
 Seven. The evidence that their leader was 
 
 actually one of the Seven, is by no means 
 conclusive. That they should be spoken of 
 so severely as in this place and below, in 
 ver. 14, 15, is justified by their character, 
 and the tendency, alike of their teaching and 
 their conduct. Such teaching takes away the 
 very foundation of all morality, and wher- 
 ever it has appeared, as more than once it 
 has for substance in subsequent jiistory, it 
 has proved itself pernicious and destructive to 
 the last degree. We cannot wonder that our 
 Lord should say of it, "Which thing I hate." 
 
 The connection of what is said here with 
 what appears in ver. 2, should be noted, "and 
 how thou canst not bear them which are 
 evil" ; also the allusion to those who claimed 
 to be apostles, and were not. This destructive 
 element is not to be regarded as within the 
 church, but without it. There is no indication 
 that the church gave it even such apparent 
 approval as would have been implied in the 
 fact that members of this sect were allowed 
 to remain in its own body. It was a form of 
 false teaching with which the church was in 
 contact at Ephesus, but with which it had no 
 sympathy. 
 
 "Now let it be understood," says Edward 
 Irving, "by every Christian church, that the 
 Lord Jesus Christ is walking in the midst of 
 us; in our assemblies is present, and from the 
 meetings of the elders is not absent — whatever 
 is said, heareth ; whatever is done, marketh ; 
 yea, and whatever is thought, discerneth full 
 well : for 'he knoweth what is in man, and he 
 needeth not that any should testify of man.' 
 And thus his unwearied travel in the midst 
 of his church, is well designated hy his feet of 
 brass, of fine brass ; of fine brass which never 
 tarnisheth, but ever shineth, like the pure 
 metal which floweth from the furnace." 
 
 "And wherefore," he says in another place, 
 "are these lights of the churches [the seven 
 stars] held in the right hand of the Son of 
 man? . . . To show that they are his, and not 
 their own ; that they are borrowed lights, 
 deriving all their power of illumination from 
 him, according to that word, 'This is the true 
 light which lighteth every man that cometh 
 into the world.' " 
 
 8-11. To THE Church in Smyrna. 
 
 8. Inscription. Smyrna. The modern 
 city of Smyrna is about two and a half miles 
 from the site of the ancient one. It has a popu- 
 
46 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; 
 These things saith "the first and the last, which was 
 dead, aud is alive; 
 
 And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; 
 These things saith the first and the last, who ^ was 
 
 a ch. 1 : 8, 17, 18.- 
 
 lation of one hundred and eighty thousand 
 or one hundred and ninety thousand, three- 
 fourths of them being nominal Christians, in- 
 cluding Greeit, Roman Catholic, and Protestant 
 churches. The old city is said to date from 
 about 1-jOO b. c, having been then founded 
 by some piratical Greeks. It is on the JEgean 
 Sea, at the bottom of the Hermaean Gulf. — 
 
 fourteen or fifteen years would have elapsed. 
 What was his age at the time of his death, 
 seems not to be known ; we are only told that 
 he suffered martyrdom "in an extreme age." 
 If we might place his age, then, at one hun- 
 dred, he would be at the date of his conver- 
 sion fourteen years old, and at the time of 
 John's exile and the writing of the Apocalypse, 
 
 The angel of the church in Smyrna. Was 
 
 this angel of the church the martyr Poly- 
 carp? It is a question which cannot be 
 conclusively answered. Polycarp suffered 
 martyrdom under Marcus Aurelius, in A. D. 
 1G8. He had then, as he told the proconsul 
 at his trial, been a Christian "eighty and six" 
 years. This would place his conversion in 
 the year a. d. 82. Between that date and the 
 writing of the Apocalypse, in a. d. 96 or 97, 
 
 twenty-eight or twentj'-nine. He may, cer- 
 tainly, have lived to an age so great, or even 
 greater, and may have even as a young man, 
 been the chief pastor at Smyrna, and so the 
 "angel" through whom this epistle is ad- 
 dressed. But this theory must build upon the 
 two suppositions we have named, for neither 
 of which is there any direct evidence. It is 
 true that in a. d. 108, when Ignatius visited 
 Smyrna, Polycarp was the castor there. This 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 47 
 
 9 "I know thy works, aud tribulation, and poverty 
 (but thou art jricli), aud / knuw tlie blxspht'iuy of 
 'them whicli say tliey are Jews, and are not, ''but are 
 the synagogue of Satau. 
 
 10 eFear none of those things which thou shalt 
 suffer: beliold, the devil shall cast some of you into 
 prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribula- 
 tion teu days: /be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
 give thee wa crown of life. 
 
 9 dead, and lived again: I know thy tribulation, and 
 thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the i blasphemy 
 of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, 
 10 but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the things 
 which thou art about to sutfer: behold, the devil is 
 about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may 
 be tried; -and ye shall have ^itribulation ten days. 
 Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the 
 
 aver. 2.... 6 Luke 12 : 21; 1 Tim. 6 : 18: James 2: 5 c Rom. 2: 17, 28, 29; 9. 6....d ch. 3 : 9....e Matt. 10: 22..../MMti. 24: 13.. 
 
 g James 1 : IJ ; ch. 3 : 11. 1 Or. reviling..,.! tSouie ancient uutliorities read, and may have 3 Gr. a tribulation often days. 
 
 would be only eleven or twelve years after the 
 writing of the Apocalypse. Tertullian states 
 that Polycarp was placed by John at the head 
 of the Church in Smyrna. Irenaeus implies 
 much the same, while Eusebius expressly 
 states that he was "appointed by the apostles 
 bishop of the Church in Smyrna." It will 
 thus be seen that there is a possibility, per- 
 haps even a probability^, as Hengstenberg 
 thinks, that "the angel of the Church in 
 Smyrna" was indeed the saintly Polycarp, 
 himself a disciple of the apostle John. Noth- 
 ing in the way of exposition, however, can be 
 founded upon a probability so slender. — 
 These things saith the first and the last, 
 which was dead, and is alive. Upon 
 these words, as occurring substantially at 1 : 
 18, we have already commented. In this case, 
 as in each of these messages to the churches, 
 a fitness is seen, in those divine attributes 
 asserted of him who speaks, to the tenor of 
 that which follows. Not only was the Church 
 at Smyrna already suffering on account of its 
 faith and fidelity, but more and deeper suflPer- 
 ing was in store. He who now addresses it 
 has known in his own person what it is to 
 suffer, "even unto death" ; and not only so, 
 but even in that suffering and that death he 
 demonstrated his divine superiority to both, 
 and especially when that life which he laid 
 down, he "took again" by his own power. 
 Such an one is he in whose name these faith- 
 ful ones face the sore "tribulation" present 
 and to come. Surely, they may trust him, 
 even to the end. If we may suppose that the 
 angel of the church in this case was Polycarp 
 himself, the words have all the more of affect- 
 ing appropriateness. 
 
 9, 10. COMMEXDATION AXD ASSSURAXCE. 
 
 I know thy works and tribulation. Critics 
 are not agreed whether the word.s, "thy 
 works," should be retained or omitted. The 
 revisers, as is seen above, omit them. Tisch- 
 endorf, in his first edition of the New Testa- 
 ment text, retains them. They are found in 
 
 the Sinaitic manuscript; as also in the Sj'riac 
 Version. In his later editions, however, he 
 omits them, in reliance, it would seem, upon 
 the testimony of the Codex Alexandrinus, 
 Codex Bezaj, Codex Porphyrianus, and the 
 Vulgate and Coptic Versions, where they are 
 not found. Hengstenberg, Diisterdieck, and 
 Alford also omit. Stuart retains them. They 
 should, probably, be thrown out, as an inter- 
 polation by some copyist, who inferred, from 
 the fact that they occur in all other of these 
 addresses to the churches, that they should be 
 inserted also here. The omission might be 
 thought required by the tenor of this message 
 to the Church in Smyrna, which is so ex- 
 clusively one of commendation and encour- 
 agement, the warning words, therefore, "I 
 know thy works," being out of place. As 
 will be seen, however, the oldest manuscripts 
 make a like omission in the message to the 
 Church in Pergamos, where severe reproof is 
 found. [With N, B. containing them, I 
 should rather say because it is easier to ac- 
 count for their insertion than for their omis- 
 sion. — A. H.] If they are thrown out, either 
 here or there, as iirobably they ought to be in 
 both places, it must be upon the authority of 
 the manuscripts alone. We should then read, 
 "I know thy tribulation," etc. The "tribu- 
 lation" [exi^iv) spoken of here, as also in 1 : 9, 
 "Your brother and companion in tribula- 
 tion", must be taken as meaning more than 
 tribulation in that general sense which ap- 
 plies to all who have experience of the usual 
 trials of earthly life. The word means tribu- 
 lation of a special sort, such as oppression, 
 persecution, affliction of some peculiar kind, 
 brings. It thus anticipates in some degree 
 what is more expressly intimated below — the 
 imprisonment and death in ver. 10, where the 
 same word again occurs. — And poverty. It 
 is "poverty" in the strict sense, and as a re- 
 sult of the tribulation which this church was 
 suffering, and was yet to suffer. — But thou 
 art rich. In "durable riches and righteous- 
 
48 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 11 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit I 11 crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear 
 saith auto the churches; He that overcometh shall not what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that over- 
 
 be hurt of 'the second death. I cometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 
 
 a ver. 7 ; ob. 13 : 9 5 ch. 20 : 14 ; 21:8. 
 
 ness"; treasure in heaven. — And I knoAV 
 the blasphemy of them which say they 
 are Jews, and are not. There is an Israel 
 after the flesh, and also a true Israel, as Paul 
 was accustomed to teach. The promises made 
 to the fathers were, in their highest sense, for 
 the latter only, though the former have al- 
 ways claimed them. The same distinction is 
 made here. Those who said they were Jews 
 based their claim upon nationality, as if that 
 included all; yet it was blasphemy in them — 
 a dishonor to God, in which the essence of 
 blasphemj^ appears — to assert this exclusive 
 claim to the privileges of the people of God, 
 while at the same time by their wickedness 
 bringing contempt upon the very name they 
 bore. When Polycarp suifered martyrdom, 
 the Jews were especially violent against him, 
 eagerly accusing him before the magistrate 
 and carrying faggots for the fire. — But are 
 the synagogue of Satan. Trench, in 
 "New Testament Synonyms," (P. 1) in com- 
 paring "church " (e/cKArjcrio) and "synagogue" 
 (avvayuiy'ri), tcmis the former the nobler word. 
 In quoting him, Alford points out that the 
 latter is used only once in the New Testament 
 with a Christian application (j!ime«2: 2), where 
 our version translates it "assembly." The 
 expression "synagogue of Satan" shows how 
 degenerate and perverse Judaism had become. 
 — Fear none of those things which thou 
 Shalt suffer. Which thou art about to suffer 
 — art on the point of suffering. The words 
 indicate that the suffering alluded to was near 
 at hand. The nature of the suffering is shown 
 in what follows. — Behold, the devil shall 
 cast some of you into prison. The real 
 source of the spirit of persecution is thus 
 pointed out. Kings, and magistrates, and 
 popes, when they become persecutors, are 
 simply instruments of him who is "the ac- 
 cuser of the brethren," a "murderer from the 
 beginning."— That ye may be tried. It 
 seems to be agreed by the best commenta- 
 tors that these words do not allude to the 
 purpose of God in permitting, but the pur- 
 pose of Satan in instigating the persecution. 
 "That ye may be tried" (n-etpaafl^Te) will then 
 mean, "that ye may be tempted." Satan 
 
 and wicked men were thus confederate in a 
 scheme to crush the Christian religion, by 
 methods of intimidation and violence. The 
 temptation lay in that dread of a violent and 
 painful death which is so natural, and with 
 some so intense. — And ye shall have tribu- 
 lation ten days. The words, "ten days," 
 must not be taken as indicating any exact 
 period of time, but (1) that the persecution 
 shall have a limit, and (2) that the term of it 
 while not very short, shall also not be very 
 long. It is not unusual in Scripture for a 
 definite number to be thus used for an in- 
 definite one. — Be thou faithful unto death. 
 Wemust not read "until death," but "even 
 unto death"; that is, not be turned from 
 fidelity by death itself— And I will give 
 thee a crown of life. Does the word 
 "crown" {(TTeipavov) mean a diadem, such as 
 kings wear, or the garland, given as a prize 
 to victors in the ancient games? It seems 
 more consistent with the idea in the word 
 "overcometh," in ver. 11, to take the word 
 "crown" in the latter sense. The imagery 
 in the overcoming we take to be the same as 
 that employed so often by Paul, when he 
 speaks of the Christian life under the figure of 
 the contest for a prize. This' was the classical 
 Greek usage, as in the case of the oration by 
 Demosthenes upon "the crown." The crowi; 
 of life must be the eternal life itself; as if he 
 had said, "I will give thee a crown, even 
 life." 
 
 11. Promise. He that hath an ear, let 
 him hear, etc. — It is unnecessary to com- 
 ment again upon these words as here re- 
 peated. — He that overcometh. As implied 
 above, we take the overcoming to be, not that 
 of conquest, or kingly acquisition ; but such 
 as that of an athlete striving for the prize. — 
 Shall not be hurt of the second death. 
 The double negative in the Greek (6u /urj) has 
 an emphatic force, indicating the absolute 
 certainty of that which is promised. We 
 might translate, "shall certainly not, etc." 
 The second death must be that which fol- 
 lows the death of the body, which is the 
 first death. In ch. 20: 14 of this book, this 
 second death is described as "the lake of fire." 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 49 
 
 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergauios I 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamum 
 write; These things saith "he which hath the sharp ' write; 
 sword with two edges; | These things saith he that hath the sharp two- 
 
 Under this fearful imagery the condition of 
 souls finally lost is represented. The promise 
 here is, that those who in their fidelity do not 
 shrink from even that death which wicked 
 persecutors were about to inflict, under the 
 instigations of Satan, shall have sure deliver- 
 ance from that other more fearful death — the 
 death of the soul. Instead, they shall receive 
 "the crown of life." We are not to under- 
 stand that by such fidelity they procured sal- 
 vation to themselves; but that such fidelity 
 
 under the name of Pergama, has now a popu- 
 lation of between twenty and thirty thou- 
 sand, of whom about two thousand are nomi- 
 nal Christians. Anciently, the city — which 
 must not be confounded with Pergamos, the 
 citadel of Troy — was noted for three things: 
 its wealth, its literary distinction, and its idol- 
 atry. The art of preparing skiiis for writing 
 was here improved to such an extent, that 
 the name of the city was given to that species 
 of manufacture, which, as •parchment^ this 
 
 PEEGAMOS. 
 
 was a testimony to the genuineness of that 
 faith in Christ, through which, as united to 
 him, they became partakers in the salvation 
 he achieved for them and in them. In a 
 later age, the crown of martyrdom was too 
 much regarded as certain to become the 
 crown of life. This was the effect of con- 
 founding the evidence of being in a state of 
 salvation with that state of salvation itself. 
 
 12-17. To THE Church in Pergamos. 
 12. Inscription. Pergamos for Perga- 
 mum, both forms are found). This city, 
 
 'product still bears. There was here a li- 
 brary of two hundred thousand volumes, or 
 parchment rolls, carried afterward, by Mark 
 Antony, to Alexandria, in Egypt, as a 
 present to Queen Cleopatra, and centuries 
 later (a. d. 6-42), destroj-ed along with the 
 celebrated Alexandrine Library, by the ca- 
 liph Omar. (So Dr. Schaff states; others 
 claim that the library was destroyed by 
 certain fanatical Christians, in A. d. 391). 
 Pergamos was also noted for the prominence 
 it gave to the worship of the god ^Esculapius. 
 Other deities, however, were in like manner 
 
50 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IL 
 
 i:{ » I know thv works, and where thou dwellest, even 
 » where Satan's seat is: and thou lioldest last uiy name, 
 and hast uut denied my faith, even in those days 
 wherein Antipas was my laithlul martyr, who was 
 slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 
 
 13 edged sword: I know where thou dwellest, even 
 where Satan's throne is: and thou holdest last my 
 name, and didst not deny my faith, even in the days 
 lof Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who wa« 
 
 a ver. 2 6 ver. 
 
 -1 Tbe Greek text here is soniewhut uncertain. 
 
 ■worshiped; a group of famous temples stand- 
 ing in a grove near the city, dedicated to 
 Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, Venus, and Bac- 
 chus, as well as another to the favorite deity, 
 vEseulapius.— These things saith he which 
 hath the sharp sword with two edges. 
 In the address to the Church in Smyrna, 
 those characteristics of the manifestation of 
 our Lord in the vision are named, which 
 invite and encourage trust; here those which 
 remind that the Kedeemer is also the Judge. 
 Mention of the two-edged sword occurs again, 
 in ver. 16 below, where it is termed "the 
 sword of my mouth." The allusion is, 
 plainly, to that feature of the vision (i:i6): 
 "and out of his mouth went a sharp, two- 
 edged sword." In commenting upon the 
 words there we referred to the passage in 
 Heb. 4: 12: "The word of God is quick, and 
 powerful, and sharper than any two-edged 
 sword," etc. As already pointed out, the 
 reference must be to the severity of that scru- 
 tiny in which the Lord "tries" those espe- 
 cially, who bear his name and represent him 
 before the world. 
 
 13. Commendation. Thy works. Upon 
 grounds identical with those given above, 
 upon ver. 9, these words must be here 
 omitted. [The manuscript evidence for them 
 is weaker than in ver. 9, being, of the prin- 
 cipal uncials, only B, while X» A, C, P, 
 omit them.— A. H.]— I know where thou 
 dwellest, even Avhere Satan's seat is. 
 Various reasons have been assigned for char- 
 acterizing Pergamos as "Satan's seat," or 
 "throne" (esoi'os), as the word might with 
 more exactness be rendered. Some have as- 
 sumed that yEsculapius was worshiped there 
 under the form of a serpent, the symbol of 
 Satan. But it is uncertain whether even the 
 fact was as supposed. Others have found in 
 the words some allusion to the pernicious in- 
 fluence of the famous library, with its pagan 
 literature, its false philosophy, and its en- 
 couragement to idolatry. The more simple 
 and likely interpretation finds in the words, 
 "Satan's seat," an allusion to the persecution 
 which had already found a victim in the 
 
 faithful Antipas, and to what has already 
 been said in ver. 10, of such persecution as 
 of Satanic instigation. As a city full of 
 idolatry, and already noted for its antichris- 
 tian hatred and violence, Pergamos might in 
 fact well be characterized as a place where 
 Satanic influence, and Satan himself, had an 
 especial dwelling-place. — And thou holdest 
 fast my name. "Dost not swerve front the 
 profession of faith in my name," that is, 
 "in me." The Pergamean Church was not 
 blameless, as the reproof below clearly in- 
 dicates; but there was this reason for com- 
 mendation — that it had not been driven to 
 deny the Lord even b3' the cruel violence 
 with which one of those composing it had 
 been visited. — And hast not denied my 
 faith [didst not deny faith in mc] even in 
 those days [omit "even"] wherein Anti- 
 pas [was] my faithful martyr [better, my 
 martyr, or witness ; the faithful one.'\ There 
 is nothing farther to be said of Antipas than 
 that he had already suftered for his faith, 
 as am'ong the first of those who had thus 
 sealed their fidelity even unto death. Vari- 
 ous fanciful theories have been proposed for 
 identifj'ing him with known historical per- 
 sons. Thus Hengstenberg thinks, "it will 
 not be reckoned too bold if we should hazard 
 the supposition that Timothy was the person 
 here designated Antipas. The two names, 
 'Fear God' (Ti/uoeeos) and 'Against All' 
 ("AfTt wis) are closely connected with each 
 other. One cannot trul3' fear God without 
 standing forth against the world, which lies 
 in wickedness, and having it also standing 
 against us." Why the faithful martyr 
 should have been called Antipas, rather 
 than by his own proper name, it would be 
 difficult to show. There was a tradition in 
 the early church that Antipas (this being 
 his real name) was the bishop, or pastor, of 
 the Church in Pergamos, and that he suffered 
 martyrdom for his fidelity, after arriving at a 
 great age. There is nothing, however, con- 
 cerning him, which can be depended upon as 
 history; and the place of history, in sound 
 interpretation, can never be taken by con- 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 51 
 
 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou 
 hast there theui that hold the doctrine ol' " Balaam, who 
 taught Balak to cast a stuniblinghlock before the chil- 
 dren of Israel, ''to eat things sacriliced unto idols, "and 
 to commit fornication. 
 
 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine ''of 
 the ]Sicolaitans, which thing I hate. 
 
 1(5 Repent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and 
 •will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 
 
 14 killed among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have 
 a few things against thee, becau.se thou hast there 
 some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught 
 Balak to ciust a stumblintjblock before the children 
 of Israel, to eat things sacriliced to idols, and to com- 
 1.5 mit fornication. So hast thou also some that hold 
 If) the teaching of the Nicolaitans in like manner. Re- 
 pent therefore; or else I come to thee quickly, and I 
 will make war against them with the sword of my 
 
 a Num. 24:14; 25: 1; 31:16; 2 Pet. 2 : 15 ; Jude 11....6 ver. 20 : Acts 15: 29; ICor. 8:9, 10; 10: 19, 20.... c 1 Cor 6-13 etc d ver 
 6 e Isii. 11: 4; 2Tliess. 2:8; ch. 1:16; 19: 15, 21. ' ' •••■"■"='• 
 
 jecture, nor by fanciful theories as to the 
 signification of names. — Who was slain 
 among you, where Satan dwelleth. This 
 repeats the attribution of the persecuting 
 spirit, with all it instigates, to Satan, and 
 shows, also, in what sense Antipas was a 
 faithful martyr. It is deserving of notice 
 that Jesus terms him "my faithful martyr." 
 14-16. Keproof and Admonition. I 
 have a few things against thee. The 
 phrase, "a few things," is not to be taken 
 as depreciating the importance of this which 
 is soon to be mentioned in terms of re- 
 proof; but only as suggesting that the things 
 to be blamed were few, in comparison with 
 the things to be approved. Though "few," 
 they were, nevertheless, of vital consequence, 
 as soon appears. — Because thou hast there 
 them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. 
 — Those who resembled Balaam in their own 
 conduct, and in the practices which they both 
 indulged and encouraged. It is clearly im- 
 plied that these persons were in the Perga- 
 mean Church, and tolerated there. This 
 marks a point of material difference between 
 this church and the Church at Ephe.sus, which, 
 though it had declined in spirituality, still did 
 not allow pernicious errors of this kind in its 
 own body. — Who taught Balak to cast a 
 stumbling-block before the children of 
 Israel. This "counsel of Balaam" is men- 
 tioned at Num. 31 : 16, where we find Moses 
 saying to "the officers of the host," and in 
 allusion to the women of Moab and Midian : 
 "Behold these caused the children of Israel, 
 through the counsel of Balaam, to commit 
 trespass against the Lord," etc. It is true that 
 Balak's name is not mentioned here; yet as 
 the previous history .shows the two in confed- 
 eracy against Israel, and as the king would be 
 the most natural person to confer with upon 
 a matter of policy like this, the necessary im- 
 plication is that to Balak Balaam gave his 
 iniquitous counsel. What is thus implied in 
 the Scripture narrative, Josephus (Ant. iv., 
 
 6, 6), expressly states, viz., that when leaving 
 Balak, after what is narrated in Num. 23 and 
 24, Balaam gave this advice to Balak and to 
 the princes of Midian. The advice was that 
 the Moabite and Midianite women should be 
 used as instruments to draw the Israelites into 
 idolatrous practices, and into other forms of 
 criminal intercourse ; that thus they might 
 incur the divine anger and be cut off in pun- 
 ishment. — To eat things sacrificed unto 
 idols, and to commit fornication. That 
 is, to join with these heathen tribes in idol- 
 atrous feasts with the accompanying immoral- 
 ities. There were those at Pergamos, and 
 even in the Pergamean Church, who justi- 
 fied and encouraged like intercourse on the 
 part of Chri.stians with the heathen in that 
 city. 
 
 15. So hast thou also them that hold 
 the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which 
 things I hate. The words, "which things I 
 hate," are not in either the Sinaitic or the 
 Alexandrine manuscript. Tischendorf, there- 
 fore, omits them. In place of " which I hate" 
 (6 fiio-m), N. A, B, C, and other manuscripts 
 have, "in like manner" (a/noiws). How the 
 change was made in copying is clear from the 
 resemblance in form of the words, and from 
 the fact of the occurrence of the former phrase 
 in a similar connection above. The verse 
 .should read: "So hast thou also in like man- 
 ner them that hold the doctrine (or teaching) 
 of the Nicolaitanes." The "in like manner" 
 here, must refer to ancient Israel, and the sin, 
 as just described, into which it fell. Just as, 
 through the iniquitous confederacy of the 
 false prophet Balaam and the heathen king 
 Balak, Israel was drawn into the sin men- 
 tioned, so in Pergamos there were those, the 
 Nicolaitanes, who encouraged the very same 
 practices. These Nicolaitanes, in the allusion 
 to Balaam, seem to be spoken of generally, 
 while as Nicolaitanes they are mentioned by 
 the name they actually bore. 
 16. Repent; or else I will come unto. 
 
52 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 17 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saitli uulo the churches; To hiiii that oveicometh will 
 I give to eat of" the hidden uiauiia, and will give him a 
 white stone, and in the stone 'a new name written, 
 which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 
 
 mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith to the churches. To him that over- 
 cometh, to him will I give of the hidden mauua, and 
 1 will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a 
 new name written, which no one knoweth but he 
 that receiveth it. 
 
 over. 7:ll....!>ch. 3: 12; 19: 12. 
 
 thee quickly, and will fight against them 
 Avith the sword of my mouth. Not against 
 the cluirrli, but "again.st them,''' although it 
 is not to be supposed that the church, if con- 
 tinuing to tolerate so great a wrong in its own 
 body, would escape. The words, "sword of 
 my mouth," make clear the meaning of this 
 symbolical feature of the vision ot the Lord 
 as described in ch. 1 : 16. He will come in a 
 visitation of judgment and punishment. 
 
 17. Promise. The hidden manna. The 
 allusion is twofold; to that "bread from 
 heaven" which "Moses gave" — or God 
 through Moses — in the wilderness; and to 
 that preserved portion of the manna which 
 was kept so long after in the Ark of the Cov- 
 enant. — And Avill give him a white stone. 
 We prefer, upon the whole, to regard the 
 allusion here as classic, and not Hebraic, as in 
 the case of the manna. Or rather, it may be 
 treated as both the one and the other; since 
 there is no reason why the practice referred 
 to may not have been general, and among 
 Jews as well as Gentiles. This was the prac- 
 tice, as Alford, following Bengel and Duster- 
 dieck, states it, "of using small stones, in- 
 scribed with writing, for various purposes"; 
 or, as Hengstenberg: "The antiquarian ele- 
 ment that comes here into consideration is 
 simply the fact that in ancient times they 
 were wont to write much on small stones. 
 To the new glorious name," he adds, "corre- 
 sponds the white stone." Dr. Vaughan, late 
 of the Middle Temple in London, says: "I 
 suppose a new, clean, bright stone, unused 
 before, with something cut upon it; a new 
 name, intelligible only to the owner, a secret 
 between him and the giver, a name of honor 
 and of happiness, a promotion and a glory to 
 the bearer, in which none can intermeddle, 
 and of which none can deprive him. I would 
 understand the promise thus simply, and not 
 lose myself in a multitude of conflicting ideas 
 whicli the words, taken singly, might intro- 
 duce." Various ancient customs have been 
 singled out by different writers, as alluded to 
 in the mention of tlie white stone; as the 
 
 tessera — given to the victor in the Olympic 
 games — a stone on which was inscribed the 
 reward he should receive from his native 
 city; the white and black balls used by the 
 Greeks in pronouncing the acquittal or con- 
 demnation of persons on trial ; the stones in 
 the breastplate of the Jewish high-priest, 
 etc. It is better to take the allusion as a 
 general one, without attempting to fix specific 
 meanings that are no way indicated in the 
 text. — And in [upon] the stone a new name 
 written, which no man knoweth saving 
 he that receiveth it. The "new name" 
 we take to be the name of the person to whom 
 the white stone is given. Of the significance 
 of this whole promise, with its striking and 
 beautiful imagery, we speak below. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 No reason, quite satisfactory, it would ap- 
 pear, suggests itself why Pergamos .should 
 have had the evil eminence spoken of in 
 the first part of this message, or letter. The 
 mention of it as "Satan's throne," clearly 
 implies that in that whole region it Avas 
 noted as a centre of antichristian influence, 
 manifesting itself in persecution. No par- 
 ticular form of idolatrous worship can have 
 been the cause of this, as Ephesus was quite 
 as much devoted to the worship of Diana, 
 as Pergamos to that of ^sculapius. As a 
 pagan literary centre it may have been the 
 more predisposed to resist Christianity; yet 
 there seems in this fact no especial reason 
 why this resistance should assume a violent 
 form. The fiict named was probably due to 
 sinister j^f^'sonal influence of some kind. 
 
 Hengstenberg, in arguing for his view that 
 Antipas must be understood as a name for 
 Timothy, with a symbolical meaning in it, 
 observes that "all other names in the Apoc- 
 alyp.se are .symbolical." This is certalnlj^ a 
 mistake. The names of these seven churches 
 are surely not so. The names of Balaam and 
 Balak, occurring almost in the connection, 
 are at least historical names; and it is by no 
 means clear that either of them is used in 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 53 
 
 18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira 
 write; These things saith the Son of (iml, "wlio liath 
 his eyes like unto a tlauie of tire, and his feet are like 
 line bniss. 
 
 19 ''I know thy works, and charity, and service, and 
 faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last 
 to be more than the first. 
 
 18 And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write; 
 These things saith the Son of God, who hath his 
 eyes like a tlaiue of tire, and his feet are like unto 
 
 19 burnished brass: I know thy works, and thy love 
 and faith and ministry and i patience, and that thy 
 
 a cb. 1 : 14. 15 h ver. 2. 1 Or, sted/astness. 
 
 this place in any other than a plain, historical 
 sense. The mention of Antipas, as a person 
 bearing this name, in the traditions of the 
 early church, favors the view that the name 
 must be taken here just as it stands; which 
 is also the safer course, and far more con- 
 sistent with the rules of sound interpretation. 
 
 In connection with "the hidden manna" 
 and "the white stone," arises a question as to 
 the exact force of the word, "overcometh." 
 Shall it be taken as alluding to the final over- 
 coming of the Christian believer, as he enters 
 heaven? Or does it, at least, include the over- 
 coming of ripening Christian experience in 
 the present life? It is quite clear that the 
 watchfulness and the spiritual struggle en- 
 joined in the admonitions of this message to 
 this church, as also in each of the others, is a 
 present one. Temptation, hindrance, spiri- 
 tual exposure in manj' kinds, are the subject 
 of the warning, and the injunction is that 
 these shall be encountered and overcome. 
 The phrase itself, also, in the Greek properly 
 means, "to him who is conquering," engaged 
 in a conflict not yet ended, though over- 
 coming. There is to be, in each case no 
 doubt, a final overcoming, but also one in 
 the present time. It seems to us that the 
 whole meaning of this rich passage is ade- 
 quately seized only as we view it in appli- 
 cation to the entire course of a Christian's 
 experience from the moment of his conver- 
 sion, on to the consummation of his Christian 
 life in heaven. Thus "the hidden manna" 
 will mean the spiritual sustenance, comfort, 
 inspiration, which a Christian realizes in his 
 progress in divine life, in usefulness, and in 
 meetness for heaven — especially communion 
 with his Saviour, who said of himself, "I am 
 that bread from heaven" — and which reaches 
 its highest perfection in the final saved state. 
 It is "hidden," as being so entirely unknown 
 to the world, and even comprehensible only 
 through experience. 
 
 In like manner "the white stone" should 
 be viewed as the personal evidence a Christian 
 has, given him in conversion, and intended to 
 
 be cherished by him all his life after as the 
 testimony and pledge of his acceptance "in 
 the Beloved." The name written there is 
 his own name; that no one knoweth it save 
 himself, alludes to the fact that the personal 
 evidence of a Christian soul is a matter so 
 entirely between that soul and its Saviour, 
 and in its essence so incommunicable to any 
 other. In the final overcoming, "the hidden 
 manna," upon foretastes of which his spir- 
 itual life here has been sustained, becomes 
 the fullness and perfection of heavenlj' good; 
 and "the white stone," that personal assur- 
 ance of faith and hope which has sustained 
 him in many a conflict of temptation and 
 doubt, becomes the complete assurance of 
 fulfilled divine promise and pledge. 
 
 How tirm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
 Is laid for your faith in his excellent word ! 
 
 What more can he say than to you he hath said — 
 You who unto Jesus for refuge have tied? 
 
 18-28. To THE Church in Thyatira. 
 
 18. Inscription. The Son of God. In 
 
 the vision he is described as "one like unto 
 the Son of man." Here he terms himself 
 "the Son of God." We view him aright, 
 therefore, only as we see in him both these— 
 the God-man. — Who hath his eyes like 
 unto a flame of fire. As in the other cases, 
 that feature of the vision (i : lais) is chosen 
 which has an especial fitness to the tenor of 
 the message. 'The symbolism implies that 
 searching and consuming divine observation 
 in which the evil in men is both seen as it is, 
 and requited as it deserves. — And his feet 
 are like fine brass. Diisterdieck says: 
 "The two descriptions, taken from 1: 14, 15, 
 have their meaning in this: that the Lord 
 with his flaming eye perfectly perceives [pier- 
 ces straight through, richtig dui'chdringt] all 
 things, and with his feet like brass tramples 
 down everything unclean and hostile [alles 
 Unreine und Feindselige zo'tritt].'" 
 
 19. Commendation. I know thy Avorks, 
 and charity [love], and service, and faith, 
 and thy patience, and thy works ; and 
 
54 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 20 Xotwithstanding I have a few tilings against tliee, 
 because thou suli'erest that woman "Jezebel, which 
 callelli herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my 
 servants '■to coinniit foruiciitiou, and to eat things 
 sacrificed unto idols. 
 
 20 last works are more than the first. But I have this 
 against thee, that thou sutlerest 'the woman Jezebel, 
 who calleth herself a prophetess; and she teacheth 
 and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, 
 
 a 1 Kings 16: 31; 21: 25; 2 Kiiigj 9 : 7.... 6 Ex.34: 15; Acl« 15 : 20. 29; 1 Cor. 10: 19,20; 
 
 uncieut, reud thy wife. 
 
 i\ 14. 1 Many ituttioi'iiics, some 
 
 the last to be more than the first. As 
 
 Tisfhendorf finally settle.s the text, the trans- 
 lation should stand: "I know thy works, and 
 love, and faith, and service, and patience; 
 and thy la,st works [to be] more than the 
 first." In the common version the clause, 
 "thy works," is repeated in a way, mainly 
 through a false punctuation, to make the rea- 
 son and force of the repetition altogether ob- 
 scure. Some manuscripts omit the word for 
 "service"; but Tischendorf retains it, placing 
 it, however, after faith, instead of before it. 
 
 tendant spiritual graces, no doubt — to some 
 extent, at least — had declined. Here they had 
 increased, rather, so that the "last works," 
 the love, faith, service, patience, were "more 
 than the first," more than at the beginning. 
 
 20-23. Repkoof and Threatening. 
 Notwithstanding I have a few things 
 against thee. Here, again, the manuscripts 
 ditier; some reading, "I have a few thing.s," 
 some, "I have much," others, simplj', "I 
 have against thee," meaning, "I have this 
 against thee." This is the reading of the 
 
 THYATIRA. 
 
 The "works" specified, therefore, stand in 
 groups — love and faith, service and patience. 
 These seem to be the works alluded to, the 
 specifications being epexegetical, or explana- 
 tory, as if the phrase read, "I know thy 
 works, even thy love," etc. "We should read 
 "love" {aya-nriv) instead of "charity," which 
 latter word has acquired a meaning, implied 
 indeed in the Greek one, but by no means 
 properly expressing it. The last part of the 
 verse indicates that the Church in Thyatira 
 wa-; found in a condition contrasted with that 
 at Ejihesus. There the "love," with its at- 
 
 Alexandrine and Vatican manuscripts, to- 
 gether with C and P, which Tischendorf here 
 follows. — ^Because [thatl thou sulfercst 
 that woman Jezebel. There may be dan- 
 ger of making too much of the fact that the 
 evil noted in the Church at Thyatira is sym- 
 bolized under the name of a woman. There 
 may be no other rea.son for this than that 
 Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, was an iiistrument 
 in leading the ancient Israel into the same 
 evil practices into which, by the instigation 
 of Balaam and Balak, the jH'ople had fallen 
 while on their wilderness journey, so long 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 55 
 
 21 Aud I gave her space "to rejjeut of her fornica- 
 tion; and she repeutgd not. 
 
 22 Behold, I will east her into a bed, and them tliat 
 conmiit adultery with her into great tribulation, except 
 they repent of their deeds. 
 
 21 and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her 
 time that she should repent; and she willeth not to 
 
 22 repent of her t<jruicati<Mi. Behold, 1 do cast her into 
 a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into 
 great tribulation, e.vcept they repent of i her works. 
 
 a Rom. 2:4; nh. 9: 20.- 
 
 . Many aocieiit uuthnritie^ read theii 
 
 before, and which now characterized the 
 sect of the Nicolaitanes. As indicated be- 
 low, this same disgraceful and pernicious sect 
 had appeared at Thj'atira. There can be no 
 harm, however, in noting as a matter of 
 history that the first Thyatiran Christian 
 of whom we read was a woman. It is re- 
 lated in Acts 16: 14, 15, how Lydia, "a seller 
 of purple, of the city of Thyatira," when the 
 Lord opened her heart under the preaching 
 of Paul at Philippi, was converted, -and 
 became, as the narrative shows, a zealous and 
 active disciple. Thyatira had been founded 
 by a Macedonian colony ; and by this fact 
 and the relations hence naturally subsisting 
 between Thyatira and Philippi, the presence 
 of Lydia in the latter place is explained. 
 She was there, however, as is evident, for 
 l^urposes of trade alone, and not as a change 
 of home. Hence, as Conybeare and Howson 
 say: "The direct influence of Lydia may be 
 supposed to have contributed more to the 
 establishment of the Church at Thyatira, 
 addressed by St. John, than to that of Phil- 
 ippi, which received the letter of St. Paul." 
 "Whether Lydia, returning to her Asiatic 
 home, actually founded there the Church 
 of Thyatira, cannot, of course, be directly 
 inferred from any of these circumstances; 
 yet the probability of it may perhaps be 
 assumed. To identify Lydia herself with 
 Jezebel of our present text, as is done by 
 Heinrich, quoted by Diiiterdieck, is to vio- 
 late all the probabilities of the case — the 
 whdle account of the conversion of Lydia 
 indicating the reality of her devotion to the 
 truth. It would seem much more likely that 
 those better elements in the church of which 
 such approving mention is made in ver. 19, 
 were due to her personal influence. We 
 must think, however, that the name Jezebel 
 as here used, indicates, not so much a sect, as 
 a person, as will be noticed in the comment 
 upon ver. 22 below. Some manuscripts have, 
 instead of "the woman, or that woman, (t^i* 
 
 yvfaiifa^" "thy wifc, (rrji' yvi/aifca erou). " Heng- 
 
 stenberg and Alford prefer this latter read- 
 ing; Tischendorf and Diisterdieck the former. 
 
 It seems to us the safer reading to follow; 
 — Which calleth herself a prophetess. 
 
 This person, evidently, made pretensions to 
 divine inspiration. As at Ephesus the false 
 teachers called themselves "apostles," so 
 this one at Thyatira called herself a proph- 
 etess. At a time when the presence of in- 
 spired men in the churches was even still, 
 to some extent, enjoyed, and when the 
 memory and effect of the apostolic ministry 
 as a whole was still vivid, false teachers 
 would gain most ready access to the con- 
 fidence of the people by pretending to a 
 like inspiration. — To teach and seduce my 
 servants to commit fornication, and to 
 eat things sacrificed unto idols. The 
 identity of this with what was occurring at 
 Ephesus and Smyrna, is evident at a glance. 
 
 21. And I gave her space to repent of 
 her fornication ; and she repented not. 
 The reading of the Sinaitic manuscript is: 
 "And I gave her space [time, oppoi-tunitij] 
 that she might repent; and she is not willing 
 to repent of her fornication." The difterence 
 in the readings is partly in the order of the 
 clauses in the sentence, and partly in the 
 change of tense in the last clause. The 
 words indicate the divine long-sufl^ering, as 
 exercised even toward one whose influence 
 was so pernicious and dishonoring. 
 
 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, 
 and them that commit adultery with her 
 into great tribulation, except they re- 
 pent of their deeds. The language here 
 seems quite clearly to show that the name 
 Jezebel is used for a person, rather than for 
 a sect, or for a party in the church. Those 
 associated with the sect, would, of course, be 
 those composing the sect — that is to say, the 
 very sect itself. The distinction, therefore, 
 which the words, "those who commit adul- 
 tery with her" imply, can be a real one, only 
 as we suppose the name Jezebel to be used for 
 the leader of the sect, and. as indicated above, 
 a woman. The word "adultery" in the pas- 
 sage must be taken in part, no doubt, in the 
 spiritual sense so common, especially in the 
 Old Testament, as in Ezek. 23:37: "With 
 
56 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 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 every one 
 of you according to vuur works. 
 
 24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, 
 as nianv as have not tliis doctrine, and which have not 
 knownthe depths of Satan, as they speak; "^I will put 
 upon vou none other burden. 
 
 2.5 But •'that which ye have already, hold fast till I 
 come. 
 
 26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth «my works 
 unto the end, /to him will I give power over the 
 nations: 
 
 23 And I will kill her children w^ith i death ; and all the 
 churches shall know that I am he who searcheth the 
 reins and hearts: and I will give unto each one of 
 
 24 you according to your works. But to you I say, to 
 the rest that are in Thyatira, as many as have not 
 this teaching, who know not the deep things of 
 Satan, as they say; 1 cast upon you none other bur- 
 
 2.5 den. llowheit tluit which ye have, hold fast till I 
 
 2G coine. And he that oveicouieth, and he lliat keepeth 
 
 my works unto the end, to him will I give authority 
 
 a\ Sum. 16: 7; 1 Chr. 28:9; 29: 17; 2Chr.fi: 30; P-<. 7 ; 9 ; Jer. 11: 20; 17. 10; 20: 12; John 2 : 24 ; 25; Aot.s 1: 24; Rom. 8: 27. 
 
 ....6 Pa. 62: 12; Muit. 16: 27; R"mi. 2:6; 14: 12; 2 ('.u-. 5 : W; G!il.6:5; ch.20: 12 c Acts 15 : 2S....d uli. 3 ll....e Jobii 6: 
 
 29 ; 1 Johu 3 : 23 / MiiU. 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : 29, 30 ; 1 Cor. 6:3; cti. 3 : 21; 2U : 4. 1 Or, pestilence. 
 
 their idols have they committed adultery"; 
 that is to say, in the sense of forbidden inter- 
 course of those professing to be the Lord's 
 people with idolaters, or rather, their own 
 idolatrous practices. Still, lewd vices seem 
 to have been among the things encouraged 
 and practiced by this sect, under the instiga- 
 tion of its leader. Continuance in those things, 
 it is threatened, shall be visited with punish- 
 ment. As Bengel says: "From the bed of 
 infamy they shall be brought to a sick-bed of 
 pain." The true reading is: "If they do not 
 repent of her [not their] works," or deeds. 
 They are to repent, not, of course, for her; 
 but on account of their own participation 
 with her in the evil condemned. 
 
 23. And I Avill kill her children with 
 [lit. "t«"] death; and all the churches 
 shall know that I am he which searcheth 
 the reins and hearts ; and I will give 
 unto every one of you according to your 
 works. It is a que.stion whether in speaking 
 of "her children," here, any di.stinction is 
 implied, as indicating a class different from 
 those spoken of in the previous verse; that is, 
 whether by tho.se threatened in ver. 22 shall 
 be understood such in the church as allowed 
 these practices to go unrebuked, and by those 
 mentioned in ver. 23 such as were members 
 of this sect, or party, itself, and so, in a sense, 
 children of this new Jezebel. To some 
 extent this distinction may be a just one. 
 The former verse may include all who in any 
 manner favor or suffer this enormity in the 
 Thyatiran community; the latter, those who 
 are more intimately associated with, and par. 
 takers in, the evil itself The object of the 
 punishment, especially in the former case, 
 will be disciplinary and corrective; that "all 
 the churches" may "know" that one reigns 
 in Zion who " is of purer eyes " — for his eyes 
 are "as a flame of lire"— than to behold 
 
 with approbation, or to tolerate such wicked- 
 ness. He "searcheth the reins and hearts" — 
 "a designation," says Alford, "for the whole 
 inner parts of man." The concluding words 
 of the verse cover the whole connection of 
 the passage, and are an admonition that upon 
 this principle the Church at Thyatira, and all 
 the churches, must expect to be dealt with. 
 
 24-39. The Promisk. But unto you I 
 say, etc. The more correct translation, ac- 
 cording to the amended text, will stand thus: 
 But unto you I say, to the rest in Thyatira, 
 as many as have not [hold not] this doctrine, 
 who have not known the depths of Satan, as 
 they speak, I will put upo?i you none other 
 burden— connecting the verse following (25) 
 with th'\s~except [this] what ye have, holdfast 
 till I come. — The word "and" in the common 
 version, "and unto the rest" — is not in the 
 Greek, and besides, gives a wrong impression. 
 The second clause in the ver.-^e, "to the rest," 
 etc., is explanatory of the fir.st, being in appo- 
 sition with it. The faithful ones in Thyatira 
 are the "you," the phrase, "the rest in Thya- 
 tira," being in apposition. They accordingly 
 receive this charge, simply, that " whereto we 
 have already attained, let us walk by the 
 .same rule, let us mind the same thing" 
 (Phil. 3:16). By "burdcu" must be meant sim- 
 ply charge, injunction; not that this implies 
 what is burdensome, but only that it is con- 
 tra.sted with what is appointed to the unfaith- 
 ful. The words, "till I come," or, "till I 
 shall c(mie," can have specific reference to 
 our Lord's second coming only .so far as this, 
 that here as elsewhere that coming is set forth 
 as the ultimate objective point of Christian 
 anticipation. 
 
 20. And he that overcometh, and keep- 
 eth my works unto the end. The latter 
 part of this clause suggests the breadth of 
 meaning implied in the "overcoming." To 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 57 
 
 27 "And he shall rule them with a rod of irou; as 
 the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; 
 even as 1 received of my Father". 
 
 '2S And I will give him 'the morning star. 
 
 29 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saith unto the churches. 
 
 27 over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod 
 • of Mron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to 
 
 28 shivers; as I also have received of my I-'ather: and 
 
 29 I will give him the morning star. He that hath 
 an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. 
 
 iPs. 2:8, 9; 49 : li ; hvi 
 
 : 22; ch. 12 : 5 ; 19: 16.. 
 
 .b 2 Pft. 1 : 19 ; ch. 22 . 16. . . .c ver. 7.- 
 are they broken. 
 
 on; as vessels of the potter. 
 
 overcome, is not simply to triumph at last, 
 but, as ill a very important sense conditional 
 to this, to overcome daily and continuously, 
 by keeping the Lord's "works" — faithfully 
 following and obeying — "unto the end." — 
 To him will I give power over the na- 
 tions. A distinction should be made, here, 
 between the Greek "power" (i^ova-ia) in the 
 sense of authority (which is the word in this 
 place) and "power" (SOra/ms) in the sense of 
 force, or strength. With this .should be taken 
 the proper emphasis of the Greek in what 
 follows. 
 
 27. And he shall rule [shepherd] noifiavet 
 them. The true sense and scope of the pas- 
 sage is also better seen by still connecting 
 these words with the concluding words of the 
 verse, as I have received of my Father. 
 That is to say, that "power," authority, which 
 the Son has received of the Father "over the 
 nations," by which must be meant the world 
 as di.stinct from the kingdom of grace, he im- 
 parts to, or shares with, those who "keep" his 
 "works," who are "with" him, and gather 
 with him (m:iu. i2:30). — With a rod of iron. 
 The word here "rod" (pa^5o?), is the same 
 which the Septuagint u.ses in the twenty-third 
 Psalm, "thy rod and thy staff." In that place 
 the word translated "staff" does not mean 
 that which we commonly indicate by the 
 shepherd's staff, but rather the staff, or cane 
 used for support in walking. The "rod" is 
 that staff of the shepherd which is the symbol 
 of his rule over the flock. So here. The 
 "rod" is simply the shepherd's staff, as is fur- 
 ther indicated by the word "shall shepherd" 
 (irotfioi'ei) already noticed. It is a staff of 
 "iron" as indicating the .severity of the rule 
 thus symbolized. Not, however, the severity 
 of mere force, least of all of force exercised 
 in the mere interest of authority ; not the rule 
 of the despot, but of the shepherd. — ^As the 
 vessels of a potteT shall they be broken 
 to shivers. Which only means, so far as 
 they oppose themselves to his advancing 
 kingdom. Their resistance shall be com- 
 pletely overcome, and the hostile forces they 
 
 use in- their opposition shall be "broken to 
 shivers." This is in some sense repeating the 
 idea in verse 18. The feet of brass are to 
 trample down enmity and resistance. Tlie 
 breaking to pieces will be by the L(jrd's own 
 divine power; but this power will work 
 through his people, and thus, to them, the in- 
 struments, he imparts this power. This is a 
 part of their reward, in the overcoming. 
 
 28. And I will give him the morning 
 star. It is better to connect this with former 
 words of promise, as in verse 7, or in verse 17, 
 especially the promise of "the white stone" 
 in the latter, than with Isa. 14: 12, or even with 
 Eev. 22 : 16. In the latter place, Christ says 
 of himself: "I am .... the bright and 
 the morning star." It is a forced interpre- 
 tation, to make our present passage antici- 
 patory of a symbolism occurring so much 
 later in the book ; besides that, it is inconsistent 
 with the general style of the .symbolism here, 
 to make the words before us equivalent to, 
 "I will give him myself." It is more fitting, 
 every way, to understand the words, "I will 
 give him the morning star," as referring, like 
 the other words, "I will give him a white 
 stone," to some special characteristic of Cliris- 
 tian experience, so precious as to be accounted 
 the rich reward of fidelity. So viewing it, 
 the symbolism becomes less obscure. The 
 morning star is the signal of the dawn, the 
 herald and promise of the full day. To him 
 that overcometh shall be given, in personal 
 experience, that spiritual assurance and satis- 
 faction which shall be to him light out of the 
 darkness, the forerunner and pledge of "the 
 perfect day." The thought may also be in- 
 cluded to which Diisterdieck points, when he 
 says: "The conqueror shines in the brightness 
 of the morning star, because he has it in his 
 possession, just as the precious jewel lends its 
 own brightness to him who wears it." 
 
 He that hath an ear, let him hear, etc. 
 In this and the remainder of these messages 
 to the churches, the call to attention is placed 
 after, instead of before, the concluding words 
 of promise, as in the three first. 
 
58 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. hi. 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 AND unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; 
 These thing's saith he "that hatli tlie seven Spirits 
 of (iod, and tlie seven stars; i-l know thy works, that 
 thou liast a name that thou livest, '^and art dead. 
 
 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write ; 
 
 These things saith he that hatli 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. 
 
 a ch. 1 ; 4, 16; 4:5; 5:6 6 ch. 2 : 2 e Ephes. 2: 1, 5; 1 Tim. 5: 6. 
 
 GEXERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 The introduction of the name Jezebel, in 
 allu.sion to the wife of Ahab, and the possible 
 connection of Lydia with the early history 
 of the Thyatiran Church, are suggestive of 
 the very considerable power, for evil or for 
 good, which women have had in history, 
 and not least of all in the history of the 
 church. Instances will readily occur to those 
 familiar even in a moderate degree with this 
 history, and need not be cited here. The 
 special mention made, however, in the Acts, 
 of the conversion of Lydia and her house- 
 hold, seems to warrant us in assuming a 
 significance for that incident not wholly 
 foreign to the present subject. If the active 
 share which Lj'dia may have had in the 
 founding of the Church at Thyatira, by mak- 
 ing female influence prominent in the early 
 his;ory of that church, to some extent opened 
 a way for the pretended "prophetess" who 
 brought in a heresy so pernicious, we may 
 at the same time believe that a more direct 
 effect of that influence would be the fidelity 
 in resisting this heresy, on the part of faithful 
 ones in the church, which receives from the 
 Lord such emphatic commendation. 
 
 AVe have not particularly noticed, in the 
 exposition, the words, "the depths of Satan, 
 as they speak," or "as they say," or "are 
 accustomed to speak." An expression of 
 Irenteus, alluding to the Gnostic heretics of 
 which those here referred to seem to have 
 been a kind of forerunners, has been quoted 
 in this connection: Q«i (that is, the Gnostics) 
 prof undo Bythi adinvenisse se dicunt; ^^who 
 say that they have reached the depths of the 
 abyss^ Ouflos)"; that is, have sounded the 
 depths of attainable human knowledge. 
 With the word used by Irena>us (/Suio?), 
 is associated the word "depths" (to. fiad4a\ 
 of our t(^xt. These are here called "the 
 depths of Satan." The words, "as they 
 say," appear to indicate that members of 
 this sect were accustomed to claim for 
 themselves a deeper knowledge than had 
 been attained by others, and to justify their 
 
 evil practices upon the ground that they had 
 ascertained through this deeper knowledge 
 justification for such practices to which the 
 ordinary superficial Christian had not yet 
 come. It was like those pagan "mysteries," 
 admission to which was claimed to secure 
 knowledge and privilege of this same nature. 
 These were by the Thyatiran heretics called 
 "the depths." Depths they were — but 
 "depths of Satan." 
 
 "We find coming before us, repeatedlj% in 
 these messages to the churches, that unit)n 
 with himself into which the Lord brings his 
 people. It is made prominent again, here, in 
 ver. 26, 27. This "power over the nations" 
 is "as I received of my Father"; meaning, 
 undoubtedly, that what he so receives he 
 communicates. But the method of the com- 
 munication should be e.specially noticed. Nor 
 need this be any mystery to us, in this age of 
 the world. The triumphs of Christianity, 
 while achieved through the divine efficiency 
 of the ascended Jesus, are achieved in.stru- 
 mentally through his people. His power is 
 in them; alike the authority (i^ovaCa) and tlie 
 ability {Smaixis). The nations, it should also 
 be noticed, are "broken to shivers "only so 
 far as they are hostile to the Lord's own 
 .spiritual kingdom. It is the element of hos- 
 tility and resistance in them that is thus 
 "broken." In all other respects, Christianity 
 and Christian influence are a blessitig to "the 
 nations" themselves. This is implied in the 
 word "govern," "shepherd" (noifjiavet). It is 
 government, the exertion of power, and of 
 power irresistible, yet with designs such as 
 those with which the shepherd "governs" 
 his flock. 
 
 1-6. To THE CUURCH IN SaRDIS. 
 
 1. In.soription. Sardis. The spiritual 
 condition in which each of these churches 
 is found seems to have -its analogy, if not 
 its explanation, in the character of the com- 
 munity surrounding it, or the nature of those 
 conditions under which its church life exists. 
 The Church iij Sardis is an cxami)le and 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 59 
 
 type of the worldly church, and Sardis it- 
 self appears to have been characterized in a 
 way to afford, at least, the occasion for this. 
 While the capital city of Croesus, King of 
 Lydia, whose name is the very synonym of 
 extravagant wealth, and in whose possession 
 Cyrus, his conqueror, in b. c. 548, is said to 
 have found treasure to the enormous value of 
 six hundred million dollars, this city enjoyed 
 also peculiar commercial advantages. How 
 
 It is at least suggestive that the church 
 planted here is found blameable, not for the 
 heresies which have been so sharply con- 
 demned in all save one of those before ad- 
 dressed, but for that dead spiritual state which 
 is so often the result of mere worldliness, 
 neglect of the spiritual, and engrossment with 
 the material. — He that hath the seven 
 Spirits of God, and the seven stars. In 
 "the seven Spirits of God," we have, as in 
 
 much is fabulous and how much is true in 
 what is related of the river Pactolus, on 
 which the city stood, and its "golden sands," 
 it maj' be impossible to say. Whether more 
 or less of those sources of sudden and ex- 
 cessive wealth which in modern times have 
 contributed so much to a mere sordid love of 
 money-getting, may have been within reach 
 of the people of Sardis, the city appears to 
 have been noted, in ancient times, for its 
 commercial activity, its wealth and splendor. 
 
 1 : 4, anticipatory allusion to the symbolism 
 in 4: 5 — "seven lamps of fire, burning before 
 the throne, which are the seven Spirits of 
 God." We must reserve for its proper place 
 more particular notice of this symbolism. 
 Here it may suffice to say that the special 
 force of its application is as indicating that 
 which this same writer, in his Gospel (3:34) 
 declares of our Lord — that "God giveth not 
 the Spirit by measure unto him" ; implying, 
 also, perhaps, something of that which we 
 
60 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which 
 remain, tliat are ready to die; for I have not found 
 thy works perfect before God. 
 
 2 Be thou watchful, and stablish the things that re- 
 main, which were ready to die: for I liave 'found 
 
 1 Maiiv ancient auiliorities reud, not found thy tcork. 
 
 have in Heb. 9: 14, "Who through the eter- 
 nal Spirit, offered himself without spot to 
 God." It is also the general doctrine implied 
 in John 15: 16. In all these passages the 
 Spirit is represented as in a peculiar relation 
 with the Son in his redeeming work. Inef- 
 fably distinguished, so that in some high 
 sense they differ in their personality, they 
 are so in essence one, as that our Lord's own 
 fullness of spiritual endowment is represented 
 as being "through the eternal .Spirit." The 
 number "seven" in the passage before us, 
 denoting completeness, perfection, is equiva- 
 lent in its significance to what is said, as 
 quoted above, that to Jesus the Spirit is given 
 "not by measure" — that is to say, his en- 
 dowment, as one divine, is perfect and in- 
 finite. The connection suggests that the par- 
 ticular attribute and office of the Spirit here 
 alluded to is that implied in John 16: 8-11, if 
 the common version be correct. "When he 
 is come, he will 7'eprove,'^ etc. Such is the 
 purpose and effect of the spiritual scrutiny 
 now applied to this worldly church in Sardis. 
 That our Lord hath "the seven stars," fol- 
 lows upon the fact that he hath "the seven 
 Spirits of God." The seven stars "are the 
 angels of the seven churches" (1 = 20), held in 
 the Lord's right hand. With him is the dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit, and subordinate to 
 him, accountable to him, are all those who 
 have under this dispensation the ministry of 
 the word. That he hath thus the seven Sjjirlts 
 of God is a note of warning, especiallj' for the 
 Church in Sardis, and its pastor. 
 
 1-3. Admo.vitiox. I know thy works, 
 that thou bust a name that thou livest, 
 and art dead. It is altogether fanci- 
 ful to sui)pose, with Bengel and others, that 
 allusion may be made here to the name 
 borne by "the person who formed the centre 
 of the presiding body at Sardis." Says 
 Bengel: "There are in Greek, and in other 
 languages also, many names which are de- 
 rived from life, such as Zosimus, Vitalis, etc. 
 Very likely the angel of this church had a 
 fine name of this sort, and from it the Lord 
 takes occasion to admonish him of the oppo- 
 site nature of his condition." Hcngstenberg 
 
 thinks there is "some probability" in this 
 view. We .see no shadow of probability in 
 it, nor any justification whatever for reading 
 thus into the passage, what is plainly not 
 there. By the mere fact of its formal exist- 
 ence as a church, and by the pretension it put 
 forward, the Church in Sardis had a name to 
 live. It claimed to be a living church, in the 
 very fact of maintaining its visibility as such; 
 and to those who could not look beyond the 
 outward semblance, it seemed to be a living 
 church, and so had "the name" of such a 
 one. It is quite unnecessary to look for any 
 other meaning in the words than this plain 
 one, lying thus upon the surface. "And art 
 dead," declares what is true of this church, 
 living thus only in name and in appearance. 
 Some exception is implied below, in ver. 2, 4, 
 to the general fact; yet the sad truth was, that 
 in this Church at Sardis, as a Christian body, 
 the spiritual life had so much waned that 
 even this strong expression is justified. This 
 life is, as Grotius says, secundum Chrifitum 
 vivere, "to live according to Christ," having, 
 manifesting, strong, and happy in, that life 
 which is in him as the vine, and in his people 
 as the branches. 
 
 2. Be watchful, and strengthen the 
 things which remain [tlie rrmainiiig fhinr/s] 
 that are [wei-e] ready to die. The words 
 "be watchful " [yivov vpijyopior), mean more than 
 this simply. They mean literally, ''become 
 watchful,''^ or ''awake and watch,'^ and im- 
 ply a call to this church to rouse out of its 
 slumberous state, and give earnest heed to 
 that which alone can save it from complete 
 extinction. When we come to notice these 
 "things which remain," we see that the words 
 above, "art dead," as already' observed, must 
 be taken with some qualification. Thej' must 
 mean "dead" so far as concerned the mani- 
 festation of life, and to a perilous extent even 
 the possession of life. Its condition was one 
 of spiritual inertness, such as might consist 
 with some remaining element of spiritual 
 life, yet this itself in a donnant and feeble 
 state. To reanimate this, "strengthen" it, 
 is what the church is now enjoined to do. 
 For even these things which remain "are 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 61 
 
 3 "Remember therefore how thou hast received and 
 heard, aud hold last, and 4 repent. "If therefore thou 
 shalt not watch, 1 will come on thee as a thief, and 
 thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 
 
 3 no works of thine perfected before my God. Re- 
 member 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 
 
 aX Tim. 6: 20; 2 Tim. 1 : 13 ; ver. II 6 ver. 19 c Matt. 24: 42. 43; 25 : 13 ; Mark 13: 33 ; Luke 12 : 39,40; 1 Thess. 5 : 2,6; 2 Pet. 
 
 3 : 10 : ch. 16 : 15 
 
 [vjere] ready to die." The Sinaitic and Alex- 
 andrine manuscripts [also Codex Bezse and 
 Codex Porphyrianu.s, i. e, H, A, C, P.— A. H.] 
 require, here, the past tense. Alluding to this, 
 Diisterdieck says: "The imperfect {''were 
 ready, were about to die'] can be only under- 
 stood as spoken from the standpoint of him 
 who communicates the message (des Brief- 
 schreibers) ; but it is also evident that as in 
 the words 'I have found' (euprjKa) immedi- 
 ately following, the Lord, who indeed is 
 speaking, glances back to the before-men- 
 tioned scrutiny of the church." This scrutiny 
 is implied in the words which follow. — I have 
 not found thy works perfect before 
 God. In the words "before God," there 
 may be antithetical allusion to what is said 
 above of this church, "thou hast a name that 
 thou livest." With men it had still a repu- 
 table standing; but not "before God." Also 
 in "I have not found thy works perfect," 
 the standard by which all these churches, and 
 all churches are tried, is indicated. It is re- 
 quired of them that their works shall be 
 " perfect" (Tren-Arjpw/iiefa) ; not in the sense of ab- 
 solute perfection, but as "fulfilled" according 
 to divine requirement, and in the measure 
 justly expected even of fallible human beings. 
 The Greek word means, literally, "made 
 full"; the conception is not, therefore, one 
 of holiness or the opposite, but of deficiency 
 in measure. This fullness of performance the 
 Lord had "found" in each of the churches 
 before named, at least in such measure as 
 that he could commend their "faith," their 
 "patience," their "love," and their "ser- 
 vice." Here, however, in Sardis, he finds that 
 these things are lacking, and hence the ad- 
 monition. The force of the Greek word 
 for "before" (ivwniov), '■^ face to face with,'' 
 "in the sight of," "in presence of," should 
 be noticed. It implies how in the very pres- 
 ence of God, under his very eye, all human 
 life is led. The best manuscripts have "my" 
 iixov), with " God " (©eoO). So that the passage 
 correctly reads: "I have not found thy works 
 perfect in the sight of my God." Alford says 
 that the word "my" (iiov), "binds on the 
 
 judgment of him who speaks to that of God." 
 He who speaks does so in his capacity as mani- 
 festing and representing that Godhead which 
 he shares with the Father and with the Spirit. 
 3. Remember therefore how thou hast 
 received and heard. What force shall be 
 given to this particle, translated "how" (jtws)? 
 Is it equivalent to "what"? or "in what 
 manner?" or, "by what means?" The Greek 
 word itself will not allow the first of these. 
 The two other renderings may, perhaps, be 
 combined in the significance of the passage as 
 a whole. The words seem to point these dis- 
 ciples at Sardis back to the beginning of their 
 Christian life, bidding them consider hoiv that 
 life had been first received. It was a gift of 
 God in response to earnestness of desire, be- 
 lieving prayer, and faithful doing on their 
 own part. It is implied that in the same way 
 must its life, now so sadly declined, be re- 
 newed. The call of God they had then 
 "heard" — let them hear it now. — And hold 
 fast and repent. In the Greek, the first of 
 these imperatives is in the present tense, the 
 second in the aorist. It is a subtle distinction 
 of sense which may be noticed. The first 
 word suggests the idea that the holding fast is 
 something to be continued ; the second word, 
 "repent," in the aorist imperative, presents 
 with emphasis the conception of the fact, that 
 only, with no reference to the collateral idea 
 of continuance. The injunction to "hold 
 fast," to keep, implies that what was before 
 "received" has not all been lost. Holding 
 fast to this, and earnestly asking for acces- 
 sions of the same gift, this church, even in its 
 low spiritual state, may yet have a blessing. 
 But it must realize its own sad decline, and 
 of all that has been the cause of this, it must 
 '"repent." — If, therefore, thou shalt not 
 watch, I will come on thee as a thief. 
 The injuction and the threatening are in 
 manifest relation with each other. The 
 coming as a thief in the night is more than 
 once thus mentioned in the Gospels, as indi- 
 cating the unexpectedness of the Lord's 
 coming, when he comes to judge and punish. 
 Hence the force of the word "watch" — 
 
62 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 4 Thou hast "a few naiues even in Sardis which have 
 not 'defiled their garments; and they shall walk with 
 me "iu white: tor they are worthy. 
 
 5 He that overconie'th, ''the same shall be clothed in 
 white raiment; and I will not «blot out his name out 
 of the /book of life, i)ut i/I will confess his name before 
 my Father, and before his angels. 
 
 4 know what hour I will come upon thee. But thou 
 hast a few naiues in Sardis that did not detile their 
 garments: and they shall walk with me iu white; 
 
 5 for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall thus 
 be arrayed in white garments; and 1 will iu no 
 wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will 
 confess his name before my I-ather, and before his 
 
 a Aot9 1: 16.... 6 Jude 23 cch. 4: 4; 6: II ; 7:9. 13 d ch. 19: 8 e Ex. 32: 32; Ps. ( 
 
 12 ; 21 : ■il....g Mutt. 10 : 32 ; Luke 12 : 8. 
 
 : 28. . . ./ Phil. 4 : 3 : ch. 13 : 8 ; 17:8; 
 
 "wake and watch." Just as the thief comes 
 unwatched for, and unprepared for by the 
 slumbering household, so will judgment and 
 punishment come upon this careless and 
 world!}- church. — And thou shalt not 
 know what hour I will come upon thee. 
 This renews, with added emphasis, the warn- 
 ing already given. The "coming" cannot be 
 the second coming; but that visitation, provi- 
 dential and punitive, in which the conse- 
 quences here threatened shall be realized. In 
 the Greek the words, "thou shalt not know," 
 are made emphatic by the use of the double 
 negative (oO ixri). They may be translated, 
 "thou ce7'tainly shalt not know." 
 
 4-6. Promise. Thou hast a few names, 
 even in Sardis, which have not defiled 
 their garments. The corrected reading, 
 according to Tischendorf, is, ''But thou hast 
 a few names in [omitting even] Sardis which 
 have not defiled their garments." These 
 "few names" — few individuals in the church 
 — represent the "things which remain." 
 They are the redeeming element in the 
 church, provided they have encouragement 
 and support. That they have "not defiled 
 their garments"— not partaken of the preva- 
 lent spiritual decline and consequent defiling 
 worldliness — is the characteristic of their 
 better condition. The idea of fewness is, no 
 doubt, to be strictly taken.— And they shall 
 walk with me in white, for they are 
 worthy. The promise, "shall walk with me 
 in white"— that is to say, in \yhite robes, as 
 is clearly suggested in the form of the Greek 
 word for "white" (AeuKoIs) the word for 
 "white" being plural— points back to that 
 which is said of these faithful ones, that 
 they have "not defiled their garments." The 
 imagery is the familiar one of character 
 viewed as a garment. They had preserved 
 their Christian fidelity and consi.stency. The 
 promise is that they shall have that best re- 
 ward, pure and holy character, or nature in 
 its completeness. AVe should notice the dis- 
 tinction implied in garments "not defiled," 
 
 and in garments made "white." The former 
 means freedom from deforming and disgrace- 
 ful stain ; the latter means freedom from every 
 kind of imperfection; such being the idea set 
 forth in the pure and perfect "white" in which 
 the redeemed are clothed. The words "they 
 shall walk with me," foreshadow that perfect 
 union with himself into which the Lord will 
 finally bring his redeemed, and their free and 
 happy intercourse with him, in their saved 
 state, as when friends "walk" together in 
 perfect mutual communion. We naturally 
 connect the words of promise in this place, 
 with what appears in 7: 13, 14. "For they 
 are worthy," is not to be taken as implying 
 merits or as if what is promised rests for its 
 condition and assurance upon any considera- 
 tion of merit in themselves. They simply 
 mean that they of whom this promise is 
 spoken are such as they for lohoni it is in- 
 tended. All the -gifts of salvation are through 
 the unmerited grace of God in Christ; but 
 they are given, not to the unbelieving, the 
 unfaithful, and the defiled, but to the believ- 
 ing, the faithful, and the pure. 
 
 5. He that overcometh, the same shall 
 be clothed in white raiment. A reitera- 
 tion of the promise in more express terms. 
 Tischendorf reads "thus" (oCtm?), in place of 
 "the same" (oSto?); so that the passage as 
 amended will stand, "he that overcometh 
 thus," etc. — And I will not blot out his 
 name out of the book of life. Diister- 
 dieck says: "The figure of the Book of Life 
 is not taken from the genealogical tables of 
 the priests; but from similar lists, such as 
 those which the magistrates kept, and from 
 which the names of deceased citizens were 
 stricken out." Ziillig's comment on the pas- 
 sage is: "According to Exod. 32: 32, 33; Ps. 
 69: 28; Isa. 4: 3, God has a book, in which 
 the names of all those to whom he has pur- 
 posed to give (corporeal, natural) life are be- 
 forehand enrolled. The name of him who dies 
 is stricken out of this. This is 'the book of 
 life,' or of 'the living,' the common mass of 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 63 
 
 6 " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 sailli iiuto the cliiirches. 
 
 7 And to the angel of the church in Philacleljjhia 
 write: These things saith 'he that is holy, "he that is 
 true, he that hath ''the key of David, ''he that opeueth, 
 and no man shutteth; and /shutteth, and no man 
 openeth ; 
 
 6 angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith to the churches. 
 
 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 : 
 
 och. 2: 7.... 6 Acts 3 : 14 c 1 John 5 : 20; ver. 14, oh. 1; 5; 6: 10; 19: ll....d Isa. 22: 22; Luke 1 : 32 ; ch. 1: 18.. 
 
 16: 19.... /Job 12: 14. 
 
 those living on the earth and subject to the do- 
 minion of the world-ruler. Something quite 
 different is Dan. 12: 1, where it is a book in 
 which are enrolled the names of those who, in 
 that last (Messianic) trial of affliction come out 
 of it with life, and, according to ver. 2, shall 
 have now a better, an everlasting life. In this 
 last form the Apocalypse here takes up the 
 thought, and modifies it still further in this, 
 that it is for it a book in which even before 
 the world was made, the names of all future 
 true confessors of Messiah Jesus were written, 
 as the names of those whose life should 
 have a part in his kingdom and in the ulti- 
 mate Paradise, for which reason it is now 
 called the Lamb's Book of Life." The im- 
 agery is evidently founded upon the general 
 conception of an enrollment, for whatever 
 purpose. There may be in it, thus, a general 
 reference to the genealogical tables of the 
 priests; but it would be altogether too re- 
 stricted a view to regard it as limited to these, 
 and thus as having in view that priesthood 
 which is affirmed of all the redeemed. The 
 view taken is evidently much broader, and 
 regards the redeemed as the elect, or as the 
 enrolled ones. But can these names once 
 written be "blotted out" ; the elect become 
 non-elect? In truth, what our Lord here 
 says is, virtually, that they cannot be blotted 
 out. The overcoming of those faithful unto 
 death is proof that their names are written in 
 the Book of Life. The promise, "I will not 
 blot out," is but declaring that to his own 
 part of the "everlasting covenant," the Lord 
 himself will be fiiithful. This he confirms in 
 the following words: I will confess his 
 name before my Father, and before his 
 angels. This looks forward to the great 
 day, "when the Son of man shall come in 
 his glory." The call to attention, "He that 
 hath an ear," etc., comes, as in the case next 
 before, at the close, not at the beginning of 
 the promise. It solemnly enforces and em- 
 phasizes all that has previously been said. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 In his notes upon ver. 5, Alford says: 
 "Those who have a name that thej' live, and 
 are dead, are necessarily wiped out of the 
 Book oi Life; only he whose name is a living 
 name, can remain on those pages." Ought 
 we not to say, rather, that only he whose 
 name is a living name, was ever written 
 there? Can we suppose such a thing as that 
 in the Book of Life those have been enrolled 
 who have only a name to live? Again he 
 says: "Thus they whose names have been 
 once inscribed in this book, whether by their 
 outward admission into Christ's church by 
 baptism, or by their becoming living members 
 of him by faith, if they endure to the end as 
 his soldiers and servants, and obtain the 
 victory, shall not, as all his [merely'] pro- 
 fessed members shall, have their names erased 
 from it." Such a view of the passage seems 
 to us both confusing and misleading. We 
 cannot suppose such a thing as that a false 
 profession of living faith in the Saviour 
 secures the enrollment of one's name in the 
 Book of Life. Is God, who searches heartSj 
 misled as easily by false professions, as men 
 to whom the heart is a sealed book ? It seems 
 to us that the words under consideration — 
 "I will not blot out," etc. — are, as intimated 
 above, simply an assurance to the faithful 
 ones of the absolute and perfect trust with 
 which they may leave their final salvation in 
 the hands of him who.se promise and pledge 
 they have. They are an encouragement to 
 faith, at the same time that they are a stimu- 
 lus to fidelity. 
 
 7-13. To THE Church in Philadelphia. 
 
 7. Inscription. To the angel of the 
 Church in Philadelphia, Avrite. The his- 
 torian Gibbon, while in a foot-note he in- 
 dulges his customary spite against whatever 
 savors of Christian truth, still in the text of 
 his narrative (iv:260 Milman, Ed. Harper, 
 
64 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 1844), in connection with his account of the 
 conquest of all these seven cities by the Turks, 
 in 1312-1392, says in a spirit of something like 
 historical justice: "In the loss of Ephesus, 
 the Christians deplored the fall of the first 
 angel, the extinction of the first candlestick, 
 of the Revelation; the desolation is complete, 
 and the Temple of Diana or the Church of 
 Mary will equally elude the search of the 
 curious traveler. The circus and three stately 
 theatres of Laodicea are now peopled with 
 wolves and foxes; Sardis is reduced to a 
 
 of honor and safety may sometimes be the 
 same." The Philadelphia of to-day is a city 
 of some ten thousand inhabitants, mostly 
 Turks, "situated," says Schafi", "upon four 
 or five flat summits at the foot of the Mount 
 Tmolus." Among its conspicuous features is 
 a solitary pillar, standing as if intended to 
 illustrate the promise written in ver. 12 of 
 this chapter, and a building now used as a 
 mosque, but which tradition declares to have 
 been the place of worship used by the Church 
 of Philadelphia, as it was when addressed in 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 miserable village; the God of Mahomet, with- 
 out a rival or a son, is invoked in the mosques 
 of Thyatira and Pergamos, and the populous- 
 ness of Smyrna is supported by the foreign 
 trade of the Franks and Armenians. Phila- 
 delphia alone has been saved by prophecy or 
 by courage. At a distance from the sea, for- 
 gotten by the emperors, encompassed on all 
 sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens de- 
 fended their religion and freedom above four- 
 score years, and at length capitulated with 
 the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the 
 Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Phila- 
 delphia is still erect— a column in the scene 
 of ruins— a pleasing example that the paths 
 
 the message now before us. Philadelphia 
 was less favorably situated than any of the 
 other seven cities here mentioned. The region 
 where it stands being volcanic, the city has 
 been several times destroyed by earthquakes. 
 In spite of these calamities it has survived, 
 and, as narrated above, even when assailed 
 by the invincible Ottomans, maintained a 
 struggle for independence such as is recorded 
 of no one of the far stronger neighboring 
 cities. Strikingly analogous with this is what 
 appears in this message of the Lord to the 
 Church in Philadelphia; smallest and weak- 
 est of the seven, beset and persecuted by 
 "them of the synagogue of Satan" (ver. 9), it 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 KEVELATIOK 
 
 65 
 
 still had so maintained its integrity, that not 
 one word of reproof appears in all that is here 
 written. — These things saith he that is 
 holy, he that is true. "The Holy One" 
 (6 a-yios). "The True One" (6 aATjeii/d?). Each 
 of the terms used indicates that which be- 
 longs to the essential nature of the being de- 
 scribed. The Holy One, therefore, means 
 more than simply the Righteous One, and the 
 True One more than simply one who utters 
 truth, whether in promise, in testimony, or 
 in threatening. Both terms alike affirm that 
 which is really true of only one being, that 
 is, God, in whom alone holiness and truth are 
 essential. They also, quite plainly, look for- 
 ward, in their significance, and lend em- 
 phasis to that assertion of sovereigntj' over 
 the house of David which follows. — He that 
 hath the key of David. Interpreters are 
 agreed in viewing this as a reference to the 
 passage in Isaiah 22: 22, where it is said of 
 Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, "The key of the 
 house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, 
 so he shall open and none shall shut, and he 
 shall shut, and none shall open." Eliakim 
 it is predicted in this place, shall be placed 
 "over the house"— or the household— he made 
 Hezekiah's prime minister, in the room of 
 the unworthy Shebna. The key of the house 
 of David is thus laid " upon his shoulder," in 
 the sense th*t he is put in charge with those 
 things which more immediately concern the 
 regulations of the palace, and as well the 
 king's relations with his people. Through 
 this minister access will be had to the king — 
 he is more or less in the position of a media- 
 tor; the person through whom important 
 affairs in the relations of ruler and ruled will 
 be transacted. In this official position he ex- 
 ercises large powers; he can open and shut 
 doors of access to royal clemency or justice, 
 and doors of royal favor, deserved or unde- 
 served. In our present passage, therefore, 
 the allusion is, clearly, to our Lord's position 
 and office as the dispenser of blessings, and 
 all kingly gifts. It should be noticed that 
 in this place it is not "the key of the house of 
 David" that is spoken of, but "the key of 
 David' ^ ; so that the office and function hero 
 asserted of himself by our Lord is not minis- 
 terial, as acting for another, but royal, as 
 acting bj' an authority quite his own. — He 
 that openeth, and no man shutteth, and 
 shutteth and no man openeth. The more 
 
 exact reading is: "one? that openeth and no 
 man shall shut, and shutteth and no man shall 
 open.'' The imagery, of course, is suggested 
 by that of the key. What it indicates is 
 that the authority which our Lord exercises 
 as King is absolute and final. This sover- 
 eignty he uses, even in delegating to his 
 church some representative exercise of a like 
 prerogative, "/will give unto thee the keys 
 of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever 
 thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 
 heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on 
 earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. i6: 19), 
 A certain authority, in teaching and disci- 
 pline—a certain high privilege as dispensers 
 of the offer of salvation through faith in hi.s 
 name— was delegated by our Lord to his 
 apostles, and through them to his whole 
 church — to both as representing him, alike in 
 teaching and in ruling. He is alwaj'S, how- 
 ever, the Head of the Church, the King in 
 Zion, David's son and heir, and who "hath 
 the key of David." 
 
 [It has been suggested that possibly this 
 symbolism of "the key," in both passages 
 above noticed, may be explained in another 
 way; or rather, an auxiliary meaning be 
 associated with this. In the article upon the 
 "Scribes" in Dr. Smith's Dictionary of the 
 Bible, the following passage occurs. The 
 writer is speaking of the young scribe when 
 finally admitted to full privilege as such : 
 "After a sufficient period of training, prob- 
 ably at the age of thirtj', the probationer was 
 solemnly admitted to his office. The presiding 
 rabbi pronounced the formula, 'I admit thee, 
 and thou art admitted to the Chair of the 
 Scribe,' solemnly ordained him by the im- 
 position of hands, and gave to him, as the 
 symbol of his work, tablets on which he was 
 to note down the sayings of the wise, and the 
 key of knowledge (comp. Luke 11 : 52), with 
 which he was to open or to shut the treasures 
 of divine wisdom." The writer of the article 
 referred to. Dr. Plumptre, in his commentary 
 upon Matt. 16 : 19, alludes to the custom men- 
 tioned, and regards it as suggesting a "train 
 of figurative thought" blending with that 
 afforded us by the passage in Isa. 22: 22: 
 "When they [the scribes] were admitted to 
 their office they received, as its symbol, the 
 key of knowledge (Luke 11:52), which was to 
 admit them to the treasure-chambers of the 
 'house of the interpreter,' the Beth-Midrash 
 
66 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. hi. 
 
 8 "I know thv works: behold, I have set before thee 
 'an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast 
 a little strength, and hast kept ujy word, and hast not 
 denied uiv name. 
 
 9 Heboid, I will make "them of the synagogue of 
 Satan, which sav thov are Jews, and are not, but do 
 lie; behold, -'I will make them to come and worship 
 before thy feet, and to know that 1 have loved thee. 
 
 8 I know thy works (behold, I 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 
 
 9 deny my name. Kehold, I give of the synagogue of 
 Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are 
 not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come 
 and worship before thy leet, and to know that 1 have 
 
 a ver. 1 i 1 Cor. 16: 9; 2 Cor. 2: 12 c cb. 2:9 d Isa. 49 : 23 ; 60 : 14. 1 Gr. given. 
 
 of the Kabbis. For this work the Christ had 
 been training his disciples, and Peter's con- 
 fession had shown that the training had so 
 far done its work. He was qualified to be a 
 'scribe instructed unto the kingdom of 
 heaven,' and to 'bring forth out of its treas- 
 ures things new and old,' and now the 'key' 
 was given to him as the token of his admis- 
 sion to that office." If this interpretation 
 should be adopted for the passage in Matthew, 
 it would eflectually dispose of the papistical 
 assumption founded upon the words there. 
 It is a less obvious one for the passage we have 
 here under examination, though suggestive, 
 also, for this. "The key of David"— since 
 David was a ruler, not a teacher, or inter- 
 preter of the law — implies, clearly, a different 
 function from that of tlie scribe ; and must be 
 meant here to affirm of our Lord the regal 
 character which belongs to him as David's 
 Son and Zion's King.] 
 
 8-13. Commendation and Promise. I 
 know thy works. Not here spoken, as in 
 other cases, by way of admonition, but rather 
 of encouragement; implying that however 
 feeble and small the Church at Philadelphia 
 might seem, in point of numbers, whatever 
 concerned its welfare was of importance to 
 the Lord just the same, all the facts of its con- 
 dition as well known, as if in the eye of man 
 it had been itself of greater importance. — 
 Behold, I have set before thee an open 
 door, and no man can shut it. "Open 
 way of access to the knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures," is the sense given by one interpreter 
 (Lyra); "an entrance into the joy of thy 
 Lord, and so to uninterrupted progress in all 
 good" (Bengel). Others take the words as 
 referring in general to Christian privilege of 
 access and spiritual intercourse with the Lord 
 himself. The metaphor of "the key," as now 
 explained, seems to make some such sense as 
 this last necessary. But such privilege of 
 access implies more than what might concern 
 these Philadelphian Christians, as individuals. 
 The assurance is given with special reference 
 
 to those circumstances in their condition 
 alluded to below, and to their need of specia'. 
 grace. There may be a union of the two 
 ideas — the door of access and the door of op- 
 portunity. — For thou hast a little strength, 
 and hast kept my word, and hast not de- 
 nied my name. The force of the connecting 
 particle "for," "because," should be noticed. 
 It is a word of appreciation, and shows that 
 if he who sees not as man seeth is prompt 
 to mark and condemn the fault, he is no less 
 prompt to recognize and approve that which 
 is worthy. The connection of thought re- 
 quires that in the phrase, "a little strength," 
 the emphasis should be placed upon the word 
 strength, not upon the word little. It is not 
 because the strength is small, but because it is 
 genuine. We have thus a thought in keeping 
 with that which follows — " hast kept my word, 
 and hast not denied my name." The reality 
 and genuineness of Christian strengtJt, are 
 witnessed by Christian^^^e/i^i/. It is thus that 
 the prophet comforts himself (isa. 4|: 4) : "Then 
 I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent 
 my strength for nought, and in vain ; yet 
 surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my 
 work with my God." (See General Com- 
 ments, below.) 
 
 9. Behold, I will make them of the 
 synagogue of Satan. The meaning is, 
 "them (who are) of the synagogue of 
 Satan"; the clause is descriptive. — Which 
 say they are Jews, and are not, but do 
 lie. They are called a synagogue of Satan, 
 in allusion to the fact that, as Jews, the sj'na- 
 gogue organically characterizes them. Such 
 as these here described have before been 
 found at Smyrna, (2:9), where, as also here, 
 they appear to be pointed out as conspicuous 
 for their malice and bitterness. That they 
 are declared to be of the synagogue of Sntait 
 (the "accuser," the "adversary "), may refer 
 to this spirit of malicious opposition, taking 
 the form, not so much of actual violence — 
 for, as themselves being under restraint 
 in pagan communities, they would in this 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 67 
 
 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, 
 "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, 
 which shall come upon 'all the world, to try them that 
 dwell <^ upon the earth. 
 
 10 loved thee. Because thou didst keep the word of my 
 ipatience, I also will keep thee from the hour of Atrial, 
 that hour which is to come upon the whole ^world, to 
 
 (2 Pet. 2: 9 6 Luke 2: 1 cisa. 24: 17. 1 Or, sted/astness 2 Or, temptation 3 Gr. inhabited earth. 
 
 be held back — as of false accusation, mali- 
 cious slander. In all cases, however, where 
 violence was used by the pagan authorities 
 or the pagan populace, such Jews were 
 present, to encourage and enjoy the cruelties 
 practiced. In calling themselves "Jews," 
 in any such sense as being the Lord's favored 
 people, they spoke falsely. For, in the first 
 place, that distinction had ceased, so far as 
 nationality was concerned ; and, in the next 
 place, they were themselves lacking in all 
 that was characteristic of the true, spiritual 
 Israel. — Behold, I will make them to 
 come and worship before thy feet. The 
 sentence preceding is not finished, but breaks 
 oflT before the end is reached, and a new form 
 of expression is adopted. Literally, it reads 
 thus: "Behold, I will make (give, SiSil) them 
 which are of the synagogue of Satan, which 
 say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie — 
 behold, I will make (n-oi^o-w) them that they 
 shall come and shall worship before thy 
 feet." A corresponding passage is at Isa. 
 60: 14: "The sons also of them that afflicted 
 thee shall come bending unto thee; and all 
 they that despised thee shall bow themselves 
 down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall 
 call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the 
 Holy One of Israel." An example is aflforded 
 in connection with our passage, of Komanist 
 misinterpretation. "Behold, I will make 
 them come and wor.ship before thee," etc., 
 is thus explained by Cornelius a Lapide: 
 "This signifies that highest devotion of the 
 faithful, reverence and submission as regards 
 the church and its prelates. For this adora- 
 tion proceeds from an apprehension of pre- 
 latical excellence, more than human, though 
 less than divine." Significatur summ,a fide- 
 lium devotio, reverentia et submissio erga 
 Ecclesiam ejusque Prcelatos. Hcbc enim, 
 adoratio procedit ex apprehensione excel- 
 lentioe Proelatorum,, plus quam, humnjice et 
 m,inus quam divince. It is, of course, not of 
 the devotion of faithful ones (fidelium de- 
 votio) that the Lord is here speaking, but 
 of the hostility of hypocritical pretenders — 
 "which say they are Jews, and are not, but 
 
 do lie"; while to attribute to the humble 
 Philadelphian pastor, either prelatical func- 
 tions or prelatical pretensions, is as much in 
 the face of history, as it would be to repre- 
 sent the Apostle Peter as reigning at Rome 
 in the pontificial splendor of his so-called 
 successors. The passage can have no other 
 consistent meaning than as promising to the 
 few but faithful Christians at Philadelphia 
 that the opposition which encounters them 
 shall not prevail, but shall be eflFectually 
 overcome and humhled. The expression, 
 "worship before thee," must be taken in 
 its Oriental sense — the act of prostration, 
 implying not adoration, but respect. — And 
 to know that I have loved thee. Some 
 manuscripts read, "andfAo?« shalt know\\\&\, 
 I have loved thee." The best authorities, 
 however, seem to prefer that which is given 
 above. The Lord's favor to these faithful 
 ones is no doubt a testimony to themselves; 
 but is mentioned here as carrying demonstra- 
 tion and conviction to even their enemies. 
 
 10. Because thou hast kept the Avord 
 of my patience. Great stress is laid, in 
 many parts of our Lord's teaching, as also 
 that of his apostles, upon "patience" — not the 
 patience of mere submission, but that of active 
 endurance — "patient continuance in well- 
 doing" (Rom. 2-7). "We may cite Luke 8: 15; 
 21: 19; Matt. 10: 22; 24: 13; also, "theking- 
 ! dom and patience of Jesus Christ," in the 
 early part of the book we are now studying 
 (1:9). "The word of my patience" must 
 allude to such passages as these cited, and 
 mean that injunction to "patience," steadfast- 
 ness, and encouragement for it, of which these 
 passages are examples. — I also will keep 
 thee from the hour of temptation. "Hour 
 of trial," this must mean; trial, that is, of a 
 nature to put fidelity to the proof, and in 
 general disclose character. In explaining this 
 phrase, "hour of trial," it does not seem 
 right to pass over all that was present and 
 local, or soon to become so, to this Philadel- 
 phian Church and pastor, and those events, 
 alike in the near and the distant future, which 
 the words, "hour of temptation," of trial, 
 
REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 11 Behold, "I come quickly: 'hold that fast which 
 thou hast, that no man take «thy crown. 
 
 11 'try them that dwell upon the earth. I come quickly : 
 hold last that which thou hast, that no one take thy 
 
 a Phil. 4:5; ch. 1:3, 22:7,12,20 6 ver. 3 ; ch. 2 : 25 c ch. 2 : 10. Or, tempt. 
 
 would so appropriately describe, and limit 
 the idea, as Alford does, to "the great time 
 of trouble which shall be before the Lord's 
 second coming." The promise is plainly meant 
 for present strengthening and comfort, and so 
 far from mere vague allusion to an indefinite, 
 and in point of fact far-distant, future, must 
 have reference to things more or less imme- 
 diate and pressing. What should hinder our 
 understanding by the words under considera- 
 tion the very times of trial of which it is the 
 purpose of this whole book, very largely, to 
 speak, and the introduction to which was now 
 already near at hand — that whole scene of 
 Christian trial, of testing vicissitude, includ- 
 ing along with bitter persecution the falling 
 away of many, and the incoming of pernic- 
 ious heresies; in all which Christian fidelity 
 and the very spirit of the world itself should 
 be put to the proof? In its broadest meaning, 
 however, the "hour of temptation" may be 
 viewed as embracing the whole of the present 
 Dispensation, to which our own, with every 
 other period, from the first to the second ad- 
 vent, belongs. "I also will keep thee/row." 
 What is the force of the preposition ? It can- 
 not mean that faithful Christians have a prom- 
 ise that they shall be spared all participation 
 in the testing trials; for no promise of this 
 kind has ever been given, nor has such ever 
 been the experience of the Lord's people. 
 " I pray not," said Jesus, "that thou shouldest 
 take them out of the world, but that thou 
 sbouldest keep them from the evil.'- To de- 
 note a keeping "away from,'" a different prep- 
 osition (otto) would be used. The one here 
 employed (tit), meaning "out of," impliesmore 
 a safe can^yinf) through the " temptation" in- 
 dicated, and final deliverance from it. The 
 literal rendering would be, "taking thee out 
 from the hour of temptation, which is about 
 to come over all the habitable earth to try 
 those who dwell upon the earth, I will keep 
 thee." The word rendered "keep" means, 
 in its full force, "keep securely." It is like 
 what our Saviour asks for himself in John 12: 
 27: "F^ither, save me from [t/t — out of ] this 
 hour." The promise, therefore, is that these 
 to whom it is spoken shall be kept in the temp- 
 tation, and in the Lord's good time delivered 
 
 from it. — Which shall come upon all the 
 world. In effect, "the world" was the Ro- 
 man Empire. What was known of the world 
 was nearly all included within tho.se limits, 
 so that the expression we find often used with 
 this meaning. That scene of persecution in 
 which for Christians of the earlier ages the 
 "temptation" so much consisted, had as we 
 know this extent. — To try them that dwell 
 upon the earth. "A sign which shall be 
 spoken against . . . that the thoughts of 
 many hearts may be revealed." Such the 
 "Child" was to be, and such he has ever been. 
 The trial (Treipao-MoO) is not alone for Christians. 
 The world, in these events, is put to the proof 
 no le.ss, while in the vicissitudes and conse- 
 quences of the long spiritual conflict, "them 
 that dwell upon the earth" share. 
 
 11. Behold, I come quickly. "The 
 word, I come quickly," says Hengstenberg, 
 "is applicable to all times. Where sin is. 
 and hostility toward the church of the Lord, 
 there also the Lord is near." He thinks that 
 the coming spoken of should be understood 
 in close connection with ver. 10; it is a coming 
 to bring upon the world the times of trial 
 there implied. To interpret this expression 
 "I come quickly," wherever it occurs, as 
 meaning the Lord's second coming, is to 
 force, quite unallowably, the inspired word 
 into the narrow limitations of a preconcep- 
 tion. In what sense the words are to be taken, 
 will be best determined in each case by the 
 connection. Here they must point to a com- 
 ing of the Lord in those providential and 
 judicial dispensations which were to attend 
 the events foreshadowed in the warning al- 
 ready given. The text followed by the re- 
 visers omits the Greek for "behold." — Hold 
 that fast which thou hast. The expression 
 "that which thou hast" (5 ex"«) — as in 2: 6- 
 "this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds 
 of the Nicolaitanes" — implies throughout 
 these messages some spiritual gift, grace, or 
 sign of spiritual progress, already in posses- 
 sion. Two things are suggested by the form 
 of the expression here : first, that this which 
 these Christians have is something greatlj- to 
 be desired; and secondly, that there are those 
 who would snatch it away from them. Let 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 69 
 
 12 Him that overconieth will I make "a pillar in the 
 teaiple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and 
 * I will write upon him the name of my God, and the 
 name of the city of my God, tvhich is "new Jerusalem, 
 which Cometh down out of heaven from my God: ''and 
 J will icrite t/pun him my new name. 
 
 13 «He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 Faith unto the churches. 
 
 12 crown. 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 ne\* 
 Jerusalem, which Cometh down out of heaven from 
 
 13 my God, and mine own new name. He that hath 
 an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the 
 churches. 
 
 ol Kiugs7: 'it; Gal. 2 : 9. . . .6 ch. 2 : 17 ; 14: 1: 22: 4.... c G:il.4: 26 ; Heb. 12 : 22 ; ch. 21 : 2, 10... .d ch. 22: 4....e ch. 2 : 7.- 
 Or, sanctuary : and »o ihroughout this book. 
 
 them guard it well. — That no man take thy 
 
 crown. That which they have in present 
 possession is not the "crown" ; the crown is, 
 rather, that which they are to gain by hold- 
 ing fast this which they already have. Those 
 who would "take" their crown are not com- 
 petitors for it; but such as would prevent 
 their attainment of it by enticing them to un- 
 faithfulness. 
 
 12. Him that overcometh will I make 
 a pillar in the temple of my God. The 
 symbolism implied in the "pillar" is indi- 
 cated in the words which follow, and he 
 shall go no more out — with the emphatic 
 form of the negative particle used (ov ixi)), "he 
 shall certainly" — assuredly — "never go out." 
 The leading idea is that of the firmness, the 
 fixedness, of the pillar in its place, so that 
 often it stands when other parts of the build- 
 ing have fallen. Interpreters are divided, as 
 to whether by "temple" shall be understood 
 the church militant or the church triumph- 
 ant. It is doubtful if it be wise to use the 
 term "church" in this connection at all. 
 Let it be noticed that the symbol is of a 
 pillar in the temple. Did the temple pre- 
 figure the church, in either of the senses just 
 mentioned? We conceive that it prefigured, 
 rather, that New, Spiritual, Dispensation of 
 which the church is simply one feature. 
 When this Dispensation reaches its final 
 consummation in the completed redemption 
 of all the "called" and the "glorified," the 
 temple-types all attain their ultimate and 
 perfect fulfillment. In the anticipatory sense, 
 as we may say, they do so in that condition 
 of blessedness into which saved souls are 
 received as they enter heaven. We do not 
 see, therefore, that the promise in question 
 implies aught else but the semrity of the true 
 believer, in his place amongst those whom 
 the Lord calls, and especially in his final 
 saved state. (See General Comments). — And I 
 will write upon him the name of my 
 Gody and the name of the city of my 
 
 God, which is New Jerusalem. The 
 
 divine name to denote that he belongs to 
 God, the name of the city of God to denote 
 his citizenship there. The coming down of 
 this city out of heaven, points forward to 
 what is said later in the book. It is that con- 
 summation of the divine purpose of grace, in 
 which the distinction of earthly state and 
 heavenly state ceases, the redemption being 
 complete. — And my ncAV name. The words, 
 in our version, 'I will write upon him," are 
 supplied, the sense plainly requiring that they 
 shall at least be understood in reading. The 
 Kedeemer's "new name" is that which he 
 acquires in becoming the Redeemer. The 
 redeemed bear it to show that they belong tp 
 him. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 In the words, "for thou hast a little 
 strength, and hast kept my word, and hast 
 not denied my name," it is perhaps proper 
 to see something antithetical intended. For 
 the strong — those who have much "strength " 
 — to keep the Lord's word and confess his 
 name, is less to be remarked, perhaps, than 
 when this fidelity is found in them that have 
 ^'little strength." This we should say, at all 
 events, where the strength spoken of refers to 
 those elements of power — numbers, social pre- 
 dominance, etc. — which might enable a comr 
 munity of Christians to cope on more equal 
 terms with hostility and opposition. There 
 may, however, be something delusive in the 
 appearance of strength seen in such a com- 
 munity. In the case of these Seven Churches 
 in Asia, the relatively strong are the weak 
 ones, while the weak are the strong. Even 
 Ephesus had left its first love ; even Per- 
 gamos and Thyatira had yielded too much 
 to the pernicious false teachers ; Sardis had 
 become worldly, and Laodicea, though "rich 
 and increased with goods," was "poor, and 
 blind, and naked"; Philadelphia, its moun- 
 tain home often shaken by the earthquake, 
 assailed within by bitter enemies, few and 
 
70 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. hi. 
 
 14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodi- 
 ceana write ; "Those things saith the Amen, * the faith- 
 ful and true witness, 'the beginning of the creation 
 of Cjod ; 
 
 14 And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write; 
 These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true 
 
 alsa. 65: 16....i ch. 1 : 5 ; 19: 11; 22: 6; ver. 7....cCol. 1: 15. 
 
 small in itself, nevertheless had that word 
 of supreme applause: Thou "hast kept my 
 word, and hast not denied my name." What 
 strength it had, whetlier in numbers or in 
 graces, was real strength. It is the genuine 
 in this world, that wins victories. 
 
 Something of this may also be implied in 
 the symbolism of the pillar. Only the best 
 material is selected for this part of the build- 
 ing; and because of its genuine solidity it 
 endures. Because of their own possession of 
 this quality the Philadelphian Christians had 
 " kept the word " of their Lord's "patience"; 
 had been steadfast and enduring. They had 
 thus far stood, each as a pillar in his place. 
 They shall continue thus to stand in "the 
 hour of temptation" that approaches, and in 
 the final redemption they shall be pillars 
 again in the glorious temple where all types 
 are fulfilled, and they that have sought "for 
 glory, and honor and immortality" receive 
 "eternal life." To be, in reality, what we 
 are named, should be deemed by us, as 
 rospects personal attainments, the indis- 
 pensable thing. 
 
 In the description of the holy city. New 
 Jerusalem, given later in this book {21:22), 
 we read: "And I saw no temple therein." 
 What we have in our present passage, if taken 
 as proposed, might be thought inconsistent 
 with this; since we read, in the connection, 
 of the temple and the city in a way to imply 
 that in the one the other is found. The pas- 
 sage in 21 : 22, taken as a whole, furnishes the 
 e.xplanation. "I saw no temple therein, /or 
 the Lord. God Aimighty and the Ijrimh are the 
 temple of it." That is, the temple and the 
 city are one, and it is the presence of God and 
 the Lamb tliat constitutes both. We are not, 
 therefore, to press the symbolism in either 
 case in a literal way, but understand that 
 under the image of sensible things, spiritual 
 things are set forth. The final state of the 
 redeemed shall be a.s ifn walled city had been 
 built for their eternal habitation, and their 
 citizenship there shall be assured, as if upon 
 the forehead of each the name of the city, in 
 token thereof, were written. It shall be as if 
 
 all the saved had, in the process of redeeming 
 and glorifying grace, "grown into an holy 
 temple in the Lord," wherein should be real- 
 ized the whole purpose of infinite love, 
 the types of the old temple all fulfilled, and 
 the faithful ones all standing there, fixed and 
 shining, forever. To forget that this is im- 
 agery, in every part of it, is to mistake in a 
 strange way the divine thought in it all. Let 
 it be observed that while we view the promise 
 as addressed to the whole church, it is indi- 
 vidualized by what is said in the connection — 
 " to him that overcometh." It is, therefore, 
 a promise especially to each individual 
 Christian. The Kedeemer's "new name" 
 points us to that mission and mercy of his in 
 which he places himself in such a " new" re- 
 lation with a sinful world., The "name" 
 represents alike the person and the office. As 
 Eedeemer, he came in a new manifestation, 
 and in an undertaking unexampled in the 
 history of the universe. His name of "Em- 
 manuel," God with us; of "Jesus," because 
 he shall save his people from their sins ; of 
 the " Lamb," slain from the foundation of 
 the world; of "Shepherd," leading and feed- 
 ing, and saving his flock ; of "Kedeemer," as 
 comprehending all — these and this are his 
 "new name." To bear that name, written 
 upon us by his own hand, is to be ourselves 
 redeemed. 
 
 14-22. To THE Church at Laodicea. 
 
 14. Inscription. — The angel of the 
 church of the Laodiceans. There is no 
 good reason for the change in form made 
 here in the Common Version. A correct 
 translation makes the clause read as in the 
 instances above, "the angel of the church 
 in Laodicea." — These things saith the 
 Amen. It seems fitting to connect these 
 words, with the title which our Lord claims 
 for himself, with Isa. 65: 16: "That he who 
 blesseth himself in the earth shall bless him- 
 self in the God of truth" — (Elohe "Amen") 
 —"the God of Amen" "the God of faith- 
 fulness." It is the very highest expre.ssion 
 of divinity. "He that blesseth himself in 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 71 
 
 the earth," says Jehovah by his prophet, 
 shall bless himself in the God thus revealed 
 in the attribute most truly divine, if such a 
 thing could be, "and he that sweareth in the 
 earth" — he who pledges his own truth in the 
 most solemn way — "shall swear" by him 
 who is the very essence of truth, and who 
 will not endure untruth or deceit. When, 
 therefore, our Lord entitles himself "the 
 Amen," it is a title in eftect identical with 
 this in Isaiah, "the God of Amen" — the 
 Divine and Faithful One. Ziillig thinks 
 that this title, "The Amen," is used here, 
 
 away." The Greek words in our passage, 
 for "faithful and true (jtio-to? koI aArjen'o?),' 
 are those which express essential faithfulness 
 and truth in the strongest manner. — The be- 
 ginning of the creation of God. The 
 Sinaitic manuscript reads, "the Amen and 
 the faithful and true witness, and the 
 beginning of the church of God." Some 
 commentators, as Grotius, Wetstein, and 
 others, before the discovery of this manu- 
 script, had already taken "creation (Krio-ews)" 
 as equivalent to "church (e-cKArjcnas)," mean- 
 ing by this that new creation, the church, in 
 
 LAODICEA. — ASIA MINCE. 
 
 because this is the last of the messages to the 
 churches; and that it looks back upon all 
 which have gone before, as being the solemn 
 "amen" to them all. This seems, as Alford 
 terms it, "fanciful." The clause which fol- 
 lows. The faithful and true witness, is 
 in some measure appositional. It is the 
 second time, already, in this book, that our 
 Lord is styled "the Witness," and "the 
 faithful Witness." This office of his 
 seems thus to be emphasized. We are re- 
 minded of his own declaration in another 
 place: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
 but my words [word of testimony, word of 
 promise, word of threatening] shall not pass 
 
 its large spiritual sense. If the new reading 
 in the manuscript alluded to may be accepted, 
 this will be plainly the meaning of the pas- 
 sage. In either case, the force of the word 
 "beginning (apxi))" is much the same. It 
 means beginning in the active, not the pas- 
 sive sense. It means "origin," "cause," with 
 the implication also of "headship." We 
 should probably read "creation," and not 
 "church," making the sense of the passage 
 as a whole, correspond with that in John 
 1: 3: "All things were made by him, and 
 without him was not anything made that was 
 made," and in Heb. 1: 2: "By whom also he 
 made the worlds." The Greek word (i-pxn), 
 
72 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. hi. 
 
 15 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor 
 hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 
 
 If) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither 
 cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of uiy mouth. 
 
 17 Ik'cause thou sayest, 'I am rich, and increased 
 with goods, and have need ol' nothing; and knowest 
 not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, 
 and blind, and naked: 
 
 15 witness, the beginning ofthe creation of God: I know 
 thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would 
 
 16 thou wert cold or hot. So Iwcause thou art lukewarm, 
 and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my 
 
 17 mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have 
 gotten riches, and have netkl of nothing ; and knowest 
 not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and 
 
 over. 1 6 Hos. 12: 8; 1 Cor. 4: 8. 
 
 however, expresses along with the idea of 
 originating cause, that of ruler and prince. 
 The whole passage, therefore, asserts for our 
 Lord that supreme place which is so often in 
 the New Testament declared to be his. 
 (Comp. the entire first chapter of Hebrews, 
 and al.so Rev. 17: 14). 
 
 15-19. Admonitiox. I know thy works. 
 In this case the admonitory words have a 
 warning emphasis. As Alford paraphrases; 
 "I have thy whole course of life before me, 
 and its testimony is: "that thou art neither 
 cold nor hot. The spiritual condition of 
 these Laodicean Christians is characterized 
 differently from that of either of the before- 
 named churches. In some respects it re- 
 sembles that of the Church in Ephesus; yet 
 we find no such testimony here as is given 
 there, to the patience and fidelity once char- 
 acterizing the church, and still in some meas- 
 ure found in it. The whole Laodicean body 
 is spoken of as fallen into that "lukewarm'' 
 (ver. 16) state, wliich is neither real life nor 
 actual death. — I would thou wert cold 
 or hot. Nowhere, perhaps, is the unworthi- 
 ness and the peril of a merely negative 
 Christianity more forcibly indicated than in 
 the fact that our Lord has here spoken these 
 words. The Laodicean condition is not, 
 indeed, one of perfect deadness to all spirit- 
 ual things; there is a feeble life, a doubtful 
 warmth, and so far the condition may be a 
 hopeful one. But while this comes far short 
 of what ought to be found in souls redeemed 
 by the blood of Christ and honored with the 
 call to serve him, it is full of danger, because 
 resting in the.se feeble indications of spiritual 
 life, the lukewarm Christian may live and 
 die onli/ " not far from the kingdom of God." 
 I would thou wert either the one or the other- 
 says he who searches the heart. 
 
 16. So then becau^se thou art luke- 
 warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will 
 spew thee out of my mouth. It should ])e 
 observed here, that the word in the Greek 
 above, "heat" (i«rTo«), properly means heat 
 
 in its action upon fluids. So "lukewarm" 
 (xAiapbs), means a lukewarm fluid, like water. 
 The figure employed is, therefore, carried 
 out consistently. The effect of warm water 
 in producing nausea is well known. No 
 reader can fail to mark the expressive force 
 with which the Lord's displeasure with the 
 negative sort of Christian condition here de- 
 scribed is expressed. Perhaps the word dis- 
 gust is not too strong a word to use. It may 
 be well to notice at this point a singular read- 
 ing in the Sinaitic manuscript. As found there, 
 the verse is: "Because thou art thus luke- 
 warm, and neither cold nor hot; refrain thy 
 ynoutli (TTdvo-ai ToO (TTOAiaTos trou)," or " cease from 
 thy mouth." How such a manifest error of 
 reading can have crept in, it might be hard 
 to explain. Tischendorf, very properly as 
 all must feel, rejects it, and retains that of 
 the received text: "I will spew thee out of 
 
 my mouth (m^AAu ore e/ueo-ai ex ToC ard/iiaTd? jiou)." 
 
 I am on the point of doing so. It will be 
 seen that the words do not express a final 
 purpose; but imply that there is still a day 
 of grace for the Laodicean Church. 
 
 17. Because thou sayest. It is ever true 
 that none are .so well satisfied with their spir- 
 itual state as half-and-lialf Christians. The 
 truly spiritual are spiritually se?zsi!fn?e; they 
 are alive to their own deficiencies, and earn- 
 estly seek for the "more grace." The spir- 
 itually inert are wont to be self-satisfied; the 
 name suffices them for the reality, and they 
 willingly mistake a superficial religimisnes.^ 
 for piety. The "because" connects the be- 
 ginning of this ver.*e with that of the follow- 
 ing one: "Because. ... I counsel thee." — 
 Rich and increased with goods, and have 
 need of nothing. Alford says, very truly, 
 that "from tlic wliole context it is evident that 
 not outward worldly wealth, but imagined 
 spiritual riches, are in question"; this "im- 
 agined .spiritual .self-sufficingness" being "the 
 natural growth of an outwardly prosperous 
 condition." From the same writer's '"Pro- 
 legomena" we quote the following. Of Lao- 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 78 
 
 18 I counsel thee "to buy of me gold tried in the fire, 
 that thou luayest be rich; and 'white raiment, that 
 thou mayest be clothed, and Ihal tlie shame of thy 
 nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with 
 eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 
 
 18 poor and blind and naked: I counsel thee to buy of 
 me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest l)ecome 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 
 
 a Isa. 55: 1; Matt. 13 : 44 ; 25: 9.... 6 2 Cor. 5:3; ch. 7 : 13 ; 16: 15; 19 : I 
 
 dicea he says : " It suffered much in the Mith- 
 ridatic War, but recovered itself, and became 
 a wealthy and important place, at the end of 
 the republic and under the first emperors. 
 It was completely destroyed by the great 
 earthquake, in the reign of Nero, but was re- 
 built by the wealth of its own citizens, without 
 help from the State. Its state of prosperity 
 and carelessness described in the epistle is well 
 
 illustrated by these facts It produced 
 
 literary men of great eminence, and had a 
 great medical .school. "^And knowest not 
 that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked. The 
 contrast between the imagined state of the 
 Laodicean Church and its real one is made 
 exceedingly striking, and is expressed in words 
 strikingly bold and unsparing. In so far as 
 outward things were concerned, it was, in 
 fact, rich, increased in goods, having need of 
 nothing. Because of this prosperous outward 
 state it had, all too hastily, assumed in itself 
 a like spiritual condition. The Lord's words 
 show what utter spiritual poverty may be 
 covered by worldly shows and splendors. 
 
 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold 
 tried in the fire. The word "buy," here, 
 is not a good translation ; or, if allowed to 
 stand, for the sake of its emphatic force, must 
 not be too literally pressed. The Septuagint 
 uses the same word {ayapiiu>) at that place in 
 Isa. 55: 1: "Come, buy wine and milk with- 
 out money, and without price." It is clear 
 that as so used the word cannot mean buying 
 by paying an equivalent for that which is 
 bought. It is the more important to note this 
 distinction, as papistical writers use the pas- 
 sage here in our chapter in .support of their 
 own pernicious doctrine as to the efficacy of 
 good works, i Thus Lyra: "cj?ie?'e operibus 
 bonis" "to buy with good works" ; and to a 
 similar effect various others, whom Alford 
 quotes. Stuart trani^lates: "I coun.sel thee to 
 procure of me gold tried by fire"; claiming 
 that the Greek word does not always have the 
 specific meaning of buying a thing by paying 
 a price for it. It may be better, however, to 
 retain the word "buy" in the translation, pro- 
 
 vided the figurative force of it be recognized 
 in the exposition. What men buy they are 
 understood to place a value upon and strongly 
 desire. Besides, even that which comes to 
 men in the gift of Christ, is in one sense con- 
 ditioned, and comes only to those in whom 
 the conditions are met. It is, however, none 
 the less a gift, and is by no means to be 
 viewed as if purchased by the payment for it 
 of an equivalent value. Something of this is 
 implied by our Lord, here, in representing 
 the gift which these Christians are exhorted 
 to secure as "gold," which in common usage 
 is rather that by which the purchase is made, 
 than the object purchased; and when he 
 adds, "that thou mayest become rich," it is 
 made clear that what he is recommending is 
 that essential wealth which is rather the basis 
 than the object of barter. He would have 
 them procure of him the absolute spiritual 
 riches, given to those who seek, with a view 
 to use for the glory of him who gives, and to 
 be sought with the earnest desire of him in 
 the parable, who having found a pearl of 
 great price, "went and sold all that he had 
 and bought it." Notioe, also, that it is "gold 
 tried [purified] in the fire"; that which is 
 precious as freed from alloj', pure and true. — ■ 
 And white raiment, that thou mayest be 
 clothed [that thou mayest cast them about 
 thee], and that the shame of thy naked- 
 ness do not appear. The "gold" repre- 
 sents spiritual riches in general; the "white 
 raiment," spiritual character. A contrast is 
 implied of this true adornment with those 
 outward ones in which the wealth of the 
 Laodiceans enabled them readily to indulge. 
 There is allusion, also, to the strong antith- 
 esis in ver. 17. Outwardly, in every worldly 
 .sense, they were amply arrayed and adorned. 
 Inwardly, and in respect to that in which 
 true adornment consists, they were "naked." 
 The white raiment is ottered, that the shame 
 of this nakedness may be taken away. — So 
 were they "blind," and hence this added 
 counsel : Anoint thine eyes with eye- 
 salve, that thou mayest see. To all this 
 they are "counseled"; implying, thus, how 
 
74 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be 
 zealous therefore, and repent. 
 
 20 Behold, 'I staud at the door, and knock: "if any 
 man hear my voice, and open the door, <'! will come in 
 to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 
 
 21 To him that overcometh <-will I grant to sit with 
 me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set 
 down with niv Father in his throne. 
 
 22 /He that" hatli an ear, let him hear what the Spirit 
 saith unto the churches. 
 
 19 mayest see. As many as I love, I reprove and chasten : 
 
 20 be zealous therefore, and repent. 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 
 
 21 with him, and he with me. He that overcometh, 1 
 will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, 
 as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in 
 
 22 his throne. He that hath an ear, let hini hear what 
 the Spirit saith to the churches. 
 
 a Job 5' 17- ProT. 3 • U, 12; Heb. 12 : 5. 6; James 1: 12 b Cant. 5:2 c Luke 12: 37 d John 14 : 23 e Matt. 19 : 28 ; Luke 
 
 22 : 30 ; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2 : 12 ; ch. 2 : 26, 27. . . ./oh. 2:7. 
 
 freely they act who, even as drawn by the 
 constraining Spirit, come to Christ for all 
 good things. 
 
 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and 
 chasten. These are surely noticeable words, 
 as following upon such an unsparing exposure 
 of the faults of the Laodicean Church. They 
 reveal the spirit in which even the sharpest 
 utterances of divine reproof are made. The 
 meaning is that rebuke and chastening may 
 be signs of love, even where they indicate dis- 
 pleasure. The words "rebuke" and "chas- 
 ten" themselves imply this. Literally, the 
 word for "rebuke" means "bring to con- 
 viction," and that for "chasten" {naiSevu}), 
 means "to discipline." To convict and so 
 lead to repentance, and to discipline, are acts, 
 not of judgment, but of mercy. — Be zeal- 
 ous, therefore, and repent. The exhor- 
 tation, "be zealous," has reference to that 
 fault of spiritual supineness, lukewarmness, 
 which is the chief fault found in these now 
 addressed. That they may come to repent- 
 ance is the whole purpose of the severe dis- 
 closure of their fault that has been made. The 
 whole address is like the vigorous treatment 
 sometimes found necessary in rousing the 
 sleeper. 
 
 20-22. Promise. Behold, I stand at 
 the door, and knock. Says Stuart: "The 
 imagery here employed is that of the Saviour 
 as going around among the dwellings of the 
 Laodicean Church, and paying a visit to each, 
 and holding friendly intercour.se with each." 
 The preposition" at" (eiri) following "stand" 
 is itself followed by the accusative case, and 
 suggests the idea, "having come to the door, 
 lam standing and knocking." By the knock- 
 ing must be understood the means used, provi- 
 dential and r)ther — including the message here 
 Bent — to gain the attention of this lukewarm 
 church, and stir it to duty. — If any man hear 
 my voice. This implies a call, in connection 
 with the other form of summons. — And open 
 
 the door. The entrance of the Lord is never 
 a forced entrance. Whatever of difficulty 
 there may be in mutually adjusting the human 
 freedom and the divine constraint, so that 
 neither shall invade the sphere of the other, 
 it is certain that the opening of the door is 
 the soul's own free act. — I will come in to 
 him, and will sup with him, and he with 
 me. Observe the reciprocity implied. He 
 who comes thus as a guest, comes laden with 
 all spiritual good things, and is both guest 
 and host. 
 
 21. To him that overcometh will I grant 
 to sit with me in my throne. The partici- 
 pation begun in the mutual communion just 
 described shall be continued, not only while 
 this present state of trial and discipline lasts, 
 but in that future state of glorj' and beatitude, 
 when the overcoming of Christian conflict 
 and victory shall at last reach its consumma- 
 tion. The "throne" must be treated, of 
 course, as imagery, and simply points to that 
 participation with him in the glory to which 
 he ascended that is to be the portion of his 
 redeemed ones. — Even as I also overcame, 
 and am set down with my Father in his 
 throne. A most fitting close to this series of 
 messages spoken bj' the glorious being stand- 
 ing in the midst of the golden candlesticks. 
 The divine splendors of that vision of the 
 Lord, so lately the Crucified One, now the 
 Exalted and Reigning One, justify these words, 
 "as I also overcame, and am set down with 
 my Father in his throne." That has come 
 to pass of which in his humiliation he had 
 spoken when he prayed : "And now, O Fatiier, 
 glorify thou me with thine own self with the 
 glory wliich I had with thee before the world 
 was" (Johui7:5). To R participation in this 
 glory he invites us all. 
 
 22. He that hath an ear, let him hear 
 what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 "And what I say unto you, I say unto all. 
 
 Watch." (Mark 13: 37). 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AFTER this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened 
 in heaven: and "the tirst voice which I heard ivas 
 as it were of a trumpet talking with uie; which said, 
 'Come up hither, "and I will shew thee things which 
 must be hereafter. 
 
 1 Aftkr these things I saw, and behold, a door open- 
 ed in heaven, and the first voice that 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 
 
 och. 1: 10....6cli. ll:12....coh.l:19; 22:6. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 Christianity of the Laodicean type is that 
 ■which, in an age like our own, finds peculiar 
 occasion and opportunity. There is nothing 
 to indicate that the Christians of Laodicea 
 had any share in the persecutions experi- 
 enced by neighboring churches. They do 
 not seem to have been disturbed by heresies 
 of a pernicious or immoral kind. They were 
 prospered in all worldly circumstances. They 
 represent to us an age in which persecution 
 has become impossible; in which the false 
 teacher, if he appears, bears for the most part 
 a plausible exterior, so as seriously to offend 
 neither formal piety nor outward morality ; 
 and in which Christianity has so far prevailed 
 as that those who avow it are no longer "a 
 sect everywhere spoken against." The pecu- 
 liar danger of such a time is exactly this 
 "lukewarmness," which wears so fair an 
 outside, yet which to the Lord himself is so 
 displeasing. "I would thou wert cold or 
 hot," is what his word declares at such a 
 time. A negative Christianity — one which 
 comes easily into alliance with the world, 
 which selects out of revealed truth only that 
 which to the worldly mind is least offensive, 
 and amongst the attributes of Christian char- 
 acter, only that which least characterizes "a 
 peculiar people" — such a Christianity as this, 
 ruinous to souls, dishonoring to the very 
 name it bears, the Lord abhors. In our own 
 time it finds only too ready acceptance, and 
 i,s onlj' too much a characteristic of the age 
 itself. 
 
 In closing our study of these Epistles to the 
 Seven Churches, we cannot but remark how 
 large a body of precious truth is contained in 
 them, and how representative these churches 
 are of the many varieties of spiritual condi- 
 tion in which churches and Christians of all 
 ages are wont to be found. There is for this 
 reason all the more of emphasis in the words 
 found in connection with each of these epis- 
 tles, and with which the last of them is con- 
 cluded : "He that hath an ear, let him hear 
 what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 
 
 THE THEOPHANY. 
 
 1-3. The Vision of God. 
 
 1. After this. There is no reason to sup- 
 pose any considerable interval of time 
 between the ending of the vision described 
 in Chapters II. and III., and the beginning 
 of this which now opens. The phrase, "after 
 these things (/utra raOra)," or "afterwards," 
 occurring so often in the book, does not 
 necessarily imply any such intervals, but 
 simply the successive stages of the revelation 
 made. — I looked, and, behold, a door was 
 opened. The word is simply, "I beheld," 
 or "I saw" (€l6oi'). "We must not translate 
 so as to imply that John saw the door in the 
 act of opening. The exact and literal ren- 
 dering would be, "I saw, and behold a door 
 having been opened (ij^oiv/ueVij," or "a door 
 which had been opened" — an opened door. 
 — In heaven. — Stuart appears to take the 
 Greek word, here, (ovpavoi), as equivalent 
 to the Hebrew word "firmament {rakiija)," 
 understanding, thus, hy the door, an opening 
 in the firmament above, as when at the bap- 
 tism of Jesus (MMtt.3:i6) "the heavens were 
 opened unto him." This does not seem to 
 be the meaning of the writer in our passage. 
 It is a door opened "in," not "'into" 
 heaven. Some interpreters, again, seem to 
 regard the word as used in that symbolical 
 sense in which by "heaven" is supposed to 
 be meant the church. Thus Gill: "The 
 phrase is to be understood of a discovery 
 of things that were, or were to be, in the 
 Church of God, which in this book is often 
 signified by heaven." Diisterdieck's comment 
 is better, that the "heaven" is not to be 
 here thought of as an arched vault [the 
 firmament], nor a temple, but as the house 
 or palace of God, in which he sits enthroned. 
 Subsequent occurrences of the word, how- 
 ever, make it doubtful if even this expresses 
 the whole idea. For example, in ch. 12, we 
 read of the woman clothed with the sun, 
 the great red dragon, and the war between 
 Michael and the dragon, as all being "in 
 heaven." We cannot suppose 1,hese to be 
 
76 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 2 And immediately "I was in the Spirit: and, behold, 
 'a throne was set in heaven, and ohk sat on the throne. 
 
 2 'come to pass hereafter. Straightway I was in the 
 Spirit : and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, 
 
 och. 1: 10: 17: 3; 21: 10.... 6 Is 
 
 .6: 1; Jer. 17: 12; Ezek. ) : 26 ; 10: 1 ; Dau. 7:9.- 
 way, etc. 
 
 -Or, come to pass. After these things straight- 
 
 Seen "in the palace, or house of God." In 
 the same connection we are told how the 
 tail of the dragon sweeps to the earth "the 
 third part of the stars of heaven." It would 
 seem, therefore, that the word is used with a 
 very broad, and a somewhat vague meaning. 
 Perhaps we may best take it as implying, in 
 general, the scene of the Apocalyptic wonders 
 exhibited in this book. These are seen in 
 vision, and in such a blending, if we may so 
 say, of the highest heaven with the physical 
 one, or the firmament, as that both are 
 more or less implied. On this Apocalyptic 
 scene a door is opened, revealing, in august 
 pre-eminence, that grouping of transcen- 
 dently glowing forms composing the Theo- 
 phany now to be described. — And the first 
 voice which I heard was as it were of 
 a trumpet talking with me. The literal 
 and accurate rendering, here, is very impor- 
 tant to the sense. The whole passage should 
 read: "I saw, and behold a door which 
 had been opened in heaven, and the voice 
 [the interjectional form is continued, as if it 
 read, "and behold the voice," etc., the word 
 "behold" (iSoii) being in fact repeated in the 
 Sinaitic manuscript] the first one (») <t>iovrj i) 
 Tpionj) which I had heard, as of a trumpet 
 [comp. 1 : 10] speaking with me." The mean- 
 ing is, that he liears the same voice which at 
 the opening of the preceding vision he had 
 heard. The angelic attendance is continued 
 here, and the same voice addresses him. — 
 Which said, Come up hither. We are 
 not, of course, to suppose any change of 
 bodily presence. It is well known how in- 
 dependent, for a special purpose, the soul 
 may for a time be made of its bodily liabi- 
 tation. Paul tells us, in a well-known pas- 
 sage (2Cor. 12: 2-4), of "a man in Christ," him- 
 self no doubt, "caught up to the third 
 heaven" and made to hear "unspeakable 
 words." Other examples of a like kind are 
 upon authentic record. It is an ecstatic, 
 trance-like condition, in which the soul be- 
 comes independent of the body for all pur- 
 poses of self-transmission, perceiving, hcftr- 
 ing, and knowing. — And I will show thee 
 things which must be hereafter. These 
 
 words should be especially marked. They 
 are a clue to the real purpose of all the 
 visions which follow, and to the symbolism 
 employed in relating them. This one now 
 immediately before us, while it is a vision, a 
 manifestation of God, a "theophany," does 
 not have this for its sole, or even its chief 
 aim, nor does it even attempt to make any 
 adequate revelation to us of the divine and 
 the heavenly glory. It simply presents to 
 view, under a guise of resplendent imagery, 
 so much of the attributes of the Divine 
 Being, and so much of what is heavenlj^ as 
 may further the end really in view — which is 
 to show things that must be hereafter. 
 
 2. And immediately I was in the Spirit. 
 "Immediately I became in the Spirit." The 
 seer must have been "in the Spirit" when 
 he saw the door open, and heard the voice of 
 the angel, since these things would be plainly 
 impossible to one in his normal state. There 
 came now, however, as Alford explains, "a 
 new accession of the Spirit's powerful in- 
 fluence." — And, behold, a throne was set 
 in heaven. "A throne lay in heaven," 
 would be the more exact translation. But 
 the English word so used, would not convey 
 an idea congruous and becoming, in our 
 idiom. We never speak of a throne as 
 "laid." "Was placed" would convey a 
 wrong impression, as if the act of placing the 
 throne occurred under the eye of the seer. 
 We nvAy render, "And lo, a throne had been 
 set, or placed in heaven.' What is to be 
 understood is that, as .John in the S))irit drew 
 near and gazed upon the amazing vision be- 
 fore him, the object which first engaged his 
 attention was "a throne." — And one sat 
 [was sitting] on the throne. The Divine 
 Being thus revealed is, in subsequent parts of 
 the book, named as "God which sitteth ui)on 
 the throne" (':io), "God that sat on the 
 throne" (is^^), "him that sitteth upon the 
 throne" (5:i»), where a plain distinction is 
 made between him who is thus .«eated, and 
 "the Lamb," as also in 6: 16, "hide us from 
 the face of him that sitteth on the throne, 
 and from the wrath of the Lamb." It is 
 God the Father who is meant. His enthrone- 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 EEVELATIOK 
 
 77 
 
 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and 
 a sardine stoue: "and there ivas a rainbow round about 
 the throne, iu sight like unto an emerald. 
 
 3 and one sitting upon the throne; and he that sat was 
 to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius: and 
 there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an 
 
 merit, in the vision, implies that supremacy 
 in point of office, if we may so speak, every- 
 where in the New Testament assigned to him ; 
 the Second Person in the Trinity appearing 
 throughout these visions in those offices which 
 he assumed as the Redeemer of men, and 
 " Prince of tlie kings of the earth" ; and the 
 Third Divine Person, under another sym- 
 bolism, soon to be noticed, as the spiritual 
 Enlightener and Purifier. It is to be ob- 
 served that John does not name either the 
 Father, the Son, or the Spirit, in this opening 
 vision ; his narrative of what he saw being 
 strictly in accordance with the impression 
 made upon him as he gazed. He tells us 
 simply what he did see, without attempting, 
 at all, to go back of the vision as it actually 
 was, or to explain the striking figures that 
 appeared in it, otherwise than as they pre- 
 sented themselves to him at the moment. 
 There seems no good reason to suppose, with 
 some commentators, that the Divine Occu- 
 pant of the throne is not here more expressly 
 indicated because of any Jewish reserve in 
 uttering the name regarded by Jews as too 
 sacred to be spoken. Such reserve would be 
 out of keeping with the whole spirit of the New 
 Testament. When Jesus taught men to say 
 "Our Father," he set a seal of discredit upon 
 all whatever which should make the divine 
 name a name of dread, save to its enemies. 
 3. And he that sat was to look upon 
 like a jasper and a sardine stone. We 
 are here reminded of what Ezekiel saw in the 
 vision related in the beginning of his proph- 
 ecy (i:*). Out of that "brightness" which 
 symbolized the divine presence and glory, 
 there was "as the color of amber, out of the 
 midst of the fire" — an amber-colored gleam. 
 Again, in 8:3, there is described, "as the 
 appearance of brightness, as the color of 
 amber." Daniel (7:9) describes "the Ancient 
 of Days" in a garment white as snow, and 
 the hair of his head like the pure wool ; his 
 throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels 
 as burning fire." More nearly parallel with 
 our present passage is that in Eev. 21 : 11, 
 where, of the New Jerusalem, "descending 
 out of heaven from God, having the glory of 
 
 God," it is said that "her light was like unto 
 a .stone most precious, even like a jasper- 
 stone, clear as crystal." The jasper is de- 
 scribed by ancient writers as of many colors : 
 "purple, cerulean, green, etc," says Stuart, 
 and sometimes of a crystal whiteness. It is 
 the last that seems intended here — the pure 
 white jasper, "crystal-like in clearness." 
 The sardine-stone— sardius — was a red colored 
 stone — "the blood-red sardius," one ancient 
 writer calls it. The crystal jasper may be 
 taken as symbolizing divine holiness; the 
 blood-red sardius God's punitive righteous- 
 ness. Some interpreters think we should con- 
 ceive the description here, as if the crystal- 
 like appearance is seen in one part, and the 
 red in another— "the clear light of the jasper 
 above, and the red gleam of the sardius 
 below"; so Diisterdieck quotes Ziillig and 
 Hengstenberg, not, however, with approba- 
 tion. Diisterdieck himself thinks we should 
 view the jasper radiance and the sardius 
 radiance as blending in a twofold gleam 
 igedojypelte Glanz) — "a profoundly significant 
 token of the essential oneness of God's holi- 
 ness and righteousness." — And there was a 
 rainboAV round about the throne, in sight 
 like unto an emerald. Soine commenta- 
 tors, as Bengel and Hengstenberg, think we 
 should conceive this bow as encompassing the 
 encircling thrones of the twenty-four elders, 
 mentioned in the next verse. There is noth- 
 ing in the description given to indicate this. 
 What John sees is evidently like that which 
 Ezekiel describes in his own vision (i:2s): 
 "As the appearance of the bow that is in the 
 cloud in the day of rain, so was the appear- 
 ance of the brightness, round about"; the 
 surpassing and over-awing splendor of the 
 divine manifestation being thus encircled 
 with the reassuring token of covenant mercy. 
 The bow may be viewed as having the ap- 
 pearance of a crown encircling the head of 
 the throne, and of the august being seated 
 there. Whether the word in the Greek text 
 ('pi«) should be translated "rainbow," strictly 
 with the meaning commonly attached to that 
 word, may be doubtful. But a single color is 
 here mentioned — the emerald green. Some 
 
78 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 4 "And round about the throne were four and twenty 
 seats: and upon the seats I saw lour and twenty elders 
 sitting, ''clotlied in white raiment; <^and they had on 
 their heads crowns of gold. 
 
 4 emerald to look upon. And round about the throne 
 were four and twenty thrones: and upon the thrones 
 I saw four and twenty elders ^5ittiug, arrayed in white 
 
 ach. U : 16....& ch. 3:4, 5; 6 : 11 ; 7:9, 13. U; 19: 14.... ever. 10. 
 
 think that we may simply view this as the 
 predominnting color. It is safer to take the 
 description as it reads. For the same reason, 
 we decline the suggestion of other interpre- 
 ters, that a blending of the three colors 
 named may be intended — the jasper, the sar- 
 dius, and the emerald. The meaning seems to 
 be that the two former are seen united in the 
 resplendence of the divine form filling the 
 throne, while the encompassing bow bears 
 simply the soft green of the emerald. "In 
 agreement with the symbolical meaning of 
 that twofold gleam," says Diisterdieck, al- 
 luding to the jasper and the sardius, "is the 
 mild emerald, which indeed in itself is a 
 token of the divine grace." He does not ac- 
 cept, however, Hengstenberg's view that the 
 bow in the vision here is, as the latter sup- 
 poses it to be, always "a sign of grace return- 
 in[i after wraths He prefers that of Grotius : 
 "In his judgments God is ever mindful of 
 his covenant." {Deus in judiciis foederis 
 semper suis meminit). Stuart's remark upon 
 this passage is as follows: "The rainbow (Jpi?), 
 around the throne, is an exquisite conception. 
 Such was the splendor of the throne, that the 
 eye could not bear it. It is softened by this 
 beautiful veil cast over the scene." This 
 may, in general, be accepted; but must not 
 be pressed so far as to confuse, with the radi- 
 ance as a whole, the distinctive form of the 
 bow. 
 
 4. The Four and Twenty Elders. 
 And round about the throne were four 
 and twenty seats. The word for "seats" 
 is the same as for "throne" in verse 2. We 
 should read accordingly, "four and twenty 
 thrones." The significance of this will appear 
 farther on. — And upon the seats [thrones] I 
 saw four and twenty elders sitting, 
 clothed in white raiment. The word 
 "elders" (irpso-^urepoi/s), is a title of dignity. 
 The elders, here, are representative persons, 
 their presence supplying to this group of 
 striking and significant symbols an important 
 element. In studying the import of this feature 
 of the vision, we must bear in mind that what 
 John now sees is introductory to revelations 
 soon to be made to him of the "things which 
 
 must be hereafter"; the future of the church 
 of Jesus Christ, and of the world itself in its 
 relation thereto. In him who sits upon the 
 throne, the resplendent centre of this august 
 assembly, he sees God, as holy, just, and yet 
 gracious. In the entirety of the vision, as we 
 shall find, representative forms appear, fore- 
 shadowing the forces that will enter into the 
 historical events soon to pass in panoramic 
 succession before the eyes of the seer. Con- 
 spicuous among these are those which repre- 
 sent the church, or kingdom, of Jesus Christ. 
 This is the oiRce assigned in the vision to the 
 occupants of the twenty-four encircling 
 thrones. So far, there seems to be substan- 
 tial agreement amongst interpreters. Upon 
 the question why these representatives of 
 Christ's spiritual kingdom, or church, should 
 be twenty-four in number, opinions differ. 
 Some fanciful reasons are given, which need 
 not be noticed here. A more consistent one 
 supposes an allusion to the twenty-four 
 courses of the Jewish priests, to one of which 
 Zachariah, "of the course of Abia," is spoken 
 of (Luke 1 .-5) as belonging. Grotius assumes — 
 with no evidence to go upon, however — that 
 in the Church at Jerusalem there may have 
 been this number of elders, and that this sup- 
 plies a reason for what appears here. Others 
 take the number as denoting the doubling of 
 that of the original twelve tribes, to indicate 
 the incoming of the Gentiles into the Chris- 
 tian Church. Our own preference is for the 
 view which takes the twenty-four elders as 
 representative of the twelve heads of tribes 
 under the Old Dispensation, and the twelve 
 apostles under the New. How this view stands 
 related to the general theory of interpretation 
 adopted for this portion of the book, together 
 with the special significance of this feature 
 in the vision, we notice more at large in the 
 General Comments below. The "white rai- 
 ment" in which they are "clothed," explained 
 elsewhere (i9:8) as "the righteousness of 
 saints," has no reference to the personal char- 
 acter, of either patriarchs or apostles, but only 
 to the representative character of tliese elders 
 seen in the vision.— And they had on their 
 heads crowns of gold. The white robes 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 79 
 
 5 And out of the throne proceeded "lightnings and 
 thunderings and voices: 'and there were seven lamps 
 of fire burning before the throne, which are "the seven 
 Spirits of (iod. 
 
 6 And before the throne there was ''a sea of glass like 
 unto crystal: 'and in the midst of the throne, and 
 round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes 
 before /and behind. 
 
 5 garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. And 
 out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and 
 thunders. And there were seven lamps of tire burn- 
 ing before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of 
 
 6 God; 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 creatures full of 
 
 ich. 8:5; 16: 18 6 Ex.27: 23; 2 Chron. 4 : 20 ; Ezek. 1 : 13 : Zech. 4:2 cch. 1 : 4; 3: I; 
 
 e Ezek. 1:5 / ver. n. 1 Ov, be/ore. 
 
 e....d Ex. 38:3; ch. 15:2. 
 
 and the crowns, as Alford justly remarks, 
 show that "these twenty -four elders are not 
 angels," as some have imagined. These are 
 "the rewards of endu7'ance" ; rewards prom- 
 ised, as for example, in chs. 3 : 6 ; 2 : 10. 
 "While representing, in respect of official dig- 
 nity, the spiritual kingdom of God, as com- 
 prehending both Dispensations, the robed and 
 crowned elders represent also in that which 
 they have thus received — the "white raiment" 
 and the "crowns" — that holiness of character 
 and exaltation of condition which are prom- 
 ised to them who are faithful unto death. 
 The thrones in which they sit and the crowns 
 they wear are strictly in accordance with 
 words spoken by our Lord himself in his 
 earthly ministry, and with the whole New 
 Testament representation of the relation which 
 the redeemed hold in that kingdom of grace 
 wherein they stand. They are not as subjects 
 to be ruled, but as participants, as in the 
 struggle, so in the victory and the glory. 
 Observe the "new song" of the four beasts 
 and the elders in ch. 5: 10 — "and hast made 
 us unto our God kings and priests." 
 
 5. The Throke and the Lamp.s of 
 Fire. And out of the throne proceedeth 
 lightnings and thunderings and voices. 
 A like manifestation of the divine presence 
 is seen at Exodus 19: 16, where it is said that 
 in the mount upon which God descended 
 "there were thunderings and lightnings, and 
 a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice 
 of a trumpet, exceeding loud." In Kev. 8: 
 5, as also 11 : 19, the divine majesty, sover- 
 eignty, and might, seem to be indicated by 
 like tokens. Quite consistently with what is 
 to follow in exhibiting the judgments of God 
 as seen in human history, these terror-striking 
 signs of his presence and power are given. — 
 And there were seven lamps of fire 
 burning before the throne, which are 
 the seven Spirits of God. Mention of 
 "the seven Spirits which are before his 
 throne'' has already been made (1 = *). In 
 
 that place, it seems impossible to understand 
 by the seven Spirits, "seven presence-angels 
 of the highest rank," as is done by Stuart. 
 It is inconceivable that in the words of solemn 
 benediction there used, created beings, of 
 however high a rank, should be associated 
 with "him which is, and which was, and 
 which is to come," and with "Jesus Christ, 
 who is the faithful witness, and the first- 
 begotten of the dead, and the prince of the 
 kings of the earth." Angels are never in the 
 Scripture — and never should be anywhere — 
 associated thus with the divine being in hu- 
 man invocation. As in 1 : 4, so here, we must 
 understand by "the seven Spirits of God" 
 the mode of representation adopted for the 
 Holy Spirit himself — mentioned here, how- 
 ever, with reference, not so much to his per- 
 sonality iistoh\soperatio7is. Three things are 
 to be specially noticed: (1) These are lamps— 
 they give light; (2) they are lamps of fire — 
 the element that both purifies and consumes ; 
 (3) they are in number seven — the number of 
 perfection. Taking the lamps, therefore, as 
 symbolizing the Divine Holy Spirit in his 
 operations, we find him set forth in them as 
 enlightening, as purifying, as consuming dross 
 and evil, and as possessing in liis operation, 
 as in his person, divine perfection. 
 
 6-8. The Crystal Sea and the Four 
 Living Creatures. 
 
 6. And before the throne there was a 
 sea of glass like unto crystal. We should 
 read, "And before the throne there was as if 
 (<os) a sea of glass." The qualifying particle 
 "as," or "as if," should be taken as applying 
 to the whole description; not simply that the 
 sea was like crystal ; but the appearance itself 
 was that of a sea — not an actual sea — but 
 what had that appearance. Here again we 
 trace a notable resemblance to descriptions of 
 the glory of God's presence found in the Old 
 Testament; as in Ezek. 1:22, where "the 
 likeness of the firmament" seen "upon the 
 heads of the living creature"— on this firma- 
 
80 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 7 "And the first beast u-ajs like a lion, and the second 
 beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a 
 man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 
 
 7 eyes before and behind. 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 
 
 a Num. 2 : 2, eto. ; Ezek. 1 : 10 ; 10: 11. 
 
 ment the throne of Deity being placed— "was 
 as the color of the terrible crystal. "And 
 again, in Exodus (2*:io), when Moses and 
 Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of 
 the elders of Israel, as they ascended into the 
 mount, "saw the God of Israel; and there 
 was under his feet as it were a paved work of 
 a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of 
 heaven in his clearness." Such a representa- 
 tion as this crystal sea, appears therefore to 
 belong in some measure to the Scriptural 
 conception of God, when manifesting himself 
 in the peculiar glory of his nature. Con- 
 sistently with the symbolism implied in the 
 crystal clearness of the splendor of his person, 
 is that of the crystal sea. It is unwise to at- 
 tempt specific interpretations of this symbol- 
 ism; as, with Vitringa, denoting "the certain 
 and constant will of God," or with Dii^ter- 
 dieck, as identical with the "river of water 
 of life," elsewhere spoken of as "proceeding 
 out of the throne." Least of all can we 
 understand, with Ebrard, that "the pure and 
 calm sea represents the creatures in their 
 proper relation to their Creator." The con- 
 ception appears to be quite a general one, 
 and to denote, as Alford expresses it, "the 
 purity, calmness, and majesty of God's rule" 
 — a view which seems consistent with the 
 fact that upon this crystal sea, or pavement 
 like a shining sea, the divine throne is seen 
 to rest. There is, also, as Alford suggests, 
 an idea of isolation implied. The seer be- 
 holds at a distance, across the wide expanse, 
 the throne of the Divine Majesty; while we 
 must suppose that the encircling thrones 
 of the elders are in like manner aloof from 
 the immediate presence of him, whose holi- 
 ness and majesty enthrone him thus in 
 splendor "which no man can approach 
 unto."— And in the midst of the throne, 
 and round about the throne, were four 
 beasts. As Alford well says, the transla- 
 tion of the Greek word (gwa) by the word 
 "beasts" is "the most unfortunate that 
 could be imagined." Nothing could be 
 more confusing to one seeking to form some 
 clear idea of what is here described, and 
 dependent wholly upon the reading of our 
 
 common English Version. The Greek word 
 means "living beings," or "living creatures." 
 The former, is perhaps, preferable. It is used 
 in application to these four beings, evidently, 
 because a more specific term could not with 
 propriety be employed. The forms seen are 
 not those of men, nor yet of angels, nor do 
 they appear to have throughout the likeness 
 of any known being. They are wholly sym- 
 bolical, and come into the vision purely as 
 such, and with a representative intention, as 
 we shall see. The only designation suitable 
 for them, therefore, is this which is em- 
 ployed — the general, and in some sense 
 vague one of "living creatures." Of like 
 significance is the word (chay5th) used by 
 Ezekiel (i: 5, lo. 13. etc.), and translated "living 
 creatures," in our version. The word.s, "in 
 the midst of the throne, and round about the 
 throne," are difficult of explanation. The 
 four living beings cannot have been under the 
 throne, as Hengstenborg and Stuart maintain ; 
 because in ch. 5: 8, they are represented in 
 a freedom of action which makes that im- 
 possible. The best interpretation of the 
 words is that which views these symbolical 
 beings as placed, one at the middle point — 
 "in the midst" — of each of the four sides 
 of the throne, and at some distance from it. 
 This is the view taken by Ziillig, Dii-;ter- 
 dieck, Alford, and others.— Full of eyes 
 before and behind. They stood facing the 
 throne, so that the eyes in front and behind 
 could be seen by the beholder. The signifi- 
 cance of the words, "full of eyes," will be 
 noticed directly, in another connection. 
 
 7. And the first beast Avas like a lion, 
 and the second beast like a calf, and the 
 third beast had a face as a man, and the 
 fourth beast was like a flying eagle. An 
 ancient Jewish saying is quoted (Schoettgen, 
 in Meyer) to this effect: "There are four 
 which take the first place in this world : man 
 among the creatures, the eagle among birds, 
 the ox among cattle, and the lion among wild 
 beasts." The word in the text (/nocrxos), trans- 
 lated "calf, means rather a young bul- 
 lock," or "a steer," and corresponds to the 
 ox in the symbols of Ezekiel's vision (i:io), 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 81 
 
 8 And the four beasts had each of thera "six wings 
 about him; and they were full of eyes 'within: and 
 they rest not day and night, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy, 
 ''Lord God Almighty, « which was, and is, and is to 
 to come. 
 
 8 fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 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 night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, 
 is the Lord (iod, the Almighty, who was and who 
 
 ilsa.6: 2 b ver. « c Isa. 6:3 d ch. 1 : 
 
 where also we find, with the ox, the man, the 
 lion, and the eagle. The interpretation of 
 these symbols, or representative forms — for 
 such we must take them to be— may be either, 
 that they represent divine attributes — as, the 
 lion strength, the ox patience, the man in- 
 telligence, the eagle swiftness — or that they 
 represent the animate creation, in its four 
 great classes. Against the former of these 
 interpretations there lies the apparently fatal 
 objection that the four "living beings" are 
 described in ver. 8, as day and night giving 
 praise to God, and in ch. 5 : 8, as, in company 
 with the four and twenty elders, falling pros- 
 trate in adoration before the Lamb. We 
 cannot suppose it to be the design of the 
 writer to represent divine attributes as thus 
 offering worship to God and the Lamb. The 
 second explanation proposed is clearly the 
 preferable one. It is not at all uncommon 
 for the Scriptures to represent the creation of 
 God as offering praise to him, as in Psalm 
 145: 10, we read: "All thy works shall praise 
 thee, O Lord" ; and when it is added, "and 
 thy saints shall bless thee," it is a word quite 
 in keeping with what is shown us in the 
 vision John describes. In the two great 
 spheres of creation and redemption, God 
 manifests himself These two are here ex- 
 hibited under representative forms; the cre- 
 ated universe in those four great classes of 
 animated being in which are supremely seen 
 the qualities of strength, of intelligence, of 
 patience, and of swiftness — these giving ut- 
 terance to that praise which creation as a 
 whole renders to the Creator; the redeemed 
 church of all ages in the venerable forms of 
 patriarchs and apostles, so seated as to show 
 how perfect is the circle of God's redeeming 
 plan, and in the thrones they fill showing 
 how completely has come to pass that .saying 
 of the Lord: "Ye are they which have con- 
 tinued with me in my temptations, and I 
 appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father 
 hath appointed unto me, that ye may .... 
 sit on thrones ' . . .—And the four beasts 
 had each of them six wings about him. 
 A different pointing will give to our text 
 
 a different and more correct meaning, in 
 some respects. The word {KVK\69ey) translated 
 "about him," belongs with the clause next 
 following. In a perfectly literal rendering 
 we should read : "And the four living beings 
 had each of them six wings apiece" [the 
 Greek particle {avd) a distributive word here]. 
 The expression would be in our idioju tauto- 
 logical, but in the Greek is emphatic. Why 
 six wings? If we may interpret the sym- 
 bolism as in the seraphim seen by Isaiah 
 (6:2), "with twain he" — each seraph — "cov- 
 ered his face, and with twain he covered his 
 feet, and with twain he did fly," we may 
 view the six wings as used, in the first in- 
 stance, to denote reverence (the face covered 
 in the divine presence), in the second hu- 
 mility (the covering of the feet), and in the 
 third obedience (swiftly flying to do God's 
 will). — And they were full of eyes within. 
 Correcting the punctuation as above, we read, 
 "And round about and within they were full 
 of eyes," so that the whole passage will stand: 
 "And the four living beings had each of 
 them six wings apiece ; and round about and 
 within, they were full of eyes." This is partly 
 a repetition, and partly a more full expression 
 of what is said in ver. 6. It is the wings here, 
 which are represented as "full of eyes"; as 
 Alford and Diisterdieck explain: "Round 
 the outside of each wing, and up the inside of 
 each [half-expanded] wing, and of the part of 
 the body also which was in that inside recess." 
 In like manner, in Ezekiel's vision, the living 
 wheels are represented as "full of eyes" (i:i8). 
 This part of the description must be associated, 
 if we would apprehend its significance prop- 
 erly, with that which follows. 
 
 8-11. Worship of the Creatures, and 
 OF THE Redeemed. 
 
 8. And they rest not day and night, 
 saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al- 
 mighty, which was, and is, and is to 
 come. With this representation, as Diister- 
 dieck shows, "the innumerable, ever-wakeful 
 eyes" well agree. The words of the Psalmist, 
 "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night 
 unto night showeth knowledge," express the 
 
82 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and 
 thanks to him that sat on the throne, "who liveth lor 
 ever and ever, 
 
 10 'The four and twenty elders fall down before him 
 that sat on the throne, ■'and worship him that liveth 
 for ever and ever, ''and cast their crowns before the 
 throne, saying, 
 
 11 «Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and 
 honour and power: /lor thou hast created all things, 
 apd for thy pleasure they are and were created. 
 
 9 is and 'who is to come. And when the living crea- 
 tures shall give glory and honor and thanks to him 
 that sitteth on the throne, to him that liveth -for ever 
 
 10 and ever, the four and twenty elders shall fall down 
 before him that sitteth on the throne, and shall wor- 
 ship him that liveth 2Jbr ever and ever, and shall cast 
 
 11 their crowns before the throne, saying. 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. 
 
 ach.l: 18; 5:14; 15 
 
 ; 7 i ch. 5 : 8. 14 c ver. 9 d ver. 4. 
 
 ch. 10: 6. 1 Or, who cometh... 
 
 ..eeh. 5: 12.... /Gen. 1:1; Acts 17: 24; Ephes. :<:9; Col. 1 : 16 ; 
 .2 Gr. unto the ages of the ages. 
 
 same sublime idea. It should be noticed how 
 this worship of the four living beings, repre- 
 8en.sative of creation, expresses profound and 
 adoring reverence; confessing with awe and 
 adoration the greatness of God and the per- 
 fection of his character. They worship him 
 ag the Almighty 'Lord God, and the holy One, 
 the perfect and the eternal One. Such, in- 
 deed, is the witness of creation to the Creator. 
 
 9. And when those beasts give glory 
 and honor and thanks to him that sat 
 on the throne, who liveth forever and 
 ever. — The translation is very imperfect. 
 There is no word for "those" in the correct 
 tpxt. "\Ve should read, "And when the liv- 
 ing creatures." The verb that follows is in 
 the future, ".shall give." 
 
 10. The four and twenty elders fall 
 down before him that sat on the throne. 
 We must read "the four and twenty elders 
 shall fall," etc., the verb here again being in 
 the future. This tense of the verb, however, 
 i^ to be taken in a frequentative, rather than 
 ■with a strictly future sense ; the meaning 
 being, "as often as." What we are told then, 
 is, that the elders join with the living crea- 
 tures in ascriptions of praise and thanksgiving 
 to him that sits upon the throne. — And wor- 
 ship him that liveth forever and ever. 
 The eternity of God is the attribute especi- 
 ally recognized, additional to tho.se made con- 
 Si)icuous in the theophany. And cast [shall 
 cast] their crowns before the throne. 
 The act appears to have a d<iuble significance : 
 it recognizes that the crowns are the gift of 
 the enthroned One ; and it is an act of self- 
 humiliation, as in the presence of him "before 
 w.hom no creature has any honor or glory" 
 (Piisterdieck). 
 
 11. Saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, 
 to receive glory and honor and power. 
 The iSinaitic manuscript reads: "Thou art 
 ■worthy, O Lord, our Lord and God;" the 
 Alexandrine, "Our Lord and God." Tisch- 
 
 endorf adopts the latter. Al ford quotes Diis- 
 terdieck as noting "that the word 'our' 
 {rinwv), has a force here peculiarly belonging 
 to the twenty-four elders, as representing the 
 redeemed, and thus standing in a covenant 
 relation to God nearer than that of the four 
 living beings." — For thou hast created all 
 things. It is as Creator that even the repre- 
 sentatives of the redeemed church in this 
 place are seen paying him adoration. — And 
 for thy pleasure they are and were 
 created. Literally, "on account of," or, 
 ' ' because of thy will. " The work of creation 
 is an act of the divine good pleasure; the 
 execution of God's own infinitely wise pur- 
 pose, the ground of which is wholly in him- 
 self. "Are and were created" is a mistran.s- 
 lation. The first of the two verbs is in a pa.st 
 tense {^aav) like the second. We should read, 
 " Because of thy will'' [because thou willedst 
 it], "they were'^ [they exissted], "and were 
 created." Their existence was by the will of 
 God, as by his power they were created. We 
 may, perhaps, as this utterance of praise is by 
 representatives of the redeemed church, un- 
 derstand a reference to that more ultimate 
 purpose of creation which redemption implies. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 The exposition has, in various instances, 
 taken note of the striking resemblance of the 
 symbolism of this vision of God and the court 
 of heaven to that which is found in Ezekiel 
 and in Isaiah. To this feature, also, we have 
 called attention in the Introduction, in our 
 Analj'sis of the book, and especially in notic- 
 ing the strongly Hebraistic character of the 
 representation in this first division of the main 
 subject, embracing Chs. IV.— XI., inclusive. 
 We regard the church, in this portion of the 
 book, as viewed in its Judaico-Christian con- 
 ception ; that is to s ay, as tlie true Israel. The 
 prophecy, here, accordingly opens in much the 
 same waj' as those of Ezekiel and Isaiah, in 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 83 
 
 AND I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the 
 throne °a book written within and on the baclc- 
 side, 'sealed with seven seals. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1 And I saw 'in the right hand of him that sat on 
 the throne a book written within and on the back, 
 
 o Ezek. 2 : 9, 10. . . .i Isa. 29 : 11 ; Dan. 12 : 4. 1 Gr. 
 
 which God's purposes toward Israel as a nation 
 were to be dechired. It will be found, as we 
 proceed, that the symbolism used throughout 
 this division of the book, in opening up views 
 of the future of the Christian Church, as re- 
 vealed to John and through him to the churches 
 of his own and of each succeeding age, con- 
 tinues to hold this resemblance to that of the 
 older prophets named, including, also, that of 
 the prophet Joel. 
 
 The grouping of representative forms in the 
 vision, has a marked significance, when asso- 
 ciated with what is revealed of the Divine 
 Majesty in its enthronement. God appears in 
 those attributes that most declare his great- 
 ness and his glory as the infinitely holy and 
 the Almighty. The living creatures, sym- 
 bolizing creation, and the four and twenty 
 enthroned elders, symbolizing the redeemed 
 church, represent his divine work in its two 
 grand spheres, those in which and through 
 which his character, in the splendor of its 
 infinite excellence, shines forth to the view of 
 all intelligences. As God, thus glorious, thus 
 enthroned, attended thus by adoring wit- 
 nesses to his works of creation and redemp- 
 tion, he now discloses to his servant the things 
 which must shortly come to pass. The events 
 to be set forth in vision, the mighty vicissitudes 
 of time and change, the judgments to be 
 visited upon powerful enemies and the vic- 
 torious deliverances wrought for his people, 
 even in their weakness and in the hour of their 
 apparent defeats— these are seen to be all at 
 the will of him who sits enthroned, encircled 
 by those that testify in adoring worship to 
 the wonders wrought, alike when he made the 
 world and when he redeemed it. Most fittingly 
 and significantly, therefore, does this sublime 
 theophany meet us at the very threshold of the 
 revelations now to be made. 
 
 A suggestive remark by Dr. Vaughan, in 
 his lecture upon this chapter, may be added 
 here: "If the thought of the four living be- 
 ings which typify creation has something of 
 comfort for us in reference to the world above, 
 how much more that of men of our own flesh 
 and likeness, who are already clad in the 
 
 robes of priesthood, and admitted to the right 
 hand of God and to the ministrations of the 
 heavenly temple ! That world is not all peopled 
 with strange and unknown forms. Men are 
 there; patriarchs, prophets, apostles; saints 
 and martyrs; common men, too, poor men, 
 humble men, men whom we have known, men 
 whom we have loved, familiar forms, friends 
 and guides, young and old, now made perfect 
 through sufferings; they are there; and one 
 part, no doubt, of their employment is adora- 
 tion ; they fall down before him that sits on 
 the throne, and cast their crowns before the 
 throne, saying, 'Thou art worthy, O Lord.' 
 But this is not all. It is no fancied lesson 
 which bids us read in this chapter a proof of 
 their care also and interest in us; of their 
 being, as it were, members of a heavenly 
 council of which the subject is earth, earth 
 and its fortunes, the church in its struggle 
 with the world, the soul of the Christian com- 
 batant in its battle with the powers of evil." 
 
 When the attending angel in his trumpet 
 voice summons John to "come up hither," 
 he adds, "and I will show thee things which 
 must be hereafter." This is equivalent to an 
 assertion of the prophetic character of the 
 revelations about to be made. That ration- 
 alistic method of interpretation, therefore, 
 which throws out the prophetic element, and 
 treats the book as exhibiting matters of cur- 
 rent or recent history in a kind of allegory, 
 comes directly in conflict with what the book 
 itself declares of its own nature. "Things 
 which must be hereafter"— that is its subject. 
 The attitude of the seer is that of one fore- 
 telling things to come. The alternative is 
 clear; either this prophetic character must 
 be admitted, and the theory of interpretation 
 adjusted accordingly, or the very integrity 
 of the author and of his book must stand 
 impeached. 
 
 THE SEALED BOOK. 
 
 1-4. The Book. 
 
 1. And I saw in the right hand of him 
 that sat on the throne. Properly speak- 
 ing, the "Revelation" (the dn-oKoAui/ii;) here 
 
84 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 begins. All up to this point has been more 
 or less preliminary and preparatory. Ex- 
 ceedingly significant, too, is this opening 
 scene, in which we have the sealed book, and 
 the Divine Person who alone is able to open 
 it. We ought, as it would seem, to connect 
 what appears here with the words of an- 
 nouncement in ch. 1 : 1 : " The Kevelation of 
 Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him." 
 The book of that Revelation is now seen in 
 ("upon" €7ri) the hand of him that sits upon 
 the throne; and, as appears eventually, it is 
 the Lord Jesus, in his manifestation as the 
 Redeemer, who takes the book and breaks 
 the seal. In this way the two great facts are 
 made evident and significant, (1) that the dis- 
 closures here made of divine purpose, God 
 himself makes, while (2) the medium and in- 
 strument of them, is that same Being who, 
 during the whole course of human history, 
 from that beginning which is already upon 
 record to that end which is still a prophecy, 
 is the Daysman, the Mediator, in every way, 
 between God and men.— A book, written 
 w^ithin and on the backside. Of course, 
 it is only as we rightly conceive the form of 
 the book that we can understand this descrip- 
 tion. It is a book in the ancient, not the 
 modern, form — a roll ; in this case written 
 upon both sides, so that the writing appears 
 botli within and without; within &i\A on the 
 back, or the side "Avhich, to one reading the 
 inner, was behind" (Alford). Parchment 
 rolls written in this way appear to have been 
 called " opistographs," or rolls "written on 
 the back," meaning that both sides were cov- 
 ered. In the present case there seems to be a 
 significance in the fact of the roll being thus 
 covered in every part. It implies, says Al- 
 ford, " completeness of the contents as con- 
 taining the divine counsels; there was no 
 room for addition to that which was writ- 
 ten tiierein." So likewise, Diisterdieck. In 
 Hejigstenberg's view, we have a "prototype 
 of this book" at Ezek. 2:9, 10: "And when 
 I looked, behold a hand was sent unto me 
 [reached out to me] : and lo, a roll of a book 
 was therein : And lie spread it before me, 
 and it was written within and without; and 
 there was written therein lamentations, and 
 mourning, and woe." Fully carrying out 
 this idea that the Ijook in Ezekiel is the "pro- 
 totype" of the book here, Hongstenberg un- 
 derstands the latter also as filled with "la- 
 
 mentations, and mourning, and woe," or, as 
 he quotes Schottgen, a record of "the sen- 
 tence which is given by the judge and his 
 councillors against the enemies of the church." 
 Consistently with this view, he makes the 
 contents of the Sealed Book include only so 
 much as is found in chs. 6-8: 1, at which 
 latter point, he claims, "an entirely new 
 series of revelations" begins. Of this last 
 we fail to find the needful evidence. The 
 series at the point indicated seems plainly 
 continuous, save so far as new action is em- 
 ployed, with another class of representative 
 figures and symbols, to carry on tlie dis- 
 closures of divine purpose as written in the 
 book. Besides, nearly the whole of ch. 7 
 is occupied, not with executions of divine 
 judgment against enemies of the church, but 
 with grace and redemption wrought for the 
 church itself. It is much more natural and 
 consistent to view the book as covering, in its 
 symbolical significance, all the revelations 
 here made, down to the very end. In this 
 figurative sense, the Apocalypse, the revela- 
 tion, is simply the opening of the book. — 
 Sealed with seven seals. Some commen- 
 tators have understood by this that there were 
 seven distinct writings, each with its separate 
 seal. Others, as Elliott, in "Hone Apoca- 
 lypticae," have exercised no small ingenuity 
 in showing how each seal, viewing the writ- 
 ing as one, represented a separate section of 
 the whole roll, as it was unfolded. Alford 
 seems to be mistaken in saying that the book 
 was not to be "opened" or unrolled. The 
 opening is implied in ver. 5, and elsewhere. 
 Stuart's comment is as follows: "To make 
 all parts of the description congruous, we 
 must suppose the roll to have a seal upon the 
 extreme end that was rolled up, which would 
 of course prevent its being unrolled. "When 
 the first seal was broken, the MS. could be 
 unrolled, until one came to a second seal ; 
 and so in succession of the rest. Now if 
 these seals were put on so as to be visible at 
 the ends of the roll (which might easily be 
 done by some small label attached to each 
 seal indicative of its place), then John could 
 have seen the seven seals, if the end of the 
 roll was toward him; i. e., he could at least 
 have seen what indicated their presence." 
 It is perhaps unnecessary to enter into all 
 these details. They may, however, aid the 
 general conception. It should be borne in 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 85 
 
 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud 
 voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the 
 seals thereof? 
 
 3 And no man in "heaven, nor in earth, neither 
 under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to 
 look thereon. 
 
 4 And 1 wept much, because no man was found 
 worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look 
 thereon. 
 
 2 close sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong 
 angel proclaiming with agreat voice, Who is worthy to 
 
 3 open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And 
 no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the 
 earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon. 
 
 4 And i wept much, because no one was found worthy 
 
 mind that the book is not to be read, nor does 
 it have any other connection with the several 
 visions which from time to time appear, than 
 as symbolizing that perfect scheme of divine 
 purpose and fulfillment with reference alike 
 to the church and the world, parts and fea- 
 ures of which the successive visions disclose 
 in outline. The seals denote that these are 
 "secret" purposes — "parts" of those "ways" 
 of God, which are determined only in acts of 
 his own infinite thought and infinite will. 
 The seals teach, as Hengstenberg quotes Vi- 
 tringa, that "the divine decrees before they 
 are carried into execution, or have by God 
 been antecedently disclosed, are discoverable 
 by no one of the immortal angels or of mor- 
 tal men ; they are shut and concealed from 
 all." The breaking of each seal indicates 
 that so much of this purpose, whether of 
 judgment or of mercy, as appears in the 
 action of the vision in that connection is 
 disclosed. 
 
 2. And I saw a strong angel proclaim- 
 ing with a loud voice. The significance of 
 the epithet "strong," and of the clause "with 
 a loud voice," closely related in themselves, is 
 found in what appears in the verse following. 
 In heaven, in earth, and under the earth, the 
 voice is heard. — Who is worthy to open the 
 book, and to loose the seals thereof? 
 The word "worthy" (iftos). here, should prob- 
 ably be viewed as equivalent to "equal to" 
 (tKavd?), "capable of." It implies, however, 
 more than mere ability ; comprehending, with 
 the simple idea of capability, that of worthi- 
 ness. This inquiry, therefore, sounding 
 through creation, calls for one who shall be in 
 every way the fit person to act as the instru- 
 ment by whom God will make to his church 
 and to the world these discoveries of his will. 
 
 3. And no man in heaven, nor in earth, 
 neither under the earth. We should read, 
 " no one " (oi/Sels). The statement made is not 
 limited to human beings, but comprehends all 
 creatures of God, in whatever part of the 
 
 universe. The language used is evidently 
 meant to be absolutely comprehensive of 
 creation. We must mark the suggestion as 
 to the real dignity and place of him who finally 
 comes forward in this great office, that what- 
 ever he may be, he is certainly not a creature. 
 — Was able to open the book, neither to 
 look thereon. The Greek word in the best 
 manuscripts for "nor," "neither" (oyre in- 
 stead of oi55e), according to grammatical usage, 
 as AViner shows, would make the clau.se, 
 "neither to look thereon," climacteric, as if 
 it read, "nor even so much as to look there- 
 on." The representation of inability and un- 
 worthiness to discharge this office is thus made 
 the more intensely emphatic. — And I wept 
 much, because no man [no one] was found 
 worthy to open and to read the book, 
 neither to look thereon. The clause, 
 "and to read," should be omitted. It is not 
 in the oldest manu.scripts, while, as said before, 
 the book was not to be read. The weeping 
 suggests with v/hat intensity of emotion John 
 gazes upon what is thus before him in vision. 
 It is a rapt and exalted feeling, not only mak- 
 ing real to him this which he beholds, but 
 causing him to enter into its significance with 
 keenest appreciation. Strange it is that any 
 interpreter should imagine the emotion here 
 shown to be that of disappointed curiosity. 
 It was, rather, a feeling occasioned by all the 
 circumstances taken together, which had 
 awakened expectation, with a profound sense 
 of the magnitude of that whose disclosure 
 seemed thus interrupted. Deeply impressive 
 must have been the awful silence which fol- 
 lowed the proclamation by the "strong angel," 
 overwhelming in its testimony to the sacred- 
 ness of these sealed mysteries which no crea- 
 ture must declare, and yet to the infinite 
 momentousness of their import. The human 
 nature of the beholder fails under the strain, 
 and relieves itself with tears. 
 
 5-7. The Lamb in the Midst of the 
 Throne. 
 
86 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 o And one of the elders saith unto nie, Weep not : 
 behold, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, Mhe Koot of 
 David, hath i)revailed to open the book, 'and to loose 
 the seven seals thereof. 
 
 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne 
 and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, 
 stood •'a Lamb iis it had been slain, having seven horns 
 and eseven eyes, whicli are /the seven Spirits of Uod 
 8eut forth into all the earth. 
 
 5 to open the book, or to look thereon : and one of the 
 elders saith unto me, Weep not : behold, the Lion that 
 is of the tribe of Judah, the Koot of David, hatli over- 
 come, to open the book and the seven seals thereof. 
 
 G 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 horus, and seven eyes, that are the "^seven 
 
 s Gen 49-9 10; Heb. 7 : 14... b I«a. 11 : 1. 10; Rom. 15: \2; ch. 22 : 16 c ver. 1: ch. 6:1 d I<a. 5.1: 7; Johu 1 : 29, 36 ; 1 Pet. 
 
 1 • 19- ch. 13: s' ver. 9, 12 e Zech. 3: 9; 4: 10..../ch. 4: 5. 1 Or, between the throne with the /our living creatures, and the 
 
 elders.... 2 SoBie ancieut auihurities uniii seven. 
 
 5. And one of the elders saith unto me. 
 
 There is nothing to identify the elder who 
 speak.s, although some of the ancient com- 
 mentators imagined that the record which 
 Matthew makes of that saying of our Lord, 
 "All power is given unto me in heaven and 
 in earth" warrants us in finding him in the 
 elder who now speaks. All that the words 
 before us justify us in saying is that one of 
 these representative persons addresses to his 
 brother, not yet enabled to see "face to face," 
 what shall comfort and reassure him. We 
 may notice, in the connection, how what 
 was still hidden from John, though now "in 
 the Spirit," and beholding these wonders, is 
 represented as known and understood by the 
 elder who speaks to him, though so lately, 
 like himself, seeing all spiritual things as 
 "through a glass, darkly."— Weep not ; be- 
 hold the Lion of the tribe of Juda. The 
 reference seems to be to the words of Jacob in 
 Gen. 49: 9. It is the kingly nature of the lion 
 that is the subject of allusion.— The Root of 
 David. Here the reference is to such pas- 
 sages as Isa. 11 : 1 : " There shall come forth a 
 rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall 
 grow out of his roots." The Greek word, in 
 our present passage (pi^a), does not mean 
 simply "rf)ot," but as well the shoot which 
 springs from the root. The allusion in this 
 place, as in Isaiah and elsewhere, seems to be 
 to that oY)scurity into which the royal line of 
 David had fallen — the tree decayed, the root 
 surviving, though buried from sight. From 
 this buried root, however, a new growth 
 springs. Thits obscure, in one sense, yet thus 
 royal in another, was the human lineage of 
 our Lord. — Ilath prevailed to open the 
 book, and to loose the seven seals there- 
 of. The words "hath j)revailed" should be 
 regarded as significant and emphatic. Their 
 import is, not merelj' that hy virtue of the 
 dignity of his per.s()n, of his superiority to all 
 creatures, not one of whom had been found 
 
 worthy to open the book, is he now to have 
 thisoflSce given him; but he "hath prevailed," 
 hath overcome and triumphed with especial 
 reference to this. In other words, the office 
 he now fills, as the instrument for disclosing 
 what is to be here revealed, belongs to him by 
 virtue of that which he achieved in his humil- 
 iation, sufl^ering, and death. It is as one 
 raised from that humiliation to possess again 
 the glory which he hud with the Father be- 
 fore the world was, and thus become "head 
 over all things" in this Dispensation of 
 Grace, of whose coming fortunes disclosures 
 are now to be made, that he has "prevailed to 
 open the book, and to loose the seven seals 
 thereof." 
 
 6. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst 
 of the throne and of the four beasts 
 [^''living creatures^'], and in the midst of 
 the elders. Stuart's translation of the Greek 
 word for "in the mid.st of" (ev /uieaw), as "be- 
 tween," is very singular. It is evidently 
 made under the exegetical stress occasioned 
 by his view of the place of the "living crea- 
 tures," as under and supporting the throne. 
 Consistently with this he must make the posi- 
 tion of the Lamb to be "between" the throne, 
 with the four living creatures supporting it, 
 and the circle of elders. The correct transla- 
 tion of the phrase, however, is that which our 
 common version gives, "in the midst of." 
 The statement in the text, therefore, must be 
 that in the midst of the group made by the 
 throne, the four living creatures, and the 
 elders, the Lamb was standing. His exact 
 ])osition is not more precisely given ; yet from 
 what appears subsequently, where he is repre- 
 sented as taking the book out of the hand of 
 him who sits upon the throne, we may .sup- 
 pose him to stand near the throne, and partly 
 at one side; perhaps upon the .sea of glass, 
 ♦ilthough nothing in the description neces- 
 sarily suggests this. — Stood a Lamb as it 
 had been slain. Two words in the New 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 87 
 
 7 And he came and took the book out of the right 
 hand "of him tliat sat upon the throne. 
 
 7 Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he 
 came, aud he Uaketh U out of the right hand of him 
 
 -1 Gi-. hath taken. 
 
 Testament Greek are used for "Iamb" — one 
 (aixv6q\ meaning in general "a lamb," the 
 other a diminutive {ipvLov).^ "a young lamb." 
 It is worthy of notice that the latter is the 
 word used in the Apocalypse, and that as 
 among the New Testament books, it is pecu- 
 liar to it, with a single exception — the same 
 word occurring also at John 21 : 15. Else- 
 where, the former word (a/uvos) is used. The 
 diminutive, "a young lamb," suggests with 
 peculiar force the idea of "perfect innocence," 
 as Stuart says, and also brings forward with es- 
 pecial emphasis, that of a sacrificial and propi- 
 tiatory offering. In like manner, in the Old 
 Testament, as in Lev. 9: 3, we have mention 
 made of a lamb "of the first year" as required 
 to be taken for a burnt-offering. The fanciful 
 notion of Bengel, which Hengstenberg seems 
 to adopt, that the allusion is to the early age 
 at which Jesus suffered death, as compared 
 with the long life of the patriarchs represented 
 by the elders, cannot, of course, be enter- 
 tained. Still, the exclusive use of the dimi- 
 nutive term, throughout this book, with the 
 suggestion of tenderness implied, "a young 
 lamb," is worthy of note. It makes promi- 
 nent the Lord's self-sacrifice in' man's behalf, 
 the meekness, patience, innocence, of his 
 nature, and that fulfillment in his person of 
 the types of the old law, which links the two 
 Dispensations in one. Of the significance of 
 this grouping of symbolical titles applied to 
 him here — "the Lion of the tribe of Juda," 
 "the Root of David," "a young lamb, as it 
 had been slain "^ — we speak below. The ex- 
 pression, "as it had been slain," may be 
 given, paraphrastically, "as it had been slain 
 in sacrifice." The Greek word has this mean- 
 ing. The expression must indicate that the 
 Lamb, as seen, bears upon him his death- 
 wounds; the wound in the throat, especially, 
 indicated by the Greek word (i<T<i>aytJ.ivov). 
 Having seven horns and seven eyes. 
 Horns are symbols of power; eyes, of dis- 
 cernment and consequent knowledge. The 
 nuinber "seven," as elsewhere, denotes per- 
 fection. — Which are the seven Spirits of 
 God. Does the relative clause, here, "which 
 are," refer to both the horns and the eyes, or 
 to the latter only? Alford thinks that the 
 
 reference is alone to the eyes; and he would 
 read: "Having seven horns, and seven eyes, 
 which are the seven Spirits of God." The 
 other construction, he says, "would be, of 
 course, grammatically possible; but it seenis 
 otherwise decided here, both by the context, 
 and by Zech. 4: 10: 'They are the eyes o'f 
 the Lord, which run to and fro through the 
 whole earth.' " The concluding words of the 
 verse in our present passage, sent forth into 
 all the earth, do truly seem a direct allusion 
 to the passage in Zechariah. It is hot, how- 
 ever, such in its nature as to necessarily re- 
 strict the reference in "the seven Spirits of 
 God ' ' to the seven ej'es of the Lamb. Neither 
 does the context appear to require this restric- 
 tion, while the punctuation and grammatical 
 arrangement of the passage, as it stands in 
 the Greek, makes the most natural construc- 
 tion to be: "seven horns and seven eyes', 
 which are [both the horns and the eyes] thfe 
 seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all th'e 
 earth. "We take, as in ch. 3: 1, the "seven 
 Spirits of God" as denoting the perfection of 
 divine endowment possessed by our Lord, 
 and in the present case implying alike the 
 divine power and the divine wisdom which 
 he exercises, even as the Lamb that had been 
 slain. The clause "sent into all the earth," 
 applies to "the Seven Spirits of God," and de- 
 notes the omnipresence of that S])irit of powet 
 [the horns] and wisdom [the eyes] whose per- 
 fection the number seven symbolizes. 
 
 7. And he came and took the book out 
 of the right hand of him that sat upon thd 
 throne. It is, says Diisterdieck {imnothiff 
 und gescfnnacklos), "unnecessary and friv- 
 olous," to inquire whether we are to imagine 
 the Lamb to have in part a human form, 
 with human hands. The diflBculty, never- 
 theless, suggested by the question, in what 
 way the Lamb, as a lamb, could take the- 
 book, is a real one, and to dispose of it in 
 Diisterdieck' s off-hand way, will scarcely 
 satisfy any student of the passage. The ques- 
 tion, here, is pertinent, whether the Lamb, 
 though he appears first in that form, con- 
 tinues to retain it. He certainly does not' 
 bear this form where first, in the New Testa- 
 ment, we find the word applied to him,' 
 
88 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 8 And when he had taken the book, "the four beasts 
 and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lauib, 
 having every one of them <- harps, and golden vials full 
 of odours, « which are the prayers of saints. 
 
 8 that sat on the throne. 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 
 
 och.4: 8, 10.... 6 ch. 14: 2; 15: 2.... Pa. 141:2; ch.8: 3, 4. 
 
 (John 1: 29). The action described in the sixth 
 chapter, where the Lamb opens successively 
 the seven seals, suggests the idea of a change 
 such as that, though still known as the Lamb, 
 he bears the human form. In due time 
 (19: 11), he is seen going forth as leader of 
 the armies of heaven, evidently in form as 
 a man. It does not seem a violent construc- 
 tion of the representation as it stands to sup- 
 pose that in his first appearance upon the 
 scene the Lamb has the form which symbol- 
 izes his oflace as the suffering Saviour; and 
 yet, that by that kind of change which con- 
 sists wholly with the nature of a vision, or of 
 a dream (in this latter case often experienced), 
 as he advances to take the book out of the 
 hand of him that sits upon the throne, he 
 appears as a man. We do not see how else 
 the action in this chapter and the following, 
 where the Lamb takes the book and breaks 
 the seals, can be made even conceivable. 
 
 8-10. The New Song. 
 
 8. And when he had taken the book, 
 the four beasts [living ones] and four 
 and twenty elders fell down before the 
 Lamb. Tliat this is an act of real worship, 
 is shown by what appears in ver. 13, where 
 we find not only these here mentioned, but 
 the whole sentient universe, ascribing "bless- 
 ing, and honor, and glory, and power" 
 both " unt(j him that sitteth upon the throne," 
 and "wnfo the Lamb.'''' The significance of 
 this we note in the "General Comments." 
 It .should be observed how a like act of wor- 
 ship is described in ch. 4: 10, 11, as paid to 
 the Enthroned One, the divine honors yielded 
 to wliom are here shared by the Lamb. — 
 Having every one of them harps, and 
 golden vials full of odors. It seems 
 agreed by critics upon the construction of 
 this passage, that the participle "having," 
 («"xo>'T«), is to be construed, not with the two 
 preceding (fwa and Trpecr/SiTepoi), "beasts" 
 (living creatures) and "elders," but only 
 with the latter. While it is true that by 
 grammatical rules the participle may agree 
 with both these antecedents, though they 
 differ in gender, still its reference is limited 
 
 to the latter, for two reasons, as stated by 
 Alford: (1) It is unnatural to suppose figures 
 described as the four living beings are, having 
 harps or vials; and even if this is not to be 
 pressed, yet (2) it is inconsistent with the 
 right view of the four living creatures, as 
 representing creation, that they should pre- 
 sent the "prayers of the saints"; to which 
 may be added (3) Stuart's suggestion that 
 the song of praise for redemption seems 
 appropriate only to those who represent in 
 the vision the redeemed church of all ages. 
 "Having every one of them harps," is more 
 exactly rendered : " Each one having a harp," 
 etc. — Which are the prayers of the saints. 
 By the word translated "vials" (<^i(iAas), 
 Stuart understands "bowls or goblets, hav- 
 ing more breadth than depth ; to which 
 species of vessels our word vial, as now em- 
 ployed, does not at all correspond. Evi- 
 dently a vessel with a broad mouth or open- 
 ing is designated, for the incense is to be 
 burned in it, for the sake of diffusing over 
 the place the sweet odor which it would 
 yield." The lexicon defines the word "a 
 bowl, bason, cup, goblet, urn, phial." What 
 meaning shall be given to the words, "which 
 are the prayers of the saints"? Does this 
 mean intercessory prayer — prayer offered by 
 the saints, or redeemed ones, for those yet in 
 the flesh? No such meaning can be given to 
 the passage without forcing, out of all reason, 
 its natural and necessary sense. Evidently, 
 the harps and the vials, or bowls, are to 
 be treated as sjnnbolizing, the former the 
 praises., the latter the prayers, of those repre- 
 sented by the word "saints" (ayiav). Ro- 
 manist writers, of course, take this word 
 "saints" in its Romanist sense; one of them, 
 Cornelius a Lapide, bidding us "note here, 
 as opposed to Vigilantius, Luther, Calvin, 
 and other contemners of the saints (hafjio- 
 inac/ios), that the saints pray for us, and offer 
 our prayers to God." If it be borne in mind 
 that these elders are simply symbolical and 
 representative forms, in which we are to see, 
 not individual persons, as such, but the whole 
 redeemed Church of God, as if present and 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 EEVELATIOK 
 
 89 
 
 9 And "they sung a new song, saying, 'Thou art 
 wortliy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: 
 'lor thou wast slain, and '-'hast redeemed us to God by 
 thy blood "out of every kindred, and tongue, anil 
 people, and nation ; 
 
 lu/Aud hast made us unto our God kings and priests: 
 and we shall reign on the earth. 
 
 9 are the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new 
 song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and 
 to open the seals thereof: lor thou wast slain, and 
 didst purchase unto (iod with thy blood 7;ii??» of every 
 10 tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and niadest 
 them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and 
 
 oPs. 40: 3; ch. H: 3 6 ch. 4: 11 cyev. 6 d Acts 20 : 28; Rom. 3-24; 1 Cor. 6 : 20 : 7 : 23 ; Eplies. 1:7; Col 1:14; Heh. 9: 
 
 12; 1 Peu 1: 18, la; I Pet. 2: 1 ; 1 John 1:7; ch. 14: 4....e Dan. 4:1; 6 : 25 ; cu. 7 ; M; 11 : 9; 14: 6 /Ex. 19: t>; 1 Pet. 2: 5, 9; 
 
 joining in the worship, we shall perceive at 
 once that the Romanist view of the passage 
 hecomes an impossible one. The harp, there- 
 fore, which each holds, is a symbol of the 
 praise every redeemed one oilers to the God 
 of his salvation and to the Lamb slain for 
 him. The golden bowl, or censer, smoking 
 with incense, symbolizes, in general, the 
 preciousness and acceptableness of prayer 
 in the name of Jesus — "set" before him "as 
 incense," (p^. i4i: 2). The idea of intercessory 
 office or action is nowhere here implied. 
 
 9. And they sung a new song. It should 
 read: "And they sing {ahovKnv) a new song," 
 the verl) being in the present tense. The 
 description is thus made more vivid, and as 
 if, even as he relates his vision, John hears 
 still the notes of the new song. In what 
 sense new? Since the song is the song of all 
 the redeemed, in every age and in every 
 nation since the world began, now repre- 
 sented in these symbolical persons of the 
 vision, is it not rather the old song, the song 
 of all the ages? It is thus new, because 
 never heard in all the ages of the past up to 
 the time when redemption for man was first 
 proclaimed. It is the song, too, which, how- 
 ever old it may be, is forever new — the song of 
 the redeemed. It is new, also, and especially, 
 in the sense that it recognizes here a new 
 phase in the office and work of him to whom, 
 in the song, praise is given. It .should be 
 Dbserved that the word here translated "new" 
 [k(iivt\v^, denotes what is new in kind, not new 
 in point of time, to express which a different 
 svord (vio^) is employed. The special force of 
 the word in this place we see more clearly as 
 we mark the import of the song. — Thou art 
 worthy to take the book, and to open the 
 seals thereof. The Lamb slain comes for- 
 ward in a new manifestation of his wonderful 
 being, and in new acts of that mediatorial 
 sovereignty to which he has been raised. It 
 is he alone in the universe who is found 
 " worthy to take the book and to open the 
 
 j seals thereof" ; he alone who may become 
 the instrument of this Revelation, as he is 
 
 I also of the redemption wrought by his blood. 
 
 I — For thou Avast slain. Diisterdieck justly 
 points out that in these several verbs, "wast 
 slain," "hast redeemed" ("rfic^si" redeem), 
 "hast made" {^^ didst make), are indicated the 
 grounds of the worthiness to take the book 
 and loose its seals. The clause is introduced 
 by a causal conjunction "because" (on). But 
 all these imply that in the Lamb which is 
 the ultimate and supreme reason for all. 
 Only as one entitled in himself to the praise 
 and worship here given to him as one divine, 
 was he able thus to redeem and exalt his 
 people. Because of what he is as the Re- 
 deemer, and what he has done in the redemp- 
 tion, is he now "worthy" to take upon him 
 this other great office. — And hast redeemed 
 [pKrchosed] us to God by thy blood. The 
 Alexandrine manuscript omits "us" (Afias), 
 and Alford and Diisterdieck both reject it as 
 an interpolation. Tischendorf also omits it. 
 If this reading be accepted, the object of the 
 verb "redeem," must be regarded as unex- 
 pressed; so that we .should translate, "hast re- 
 deemed (didst redeem) to God by thy blood," 
 simply the general fact of the redemption 
 being stated. The word "persons," or some- 
 thing equivalent would naturally be supplied, 
 the verb "redeem" (redeeming by purchase) 
 being transitive. Out of every kindred, 
 ["tribe," <i>vK^<;) and tongue, and people, 
 and nation. This repetition seems to be 
 chiefly for the purpose of emphasis. Alford 
 thinks that "the quadruple number^'' indi- 
 cates "universality'." That seems rather a 
 strained view. 
 
 10. And hast made us unto our God 
 kings and priests. Here, again, we must 
 note variations in the reading of the origi- 
 nal text. Instead of "us" {rifLa.<i), the oldest 
 manuscripts have "them" (outou?). The 
 words, "kings and priests," become "a king- 
 dom and a priesthood," according to the Si- 
 
90 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many 
 angels ■■ round about the throne, and the beasts, and the 
 elders: and the number of them was 'ten thousand 
 times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 
 
 12 Saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb 
 that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, 
 and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 
 
 11 they reign upon the earth. And I saw, and I heard a 
 voice of many angels round about the throne and the 
 living creatures and the elders ; and the number of 
 them was ten thousand limes ten thousand, and thon- 
 
 12 sands of thousands ; saying with a great voice,\Vorthy 
 is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and 
 
 ach. 4:4, 6.... 6 Pa. 68: 17; D.iu. 7: 10; Heb. 12 : 22....C ch. 4: U. 
 
 naitic maniLscript, and "a kingdom and 
 priests," according to the Alexandrine. Tisch- 
 endorf adopts the reading, "a kingdom and 
 priests," which it is probably safest to follow. 
 We should then read, " and hast made them 
 to our God a kingdom and priests" — in the 
 sense already noticed; as sharing, by their 
 union with him, the kingship and priesthood 
 of the Redeemer himself. The words cannot 
 imply a priestly or intercessory office in such 
 heavenly beings as those elders in the vision, 
 in any such sense as Romanists claim ; for, in 
 the parallel passage at Rev. 1: 6— "and hath 
 made us a kingdom and priests unto God" — 
 the very same thing is said in evident appli- 
 cation to all who belong to Christ, whether in 
 earth or in heaven. — And we shall reign 
 on the earth. Consistently with the changed 
 reading above, w.e must read, here, either, 
 according to the Sinaitic manuscript, '.'they 
 shall reign," or the Alexandrine, "they 
 reign." This reign upon the earth can no 
 otherwise be understood than as the partici- 
 pation of the redeemed in the ever advancing 
 triumph and conquest of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom. The revelations soon to be made 
 will exhibit this kingdom in a scene of 
 struggle, and sometimes of apparent defeat; 
 yet as ultimately triumphing, till at last 
 "every knee shall bow, and every tongue 
 shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." So 
 are his people one with him, that his triumph 
 is theirs, and his glorious kingdom theirs 
 also. It will be seen from this whole view of 
 the passage, with its corrected readings, that 
 the elders in the vision are ofiering praise 
 and adoration to the Lamb, not on account 
 of their own salvation, but because of what 
 they behold in redemption itself, with its 
 wonder-working achievements. 
 
 11-14. Thk Angelic Response, and 
 Chokus of Creation. 
 
 11. And I beheld, and I heard the 
 voice of many angels ronnd about the 
 throne, and the beasts, and the elders. 
 The meaning will be more clear if we read. 
 
 "I saw." What John says is, "I saw, and I 
 heard," or, "I saw and heard." The choir 
 of angels was visible to him, at the same 
 time that he heard them. They appeared as 
 encompassing the entire group previously 
 seen, "the throne and the living beings and 
 the elders." Thus he has before him what 
 represents the intelligent and sentient uni- 
 verse, Creator and creature; the Divine 
 Trinity, as reigning, as redeeming, as illumi- 
 nating and regenerating — Father, Son, and 
 Holy Spirit; the redeemed churcii, "the 
 innumerable company of angels," and even 
 the creation itself, in the representative forms 
 which appear as symbolizing it. — And the 
 number of them was ten thousand times 
 ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
 sands. "Myriads of myriads, and tliou- 
 sands of thousands." There is no attempt at 
 expressing a definite number, but simply a 
 representation of the angelic host as innu- 
 merable. 
 
 12. Saying with a loud voice. What fol- 
 lows is the utterance of the angels, as they 
 join in a united acclaim of adoration and 
 praise. — Worthy is the Lamb that was 
 slain. It should be especially remarked that 
 this angelic chorus of praise is in honor of 
 the Lamb. — To receive power, and riches, 
 and Avisdom, and strength, and honour, 
 and glory, and blessing. "To receive" 
 ascriptions of, is the meaning. We should 
 observe that the like ascription, though with 
 fewer particulars named, in the verse follow- 
 ing, is made, "unto him that sitteth upon the 
 throne," as well as "unto the Lamb." These 
 are, then, divine honors which the Lamb re- 
 ceives, and the attributions made of "power, 
 and wisdom," etc., should be interj)roted ac- 
 cordingly; "power," as denoting almighti- 
 ness, "wisdom," as this attribute in its divine 
 and infinite sense, "riches," "all the fullness 
 of the Godiiead" (Coi.2:9), and "strength," 
 efficient n)ight, "honor," that honor which 
 in tlie verse below is given to God himself; 
 and so with the "glory" and the "blessing," 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 91 
 
 13 And "every creature which is in heaven, and on 
 the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the 
 sea, and all that are in them, heard 1 saying, 'Blessing, 
 and honour, and glory, and power, he unto him "that 
 sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb I'or ever 
 and ever. 
 
 14 ''And the four beasts said. Amen. And the four 
 and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him «lhat 
 liveth lor ever and ever. 
 
 13 glory, and blessing. And every created thing that 
 is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the 
 earth, and on the .sea, and all things that are in them, 
 hoard I .saying, Unto him that sitteth on the throne, 
 and unto the Lamb, he. the ble.ssing, and the honour, 
 and the glory, and the dominion, ifor ever and ever. 
 
 14 And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the 
 elders fell down and worshipped. 
 
 J; 1 Tim. 6: 16; 1 PbI. 4: 11 ; ! 
 -1 Gr. unto the ages of the age 
 
 ;ch. 6: 16: 7: 10. 
 
 the latter word being employed, as Alford 
 says, "in the sense so frequent when the word 
 and its cognate verb are u.sed of an act pass- 
 ing from man to God, viz., that of ascribed 
 praise." 
 
 13. And every creature Avhich is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under the 
 earth, and such as are in the sea, and 
 all that are in them, heard I, saying. 
 The Sinaitic manuscript omits "and under 
 the eartli." If retained, the clause will de- 
 note simply the world of spirits, the "under- 
 world." Ti-schendorf, and other authorities, 
 retain it. — Blessing, and honour, and 
 glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, 
 forever and ever. The praise rendered to 
 the Lamb by the chorus of angels is re-echoed 
 by the universe of created being, he that sit- 
 teth upon the throne being included in the 
 worship thus paid. 
 
 14. And the four beasts said. Amen. To 
 the chorus of creation the four living beings, 
 as its terrestrial representatives, respond. — 
 And the four and twenty elders fell down 
 and worshipped him that liveth forever 
 and ever. The corrected reading, followed 
 by Tischendorf and the new revision is, "And 
 the elders fell down and worshipped." The 
 picture is a wonderful one ; the sweet, resound- 
 ing chorus of the angelic host; the assenting 
 response of creation, swelling its own acclaim 
 of praise in the mingled voices of all crea- 
 tures, the harmony filling the universe; as 
 these die away, the solemn "Amen" of the 
 four living beings; and last of all, the silent 
 adoration of the elders, as they lie prostrate 
 before the throne. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It is unnecessary to do much more than 
 simply mention some of the various opinions 
 held by commentators as to what is imported, 
 in the vision, by the book with seven seals ; 
 such as (1) that it denoted the Old Testament, 
 
 or the book of ancient prophecy, "sealed till 
 the time of the end" (Origen, Eusebiu.s, 
 Epiphanius, Victorinus, Augustine, Jerome, 
 and in fact most ancient authors). This view 
 is implied in that wider one which is here 
 preferred, viz., that the sealed book denotes 
 the as yet unrevealed divine purpose, fore- 
 shadowed in ancient prophecies, and now 
 more fully disclosed, though still couched in 
 vision and symbol. The idea held, however, 
 by many of the old writers alluded to — that 
 the Apocalypse simply brings to light in its 
 fulfillment the scheme of redemption as in- 
 timated in Old Testament prophecies — is in- 
 consistent with what is said in Rev. 1 : 1, that 
 this "Revelationof Jesus Christ" is "toshow 
 unto his servants things which must," at the 
 time it was given, "shortly come to pass" — • 
 that is to say, things then future; whereas, 
 the types of ancient prophecy had then 
 already been fulfilled in the person, and min- 
 istry, and suflfering of the Lord. Yet so far 
 as those older prophecies related to the king- 
 dom of God, in its broad sense, and specially 
 in its relation to human history in all ages, 
 they may, in a general way, be taken as im- 
 plied in the contents of the book held in the 
 hand of the Enthroned One. (2) Wetstein's 
 notion that the sealed book is "God's writing 
 of divorce against the Jewish nation," is too 
 fixnciful to even need attention. (3) We have 
 already noticed the view of Hengstenberg, 
 who follows Schottgen, that the "book records 
 the sentence, which is given bj' the judge and 
 the councillors [as such he takes the enthroned 
 Deity with the encircling group of elders] 
 against the enemies of the church"; a view, 
 as we have seen, altogether too restricted. 
 (4) Others take it as the Apocalypse, itself, 
 qualifying this, however, with the addition 
 that the book represents the counsels of di- 
 vine Providence, with reference to the church 
 and the world. The most simple and natural 
 view is the safe one. The place of the book, 
 in the vision, like the whole scene to which it 
 
92 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 belongs, is symbolical, and is to be interpreted 
 in its relation to all else that is here present to 
 the eye of the seer. "Things which must 
 shortly come to pass," are about to be ex- 
 hibited to him, in vision and symbol. What 
 they import is implied in the book. They are 
 fulfillments of divine purpose, and of that 
 purpose this book is the reOord. Its seals de- 
 note that "secrecy" in which this purpose 
 has hitherto lain in the mind of God. The 
 breaking of each seal indicates the disclosure 
 of so viHch of divine purpose. In this sense 
 the book is the Apocalypse; only not as a book 
 to be opened and read, but as the Apocalyptic 
 symbol. 
 
 We s{3eak of that which follows the opening 
 of each seal as "a disclosure." It is dis- 
 closure, however, in the prophetic, not the 
 historic sense. That which is historic may 
 be read and understood ; that which is prophetic 
 lies before the reader or the beholder as com- 
 prehensible only "in part," and capable of 
 full appi-ehension only when "that which is 
 perfect is come" — the fulfillment. Thus there 
 was a time when all which related to the 
 coming of the Redeemer, and "the beginning 
 of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," 
 was prophetic, and when the ancient men of 
 God studied earnestly to know " what, or what 
 manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which 
 was in them did signify." What was prophetic, 
 dim, shrouded in mystery, to them, is historic 
 to us. The Apocalypse, as the record of what 
 was revealed to Jolin as vision, lies before us 
 as the ancient prophecj' lay before the ancient 
 student of the Messianic promises. It is a 
 "disclosure," in the same sense that those 
 Messianic predictions were : prophetic dis- 
 closure, becoming historic only in the fulfill- 
 ment; and then, only, rightly understood. 
 
 There are two points of doctrine brought 
 to view in this chapter, in a wonderfully 
 emphatic and vivid way; the one relating to 
 the person of our Lord, the other to his re- 
 deeming work. As to the former, we find 
 him appearing, in this chapter, as "the Lion 
 of the tribe of Juda," as "the Root," or 
 root-Shoot, "of David," and as the Lamb 
 "as it had been slain." We thus see him 
 in his human manifestation; his human 
 descent as of the stock of Abraham, the 
 
 tribe of Judah; his royal lineage, as of the 
 family of David; and in his relation to the 
 types of the Old Dispensation, as their sub- 
 stance and fulfillment. But two remarkable 
 facts appear, in this connection — the first, that 
 it is after the summoning voice has in vain 
 sounded throughout creation, and no creature 
 been found worthy to "open the book and to 
 loose the seven seals thereof," that the Lamb 
 appears and receives the book from the hand 
 of him that sits upon the throne. The mys- 
 terioiis and wonderful Person who thus comes 
 forward in this great office is, therefore, not a 
 creature. The second notable fact is that to 
 the Lamb precisely the same worship is paid, 
 with identical ascriptions of praise, as to him 
 that sits upon the throne. Could there be a 
 more striking and conclusive testimony to 
 the divinity of our Lord? 
 
 The redeeming work of the Lamb is set 
 forth under similarly striking aspects. His 
 appearance, in the office that he now fills, 
 under the figure of a lamb, is itself signifi- 
 cant in a high degree. The word [apvLov) 
 used in the Greek, "a young lamb," makes 
 the representation all the more remarkable. 
 That which is the very image of innocence, 
 harmlessness, even helplessness, is taken as 
 symbolizing the personality of him who is 
 here revealed in an office that no created 
 being, not even any highest angel or arch- 
 angel was found "worthy" to fill. We 
 must infer, hence, that the worthiness of him 
 who thus becomes the instrument of these 
 amazing revelations is grounded in the fact 
 of that in him which constituted him man's 
 Redeemer. He had once said: "All power 
 is given unto rne^^ in heaven and in earth — 
 to me, as the slain and risen Redeemer of 
 men. This is now seen to be infinitely true. 
 In what the redemption consists, is no less 
 clearly set forth: "Hast redeemed to God 
 by thy blood." With these words U]n)x\ 
 record — this testimony given in heaven itself 
 — there ought not to remain among men any 
 doubt as to the reality, or as to the nature of 
 the Atonement made for human sin by him 
 who was made "sin [a sin-offering'] for us," 
 though he "knew no sin, that we might 
 be made the righteousness of God in him." 
 
 (2 Cor. 5: 2l). 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 93 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 ND "I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, | 1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven 
 
 and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, 'one 
 of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 
 
 seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures 
 
 1 ch. 5: 5, 6,7 6 ch. 4: 7. 
 
 OPENING OF THE SEALS. 
 
 1-8. The First Four Seals. 
 
 1, And I saw when the Lamb opened 
 one of the seals. The Sin^itic and Alex- 
 andrine manuscripts read, "one of the seven 
 seals," and this reading, the revision, as will 
 be seen, adopts. The sense is the same, in 
 either case. — And I heard, as it were the 
 noise of thunder, one of the four beasts 
 saying. ^^ Voice {<i>o>vi) of thunder" would 
 be more exact. A ditierent arrangement of 
 the clauses, also, makes the sense more clear 
 — "And I heard one of the four living crea- 
 tures speaking as with a voice of thunder." — 
 Come and see. Here, again, is a question 
 of reading, in the Greek. The Alexandrine 
 manuscript — one of the oldest and best — has 
 simply, "Come" {epxov); the Sinaitic, "Come 
 and see" {epxov koI ISe); the manuscript fol- 
 lowed by King James' translators, "Come 
 and behold," or, "and look" {epxov Ka\ p^^dne). 
 The point is not without importance, since 
 upon it depends very much the interpretation 
 to be given to the words as they stand. The 
 English and American revisers translate, 
 as will be noticed, with simply the word, 
 "Come"; with the remark in the margin, 
 "Some ancient authorities add, and see." 
 Stuart, following Hahn, translates, "Come;" 
 Hengstenberg, "Come and see," as the ut- 
 terance of the first living cr.'ature, "Come" 
 as that of each of the remaining three ; Diis- 
 terdieck, "Come"; Alford and Ellicott's 
 Commentary, "Come." All depends upon 
 the question which of the ancient readings 
 shall be regarded as most authoritative — a 
 question which can hardly be decided with 
 positiveness; as whatever answer is given 
 must be so much a matter of opinion. 
 
 If the translation, " Come and see," be pre- 
 ferred, then the words must be understood as 
 addressed to John, although their meaning 
 should not be pressed too literally. "We can- 
 not suppose him summoned to draw near in 
 such a way as to look upon the roll, to find 
 thereon, in pictured form, the scenes de- 
 scribed. Nothing in the description indicates 
 
 that the pages of the roll were thus used, 
 while the vivid and intensely realistic tone 
 of the whole most decidedly imports that 
 John beholds the successive appearances, as 
 they follow each other throughout the book, 
 in vision, as if in parts of a vast drama, with 
 scenery appropriate. To view the successive 
 scenes as sketches, or pictures on the roll, is 
 to belittle the whole representation. We 
 must take the words, if we translate, "Come 
 and see," as rather a summons to give especial 
 attention to what is about to occur. Our own 
 preference, however, is upon the whole for 
 the rendering, "Come." The judginent of 
 the latest revisers of the New Testament, in 
 their treatment of the passage, has great 
 weight with us; while it seems more likely 
 that copyists should have interpolated the 
 words, under the impression that the sense is 
 defective without them, than that, if origi- 
 nally written, they should have been dropped. 
 But, in that case, how shall we understand 
 this summoning word, "Come"? The de- 
 scriptive clause in the connection, "as it were 
 the noise of thunder," suggests that there 
 must be more in it than simply an address to 
 the one man who is beholding. Such a voice 
 of thunder — so majestic and far-sounding — 
 would appear to belong, rather, to the scene 
 about to transpire as an essential feature of 
 it, and as if intended to lend impressiveness 
 to the scene itself. Alford, founding upon 
 the fact that in each of the four instances the 
 word is spoken by one of the four living 
 creatures, representatives of the sentient cre- 
 ation, sees in this fourfold repetition of the 
 word, "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." Consistently^ with this, 
 he sees also "in the things revealed when the 
 seals are opened, his [Christ's] fourfold prep- 
 aration for his coming on earth." There is 
 in this conception so much that is in keeping 
 with the majestic and vast significance of the 
 vision as a whole, that one may be strongly 
 inclined, at first view, to adopt it. But the 
 second thought finds serious difllculty in the 
 
94 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 2 And I saw, and behold "a. white horse: 'and he 
 that sat on him had a bow; <^and a crown was given 
 unto him: and he went fortli conquering, and to con- 
 quer. 
 
 2 saying as with a voice of thunder, Comei. And I saw, 
 and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon 
 had a bow ; and there was given unto liim a crown: 
 and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. 
 
 aZecb. 6:3; cb. 19: 11.... i Pj. 45: 4. 5; LXX c Zech. 6: 11; ch. 14: 14. 1 Some ancieut authorities add, and see. 
 
 fact that nothing in the vision itself, nor any- 
 where in this part of the account given of the 
 wonders seen, implies a reference to that 
 second coming. It seems to be required that 
 we shall find the intention and meaning of 
 this summoning word in the connection where 
 it stands, rather than bring in an interpreta- 
 tion from without, and from very far with- 
 out, besides. Hengstenberg may have sug- 
 gested the correct view where he says, in 
 allusion to that which follows the opening of 
 the first seal: "The voice of thunder is a 
 suitable announcement of the God-man con- 
 quei-or." He does not follow up what he 
 here suggests, nor does he base upon it his 
 own interpretation of the word, in its signifi- 
 cance; for he makes it to be an address to 
 John to " come and see." But, after all, is it 
 not the most natural and consistent view to 
 regard the word as an "announcement"? 
 Or, may we not even say, that the word, 
 "Come," is a summons, in each case, to the 
 horse with its rider, which at once moves 
 forth upon the scene of the vision ? We are 
 supported in this by Ellicott's Commentary 
 in loco. After saying that the word cannot 
 be addressed to John, as a call to draw near, 
 since "he was near already," Mr. Boyd 
 Carpenter, author of^ the Exposition of the 
 Apocalypse in Ellicott, says : "Are the words 
 then addressed, as Alford supposes, to Christ? 
 It is difficult to believe that the living crea- 
 ture would thus cry to the Lamb, who was 
 opening the scroll. The simplest way of 
 answering the question is to ask another: 
 Who did come in obedience to the voice? 
 There is but one answer— the horseman. The 
 living beings cry, 'Come,' and their cry is 
 responded to by the appearance of the several 
 riders." 
 
 2. And I saw, and behold a white 
 horse. It is agreed among writers, appar- 
 ently, that we may view the passages in Zech. 
 1: 8-10, and 6: 1, as parallel with this, and 
 illustrative. One of the older of the more 
 modern writers upon the Apocalypse, James 
 Durham, of Glasgow, in lectures published at 
 Amsterdam in 1660, remarks that, "by a horse 
 and his rider, is understood in Scripture 
 
 amongst the prophets some dispensation of 
 the Lord to his church, brought about 
 mediately by the ministry of angels or men, 
 or immediately by God himself," Divine 
 dispensations, he says, are "compared to 
 horses and riders on them, for these reasons: 
 (1) to let us see his sovereignty that hath all 
 these at his command to send for good or ill, 
 as great kings have their messengers for exe- 
 cuting their will; (2) to show the speediness, 
 swiftness, and unresistibleness of whatsoever 
 dispensation he sendeth, as the horse is speedy 
 and valiant; (3) to show the dependence of all 
 events on his dominion, and his immediate 
 ordering and guiding of them as a rider doth 
 his horse ; and he letteth them not run at ran- 
 dom, or by guess, as a horse without a rider or 
 bridle, but hath them all well ordered, whether 
 good or bad." This may, perhaps, be taken, 
 in the general, as a just view of the funda- 
 mental significance of the representation made 
 under the first four seals. — And he that sat 
 on him had a how. There is a very general 
 agreement in viewing the white horse and his 
 rider as representing the introduction of the 
 Gospel Dispensation. Alford suggests the 
 appropriate caution, that we "must not too 
 hastily introduce the person of the Lord him- 
 self" The rider here is not, so this writer 
 thinks, and it seems to us rightly, to be identi- 
 fied with the rider in ch. 19 : 11, et seq., who is, 
 undoubtedly, the Lord Jesus, attended by the 
 heavenly hosts. Here, the rider is, more cor- 
 rectly viewed, "a symbol of his [Christ's] 
 victorious power, the embodiment of his ad- 
 vancing kingdom." The relation in which, 
 in our own exposition, we place this part of 
 the vision to those which follow at the opening 
 of the three next seals, will appear further 
 on. The "bow" held in the hand of the 
 rider, may be illustrated by what we read in 
 Ps. 45 : 3-5 : 
 
 Gird thy sword on the thigh, mighty One, 
 
 Thy honor, and thy majesty; 
 
 And in thy majesty ride prosperously, 
 
 P"or the sake of trutli, and humble right, 
 
 And thy right hand will teach thee fearful deeds. 
 
 Thine arrows are sharp, 
 
 In the hearts of the king's enemies ; 
 
 People shall fall under ihec.—ConanPs Ti-anstalion. 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 95 
 
 3 And when he had opened the second seal, "I heard 
 the second beast say, Come and see. 
 
 4 ''And there went out another horse that, was red: 
 and puurr was given to him tliat sat thereon to take 
 peace from the earth, and that they should kill one 
 another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 
 
 3 And when he opened the second seal, I heard the 
 
 4 second living creature saying, (.ome'. And another 
 horse 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. 
 
 acb. 4: 7.... 5 Zech.6: 2. 1 S me ancient autboriiies add, and see.... 2 Some ancient authorities read, the peace o/ the earth. 
 
 — And a crown Avas given unto him. The 
 
 crown (o-Tet^aKos), indicates sovereignty gained 
 by victory, or conquest. The white horse, 
 among the Romans, was a sign of victory and 
 triumph, and upon such, in his triumphal 
 entry of the city, the victorious emperor al- 
 ways rode. — And he went forth conquer- 
 ing and to conquer. The English and 
 American revisers follow the old version in 
 translating "conquering and to conquer." 
 The Sinaitic manuscript reads, "conquering, 
 and he conquered" ; Alford translates, "con- 
 quering, and that he may conquer" ((cal iva 
 vtic^o-r)). The general sense is the same, in either 
 case. The emphatic clause, "and to conquer," 
 or, "and he conquered," or, "in order that he 
 may conquer," strengthens the representation 
 of one going forth victorious, as was so emi- 
 nentlj' true of the Gospel Dispensation in its 
 opening period. 
 
 3. And when he had opened the second 
 seal, I heard the second beast say, Come 
 and see. And there went out another 
 horse that was red. We change here, 
 again, the "Come and see," to "Come," 
 and give it the same interpretation as before. 
 It simply announces the new figure that 
 moves forth upon the scene; a loud thunder- 
 tone, quite in keeping with the grandeur and 
 impressiveness of the vision, and indicating 
 the changes of the- drama — if we may use 
 that word in such a connection — as they 
 occur. Some writers call attention to the 
 form of the living creature named in con- 
 nection with the opening of each seal, as in 
 their view significant in its relation to other 
 aspects of the vision in each case. Thus, the 
 first living creature, we are told (4:7), was 
 "like a lion." This is regarded as notably 
 in keeping with what the first seal discloses 
 of the victorious going forth of him who is 
 "the Lion of the tribe of Juda." The 
 second living creature was "like a calf," or 
 young ox, the symbol of patience and en- 
 durance; regarded as suitable to the nature 
 of the vision under the second seal, which 
 imports conflict and suflTering, "even unto 
 
 blood. So with the third, "like a man," 
 and the fourth, "like a flying eagle." We 
 doubt if much can be judiciously made 
 of this, although it does seem worthy of 
 mention how congruous and harmonious 
 are the several features of the vision in each 
 case as so viewed. 
 
 4. The significance of the symbol seen in 
 the figure of the horse that was red ap- 
 pears in the words that follow. — And power 
 was given to him that sat thereon to 
 take peace from the earth. The Alexan- 
 drine manuscript reads, "the peace of the 
 earth," but there seems no occasion for chang- 
 ing the phraseology of our Common Ver- 
 sion as it stands, save that the word "power" 
 need not be supplied. We may read, simply, 
 "and it was given him to take peace from 
 the earth." — And that they should kill one 
 another ; and there Avas given unto him 
 a great sword. Here arises, first of all, the 
 question whether the war evidently signified 
 is war in the ordinary sense. Elliott, in 
 ^^Horce Apocalypticce," so takes it. The 
 visions seen under these first four seals he 
 regards as representing successive condi- 
 tions of the Roman Empire; the first, that 
 pro.sperous one which began with the reign 
 of Nerva, following upon the death of 
 Domitian, and embracing the reigns of 
 Nerva, Trajan, and Adrian, a period of 
 eighty-four years, from A. d. 96 to A. i). 180; 
 a period spoken of by Gibbon, whom Elliott 
 quotes, as "that during which the condition 
 of the human race was more happy and 
 prosperous than in any other like period, in 
 the whole history of the world." This lan- 
 guage we believe to be extravagant, however 
 well it may serve the purpose of Elliott in 
 his efl^Drt to sustain his own peculiar theory 
 of interpretation. The second seal, with the 
 red horse, is regarded as representing the 
 period of civil war, following the death of 
 Adrian. The other seals are explained in 
 accordance with the same theory of interpre- 
 tation. Stuart, consistently with his funda- 
 mental theory as to the date of the Apoca- 
 
96 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 lypse, in the time of Nero, and antedating 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, while he makes 
 the white horse with his rider significant of 
 the triumphs of Christianity in its first pro- 
 mulgation, views the remaining three seals 
 as denoting the destruction of the Jewish 
 persecuting power, the ravaging of Judea 
 by the invading Romans, the final over- 
 throw of Judaism itself, and the destruction 
 of the holy city. If there were no other 
 diflSculties here, the impossibility we have 
 found in the adoption of Stuart's date for the 
 writing of the Apocalypse, puts this inter- 
 pretation out of the question. But is not the 
 view of Stuart, as well as that of Elliott — 
 and the latter especially so — inconsistent 
 with what must be regarded as the general 
 meaning and scope of all these visions? 
 Surely, it cannot have been the sole purpose 
 of Apocalyptic disclosures so impressive and 
 wonderful in all the attending conditions- 
 uniting in the symbolism employed such 
 magnificant theojihanies, with accompany- 
 ing representative ministries of the universe 
 '^earth and heaven, the redeemed church 
 and the sentient creation, — it cannot be that 
 all this array is marshaled for any less a 
 purpose than to set forth in the revelation 
 given that which concerns, not a part of the 
 human race, nor the secular history, merely, 
 of even so vast and potent a power as the 
 Roman Empire, but what shall be worthy 
 alike of the scenery and the drama. Neither 
 can we believe that the destruction of the 
 Jewish State, though viewed as a power 
 hostile to Christianity, assailing with per- 
 secution and outrage the kingdom of God in 
 its New Dispensation, is all that must here be 
 intended. The Jewish persecutions were not, 
 in themselves or in their eifect, such as to 
 explain adequately the import of these vis- 
 ions. What either Elliott or Stuart adopts as 
 a complete interpretation, may be accepted 
 if taken as partial, and as included tinder- 
 what is of far wider scope and vastly more 
 comprehensive. For example, there seems 
 no good reason why the symbolism of the 
 red horse and his formidable rider should not 
 be in a degree retrospective. That of the 
 white horse certainly is so, if, as seems 
 agreed, it be viewed as denoting the tri- 
 umphant progress of the gospel during the 
 apostolic period. The vision in this part of 
 it is retrospective, even if Stuart's date, and 
 
 his theory of interpretation, be adopted. 
 Why should not that seen under the second 
 seal be equally so? Then, alike the perse- 
 cuting hostility of the Jews and the fearful 
 visitations upon them in the war that "took 
 away their state and nation," with the un- 
 speakable attending miseries, and that out- 
 break of pagan hostility, with its own inter- 
 necine strifes, seen in the conflicts of the 
 Roman power with the spiritual kingdom 
 that had come forward to dispute its 
 supremacy — both these may be regarded as 
 included under the general Apocalyptic view 
 presented in the symbol of the red horse. It 
 is said that to his rider "it was given to take 
 peace from the earth." Our Lord's words, 
 "I came not to send peace on earth, but a 
 sword," are here eminently applicable. The 
 symVtolism of the rider upon the red horse 
 may be taken as denoting the fulfillment of 
 what those weighty words import. We see 
 no repson why the significance of the s^'mbol 
 should be limited to either the Jewish or the 
 pagan persecutions and wars. It compre- 
 hends the whole idea of that conflict between 
 the world-power and the kingdom of Christ 
 among men, with the destructive attendant 
 wars amongst the nations themselves, more or 
 less involving that higher and more moment- 
 ous struggle, or else involved in it. Viewing 
 this whole mighty struggle as taking place 
 under the superintending providence of God, 
 and all its issues shaped in accordance with 
 his own purposes of mercy or of judgment, 
 we perceive in the rider on the red horse 
 just the symbol of a great fact, then a pro- 
 phecy, now a history. Durham, the Scottish 
 divine of the seventeenth century, from 
 whom we quote above, makes the signifi- 
 cance of the second seal relate to the first 
 pagan persecutions under Nero and Domi- 
 tian. Of those of Nero, it should be noticed 
 that they never extended beyond the city 
 of Rome; while those of even Domitian, 
 whose acts of beastly violence were more of 
 a domestic than a general nature, and whose 
 recorded cruelties toward the Christians are 
 not numerous, however mean and wicked 
 they may have been, were hardlj' such as to 
 justify the application to them of this sym- 
 bolism as finding its complete fulfillment in 
 them. We prefer to take it as denoting, in 
 general, the outbreak of that war between 
 the two great forces, thenceforth during 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 97 
 
 5 And when he had opened the third seal, "1 heard [ 
 the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and 
 lo '■a black horse: and he that sat on him had a pair 
 of balances in his hand. 
 
 6 And I lieard a voice in the midst of the four beasts 
 say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three meas- 
 ures of barley for a penny ; and 'see thou hurt not the 
 oil and the wine. 
 
 5 And when he opened the third seal, I heard the 
 third living creature saying, C'oniei. And I saw, and 
 
 behold, a black horse; and he that sat thereon had a 
 
 6 balance in liis hand. And I heard as it were a voice 
 in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A 
 -measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures 
 of barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine 
 hurt thou not. 
 
 1 ch. 4: 7 b Zcch. 6:2 c ch. 9: 4. 1 Snnie aucieut authorities re.id, and see 
 
 for a shilling — iiiiplriiig great }*curcii 
 
 .2 Or, A chcenix (i. e., about a quart) o/ wheat 
 
 many ages to contest the dominion of this 
 world, and whose vicissitudes are so much 
 the subject of the entire book. 
 
 5. And when he had opened the third 
 seal, I heard the third beast say. Come 
 and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black 
 horse. Interpreters, for the most part, ap- 
 pear to agree that the third seal represents, 
 under its symbolism, famine, as the second 
 had denoted war. We may accept this as in 
 general correct. — And he that sat on him 
 had a pair of balances in his hand. The 
 balances are supposed to denote that careful 
 economy in the dispensation and use of the 
 necessaries of life which the prevalence of 
 famine makes necessary. 
 
 6. And I heard a voice in the midst of 
 the four beasts say. The Sinaitic and 
 Alexandrine manuscripts read: "1 heard as 
 it were a voice." Accordingly, the latest re- 
 vision reads, at this place: "And I heard as 
 it were a voice in the midst of the four living 
 creatures, saying." The uncertainty implied 
 in "as it were" (is), Alford thinks, and 
 rightly, "must be taken with the whole 
 clause, as applying to the situation, not to its 
 being a voice, which it was.'^ The voice 
 seemed to come from the point indicated— 
 "the midst of the four living creatures" ; 
 but it must have been a real voice, and must 
 have seemed to be such, since the words were 
 so distinctly uttered and understood. Shall 
 we take the statement that the voice comes 
 "from the midst of the four living crea- 
 tures," as significant? These represent the 
 sentient creation. Famine is an affliction 
 originating in certain material conditions, 
 and felt especially as a physical calamity. 
 By whom the voice is uttered cannot be ex- 
 plained; only the significance of its locality, 
 as just intimated, is to be inferred from what 
 is said. — A measure of wheat for a penny; 
 and three measures of barley for a 
 penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and 
 the wine. The revision, it will be noticed, 
 makes this passage read: "A measure of 
 
 wheat for a shilling, and three measures Of 
 barley for a shilling; and the oil and the wine 
 hurt thou not." The "denarius," or penny, 
 I among the Eomans, was worth about eight 
 pence half-penny in English coin, or from 
 fourteen to eighteen cents in our own. It is 
 said to have been the amount of a soldier's 
 daily pay, in the time of Tiberius; also that 
 of a day-laborer. The "choenix," trans- 
 lated "measure," is said by Stuart, to have 
 been nearly equal to our English quart. He 
 shows, too, by reference to various classical 
 writers, that this measure "was the ordinary 
 daily allowance for the sustenance of a man." 
 The usual price of a chcenix of wheat was 
 one-eighth of a "penny," or denarius. Of 
 course, the price named in the text, being 
 eight times this, indicates great scarcity, and 
 may have implied, besides, that the wages of 
 a day-laborer would, in the deficiency of 
 food supposed, barely procure his own per- 
 sonal sustenance, leaving nothing for the 
 support of his family, if he had one. He 
 would, therefore, be driven to the much 
 inferior food supplied by the cheaper grain, 
 barley, which however could, itself, be bought 
 only at the large price of three measures for 
 a "penny," or denarius. The symbolism, 
 accordingly, is not that of actual destitution; 
 but of great scarcity, making the necessaries 
 of life exorbitantly dear, so that the barest 
 subsistence would be difficult and precarious. 
 The concluding words of the verse seem to 
 imply, that the scarcity described should not 
 affect the oil and the wine. These, if abund- 
 ant in a time when the common articles of 
 food were scarce, would greatly relieve the 
 stress of the famine ; olive oil being very nu- 
 tritious, and the simple wine of the country- 
 adapted also to aflord relief in the stress of 
 hunger, and the consequent sulfering. They 
 could also be preserved for almost any length 
 of time, and so might, in the symbol, repre- 
 sent provision against destitution, calamity, 
 and suffering. 
 So far the exposition is, perhaps, not diffi- 
 
98' 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 cult. "When we come, however, to search for 
 the Apocalyptic significance of the symbols 
 employed, the clue is hard to find. Some 
 writers upon the passage seem to drop the 
 symbolism, almost entirely, and to take the 
 representation as that of actual and literal 
 famine; differing chiefly as to the questions 
 when and where ; Stuart, making the allusion 
 to be to the destitution and distress, amount- 
 ing in the end to absolute starvation, suffered 
 by the Jews under the Roman invasion, and 
 especially in the taking of Jerusalem; Alford 
 understanding the passage as a prediction that 
 "famine, the pressure of want on men. . . . 
 will be one of the four judgments by which 
 the way of the Lord's coming will be opened" ; 
 while Elliott views the prediction as foretell- 
 ing the scarcity and distress visited upon 
 various parts of the empire, as results of 
 almost constant wars. Some suppose a refer- 
 ence to specific seasons of such scarcity as 
 that in the time of Claudius, or that under 
 the reign of Septimius Severus. Others, 
 taking the symbols in their proper character 
 as such, interpret them variously. Thus Cor- 
 nelius a Lapide supposes them to refer to the 
 prevalence of heresy, especially Arianism ; 
 Vitringa to scarcity of spiritual provision, as 
 from the time of Constantine till the ninth 
 century. Beda imagines the black horse as 
 denoting "the crowd of false brethren, who 
 hold the balance of a right profession, but 
 cause grief by their practice of the works of 
 dtirkness." Durham says: "This type hold- 
 eth forth a hard condition the church should 
 be under, and a sad dispensation she should 
 meet with, which, though moderated in a more 
 orderly way than the former, yet should ex- 
 ceedingly mar the beauty of the church, and 
 bring her low, so that she who before was 
 white and lively, afterward red and wounded, 
 should now (as it were), drawing near expir- 
 ing, fainting and swooning, as one who hath 
 shed blood, turn black and pale; which, in 
 general, holdeth forth a growing strait of the 
 church, drawing nearer unto death than the 
 former." 
 
 "In the multitude of counselors there is" — 
 in this case, perplexity. Possibly a clue to 
 the difficulty may be found in what we have 
 already named as apparently indicated by 
 the symbols of the white horse and the red 
 horse. In the former, with his victorious 
 rider, we have seen the gospel triujuphs at- 
 
 tending the opening of the dispensation, when, 
 with such extraordinary rapidity "the word 
 of God grew and luultiplied," to the utmost 
 borders of the Roman Empire. In the latter, 
 appears the fulfillment of that prophetic say- 
 ing of the Lord, "I came not to send peace, 
 but a sword"; seen in especially the opening 
 stages of the long conflict between the king- 
 dom of light and the kingdom of darkness. 
 Consistently with this, ought we not to view 
 what appears under the third seal as exhibit- 
 ing, in a like general way, some other aspect 
 of the same kingdom of God in the vicissi- 
 tudes of its long career? If we take the 
 Christian history in general, we observe (1) as 
 already pointed out, a period of extraordinary 
 triumph ; (2), the breaking out of that spirit 
 of violent hostility, in which the great con- 
 flict of error with truth, unrighteousness with 
 righteousness, the kingdom of Satan with the 
 kingdom of God, began to assume the form 
 of systematic endeavor to "wear out the saints 
 of the Most High"; (3) following this within 
 the church itself the first appearances of an evil 
 which was more or less to characterize its sub- 
 sequent history — perversion of the truth of 
 God, in forms of pernicious false teaching, 
 with denial to Christian people of the privi- 
 lege of access to the word of God, and so to 
 the sources and means of Christian knowledge. 
 In Apocalyptic visions setting forth in ex- 
 pressive symbol the future of that kingdom 
 of God whose opening era was so glorious, it 
 is impossible that a fact so signal and so 
 momentous as this last should fail of due rep- 
 resentation. And the symbols employed we 
 should expect to find in keeping with those 
 used to set forth other phases of the long 
 and troubled history. Now /amine is the fre- 
 quent, more or less the inevitable, consequent 
 of war. Men are withdrawn from the need- 
 ful duty of cultivating the earth, and are set 
 to killing one another. Means of subsistence 
 are consumed by armies, destroyed by invad- 
 ing forces, or otherwise turned from their 
 proper use, or wastefully ravaged. Where 
 wars are long continued, general distress fol- 
 lows as a result necessary and inevitable. It 
 is readily seen, then, how appropriatelj^ in 
 these successive visions the red horse and his 
 rider, as the symbol of war, is followed by 
 the black horse and his ominous rider, as the 
 symbol of famine. But we have declined to 
 see in the former literal war, whether specific 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION". 
 
 99 
 
 7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, "I heard 
 the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 
 
 8 'And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his 
 name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed 
 with him. And power was given unto them over the 
 fourth part of the earth, =to kill with sword, and with 
 hunger, and with death, ^and with the beasts of the 
 earth. 
 
 7 And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the 
 voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come.* 
 
 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 2 death, and by the wild 
 beasts of the earth. 
 
 tch. 4: 7 6 Zech 6: 3....C Ezek. 14: 21.... d Lev. 26: 22. 1 Some nncieot authorities add, and see 2 Or, pettilence. 
 
 wars or war in general. Such as these are 
 rather implied in, included under, that higher 
 and wider significance of the vision which 
 makes this great conflict a spiritual one, in- 
 volving those of a more literal kind in which, 
 so often, religious animosities have played a 
 great part. Must we not view the famine that 
 accompanies or follows after in a similar way? 
 Can we locate, or make specific the famine 
 represented here ? Might not the symbolism 
 apply to any one of the many seasons of 
 scarcity and distress mentioned in modern 
 history ? And to any of them quite as well 
 as to any other? Or, if we group them all in 
 one general representation, as Alford seems 
 to do, in what sense can famine be said, as in 
 his theory of exposition, to serve as one of the 
 "preparations" for "the Lord's coming"? 
 
 Upon the whole, while it might be rash to 
 name any exposition of this verse as undoubt- 
 edly the correct one, we incline to view it as 
 setting forth under the figure of material 
 scarcity, indicated in its special characteristics 
 with extraordinary vividness through the 
 special symbols employed, and under imagery 
 which was often to be in human experience 
 literal and historical, that momentous fact in 
 the spiritual history of mankind under even 
 the Gospel Dispensation — the prevalence of 
 false teaching, apostasy from the truth, chang- 
 ing of the very word of God into a lie, to- 
 gether with denial, by usurped authorities, to 
 Christian souls of the very bread of life. Dur- 
 ing the centuries of Christian history, the word 
 of God 4ias never wholly failed, although the 
 spiritual hunger of those from whom the di- 
 vine sustenance was thus withholden has 
 often been extreme; while in the midst of 
 all, the oil and the wine of God's supporting 
 grace have remained "unhurt." Perhaps 
 this exposition ought to be rather suggested 
 than positively proposed and maintained. We 
 find it, for our own part, more in keeping 
 with the general Apocalyptic order in con- 
 nection with these first four seals, and less 
 
 open to objection than any one of the many 
 other interpretations named. 
 
 7, 8. And when he had opened the fourth 
 seal, I heard the voice of the fourth 
 beast say, Come and see. And I looked, 
 and behold a pale horse. Again, the sum- 
 moning word is, "Come." The word (xAojpds) 
 translated "pale," may also be rendered 
 "livid"; "the color," says Alford, "of the 
 corpse in incipient decay, or of the com- 
 plexion extremely pale through disease." — 
 And his name that sat on him was 
 Death, and Hell followed with him. 
 The English and American revisers read: 
 "And he that sat upon him, his name was 
 Death; and Hades followed with him." The 
 word in the Greek, which the common ver- 
 sion translates "hell," is not the word prop 
 erly so translated, gehenna, but that which 
 denotes in general the world of the departed. 
 Hades. — And power was given unto them 
 over the fourth part of the earth, to kill 
 with sword, and with hunger, and with 
 death, and with the beasts of the earth. 
 The preposition changes in the last clause, 
 and we should read, "by the beasts (properly 
 ^wild beasts^) of the earth." The represen- 
 tation is a most vivid one of slaughter, a de- 
 struction of human life by every variety of 
 means. What seems to be intended i.s, dis- 
 tinctively, murderous persecution. The men- 
 tion of "the fourth part of the earth" can 
 only be meant as indicating in general how 
 numerous were to be the victims of this wide- 
 wasting slaughter. The specification of vari- 
 ous instruments of destruction implies how 
 expedients to this end should be exhausted in 
 the cruel work of persecution. Thus is pre- 
 sented the fourth great general fact in early 
 Christian history. We have, as before, (1) 
 the opening triumph, (2) the outburst of vio- 
 lent hostility, (3) the corruption of Christian 
 teaching, and the cutting off of spiritual sus- 
 tenance from hungry souls, (4) persecution, 
 ' in its distinctive and specially murderous 
 
100 
 
 KEVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 form. In this worst form, too, it follows 
 historically upon the several stages before 
 indicated, and so is appropriately represented 
 under the symbol of the fourth rider. If we 
 study this symbol with care, we shall realize 
 with what vivid truthfulness it sets forth 
 what might seem almost incredible as a fact 
 of history— the myriads of lives which by 
 every manner of cruel death perished in the 
 successive persecutions, of which those under 
 the Roman emperors were the example and 
 the type. This was true especially of the 
 later emperors. " It would have been an easy 
 task," says Gibbon, "from the history of 
 Eusebius, from the declaration of Lactantius, 
 and from the most ancient acts, to collect a 
 long series of di.sgustful pictures, and to fill 
 many pages with racks and scourges, with 
 iron hooks and red-hot beds, and with the 
 variety of tortures which fire and steel, sav- 
 age beasts, and more savage executioners, 
 could inflict on the human body" — and we 
 may add that these "disgustful pictures" are 
 far less creations of the imagination or exag- 
 gerations of fact, than Gibbon in so many 
 places hints or implies. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It is quite evident that the first four 
 seals have a distinctive character, and stand 
 apart, for purposes of exposition, from the 
 three that follow. Their symbolism, while 
 differing from that of those which come 
 after, is similar in character in all four, the 
 horse and rider appearing in each. There is 
 a general connection among all the seals, yet 
 the grouping in four and three is clearly 
 manifest. 
 
 When we come to the opening of the fifth 
 and sixth seals, we shall find reasons for 
 certain limitations of the events foreshadowed 
 in the first four seals, to a particular period of 
 time. And still, this limitation is not abso- 
 lute. "While these seals especially apply to 
 the period to be indicated directly, in a wider 
 sense they cover tlie whole temporal range of 
 the progress of the gospel, and of the conflict 
 ushered in by the rider on the red horse; 
 ending only at the end of all things. Thus, 
 under the first seal we have the Gospel Dis- 
 pensation in its glorious opening, yet in this 
 opening stage its whole career foreshadowed; 
 under the second, the beginning, the intro- 
 duction of that fulfillment of our Lord's 
 
 warning prophecy, which, indeed, was to 
 fill many centuries of time, yet here appear- 
 ing rather as introduced, than as carried on 
 to its consummation; under the third and 
 fourth, in like manner, beginnings and early 
 stages of development are principally in- 
 tended, yet by no means exclusively. Ap- 
 plications of the symbolism of these seals 
 may easily be found along the track of history 
 during many centuries of time, and possibly 
 may continue so down to the end. We trace, 
 however, a certain historical order in the 
 visions as they successively appear, and this 
 should not be disregarded in the exposition. 
 We may, it is believed, locate the more im- 
 mediate application of what appears under 
 the first four seals, within the period of the 
 Roman Empire; the fearfully vivid symbol- 
 ism of the fourth and last finding its especial 
 counterpart in the ferocious persecutions 
 under Galerius, Diocletian, and Maximin, 
 where we see included with other forms of 
 death inflicted, that favorite one, "by the 
 beasts of the earth "—the bloody spectacle of 
 the amphitheatre, when ''Ad leonem!" — "To 
 the lion ! " — was a common word of doom for 
 those who could more easily die than be un- 
 true. 
 
 We anticipate the difficulty which readers 
 may find in our interpretation of the third 
 seal. Perhaps more account should be made, 
 than appears in our exposition, of the literal 
 and actual in this striking picture of distressful 
 famine. The literal underlies the figurative, 
 in all these representations; just as we see it 
 in history, the spiritual is in close association 
 with the temporal and material; the church 
 is in the wilderness; the kingdom of God is, 
 in its apparent fortunes, more or less involved 
 with the kingdoms of the world; destruct- 
 ive wars between world-powers, comprehend 
 among their issues those of the Avorld-powers 
 themselves with the advancing reign of the 
 King of kings; while "distress of nations" 
 through famine and pestilence serves as typi- 
 cal of that worse destitution and ravage, 
 when sin reigns and devours like a pestilence, 
 and the people i)erish for lack of knowledge. 
 How much of this higher spiritual element 
 ought to be traced in the symbols of these 
 visions, we are not prepared to say; that it 
 is therCy we are persuaded. Ellicott's Com- 
 mentary fully recognizes this, when, in speak- 
 ing of war as symbolized by the red horse, 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 101 
 
 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw 
 under "the altar 'the souls of theiu that were slain 
 •lor the word of God, and tor •'the testimony which 
 they held : 
 
 9 And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under- 
 neath the altar the souls of theni that had lieen slain 
 for the word of God, aud for the testimony which they 
 
 ach. 8:3; 9; 13; 14 : 1S....6 ch. 20: 4....cch. 1:9 <i 2 Tim. 1 : 8: ch. 12: IT ; 19- 10. 
 
 and famine by the black horse, following in 
 his steps, it says: "There is a similar experi- 
 ence in the history of the Church. The red 
 horse of controversy is followed by the black 
 horse of spiritual starvation. In the heat of 
 polemical pride and passion for theological 
 conquest, is developed that love of barren 
 dogmatics which forgets the milk of the word 
 and the I read of life, which are the needed 
 food of souls." 
 
 The fact must be kept in view that those 
 which appear under the imagery of the first 
 four seals, are events occurring in the super- 
 intending and overruling providence of God; 
 they are " parts o{ his ways" in carrying for- 
 ward to their consummation his purposes as 
 respects alike the church and the world. 
 Each rider goes forth with his mission and 
 his office. To him on the red horse it is 
 "given" to "take peace from the earth," and 
 to him is "given" a sharp sv;ord. A like sub- 
 ordination of office is implied for the rider 
 upon the black horse, as the charge is given 
 him to moderate the stress of the destitution 
 he inflicts, and to leave still available for those 
 who suffer it, the oil and the wine of divine 
 consolation. To the rider on the pale horse, 
 and to his terrible attendants there was "given 
 power over the ftmrth part of the earth to 
 kill" and destroy. These things took place, 
 no{ as a revolt, for the time irresistible, against 
 the sovereignty of him thatsatupon thethrone, 
 and of the Lamb, but as so permitted and used 
 as to become divine dispensations, carrying on 
 to fulfillment great purposes of grace and of 
 power. 
 
 9-11. The Fifth Seal. 
 
 9. The Souls Uni>er the Altar. — And 
 when he had opened the fifth seal. The 
 first four seals, we have seen, are closely re- 
 lated in character and significance. The re- 
 maining three are, in the form of the repre- 
 sentation under each, distinct not only from 
 the four preceding ones, but also from each 
 other. There is, however, as will appear, a 
 general connection among all the seven, with 
 a corresponding resultant unity of general in- 
 tention. — I saw under the altar the souls 
 
 of them that were slain for the word of 
 God, and for the testimony which they 
 held. It is important that the Hymholieal 
 character of the whole representation, here,- 
 be kept clearly in mind. This symbolism 
 must be forgotten or overlooked by those who 
 find a difficulty in the description of these 
 souls of the martyrs — their deptirted spirits — . 
 as, instead of being in heaven and in glory 
 with their Lord, lying under the altar, 
 and, as if still in suffering, calling for vindi- 
 cation, and for the punishment of their mur- 
 derers. It is not at all the purpose of the 
 vision to represent this as the ac^^a^ condition 
 of the martyred dead, any more than it is to 
 represent God as actually seated upon the 
 throne as here seen, or as surrounded by the 
 encircling elders with all the other groupings 
 of the theophany. It is all vision, not reality, 
 and vision intended to set forth ideas, ]}rin- 
 ciples, and general facts of divine dispensa- 
 tion, rather than specific and literal events. 
 The leading general fact of this kind, pre- 
 sented under the fifth seal, is that of God's 
 apparent delay in vindicating the truth of his 
 own word, and requiting the cruelties visited 
 upon his people by their enemies and his. 
 With a view to set forth this general idea, or 
 fact, a vision is presented of spirits of the mar- 
 tyred dead, who serve to this end an office like 
 that which is filled by the characters of a 
 drama. It should be remembered, in further 
 exposition of the vision, that John is still 
 standing by the sea of glass, and what has 
 been described in chs. iv., v., is still before 
 him. A new object, however, now appears — 
 an altar. It is the altar {ev<Ti.a.arTnpiofv) of sacri- 
 fice, of burnt-offerings, and we have in the 
 connection again the word translated, "that 
 were slain" {{<T<i,ayiJ.ivo>v), which means slain in 
 sacrifice. This word is used of the " Lamb as 
 it had been slain," and as applied here to the 
 martyrs indicates that they had, indeed, drank 
 of his cup, and been baptized witli his bap- 
 tism. They had experienced "the fellowship 
 of his sufferings." " Under the altar," must 
 mean at the foot of the altar; as was the case 
 in ancient temple sacrifice, when the bodies. 
 
102 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 10 And thev cried with a loud voice, saying, "How 
 long, () Lord, "'' holy and true, "dost thou not judge and 
 avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? 
 
 11 And ''white robes were given unto every one of 
 them; and it was said unto them, "that they should 
 rest yet lor a little season, until their fellow-servants 
 also and their brethren, that should be killed as they 
 were, should be fulfilled. 
 
 10 held : 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 
 
 11 the earth? And there was given tliem 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 Iheir brethren, who should be 
 killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their 
 course. 
 
 oSeeZech. l:12....5ch.3:7....coh. 11:18; 19:2 dch. 3: 4.5: 7:9. 14....e Heb. 11: 40; ch. 14 : 13.- 
 
 auihoi'ities read, be /ulfilled iu uumber. 
 
 -1 Some ancient 
 
 of the victims offered lay near and around the 
 altar upon which they had been sacrificed. 
 These martyrs had been slain " for the word 
 of God, and for the te.stimony which they 
 held" — that is, on account of (Sia) the word 
 of God to which, in their testimony, they had 
 been faithful unto death. 
 
 10. And they cried with a loud [a 
 "gi-eaf] voice. As indicated above, it is 
 not to be inferred that the spirits of the mar- 
 tyrs in their glorified and heavenly state do 
 actually thus invoke divine judgment upon 
 their oppressors. Those seen in the vision 
 are representative forms, simply, and are used 
 to set forth in a dramatic way, consi.stent 
 with the method of the whole book, the idea 
 of that divine judgment upon oppressors and 
 murderers which in the divine providence 
 seems often so strangely delayed. —How long, 
 O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not 
 jud£;e and avenge our blood on them 
 that dwell on the earth? The word trans- 
 lated "Lord," "Master" (SecrTroTTjs), correlates 
 with "servant" (SoOAov). The revisers accord- 
 ingly translate more correctly, " How long, 
 O Master" ; the appeal being by those who 
 have faithfully served and suffered, to him in 
 whose service and cause they have done and 
 endured all. "Dost thou not judge," implies 
 an appeal to the divine justice. And this 
 makes more clear the word "avenge," which 
 does not mean vengeance in any vindictive 
 sense, but in the sense of that deserved re- 
 quital with which justice visits the wicked 
 and the cruel. 
 
 11. And white robes were given unto 
 every one of them. More correctly tran.s- 
 lated, ''Anil there was given to each one a 
 white robe." Again to be taken in the strictly 
 symbolical sense. The "white robes" in- 
 dicate divine recognition and vindication, 
 against every manner of accusation and con- 
 tumely endured by them in their earthly life. 
 "We are not to infer that those wlio are faith- 
 ful unto death are not at once tiius "clothed 
 
 upon"; but in the dramatic action of this 
 vision, the spirits of the martjTs representa- 
 tively appear as in this way acknowledged 
 and rewarded in the presence of the behold- 
 ing universe. The general fact thus pre- 
 sented is that God does not forget his faithful 
 ones, nor is he indifferent to all they have 
 done and endured, however his judgments 
 upon their oppressors and murderers may 
 seem to linger. We may note here that an 
 aflSrmative answer to the question is distinctly 
 implied by the Greek negative used, "not" 
 (oir) — "dost thou 7iot" ? — And it was said 
 unto them, that they should rest yet for 
 a little season. Alford objects to the ex- 
 position, "ab.stain trom their cry for venge- 
 ance, be quiet," which De Wette and others 
 prefer. He thinks we should understand 
 "rest in blessedness." But in that case, how 
 shall we explain the phrase, "a little season" 
 — a little time — as also the word "until"? 
 Will they rest in blessedness only "a little 
 while"? The force of the word "rest," 
 which means also to "cease," "rest in quiet," 
 bears evidently upon what has preceded in 
 describing the appeal for justice of these souls 
 of the martyrs. What is said to them is, in 
 effect, that in "a little season" tjieir prayer 
 shall be granted; till thep, let them rest and 
 wait. The general thought is the same as 
 that in the Lord's parable, "Shall not God 
 avenge his own elect . . . though he bear 
 long with them? I tell .you that he will 
 avenge them speedily.'^ God's "little while" 
 may not seem such to us. It may compre- 
 hend centuries. Yet, what are centuries to 
 his eternity ?— Until their fellow-servants 
 also and their brethren, that should be 
 killed as they Avere, should be fnlKlled. 
 The language evidently im))iies tliat tlicse 
 souls under tlu^ altar represent only a portion 
 of those who in successive ages suffer death 
 as witnesses for God and his truth. Otliers 
 are 3'et to "be killed as they were," and 
 meanwhile, that final judgment of God in 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 103 
 
 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, 
 "and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and '■the sun 
 became bhiek as sackcloth of hair, and the moon be- 
 came as blood ; 
 
 12 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 moou be- 
 
 tch. 16: 18....& Joel2: 10. 31 : 3: 15; Matt. 24: 29; Acts 2 : 20. 
 
 which alike the truth and its witnesses will 
 have triumphant vindication, is delayed. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It is important that we should emphasize 
 here the significant teaching of the words 
 noticed in the conclusion of our exposition, 
 above. We understand by these souls under 
 the altar — these spirits of martyrs^represen- 
 tatives of those who had- given their lives in 
 testimony of the truth as it is in Jesus, within 
 a certain period. It is clear that others were 
 to suffer after them. We know of no war- 
 rant for claiming that these who "should be 
 killed as they were," are victims of some 
 outbreak of long extinct persecution just pre- 
 ceding the coming of the Lord. To thus 
 interpret is to find in the passage what the 
 writer of it cannot have intended to put there. 
 The natural meaning of it is that these souls 
 under the altar, are, representatively, spirits 
 of those who had suffered in connection with 
 what had just previously been indicated at 
 the opening of the second, third, and fourth 
 seals; and especially the last. Thus while 
 the vision changes its special character as the 
 fifth seal is ojiened, the general connection of 
 the whole is maintained. We therefore con- 
 sider ourselves justified in viewing these souls 
 under the altar, while implying a general 
 allusion to victims of persecution in all ages, 
 as representative especially of such as had 
 perished under pn gnu persecutions; and that j 
 these "fellow-.servants" and "brethren" who i 
 were yet to be killed, were such as should in ' 
 like manner suffer at the yet bloodier hand 
 of the Man of Sin, "in his time" to be "re- 
 vealed." 
 
 12-17. The Sixth Seal, and the Great 
 Earthquake. 
 
 12. And I beheld, when he had opened 
 the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great 
 earthquake; and the sun became black 
 as sackcloth of hair, and the moon be- 
 came as blood. The revision omits "lo," 
 following the Sinaitic manuscript, and reads 
 "the whole moon," in accordance with the 
 Sinaitic and Alexandrine. It is quite cus- 
 
 tomary with interpreters to treat this, with 
 the verses following to the end of the chapter, 
 as a description of the end of the world. 
 We decline to take this view, for these 
 reasons: (1) That it so much overlooks the 
 fact that what appears here, as elsewhere in 
 the book, is visioji, and vision in which the 
 objects and incidents presented are not actual 
 and literal, but images and symbols. Those 
 who interpret the passage as descriptive of 
 what is actually to occur at the end of all 
 things, drop this .symbolical element almo.st 
 altogether, and read the whole as if it were 
 literal history. (2) It is making the whole 
 Apocalyptic scheme a scene of confusion to 
 introduce at this point, and at so many sub- 
 sequent ones, the end of the world and the 
 last judgment. Lange would have it that 
 the order of representation in the book is 
 cyclical; the same .scene re-appearing under 
 different aspects, and ending always in the 
 final universal cataclysm. It seems to be 
 taken for granted, in a hasty and unauthor- 
 ized way, that, where the description is of a 
 nature to suggest that ultimate event in 
 human history, it is, of course, to be taken 
 as having that meaning. (8) The language, 
 here, is precisely in keeping with what we 
 find in Old Testament prophecy, as predictive 
 of national events, great and startling changes 
 in the political world. We may take, as an 
 example, Joel 2: 10, where invasion of the 
 land of Judah is threatened: "The earth 
 shall quake before them; the heavens 
 shall tremble, the sun and the moon shall be 
 dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shin- 
 ing." Or Jer. 4: 23, 24, 28: "I beheld the 
 earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; 
 and the heavens, and they had no light. I 
 beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, 
 and all the hills moved lightly. For this 
 .shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above 
 be black." More to the point of our present 
 passage is "the burden of Babylon," in Isa. 
 13: 9, 10: "Behold, the day of the Lord 
 cometh, cruel both with wrath and with fierce 
 anger, to lay the land desolate ; and he shall 
 destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Foe 
 
104 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 13 "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even 
 ae a fig tree tasteth her untimely tigs, when she is 
 shaken of a uiinhtv wind. 
 
 14 'And tlie hea'ven departed as a scroll when it is 
 rolled together; and <^ every mountain and island were 
 moved out of their places. 
 
 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
 and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the 
 mighty men, and every bond man, and every free 
 man, "^hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of 
 the mountains; 
 
 13 came as blood ; and the stars of the heaven fell into 
 the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs, when 
 
 14 she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was 
 removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every 
 mountain and island were moved out oi their places. 
 
 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 themselves in the 
 
 acb. 8: 10; 9:1. 
 
 -1 Or, military 
 
 the stars of heaven and the constellations 
 thereof shall not give their light, the sun 
 shall be darkened in his going forth, and the 
 moon shall not cause her light to shine." No 
 ome, sureh', will understand by these passages 
 in Old Testament prophecy, more than pre- 
 dictions, under this vivid imagery, of events 
 whose record is now in history, and whose 
 tremendous catastrophes fully justify a repre- 
 sentation which makes them to be as (/"nature 
 itself were plunging into the original chaos. 
 (4) The common interpretation, here, is open 
 to the same objection as lies against so much 
 of the labored and involved expositions of 
 this book. It assumes an amount of elabora- 
 tion and complication in the Apocalyptic 
 scheme itself which is neither necessary to 
 it, nor likely to be in it. Why should we 
 suppose that at this point, while so much 
 remains to be unfolded of the contents of 
 the sealed book, we are thus suddenly and 
 unexpectedly brought to the consummation 
 of all things — to return, at the opening of 
 the next chapter, to the beginning of the 
 Gospel Dispensation once more, and be 
 brought again to the end of all things in 
 the tenth and eleventh chapters; returning 
 again to the point of departure with the 
 opening of the twelfth ? There is a far more 
 natural and simple method of procedure in 
 the interpretation, which may afford less 
 opportunity for elaborate and ingenious 
 theorizing, yet is much more likely to be 
 according to the real meaning of the book. 
 We prefer, for these reasons, to take the 
 descriptive imagery of the passage now under 
 consideration, as in analogy with those above 
 quoted from the Old Testament. At the 
 opening of the sixth seal the scene changes. 
 John sees before him — in vision — what seems 
 like a grand cataclysm of all things. Those 
 terrific phenomena of nature which most op- 
 press human beings with consternation and 
 dread, seem to pass before his eyes, with 
 
 others, unexampled and amazing, while fear 
 seizes upon all the beholders, who see in these 
 terror-striking portents signs of divine wrath 
 and judgment. Doubtless, it can be only 
 great and awful events which may appropri- 
 ately be represented under such imagery ; 
 revolutions wide-reaching and overwlielming, 
 a downfall of earthly powers and dignities as 
 great as the imagination is capable of conceiv- 
 ing. Yet such events have transpired in his- 
 tory; and such we believe to be indicated 
 here. — And the stars of heaven fell unto 
 the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
 untimely figs, when she is shaken of a 
 mighty wind. The Alexandrine manuscript 
 reads, "stars of God." There is, however, 
 no occasion for change. We are not to take 
 sun, moon, and stars, as symbols of earthly 
 dignities. The scene as a whole is symbolical, 
 and to be interpreted in the general way inti- 
 mated above. — And the heaven departed 
 as a scroll when it is rolled together; 
 and every mountain and island were 
 moved out of their places. "Rolled up" 
 is a better rendering. The description is an 
 exceedingly vivid one of what would appear 
 to a beholder, so placed as to see before him 
 the earth and the enveloping sky, with the 
 orbs that roll in space, seemingly all rushing 
 to destruction, and mingled in a common 
 ruin. Under this tremendous imagery are 
 Apocalyptically set forth events in divine 
 providence, in which God's judgments upon 
 ungodly and cruel men, as nations and as 
 individuals, are seen in operation. 
 
 15. And the kings of the earth, and the 
 great men, and the rich men, and the 
 chief captains, and the mighty men, 
 and every bond man, and every free man, 
 hid themselves in the dens and in the 
 rocks of the mountains. Tbe translation 
 in the n'vision is better; "And the kings of 
 the earth, and the princes, and the cliief cap- 
 tains [marg. military tribuncn], and the rich, 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 105 
 
 16 "And said to the mountains and roclcs, Fall on us, 
 and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the 
 throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 
 
 17 'For the great day of his wrath is come ; " and who 
 shall be able to stand? 
 
 16 caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they 
 say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us 
 
 and hide us from the face of him tliat sitteth on the 
 
 17 throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the 
 great day of their wrath is come ; and who is able 
 to stand ? 
 
 aHos. 10:8; Luke 23: 30; ch. 9 : 6.. ..6 Isa. 13 : 6, etc : Zepli. 1: 14, etc. ; oh. 16 : U....cPs 
 
 76: 7. 
 
 and the strong, and every bondman and free 
 man, hid themselves in the caves and in the 
 rocks of the mountains." It is a description 
 of the general consternation that mankind, 
 in all classes and conditions, are wont to feel, 
 even in the midst of great political convul- 
 sions, with consequent disorder, social chaos, 
 and personal suffering— "the sea and the 
 waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for 
 fear, and for looking after those things which 
 are coming on the earth." 
 
 16. Aud said to the mountains and 
 rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the 
 face of him that sitteth on the throne, 
 and from the wrath of the Lamb. We 
 are to keep in mind in what presence John is 
 still standing, while this scene passes before 
 his eyes. The centre of the whole mighty 
 vision is the Throne, with the resplendent 
 form there seated, and the Lamb with the 
 sealed book. The affrighted nations, their 
 kings and their chief captains, appear in the 
 vision as if conscious of that presence, and of 
 the judicial character of the visitation so 
 frightful to them. 
 
 17. For the great day of his wrath is 
 come ; and who shall be able to stand ? 
 An important difference of reading occurs 
 here. The Sinaitic manuscript has "of their 
 {avTav) wrath." This reading the revision 
 adopts. As the words stand in the common 
 version, it is only the wrath of the Lamb that 
 is the subject of mention in the last verse. The 
 changed reading is probably the preferable 
 one, meaning the wrath of him that sitteth 
 on the throne, and the wrath of the Lamb. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We are quite willing, now, to concede that 
 if this remarkable passage be taken to indicate 
 political convulsions and revolutions only, and 
 not, as so many writers have assumed, the end 
 of all things at the last judgment, only politi- 
 
 cal changes of the most extraordinary nature 
 could adequately meet the conditions of au 
 interpretation so grounded. But it seems to 
 us that these conditions are fully met in what 
 has transpired at difl^erent times in the world's 
 history, and by no means least of all in that 
 remarkable event, implying so much in itself, 
 and carrying with it such tremendous conse- 
 quences—the fall of the Roman Empire. It 
 was an event of the greatest moment in the 
 general history of the kingdom of God among 
 men. It was the final passing away of the 
 ancient order; the old world therein perished, 
 and out of the chaos a new world was born. 
 Modern Christian civilization, to say nothing 
 of the progress of the gospel, and the devel- 
 opments and achievements of Christianity 
 itself, became possible alone in the passing 
 away of a political system so identified with 
 the old idolatries and all that was most char- 
 acteristic of heathen civilization. But in it- 
 self it was a wonderful event, well deserving 
 a prominent representation upon the vast 
 Apocalyptic scene; while the convulsions, 
 the destructive wars, the exhibitions of human 
 violence, the downfall of thrones and digni- 
 ties, the wide-spread miseries, the general 
 chaos accompanying it, make appropriate for 
 a prophetic delineation of it, even such 
 imagery as appears in the verse just consid- 
 ered. 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, that we assign the 
 events foreshadowed in this sixth chapter, so 
 far as limitation of the kind is implied, to the 
 period of the Roman Empire. We do not 
 understand specific events, or individual per- 
 sons, or even any exact period of time to be 
 indicated ; but only, in general, those events 
 and changes which characterijced the centu- 
 ries during which Christianity was beginning 
 its long career, and Paganism, with the power 
 that was its main support, first resisted, then 
 persecuted, but finally itself perished. 
 
106 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 AND after these things I saw four angels standing on 
 the four cofners of the earth, " holding the four 
 wimls of the earth, 'that the wind should not blow on 
 the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four 
 corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the 
 earth, that no wind should blow ou the earth, or on 
 
 a Dan. 7: 2 6 eta. 9: 4. 
 
 SEALING OF THE SERVANTS 
 OF GOD. 
 
 1-3. The Angels of the Winds. 
 
 1. And after these things I saw four 
 angels standing on the four corners of 
 the earth. The better reading is: "After 
 this (a*TA toCto) I saw," etc. The principle of 
 interpretation which we have thus far recog- 
 nized, must still be observed, viz. : that the 
 symbo.ical figures introduced in visions such 
 as these, are to be treated as symbolical and 
 representative. Various theories proposed 
 for identifying the four angels here men- 
 tioned are, for this reason, not only unneces- 
 sary, but misleading. Needless and hurtful 
 complication has been introduced at many 
 points in this book, by assuming as included 
 in what is said so much more than belongs to 
 the simple and natural sense of the words. 
 John is not looking, here, upon actual events 
 and personages, but upon figures and scenes 
 in a vision, under which providential proced- 
 ures, principles of divine administration, 
 great general facts and truths, are set forth. 
 We, therefore, with Lange, view these four 
 angels as "symbolical angel forms"; not 
 "bad angels," as Calovius, nor "angels of 
 nature," as De Wette, nor "four world- 
 kingdoms," as Bede— viz. : the four king- 
 doms of Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome 
 — nor "angels of the winds," in any other 
 than a purely figurative sense. They repre- 
 sent here in their action the idea of providen- 
 tial delay in the final execution of judgment. 
 Ilengstenberg indicates numerous passages in 
 the Old Testament, where "winds" are used 
 as symbols of such judgment. One of these 
 is in Jer. 49:36: "And upon Eiam will I 
 bring the four winds from the four quarters 
 of heaven, and will scatter them toward all 
 those winds." Another is Dan. 7:2: "I 
 saw in my vision by night, and behold, the 
 four winds of the heaven strove upon the 
 great sea." So in E/ekiel 1: 4, "a whirl- 
 wind out of the north" symbolizes "the 
 judgment that was to break in u]M)n Judea 
 out of Babylon." Tlie same general tliought 
 
 is in our present passage; only the judgment 
 implied is not local and limited, but com- 
 prehensive of the whole world. It is the four 
 winds of the earth, held in check by angels 
 standing "on the four corners of the earth" ; 
 under which imagery is contained the idea of 
 universality, so far as the world of men is 
 concerned. — Holding the four winds of 
 the earth, that the wind should not blow 
 on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any 
 tree. The word for "holding" — holding the 
 four winds of the earth" — (KparoOi/Ta?, not 
 exovTas), means to hold in the sense of restrnin- 
 ing, controlling. There can be no good reason 
 for individualizing or carrying into detail the 
 symbolism, here, as is done by Hengstenberg. 
 By the sea he understands "the sea of na- 
 tions"; the trees "correspond to the kings, 
 magnates, etc., in ch. 6: 15"; trees and grass 
 "denote the high and the low, princes and sub- 
 jects." It is by taking every allusion of this 
 kind as embodying thus some distinct symbol- 
 ism that so much complication and unneces- 
 sary difficulty are introduced in the interpre- 
 tation of the book. It is sufficient for us to 
 view the scene as a vihole as thus symbolical. 
 The winds denote in a general way judgment 
 in providential visitation, of every variety 
 and kind; while consistently with this, and 
 in a like use of natural forces and nn^.tlents 
 to represent the whole idea of such visitation 
 as reaching to men and nations, and of the 
 kind so often mentioned in history, the world 
 of nature is used to represent the object of the 
 visitation. Providential interposition, how- 
 ever, delays the execution. The angels hold 
 the four winds, "that the wind should not 
 blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any 
 tree." This they do by divine command. 
 Associating the passage here with the closing 
 verses of ch. vi., the connection is clear. In 
 those verses the world of men is seen filled 
 with consternation, and as if expecting the 
 end of all things, in a final, overwlielming 
 destruction. It seems to them that "the 
 great day" of "the wrath of the Lamb "has 
 come. But that great day has not yet come. 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 107 
 
 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, 
 having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a 
 loud voice to the lour angels, to whom it was given to 
 hurt the earth and the sea, 
 
 3 Saying ■"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor 
 the trees, till we have 'sealed the servants of our God 
 ''in their foreheads. 
 
 2 the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel 
 ascend from the suurising, 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 
 
 3 and the sea, saying. Hurt not the earth, neither the 
 sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the ser- 
 
 ach.6: 6; 9:4 b Ezek. 9 : 4; ch. 14: 1... .c ch. 22 : 4. 
 
 The purposes of God toward his church and 
 toward the world have by no means as yet 
 been accomplished. "The mystery of God " 
 is not yet "finished." Hence this picture of 
 an interposing providence, giving command 
 to those charged with the execution of his 
 judgments upon a wicked world, to hold the 
 four winds of his destroying visitation, "that 
 the wind should not blow upon the earth," 
 and so "make a full end" at once. The 
 reason of this appears in what follows. 
 
 2. And I saw another angel ascending 
 from the east. Again it is simply a repre- 
 sentative angel form, not to be taken as 
 Gabriel, nor as the .Lord Jesus, nor as the 
 Holy Spirit, nor any otherwise than in the 
 same representative way as the four angels 
 previously mentioned. The better transla- 
 tion is, "I saw another angel ascend from the 
 sunrising." Ellicott's note, here, is equally 
 just and beautiful: " The angels appear as 
 carrying out the purposes of God. This angel 
 rises into view from the door of the dawn. 
 In the midst of dark symptoms of coming 
 storm and judgment there springs up a light 
 for the righteous, and joyful gladness for such 
 as are true-hearted ; they need not be afraid 
 of evil tidings whose hearts stand fast be- 
 lieving in the Lord." — Having the seal of 
 the living God. The illustrative passage, 
 here, is 2 Tiin. 2: 19: "Nevertheless the foun- 
 dation of God standeth sure, having this 
 seal : The Lord knoweth them that are his." 
 Again, in Ei)h. 1: 13, 14, we read, "In whom 
 also after that ye believed, ye were sealed 
 with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is 
 the earnest of our inheritance until the re- 
 demption of the purchased possession, unto 
 the praise of his glory." — And he cried with 
 a loud voice to the four angels, to whom 
 it was given to hurt the earth and the 
 sea. Here again the four angels appear as 
 executioners of divine judgment, yet re- 
 strained by the power and command of him 
 who assigns them their office. 
 
 3. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither 
 the sea, nor the trees. As before, natural 
 
 forces and natural objects are used as repre- 
 sentative of the whole idea of divine visita- 
 tion in providential judgments. — Till we 
 have sealed the servants of our God in 
 their foreheads. The word "our" should 
 here be supplied, and we should read, "the 
 servants of our God." Also we should read, 
 "upon" (iiri) their foreheads. The word 
 "seal," as used in this verse, does not, of 
 course, denote the idea of fastening together, 
 as the word is often used at present, but is 
 rather employed in the older English sense 
 of making a mark by means of a signet. 
 This is the ordinary meaning of the word 
 "seal," as found in the New Testament. The 
 symbolism in this place is carried out per- 
 fectly. The destruction threatened is of that 
 indiscriminate kind which we see where the 
 powers of nature come forth, armed and ter- 
 rible, as ministers of divine punishment. But 
 there are those whom God will make safe, 
 when the .storm comes. That they may be 
 known amidst the multitudes of men, they 
 are chosen forth, and each receives the seal 
 of God upon his forehead. In the interpre- 
 tation of this sj-mbolism, we come upon that 
 simple yet cardinal truth set forth in the 
 passages quoted above, "The Lord knoweth 
 them that are his." He seals them "with 
 that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the 
 earnest of their inheritance." In other words, 
 the promised Holj' Spirit works within them 
 that regenerating change which sets them 
 apart as the children of God; "and if chil- 
 dren, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs 
 with Christ." Until the multitude of these 
 shall have been gathered out of the world, in 
 its ages and generations of time, final judg- 
 ment is withholden. "The great day" of 
 the Lamb's wrath comes not until then, how- 
 ever in the special judgments visited upon 
 the world, the nations in their terror and 
 confusion may, at times, imagine that they 
 see its portents alread,y thundering and gleam- 
 ing over them. This general truth, in the 
 dispensations of God toward his people and 
 toward the world — this, and this only — WQ 
 
108 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 4 "And I heard the number of them which were 
 sealed: and there were sealed 'a hundred nitd lurty and 
 four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 
 
 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 
 
 6 Of the tribe of Aser tvere sealed twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 
 
 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were scaled twelve thousand. 
 Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of 
 the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 
 
 « Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thou- 
 sand. Of the tribe of .Joseph were sealed twelve thou- 
 sand. Of tLe tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve 
 thousand. 
 
 4 vants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard 
 the number of them that were sealed, a hundred 
 and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every 
 tribe of the children of Israel. 
 
 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 Benjamin were sealed twelve thou- 
 sand. 
 
 o ch. 9: 16 6 ch. 14: 1. 
 
 conceive to be set forth in the passage here 
 studied. Under the imagery of the seal upon 
 the forehead is contained the thought that 
 the work of grace wrought within by the 
 Spirit is of a nature to be known outwardly 
 in "a well-ordered life and a godly conver- 
 sation." 
 
 4-8. The Number of the Seals. 
 
 4. And I heard the number of them 
 which were sealed ; and there were 
 sealed a hundred and forty and four 
 thousand of all the tribes of the chil- 
 dren of Israel. We reserve for the Gen- 
 eral Comments some notice of the signifi- 
 cance of this representation of the sealed by 
 the names of the tribes. What is to be 
 understood by the numbers given is also 
 noticed further on.— Of the tribe of Jndah 
 were sealed twelve thousand, etc. Elli- 
 cott very properly rejects the view of those 
 who understand those thus sealed to be Jewish 
 Christians. He says: "The time of judg- 
 ment and trial is drawing near; we have 
 seen the tokens of the coming storm in the 
 opening of the sixth seal; our wish is to 
 know the lot of the saints of God. This chap- 
 ter answers this wish; they are safe, having 
 the seal of God. Now to limit the answer to 
 Israelitish Christians is to break in abruptly 
 upon the general flow of thought with a bald 
 literalism. The sealed ones are explained 
 to be the servants of Gf)d; the description 
 which follows proclaims them to be the Israel 
 of God." As we observe more closely the 
 enumeration of the tribes, some peculiarities 
 in the names given, and the order in which 
 they stand, should be noticed: (1) Reuben 
 no longer leads the roll, and Judah takes his 
 place. "Unstable as water, thou shalt not 
 excel," was said to him, by the dying father 
 
 and patriarch. (Gen. 49:4). To Judah it was 
 said : " Thou art he whom thy brethren shall 
 praise . . . unto him shall the gathering of 
 the people be." In accordance with this, 
 Judah here heads the roll of the tribes. (2) 
 The tribe of Dan is not named at all.. This 
 consists with the fact that the tribe of Dan 
 became in due time wholly extinct; having 
 first lapsed into heathenism and immorality. 
 Among this " twelve," also, there was a faith- 
 less one, who, like Judas, went "to his own 
 place." In each instance is a warning against 
 unfaithfulness. "Begin not to say within 
 yourselves. We have Abraham to our father." 
 A spiritual ancestry is no security against the 
 consequences of spiritual apostasy. "Let 
 him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest 
 he fall." (3) Neither does the name of Eph- 
 raim appear, apparently for a like reason — 
 that of Joseph taking its place. The number 
 twelve is thus preserved, while the lessons of 
 tribal history are marked and emphasized. 
 The number of "twelve thousand," sealed 
 from each of the tribes, with the hundred 
 and forty-four thousand which appears in the 
 sum, while not of course to be taken literally, 
 is significant. "Twelve," says Carpenter in 
 Ellicott, "is used as the number of tho.se who 
 in every age have been called out to witness 
 for some truth which the world needed." 
 Such were the twelve tribes; .such, again, 
 were the twelve apostles. "The number 
 twelve, then, stands for a world-witness of 
 divine truth; and the fruit of this world- 
 witness is a wide and sustained success; the 
 twelve multiplied by the twelve a thousand- 
 fold. . . . The skeleton organization is 
 twelve, the college of the apostles; the one 
 hundred and forty-four thousand represent 
 the growth into full numbers of the choice 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 109 
 
 9 After this I beheld, and, lo. "a great multitude, 
 which no man could number, »of all nations, and 
 kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the 
 throne, and before the Lamb, "clothed with white 
 robes, and palms in their hands ; 
 
 9 After these things I saw, and behold, a great multi- 
 tude, that no man could number, out of every 
 nation, and of al/ tribes and peoples and tongues, 
 standing before the throne and before the Lamb, 
 arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; 
 
 ; Rom. 11 : 25 ft ch. 5 : 9 c oh. 3: 5, 18; 4:4; 6: 11 ; ver. 14. 
 
 ones of God." The number, therefore, is 
 itself a symbol, and by no means to be taken 
 as expressing an exact enumeration. Its re- 
 currence in such connections may indicate 
 to us tlie unchangeableness as well as the 
 definiteness of the divine purposes of grace. 
 Of this, more in the General Comments. 
 
 9-17. The Gre.\t Multitude. 
 
 9. After this I beheld, and lo, a great 
 multitude, which no man could number, 
 of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, 
 and tongues. Here the reading, "After 
 these things" (fiera TaCra), is the correct one. 
 The rendering may, in other respects, be 
 made more exact: "After these things I saw 
 and behold a great multitude which no man 
 could number" [the verb being in the past 
 tense] oid of every nation [the word for "na- 
 don" being singular, while those which fol- 
 low are plural], and of [all] tribes, and peoples, 
 and tongues. [The past tense, ^^ could num- 
 ber," instead of the present ^^ can number," 
 may perhaps have been chosen because it pre- 
 sented the idea in a more realistic, pictorial 
 way — as if the attempt had been made, or at 
 least contemplated, and found to be altogether 
 beyond the power of human computation. — 
 A. H.] Alford's note, here, is, "that this very 
 specification of a multitude without number, 
 carries us past the first and millennial resur- 
 rection, indicated in the two former parables 
 of Matt. 25, and past the final judgment sub- 
 limely described at the end of that chapter." 
 He regards the words in Matthew, "but the 
 righteous into life eternal," as indicating "the 
 point at which our vision takes up the proph- 
 ecy." It is more than doubtful if any such 
 close and exact parallelism between the pas- 
 sage in Matthew and the passage here, as Al- 
 ford takes as the basis of his whole scheme 
 of interpretation in this part of our book, 
 can safely be assumed. That the Apocalypse 
 is, in substance, the expansion and completion 
 of that twenty-fifth chapter, as Alford and 
 others seem to think, is as much pure assump- 
 tion as any other of the many theories in- 
 vented with a view to a like purpose. Illus- 
 trative parallel passages may be found in 
 
 abundance, as aids in our exposition, alike in 
 the Old Testament and in the New; but we 
 have no indication anywhere in the book we 
 are studying, that it has more than this gen- 
 eral connection with any other part of Scrip- 
 ture. Each passage is best understood in its 
 own connection, and it is here that we must 
 seek a clue to the interpretation of what is 
 now before us. Two general thoughts, each 
 of great moment in any right view of God's 
 methods of grace and providence, are pre- 
 sented in those two significant representations 
 under which all the symbolism of this chapter 
 may be grouped : (1) The first of these is the 
 watchful guardianship of God in behalf of his 
 own people, and his adjustment of the meth- 
 ods of providence to the methods of grace 
 during this entire dispensation. Final judg- 
 ment is not suflTered to come upon the world 
 until the purposes of grace have all been ac- 
 complished. Of those who had been "given" 
 him in the covenant of redempticm, the Ee- 
 deemer must be able to say, "I have lost 
 none. " The number of the elect will be exact 
 and complete. This idea is set forth in the 
 sealing, and in the round number of twelve, 
 thousand from each tribe, and of the hundred 
 and forty-four thousand as the sum of all. 
 This is " ^/te election of grace." (2) But 
 another idea needs to be made prominent and 
 clear in this connection. The inference must 
 not be left that the number of the finally 
 saved is limited in some such way as indicated 
 in the numbers employed, or that, even, it 
 should be in the power of human calculation 
 to express the "multitude" of those whom 
 the Kedeemer brings with him in the final 
 triumph and glory of his kingdom. To set 
 forth here, in this connection, the pregnant 
 fact in this regard, we consider to be the pur- 
 pose of that portion of our chapter which is 
 now under consideration. There is, no doubt, 
 a general reference to the result of redemption 
 as it shall appear when the elect of God shall 
 be gathered in. But we do not understand 
 that there is any specific, least of all any 
 "chronological," description of the Lord's 
 second coming, as if in any precise order of 
 
110 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIL 
 
 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to 
 our Gild '' wliich sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
 Lamb. 
 
 U i^And all the angels stood round about the throne, 
 and about the elders and the lour beasts, and fell before 
 the throne on their faces, and worshipped (iod, 
 
 12 ''Saying, Aaien: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, 
 and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, bt 
 unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 10 and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation 
 unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto 
 
 11 the Lamb. And all the angels were standing round 
 about the throne, and abintt. the elders and the four 
 living creatures; and they fell before the throne on 
 their faces, and worshipped God, saying. Amen: 
 
 12 1 Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, 
 and honour, and power, and might, be unto our G(S 
 
 oPa. 3. 8; Isa. 43 : 11 ; Jer. 3 : 23 ; Ho3e;i 13 : 4; oil. 19: 1 h ch. 5: 13 c ch. i: 
 
 the glory, etc. 
 
 6 d ch. 5 : 13, U. IGr. The blessing and 
 
 events we had now been brought down to that 
 end and summary of all. The vision repre- 
 sents, in this respect, not a chronologj', but a 
 doctrine, and aims to fix the thought, not upon 
 an event, but upon a truth. This truth is, 
 that while, as before represented, "the Lord 
 knoweth them that are his," while not one of 
 them shall fail in the final gathering of his 
 elect, the actual number of such is "a great 
 multitude which no man could" tell — a mul- 
 titude out of the power of human methods of 
 enumeration to express. — Stood before the 
 throne, and before the Lamb. Hasty 
 readers of this book, we imagine, sometimes 
 overlook the fact that the position of the sea 
 has remained unchanged, while it is only in 
 special features of the vision that change 
 occurs. He is like one watching the succes- 
 sive scenes of a drama, in which new person- 
 ages and new incidents from time to time 
 appear, while the spectator, the stage, and the 
 general surroundings are the same through- 
 out. — Clothed with white robes. The 
 white robes are emblems of righteousness, 
 "the righteousness of the saints." — And 
 palms in their hands. There is, probably, 
 here, an allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 in which ancient Israel celebrated their de- 
 liverance out of Egypt, and the triumphant 
 conclusion of their wilderness journey. "The 
 people," says Ellicott, "forsook their homes 
 and dwelt in booths; the streets were full of 
 glad multitudes who carried branches of palm 
 and olive and myrtle; everywhere the 
 sounds of rejoicing and singing were heard ; 
 'there was very great gladness'." It was also 
 the feast of harvest, or of "ingathering." 
 The sealing before described bears some 
 analogy to that sprinkling of the door-posts 
 of the Hebrew homes in Egypt which pro- 
 tected them from the destroyer, commemo- 
 rated in the Passover; the appearance now on 
 the scene, of this great multitude of rejoicing 
 and triumphing ones, each with a palm-branch 
 as the emblem of victory and peace, is the 
 
 heavenly Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating the 
 safe passage of the wilderness and the joyful 
 " harvest-home." 
 
 10. And cried with a loud voice, say- 
 ing. Salvation to our God which sitteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 
 Some would read, supplj'ing the ellipsis, 
 "Salvation is unto," or "ts due unto"; 
 others, "Salvation be unto," "be ascribed 
 unto." The latter is preferable. Carpenter, 
 in Ellicott, thinks that the language in ver. 
 14 warrants us in taking the salvation, here, 
 in its most comprehensive sense, "including 
 every deliverance from the curse of the law, 
 from the power of sin, and from the perils 
 of life." We should note here, again, how 
 the Lamb is named along with "our God," 
 and made the recipient of equal honor as the 
 author of salvation. 
 
 11. And all the angels stood round 
 about the throne, and about the elders 
 and the four beasts, and fell before the 
 throne on their faces, and worshipped 
 God. We may translate, with the revisers, 
 "And all the angels were standing." The 
 second "about" should be omitted. It is 
 "the innumerable company of angels" men- 
 tioned before, in ch. 5: 11. Here, as there, 
 they appear as encircling the group first re- 
 vealed in the sublime theophany, and as be- 
 holding with interest and with acclamation 
 these successive acts of the vision in which 
 the wonders of divine administration appear. 
 We are reminded here, as we listen to this 
 response to the chorus of the redeemed, of 
 what our Lord tells us of the "joy in heaven 
 among the angels of God over one sinner 
 that repenteth." How much more over this 
 "great multitude which no man can num- 
 ber"? 
 
 12. Saying, Amen ; Blessing, and glory, 
 and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and hon- 
 our, and power, and might, be unto our 
 God, for ever and ever. Amen. Carpen- 
 ter, in Ellicott, notices what he terms the 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, 
 What are these which are arrayed in "wliite robes? 
 and whence came they? 
 
 14 And 1 said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he 
 said to me, 'These are they which came out ol' great 
 tribulation, and have « washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 13 'for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders 
 answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed 
 in the white robes, who are they, and whence came 
 
 14 they ? And I * say unto him. My lord, thou knowest. 
 And he said to me. These are they who come out of 
 the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, 
 and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 1 ver. 9 b ch. 6: 
 
 17:6....clsa. 1: 18; Heb. 9 : 14; 1 John 1:7; ch. 1; 5; 
 ages., . .2 Gr. have said. 
 
 : Zech. 3 : 3, 4, 5. 1 Or. unto the agea of the 
 
 seven-fold form of this ascription, arranging 
 
 it thus : 
 
 Amen ! 
 The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, 
 
 And the thanksgiving, 
 And the honor, and the power, and the strength, 
 (Is) unto our God, 
 Unto the ages of the ages, 
 Amen! 
 
 This seven-fold arrangement is so far arbi- 
 trary, that one hesitates to accept Carpenter's 
 view of it, as showing "the close of the 
 Church's agony," and as opposing "the view 
 which would limit the seals to some short 
 period of the Church's histor3^" It is doubt- 
 ful if any symbolical seven-fold adjustment 
 of the clauses is intended, while to found an 
 important point of exposition upon what may 
 so easily be a mere fancy of the expositor, is 
 to hazard a good deal. At the same time, 
 there is no good reason for limiting this por- 
 tion of what appears in connection with the 
 opening of the seals "to some short period of 
 the Church's history." The vision does not 
 cramp itself within chronological limits and 
 bounds, but in this place, as perhaps in 
 others, leaps over all such, and exhibits the 
 fruit of redemption in its completeness — the 
 purpose being, as before shown, to make clear 
 that while in the sealing and numbering of 
 the servants of God, is figuratively set forth 
 the exactness, in order, method, and result, 
 of God's electing grace, the real and actual 
 fruits of that grace are such as here displayed. 
 In presenting to us this general truth the 
 whole scheme and period of redemption are 
 brought under view, and we see the saved as 
 they shall be when the heavenly harvest- 
 home is proclaimed. 
 
 13. And one of the elders answered, 
 saying unto me. The elder "answers" to 
 a question in the mind of the beholder; not 
 at once with an explanation ; but by first 
 putting that question in words — expressing 
 the seer's own thought. — What are these 
 which are arrayed in white robes? and 
 whence came they? The better translation 
 
 is: "These who are clothed in white robes, 
 who are they, and whence came they?" 
 
 14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou 
 knowest. "Sir," or, "My Lord" (»ci)pie>ou). 
 It is the language, not of worship, but of 
 respectful address. — "Thou knowest." I do 
 not, and it therefore belongs to thee, not to 
 me, to tell. — And he said to me, These 
 are they which came out of great tribu- 
 lation. "Out of the great tribulation (t^? 
 ef^i'f^'^i •")« M«y<»Ais) we should read, rendering 
 the article of the Greek. We should also 
 read "those coming," "those that come (oi 
 «(>xo/^*»'<"), in the present tense, not past, as in 
 the Common Version. The meaning is: 
 "those who are now coming, and in the end 
 will have come, out of the great tribulation." 
 These last words may have some allusion to 
 what has before appeared in the vision, es- 
 pecially under the second, third, fourth, and 
 fifth seals, indicative of the scenes of trial 
 and conflict awaiting the Church of God in a 
 world so torn with tumult and wasted with 
 ravage. This does not, however, limit their 
 proper scope, as they do not appear to have 
 in view any one form or period of such trial ; 
 but the whole period of Christian trial — 
 various as we see it, in nature and form — 
 "the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." 
 Out of this in the successive ages and genera- 
 tions of time, the "great multitude" of the 
 redeemed come. — And have washed their 
 robes, and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb. There is here, again, a mis- 
 take in the rendering. We should read : 
 "And they washed. . . and made," not have 
 washed." The correct translation points back 
 more explicitly to that former, earthly life of 
 the redeemed in which this cleansing from all 
 sin took place. The imagery employed is 
 found more in the writings of John than in 
 those of any other of the evangelists. Where, 
 in the thirteenth chapter of his Gospel, ver. 
 4-11, he describes the washing of the disci- 
 ples' feet; in the first chapter of his First 
 Epistle, ver 7: "If we walk in the light, as 
 
112 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and 
 serve him day and night in his temple: and he that 
 sitteth on the'throne shall "dwell among them. 
 
 16 »Thev shall hunger no more, neither thirst any 
 more; "neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
 heat. 
 
 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
 "^ shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living foun- 
 tains of waters: 'and God shall wipe all tears from 
 their eyes. 
 
 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 
 
 16 over them. They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more ; neither shall the sun strike upon 
 
 17 them, nor any heat: for the Lamb who is in the 
 midst lof the throne shall be their shepherd, and 
 shall guide theui unto fountains of waters of life: 
 and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. 
 
 olsa. 4:5, 6; ch. 21: 3....6 Isa. 49: 10....cPa. 121 : 6 ; 
 
 ch.21: 4,...dP.4.23: 1; 
 1 Or, before. 
 
 Johu 10 : U, 14. . . .« Isa. 25 : 8 ; ch. 21 : 
 
 he is in the light, we have fellowship one with 
 another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his 
 Son cleanseth us from all sin"; and in that 
 familiar saying of the Baptist, recorded alone 
 by this evangelist: "Behold the Lamb of 
 God, which taketh away the sin of the 
 world" — in these cases, as in the passage 
 before us, we find that view of the redemptive 
 work upon which John delights to dwell. 
 Where the agency of the redeemed them- 
 selves appears — "^/tey washed," etc. — is clear. 
 They came to the fountain of cleansing; 
 came in faith to Jesus, whose blood cleanses; 
 in him obtained pardon, and in his righteous- 
 ness were clothed upon, so that now their 
 "raiment" is "clean and white." 
 
 15. Therefore are they before the 
 throne of God. The "therefore," in this 
 place, "on this account" (Sii toOto), is in 
 some sense emphatic. Only as thus washed 
 in the blood of cleansing could they be thus 
 "before the throne of God."— And serve 
 him day and night in his temple. We 
 do not forget that "there is no night there," 
 nor that John tells us in another place 
 (ch. 21:22), that in the heavenly city he saw 
 no temple. The words, here, however, con- 
 tain imagery drawn from the earthly life, 
 and under that imagery heavenly things are 
 expressed. "The "day and night" simply 
 means continual, and the "temple" indi- 
 cates merely the nature of the service. The 
 whole representation, taken together, is that 
 of holy, happy, restful occupation in the 
 service of God. The heavenly life, therefore, 
 is not one of mere repose, but of blissful 
 activity. — And he that sitteth on the 
 throne shall dwell among them. The 
 word for "dwell" ((TKr)vui<rei) is to be espe- 
 cially noticed. It means to pitch a tent or 
 tabernacle, to encamp. In this word, as 
 Alford says, "is contained a multitude of 
 recollections: of the pillar in the wilderness, 
 of the Shechinah in the holy place, of the 
 tabernacle of witnesi<, with all its symbol- 
 
 ism." We might read: "He that sitteth 
 upon the throne shall spread his tent over 
 them," or, as Ellicott translates, "shall tab- 
 ernacle over them." The last named writer 
 thinks also, that there seems to be "a carry- 
 ing on of the imagery derived from the 
 Feast of Tabernacles; as there were the 
 palm-branches of the harvest joy, so there 
 will be the booth or the tabernacle of God's 
 presence among them. He shall be their 
 pavilion, their shelter." It is noticeable 
 how entirely the saved in heaven find their 
 sources of felicity and of all good in God. 
 Later in this book, we are told how the very 
 light of the Holy City is the glory of God and 
 of the Lamb, and in another place that "the 
 Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the 
 temple of it." And here, in harmony with 
 such representations, God makes his presence 
 to them as the spreading shelter of a taber- 
 nacle. God and the Lamb are to them "all 
 in all." 
 
 16. They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more ; neither shall the sun 
 light on them, nor any heat. This im- 
 agery may be intended to point a contrast 
 between their present condition and that 
 which they experienced when in "the great 
 tribulation." [Is there not here a reminis- 
 cence of the condition of the chosen people 
 as they were led through the great and 
 terrible wilderness to the promised land? 
 — A. H.] It may express either literally the 
 forms of human distress particularly named, 
 or under these, as a figure, all the varied ills 
 falling to the lot of man in the vicissitudes 
 of his earthly life, including such as pecu- 
 liarly, in some ages, have befallen the chil- 
 dren of God. "Out of" all that, these 
 "come," and of none of them shall they 
 again have any experience. And the reason 
 is given. 
 
 17. For the Lamb which is in the midst 
 of'the throne shall feed them, and shall 
 lead them unto living fountains of 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 113 
 
 waters; and God shall wipe away all 
 tears from their eyes. The American 
 Company of the English and American 
 Revisers think that we should read "before 
 the throne " (to ava iiea-ov ToO Bpovov). This ren- 
 dering makes the sense more clear. Instead 
 of the word "feed," the revision has "shep- 
 herd" (TToi/aai/ei), "shall be their shepherd." 
 The changed rendering expresses the sense 
 much more fully. It also translates, as will 
 be seen, "and shall guide them unto fountains 
 of waters of life"; which is also more correct 
 than the common version. The final words 
 are given, "and God shall wipe away every 
 tear from their eyes"; a more explicit and 
 emphatic expression than the more general 
 "all tears," and with wonderful vividness 
 declares how entire shall be the deliverance 
 from every cause of sorrow, trial, or pain. 
 "The great tribulation" is for them wholly 
 and forever past. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We may now recall the attention of the 
 reader to what is said in the Introduction (jJ 5\ 
 with reference to the Judaico-Christian char- 
 acter of the representation under which in 
 this part of our book the kingdom of God 
 appears. That series of visions found in ch. 
 4: 11, we regard as viewing the Church of 
 God, or the Kingdom of God, under the as- 
 pect in which the apostle Paul, and others, so 
 often consider it, as the true, or the anti- 
 typical, Israel. The language and imagery 
 employed in this seventh chapter are .so ex- 
 pressly to this effect, that we may here call 
 attention anew to the point — a very es.sential 
 one in the theory of interpretation we are fol- 
 lowing. Especially do we note this— that the 
 "sealed," the elect of God, are represented as 
 from the twelve tribes of Israel. We have 
 thus brought to view (1) the fact that, as Paul 
 says, "they are not all Israel that are of 
 Israel"; (2) also, that yet broader truth con- 
 tained in words which the same apostle quotes 
 from the prophet Hosea ; 
 
 I will call them my people, which were not my people, 
 
 And her heloved, which was not beloved. 
 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it 
 
 was said unto them, Ye are not my people. 
 There .shall they be called the children ot the living 
 
 God. 
 
 If the reader will observe, carefully, he will 
 see how strictly the symbolism throughout 
 these ch. 4: 10, is conformed to this general 
 
 view of the people of God, as the true Israel. 
 There will be other occasions for calling at-, 
 tention to this. 
 
 Especial mention should also be made of 
 the constancy of the representation which 
 associates "the Lamb" with "him that sit- 
 teth upon the throne," in all divine acts, 
 whether of judgment and punishment, or re- 
 demption and deliverance. The doctrinal sig- 
 nificance of this is fully apparent. 
 
 The connection of thought, or representa- 
 tion, in the successive visions, up to this 
 point, should be carefully observed. Six of 
 the seven seals have now been opeiied. Un- 
 der the first four, events signalizing the pro- 
 gress of the kingdom of God among men are 
 foreshadowed; its victorious and triumphing 
 opening era, the outbreak of the long struggle 
 of the kingdom of evil in opposition; start- 
 ling and testing vicissitudes in the inroads of 
 damaging error, and the assaults of persecu- 
 tion. Here a pause occurs in the movement 
 of the great drama, in its historical aspect. 
 The fifth and sixth seals present, not so much 
 methods and incidents of divine administra- 
 tion, as prifwiples and purposes. It is as if to 
 one observing these great events, transpiring 
 upon such a mighty scale, and arraying in 
 opposition elements so tremendous, questions 
 arise. It almost seems as if the wicked pre- 
 vail. The power of the world is in the han<j3: 
 of God's enemies, and they u,se it to oppress 
 and murder God's children. What is the 
 meaning of this? Has God abandoned his 
 own cause? Will he never vindicate it, and 
 those who die in defending and promoting it? 
 Does the very gospel of his salvation fail ? 
 And will his gracious purpose of redemp- 
 tion be after all defeated? Under the fifth 
 and sixth seals these questions are answered. 
 God's martyred saints are heard crying to 
 him. He promises to avenge them speedily. 
 It is shown, too, how his purposes are being 
 wrought out with the exactness of arithmeti- 
 cal enumeration, so that of his redeemed the 
 number shall be full to the verj' last an<J 
 latest of the "called, and chosen, and faith- 
 ful." Not one shall be lost. The number 
 shall be round, full, and complete. And the 
 greatness of it shall surpass even the possi- 
 bilities of human conception— so perfect shall 
 be the execution of the divine plan, so trans- 
 cendent the final triumph and reign of re- 
 demption in the kingdom of God's grace. 
 
114 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 AND "when he had opened the seventh seal, there 
 was silence in heaven about the space of half an 
 hour. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 1 ASD when he opened the seventh seal, there fol- 
 lowed a silence in heaven about the space of half an 
 
 We incline to the opinion that the opening 
 of the seventh seal should have been, in the 
 division of chapters, placed in this immediate 
 connection ; that the first verse of the eighth 
 chapter should have been made the closing 
 verse of the seventh. The stirring scenes of 
 the visions under the six seals would then 
 reach an appropriate close under the seventh. 
 As this last seal is opened, the loud voice of 
 praise in heaven hushes into silence. The 
 scene of the vision, late so crowded with ac- 
 tors and events, so tumultuous and stormy in 
 its representations of the awful issues and in- 
 cidents of human history, is stilled into quiet, 
 while the thronging shadows retire, and leave 
 it as when the thunder-clouds in the sky have 
 passed away, and all the heaven is serene. 
 
 THE SEVENTH SEAL AND THE 
 
 FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS. 
 1. Opening OF THE Seventh Seal. And 
 when he had opened the seventh seal. 
 
 If in the division of chapters, this verse had 
 been placed, as probably it ought to have 
 been, at the close of the seventh chapter, its 
 relation to what follows, in this now before 
 us, would have been more clearly evident. 
 Or rather, it would have been more readily 
 perceived how, with this verse, which de- 
 scribes the opening of the seventh seal, the 
 visions immediately connected with the open- 
 ing of the seals come to a pause. Under the 
 sixth seal redemption is seen in its full ac- 
 complishment. Grace is triujiiphant; the 
 harvest of salvation is gathered in; the 
 "tribulation" is past, and the final blessed- 
 ness has come. The silence which follows 
 the opening of the seventh seal, as will be 
 noticed below, is in these circumstances 
 deeply significant; in this interval of silence, 
 what is especially imported by the seals 
 reaches its consummation, while a new series 
 of visions begins. All this would have been 
 suggested at once, if in the arrangement of 
 matter in this book, the verso which describes 
 the opening of the seventh seal had been put 
 in what seems its true connection. — There 
 was silence In heaven. At the sounding 
 
 of the seventh trumpet (ii:i5), "great voices 
 in heaven" cry: "The kingdoms of this 
 world are become the kingdom of our Lord 
 and of his Christ." At the pouring out of 
 the seventh vial," a great voice out of the 
 temple of heaven, from the throne," cries: 
 "It is done." In each case there is a consum- 
 mation; of what nature, will appear when we 
 come to consider the passages referred to. At 
 the opening of the seventh seal, upon the 
 contrary, no "great voice" is heard; but 
 deep silence reigns throughout heaven. We 
 perceive that this also denotes a consumma- 
 tion ; yet one different from what is seen in 
 the other cases. The use of the number 
 seven, also, in the case of the seals, of the 
 trumpets, and of the vials, shows that the 
 series of visions occurring under each of 
 these is complete in itself; this symbolical 
 number, as we often remark, denoting, sil- 
 ways, completeness. We are allowed to as- 
 sume, therefore, that each of these series has 
 its specific subject, presents some aspect pecu- 
 liar to itself, of the kingdom of God among 
 men, or of the world of men in relation to 
 that kingdom ; and that in each case the 
 Apocalyptic order is so far complete, that in 
 in each the method of divine dispensation 
 brought under view, is carried forward to its 
 final achievement. In each case, also, the 
 key to the whole series of visions is found in 
 that which first appears. Under the seals, 
 the first of the series presents to view the 
 gospel of salvation in its opening triumphant 
 era. The visions that follow exhibit, under 
 general aspects, the subsequent fortunes of 
 this Dispensation of God's grace to men; the 
 vicissitudes that befall it, the defeat and dis- 
 comfiture that often threaten it; and still the 
 complete final fulfillment of all its designs. 
 In like manner, as we shall see, a clue to the 
 right exposition is supplied, in what appears 
 as the trumpets are about to sound, and the 
 vials to be poured out. We understand, 
 therefore, that under the seals is presented 
 the kingdom of God as a dispryixntion of 
 qrnce ; it is redemption, attempting, and 
 finally achieving purposes of infinite mercy 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 115 
 
 2 "And I saw the seven angels which stood before 
 God; 'and to them were given seven trumpets. 
 
 2 hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand be- 
 fore God ; and there were given unto them seven 
 trumpets. 
 
 oMatt. 18: 10; Luke 1 : 19 6 2 Chr. 29: 25-28. 
 
 to men; ite final fruit being "a great mul- 
 titude" of saved ones which no man can 
 number. These are finally seen in their saved 
 and happy state. This consummation is ap- 
 propriately indicated by the "silence," which 
 follows, symbolical of heavenly rest and 
 heavenly peace — the beginning, according to 
 Victorinus, first and oldest of the commen- 
 tators on this book, as quoted by Alford and 
 "Wordsworth, of eternal rest: ^''initiu7n quietis 
 ceterncp." This we tai^e to be the simple and 
 only significance of this silence. "It is," says 
 Carpenter, in EUicott, "the rest of the trou- 
 bled on the breast of God." — About the 
 space of half an hour. It is not to be 
 supposed that any exact space of time is in- 
 tended here. Consistently with the sjnn- 
 bolical dress in which all these visions are 
 clothed, an interval of silence is mentioned : 
 but only with a view to carry out thus the 
 symbolism. If we translate the Greek par- 
 ticle more exactly, this will appear. We shall 
 then read: "There was silence in heaven, as 
 it were (ix;) for half an hour." 
 
 2-6. The Trumpet Angels. 
 
 2. And I saw the seven angels which 
 stood [stand] before God. "We prefer to 
 view these as representative angelic forms, 
 seen in vision ; not actual angels, as Diis- 
 terdieck, nor archangels, as De "Wette, nor 
 "the seven Spirits of God," (Rev.3:i)^ as 
 Ewald. Carpenter's view is preferable. He 
 regards "the seven angels as representatives 
 of the power of God over the world. They 
 are the seven, the completed circle of God's 
 power in judgment; for as we do not take 
 the seven spirits to be literally seven spirits, 
 but symbols of the complete and manifest 
 influence of the one Holy Spirit, the third 
 person in the glorious Trinity, so neither 
 need we infer from the mention of the seven 
 angels here that they are literally seven pre- 
 eminent angelic personages, but rather re- 
 gard them as .symbols of that complete and 
 varied messenger force which God evermore 
 commands." — And to them were given 
 seven trumpets. Much depends, in the 
 exposition of what follows, upon the view 
 taken of the symbolism of the trumpets. 
 
 The seals, the trumpets, and the vials evi- 
 dently play a great part in the Apocalyptic 
 machinery (if we may be allowed that ex- 
 pression) in this part of the book— in all that 
 portion of the book, in fact, which more 
 immediately concerns the kingdom of God 
 in its earthly sphere. Each, besides, must 
 be regarded as having its own especial signifi- 
 cance and design. "What this is in each case 
 may be in some measure inferred from the 
 thing itself thus employed, and from its 
 symbolical place in Scripture usage. The 
 seal is the symbol of secrecy, and when 
 broken indicates that in a more or less strict 
 sense the secret is made known. Vials, as 
 used here and elsewhere, are sj'mbols of 
 influence or eflTect poured forth in special 
 dispensation, mostly of judgment and pun- 
 ishment. The trumpet, in ancient Hebrew 
 custom, fixed by divine ordination, had a 
 twofold purpose: to call the people together 
 on festival days, and on ordinary occasions 
 of worship ; and to blow the alarm of war. 
 "If ye go to war in your land against the 
 enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall 
 blow an alarm with the trumpets, and ye 
 shall be remembered before the Lord your 
 God, and ye shall be saved from your 
 enemies." (Num. io:9). Then, also, for the 
 festival day, this direction is given in ver. 10 
 of the same chapter: "In the day of your 
 gladness, and in your solemn days, and in 
 the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow 
 with the trumpets over your burnt otferings, 
 and over the sacrifices of your peace offer- 
 ings." As a signal for the march, too, the 
 trumpets were to be blown, as directed in 
 ver. 5, 6, of the chapter quoted. It is quite 
 consistent with the Judaic dress in which the 
 entire symbolism of this part of our book 
 appears, that the trumpet angels are here 
 introduced, while the fact that this sym- 
 bolism is thus Judaic, must supply the clue 
 to its significance here. "We say, then, that 
 while the seals relate to what is interior and 
 essential in the kingdom of God, the trunv 
 pets relate more to what is exterior, and in a 
 more strict sense, providential. The Apoca- 
 lyptic seal may be viewed as having respect 
 
116 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, 
 having a golden censer; and there was given unto him 
 much incense, that he should otter it with "the prayers 
 of all saints upon ''the golden altar which was before 
 the throne. 
 
 4 And "the smoke of the incense, which came with 
 the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out 
 of the angel's hand. 
 
 3 And another angel came and stood i over the altar, 
 having a golden censer; and there was given unto 
 him much incense, that he should 2 add it unto the 
 prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which 
 
 4 was before the throne. And the smoke of the in- 
 cense, '^ with the prayers of the saints, went up be- 
 
 ich. 5:8....iEx. 30:1; ch. 6 : 9....C Ps. 1« : 2 ; Luke 1 : 10. 1 Or, at... .2 Gr. give.... Z Or. for. 
 
 to that covenant of God with his people, set 
 forth ancientl}' under the types of the sanc- 
 tuary, fully declared in the provisions and pro- 
 mises of the gospel, and executed in the pro- 
 gressive gathering of the elect out of "the 
 great tribulation." The Apocalyptic trumpet 
 respects rather the historical fortunes of the 
 church, its outward contact with all in the 
 world that is hostile to it, in the vicissitudes 
 of its long journey and battle in the wilder- 
 ness, and in conquering its final inheritance. 
 "What this implies must appear as we proceed. 
 3. And another angel came and stood 
 at the altar, having a golden censer. The 
 revisers evidently prefer "over" (em) the 
 altar," though they place "at" in the mar- 
 gin. The former rendering seems preferable. 
 The Greek preposition, with the dative, is 
 more correctly translated "over," than "at." 
 We must suppose, then, that the angel ap- 
 pears in a hovering attitude. The altar of 
 burnt offerings has before been mentioned 
 (6:9); the altar in this place seems to be the 
 golden altar of incense, standing in the holy 
 place. The scenery of the vision thus, from 
 time to time, introduces the more marked 
 features of the ancient sanctuary, reminding 
 us, repeatedly, that it is the Israel of God — 
 the true Israel — of which we are here reading. 
 Lange objects, with good reason, to Diister- 
 dieck's idea that the "oMer" angel mentioned 
 "is to be regarded as a real angel," since that, 
 says Lange, is equivalent to saying "that the 
 Apocalypse is not to be treated as a symboli- 
 cal book in tliis passage, either." But, then, 
 does not Lange himself abandon the symbol- 
 ism when he views this angel as no other than 
 the Lord himself? Since the angelic forms 
 before seen are symbolical, and rather repre- 
 Bcntative of ideas, principles, nwX forces, than 
 as actual personages, why should not this 
 *'otlu'r angel" be so viewed as well? In ch. 
 7 : 2, after the mention of the four angels of 
 tlie winds, "another angel," evidently to be 
 taken in a similar way, is introduced. The 
 same thing occurs here. "There is reallj'," 
 
 as Ellicott says, "no need to ask who the 
 several angels are. The angels are not par- 
 ticular personages, but symboli/"\l of those 
 agencies — whether personal, or natural, or 
 supernatural — which are employed by him 
 that sitteth on the throne." That this angel 
 holds in his hand "a golden censer" is appro- 
 priate to the fact that he stands by the altar 
 of incense.— And there was given unto 
 him much incense, that he should otTer 
 it with the prayers of all saints upon the 
 golden altar which was before the throne. 
 Ellicott translates, "that he might ^ice it unto 
 the praj^ers of all the saints." The revision 
 reads, ''add it unto." Either is preferable to 
 the common version, and "give" is more 
 exact than "add," although the same thought 
 would in this place be expressed by each of 
 these two words. This thought is, evidently, 
 that the angel unites the incense with the 
 prayers, making them thus acceptable. It is 
 said that this incense is "given" to the angel, 
 from which it is clear that he does not have it 
 of himself; so that we cannot consistently re- 
 gard him as the actual and personal Mediator. 
 It is '^ ranch incense" that is given to him; 
 thus implying the abundant measure of this 
 element of acceptableness mingled with the 
 prayers of the saints. The incense itself we 
 must take as that mediatorial eflficacy imparted 
 to true prayer offered in the name of Christ, 
 the intercessor. Does this angel, then, dis- 
 charge here an intercessory office ? We should 
 say, rather, that he represents, in symbol, 
 that intercessory office as discharged by our 
 Lord himself There is, therefore, nothing 
 whatever of the Romanist notion of angelic 
 mediation. 
 
 4. And the smoke of the incense, Avhich 
 came with the prayers of the saints, as- 
 cended up before God, out of the angel's 
 hand. The words "which came" are sup- 
 plied in our common version. They need 
 not be read. We may read, "The smoke of 
 the incen.«e went up before God, with the 
 prayers of the saints." Who are intended, 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 117 
 
 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with 
 fire of the altai', and cast it into the earth : and " there 
 were voices, and thuuderings, and lightnings, ' and an 
 earthquake. 
 
 5 fore God out of the angel's hand. And the angel 
 1 taketh the censer ; and he tilled it with the fire of 
 the altar, and cast it - upon the earth ; and there 
 followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and 
 an earthquake. 
 
 och. 16: 18 b 2 Sam. 22: 8; 1 Kings 19; 11; Acts 4 : 31. 1 Gr. hath taken 2 Or, into. 
 
 here, by "saints" ? In the ancient sanctuary, 
 while the officiating priest otfered the incense 
 at the golden altar, the people without the 
 • holy place were praying. So we read in 
 Luke 1: 10, "And the whole multitude of 
 the people were praying without at the time 
 of incense." So in the vision, here, the 
 "saints," God's people on the earth, perhaps 
 also the saved in heaven, are, while the angel 
 at the altar otters the incense, supposed to 
 be praying "without." We are to associate 
 with what actually appears in the vision the 
 thought of a praying' multitude, especially 
 the suffering, toiling, and battling saints on 
 earth, lifting up their cry to God. With this 
 prayer, whatever the special petition, in what- 
 ever language spoken, whatever the condi- 
 tions of the praying one, there is joined the 
 mediation of the great Intercessor, by which 
 it is made acceptable "before God"; is 
 heard, and in God's way and time shall be 
 answered. 
 
 5. And the angel took the censer, and 
 filled it with fire of the altar. In the 
 worship of the ancient sanctuary, the fire 
 with which the incense was kindled was taken 
 from the altar of burnt-offering, thus pre- 
 figuring the truth that the mediation of 
 Christ, in whom and in his great office all 
 these types were fulfilled, drew its efficacy 
 from the fact of his sacrificial death in atone- 
 ment of human sin. The fire which the angel 
 in the vision casts into the earth, however, 
 seems to be taken from the golden altar — the 
 fire with which the incense had already been 
 kindled and consumed. This implies how 
 direct is the connection between the prayers 
 of God's people, and those results which fol- 
 low in answer to prayer. For as the angel 
 cast this fire from the golden altar into the 
 earth, there were voices, and thunder- 
 ings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 
 We may find an illustrative passage in Psalm 
 18: 6-9: "In my distress I called upon the 
 Lord, and cried unto my God : he heard my 
 voice out of his temple, and my cry came be- 
 fore him, even into his ears. Then the earth 
 shook and trembled; the foundations also of 
 
 the hills moved and were shaken becau.se he 
 was wroth. There went up a smoke out of 
 his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth de- 
 voured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed 
 the heavens also, and came down : and dark- 
 ness was under his feet." Only, what is by 
 the Psalmist thus vividly given in poetical 
 language, appears to John in the vision he is 
 beholding, as if it were all actual and real. 
 Yet, in the one case as in the other, the de- 
 scription is imagery, not a recital of actual 
 fact; under the guise of this imagery we have 
 here presented the general idea, or truth, that 
 when his people in their "distress" call upon 
 God, he hears them, and that he answers 
 them in providential interpositions as mani- 
 fest, as signal, and often as terrible, as the 
 "voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and 
 an earthquake " of the vision. 
 
 All this, now, is prelude. The trumpet 
 angels stand waiting, as if for the signal to 
 sound. The portents just described indicate 
 that the prayers of the saints are heard. 
 What follows, as the successive trumpets 
 sound, is the effect seen, as amidst the vicissi- 
 tudes of its earthly career, God appears for 
 his church, and brings all its struggle and 
 battle to final victory. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It seems important that a few points, gene- 
 ral in their bearing, should here be noted, 
 before we proceed with the exposition. A 
 question much discussed is, whether the trum- 
 pets are to be regarded as forming a part of 
 what follows the opening of the seventh seal. 
 Elliott, Barnes, and some others, view the 
 seven trumpets as coming under the seventh 
 seal, and the events announced by the trum- 
 pets as chronologically sequent to those indi- 
 cated by the seals. Alford treats "the two 
 courses of vision" as "evolved out of one 
 another," although not to be viewed as if 
 the events represented by them were "con- 
 secutive in order of time." Dr. Wordsworth, 
 in his "Hulsean Lectures for the Year 1848,'" 
 delivered before the University of Cambridge, 
 thinks the trumpets " do not succeed the seals; 
 
118 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trum- 
 pets prejjared tliemselves to sound. 
 
 7 The tirst angel sounded, "and there followed hail 
 and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast 'upon 
 the earth: and the third i)art "of trees was burnt up, 
 and all green grass was burnt up. 
 
 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets 
 prepared tliciiiselves to sound. 
 
 7 And the tir.si sounded, and there followed hail and 
 fire, mingled with blood, and they were ca.st 'upon 
 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. 
 
 a Ezek. 38 : 2^4 h oh. 16 : 2 c Isa. 2 : 13 ; ch. 9 : 4. 1 Or, into. 
 
 yet that they synchronize with them. Not," 
 he says, "that the periods of the seven trum- 
 pets correspond to the periods of the seven 
 seals, respectively ; but that the whole period 
 of the trumpets is the same as that of the 
 seals." He views them, also, as differing "in 
 kind." Carpenter, in Ellicott, thinks that 
 the series of visions under the seals closes 
 with the silence in heaven, upon the opening 
 of the seventh, and that then an entirely new 
 series begins. This, also, is Hengstenberg's 
 view, and is that which we adopt in our 
 own exposition. Dr. Wordsworth farther 
 views the vision under the seventh seal as 
 suspended, simply, and as renewed at the 
 beginning of ch. 21. At the point of suspen- 
 sion (7:11), the closing words are: "And God 
 shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 
 When the description under that seal is re- 
 newed, the opening words (21:1) are: "And I 
 saw a new heaven and a new earth." Words- 
 worth says, alluding to the former of these: 
 "The writer is now called away to prophesy 
 again. He must not yet dwell on the joys of 
 heaven; he has other prophecies to deliver 
 concerning the sufferings of earth. He must 
 not yet speak of glory, but of judgments. 
 He is snatched away by the Spirit from the 
 silence of the seventh seal, to listen to the 
 terrible blasts of the seven trumpets; his de- 
 scription of the heavenly rest and heavenly 
 glory being resumed in ch. 21 : 1." We may 
 add that after the sounding of the sixth 
 trumpet, and while the seventh angel pre- 
 pares to sound, a like apparent suspension 
 occurs. John is forbidden to write what the 
 seven thunders then heard had uttered; and 
 as he takes the "little book" from the hand 
 of "the strong angel," it is said to him: 
 "Thou must prophesy again over [in the 
 margin ^ concerning'] many peoples and 
 nations and tongues and kings" {Revi.sed Ver- 
 sion). Subsequent to this comes all that is 
 contained in ch. 12-19. Then in ch. 20-22, 
 the final consummatif)n aj)p('iirs. 
 
 It W(»uld seem, thtircfore, that in these suc- 
 cessive series of visions to which the seals. 
 
 the trumpets, and the vials belong, the same 
 general period is brought under view, which 
 is the period of the historical manifestation 
 of the kingdom of God among men, with all 
 which that imports. Only, in each a different 
 aspect of that kingdom is presented, the his- 
 torical element involved coming forth in 
 greater and greater distinctness with each suc- 
 ceeding series of visions. The sealed book 
 comprehends the whole, and it therefore in a 
 sense becomes true that what is contained 
 under the seventh seal is finally made known 
 only as the last Apocalyptic word is spoken. 
 
 As still further prefatory to what we wish to 
 say in our own. exposition of the trumpets, 
 we may observe that, as is familiar to every 
 student of Christian history, there are in that 
 history certain epochal outlines, such in their 
 character, and their relation to the whole, as 
 that we must suppose them to be the notable 
 features of the prophecy as they are of the 
 history. Among these are the destruction of 
 the Jewish "state and nation," and therein 
 the final passing away of the .Judaic Dispen- 
 sation ; the fall of the Roman Empire, involv- 
 ing the destruction of the old pagan religion 
 and pagan civilization; the great Christian 
 apostasy, when the Man of Sin was revealed ; 
 and then that restoration of the primitive 
 Christianity through the Reformation which 
 has so wonderfully changed the world's face, 
 religiously, with other and even greater 
 changes foreshadowed. Whatever of minor 
 incident may be included, we cannot be mis- 
 taken in assuming that in the Apocalyptic 
 scheme here unfolded, these leading ones, so 
 vast in themselves, and so amazing in their 
 consequences, must surely be sought by the 
 expositor. It is by this general outline, be- 
 sides, that we shall guide ourselves most 
 Siifely, and so be preserved from that be- 
 wildering complication of historical detail, 
 which has made so many of the expositions 
 of this book mere wildernesses of speculation 
 and conjecture. 
 
 6,7. Thk First Tkiimimct Sounds. 
 
 G. And the seven angels whieli hud the 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 BEVELATIOK 
 
 119 
 
 seven trumpets prepared themselves to 
 sound. "Kaised the trumpets to their 
 mouths," says Alford, "and stood in attitude 
 to blow them." 
 
 7. The first angel sounded, and there 
 followed hail and fire, mingled with 
 blood, and they were cast upon the 
 earth. In liis sermon on the Day of Pente- 
 cost, Peter said, alluding to the miraculous 
 outpouring of the Spirit, just witnessed, and 
 the scene that followed: "T/iis is that which 
 hath been spoken by the prophet Joel : 
 
 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, 
 I will pour lorth of my Spirit upon all flesh : 
 
 And I will show wonders in the heaven above, 
 
 And signs on the earth beneath; 
 
 Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke ; 
 
 The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
 
 And the moon into blood. 
 
 Before the day of the Lord come, 
 
 That great and notable day." 
 
 The passage in Joel plainly ])redicts what 
 should be seen under the Gospel Dispensa- 
 tion. The verses from which the apostle quotes 
 (joei2:28-.i2), begin: "And it shall come to pass 
 afterward [Peter changes it to "in those 
 days" J, that I will pour out my Spirit upon 
 all flesh"; and they close with the words: 
 "And it shall come to pass that whoso- 
 ever shall call on the name of the Lord, 
 shall be delivered; for in Mount Zion and in 
 Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord 
 hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord 
 shall call." This is a clear prediction of that 
 day of grace for men which should cover the 
 whole period of gospel proclamation and pro- 
 gress; the church of Christ, with its spiritual 
 provisions and agencies, being prefigured by 
 Mount Zion and Jerusalem. The language 
 descriptive of what follows the sounding of 
 the first trumpet, as is readily seen, closely re- 
 sembles that in the more ancient prophet. 
 We cannot but observe, also, its likeness to 
 what appears in the description of the Egypt- 
 ian plague of hail (Ex. 9:23,-24) : "The Lord 
 sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along 
 upon the ground ; and the Lord rained hail 
 upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, 
 and fire mingled with the hail, \evy griev- 
 ous." In the present case, there is "fire 
 mingled with blood.^' The application by the 
 apostle of the passage in Joel, and the marked 
 similarity between the imagery in that pas- 
 
 sage and our present one, seem to justify us 
 in regarding the vision seen at the sounding 
 of the first trumpet as presenting to view the 
 opening period of the gospel. It answers to 
 the opening of the first seal and the going 
 forth of the rider upon the white horse; only 
 here the other side of the picture is presented. 
 That opening era, though marked and made 
 memorable bj' gospel triumph, was still, in 
 other aspects, a scene of signal divine judg- 
 ment. We see no necessity for carrying for- 
 ward the description to events that shall 
 attend the final judgment, or to extend it be- 
 yond such as transpired during the generation 
 which witnessed the first preaching and early 
 triumphs of the gospel. What the prophet 
 Joel predicted, and what the symbolism we 
 are now studying imports, is not literal hail, 
 fire, or blood, but judgments of God upon 
 the enemies of his word and his Son, as sig- 
 nal and as destructive as was that of the hail 
 and fire sent upon the oppressors of ancient 
 Israel in Egypt, and realized in such events 
 as the invasion of Judea by the Romans, and 
 the destruction of the holy city with attend- 
 ing circumstances of sufl^'ering, horror, and 
 dismay seldom experienced in the whole his- 
 tory of the world. This event comes into view 
 repeatedly in our Lord's own predictions of 
 things then future, and it stands in such re- 
 lations to the origin and final establishment 
 of Christianity, as justify us in viewing it 
 as certain of recognition in such a book as 
 this now studied. The vision under the first 
 trumpet is, therefore, in some sort retrospec- 
 tive, as under the first seal ; and yet not alto- 
 gether so, for the effects of the great events so 
 symbolized were still seen in John's own 
 time, and even some of the events themselves 
 were then in progress, or yet to come. What 
 we understand by this vision, then, is the 
 py^ovidential dispensations with which God 
 accompanied the first proclamation of the 
 gospel, and in which he visited with deserved 
 judgment and destruction the first of those 
 great opposing forces — the Judaic "state and 
 nation" — by which that proclamation was re- 
 sisted. In the passage, here, one feature ap- 
 pears which we do not find in either of the par- 
 allel passages referred to. The fire is "mijigled 
 with blood.^' This imports, what in fact his- 
 tory records, that among the judgments thus 
 sent was that of war — bloody, relentless, de- 
 structive, in a supreme degree. — And the 
 
120 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 8 And the second angel sounded, "and as it were a 
 
 freat uioimtain burninj; with fire was cast into the sea: 
 and the third part of the sea ' became blood ; 
 
 I And the second angel sounded, and as it were a 
 great mountain burning with fire was cast into the 
 sea : and the third part of the sea became blood ; 
 
 1 Jer. 51 : 25 : Amos 7: 4....!i ch. 16: 3 c Ezek. 14: 19. 
 
 third part of the earth was burned up, 
 and the third part of trees was burnt up, 
 and all green grass was burned up. This 
 is of course, pure imagery, consistent in its 
 nature with that which goes before. The 
 cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan 
 are sometimes used in Scripture sj-mbolism 
 to represent human pride ; those lofty ones of 
 the earth who sometimes boast themselves 
 even against God. An example may be found 
 at Isa. 2 : 12, 13. "Grass" is often used to de- 
 note humanity in general. It may not be 
 forcing the imagery too much to understand 
 by the trees and the grass in our present pas- 
 sage, upon the one hand, men in power, 
 "proud and lifted up," and upon the other, 
 those in lowlier condition, upon all of whom, 
 indiscriminately, the judgment falls. We 
 must not, as Carpenter says, "press the 
 phrase, 'the third part,' too closely; it 
 clearly is designed to remind us that in wrath 
 God remembers mercj', and that while he 
 humbles all, he will not utterlj' destroy." It 
 maj' be noticed that while "the third part of 
 the earth was burnt up, and the third part 
 of the trees was burnt up, all the green grass 
 was 'also' burnt up." This, perhaps, implies 
 nothing more than what is well known as a 
 fact, how in such calamities as those indicated 
 by the imagery here used, it is upon the 
 masses of the people that the blow chiefly 
 falls; just as when in a great conflagration 
 covering wide districts of country, while 
 many trees in the forest, though blasted and 
 stripped oftheir foliage, are 3'et not wholly con- 
 sumed, the low-lying grasses are completely 
 devoured by the wide-s))reading flames. 
 
 8, 9. TiiK Skconu Trumpet Sounds. 
 
 8, 0. And the second angel sounded, 
 and as it were a great mountain burn- 
 ing with fire was cast into the sea. "As 
 it were a. great mountain"; — the appearance 
 of such a mountain — an object like a volcano 
 in full eruption, flaming, smoking, and roar- 
 ing. The imagery of the mountain, simply, 
 is somewhat vari<>'isly used in Scripture. 
 "Flee as a bird to your mountain"; "The 
 mountiiin of the Lord's house"; "As the 
 mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the 
 
 Lord is round about his people, from hence- 
 forth, even forever." In such pas.sages as 
 these the symbol is plainly employed in a 
 good sense. But, upon the other hand, we 
 have in the prophecy of Zechariah (*: 7), a use 
 of the same imagery in a sense quite opposite: 
 "Who art thou, O great mountain? Before 
 Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." A 
 passage in Jeremiah (si: 24,25), similar in gen- 
 eral efl"ect, is strikingly illustrative of this in 
 Revelation: "I will render unto Babylon 
 and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their 
 evil that they have done in Zion in your 
 sight, saith the Lord. Behold, I am against 
 thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, 
 which destroyest all the earth ; and I will 
 stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll 
 thee down from the rocks, and will make thee 
 a burnt mountain." See, also. Rev. 10: 20; 
 Matt. 17 : 20. What the volcano is among 
 the mountains, such Babylon, Egypt, R(.)me, 
 as heathen powers and nationalities, have 
 been in the world. The burning mountain is 
 an object of awe and terror, rather than of 
 admiration and attraction. The cloud upon 
 its top is not the harbinger of refreshing 
 showers, but speaks only of the abj-ss of fire 
 out of which, in the time of eruption, the 
 floods of devouring lava pour. So the power 
 which rules in human aff"airs, while it is often 
 a deferfce and a blessing, may become mere 
 oppression and destruction ; it may defend 
 and promote the aims of God's kingdom 
 among men; it may hinder, and, so far as 
 permitted, ruin and lay waste. Consistently 
 with what seems prophetic usage in this case, 
 we must regard the symbolism of the burn- 
 ing mountain in our present passage as being 
 of this kind. When such a power is itself 
 destroyed, it is not much unlike a burning 
 mountain cast into the sea. It is uprooted 
 from its place. It is submerged and lost 
 amidst the world's nationalism in general. 
 Yet the tumult that accompanies the over- 
 throw is such as the commotion of the sea 
 would be, were such a vast body hurled into 
 it. By "the sea," therefore, we maj' under- 
 stand national life in general, sometimes 
 organic and orderly, sometimes anarchic, 
 
Ch. VIIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 121 
 
 9 "And the third part of the creatures which were in 
 the sea, and had lite, died ; and the third part of the 
 ships were destroyed. 
 
 9 and there died the third part of the creatures that 
 were in the sea, ereji they that had lite; and the 
 third part of the ships was destroyed. 
 
 tempestuous, and billowy, like the sea when 
 stirred to its depths. There have been times, 
 in the history of the world, when the entire 
 scene of human things was such as this; and 
 usually it has followed some great national 
 overthrow, like that which seems to be here 
 described, when in the passing away of a 
 mighty power whose supremacy has held the 
 world in some kind of subjection, general 
 disruption and anarchy result, and genera- 
 tions, perhaps, succeed before, in the con- 
 fusion that follows, new centres of such power 
 are found, while about these centres new 
 organisms form, new systems of nationality 
 rule. And the third part of the sea be- 
 came blood; and the third part of the 
 creatures which were in the sea, and 
 had life, died ; and the third part of the 
 ships were destroyed. "The third part 
 of the creatures {KTKrjoi<iT(oi/), they that had life, 
 died," is a better translation. This, it must 
 be kept in mind, is still pure vision and sym- 
 bolism, having its root, however, in what is 
 pre-eminently true to natural fact. If we 
 imagine such a thing as a volcano cast into 
 the sea while in raging eruption, we per- 
 ceive indeed how its fires would in time be 
 quenched, and the vast mass lie inert, or be 
 buried in the soundless depths. But before 
 this, its poisonous gases will have spread 
 death far and wide through the waters, and 
 in the commotion following its fall, ships will 
 be engulfed or cast as wrecks upon the shore. 
 This is the picture presented in the symbol- 
 ism of our passage. If we applj' the imagery 
 in those historical changes which it clearly 
 shadows forth, we cannot but feel its truthful 
 force. When a great political power, like 
 Babylon or like Kome, perishes, the immedi- 
 ate consequences are often such as are here 
 implied. Who does not recall the social 
 chaos, the moral anarchy, the overflow of 
 every species of poisonous delusion, the 
 slaughter and the general misery, which 
 followed the destruction of the French mon- 
 archy, resulting in the revolution so memora- 
 ble in history ? Similar in character, though 
 on a far wider scale, were the events follow- 
 ing the destruction of pagan Rome. That 
 
 overthrow was, as every reader of history 
 knows, brought about by an irruption of 
 barbarian invaders, by which, in a long series 
 of destructive wars, the various countries 
 embraced in the empire were overrun, cities 
 sacked and burned, lives destroyed in myr- 
 iads, and the very foundations of social order 
 for a while torn away. The imagery in our 
 passage represents, almost with the accuracy 
 of literal fact, the aspect of the whole Roman 
 world, during that long period in which the 
 old civilization perished, and the bases of the 
 new civilization were laid. In what relation 
 it all stood to the progress of God's spiritual 
 kingdojii, is evident at once. The New 
 Dispensation needed a new theatre for the 
 scene of its development: a new type of 
 humanity, we might say, in which to carry 
 on its regenerative processes. That "burning 
 mountain," old-world Paganism— concentred 
 at last in the Roman nationality, with its 
 fierce spirit and its oppressive imperialism — 
 whose poisonous smoke had infected the 
 atmosphere of the whole world, and whose 
 lava floods threatened universal destruction, 
 had to be "removed" and "cast into the 
 sea." The prayer of faith, as our Lord had 
 promised — prayer made acceptable by that 
 incense of prevailing mediation which the 
 angel at the altar "added unto" it — availed 
 to that end. But such a power could not, 
 and did not pass away with such quietness as 
 a cloud might sail across the skj'. It passed 
 away amidst commotion and destruction, 
 precisely such as the symbolism in our pas- 
 sage so vividly imports. Here, again, we do 
 not press the phrase, "tlie third part." Like 
 the whole passage where it stands, it is sym- 
 bolical, and is to be read as importing wide 
 destruction, yet a destruction 'held by a 
 merciful providence within limits; Jehovah 
 "in his wrath" still "remembering mercy." 
 As Alford expresses it, "Though the judg- 
 ment is, as to extent, fearful and sweeping, 
 yet God, in inflicting it, spares more than he 
 destroys ; two-thirds escape, while one is 
 smitten." 
 
 10, 11. The Third Trumpet Sounds. 
 
 10. And the third angel sounded, and 
 
122 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 10 Aud the third angel sounded, "and there fell a 
 great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, ' and 
 It fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the 
 fountains of waters ; 
 
 11 <^Aiid the name of the star is called Wormwood : 
 "'and the third part of the waters became wormwood; 
 and many men died of the waters, because they were 
 made bitter. 
 
 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 foun- 
 
 11 tains of the waters ; and the name of the star is called 
 Wormwood: and the third part of the waters be- 
 came wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, 
 because they were made bitter. 
 
 alsa. 14: 12; ch.9: 1 b ch. 16: 4.... c Ruth 1 : 20... d Ex. 15:23; Jer. 9: 15; 23: 15. 
 
 there fell a great star from heaven, burn- 
 ing as it were a lamp. The revisers prefer 
 to translate the Greek, Uunpas, as "torch." 
 It is a sense more in harmony with the idea 
 of a falling and blazing star. The transla- 
 tion, "lamp," however, might well be re- 
 tained if it be kept in mind what the ancient 
 lamp was — a dish partly open, filled with oil, 
 with a large wick projecting from one side. 
 Such a lamp would very nearly be our pres- 
 ent idea of a torch, and we may accordingly 
 regard the two ideas, of a lamp and a torch, 
 as combined in the symbol. At the outset of 
 the visions in this book, the "star" is used as 
 a symbol of the teacher of the divine word. 
 In the Lord's right hand, in his first appear- 
 ance to John, were "seven stars," and these 
 stars were "the angels of the seven churches." 
 This may to some extent be a guide to us in 
 the interpretation of the same symbol wher- 
 ever employed, as such, in the book. At all 
 events, it is more in keeping than any other 
 with the Apocalyptic usage, to give it such a 
 meaning in this place. A like usage is found 
 elsewhere in Scripture. In Daniel (12 : 3), it 
 is said, "They that turn many to righteous- 
 ness" shall shine "as the stars, forever and 
 ever" ; and in Jude, as descriptive of a char- 
 acter quite opposite, we read of "wandering 
 stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of 
 darkness." It is not necessary, however — to 
 take the star in our present passage as indi- 
 cating a specific person — as Arius or Pelagius, 
 or any other one of the heresiarchs whom 
 history names. It is more consistent with 
 the usage of the book to treat it as indicating 
 a personification, rather than a person, as in 
 the case of the beast, the woman drunk with 
 the blood of saints, and others. The most 
 natural view of the symbol is to take it as 
 representing a sj-stem, or an organism, either 
 charged with, or having assumed the duty of, 
 sjiiritual teaching; or perhaps the conil)ina- 
 tion and society of such teachers, so personi- 
 fied as to have a figurative individuality, and 
 here represented by the star. The imagery 
 
 under the third trumpet is thus in keeping 
 with that under the second. The mountain 
 cast into the sea, represents the overthrow of 
 that pagan supremacy which had so long 
 ruled the world from the seat of political 
 power. Under the third trumpet we have 
 that higher sphere of things e.xhibited, the 
 spiritual and heavenly, represented under the 
 symbol of the firmament where the stars that 
 give light move and shine. One of these falls 
 from that sphere, and, ceasing to be a light 
 and a beneficence, becomes an element of 
 darkness and destruction. The natural in- 
 terpretation of it, and one in keeping with 
 imagery occurring in the connection, is to 
 view it as an apostasy, and that not of a single 
 individual, but of some power or combina- 
 tion in which the disastrous change appears. 
 From a star giving light from the firmament, 
 it changes to a torch falling upon the earth, a 
 blight and a destruction. — And it fell upon 
 the third part of the rivers, and upon the 
 fountains of waters. This, too. must of 
 course be treated as imagery, and, consistently 
 with Scripture usage in general, must denote 
 the sources and streams of spiritual life and 
 refreshment, such as are provided in insti- 
 tuted means of grace. 
 
 11. And the name of the star is called 
 Wormwood. In Jeremiah 23: 15, we read: 
 "Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning 
 the prophets, Behold, I will feed them with 
 wormwood, and make them drink the water 
 of gall ; for from the prophets of Jerusalem 
 is profaneness gone forth into all the land." 
 In Amos (5: 7), they are denounced and warned 
 who " turn judgment to wormwood, and leave 
 oflT righteousness in the earth." And again, 
 (B:i2): " Ye have turned judgment into gall, 
 and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock." 
 Moses says, in warning the children of Israel 
 against idolatry (neut.29: is); "Take heed lest 
 ther(! should be amongyou a root that beareth 
 gall and wormwood." And it is in a like 
 allusion that Paul says (Heb. 12: ts): "Look dili- 
 gently lest any man fail of the grace of God; 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 123 
 
 12 "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third 
 part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the 
 luoon, and the tliird part of tlie stars; so as the third 
 part of them was darkened, and tlie day shone not for 
 a third part of it, and tlie night likewise. 
 
 13 And I beheld, 'and heard an angel flying through 
 the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, ' Woe, 
 woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of 
 the other voices' of the trumpet of the three angels, 
 which are yet to sound ! 
 
 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; tliat 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. 
 
 13 And I saw, and I heard i 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. 
 
 ilsa. U: 10; Amos 8: 9.... 6 oh. 14:6; 19: 17....cch.9: 12 ; 11 : 14. 1 Gr. one eagle. 
 
 lest any root of bitterness, springing up, 
 trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." 
 "With these illu.strative passages be'fore us, it 
 need not be difficult for us to interpret the 
 name of this fallen star, or to understand the 
 historical allusion. It is apostasy which we 
 have thus before us, resulting in defilement, 
 and changing what were intended for waters 
 of life into bitterness and poison ; the very 
 fountains of such being thus corrupted ; "the 
 wells poisoned." — And the third part of 
 the waters became wormwood. The 
 phrase "third part" must be taken here as in 
 the instances noticed before. — And many 
 men died of the waters, because they 
 were made bitter. It is spiritual life that 
 is thus destroyed; that life which the water 
 of life in the gospel is intended to nourish and 
 refresh. AVhen the truth of that gospel is 
 corrupted by false teaching into bitterness 
 and poison, the souls of men drink of it, and 
 perish. It is clear, now, that this whole de- 
 scription may apply to false teaching of all 
 kinds; and the symbolism of the third trum- 
 pet may thus be capable of such expansion 
 as to cover all the forms of such in the various 
 ages of Christian history. Pre-eminently, 
 however, it applies to that concentration of 
 all the worst heresies ever invented — and di- 
 rectly or indirectly the source of even the in- 
 fidelities that have cursed the world — the 
 Papacy, the Man of Sin; itself a "mystery 
 of iniquity," wormwood and death to the 
 nations. 
 
 12. The Fourth Trumpet Sounds. And 
 the fourth angel sounded, and the third 
 part of the sun was smitten, and the 
 third part of the moon, and the third 
 part of the stars ; so as the third part of 
 them was darkened, and the day shone 
 not for a third part of it, and the night 
 likewise. The view is again directed to the 
 firmament, from wliich the blazing star fell. 
 What the symbolism implies is failure and 
 
 dimness in the spheres from which spiritual 
 light descends to the world; not that highest 
 heaven where God is, but that lower one 
 represented by his church, ordained as "the 
 light of the world," as our Lord has said. 
 The events under this fourth trumpet ap- 
 pear to synchronize and accompany those 
 under the third. In that firmament from 
 which the star fell, other ominous changes 
 occur. As a matter of history we know, that 
 accompanying that great apostasy, the Papacy 
 in its final development, there was not only a 
 general corruption of Christian doctrine; but 
 such perversion and misuse of all means of 
 spiritual provision, as to leave the wide 
 nations under papal rule in a condition to 
 perish for lack of knowledge. That period 
 which goes in history by the name of "the 
 Dark Ages," might not inaptly be viewed as 
 represented by this failure in the lights of 
 heaven. Such a shadow as this imagery 
 imports then fell on the earth. That period, 
 too, we must remember, fills a great place in 
 the general scheme of Cod's dispensations. 
 "It is through seasons such as these," says 
 Ellicott, "when the lights of human wisdom 
 and spiritual guidance seem alike obscured, 
 that the church must go forward. The chaos 
 precedes creation, and it is through chaos 
 again that the Church of Christ must pass 
 to the new heaven and the new earth. These 
 trumpet-visions, if read by the side of the 
 glory of Genesis, seem like the undoing of 
 creation ; the vegetation is smitten, the earth 
 and sea are intermingled, the lights of the 
 heavens are darkened, the living things in 
 seas and streams are destroyed , but — 
 
 Further life the world shall draw 
 From their decay." 
 
 " The pulling down must precede the build- 
 ing; the removing of the degenerate is one 
 step in the way of regeneration." 
 
 13. The Three Woe Trumpets An- 
 
124 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 NOUNCED. And I beheld, and heard an 
 angel flying through the midst of heaven. 
 
 The Sinaitic and Alexandrine manuscripts 
 read "eagle," instead of "angel." This read- 
 ing is adopted, it will be seen, by the revisers, 
 and being sustained by such manuscript au- 
 thority as that just named, is no doubt to be 
 preferred. Some, as Carpenter, in EUicott, 
 translate "one" (ei'os), or "a single eagle." 
 The Greek word, however, in this and some 
 other places in the New Testament, seems to 
 have little more force than our indefinite 
 article. Compare also, the translation, in 
 usage of the Latin word unus, signifying 
 "one," to the modern indefinite article, 
 ItiiVian, uno, una ; French U7i, une ; English a, 
 or an. The eagle thus flying through "the 
 meridian sky," and "visible to the very 
 horizon, is," as Carpenter says, "an appro- 
 priate emblem; high-soaring as the spirit of 
 the seer, the eagle-glance scanned the borders 
 of the earth, and caught sight of the coming 
 troubles, and gave warning, swift and strong 
 as the judgments of God, its very form gave 
 emphasis to the warnings of its voice." — 
 Saying, with a loud voice. Woe, woe, 
 w^oe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by 
 reason of the other voices of the trumpet 
 of the three angels, which are yet to 
 sound. Because thus announced, the re- 
 maining three trumpets are commonly called 
 "the Woe Trumpets." The announcement 
 implies that the evils about to be visited upon 
 the earth, exceed in magnitude even those 
 already described, and that in view of what 
 is now soon to occur, the world's inhabitants 
 have especial reason to tremble and be in 
 dread. What this imports must be left, till 
 we come to study these three "Woe Trum- 
 pets" themselves. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 There are two extremes, toward one or the 
 other of which most writers upon the Apoca- 
 lypse seem to us to lean. One is that of his- 
 torical literalism, carried sometimes into great 
 detail; an attempt to find some liistcjrical 
 personage or event corresponding with each 
 more marked feature of the vision, and set 
 down with the chronological exactness of the 
 history itself. To take an examj)le — Elliott, 
 in "//o?'«' Apncah/pticrp," understands by the 
 four trumpets we have been considering, the 
 four Gothic invasions of the Roman Empire, 
 
 resulting in the dissolution of that empire, 
 and the forming of new nationalities. The 
 first (a. d. 400^153) is that under Alaric and 
 Radagaisus: the second (429-477) that of Gen- 
 seric; the third (450-453) that of Attila; the 
 fourth, the final overthrow of the empire, 
 and the establishment of the new kingdom 
 of Italy under Odoacer (a. d. 476). By like 
 methods, Elliott, Barnes, and others find for 
 leading features in the several visions through- 
 out the book historical correspondences, many 
 of which severely tax their invention, and all 
 of which are open to the objection that others 
 might be selected which would answer the 
 purpose just as well. It is, in our opinion, 
 utterly impossible, upon this plan, to arrive 
 at results in Apocalyptic study that will 
 command general assent, or be of any real 
 help to readers of the book. 
 
 The other method, verging toward an op- 
 posite extreme, is that of Alford and Carpen- 
 ter, though as used by these two expositors, 
 diftering in special features and ditlerently 
 applied. This is to treat the visions as having 
 no definite historical 7neani}ig, or application, 
 but pictures in general of the conflict of 
 spiritual and worldly, divine and devilish, 
 forces in the centuries of Christian history, 
 with the judgments visited upon the enemies 
 of the truth and of God. Alford considers 
 that the coming of the Lord in his second 
 advent is the idea kept before us in this whole 
 series of visions, from the beginning to the 
 end of the book, and that the scenes depicted 
 simply represent to us the operation of those 
 providences through which that coming of 
 the Lord is prepared. Carpenter is more 
 general still, in his view. These pictures 
 present to us, as he thinks, the clash and 
 collision of great principles and forces, in a 
 general field of operation, with results re- 
 peating themselves more or less from one 
 historical perii>d to another, their symbolism 
 fulfilled in those great moral changes which 
 transpire in the course of Christian history. 
 There is in each form of this method of inter- 
 pretation an inadequacy, of which the reader 
 becomes almost jiainfully conscious as he pro- 
 ceeds. The successive visions — for example, 
 under these four trumjiets as explained by 
 Carpenter — seem almost like repetitions of 
 the same general facts in human experience. 
 Under each trumpet it is false religion, with 
 the moral forces proceeding from it, in con- 
 
Ch. VIIL] 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 125 
 
 flict with true religion, the latter prevailing, 
 because God is on its side. Carpenter will 
 allow us to see, in certain specific historical 
 events, illustrations of the general fact he 
 draws from the successive pictures as they 
 appear, and sometimes it seems as if he were 
 willing that something specific, distinct, and 
 historically definite shall be found permis- 
 sible. Upon the whole, the reader feels that 
 the questions he mainly asks himself, as he 
 reads the words of the book so expounded, 
 remain after all unanswered. 
 
 There seems, really, to be no good reason 
 why, because one of these extremes is rejected, 
 the other should be chosen. The great epochs 
 in history may, it appears to us, be signal 
 lights in the interpretation of prophecy. This 
 is certainly the case with the prophecies of 
 the Old Testament; why not in those of the 
 New ? Epochal changes are the proper sub- 
 jects of prophecy. Historical minutiae, like 
 those traced out by the school of interpreters 
 to which Elliott and Barnes belong, are rarely 
 so used ; and if used at all, it is because of the 
 important bearing they individually have 
 upon the fortunes of God's kingdom, or their 
 immediate concern with the history of his 
 people. Such as these are exceptional. It is 
 by the great beaconal epochs that we must 
 find our way, in the work of Apocalyptic in- 
 terpretation. In the book we study, a vast 
 stretch of time is covered. Almost two thou- 
 sand years of it have already passed. How 
 many other thousand years are yet to come, 
 none of us can tell. We cannot, upon the 
 one hand, believe that the prophecy in this 
 book concerns itself with subordinate inci- 
 dents of the history in any part of it; neither 
 upon the other hand, can we believe that 
 there is to be nothing historically specific in 
 the results we gain from our study. We 
 therefore prefer the medium course, and in 
 the view we take try to equally avoid both 
 extremes. 
 
 It is clear that the seven trumpets, as in the 
 case of the seven seals, we are to treat as in 
 groups of four and three. There is a princi- 
 ple of resemblance in the four first trumpets 
 as in the four first seals. What this is in the 
 latter case we have already seen. The word 
 " Come" supplies it. In the case of the trum- 
 pets, the principle of mutual resemblance is, 
 that in the first group providential events oc- 
 curring in the world of men are represented 
 
 under the imagery of miraculous phenomena 
 in the world of inanimate nature, felt by men 
 in their eflfects. In the three following trum- 
 pets, as will be seen, a diflTerent class of agen- 
 cies is employed, while the vision under each 
 is far richer in scenery, and in the number of 
 symbolical figures and events introduced. 
 
 It will be seen in the study of the three 
 trumpets yet to come, that we regard them as 
 covering a far more extended period of time 
 than in the case of the seals. With this ex- 
 ception — that, as already explained, we view 
 the sixth and seventh seals as exhibiting in 
 general the final fruits of the redemptive 
 work, and so far as this, reaching on to the 
 time of the end. The trumpets, however, 
 especially the last three, deal more in detail 
 with that long interval which the visions 
 under the seals appear thus to leap over. The 
 seals show how, through all that opposes, 
 hinders, and sometimes almost seems to de- 
 feat, covenant grace achieves its end. The 
 trumpets exhibit to us the kingdom of God 
 in the great epochs of its exterior history, its 
 direct and outward contact with the world 
 as an organism in contact and collision with 
 other organisms. The trumpet-call, in each 
 case, is as when Israel of old assembled at the 
 sound of the trumpet to face some great crisis 
 in its own history. So it is here; and it is 
 these crises which we see depicted in the 
 scenery of the several visions. That the view 
 so presented may be comprehensive of the 
 whole history, the series begins at the opening 
 of that history, as is the case also with the 
 seals, while the numerical symbol seven shows 
 that, alike as beginning and ending, the series 
 is complete. To a certain extent, therefore, 
 there is a repetition under the trumpets, of 
 what appeared under the seals; though, upon 
 the whole, the diflferences are sq great that 
 they are far from being the same. 
 
 The reader will perceive, then, that we re- 
 gard each of the septenary series of visions as 
 consecutive, in the sense that they follow the 
 order of those great epochal crises of which 
 history supplies a record so distinct, and as 
 complete, reaching in each case from the 
 beginning to a fixed point of consummation, 
 though with a difference as to the measure of 
 detail involved. The grand significance of 
 each is made strikingly apparent at its close. 
 The seals end in the peace and rest of heaven 
 —redemption accomplished. The trumpets 
 
126 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 Ch. IX. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AND the fifth angel sounded, "and I saw a star fall 
 from heaven uuto the earth : and to hiiu was given 
 the key of ' the bottomless pit. 
 
 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; "and there 
 arose 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 stuoke of the pit. 
 
 1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from 
 heaven fall unto the earth: and there was given to 
 
 2 him the key of the pit of the abyss. 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 
 
 a Luke 10: 18; ch. 8:10....b Luke 8: 31; cb. 17:8; 20:1; ver. 2: 11 c Joel 2: 2, 10. 
 
 end with the kingdom of the world become 
 the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ 
 — victory achieved. 
 
 SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH AND 
 SIXTH TRUMPETS. 
 
 1-12. The Fifth Trumpet Sounds. 
 
 1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I 
 saw a great star fall from heaven unto 
 the earth. The word for "fall," here, (»r«jr- 
 TwKOTa) is the participle of the perfect, and its 
 English equivalent would be, ^'having fallen,''' 
 or ^^ which had fallen." The meaning, then, 
 is "a star which had fallen from heaven unto 
 the earth." The case is not as in that of the 
 sounding of the third trumpet, when John 
 saw a star in the act of falling; what he sees 
 now is a fallen star on the earth — the titne of 
 the fall being in no way indicated. — And to 
 him was given the key of the bottom- 
 less pit. More literally, "the key of the 
 pit of the abyss." The same word (d^uo-aos), 
 abyss, is used at ch. 17 : 8, where we are 
 told that "the Beast" ascends out of the 
 abyss. Also in 20 : 3, we read how Satan is 
 bound and cast into the abyss. The evil 
 spirits driven out of the demoniac, as de- 
 scribed in Luke 8: 31, prayed that they might 
 not be sent into the deep — the same word as 
 here. There can be no doubt that in all the.'ie 
 places, as in our present text, the pit of hell 
 is meant. A.s to the fallen star, we find it in 
 ver. 11 of this chapter indicated as a person, 
 of whom it is said that his name in the 
 Hebrew is Abaddon, "Destruction," "Perdi- 
 tion," and in the Greek, Apollyon, "De- 
 stroyer." All these indications suggest that 
 the fallen star, here, is none other than Satan, 
 whom our Lord declares that he saw "as 
 lightning, fall from heaven," and whom 
 Isaiah (u:i-.>) seems to apostrophize when he 
 says: "How art thou fallen from heaven, 
 Lucifer, son of the morning!" Identifying 
 the star thus, we recognize the agency de- 
 scribed under this fifth trumpet as Satanic, 
 
 and the eifects of it are to be understood ac- 
 cordingly. In his command over all such 
 agencies, Satan has "the key of the pit of the 
 abyss." 
 
 'i. And he opened the bottomless pit 
 [lit., the pit of the abyss]. The Sinaitic 
 manuscript omits this; but other ancient 
 manuscripts retain it, and we observe, ac- 
 cordingly, that the revision makes no change 
 here. — And there arose 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 out of the pit. 
 Here we have the first eflfect of the Satanic 
 agency described. Under the fourth trumpet 
 occurs what seems in some respects similar; 
 the sun, moon, and stars are "smitten," and 
 "the third part of them was darkened," so 
 that "the day shone not for the third part of 
 it, and the night likewise." The eflfect so 
 described, as we have seen above, proceeds 
 from a failure in the ordained luminaries to 
 give light as was appointed them ; or, apply- 
 ing the imagery, a failure in fidelity on the 
 part of those whose oflSce it especially is to 
 serve as "the light of the world." In the 
 present case, the darkness is directly caused 
 by Satanic agency. Out of the pit an in- 
 fluence proceeds, sj-mbolized in vision by 
 "the smoke," the first eflfect of which is to 
 .still further obscure a,nd darken, "the air" 
 being filled with the black and poisonous 
 smoke, and the very "sun" shut from view. 
 Associating, thus, what appears under these 
 two trumpets — the fourth and the fifth — we 
 observe two causes, difterently originated, 
 operating to a like end. Under the one 
 trumpet the world is darkened through the 
 failure of the ordained lights of heaven to 
 shine in their due measure; under the other, 
 an obsuring darkness ascends out of the pit 
 itself. Satanic malice unites itself with hu- 
 man unfaithfulness, and as the result of these 
 two causes combined, "darkness covers the 
 earth, and gross darkness the people." 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 127 
 
 3 And there came out of the smoke "locusts upon the 
 earth: and unto them was given power, 'as the scor- 
 pions of the earth have power. 
 
 4 And it was commanded them "that they should not 
 hurt •'the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, 
 neither any tree; but only those men which have not 
 «the seal of' (iod in their foreheads. 
 
 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill 
 them, /hut that they should be tormented tive mouths: 
 and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, 
 when he striketh a man. 
 
 3 smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke came forth 
 locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, 
 
 4 as the scorpions of the earth have power. 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 
 
 5 (iod on their foreheads. 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 
 
 1 Ex. 10:4; Judg. 7 : 12....i ver. 10....C ch. 6: 6; 7 : 3....(ich. 8 ; 7....e ch. 7: 3 ; see Ex. 12: 23; Esek. 9: 4...../ver. 10; ch..ll: 7. 
 
 3. And there came out of the smoke 
 locusts upon the earth. Scarcely any 
 point in Apocalyptic interpretation has occa- 
 sioned more difficulty, than the identification 
 of these "locusts." Perhaps writers have 
 been disposed to seek too far for the key to 
 the solution. By those who hold by a strictly 
 historical theory, they have been variously 
 taken as symbolizing the Vandals, the Goths, 
 the Mohammedans, the Jewish zealots; by 
 others, as throngs of raging heretics; by 
 others, the pope as the fallen star, and his 
 monks as the locusts. It seems singular that 
 it should not have at once occurred to these 
 writers, that as the "fallen star" is so evi- 
 dently Satan himself, and as the "locusts" 
 come out of the "smoke," and the "smoke" 
 out of the "pit," the whole representation 
 must be regarded as Satanic in character, and 
 as introducing the human element rather as 
 the object than the agent of the effects de- 
 scribed. This, too, is implied in what follows. 
 — And unto them was given power, as 
 the scorpions of the earth have power. 
 The very phrase, "scorpions of the earth," 
 points toward what we have suggested. It 
 does not mean "land-scorpions," as some 
 appear to suppose ; but simply means such 
 scorpions as are found in the earth, or real 
 scorpions. These locusts, born in the pit, and 
 carried over the world in the wide-spreading 
 smoke, sting and poison, as do "the scorpions 
 of the earth." The same general suggestion 
 is given us in the verse that comes next. 
 
 4. And it was commanded them that 
 they should not hurt the grass of the 
 earth, neither any green thing, neither 
 any tree. That is to say, the locusts here 
 described do not act as real locusts ; they do 
 not destroy vegetation ; they have a special 
 mission, consistent with their nature. They 
 are to hurt men; yet only those which have 
 not the seal of God in [upon] their fore- 
 heads. These locusts, like the natural lo- 
 
 custs, prey upon that which it is their nature 
 to seek. The natural locust seeks every 
 "green thing" within reach; lives upon it, 
 destroys it. The locusts from the pit, seek 
 those human beings whose unregenerate and 
 evil nature invites attack ; such as " have not 
 the seal of God in their foreheads." This 
 points us back to 7:3, where those agencies 
 which had been appointed as instruments of 
 divine judgment are commanded to delay 
 their action " till we have sealed the servants 
 of our God in their foreheads"; by which, 
 as already explained, is simply signified the 
 general fact of God's care for his own people. 
 "Sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," 
 the Spirit of regeneration, with outward signs 
 in godly living which di.sclose to the world 
 their "calling and election," they are thence- 
 forth objects of divine care; and however 
 "tribulation" may still be their lot, this is 
 not, as in the case of the godless, meant for 
 judgment and punishment; it is the trial of 
 faith, rather, or opportunity given for bearing 
 testimony; or "chastenings," which, though 
 at present "not joyous, but grievous, never- 
 theless afterwards yield the peaceable fruits 
 of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11). In our present 
 passage the sealed ones are seen as thus 
 shielded. The "plague" of the locusts does 
 not reach them. Whatever it may be, it is 
 such in its nature as that the "servants of our 
 God" do not feel it. We seem, by this, war- 
 ranted in concluding that the visitation of 
 locusts is not to be understood as barbaric or 
 Saracenic invasion, nor as the persecution by 
 popes and monks, nor any other of those evils 
 which fall more or less upon all men alike, or 
 which even, perhaps, rather single out than 
 avoid the followers of Christ. 
 
 5. And to them it was given that they 
 should not kill them. "Them" is the 
 most critical reading, referring to men in the 
 previous verse. Here is a further indication 
 that by the locusts cannot be meant Goths, or 
 
128 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 6 And in those days "shall men seek death, and shall 
 not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee 
 from them. 
 
 7 And 'the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses 
 prepared unto battle; "and on their heads were as it 
 were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces 
 of meu. 
 
 6 man. And in those days men shall seek death, and 
 shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, 
 
 7 and death fieeth from them. And the 'shapes of 
 the locusts were like unto horses prepared lor war; 
 and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto 
 
 a Job 3: 21 ; Isa. 2 : 19 ; Jer. 8:3 ; ch. 6 : 16 6 Joel 2:4 c Nah. 3: 17 d Dan. 7: 8. 1 Gr. liTiene»>»>. 
 
 Vandals, or Mohammedans, or destructive 
 human beings of any sort. Such, in their in- 
 roads and ravages, do "kill men." These 
 locusts are not to "kill."— But that they 
 should be tormented five months. The 
 subject of the verb changes here, in an abrupt 
 manner. It is the "men" who shall be tor- 
 mented. "Five months" is the usual time 
 during which locusts continue their ravages. 
 This time is mentioned here simply to carry 
 out the symbolism. Or perhaps we may say 
 that as the natural locust has its period, so also 
 has this locust in the vision. The visitation 
 will have its course, as is the case when a 
 region of country is overrun by the clouds of 
 lociists which, while they remain, devour 
 every "green thing," and against whose 
 ravages no provision avails. — And their tor- 
 ment was as the torment of a scorpion, 
 when he striketh a man. Painful and 
 poisonous — such is the sting of a scorpion. So 
 with these locusts — their sting poisons, and at 
 the same time torments. 
 
 6. And in those days shall men seek 
 death, and shall not find it; and shall 
 desire to die, and death shall flee from 
 them. "And death fleeth from them," is 
 better. This is the effect of the "torment." 
 One cannot well help feeling that the descrip- 
 tion resembles that which, we are given to 
 understand, is the wretched condition of lost 
 souls in their final perdition. We read of 
 "the smoke of ^Aei?- torment" ; of the "weep- 
 ing and gnashing of teeth " ; of "the second 
 death," which is still not death in any sense 
 of ceasing to be; or the annihilation that 
 would be so welcome. The torment de- 
 scribed in the passage now considered seems 
 strikingly like this. The source of it is the 
 .same — the pit — and the nature of it the same, 
 however it may be as to degree. In the 
 plague of these locusts men upon the earth 
 suffer a "torment" like that which the lost 
 suffer; it is, if we may use the forbidding, 
 yet expressive phrase, "a hell upon earth." 
 
 Now, to the question whether history sup- 
 
 plies what corresponds to all this, the answer 
 need not surely be difficult. There have 
 been times when Satanic agency, the multi- 
 plicity and activity of every kind of devilish 
 ministry, has been one of the notable features 
 of the period. Such times occur often in 
 connection with disruptions such as we believe 
 to be pointed out by the second, third, and 
 fourth trumpets. When the restraints by 
 which human passions are ordinarily con- 
 trolled have been thrown off; when general 
 disorder prevails; when human wickedness 
 breaks out of bounds, and government, soci- 
 ety, all forms of instituted order — fall into a 
 state of chaos, that is Satan's "hour and the 
 power of darkness." Those conversant with 
 modern history will have no difficulty in 
 finding such periods. A notable one was that 
 in which the present European nationalities 
 were in process of formation, while out of 
 the political and social chaos the new order 
 of modern society slowly emerged. There 
 wa.s, perhaps, never a time in the whole 
 history of the world, when the violent in- 
 stincts of human nature were so absolutely un- 
 bridled, when the sting of every kind of evil 
 passion was so intense, when the sin of a fallen 
 world wrought such misery in its victims. 
 The imagery is most apt and just which pic- 
 tures the atmosphere of those "dark ages" as 
 gloomy with smoke out of the very abyss, 
 while from the smoke every kind of evil and 
 poisonous spirit proceeds. The condensed 
 summary of the whole picture is that the 
 wickedness of the wicked becomes its own 
 punishment, and that where the wickedness 
 is worst the misery is most intense. There is 
 nothing else that so makes life a burden. The 
 most awful and the most unendurable curse 
 ever suffered by man is his own sin. 
 
 7. And the shapes of the locusts were 
 like unto horses prepared unto battle. 
 "The likenesses of the locusts" would be 
 more exact according to the Greek, yet per- 
 haps "shapes" is better English in this place. 
 We may also read, "prepared for war." The 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 129 
 
 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and "their 
 teeth were as llif leelh of lions. 
 
 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates 
 of iron; and the sound of their wings ?tv(.< 'as the 
 sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 
 
 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there 
 were stings in their tails: "and their power was to hurt 
 men five months. 
 
 8 gold, and their faces were as men's faces. And they 
 had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were 
 
 9 as ihg Ic'th of lions. 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 
 
 10 rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scor- 
 pions, and stings; and in their tails is their power 
 
 o Joel 1:6 h Joel 2: 5, 6, 7 c ver. 5. 
 
 appearance of the locusts shows them "pre- 
 pared" to make "war" on men. The de- 
 scription which follows, certainly seems to be 
 in some degree conformed to what is actual 
 in the natural locust; and still it is, quite as cer- 
 tainly, not limited to that. Upon the words 
 quoted above, EUicott's Commentary observes : 
 " The resemblance of the locust to the horse 
 (especially in the head), has been remarked 
 upon by travelers, and has found expression 
 in the Italian and German names, CavnUctta 
 and Heupferd. The resemblance is more dis- 
 tinct when the horses are made ready for battle, 
 the hard shell or scales of the locusts having 
 the appearance of armor." These resem- 
 blances, however, are, as the same writer 
 seems to suggest, simply, as we may say, a 
 basis for the general description, which brings 
 in features to which no proper correspondences 
 can be found in the locust as it actuallj' ex- 
 ists. — And on their heads were as it were 
 crowns like gold, and their faces were 
 as the faces of men. There is something 
 in the head of the locust which may suggest 
 this description, yet it is only a suggestion. 
 The description, as a whole, implies attri- 
 butes in these locusts suited to the nature of 
 the beings they represent, and the mission 
 they fulfill. 
 
 8 And they had hair as the hair of 
 women, and their teeth were as the 
 teeth of lions. "De Wette," says Alford, 
 "quotes from Niebuhr an Arabian proverb, 
 in which the antlers of the locusts are com- 
 pared to the hair of girls." Some resemblance 
 has also been claimed by writers to exist be- 
 tween the under jaw of the locust and that of 
 the lion. Alford, however, thinks that we 
 should take both parts of the above descrip- 
 tion as "purely graphic," and as "belonging 
 to the supernatural" elements in the vision. 
 It is to be observed, nevertheless, that the 
 several features of the representation as given 
 are such as the actual fact in the characteristics 
 of the destructive creatures named most nat- 
 urally suggests. Between these "supernat- 
 
 ural" locusts and the natural or actual ones, 
 there is, after all, in each particular named, 
 a resemblance which shows that the picture 
 of the one is drawn with the general likeness 
 of the other. 
 
 9. And they had breastplates, as it 
 were breastplates of iron. "As it were" 
 breastplates of iron ; showing that this is not 
 an actual soldiery which is described, whether 
 Goth, Vandal, Saracen, or whatever else; but 
 appearances resembling soldiers; or rather 
 resembling the horses (ver. 7) of innumerable 
 cavalry.— And the sound of their wings 
 was as the sound of chariots of many 
 horses running to battle. Or, "rushing 
 to war." We should also point so that the 
 clause "as the sound of chariots," and the 
 clause "of many horses," etc., may read as 
 appositional, thus, "as the sound of chariots, 
 of many horse.s, rushing to war." They were 
 "prepared forwar," and forwar upon "men." 
 They rush abroad, therefore, as seen in the 
 vision, like, an army of fierce soldiery, eager 
 to destroy, while the roar of their demon 
 wings is like the thunder of innumerable 
 chariots of war hurrying on to the fight. 
 How graphically does this describe the fury 
 with which Satanic agencies of ever3'^ kind 
 seem to assault the human race, in a time when 
 " iniquity abounds! " 
 
 10. And they had tails like unto scor- 
 pions, and there were stings in their 
 tails ; and their power was to hurt men, 
 five months. This repeats, in substance, 
 what is already said in ver. 5. 
 
 Looking back, now, over the description as 
 a whole, we find EUicott's .summary of its 
 several features evidently just. The seer, he 
 tells us, while keeping in view general char- 
 acteristics of the locust plague, partly drawn 
 from the early prophets, makes "some origi- 
 nal additions. They are locusts, but they 
 have the malice of scorpions; they advance 
 like horse soldiers to battle; they wear 
 crowns; they bear a resemblance to men; 
 there is something woman-like also- in their 
 
130 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 11 "Afid they had a king over t\\ein,tvhich m Hhe 
 angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew 
 tongue i.^ Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his 
 name ApoUyon. 
 
 11 to hurt men five months. They have over them as 
 king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew 
 is Abaddon, and in the lireek tongue he hath 
 the name lApoUyon. 
 
 a Ephe3. 2 : L.-.b yet. 1. 1 That is, Destroyer. 
 
 appearance, and in their voracity they are as 
 lions. The exigencies of the symbolism are 
 quite beyond the features of the ordinary 
 locust ; the. sacred writer shows us a plague 
 in which devastation, malice, king-lil<^e au- 
 thority, intelligence, seductiveness, fierceness, 
 strength, meet together under one directing 
 spirit, to torment men." And it is true that 
 those agencies of instigation and all evil im- 
 pulse by which men are in some periods 
 hurried on to deeds of surpassing wickedness, 
 take all these various forms. When we come 
 to apply the symbolism, historically, we are 
 allowed to recognize the counterpart of what 
 is thus described in more than one of those 
 forms which the wrongs and miseries that 
 men inflict on each other under this species 
 of instigation, and the miseries they sutfer in 
 themselves, while goaded by the scorpion- 
 sting of evil passions, assume. We see, as 
 Carpenter in EUicott says, "a great sj'mboli- 
 cal army, multitudinous as locusts, malicious 
 as scorpions, ruling as kings, intelligent as 
 men, wily as womanhood, bold and fierce 
 as lions, resistless as those clad in armor." 
 Those centuries during which the wliole 
 world. East and West, was one wild scene of 
 ravage, under the wars waged against each 
 other by the rival kingdoms into which the 
 old empire broke up, and in the fierce and 
 murderous struggles of the crusades, when 
 every worst passion of which human nature 
 seems capable raged with a fury nothing less 
 than Satanic, together with all that grew out 
 of the usurpations of the Pai)acy, and the 
 deeds of treachery and slaugliter by which 
 that usurpation was maintained — all these 
 things which history records merely give us 
 glimpses of a world whose spiritual darkness 
 might well be represented under the symbol 
 of b(!lching smoke out of the pit, and whose 
 disorder and misery were such as Satanic in- 
 fluences alone could instigate or cause. More 
 than once, as we know, the state of the world 
 was such that the conviction prevailed that 
 the end of all things, and the awful day of 
 judgment, must be at band. It is this state 
 of things in general, which we understand to 
 be represented in the vision seen as the fifth 
 
 trumpet sounds. Through this ordeal, among 
 many, the kingdom of God had to pass — 
 the ordeal, pre-eminently of its conflict " with 
 spiritual wickedness in high places," and in 
 low. 
 
 11. And they had a king over them. 
 We read in Proverbs (30:27), that "the locusts 
 have no king ; yet go they forth all of them 
 by bands." These locusts seen in the vision 
 have a king, and much more do they "go 
 forth in bands" — go forth, that is, under the 
 direction of a malicious intelligence, which 
 marshals them for their work of wide-wasting 
 mischief, and sets them on. — Which is the 
 angel of the bottomless pit. Following 
 the Greek exactly, and in the reading of 
 the oldest manuscripts, we should translate, 
 " They have over them as king, the angel of 
 the abyss." Some writers appear to under- 
 stand an allusion to some being, not otherwise 
 indicated, who rules the inhabitants of the 
 abyss, and is their king. In the vision, ac- 
 cordingly, they would see him coming forth 
 at the head of all, and leading their onset. 
 It is, perhaps, better to find this "king" in 
 some personage already pointed at in the de- 
 scription ; and in that case he can well be no 
 other than "the fallen star." The designa- 
 tion of him as "angel of the abyss," seems to 
 be an allusion to his first appearance in the 
 vision as having the key of the abyss. The 
 word ''^angel of the abyss" is thus in har- 
 mony with the general method in this book, 
 where supernatural beings, or forms, charged 
 with the control of certain agencies, whether 
 of good or evil, or made the heralds of changes 
 in the scenery of the various visions as they 
 occur, are so often styled "angels"; as the 
 angels with trumpets, the angels with the 
 vials, the angels holding the four winds; and 
 in ver. 14 of this chapter, the four angels 
 bound at the river Euphrates. "The angel 
 of the bottomless pit," or of "the abyss," 
 seems, consistently with this usage, to be the 
 angel having "the key of the bottomless 
 pit," or abyss; in other words, the being 
 indicated by the fallen star. That is to say, 
 we identify both the one and the other with 
 Satan, "the prince of the power of the air.'' 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 131 
 
 12 "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two 
 woes more hereal'ter. 
 
 i:i And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice 
 from the four horns ot the golden altar which is before 
 God, 
 
 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, 
 Loose the four angels which are bound 'in the great 
 river Euphrates. 
 
 12 The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two 
 Woes hereafter. 
 
 13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard la voice 
 from the horns of the golden altar which is before 
 
 14 tiod, one saying to the sixth angel, who had the 
 trumpet, Loose the four angels who are bound at the 
 
 ach. 8: 13.... 6 ch. 16: 12.- 
 
 Whose name in the Hebrew tongue is 
 Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath 
 his name Apollyon. We have noticed 
 above the meaning of the names. To no 
 being could they so fitly be given as to him, 
 who, as the author of evil, is the Destroyer, 
 by bad pre-eminence, and in whose person- 
 ality all the elements of Perdition are summed 
 and expressed. 
 
 12. One woe is past; and, behold, 
 there come two woes more hereafter. If 
 we realize, in any considerable degree, the 
 nature of this which has now come before us 
 under the fifth trumpet, we shall appreciate 
 the warning of the eagle flying in the midst 
 of heaven with his thrice-uttered " woe to the 
 inhabitants of the earth." There was, in that 
 warning, an implication that the evils to 
 come upon men under the three following 
 trumpets were especially to be dreaded. In 
 the case of that just described, we cannot but 
 feel that the warning was appropriate. This 
 woe is now, in the movement of the vision, 
 "pa.st," and two others are yet to "come." 
 This does not imply, we must notice, that 
 the events indicated under the sixth trumpet, 
 especially, are sequent to those under the 
 fifth. "We understand by it, simply, that as 
 represented in vision it is "past." 
 
 13-21. The Sixth Trumpet Sounds. 
 
 13. The sixth angel sounded, and I 
 heard a voice from the four horns of the 
 golden altar which is before God. The 
 Sinaitic manuscript reads, " from the golden 
 altar," omitting the words "four horns." 
 The Alexandrine reads "from the horns of 
 the golden alttir," omitting simply the word 
 "four." The revised version adopts the 
 latter, and translates, accordingly, "I heard 
 a voice from the horns of the golden altar 
 which is before God." The sense will not be 
 materially aflTected, whichever of the read- 
 ings be preferred. It is the general locality 
 of the voice that is significant. The golden 
 altar in the vision is that on which the in- 
 cense given to the prayers of the saints was 
 
 burned. It was thence that these prayers, 
 made acceptable by the much incense, "as- 
 cended up before God." That which, under 
 this sixth trumpet, is about to occur, seems 
 thus to be put in relation with "the prayers 
 of the saints." In other words, we are again 
 to witness the unfolding of divine dispensa- 
 tions and procedures, which come in answer 
 to prayer. There is nothing to indicate by 
 whom the words of direction that follow 
 are spoken. It is more in keeping with the 
 spirit of the description as we have it, to 
 understand this only — that it is "a voice." 
 
 14. Saying to the sixth angel which had 
 the trumpet. This command is given to 
 him, Alford thinks, "only in so far as he is 
 the representative and herald of all that takes 
 place under his trumpet-blowing." — Loose 
 the four angels which are bound in the 
 great river Euphrates. The revLsers trans- 
 late ''at the river Euphrates," which makes 
 the sense much clearer, while grammatically 
 more exact. The Greek preposition used 
 here (e>rl), when it governs the dative of place, 
 is not translated "in," but either "upon," or 
 "at." The latter is plainly the word here. 
 The river Euphrates, must be treated as sym- 
 bolical, in the same way as "Babylon," "the 
 holy city," "the new Jerusalem." To treat 
 these as thus symbolical, and that as literal, 
 would be against all rule, not only, but all 
 propriety in the interpretation of imagery oc- 
 curring in the same general connection. 
 When we turn to seek the exposition of the 
 symbol, diflRculties present themselves. Yet 
 these, if we gain the right point of view in 
 our study, will mainly disappear. For that 
 point of view we go back to the history of 
 God's ancient people. In the times of Israel's 
 apostasy and idolatry, the punishment with 
 which God visited them with a view to reclaim 
 and restore, came chiefly in the form of inva- 
 sion by heathen nation.s. And these nation.s, 
 almost invariably — all the most formidable 
 of them — came from the direction of the 
 Euphrates, Assyria, Babylon, Damascus — 
 
132 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were pre- 1 15 great river Euphrates. And the four angels were 
 pared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, loosed, who had l)eea prepared for the hour and day 
 
 for to slay the third part of men. ' and month and year, that they should kill the third 
 
 these were the instruments, for the most part, 
 of judgment and punishment, through which 
 God chastised his people in the times of their 
 backslidings. If, now, we still bear in mind 
 that in all the series of visions found in this 
 part of the book we are .studying (chs. iv.-xi. ), 
 the church of the New Dispensation is viewed 
 as the substance of that type which was fur- 
 nished in the Israel of the Old Dispensation, 
 we shall readily perceive, that the symbolical 
 Euphrates must stand in a relation with the 
 symbolical Israel, like that which the literal 
 Euphrates bore to the literal Israel. That is 
 to say, it denotes in general the direction and 
 source of the judgments with which an apos- 
 tate church is about to be visited. This apos- 
 tasy has been very strikingly set forth under 
 the third, fourth, and fifth trumpets ; the dark- 
 ness descending on the earth from a firma- 
 ment where the ordained lights had failed 
 to shine, and ascending out of the pit in a 
 deeper "blackness of darkness" still; the in- 
 road of evil through the failure of that Chris- 
 tian instrumentality and influence by which 
 it should have been stayed; and in general a 
 condition of the Christian world not unlike 
 that of the land of Israel in the times when 
 "the Assyrian came down, like a wolf on the 
 fold," or when Babylon made of Judea and 
 Jerusalem a threshing-floor. That such is the 
 nature of the allusion seems clearly to be in- 
 ferred from what appears, by verses 20. 21, of 
 our chapter, to be the purpose o{ ^^ the plagues" 
 sent forth under this trumpet. "We are there 
 told that "the re.st of the men which were not 
 killed by these plagues yet 7'epented not of the 
 works of their hands, that they should not 
 worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, 
 and brass, and stone, and of wood; which 
 neither can see, nor hear, nor walk ; neither 
 repented they of their murders, nor of their 
 sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their 
 thefts." This description applies alone to that 
 period of the Christian Dispensation which 
 we understand to be indicated by the third, 
 fourth, and fifth trumpets, and to the condi- 
 tion of the Christian world as it was when the 
 great apostasy was at its height. The pajial 
 religion was an idolatry, a worship of pictures 
 and images, of saints ("demons" — dej^arted 
 spirits) and angels, above all in its form of 
 
 Mariolatry — a perversion of the religious in- 
 stinct in man, and of every revelation of him- 
 self which God had made, with a view to 
 inspire and guide the love and the worship of 
 his creatures, as flagrant and as ruinous to the 
 souls of men, as any worst form of Paganism. 
 The judgments under this sixth trumpet come 
 as the punishment of that idolatrj^ and of 
 the crimes prevailing in connection with it. 
 As God visited apostate Israel under the Old 
 Dispensation, so now he visits apostate Israel 
 under the New. To indicate the source and 
 the nature of the visitation, a symbolism is 
 employed consistent with this parallelism. 
 "The four angels" bound "in [at] the great 
 river Euphrates," are the instruments of the 
 punishment. Four great powers, lying con- 
 tiguous to the river Euphrates, are mentioned 
 in Scripture as having important relations 
 with Israel. Three of these we have already 
 mentioned — Assyria, Babylon, Damascus. 
 The fourth is Persia — not conspicuous, in- 
 deed, as an oppressor of the people of God; 
 in some instances quite the contrar}', as when 
 Cyrus permitted the captive Jews to return, 
 or when Darius Hj'taspes authorized the re- 
 building of the temple. Still, it was a 
 heathen power, willing, as in the case of 
 Xerxes, the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther, 
 to oppress the Jews, and even to slaughter 
 them by wholesale; while his son, Artaxerxes 
 Longimanus, exhibited active hostility in for- 
 bidding the temple rebuilding which the Jews 
 after their return had commenced. It would, 
 perhaps, he an arbitrary and strained view of 
 the sj'mbolism in our present passage, to treat 
 the "four angels" as alluding to these four 
 heathen powers — Assyria, Babylon, Persia, 
 Damascus — throned by the Euphrates, and so 
 largely used in God's providential dealing 
 with his ancient people. And still, there may 
 be reasons in favor of such a view, not un- 
 worthy of consideration. At all events, we 
 can scarcely go amiss in .saying that the sym- 
 bolical Euphrates, in this vision, calls our 
 attention to the source, and in some sense the 
 nature, of the visitation under this sixth 
 trumpet. 
 
 15. And the four ang:els were loosed, 
 which were prepared for an hour, and a 
 day, and a month, and a year. We 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 133 
 
 16 And "the number of the army *of the horsemen 
 were two hundred thousand thousand: <^and 1 heard 
 the number of theiu. 
 
 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them 
 that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of 
 jacinth, and brimstone; ''and the heads of the horses 
 were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths 
 issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 
 
 16 part of men. And the number of the armies of the 
 horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten t housand : 
 
 17 I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the 
 horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, hav- 
 ing breastplates a.<i 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 proceedeth 
 
 aPs. 68: 17; Dan. 7: 10.... 4 Ezek. 38: 4 cch. 7: 4 dl ChrOQ. 12: 8: Isa. 5 : 28, 29. 
 
 should translate, "<Ae hour, and day, and 
 month, and year." The common version is 
 misleading, here, as implying that the words 
 designate a precise period during which the 
 visitation to be described should last. Such 
 is not the meaning ; but that a certain hour, 
 day, month, year, is appointed — that is, a, 
 certain fixed moment of time, when what is 
 to be described should occur. 8o it had been 
 "prepared" in the divine purpose and plan. 
 — For to slay the third part of men. 
 "That they should kill the third part of 
 men"; that is to say, "they," the four angels, 
 as instruments of the divine purpose. The 
 special mission here assigned indicates a 
 significant point of difference between what 
 occurs under the sixth trumpet, and that 
 which took place under the fifth. The locusts 
 were especially charged that they should not 
 kill, but torment. Here the command is to 
 kill. This, then, is war, of which we are 
 about to read ; not war of infernal hosts out 
 of the pit, which "torment," but do not 
 "kill," but war as history records it, only in 
 this case peculiarly destructive. In it "a 
 third part of men" will perish: the words 
 not indicating in this case, more than in those 
 before noticed, any exact proportion, but 
 simply how large a number, though a num- 
 ber having in the divine purpose its exact 
 limitation, will be the victims of this war, or 
 succession of wars. 
 
 16. And the nnmber of the army of the 
 horsemen. He had just spoken of the four 
 angels. Now he proceeds at once to describe 
 the hosts which go forth under their leader- 
 ship, or at their command. It seems to be 
 taken for granted that the mission of the four 
 angels "to slay the third part of men" will 
 be at once understood as the marshaling of 
 great armies in destructive wars. — Were two 
 hundred thousand thousand. " Two myr- 
 iads of myriads," Ellicott translates. "Twice 
 ten thousand times ten thousand," is the 
 translation by the revisers. Two hundred 
 millions would be the number so represented. 
 
 Clearly, the number is symbolical, and to be 
 viewed purely as a feature of the vision. — 
 And I heard the number of them. "The 
 number of them" as they appear in vision; 
 and as thus representing the fact that in the 
 wars so pictured the hosts assembled in the 
 conteiiding armies will be vast beyond the 
 power of literal expression. 
 
 17. And thus I saw the horses in the 
 vision, and them that sat on them. The 
 writer now describes the figures seen in the 
 vision— both the horses and their riders. — 
 Having breastplates of fire, and of 
 jacinth and brimstone. The meaning is 
 that the breastplates had the op2)en7-a)ice of 
 fire, of jacinth, and of brimstone. "The 
 jacinth color," says Ellicott, "seems to be 
 the dark purple or blue so often seen in 
 smoke. — And the heads of the horses 
 were as the heads of lions. Symbolical 
 of the fierce and destructive nature of the 
 wars in which these hosts are marching forth. 
 — And out of their mouths issued fire 
 and smoke and brimstone. All these 
 features are intended to make the symbolical 
 forms in the vision more accurately and 
 vividly representative of that which the 
 vision itself symbolizes. These armies are 
 innumerable, signifying how general, as re- 
 spects the inhabited world, this marshaling 
 of armies will be, and what mighty hosts will 
 come in collision on the various battle-fields. 
 The very horses which the soldiers ride are fero- 
 cious in aspect; they have the heads of lion.s— 
 fiercest of all beasts of prey — and out of their 
 mouths go forth fire and smoke and brim- 
 stone, indicative of the infernal nature of the 
 spirit by which these wars shall be instigated. 
 It is as if, of that spirit, the very horses which 
 bear the combatants, partake. The riders are 
 in a like manner terrible in appearance. 
 They wear flaming breastplates — the purple 
 hue of smoke mingling with the fire, and a 
 color of brimstone, as if suggesting that the 
 armor and the weapons of the fierce soldiery 
 are furnished out of the pit itself It is 
 
134 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, 
 by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, 
 which issued out of their mouths. 
 
 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their 
 tails: "for their tails wv/« like unto serpents, and had 
 heads, and with them they do hurt. 
 
 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by 
 these plagues 'yet repented not of the works of their 
 hands, that they should not worship ''devils, i^ and idols 
 of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: 
 which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 
 
 21 Neither repented they of their murders, « nor of 
 their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their 
 thefts. 
 
 18 fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three 
 plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire 
 antl the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded 
 
 19 out of their mouths- 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 
 
 20 theydohurt. Aiidthe rest of mankind, who were not 
 killed with these phi^'ues, rejjented not of the works 
 of their hands, I hat they should not worship demons, 
 and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and 
 
 21 of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor 
 hear, nor walk: and they repented not of their 
 murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornica- 
 tion, nor of their thefts. 
 
 .bDeut. 31: 29 c Lev. 17 : 7 r Deut. 32: 17; Ps. 106: 37; 1 Cor. 10: 20. ...dPs. 115: 4; 135: 15; Dau. 5:23. 
 
 straining the imagery far too much, to sup- 
 po.se any reference here to the invention of 
 gunpowder, and the changes thus introduced 
 in means of human destruction. The descrip- 
 tion throughout is simply the costutne, if we 
 may so speak, of the vision, and representative, 
 purely, of the general fact, that the wars thus 
 foreshadowed were to be in a surpassing 
 degree, inhuman, fiendish in spirit, and de- 
 structive in effect. This is more specifically 
 set forth in what follows. 
 
 18. By these three was the third part 
 of men killed, by the fire, and by the 
 smoke, and by the brimstone. This must 
 be understood simply as imagery, symboliz- 
 ing destruction, wasting and terrible. 
 
 19. For their power is in their mouth, 
 and in their tails; for their tails were 
 like unto serpents, and had heads, and 
 with them they do hurt. There would 
 seem to be in the imagery here, something 
 like an identification of the horse with his 
 rider. The horse partakes of the rider's fierce 
 and destructive spirit, and shares in the mur- 
 derous fight. And, indeed, in the tumult 
 and fury of the fray, the horse and rider do 
 seem alike terrible, especially in battles as 
 waged in the olden time, when the fight was 
 hand to hand, and was a mere trial of brute 
 strength and ferocity. The description here 
 implies, in the wars as symbolized in the 
 imagery used, more than human ferocity and 
 de-structiveness, and more than that of the 
 fiercest brutes. The picture becomes infernal 
 in aspect as" we study it. Out of the horses' 
 mouths sulj^hurous flames pour, while their 
 tails become serpents, armed with ferocious 
 stings. The imagery suggests the idea of 
 wars and btittles waged in a spirit more fiend- 
 ish than is even usually the ca.se; in which 
 this spirit shall be indicated in a manner ex- 
 press and terrible. In the "General Com- 
 
 ments" we shall dwell more at length upon 
 what may, as it seems to us, be viewed as the 
 historical realization of this prophetic sym- 
 bolism. It must suflBce, here, to say that 
 during the general period whose various as- 
 pects are brought to view under these four 
 trumpets — the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth — 
 especially the later portion of this period, 
 exactly such a prevalence of destructive wars 
 is upon record; wars, in many instances 
 charged with a spirit not less ferocious than 
 the imagery here imports. 
 
 20, 21. And the rest of the men which 
 were not killed by these plagues, yet 
 repented not of the works of their hands, 
 that they should not worship devils, and 
 idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and 
 stone, and of wood, which neither can 
 see, nor hear, nor walk ; neither re- 
 pented they of their murders, nor of 
 their sorceries, nor of their fornication, 
 nor of their thefts. We have made some 
 mention, above, of what is imported by these 
 words. It is now to be observed that the 
 ajiostate church of the period under con- 
 sideration — in general to be designated as 
 "the Dark Ages" — the church itself, not 
 simply the world outside the church, was no 
 less corrupt and crimintil than the language 
 in these two verses implies. With every 
 one of the crimes liere mentioned, the papal 
 clergy and monks were chargeable, and their 
 example encouraged like enormities in those 
 to whom they did not scruple, for a price, to 
 grant absolution for the worst outrages upon 
 humanity, and upon everj' law of God and 
 man. What seems to be said to us here, is 
 that the terrible wars by which Christendom, 
 thus apo.state and corrupt, was laid waste, 
 were judgments of God, "let loose" in divine 
 indignation, as when the heathen hordes in 
 more ancient times came down u]wn ai)ostate 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 135 
 
 Israel. The judgment, however, did not work 
 reformation. Myriads were slain; but those 
 who survived, even as history records, "re- 
 pented not." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 In the exposition of these two trumpets, we 
 aim to abide by the principle of interpreta- 
 tion before explained — to take, that is, a 
 medium course between that method of pro- 
 cedure, on the one hand, which seeks for 
 exact and detailed historical fultillment for 
 each more marked feature of the vision, and 
 that, upon the other, which in avoiding this 
 extreme, verges so far toward the opposite 
 one. It cannot be extravagant, or unsafe, to 
 assume that the general Apocalj'ptic scheme 
 has a distinct and definite character in itself, 
 and that this is determined by the foresight 
 of, and the purpose to portray, what is dis- 
 tinct and definite in the history as antici- 
 pated. Viewing the trumpets as having 
 reference to what is exterior' and providential 
 in the career of the church — God's spiritual 
 kingdom among men, the outward aspects of 
 that history, whose more inward and spiritual 
 ones had already been set forth in describing 
 its redent.ptlve processes and results — we -find 
 ourselves, in comparing prophecy with his- 
 tory, coming upon periods, following the 
 triumphant, though stormy, opening one, 
 which seem pre-eminently suitable as scenes 
 for the Apocalyptic drama. Indeed, we can 
 scarcely think it possible, that in such a reve- 
 lation of the future as is understood -to be the 
 purpose of this book, events like the great 
 Christian apostasy, or periods of mighty 
 change, and political disruption, like those 
 which accompanied and followed that event, 
 should be referred to only in a vague and 
 obscure way. "We look, rather, to find the 
 general aspects of these tempestuous centuries 
 wrought into the drama as marked features 
 of it, and so distinct as to be capable of de- 
 cipherment and exposition. While, there- 
 fore, we regard the third, fourth, fifth, and 
 sixth trumpets as relating to the same ex- 
 tended general period, reaching from the 
 time when the corruptions of Christianity 
 began to tell in an express way upon the 
 whole system of Christian doctrine, disci- 
 pline, and life, to the time of the Reforma- 
 tion, we interpret these trumpets severally, 
 as exhibiting this period under distinct aspects 
 
 of it. The third and fourth trumpets present 
 the apostasy in its process and effect. The 
 fifth describes that moral condition which 
 resulted from the combination of two causes 
 — the corruption of Christianity and a gene- 
 ral outburst of human wickedness. Apoca- 
 lyptically represented as brought on through 
 the agency of evil spirits in a new and un- 
 precedented inroad on men; while the sixth 
 is a picture of murderous and desolating 
 wars, which, in point of fact, we know from 
 history to have prevailed in a degree almost 
 unparalleled, and with scarcely an interval of 
 cessation, during all those dark and troubled 
 centuries. Our exposition, therefore, deals 
 with periods in the general aspects that 
 especially characterize them; with large 
 events and courses of events, rather than mere 
 incidents ; with princijAes and forces, rather 
 than with persons. 
 
 It would be easy to find in history illustra- 
 tions of the general view that we have 
 given of the vision under the fifth trumpet. 
 The barbaric element which came in with the 
 hordes that overran the whole territory of the 
 Western Empire, long survived, and yielded 
 but slowly to the influences of the nascent 
 new civilization. The old civilization, so long 
 as it survived, was vicious and depraved, and 
 only in individual instances felt the regene- 
 rating effect of even Christianity. Here was 
 a meeting of conditions ominous enough ; and 
 when Christianity, the only influence tending 
 to purify and save, became itself corrupt, 
 and .so largely, as is well known, a power for 
 evil rather than good, it was an outlook for 
 the nations as gloomy as can well be im- 
 agined. And these portents did not mislead. 
 The history of Europe especially, the chief 
 seat of Christendom, from the fifth to the 
 sixteenth century, is, in the particulars now 
 referred to, one of the most melancholy chap- 
 ters in the annals of the human race. It is 
 scarcely possible to go amiss in seeking illus- 
 trations of the fact in writers who treat of this 
 j^eriod. There were, it is true, influences at 
 work tending to good ; it was a time of 
 growth, as well as of destruction, of seed- 
 sowing, as well as of rude and wild upturning 
 of primitive soils; a time in which founda- 
 tions were laid of m.uch that is now deemed 
 most auspicious for the future of the race — 
 and of these features, indications appear in 
 Apocalyptic foretokealngs which we have yet 
 
136 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 to study. Yet so far as that aspect of it is 
 concerned which comes to view under the 
 fifth trumpet, the story of this period is one 
 of the most painful and the most dishonor- 
 ing to human nature ever told. An air of 
 romance has been thrown over it by those 
 representations in which what was best in 
 the "chivalry" of the age is selected, and in 
 which deeds of knightly valor or exhibitions 
 of courage and strength are given, with all 
 that should have supplied for the picture its 
 dark back-ground studiously veiled. The 
 grandeur of the feudal system is too often 
 allowed to gild its outrageous cruelties and 
 oppressions ; monastic peace and culture, 
 symbolized in the fruitful fields and vine- 
 yards which surrounded and adorned the 
 monasteries — a contrast and an example to 
 the rude peoples who gained from thence 
 inspirations toward agriculture and the arts 
 of peaceful life — have too often shut from 
 view the fact that worse sinks of iniquity 
 were not to be found in all the world than 
 many of these ultimately became. The 
 Romish priesthood did, indeed, often inter- 
 pose to protect the victims of tyranny, and 
 the privilege of ''sanctuary" was, in those 
 stormy times, a refuge for thousands and 
 thousands of hunted lives. Yet this very 
 practice of making the altars of God a sanc- 
 tuary against oppression and murder shows 
 how unprotected human life then was, by all 
 ordinary means, and how little of shelter 
 there was in law or in justice; while, if the 
 priesthood were ready to interpose where the 
 tyranny of others was concerned, there was 
 no power on earth that could shield or save 
 the victims of their own. What relation of 
 life was sacred in those terrible centuries? 
 What law of God or man put a curb upon 
 ferocious passion or brutal desire ? To be 
 weak, was to be at the mercy of unscrupulous 
 power. To be poor, was to be enslaved. To 
 have anything that could tempt cupidity, was 
 to be "in jeopardy every hour." To be a 
 Christian indeed, was to be made the victim 
 of persecution ; to wear the livcr^' of the Man 
 of Sin, was to be bound to him, body and 
 soul, as the instrument of whatever mean or 
 wicked thing it might please him to enjoin. 
 
 We may select, almost at random, a pas- 
 sage which will illustrate all this, as existing 
 in one of the (-ountrics of Europe?, France, 
 about the middle of the fourteenth century. 
 
 We copy from Kirks "Life of Charles the 
 Bold." The condition of things described, 
 had come about through special causes, yet 
 similar causes had been operative, with like 
 results and widely throughout Europe, during 
 many centuries. "The administration of the 
 law," says the writer we quote, "so far as the 
 protection of life and property was concerned, 
 was entirely suspended. Murder and rapine 
 no longer sought their prey by stealth, or 
 waited for the darkness to conceal their work. 
 The country was covered with armed bands, 
 wearing the badges of Burgundy or Armag- 
 nac, but subject in fact to no other leader 
 than him who could best scent the plunder 
 and guide them in the pursuit. These bri- 
 gands infested everj' highway, and ravaged 
 villages and farms, pursuing the work of 
 destruction without hindrance and without 
 fear. The peasantry, driven to despair, aban- 
 doned at length their ruined homes and 
 wasted fields, their wives and children, their 
 lives of industry and care, and fled in troops 
 to the refuge of the thick forests, seeking 
 sustenance with the wild beasts, crouching 
 from the sunlight that shone ui)on an earth 
 of which the devil, they exclaimed, was about 
 to take possession.'^ The words we italicize 
 might almost be used as a comment upon the 
 passage in the Apocalypse now especially in 
 hand. The picture so drawn is by no means 
 a solitary one, nor was the original of it to be 
 found alone in any one of those gloomy cen- 
 turies, or any one corner of Europe. The 
 character of the throngs which followed Peter 
 the Hermit in the first Crusade, some three 
 hundred years earlier than the date given 
 above, illustrates only too well the moral 
 condition of the masses of the European popu- 
 lation at that time. Says Michaud, the ^'lis- 
 torian of the Crusades: "The civil wars, 
 which had so long disturbed Europe, had 
 greatly increased the number of vagabonds 
 and adventurers. Germany, more troubled 
 than the other countries of the West, was 
 tilled with men trained in brigandage, and 
 become the scourge of society. They almost 
 all enrolled themselves under the banners of 
 the cross, and carried with them into a new 
 expedition the spirit of license and revolt 
 witli which they were animated. . . . They 
 had been told that the crusade procured the 
 forgiveness of all sins; and in this ])ersuasion 
 they committed the greatest crimes with im- 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 137 
 
 punity. Animated by a fanatical pride, they 
 believed themselves entitled to despise and 
 ill-treat all who did not join in the holy 
 expedition. . . . Everything which fell into 
 their hands appeared a conquest over the 
 infidels, and became the just reward of their 
 labors. No captain durst place himself at 
 the head of this ferocious troop; they wan- 
 dered on- in wild disorder, and obeyed none 
 but those who partook of their wild de- 
 lirium." Their excesses, however, were fully 
 paralleled by those of knights and nobles, 
 bearing the proudest names in European 
 chivalry. The rapine and ravage, the merci- 
 less slaughter of helpless women and chil- 
 dren, equally as of soldiers in arms, the enor- 
 mities attending the sack of cities, the utter 
 pitilessness of the Crusaders when victorious, 
 as well as their brutal fury in the fight, amply 
 show a survival of the same spirit which 
 animated Goth, and Hun, and Vandal, in 
 their inroads upon the old empire at the time 
 of its tremendous overthrow. These are the 
 mere glimpses of the age which history af- 
 fords. What they suggest is even more 
 gloomy than that which they disclose. For 
 these are only the heaving billows of a 
 sea, storm-troubled and boiling to its lowest 
 depths. They reveal to us simply here and 
 there a flight of the infernal locusts with 
 whose poisoning myriads the murky air of 
 those centuries was filled. It is in such a 
 time that "men seek death," and lament 
 when they do not "find it"; the burden and 
 misery of life becoming too intolerable to be 
 borne. 
 
 In the interpretation given to the vision 
 under the sixth trumpet, a somewhat specific 
 allusion will naturally be understood to be to 
 the wars of Mohammed and his successors, 
 and to the later contests of Christians and Sar- 
 acens for the possessicm of the Holy Land. 
 From about the middle of the seventh cen- 
 tury, when Mohammed began the enterprise 
 of spreading his religion throughout the world 
 by the sword, until the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, the date of the eighth and last cru- 
 sade, there was a direct and more or less con- 
 tinuous struggle between the two great re- 
 ligions — Mohammedanism and Christianity'. 
 The early portion of this period was occupied 
 in the almost incessant wars of invasion and 
 conquest carried on by the Saracens, with the 
 specific and sustained design of completely 
 
 destrojdng Christianity. The period first 
 named, besides, from the middle of the seventh 
 to the middle of the thirteenth century, was 
 that within which the apostate Christianity 
 grew into the proportions of usurped power, 
 both spiritual and temporal, and of corrup- 
 tion reaching to all that is most essential in 
 the religion of Christ, in which it at last be- 
 strode and overshadowed the whole Western 
 world. The parallel which seems implied in 
 the Apocalyptic prediction, is almost a per- 
 fect one, between the judgment of God visited 
 upon Christendom as thus apostate in these 
 Mohammedan wars, and that which came 
 upon apostate Ljrael in the invasions of 
 heathen nations froni the East and North. 
 In truth, the hosts of Arabian warriors, who, 
 under the banner of Mohammed and his suc- 
 cessors, in less than a single century subdued 
 to the faith of Islam five great nations — Persia, 
 Syria, Egypt, Northern Africa, and Spain— 
 and which at one time seemed likely to over- 
 run the whole of Southern Europe, viewed 
 themselves as instruments of divine anger 
 upon the idolaters of Christendom. To the 
 first of those ferocious leaders, Chaled — who 
 united with extraordinary military skill, a 
 fanaticism and a singleness of purpose which 
 never lost sight of the one idea — the title, 
 "The Sword of God " was given, and this 
 designation became so identified with the 
 whole idea of Saracenic conquest, that until 
 this day it continues to be used by writers in 
 their allusion to the wars of that period. 
 There were, in these enterprises of the Sara- 
 cens, other extraordinary features quite in ac- 
 cordance with that picture of them which we 
 find here in the Apocalypse. The spirit of 
 conquest has, of course, often so taken posses- 
 sion of individual men, conspicuous in his- 
 tory, as to urge them from one enterprise with 
 that end in view to another, while even a 
 world seemed insufficient to sate the passion 
 which only grew more intense with each 
 achievement. It is true, besides, that these 
 men have sliown themselves able to infuse 
 their own spirit into the peoples they ruled 
 and led, so as to make them at least submissive 
 to the exactions necessary in the carrj'ing for- 
 ward of military schemes so vast, and so waste- 
 ful of both treasure and life. But there has 
 never been, we may say, in the whole cour.se 
 of human history, another instance of an en- 
 tire people possessed with this spirit, as the 
 
1^ 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 Saracens were; amongst whom, in fact, the 
 host of the foUowers sometimes even went be- 
 yond the leaders in the eager passion for con- 
 quest, and in the insatiahleness of that fanati- 
 cism which made the name of Christian one 
 of deepest reproach, and themselves as pitiless 
 as they were fierce. Again, the "four angels" 
 that were "loosed" were "to slay." The ex- 
 pression implies destructiveness united to un- 
 sparingness of a special sort. AVherever the 
 Saracens appeared, in the invasion of coun- 
 tries, or the siege of cities, they had one an- 
 nouncement to make — "the Koran, tribute, 
 or the sword"; and when the first two were 
 refused, the last smote without pity, yet was 
 never glutted with slaughter. Like features 
 appeared in the wars between Christians and 
 Saracens in the time of the crusades. One 
 reads the story of those fell encounters with 
 shuddering amazement. The great numbers 
 engaged — the army of the Christians which 
 encamped near Constantinople in the first 
 crusade, numbering some six hundred thou- 
 sand fighting men ; the waste of life on the 
 part of the Christians in the long marches, 
 with no proper provision for the wants of so 
 vast a host, under Syrian suns and amidst 
 the tremendous passes of the Syrian moun- 
 tains and in the ambuscades where the nimble 
 foe took them at unawares, and slaughtered 
 them by tens of thousands; as well as, upon 
 the other hand, on the part of the Saracens, 
 where the heavy-armed Western warriors had 
 them at a disadvantage, and crushed them 
 like hornets caught in a gauntleted hand — in 
 these things the foreshadowings of the Apoc- 
 alyptic vision seem to be literallj' realized. 
 
 There, are, again, some coincidences of ap- 
 parent correspondence between t.:e prophecy 
 and tlie historj' as regards the Saracenic inva- 
 sion above referred to, which we may note, 
 although we must not too much insist upon 
 them as intentional. The four angels are "at 
 the river Eujjhrates,'' and to some extent the 
 seats of Saracenic power were there; yet not 
 so much so as to make the name of the river, 
 as it appears in the passage we are studying, 
 any les,s symbolical. The real centre of Islam 
 was, as it still is, nt Mecca, although the suc- 
 cessive caliphates occupied for their capitals, 
 cities like Bosra and Bagdad, on the Euphra- 
 tes or the Tigris. We believe; the name Eu- 
 phrates, however, to have a far broader mean- 
 ing than the literal one, and to cover in its 
 
 significance all the various phases of that 
 struggle, during a period of six centuries at 
 least, in which apostate Christendom suflFered 
 under that severest of all divine judgments, 
 destructive wars ; the most notable of these, 
 as already shown, originating in a hostility to 
 Christianity like that of Oriental heathenism 
 to Israel, and waged with a like purpose — 
 to destroy Christianity itself from the earth. 
 Then the angels loosed are "four." So, one 
 might say that the first Caliphs, recognized as 
 true successors of Mohammed, were four — Abu 
 Beker, Omar, Othman, and Ali. There were 
 also four great teachers, Imams, correspond- 
 ing to the Fathers of the primitive Christian 
 age — Abu Hanifeh, Malek, Esh Shafy, and 
 Hanbal. By these, four schools in theology 
 were founded, which last until this day. No 
 doubt, other like coincidences might be found. 
 They should, perhaps, as in so many other 
 cases noted in Apocalyptic interpretation, be 
 treated as coincidences, and yet may be 
 worthy of mention even so. Vie only add 
 that such an event as the rise of Mohamme- 
 danism, by reason of its special relation to 
 Christian history, could hardly fail of a place 
 in an Apocalyptic scheme such as we are here 
 following. And it is quite consistent with 
 the Apocalyptic method that this great power 
 appears on the scene as a mighty hostile force, 
 seeking its own ends, yet used in the divine 
 plan as an instrument of judgment upon an 
 apostate church. 
 
 We must emphasize, as supporting the 
 view we take of the vision under the sixth 
 trumpet, what appears, in ver. 20, indicative 
 of the divine purpose in the visitation de- 
 scribed. "The rest of the men" — those who 
 were not "killed" — 'Repented not." We 
 infer that to bring them to such repentance 
 was the ))urpose of the "plague" sent upon 
 them. The sins of which they were to re- 
 pent, were those into which Christians under 
 the a]iostasy, and especially those who rep- 
 resented the Christianity of that period — 
 the rulers and teachers of the church — had 
 fallen. The period we have been consider- 
 ing, had then, these two marked features — 
 the corrujition of Christianity, on the one 
 hand, to such an extent as to make this apos- 
 tasy comparable in many features to the idola- 
 trous ones of ancient Israel, and upon the 
 other hand, a wide and almost constant 
 l)revalence of devastating wars, with the 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 139 
 
 CHAPT 
 
 miseries always attendant upon such. We 
 are taught here, to see in the one, God's 
 just judgment upon the other. Of this 
 underlying divine philosophy history takes 
 little or no account; prophecy makes it pre- 
 eminent as a clue to the right interpretation 
 of the record. The "men" so visited, how- 
 ever, "repented not." A primitive Chris- 
 tianity and a pure church were to be restored 
 by other means. Of these, we now, in the 
 chapter immediately following, are to learn. 
 
 
 THE STRONG ANGEL AND THE I 
 LITTLE BOOK. | 
 
 The confusion among commentators with ' 
 reference, especially, to the opening verses 
 of this chapter, is even unusually great. Of 
 all who have written upon it one can scarcely 
 find any two who are agreed. To catalogue 
 these various theories of interpretation for 
 this portion of our book would only bewilder 
 the reader, and afford very little help toward 
 a right solution of the questions involved. 
 We prefer to give our own view at once, 
 placing such reference as may be needful to 
 those of others in connection with the ex- 
 position we have to offer. As a preliminary 
 to this exposition, it is important that we 
 notice in what relation this chapter, and the 
 one immediately following, are placed with 
 those which precede and those which come 
 after them. With the twelfth chapter, as we 
 trust will appear when we come to study it, 
 and as has already been explained, an en- 
 tirely new series of visions begins, in which 
 we are taken back to the opening of the 
 Christian Dispensation, while in the succes- 
 sion of visions which follow, those aspects of 
 the kingdom of God, in its earthly ordeal, 
 which have already been presented in the 
 seals and the trumpets, are renewed, although, 
 as we shall see, in an entirely new system of 
 symbols, and with new points of view. The 
 ninth chapter has closed with the sounding 
 of the sixth trumpet, and these two now to be 
 studied — the tenth, and the eleventh as far as 
 to ver. 15 — are interposed between this sixth 
 trumpet and the seventh. The six trumpets 
 already studied, as explained in the." General 
 Comments" at the close of the last chapter, 
 we regard as covering the period from the 
 fall of the Roman Empire, and the papal 
 
 ER X. 
 
 apostasy, to the Reformation, with particular 
 reference to the confusions and the bloody 
 wars of those dismal centuries. At the point 
 now reached two intercalary chapters, as we 
 may perhaps call them, are interposed. Upon 
 this we copy a few words from Mr. Boyd 
 Carpenter, in Ellicott's Commentary. He is 
 speaking of the interposed visions after the 
 opening of the sixth seal, and of those now 
 in question. "The similarity of the situa- 
 tion,"' he saj's, "of these interposed visions 
 (episodes, as they have not very accurately 
 been called), suggests that there must be some 
 corresponding value in their interpretation. 
 This appears to be found in the answer to 
 the question which rises spontaneously as the 
 visions of the seals and the trumpets draw to 
 a close. We see the scenes which the seals 
 disclose, and we learn how war, pestilence, 
 death, persecution, revolution, are to con- 
 tinue, and we ask: What becomes of the 
 church, the bride of Christ? Where are the 
 true servants of God during these trials? 
 We are answered by the interposed visions 
 of the seventh chapter, that they are sealed, 
 and they will be safe. Similarly, the scenes 
 disclosed by the trumpets are spread before 
 us, and we see the features which mark the 
 advance of Christianity in the world . . . and 
 amid these confusions ... we almost lose 
 sight of the church, or gain only a few hints 
 which show that she is not unharmed in the 
 conflict; and again we ask: What becomes 
 of the church, the bride of Christ? Where 
 is her work and the tokens of her advance? 
 To this the interposed visions of the present 
 section [chapters tenth and eleventh] are de- 
 signed to give an answer." 
 
 In the main we accept this view; only, we 
 must assign to the tenth chapter another pur- 
 pose in connection with this, and one quite as 
 important. We shall hope that our expo- 
 sition may make it clear that the ajipearance 
 of the strong angel with the little book is 
 epochal in its significance, serving not only to 
 illustrate God's care of his people and his 
 truth, even in the worst of times, but also to 
 signalize a stage in the progress of his king- 
 dom so important that it might almost be 
 itself characterized as an era. To show this, 
 with some of the inferences which follow, is 
 the purpose of our exposition, in dealing with 
 the opening verses of the chapter, especially. 
 
140 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 A ND I saw another mighty angel come down from 
 J\ heaven, clothed with u cloud: "and a rainbow was 
 upon his lu'ad, and 'his face was as it were the sun, and 
 'his feet as pillars of tire: 
 
 1 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 tire ; and he had in his hand a 
 
 a Ezek. 1 : 28 b Matt. 17:2; ch. 1 ; 16 c ch. 1 : 15. 
 
 1-17. The Angel. 
 
 1. And I saw another mighty ["strong," 
 'ktxvp'oi'] angel come down from heaven. 
 
 ''Descending out of heaven" would be a 
 more literal rendering of the Greek. It 
 seems unnecessary to attempt any precise 
 determination of the question some commen- 
 tators notice as to John's position, while the 
 vision now to be described passes before him. 
 We are not obliged to deal with the changing 
 scenes of a vision as with actual occurrences. 
 As Hengstenberg justly remarks, a latitude 
 of conception is here to be allowed : "When 
 the vision is seen on earth, he is on earth" — 
 as in the wilderness (ch. u: 3) — "but when the 
 vision is in heaven, he is there." We should 
 add that the Apocalyptic scene, as elsewhere 
 explained, includes both earth and heaven, 
 in the sense that the events and personages 
 seen are sometimes in the one, sometimes in 
 the other; sometimes, as here, passing be- 
 tween. — Clothed with a cloud. The cloud, 
 according to Lange, "denotes, in general, 
 the my.sterious veiling of the divine and 
 heavenly glory from the human eye on 
 earth." Alford thinks that the cloud charac- 
 terizes the angel "as a messenger of divine 
 judgment." It does not seem at all clear, as 
 we trust may be inferred from the exposition 
 below, that the mission of the angel is, char- 
 acteristically, one of "judgment"; but on the 
 contrary. "Clouds," in general, when ac- 
 companying strictly divine manifestations, 
 are, as we have noted elsewhere, symbols of 
 the severer attributes of God's nature: as 
 when it is said, "Clouds and darkness are 
 round about him: righteousness and judg- 
 ment are the habitation of his throne" 
 (p«.a7: 2). So, likewise, in a place in this book 
 already commented upon (ch. i: 7): "Behold 
 he Cometh with clouds, and every eye shall 
 see him, and they also which i)i(!rc('d him; 
 and all kindreds of the earth shall wail be- 
 cause of him." The cloud at the Transfigu- 
 ration, however (M«tt. i7:5), and the cloud 
 which snatched Jesus from the sight of his 
 disciples after the Ascension, have another 
 meaning. They are not accompaniments 
 
 and symbols of what is expressly divine, so 
 much as veils "of the heavenly glory," to 
 use Lange's words — making that glory more 
 endurable to human sight. We so under- 
 stand it here. The being who descends is a 
 representative angelic one, not shining in the 
 full splendor of heavenly brightness, but 
 with a cloud "cast about him," as the word 
 in the Greek imports.— And a rainbow was 
 upon his head. " The rainbow" is a literal 
 rendering. It is the covenant bow, worn as a 
 crown by this "strong angel" ; who comes, 
 as we shall see, upon a mission connected 
 with the fulfillment of covenant promise. — 
 And his face was as it were the sun, and 
 his feet as pillars of fire. We trace here 
 a resemblance to the description given of the 
 Lord himself, as in ch. 1: 13, 16, where "his 
 countenance was as the sun shineth in his 
 strength," and "his feet like unto fine brass, 
 as if they burned in a furnace." Are we 
 to understand, then, that the angel in our 
 present passage is Christ himself? It seems 
 decisive against this that he is termed another 
 angel, in which he is evidently classed, in 
 general, with those that have been men- 
 tioned previously, and in particular with the 
 "strong angel" mentioned in ch. 5: 2, who 
 calls with the mighty voice for one to appear 
 worthy to open the sealed book. As in these 
 former instances, we must in consistency 
 view that as simply one of those representa- 
 tive angelic forms which come successively 
 upon the scene, each as representing some 
 divine force, or purpose, or operation. In 
 the present case, he represents the person and 
 work of our Lord as Saviour and Sovereign, 
 and the symbols which unite in him take 
 form accordingly. Thus EUicott: "Some call 
 this the Angel of Time, because of his utter- 
 ance in ver. 6; but is it not rather the typi- 
 cal representative of the angel of the New 
 Testament, coming with the tokens of cove- 
 nant truth, and power, and love?" His face 
 shining as the sun reminds of what this same 
 apostle elsewhere says of our Lord (Johni: 4): 
 "In him was life: and the life was the light 
 of men. And the light shineth in darkness." 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 141 
 
 2 And he had in his hand a little hook open: "and 
 he set his right lout upon the sea, and hin lel't fool on 
 the earth, 
 
 2 little book open : and he set his right foot upon 
 
 a Matt. 28 : 18. 
 
 His feet, "as pillars of fire," tread the earth, 
 says Eilicott, "strong in the power of purifi- 
 cation and judgment" — for, as in wrath, God 
 remembers mercy, so in mercy he does not 
 forget the interests of righteousness. 
 
 2. And he had in his hand a little book 
 open. In two resj^ects this book ditfers from 
 the sealed book mentioned in the fifth chap- 
 ter: it is not sealed, but is "open," and it is a 
 little book. In both these particulars it seems 
 to be put in contrast with the book in the 
 former place. In its nature and its purpose, 
 therefore, it differs from the former one. Its 
 contents are things already revealed, since it 
 is "open" ; and being a little book, it must 
 relate to something so specific and condensed, 
 that it may be thus briefly declared. Taken 
 in the light of what appears further on, as 
 will be shown, we think the "little book" 
 should be viewed in some other light than as 
 simply either the whole or "one portion," as 
 Alford thinks, of that which the seer is to 
 disclose "in his future prophesyings." The 
 emphatic indication of its diminutiveness — 
 the word used (fiip\apiSi.ov), meaning a very 
 small book, like what the French call a 
 brochure — seems intended to suggest some- 
 thing significant in its character. If what is 
 said above, besides, with reference to the 
 twelfth chapter, be accepted, it seems impos- 
 sible to connect what we trace here in any 
 way with what appears there ; nor would the 
 symbol of a little book have any appropriate- 
 ness in relation to such a variety of great and 
 momentous events as those "future prophe- 
 syings" include. The opening of the twelfth 
 chapter takes us back to "the beginning of 
 the gospel." The closing verse of the eleventh 
 reads like the close to a series of visions, all 
 the parts of which round out within that 
 limit to a complete whole. From the twelfth 
 chapter on, we have an entirely new system 
 of visions, upon a wholly new plan, and 
 related to these now occupying us only in the 
 most general way. We cannot see reason for 
 including them in any way in the contents 
 of "the little book." We take it, in fact, 
 that the symbolical significance of this ap- 
 pearance of the angel with the book belongs 
 
 mainly to this tenth chapter, and is to be 
 interpreted in that connection. — And he set 
 his right foot upon the sea, and his left 
 foot on the earth. Various fiuiciful expo- 
 sitions have been proposed here: as by Ben- 
 gel, that the sea and land denote Europe and 
 Asia; and by Hengstenberg, "the sea of peo- 
 ples, and the cultivated world." De Wette's 
 view is better — that the tidings brought 
 by the angel are for the whole earth. The 
 action is certainly significant, and may help 
 us in gaining a more correct idea of the mis- 
 sion of the angel and the symbolism of the 
 little book. The planting of one foot on the 
 sea and one on the land, seems like a taking 
 possession of both in the interest of this mis- 
 sion ; so, likewise, whatever the book im- 
 ports must be of world-wide significance and 
 value. Lange understands the little book to 
 be "the book of the world's end, the revela- 
 tion of the events of the approaching end of 
 the world." He thinks its contents are rela- 
 tively reflected "in the everlasting gospel" 
 (ch. 14:6), which the angel flying in the midst 
 of heaven has it in charge to "preach unto 
 them that dwell on the earth, and to every 
 nation, and kindred, and tongue, and peo- 
 ple." It is, indeed, deserving of notice, how 
 much what we have quoted from ch. 14 re- 
 sembles the language of ver. 11 in our present 
 chapter, where it is said to John, after he has 
 received and eaten the little book: "Thou 
 must prophesy again before many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings." View- 
 ing the contents of the book, here, as "rela- 
 tively" the same as the message of the angel 
 in ch. 14: 6, and similarly world-wide in 
 their value and application, Lange thinks 
 that the setting of the angel's feet on the sea 
 and on the land denotes, "not simply and in 
 general his [Christ's] power over the whole 
 earth ; but also, particularly, his power over 
 the two opposite forms of its spiritual life — 
 earth and sea; theocracy and world." As 
 the reader may infer from this, Lange recog- 
 nizes in the "strong angel" our Lord him- 
 self, and hence perceives in the symbolism 
 of the action now considered, that element of 
 world-wide dominion. We prefer, as already 
 
142 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: 
 and when he had cried, "seven thunders uttered their 
 voices. 
 
 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their 
 voices, I was ahout to write: and I heard a voice from 
 heaven saying unto me, '.Seal up those things which 
 the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 
 
 3 the sea, and his left foot upon the earth ; and he cried 
 with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he 
 
 4 cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. And 
 when the seven thunders uttered Iheir nuices, I was 
 about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven 
 saying, 8eal up the things which tlie seven thunders 
 
 a ch. 8: 5 b Dan. 8: 
 
 explained, to view the angel as representative 
 of our Lord. His action may symbolize 
 dominion; but we find its chief significance 
 in what, as we shall explain presently, we 
 regard as the contents of the book in his 
 hand. Whether "sea" and "land" are here 
 to be taken in the symbolical sense indicated 
 by Lange, we are not sure. The natural 
 interpretation of the angel's action is as an 
 indication that his mission and message are 
 of world-wide moment, and are to be world- 
 wide in their eflTect. 
 
 3. And cried with a loud voice, as 
 when a lion roareth. The lion-voice is 
 suitable to him who, in the vision, represents 
 in symbol "the Lion of the Tribe of Juda." 
 The Speaker's Commentary thinks that a 
 "menacing tone in the voice is thus indi- 
 cated"; Ebrard, that the voice, with lion- 
 like tone, is a signal to the seven thunders 
 which immediately follow. — When he had 
 cried, seven thunders uttered their 
 voices. These thunders, says the Speaker's 
 Commentary, "issue, as it were, from the 
 cloud which veils the angel, and are the echo 
 of his lion-voice." The thunders, however, 
 are not simply an "echo"; they are them- 
 selves vocal, and have an utterance of their 
 own. Things are spoken in these thunder- 
 tones which John at first understands as in- 
 tended for record. 
 
 4. When the seven thunders had ut- 
 tered their voices [or, "had spoken"], I 
 was about to write ; and I heard a voice 
 from heaven, saying unto me. Seal up 
 those things which the seven thunders 
 uttered, and write them not. We find 
 here an intimation that in the intervals of the 
 visions, throughout, John was engaged in 
 writing down the things seen and heard. It 
 was, therefore, more or less in his trance-like 
 state that even the writing of the book was 
 done — a circumstance which explains many 
 of its peculiarities. In the present case he is 
 forbidden to write what the thunders had ut- 
 tered; he is commanded to "seal up" the 
 
 things spoken, and write them not — to treat 
 them, that is, as things reserved and secret. 
 Questions oflfer themselves as to the reason of 
 this injunction, as well as the import of the 
 utterances themselves, which cannot, perhap.s, 
 be answered. There must have been a pur- 
 pose in the utterance, and a purpose alst) in 
 the command not to write. The former, prob- 
 ably, concerned John himself; the latter, 
 those for whom his book is written. The 
 thunders appear to have been a part of that 
 scenic symbolism by which the appearance of 
 the angel was accompanied. They were a 
 divine attestation of his mission; and for John 
 seem to have conveyed something as to the 
 import of that mission which it was not per- 
 mitted him to disclose. The only place in 
 i the New Testament where anything is found 
 j that may help in our explanation is in another 
 ! of John's own writings, the twelfth chapter 
 of his Gospel. We there read (ver. 28-3.3) of 
 the voice from heaven in response to the ap- 
 peal of Jesus in presence of the multitude 
 assembled "at the feast," and of which the 
 people "that stood by and heard it said that it 
 thundered ; others said. An angel spake to 
 him." What our Lord says of it is: "This 
 voice came not because of me, but for your 
 sakes." And then he exclaims, as if to some 
 extent interpreting the thunder-voice they 
 had just heard: "Now is the judgment of 
 this world; now shall the prince of this world 
 be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the 
 earth, will draw all men unto me. This he 
 said, signifying what death he should die." 
 The words of the voice from heaven which 
 the people had so indistinctly heard, were a 
 response tothe Lord'sappeal, "Father, glorify 
 thy name." The response was: "I have both 
 glorified it, and will glorify it again." There 
 is something of helpful suggestion in all this, 
 when put in connection with our present pas- 
 sage. The thunder-voice heard as the angel 
 descends, is like that voice from lieaven which 
 the people heard on that day, and which tes- 
 tified in their presence to the character and 
 
Ch. 
 
 X.] 
 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 5 And the an 
 upon the earth 
 
 gel which I saw stand upon the sea and 
 « lifted up his hand to heaven, 
 
 5 uttered, and write them not. 
 I saw standing upon the sea 
 
 And the angel 
 and upon the 
 
 whom 
 earth 
 
 
 
 
 oEx. 6: 8; 
 
 Dan. 12: 7. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 mission of him who stood before them. These 
 were actual utterances — words spoken, on this 
 occasion as on that, and doubtless now as then, 
 having reference to the mi.ssion of him whose 
 person and office are thus recognized; with 
 this difference, however, that while our Lord 
 interpreted the utterance, John is commanded 
 to keep it secret. On the occasion mentioned 
 in the Gospel, the voice from heaven, so ma- 
 jestic and overaweing, signalized the near ap- 
 proach of an event momentous in the highest 
 degree — the lifting up from the earth of him 
 who as thus lifted up was to draw all men 
 unto himself; the consummation, in other 
 words, of the Eedeemer's earthly work in his 
 death upon the cross as the world's Saviour, 
 and his subsequent ascension to the right hand 
 of the Father. To this Jesus had previously 
 made allusion in saying: "The hour is come 
 that the Son of man should be glorified." 
 We take the utterance of the seven thun- 
 ders in the vision now under consideration, as 
 similar in its significance. The thunders sig- 
 nalize an epoch in the history of God's king- 
 dom on earth; they announce new and great 
 changes in the divine procedure as regards his 
 kingdom, and as regards the world of men. 
 The unfolding of the Apocalyptic scheme has 
 now reached a point where the affairs of the 
 world and of the church in the world, are 
 about to take on a new aspect. The scene is 
 about to change. As the sixth trumpet-vision, 
 in which so much has been seen of God's 
 righteous judgment upon apostate Christen- 
 dom, passes from the field of view, suddenly 
 appears a form resplendent in the glory of 
 that covenanting grace which God, after all, 
 has not forgotten ; while above even the tumult 
 of the world's disorder a voice sounds, an- 
 nouncing in its tone the world-wide moment- 
 ousness of the events that now are drawing 
 near. It is as when, at the giving of the 
 Law on Mount Sinai, "there were thunder- 
 ings and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon 
 the mount, and the voice of the trumpet ex- 
 ceeding loud." Only, now it is gospel, not 
 law, that is to be proclaimed ; though a gospel 
 which involves, with blessings for the believ- 
 
 ing and the true, judgments upon a world 
 lying in wickedness. The number "seven," 
 is to be treated as in so many other places in 
 this book. Fanciful interpretations have here, 
 also, been put forth, as by Daubeuz, quoted 
 in the Sjieaker's Commentary, who under- 
 stands "the seven kingdoms that received the 
 Keformation," and by Elliott, the papal Bull 
 fulminated against Luther from the seven- 
 hilled city; and by Vitringa, "the seven 
 Crusades." Such interpretations change to 
 what Carpenter justly calls "a bald literal- 
 ism," the sublime symbolism of the passage. 
 It is possible that the "seven" here has some 
 reference to that seven-fold repetition of "the 
 voice of the Lord" in Psalm twenty-nine, 
 upon which the Jews founded their custom 
 of speaking of the thunder as "the seven 
 voices of the Lord." This .seems, however, 
 like a rather far-fetched suggestion. The 
 "seven" may be only that use of the word 
 so frequent in denoting what is perfect in its 
 kind, and may allude, simply, to the loudness 
 and majesty of the tone. 
 
 5. And the angel which I saw stand 
 upon the sea and upon the earth lifted 
 up his hand to heaven. " The angel whom 
 I saw standing," would be good English by 
 present usage, and a good rendering of the 
 Greek participle. There is a passage in Daniel 
 (12:6,7) of which this one reminds us. "The 
 man clothed in linen" is inquired of: How 
 long shall it be to the end of these wonders? 
 and he "held up his right hand and his left 
 hand unto heaven, and sware by him that 
 liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, 
 times, and a half." The gesture described in 
 both these passages, as belonging to solemn 
 asseveration, or the oath, is evidentlj' very 
 ancient. Abraham says (Gen. 14:22) to the king 
 of Sodom, and alluding to the spoils taken 
 from the defeated kings: "I have lifted up 
 mine hand unto the Lord, the most high 
 Goil, the possessor of heaven and earth, that 
 I will not take from a thread even to a shoe- 
 latchet," etc. The attitude and gesture of 
 the angel in our present passage, lend wonder- 
 ful emphasis to the weighty words he speaks. 
 
144 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, 
 "who created heaven, and the things tliat therein are, 
 and tlie earth, and the thing's that therein are, and the 
 sea, and the things which are therein, Hhat there 
 should be time no longer: 
 
 7 Baffin the davs of the voice of the seventh angel, 
 when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of (iod 
 should he finished, as he hath declared to his servants 
 the prophets. 
 
 6 lifted up his right hand to heaven, and sware by him 
 that liveth ' for ever and ever, 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 
 
 7 ^delay no longer: 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 proph- 
 
 a Neh. 9:6; ch. 4: 11; 14: 7 5 Dan. 12; 7; oh. Ifi : 17 c ch. 11 : 15. 1 Gr. unto the ages o/ the agea.- 
 
 aniUoTilie^oiiiii, and the sea and the things that are therein.... i Ov, time. 
 
 -2 Some ancient 
 
 6. And sware by him that liveth for- 
 ever and ever. . . . that there should be 
 time no longer. Many have supposed — and 
 probably most of those who have not given 
 to this passage particular consideration— that 
 this announces the absolute end of time; a 
 construction of its meaning which is the oc- 
 casion of much difficulty in explaining what 
 follows. It is nearly agreed among later 
 commentators, so far as we have observed, 
 that the Greek word, here translated "time" 
 (xpoi'os), should be taken in its less specific 
 sense of "delay," or "continuance." The 
 Greek, were it the purpose of the passage to 
 announce the absolute end of time, taking 
 the word "time" in its usual sense, would 
 require the article (6 xpo''°^)- The absence of 
 the article suggests that the other, less definite 
 meaning, is the one to be here given to the 
 word. The revised version, as will be seen, 
 translates "delay." This, while consistent 
 with Greek usage, as just explained, suits far 
 better the general context of the passage. In 
 ver. 11, for example, it is said to John, "Thou 
 must prophesy again, before many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings"; con- 
 sistently with which we can scarcely under- 
 stand the angel to be here announcing, abso- 
 lutely, the end of time, even though deferring 
 that event till the seventh angel sounds. The 
 giving of the little book, with all that occurs 
 in the connection, clearly implies that there 
 is much yet to transpire before the end shall 
 come. There seems a propriety in connect- 
 ing the declaration of the angel, "There 
 shall be delay no longer," with ch. 6:11, 
 where, to the .souls under the altar, it is said, 
 that "thej' should rest yet for a little season, 
 until their fellow-servants also and their 
 brethren, that should be killed, as they were, 
 should be fulfilled." These words, as we no- 
 ticed in commenting on the passage, plainly 
 imply an interval of trial and suffering then 
 still to follow, during which the church 
 should be in its ordeal, and persecution still 
 
 rage against the Lord's true people. The 
 call for "vengeance," as we also saw, ex- 
 presses simply that wonder at God's seeming 
 delays in times of trial for his people which 
 is so natural to men, and at the apparent 
 slowness with which he "arises to judge the 
 earth." The answer given shows that the 
 divine purpose acts by a divine plan; that at 
 the fit time God will " avenge his own elect," 
 by appearing in their behalf and in behalf of 
 all interests of truth and righteousness, in 
 such a way as to vindicate both. Meantime, 
 the ordeal must last. The trumpets have 
 ushered upon the Apocalyptic scene visions 
 of the various forms which this ordeal should 
 assume. These have now brought the un- 
 folding of events down to the point where the 
 fulfillment of promise shall begin. "There 
 shall be delay no longer." The striking and 
 impressive recital of divine attributes, in the 
 solemn adjuration of the angel, lends great 
 force to this declaration. It is the ever-living, 
 the mighty, the faithful Goxi who thus de- 
 clares, through the lips of his messenger- 
 angel, his purpose to now fulfill that which 
 was promised. 
 
 7. But in the days of the voice of the 
 seventh angel, when he shall begin to 
 sound, the mystery of God should be 
 finished, as he hath declared to his 
 servants the prophets. Some important 
 changes in translation are needful here. The 
 revision, as will be seen, gives the verse 
 thus: "In the days of the voice of the 
 seventh angel, when he is about to sound, 
 then is finished the mystery of God, accord- 
 ing to the good tidings which he declared to 
 his servants the prophets." Ellicott trans- 
 lates, ''was finished." Alford, like the re- 
 vision, "is finished." The word rendered in 
 the common version "declared" (evtjyyfAicTei'), 
 means to annonnce glad tidings ; and is, with 
 its derivatives, used for preaching the gospel, 
 as in 1 Pet. 1 : 25; Luke 3: 18, where the verb 
 is so employed; and in both Mark and Luke, 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 145 
 
 8 And "the voice which I heard from heaveti spake 
 unto me again, and said, (io and take the little book 
 which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth 
 upon the sea and upon the earth. 
 
 9 ets. And the voice that I heard from heaven, /heard 
 il again speaking with me, and saying, (Jo, take the 
 book which is open in the hand of the angel that 
 
 and other places, the noun, allied with it, 
 (eiravyeAioi'), Is used with the Greek verb to 
 "announce," "proclaim" (ict)puo-o-io). The 
 verb is used here with the accusative of the 
 person. Alford accordingly translates, liter- 
 ally, "as he evangelized his servants, the 
 prophets" ; for the reason, as he states it, 
 that "it is impossible to translate by a peri- 
 phrasis without losing its force." He adds: 
 "It expresses that God informed them [the 
 prophets] of the glad tidings"; it being 
 understood, he says, that as prophets they 
 published the good news {kvay^iXiov). " Evan- 
 gelized," however, is a word which in such a 
 connection scarcely carries any meaning at 
 all. The periphrasis is a necessity, while tlie 
 loss of force in its use is not apparent, to us at 
 least, as it seems to be to the commentator 
 just named. We prefer, therefore, the peri- 
 phrastic rendering of the revisers: "accord- 
 ing to the glad tidings which he declared to 
 his servants the prophets." What is this 
 "glad tidings" ? It must be that same thing 
 which is implied in the phrase: "the mystery 
 of God." This, as declared to his servants the 
 prophets, shall now be fulfilled. We take it 
 to be that "mystery," that secret purpose of 
 God, from time to time intimated, "de- 
 clared," although never fully unfolded, to 
 the holy men in different ages whom he has 
 made the medium of his communication with 
 the world. It is that ultimate purpose, that 
 divine idea, by which we have reason to 
 believe the whole scheme of human history 
 is controlled. In all the ages of this history 
 God's dispensations have been adjusted to a 
 grand, ultimate design, of which intimations 
 are given in all those passages that imply 
 the ultimate triumph of his truth, and the 
 final overthrow of error, evil, and all the 
 miseries and mischiefs that come upon the 
 race through sin ; in other words, the final 
 victory and universal prevalence of his own 
 kingdom of righteousness and grace. The 
 sounding of the seventh trumpet will usher 
 in the accomplishment of this design. Then 
 shall be fulfilled the glorious prophecies which 
 gleam along the track of human destiny, a 
 
 light shining more and more unto the perfect 
 day. Then shall the prayer of the souls 
 under the altar be answered; and while the 
 Redeemer sees of the travail of his soul and 
 is satisfied, those who have been with him in 
 the temptation, have drank of his cup, and 
 been baptized with his baptism, shall be satis- 
 fied also. In what this fulfillment consists, 
 must be shown further on. Only, here let us 
 remark that it is the angel with the little book 
 in his hand who proclaims this "finishing" 
 of "the mystery of God." 
 
 8-11. The Little Book. 
 
 8. And the voice which I heard from 
 heaven spake unto me again, and said. 
 The corrected translation is: "And the voice 
 which I heard from heaven, I heard it again, 
 speaking with me, and saying." It is the 
 voice which had just commanded him to 
 "seal up those things which the seven thun- 
 ders uttered." — Go and take the little book 
 which is open in the hand of the angel 
 which standeth upon the sea and upon 
 the earth. Here emerges another important 
 point of diflference between what is said of the 
 sealed book, in the fifth chapter, and what is 
 said of the little book in the angel's hand. It 
 is "the Lamb" who in the former case opens 
 the seals. It is John himself to whom this 
 other book is given. The instrumentality in 
 the one case is divine, in the other it is human. 
 This circumstance alone indicates a marked 
 difference between the two books, as respects 
 their nature, their contents, and the symbol- 
 ical significance of each. Some writers un- 
 derstand by the little book, as Dr. Vaughan 
 expresses it, "the word of the coming pro- 
 phecy: even of the prophecies which are to 
 follow in subsequent chapters of the book." 
 Hengstenberg says: " The [sealed] book con- 
 tains the judgments on the world; the little 
 book, the destinies of the church." Even, 
 however, if it should be admitted that Hengs- 
 tenberg' s explanation of the difference be- 
 tween the two books as to size — that, namely, 
 "the sins and punishments of the world con- 
 stitute matter of a much more comprehensive 
 nature than those of the church," — which, in 
 
146 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, 
 Give uie the little book. And he said unto me, "Take 
 it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but 
 it shall be in thv mouth sweet as honey. 
 
 10 And I took the little book out ol' the angel's hand, 
 and ate it up; 'and it was in my mouth sweet as 
 honey: and as soon as 1 had eaten it, <^my belly was 
 bitter. 
 
 9 standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I 
 went unto the angel, .'■aying unto him that he should 
 give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take 
 it, and eat it up: and it shall make thy belly bitter, 
 
 10 and in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. And I 
 took the "little book out ol' 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. 
 
 o Jer. 15: 16; Ezek. 2 : 8; 3: 1. 2, 3.... 6 Ezek. 3 : 3....C Eiek. 2: 10. 
 
 point of fact, at least to the extent implied, is 
 open to doubt — even if this were admitted, 
 there remains the question why the instru- 
 ment for disclosing the contents of the one 
 should be necessarily divine, while that for 
 the other is human. The universe, in the for- 
 mer case, was searched in vain for one less in 
 dignity than the Lamb himself " worthy to 
 open the book and to loose the seals thereof"; 
 in the latter case it is John, the man and the 
 apostle, who is commanded to take the book 
 out of the hand of the angel. This circum- 
 stance seems clearly to point to the fact that 
 the office now to be discharged is quite other 
 than that indicated in the former instance, 
 when the Lamb alone is found a fit medium 
 for revealing to men the secret purposes of 
 God ; and that this difference in office is oc- 
 casioned by a difference in the very nature 
 and contents of this one book from those of 
 the other. "We look upon John, as he receives 
 the command to "go and take the little book 
 which is open in the hand of the angel," as 
 representing in the vision human instrumen- 
 tality of an important kind, employed in a 
 sphere appropriate to such, and connected 
 with a fulfillment of divine purpose vitally 
 concerning alike the church and the world, 
 yet differing, in part, at least, from that of a 
 prophetic disclosure of things to come. The 
 loook in the angel's hand is "open," not, like 
 the other, "sealed." It is a me.ssage to be 
 published, a doctrine to be taught, a word of 
 God revealed, and so given into human 
 hands, as ver. 11 in this chapter imports, for 
 world-wide diffusicm. For the first time John 
 himself appears in the vision other than as a 
 beholder. He himself now becomes for the 
 moment a representative actor on the scene. 
 In his person, as he goes forward to receive 
 the book, is symbolized, along with what be- 
 longs to him in his prophetic character, the 
 whole company of those who in the world's 
 later ages were to proclaim the old gospel in 
 its new simplicity, and its new and j'et more 
 amazing power. 
 9. And I went unto the angel. Let it 
 
 be kept in mind that John here acts as in a 
 vision, so that what follows — for example, 
 the eating of the roll, or book — must not be 
 received as requiring to be explained by the 
 laws that govern actual events. — And said 
 unto him, Give me the little book. And 
 he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; 
 and it shall make thy belly bitter; but 
 it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 
 The Alexandrine manuscript reads, "make 
 thy heart bitter." This reading, if adopted, 
 might in some degree, in one way, relieve 
 the chief difficulty of the passage. The 
 revisers, however, have not preferred it; and, 
 n(9twithstanding the manuscript authority is 
 so great, it is perhaps safer to let the common 
 reading stand. In favor of the latter, criti- 
 cally viewed, is the fact that so the con- 
 sistency of the symbolism is preserved. It 
 might seem incongruous to associate in the 
 same symbolical representation, a physical 
 effect, like the sweetness in the mouth, and a 
 spiritual effect such as is implied in the bit- 
 terness of the heart. The eating of the book, 
 or the "roll" — for, of course, the form of the 
 book, as of all books, anciently, was that of 
 a roll — reminds us, at once, of the passage in 
 Ezekiel (3. i 3): " Moreover he said unto me,' 
 Son of man, eat what thou findest: eat this 
 roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. 
 So I opened my mouth : and he caused me to 
 eat that roll. And he said unto me. Son of 
 man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy 
 bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then 
 I did eat it : and it was in my mouth as 
 honey for sweetness." In the fourteenth 
 verse of the same chapter, however, after he 
 had received his commission to declare the 
 word of the Lord to the house of Israel, and 
 had been informed in what manner it would 
 be received, he tells us: "So the Spirit 
 lifted me up, and took me &vf&y, and I went 
 in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but 
 the hand of the Lord was strong upon me." 
 The more ancient record maj' help us to ex- 
 plain the later one. 
 10. And I took the little book out of 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 147 
 
 11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again [ 11 And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again 
 before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and lover many peoples and nations and tongues and 
 kings. I kings. 
 
 1 Or, concerning. 
 
 the angel's hand, and ate it up : and it 
 was in my mouth sweet as honey ; and 
 as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was 
 bitter. One point of difference we note. 
 In the account in Ezekiel, we have what 
 describes visions alternating with accounts of 
 what the prophet said and did in his normal 
 state. In the book we are studying, all is 
 vision. In the former case, accordingly, the 
 bitterness and heat of spirit is an actual ex- 
 perience, and is felt while actually engaged 
 in the delivery of the prophetic message, and 
 while encountering the hard-hearted indiffer- 
 ence, or mocking unbelief of those to whom 
 the prophet was sent. In the latter case, the 
 bitterness, as well as the sweetness, belongs 
 to the vision ; and the two occur so nearly 
 together that they are experienced as in any 
 other case where food pleasant to the taste is 
 soon after felt as a cause of suffering. Yet 
 we must observe that in this almost moment- 
 ary symbolical action of the vision is com- 
 pressed, as in numerous other instances 
 that might be pointed out, what represents 
 a very wide, and various, and long-continued 
 experience. How often those to whom the 
 gospel message, before other messages more 
 strictly prophetic in character, was com- 
 mitted, have found what was sweet and 
 precious in personal experience an occasion of 
 sorrow, trial, temptation, and indeed keenest 
 pangs of suffering while communicating it to 
 others, is a familar fact. 
 
 11. And he said unto me, Thou must 
 prophesy again before many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings. 
 Following the Sinaitic and Alexandrine 
 manuscripts, we should translate, "And t/ieij 
 said unto me." Alford, Carpenter, and the 
 revisers thus translate: "An equivalent," 
 says the second, for " It was said." Instead 
 of "before," also, the preposition (cttI) is 
 translated, it will be observed, "over," with 
 "concerning" in the margin; the same ex- 
 positors translate, "concerning (or with re- 
 gard to) peoples, and nations, and tongues, 
 and kings many." As to the nature of this 
 "prophecy," we cannot agree with the emi- 
 
 nent scholars whom we have just named. 
 The words, "prophesy" and "prophet," as 
 is well known, are used in Scripture with a 
 wider meaning than simply that of the fore- 
 telling of future events. They are used, also, 
 in the sense of "teach," "teacher," especially 
 in some of Paul' s Epistles ; and, as there is rea- 
 son to believe, expressed, alike in New Testa- 
 ment and in Old Testament times, utterances 
 of whatever kind underspecial influenceof the 
 Spirit. Consistently with this usage, it seems 
 entirely proper to understand the word, here, 
 as meaning, not strictly, at least not exclu- 
 sively, the foretelling of things to come, but 
 the delivery of divine messages, by divine au- 
 thority, and with divine power attending and 
 manifest. It should be remembered, also, 
 that John, in receiving and eating the little 
 roll, acts precisely as all other personages 
 introduced in these successive visions do — 
 representatively, and as symbolizing far more 
 than concerned himself individually. Yet 
 if the words addressed to him, "Thou must 
 again prophesy," are understood as meaning 
 that he had other visions to write, he seems, 
 in such an exposition, taken suddenly out of 
 his symbolical and representative position, 
 and viewed in his character as the seer and 
 Apocalyptist. "We prefer to view him, as in 
 this whole vision of the roll, as acting out of 
 quite as much as in his character as the 
 medium of these revelations, and as repre- 
 senting in a large sense that ministry to 
 which he himself, as an apostle, belonged — 
 though now exhibited in the later scenes of 
 its activity — and hearing anew the message 
 which had been so long lost to mankind. 
 We take the Greek preposition (en-i), however 
 translated, as indicating that the tenor of this 
 message will deeply concern all those of 
 whom mention is made — the "many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings." This 
 ministry is to be a comprehensive one. The 
 time has come when the gospel message will 
 not only be delivered in the unencumbered 
 simplicity of its original announcement, but 
 when in many "tongues" it shall be heard, 
 when "nations" shall be "born" under its 
 
148 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 regenerative efficacy, and when for "peoples" 
 and "kings" it shall have messages of tre- 
 mendous import. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 Many things necessary, perhaps, to the ex- 
 position of this chapter which we have now 
 offered, we have preferred to leave for con- 
 sideration in this connection. The pivotal 
 point in the whole is that which concerns the 
 symbolism of the little book. The angel 
 descends from heaven that he may place this 
 little book in the hands of the seer. All other 
 incidents of the vision, however striking in 
 themselves, are to be viewed as in subordina- 
 tion to this central one. The book itself is a 
 symbol, and all that transpires in connection 
 with it has symbolical significance. It is not 
 a book to be read ; but to be eaten. What it 
 contains must first become an experience^ and 
 then be communicated ; for it is after he has 
 eaten the roll, that it is said to John: "Thou 
 must prophesy." The diminutiveness of the 
 book, as already intimated, is in like manner 
 symbolical, as is also the fact that it is seen 
 lying, an open roll, on the angel's hand. 
 This "open" state of the roll harmonizes 
 with what is said by the angel of the finishing 
 of "the mystery of God," while its diminu- 
 tiveness indicates it as a word of God in 
 perfect contrast with the voluminousness of 
 mere human utterance, and in a reduction of 
 what had before been extended, complicated, 
 and hard to understand, to conciseness and 
 simplicity. 
 
 In order that we may rightly interpret the 
 symbolism of the book, we must associate 
 with it that of the vision as a whole. There 
 is much in the ai)pearance and language of 
 the angel himself, that may be helpful to this 
 end. He comes with the covenant-bow, worn 
 as a crown; suggesting that his mission must 
 have a connection with the fulfillment of 
 covenant divine promise. His countenance 
 shining as the sun, and his feet as pillars of 
 lire, remind us of the Lord's own glorious 
 appearance to John in the beginning of these 
 visions, and suggest that what is now declared 
 has some especial relation to his great re- 
 deeming work. His attitude, one foot on the 
 sea and one on the earth, with his words to 
 John, intimating that the contents of the 
 book are for "peoples, and nations, and 
 tongues, and king.s," seems like an anticipa- 
 
 tion of the flight of that other angel, in ch. 
 15, through the midst of heaven, with the 
 everlasting gospel for the whole world of 
 men. The announcement that there shall be 
 delay no longer; but that now what had re- 
 mained a mystery even to the most favored 
 of God's prophets and servants of a former 
 time shall be "finished" — shall be wrought 
 out in divine fulfillments — bids us look for 
 what shall be a consummation of the great 
 divine plan, and the full accomplishment of 
 divine purpose. All these indications are, to 
 our own mind, epochal in character. Wiiile 
 they cannot mean a final end of the Dispen- 
 sation, even in connection with the sounding 
 of the seventh trumpet, nor the end of the 
 world — since the delivering of messages to 
 "peoples, and nations, and tongues, and 
 kings" implies the continuation of time and 
 of the day of salvation — yet they do suggest 
 that some great and important stage in the 
 dispensations of God toward the church and 
 the world has been reached. May it not be 
 that the period of the world's history in 
 which we ourselves are now living, is that in 
 which the symbolism of the little book is 
 finding practical elucidation? It is a time 
 of world-wide diffusion of the gospel message 
 in the simplicity and power of its original 
 announcement. It is a time in which the 
 Lord's people are permitted to see what 
 kings and prophets once "longed to see, yet 
 died without the sight." What we are ac- 
 customed to term the Eeformation, was in 
 reality, a Revolution; what we are apt to 
 interpret as a transition, was in truth an era. 
 The leading fact in the mighty change that 
 has come upon the world, is that now the 
 gospel addresses men stripped of the disguise 
 which it was so long made to wear, and 
 announces a method of salvation "easj', art- 
 less, unencumbered." The re-affirmation of 
 one doctrine — that of justification by faith — 
 has reduced to merelj' learned lumber whole 
 libraries of scholastic lore; while above all, 
 setting aside such an immensity of Romanist 
 teaching and practice based on the opposite 
 doctrine of salvation by "the deeds of the 
 body." When men began to understand, 
 once more, that they are saved by grace, 
 through faith, and that not of themselves, 
 since "it is the gift of God," the whole legal 
 system of the apostasy began to crumble; 
 while, as one may say, just in the preaching 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 149 
 
 of that one truth, the face of the world was 
 changed. 
 
 But this does not exhaust the symbolism of 
 the little book. The gospel is not simply a 
 plan of salvation. It is besides a grand scheihe 
 of divine administration for the church and 
 for the world. In ages past it ha.s, in this view, 
 been a "mystery." How difficult it must 
 have been in those ages to understand many 
 things now very plain to the thoughtful 
 student of God's word and God's providence! 
 How strange and inexplicable, to Israel, must 
 its own history have seemed ! How true was 
 that admonition of the Saviour to his own dis- 
 ciples, "It is not for you to know"! How 
 much does the cry of the souls under the altar 
 express of the wonder, almost the despair, of 
 God's faithful ones during ages of apparent 
 defeat for them and their cause, and of appar- 
 ent triumph for a bloody and blaspheming 
 foe! '■''Mystery !^^ Truly it was that. But 
 has not the mystery now for a long period 
 been clearing up ? If we put all that was dark 
 and disturbing to faith in the past centuries in 
 the light of the more bright and hopeful pres- 
 ent, do not obscurities, perplexities, and doubts 
 clear away, as clouds before the sun? Much 
 of this, also, we find symbolized in the little 
 book. This declaring, unfolding of the mys- 
 tery of God as regards the whole of time, past, 
 present, and future, is itself a "prophecy," a 
 teaching "concerning peoples, and nations, 
 and tongues, and kings." 
 
 And then, we may infer from it how the 
 prophecies of old time are in this new age 
 hastening to their fulfillment. So far as the 
 words, "Thou must prophesy again " are to 
 be understood literally, it is a prophecy of 
 "the time of the end." Not voluminous, 
 like the older prophecies, but such as when 
 the consummation draws on ; the events of 
 years are compressed within those of an hour, 
 development is swift, things rush to their 
 climax, the plowman overtakes the reaper, 
 and the treader of grapes him that soweth the 
 seed. 
 
 Tlie eating of the little book, with the effects 
 that follow, ought to have, in our commen- 
 tary, more than a passing mention. The in- 
 cident, to a hasty consideration, may seem 
 strange — for how can a book be eaten ? Yet 
 if it is borne in mind that what is related here 
 is vision, and not actual occurrence, and if 
 it is remembered how in visions, as in dreams. 
 
 the laws that govern actual events are often 
 transcended — as in fact is done when in the 
 very commencement of these disclosures the 
 seer, without regard to bodily presence, is 
 transferred to the spiritual sphere, and then 
 beholds what to physical organs is wholly 
 veiled and invisible — we shall readily admit 
 that the incident now noticed is not at all to be 
 tried by ordinary rules. It is, as we have no- 
 ticed in other connections, pure vision and 
 symbol. Yet even as such, its significance \» 
 especially to be marked. Three features of 
 the whole incident, as we study it, become 
 conspicuous: (1) That the book is given into 
 humnn hands, and this with a view to com- 
 munication of its contents through human 
 instrumentality — a very wide communication : 
 "to peoples, and nations, and tongues, and 
 kings"; (2) That as thus received the book 
 first becomes in its contents and substance, a 
 personal experience; (3) That while in per- 
 sonal experience at first "sweet," the book as 
 a further effect, or, as an effect of the ministry 
 involved in its communication, brings "bit- 
 terness." The explanation of this is found in 
 fiicts of personal and general Christian his- 
 tory. Even the personal experiences of a 
 Christian involve more or less of the element 
 here implied. That experience is for him a 
 revelation of himself to himself. All that 
 he finds in his Redeemer, and in that gift of 
 ] God which comes through him, is, indeed, 
 unmixed blessing. The alloy comes in through 
 the continued presence and activity of sin, 
 and through the painful sense he has of im- 
 perfection in every kind of attainment. There 
 is a confiict remaining to him in this world, 
 which makes it impossible that even the bless- 
 edness of present Christian comfort and peace 
 should be a final blessedness. But the per- 
 sonal experience of a Christian is not all that 
 is realized to him as a result of his appropria- 
 tion of the " little book." John has no sooner 
 received it and appropriated it, than it is said 
 to him, "Thou must prophesy." He must 
 bear as a message to others that which the 
 book has become to him. And herein he will 
 find fulfilled that word of the Saviour, "In 
 the world ye shall have tribulation." The 
 symbolism of our present passage, therefore, 
 would have pre.sented only a part of the truth 
 if it had indicated alone that in Christian ex- 
 perience, received as a whole, which is 
 "sweet." A Christian in the world mws^ have 
 
150 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 AND there was given me "a, reed like unto a rod: 
 and tlie angel stood, saying, *Rise, and measure 
 the temple of God, and the altar, and them that wor- 
 ship therein. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : ' and 
 one said, Kise, and measure the temple of God, and 
 
 aEzek. 40: 3, etc.; Zech. 2 : 1 ; ch. 21; 15 6 Num. 23: 18. 1 Gr. saying. 
 
 trials and sorrows peculiar to him as such, 
 and the "little book," sweet to the taste, a 
 precious gift, worthy to come even from an 
 angel's hand, will not only bring with it the 
 salutary bitterness which belongs, needfully, 
 to the most favored human condition in this 
 world of sin and temptation, but will also as 
 a viessage become an occasion of other forms 
 of trial ; in some cases it has been the occa- 
 sion of suifering whose bitterness only the 
 grace of God could make endurable. 
 
 When it is said to John, "Thou must pro- 
 phesy again," evident allusion is included to 
 the prophetic office he has already fulfilled in 
 the process of these visions, and to the trying 
 nature of these prophecies. Thus there ap- 
 pears to be a connection in thought here with 
 the "bitterness" mentioned in the previous 
 verse. Even in the new era that now dawns, 
 the message of the prophet will be in many 
 ways sorrowful, whether that message be 
 simple proclamation of saving truth, or a 
 foretelling of things to come. There will be 
 a "sweetness" in this office as fulfilled in the 
 better times now at hand ; yet human nature 
 and human history do not suddenly change, 
 and what concerns " peoples, and nations, 
 and tongues, and kings," will be in many 
 things but the old sad story. 
 
 THE TWO WITNESSES AND THE 
 SEVENTH TRUMPET. 
 
 1-2. The Measurement of the Temple. 
 
 I. And there was given me a reed like 
 unto a rod. In Ezekiel (■»o:i-3), and in 
 Zechariah (^-^n), we have what may be, to 
 some extent, illustrative of these opening 
 words of a new chapter, introducing a new 
 series of visions. In Ezekiel, the prophet is 
 met by a man "with a line of ffax in his 
 hand, and a measuring reed." These were 
 for the measurement of the temple, in its 
 various parts, symbolizing thus the divine 
 order and proportion of that si)iritual temple 
 of which the material temple was a type. 
 The "man with a measuring line in his 
 hand," seen by Zechariah, goes forth to 
 
 I measure Jerusalem itself, "to see what is the 
 I breadth thereof, and what is the length 
 I thereof." The reason of this is explained in 
 j the fifth verse of the chapter: " For I, saith 
 the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire, 
 I round about, and will be the glory in the 
 midst of her." This measurement of the city 
 was a symbol of protection, marking out the 
 "metes and bounds" within which God 
 should have his own especial dwelling, while 
 to those abiding there with him, peace and 
 safety should be made sure. The prophetic 
 method here used is again employed in the 
 imagery of our present passage. It is another 
 example of the manner in which the symbol- 
 ism of the older Dispensation is reproduced 
 in the Apocalypse of the New. The measur- 
 ing reed, here, is " like a rod," or staff (pipSw). 
 Bishop Wordsworth, quite too fancifully, 
 makes this reed, or rod, a symbol of "the 
 Scripture," and views the rod as a "rod of 
 iron," like that mentioned inch. 2: 27. "It 
 measures," he says, "like a reed, yet is not 
 frail and quivering as a reed ... a rod of 
 iron, which cannot be bent or broken, but will 
 break its foes in pieces, like a potter's vessel." 
 There is, surely, nothing of all this in the 
 passage itself — And the angel stood. This 
 must be thrown out in the translation. There 
 is no good authority for the words, and in all 
 the later revisions they are omitted. — Say- 
 ing, Rise and measure the temple of 
 God. The Sinaitic manuscript has, "he 
 saith," or "one saith" (Aeyei), in.stead of 
 "saying" (Xiyuiv). The text given by West- 
 cott and Hort, in their scholarly recension, 
 retains the latter form. The revised version 
 translates, as will be .seen, "one said." 
 Wordsworth, retaining the participle and 
 translating literally, reads, "And there was 
 given me a reed, like unto a rod, saying, 
 Rise and measure," etc. He then makes, 
 ui)()n the verse, this singular comment : "The 
 reed speaks. It is inspired. The Spirit is 
 in it. It is the word of God. And it meas- 
 ures the church: the Canon of Scrijiture is 
 the rule of faith." Something like this, also, 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 151 
 
 2 But "the court, which is without the temple leave 
 out, and measure it not ; ''lor it is given unto the Gen- 
 tiles: and the holy city shall they "tread under loot 
 •'forty and two months. 
 
 2 the altar, and them that worship therein. And the 
 court which is without the temple i leave without, 
 and measure it not; for it hath been given uiUo the 
 nations: and the holy city shall they tread under 
 
 aV.zeX. 40: 17, 20 6 Ps. 79: 1; Luke 21: 24 c Dan. 8:10 d ch. 13: 5. 1 Gt. cast without. 
 
 is Bengel's idea. Alford and Ellicott take 
 the form of the expression as simply one of 
 those peculiarities of construction not uncom- 
 mon in this book, and purp isely made 
 indefinite. In order to make good English, 
 it seems necessary to render somewhat para- 
 phrastically, as in fact the revision appears 
 to do, making the clause stand, "and one 
 said." The person speaking is not indicated, 
 neither is it intimated by whom the reed is 
 given. A personal element, however, comes 
 in at ver. 3, where the voice speaking, says: 
 "/will give power unto my two witnesses." 
 If we were to guide ourselves by this alone, 
 we might conclude that it is the Lord him- 
 self who speaks. The allusion in the eighth 
 verse to the crucifixion of the Lord may be 
 thought to interpose a difficulty. We may 
 say, however, that quite clearly the voice 
 which speaks is either that of Christ, or that 
 of one who, like the "strong angel" in 
 ch. X., represents him. Upon the signifi- 
 cance given to the command to "measure 
 the temple of God," much depends. We 
 must keep in mind that in the Greek there 
 are two words for "temple" — {Up6v and •'oos). 
 Of these two words, Ellicott says that the 
 former signifies the whole compass of the 
 temple enclosure, including the outer courts, 
 porches, porticoes, and other buildings sub- 
 ordinated to the temple itself; while the 
 latter denotes "the temple itself, the house 
 of God, the holy of holies." The word 
 used here is the latter (va6<;). What is 
 meant, therefore, in this place by the tem- 
 ple, is that inner, most sacred portion of 
 the building, which was especially known 
 as "the sanctuary," and which enshrined 
 those types of better things to come that 
 were themselves so sacred and so precious. 
 What is implied in this symbolism will be 
 noticed directly. — And the altar. Does this 
 mean the altar of incense simply? Or is it 
 intended to include with this the altar of 
 burnt-oflfering as well, standing just without 
 the holy place? Alford thinks we need not 
 be "too minute in particularizing." Ellicott 
 gays that "the explicit direction to measure 
 
 the altar sounds like an extension of the 
 measured area, and may mean that some 
 portion of the court reserved for Israel is to 
 be included in the measurement." This, in 
 fact, may seem to be implied in what follows. 
 For the measurement is to include the tem- 
 ple, the altar, and them that worship 
 therein. Adjoining the Holy Place, in the 
 ancient temple, was the Court of Israel, 
 where the altar of burnt-offering stood, 
 and where the worshipers chiefly congre- 
 gated. Ellicott' s caution that we do not seek 
 "to settle too definitely," is judicious. It is 
 enough, as he says, "that everything neces- 
 sary to the worship— temple, altar, worshipers 
 — all are reserved." There seems no reason 
 why we should attempt the determination of 
 more than this. 
 
 2. But the court which is without the 
 temple leave out, and measure it not. 
 The word used (ex/SaAe) has a stronger mean- 
 ing than simply leave out; "cr/s^ o«f," is its 
 more exact signification. The idea seems to 
 be that this outer court, thus left unmeasured, 
 is to be regarded as something profone, and 
 in strong contrast with that inner sanctuary 
 so preferred, as the whole direction given im- 
 plies. The significance of this will appear 
 when we come to notice more fully the mean- 
 ing and intention of this act of "measuring." 
 — For it is given unto the Gentiles. The 
 word, "Gentiles," is not used here in its 
 literal sense, but in a symbolical one, as is 
 the case with Babylon, Jerusalem, and with 
 the word Israel, even. By the temple, in 
 this passage, we understand that which in 
 the typical system of the Old Dispensation, 
 the ancient temple — the inner temple (vaos) 
 especially — always prefigured ; that is to say, 
 the church of God, in its high spiritual sense. 
 The worshipers, here, are they that worship 
 God "in spirit and in truth" ; they are the 
 true Israel. The "Gentiles" are they who 
 are not of this true Israel; those who, what- 
 ever may be their profession, hold in truth,, 
 and really, the same attitude toward God's 
 true people as the hostile Gentile world in the 
 more ancient times held. — And the holy city 
 
152 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 3 And I will give poicer unto my two "witnesses, ' and 
 they shall prophesy <^a thousand two hundred and 
 threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 
 
 3 foot forty and two months. And I will give unto 
 my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thou- 
 sand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in 
 
 ach.-.!0:4 6 ch. 19: 10....C ch. 12:6. 
 
 shall they tread under foot. Carrying out 
 the symbolism of the temple, it is viewed as 
 if, like the ancient, literal, temple, it had in 
 its environment a city which is in some sort 
 identified with it. It is as if the courts so 
 left out of the measurement broaden away so 
 as to take in the whole city. These "Gen- 
 tiles" — persons possessed of the Gentile spirit, 
 worldly, corrupt, hostile to all true religion 
 and to the true Israel — throng, not only the 
 outer court, but the city ; and in their rude- 
 ness and violence "tread it under foot," as 
 the Gentile enemy, Assyrian, Babylonian, 
 Roman, were wont to tread down Jerusalem 
 itself, when they had forced their way in. — 
 Forty and two months. We reserve, for 
 the present, what we are to say of this indi- 
 cation of a period during which the treading 
 under foot shall last. 
 
 Gathering up, now, what has appeared in 
 the course of our exposition, thus far, we 
 take the measuring in this place as similar in 
 its symbolical significance, to the measuring 
 mentioned in Zechariah, as noted above, and 
 so to the sealing described in ch. 7 : 3. The 
 servants of God are in the latter place spoken 
 of as sealed in their forehead — made to bear a 
 mark, or token, thus conspicuously, in order 
 that they might be known as the servants of 
 God, and be kept safe amidst the calamities 
 about to come upon the world. In the present 
 case, however, the Lord's true people are 
 viewed, not so much individually, as in the 
 former one, but more in their organic, or 
 at least their collective capacity as the true 
 church of God. Their separation from, not 
 only the world, but from what is corrupt and 
 evil in the nominal church itself, and their 
 security under divine protection, are now to 
 be indicated. They appear in the Apocalyp- 
 tic vision under the symbol of that sanctuary 
 — th(! Holy and the Holy of Holies — which in 
 ancient times forshadowed in expressive type 
 the true church of God. These are that true 
 church. But the symbolical act of sealing, 
 aj)i)lied to an individual, loses its significance 
 if applied to a temple. The more suitable 
 form of the act is a mea.snrinf/, a setting apart 
 of that portion of the whole building which 
 is sacred and safe. The procedure described. 
 
 then, sets forth the truth that even when the 
 great body of the nominal church becomes 
 corrupt, ruled by the Gentile spirit, in its 
 real nature profane and vile, there is still a 
 true church, surviving and safe, "kept by 
 the power of God, through faith." The meas- 
 uring of the altar — meaning, alike, it should 
 seem, the altar of incense and the altar of 
 burnt-offering— implies that those matters of 
 faith which the altar sets forth in type— the 
 blood of atonement, shed for the remission 
 of sins, the intercession of the Great High 
 Priest, efficacious prayer, borne heavenward 
 on the wings of that intercession and made 
 acceptable because perfumed by the incense 
 of prevailing mediation — these and other veri- 
 ties of faith are sheltered by the same act 
 of consecrating separation, and survive, even 
 amidst general corruption, and whatever the 
 tumult raging without. The general idea 
 here, therefore, is the same that meets us 
 elsewhere — in the hundred and forty and four 
 thousand of the sealed, described in chapter 
 seven, and the same number as they appear 
 with the Lamb on Mount Zion (ch. u-. i), "hav- 
 ing his Father's name written in their fore- 
 heads." Only, here, these "called, and 
 chosen, and faithful" are seen as the church 
 within the church, the Holy of Holies (va6^) 
 within the temple (Updi'), the pure and true 
 "remnant," surviving amidst general apos- 
 tasy and corruption. For where it is said 
 of those without that they shall tread the 
 holy city under foot, it is implied that with 
 these is the multitude, and with those who 
 worship in the "sanctuary" are the faithful 
 few. 
 
 3-13. The Two Witnessks. 
 
 3. And I will giye power unto my two 
 witnesses. The literal rendering would be: 
 "I will give to my two witnesses." The 
 word for "power" is not in the Greek; but 
 it seems to be implied. The variety of inter- 
 pretations given to the passage we are now to 
 take up, is almost bewildering. And, indeed, 
 the identifying of these two witnesses is a 
 matter of no little difficulty. Wordsworth 
 unchirstands by tlie witnesses the two great 
 parts of Scripture — the Old and New Testa- 
 ments. Lange regards them as the Christian 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 153 
 
 4 These are the "two olive trees, and the two candle- 
 gticks, standing before the God of the earth. 
 
 4 sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the 
 two 1 candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the 
 
 o Ps. 52 : 8 ; Jer. 11 : 16 ; Zech. 4 : 3, 11, 14. 1 Gr. lampatands. 
 
 Church and the Christian State. Stuart, who 
 treats the whole of this part of the book as 
 fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem, re- 
 gards what is said here of the two witnesses, 
 as setting forth in symbol "that God would 
 raise up faithful and well-endowed preachers 
 among the Jews at the period when the 
 nation were ready to perish ; that those 
 preachers would be persecuted and destroyed ; 
 and after all that the Christian cause would 
 still be triumphant." The two witnesses have 
 also been variously identified with Christ and 
 John the Baptist, with St. Francis and St. 
 Domihick, heads of the two great orders of 
 monks; with John Huss and Luther, with 
 the Waldenses and the Albigenses, with the 
 Law and the Gospel, with Jewish and Gentile 
 Christians, etc. Alford declines all attempt 
 at identification. Carpenter's remark, in 
 Ellicott, is: "The two witnesses stand as tbe 
 typical representatives of those who, in the 
 strength of God, have, through long ages, 
 borne witness for Christ against all wrong 
 and falsehood, against a world in arms or a 
 church in error, or against a nominal Chris- 
 tianity in danger of becoming as corrupt and 
 as cruel as heathenism. Such witnesses stand, 
 like the two columns, Jachin and Boaz, 
 before the true temple of God." In studying 
 the passage for ourselves, we prefer to notice 
 first the several parts of it, with the details of 
 description given, and to state our own im- 
 pression of its meaning in a final summary. 
 The reason for the view we take may thus, 
 perhaps, be more clearly and fully presented. 
 — And they shall prophesy a thousand 
 two hundred and three-score days, 
 clothed in sackcloth. Assuming that the 
 prophetic day, here, means a year, we have 
 in the 12tjO days the same number of years as 
 in the forty-two months named above — 42X 
 30^1260. We do not discuss here the ques- 
 tion of identity in these two periods, reserv- 
 ing that point, again, for consideration further 
 on. — Clothed in sackcloth. In these words 
 we have the first of those details of descrip- 
 tion which may help us in the attempt to 
 identify the witnesses — so far as we attempt 
 this at all. Sackcloth was the dress worn by 
 
 Elijah, that one of the prophets who, more 
 than any other, was the type of faithful wit- 
 ness for God in a time of general backsliding 
 and apostasy. 
 
 4. These are the two olive trees, and 
 the two candlesticks, standing before 
 the God of the earth. "Before the Lord 
 of the earth," is the more correct reading. 
 We here have another Old Testament allu- 
 sion. The reference is to Zechariah 4 ; 2-14, 
 where we read of the golden candlestick and 
 the two olive trees. In our present passage, 
 however, we have two candlesticks and two 
 olive trees. The meaning seeins to be that 
 alike what was symbolized in the candlestick 
 in Zechariah, and that which was symbolized 
 in the olive trees, is implied again in the two 
 witnesses. Not that the exact meaning in the 
 older and in the later prophecy is the same, 
 but that the resembling symbols in the two 
 have a like 5'ewer«^ significance. In the con- 
 nection of the passage in Zechariah we read 
 of two official personages, Joshua — the high- 
 priest, representing the spiritual order of the 
 nation, and Zerubbabel, the governor of Je- 
 rusalem, representing the civil order. The 
 candlesticks, "all of gold," seem to sjnnbolize 
 the theocracy, or the economy of the nation 
 in its blended character as alike spiritual and 
 secular; while by the two f)live trees are to be 
 understood the two representative persons 
 just named in their official capacity; yet 
 these as being simply the channels through 
 which divine favor should flow to the people; 
 for it is not by might, nor by power, not by 
 outward order or official function, "but by 
 my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." The 
 symbolism, as a whole, then, represents the 
 national system, itself, as a theocracy, a divine 
 institution, made efficient to its end by divine 
 efficiencies imparted to it through instituted 
 agencies. The emphatic feature of the sj-m- 
 bolism is not the dual character of tlic parts 
 seen in it, but the deep, underlying signifi- 
 cance of the whole, as representing a divine 
 institution, preserved by divine care, and 
 made efficient through divine power. This 
 general symbolism with a like significance is 
 represented in our present passage. 
 
154 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 5 And if any man will hurt them, "fire proceedeth 
 out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: 'and 
 if anv man will hurt them, he must in this manner be 
 killed. 
 
 6 These 'have power to shut heaven, that it rain not 
 in tlic days of their pr<)i)heey: and ''have power over 
 waters toturn them to blood, and to smite the earth 
 with all plagues, as often as they will. 
 
 5 earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire 
 proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth theii 
 enemies: and if any man shall desire to hurt them, 
 
 6 in this manner mu.st he be killed. These have the 
 power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during 
 the days of the 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. 
 
 a 2 Uiiigs 1: 10, 12; Jer. 1: 10; 5: U; Ezek. 43 : 3 ; Hoseu6: 5 h Num. 16: 
 
 .cl Kings 17:1; James 5: 16, IT. .. .d Ex. T : 19. 
 
 5. And if any man will hurt them, fire 
 proceedeth out of their mouth, and de- 
 voureth their enemies ; and if any man 
 A%'ill hurt them, he must in this manner 
 be killed. The revisers read, as will be no- 
 ticed, " If any man desireth to hurt them. . . . 
 if any man shall desire to hurt them," etc. 
 In the second condition the construction of 
 the Greek is peculiar, not classic. We are 
 here reminded of an incident in the life of 
 Elijah (2 Kings 1: 10), when two captains with 
 their "fifties" were destroyed by fire from 
 heaven as they came to take the prophet 
 prisoner, by command of the idolatrous king 
 Ahaziah. In Jer. 5: 14, it is said to the pro- 
 phet: " Because ye speak this word, behold I 
 will make my words in thy mouth fire, and 
 this people wood, and it shall devour them." 
 The Old Testament cast of this allusion in the 
 words now studied is evident. We also re- 
 memberour Lord's word of promise (Luke lO: 19): 
 " Behold, I have given you authority to tread 
 upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the 
 power of the enemy, and nothing shall in 
 any wise hurt you." God's "witnesses," in 
 whatever age or dispensation, have been un- 
 der his peculiar care, and the violence and 
 cruelty of their enemies have follen back 
 upon themselves. The imagery in the Apoc- 
 alyptic promise to that eflfect simply presents 
 in a vivid way this truth. 
 
 6. These have power to shut heaven, 
 that it rain not in the days of their pro- 
 phecy. A manife.st allusion to the drought 
 and famine, three years in duration, in the 
 time of Elijah. — And have power over wa- 
 ters to turn them to blood, and to smite 
 the earth with all plagues, as often as 
 they will. Sucli Moses had, as a messenger 
 of God and "witne.ss" to Pharaoh. 
 
 The clue to the difficulties of our passage, 
 now, seem to be found in these several allu- 
 sions. If we couple with them the rule of the 
 ancient economy, that in the mouth of not 
 less tlian two witnesses everything must be 
 established, and also remember how our Lord, 
 
 when he sent forth his first witnesses, sent 
 them "two and two," we need not be long 
 seriously at a loss how to understand the 
 "two witnesses" in this chapter. Those who 
 have sought to find an exact representative of 
 the dualism here, appear to have overlooked 
 the fact that we are dealing with symbols, 
 not with exact numbers. The "two" wit- 
 nesses represent the idea of that adequate tes- 
 timony for which God makes provision in 
 giving his truth to mankind. And so, by the 
 "two witnesses" we understand to be meant 
 all true witness for God, especially during a 
 certain express period here held in view, 
 whether this witness be in personal testimony, 
 in public ministry, in ordinances, in institu- 
 tions, alike of the Christian Church and the 
 Christian State — in all the various forms which 
 he causes testimony in behalf of his own sure 
 word to have. In manj- of these, indeed, we 
 trace a dualism which need not be passed 
 without notice; such as the two parts of 
 Scripture, Old Testament and New ; the two 
 Ordinances, Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; 
 the two permanent offiices in the church, the 
 Pastorate and the Diaconate ; the two or- 
 ganized forms under which Chri.stianity estab- 
 lishes itself in the world — a true Ecclesias- 
 ticism, and a pure Civilization. Personal 
 dualism, too, may be traced : as those witnesses 
 to a pure Christianity in the West, whose his- 
 tory we trace in Northern Italy and Southern 
 France, as well as in Britain, during the 
 earlier Christian centuries; and those in the 
 ■East, like the Paulieians. Again, the Wal- 
 denses and the Albigenses may be named, 
 the two historical bodies of Dissenters during 
 the middle ages. The Reformation itself 
 went forward under two chief leaders, Luther 
 and Calvin ; and wherever prevailing, it has 
 organized itself more or less as recognizing 
 them in this light. These dualisms are no 
 doubt providential, and may, some or all of 
 them, be regarded as more or less implied in 
 what we read, in our passage, of the "two 
 witnesses." Neither group, however, answers 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 KEVELATIOK 
 
 155 
 
 7 And when they "shall have finished their testi- 
 mony, 'the beast that ascendeth •'out of the bottomless 
 pit ''shall make war against them, and shall overcome 
 them, and kill them. 
 
 8 And their dead bodies xhnll lie in the street of ethe 
 great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, 
 /where also our Lord was crucified. 
 
 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 theui, and kill them. 
 
 8 And their idead bodies lU in the street of the great 
 city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, 
 
 the conditions of an adequate exposition of 
 the passage. It is as we group them all, in 
 the idea of a general witness and testimony 
 in behalf of God and a true Christianity, 
 that we seem to be on safe ground. 
 
 7, And when they shall have finished 
 their testimony, the beast that ascend- 
 eth out of the bottomless pit [the abyss] 
 shall make war against them. The word 
 for "beast" {drtpiov), means "wild beast"; a 
 term significant of ferocity and destructive- 
 ness. This wild beast is here mentioned in 
 an anticipatory way, it being the same beast, 
 evidently, that is more specifically mentioned 
 in 13 : 1, in 17 : 8, and in other places. In 
 ch. 17 : 8, he is spoken of in the same way as 
 here, as ascending out of the abyss ; meaning 
 that same abyss mentioned in chapter nine, 
 out of which the swarming locusts come. In 
 ch. 13: 1, however, he is said to ascend "out 
 of the sea." In gaining a true idea of the 
 "wild beast, here, we shall need to unite these 
 two representations; in the one of which is 
 implied his Satanic spirit, and in the other 
 his connection with the turbulence and an- 
 archy of the world. It is generally agreed 
 to understand by this formidable appearance 
 the antichristian power, in general, alike 
 as a persecuting Paganism and a persecuting 
 Ecclesiasticism calling itself Christian. In 
 13 : 2, it is said that the dragon, or Satan, 
 described in chapter twelve, gave to the 
 beast "his power, and his seat, and great 
 authority." Satan, in fighting the kingdom 
 of God, uses the forces and organisms of this 
 world, whether they take the form of hie- 
 rarchy, or that of imperialism. This anti- 
 christian force, of which we shall have much 
 to say in subsequent expositions, is the wild 
 beast of our present text. By him, war is 
 made against the witnesses, and they are 
 killed. Now, in that connection, what mean- 
 ing shall we give to the words, "And when 
 they shall have finished their testimony"? 
 If thej' must be taken absolutely, and so 
 imply a complete and final finishing of the 
 
 testimony of the witnesses, we seem neces- 
 sarily taken forward to the end of the Dispen- 
 sation, since "the witnessing church" will 
 finish its testimony then only. We are not 
 obliged, however, to take the words in this 
 absolute sense. "If," says Carpenter, in 
 Ellicott, "the witnesses are those who have 
 taught the principles of a spiritual and social 
 religion, the death of the witnesses following 
 their overthrow signifies the triumph of op- 
 posing principles, the silencing of those who 
 have withstood the growing current of evil." 
 There have been these crises in the history of 
 God's kingdom among men, and notably in 
 Christian history — crises when those who 
 represented this wit.ness for God and his truth 
 have borne their testimony so fully, during a 
 period which would seem to have been 
 especially allotted them, that it may with 
 truth be called "finished." The crisis of 
 this nature, to which we suppose especial 
 reference to be here made, will be noticed 
 further on. — And shall overcome them, 
 and kill them. The war of the wild beast 
 upon the witnesses is to be interpreted con- 
 sistently with the symbolical dress of the 
 whole passage. It is the assault of the anti- 
 christian principle, represented by some per- 
 secuting power in which it finds embodiment, 
 upon that which is Christian, whether on its 
 part represented in Christian truth. Christian 
 institutions, or Christians themselves. This 
 assault, in the symbolism of the passage, 
 assumes a form which makes it especially 
 deadly, and is so helped by existing condi- 
 tions, as that it gains a short-lived triumph. 
 
 8. And their dead bodies shall lie in 
 the street of the great city, which spirit- 
 ually is called Sodom and Egypt. The 
 Avord translated "dead bodies" (irroi^a), is in the 
 singular. Diisterdieck represents this word 
 (TTTu/na, from jTiTTTio, ^ ^ to fali) by the German 
 word ''^ ffefallene," something "fallen," or 
 "wrecked." Subsequent allusions, however, 
 require that we shall use the word in its 
 strongest sense. Upon the singular form of 
 
IfjQ 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 9 "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues 
 and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and 
 a halt, I- and shall not sutler their dead bodies to be put 
 in graves. 
 
 9 where also their Lord was crucified. And from 
 among the peoples and tribes and tongues and na- 
 tions do men look upon their Ulead bodies three days 
 and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid 
 
 ich. 17: 15 6 Ps. 79: 2,3. 1 Gr. carcase. 
 
 the word the Speaker's Commentary says: 
 "The singuhir is used collectively"; and 
 Bishop AVordsworth, "they [the witnesses] 
 are two and yet one." But how shall we 
 understand "the great city" ? Various inter- 
 pretations are given. Stuart, of course, con- 
 sistently with his general theory, under- 
 stands by it the city of Jerusalem. Elliott, 
 who adopts throughout a system of historical 
 literalism, thinks Rome is meant. Carpenter, 
 in EUicott, says: "The city is great, for it is 
 all-important in the eyes of its inhabitants, 
 as public opinion is all-important to the weak 
 and worldly ; it is Sodom, for it is the place 
 where, through pleasure and luxuriousness 
 (fullness of bread) the worst forms of immo- 
 rality take root ; it is Egypt, for it is the house 
 of bondage, where the wages of sin become 
 tyrannous; it is Jerusalem, for it is the apos- 
 tate place where the presence of Christ is 
 hated." We think it possible to preserve, as 
 here, the symbolism of the passage, and still 
 give the interpretation a form more simple 
 and specific. There is an evident connection 
 between the measured temple and "the great 
 city" now mentioned. This is the more evi- 
 dent as we ob-serve the words immediately 
 following.— Where our [their] Lord also 
 was crucified. The reference to Jerusalem 
 is unmistakable. This city, in the symbol- 
 ism of the chapter, is trodden under foot by 
 the Gentiles, "the nations." In other words, 
 what was once "the holy city" is taken pos- 
 session of by the godless and the wicked, and 
 becomes, through them, transformed to a 
 "spiritual" Sodom and Egypt; corrupted by 
 sensuality, and turned by persecution into a 
 house of bondage. This imagery is perfectly 
 consistent with that which rejiresents the true 
 church of God, "measured," sacred and safe, 
 by the inner temple of the sanctuary, while 
 the courts without and the city itself are 
 seized and held by the enemy. By the 
 measured temple, therefore, we understand 
 that faithful remnant with whom is the true 
 church; by the courts without, and the cit^', 
 we understand the antichristian apostasy — 
 Papal Rome. Those who, in one place in the 
 
 chapter, are represented as the temple, are in 
 other places the witnesses. In the verse now 
 considered, they are seen, after having borne 
 faithful testimony during this allotted period 
 — during the period in which they were to 
 testify, "clothed in sackcloth"; that is to 
 say, in circumstances of continual danger 
 and distress — this being now "finished," they 
 are seen slain by their enemies, while their 
 unburied bodies lie in the streets of the city. 
 The words, "where also our Lord was cruci- 
 fied," are evidently meant to suggest their 
 fellowship with him in suffering, even unto 
 death ; a parallelism of which further use is 
 made in subsequent verses. 
 
 9. And they of the people and kin- 
 dreds [tribes] and tongues and nations 
 shall see their dead bodies three days 
 and a half. This enumeration of people, 
 tribes, tongues, and nation.s, shows how wide- 
 spread the operation of the antichristian priur 
 ciple was to be. What we have to say of the 
 interval of three days and a half, here named, 
 we prefer to reserve for the General Com- 
 ments. Some writers note how nearly identi- 
 cal is this interval of time with that during 
 which our Lord himself lay in his tomb after 
 the crucifixion ; an identity which might de- 
 rive significance from the mention, just made, 
 of the crucifixion itself. — And shall not suf- 
 fer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 
 We ought to mention that the verbs in this 
 and the connected verses which have the 
 future tense in the common version, in the 
 best Greek text are in the present. We should 
 read, ^^ look upon the\r dead bodies," ^^dotwt 
 suffer" ; and so the verb supplied in the eighth 
 verse, "Their dead bodies lie in the streets of 
 the great city," etc. In like manner the verbs 
 used in ver. 10. What is mentioned in the 
 clause of the ninth verse now under consid- 
 eration, "suffer not their dead bodies to be 
 laid i n the tomb ' ' ( Revised Version), shows the 
 inveteracy of the hostility. It had not only 
 prompted the murdering of the witnesses, but 
 now jirompts to that indignity toward them, 
 as dead, which, acc(U'ding to the ideas of the 
 ancient world, was the last and worst. The 
 
Ch. XL] 
 
 KEVELATIOK 
 
 157 
 
 10 "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice 
 over them, and make merry, 'and shall send gifts one 
 to another; "^because these two prophets tormented 
 them that dwelt on the earth. 
 
 11 ''And after three days and a half «the Spirit of 
 life from God entered into them, and they stood upon 
 their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw 
 them. 
 
 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying 
 unto them, Come up hither. /And they ascended up 
 to heaven cin a cloud; ^'and their enemies beheld them, 
 
 Vi And the same hour 'was there a great earthquake. 
 *and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earth- 
 quake were slain 'of men seven thousand: and the 
 remnant were affrighted, »» and gave glory to the God 
 of heaven. 
 
 10 in a tomb. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice 
 over them, and make merry; and they shall send 
 gifts one to another; because these two prophets 
 
 11 tormented them that dwell on the earth. 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 those who beheld 
 
 12 them. 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 be- 
 
 13 held them. And in that hour there was a great 
 earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; aud 
 there were killed in the earthquake ' seven thousand 
 persons: and the rest were atfrighted, and gave glory 
 to the God of heaven. 
 
 acii 12: 12: 13: 8.... 6 Esther 9: 19, 22... .c ch. 16 : 10.. .d ver. 9....e Ezek. 37 : 5, 9, 10, 14..../Isa. 14 : 13 ; ch. 12 : 5....g Isa: 60; 8 j 
 
 Acts 1 : 9 hi Kiugs 2: ], 5, 7 ich. 6: 12 tch. 16, 19 1 Gr. names of men; ch.3: 4 m Josh. 7 : 19 ; ch. 14 : 7 ; 15 : 4. 
 
 i Gr. names of men, seven thousand. 
 
 significance of tliis will be seen when we come 
 to summarize, in the General Comments, the 
 meaning of all these verses in this connection. 
 
 10. And they that dwell upon the earth 
 shall rejoice over them, and make merry, 
 and shall send gifts one to another. The 
 verbs, as said above, are in the present, mak- 
 ing the language more vivid and graphic. 
 The description, as we shall see, though pro- 
 phetic in form, has its parallel in history. — 
 Because these two prophets tormented 
 them that dwelt on the earth. They were 
 prophets in the sense of bringing a divine 
 message, spoken by divine command, and 
 under a divine impulse. The "torment" 
 mentioned is that which the wicked and the 
 hostile feel when the word of God deals with 
 them in truth and in faithful severity. 
 
 11. And after three days and a half the 
 Spirit of life from God entered into them, 
 and they stood. upon their feet. In like 
 manner as their Lord had been, they were 
 raised from the dead. The rendering, "a 
 spirit of life" is preferred by Lange, Carpen- 
 ter, the Speaker's Commentary, and others. 
 The revision, as will be seen, makes no 
 change in the article. The Greek phrase 
 {nveviia ^uijs) may be translated either "breath 
 of life," or, "spirit of life." The latter is 
 implied in the former, especially when we re- 
 member that the resurrection here spoken of 
 is properly a communication of spiritual 
 power — a breath of life "from God" to Chris- 
 tian testimony, so that after an interval of 
 enforced silence, it becomes more outspoken 
 and effective than ever. It maj' be noticed 
 that the tense of the verb here changes again 
 and becomes past, as if the seer were now 
 looking back upon all, and describing it as 
 history. — And great fear fell upon them 
 
 Avhich saw them. Let us mark that the fact 
 stated is the restoration to life of the slain wit- 
 nesses ; the eftect is the quick pause so given 
 to the triumphing of their enemies. 
 
 13. And they heard a great voice from 
 heaven saying unto them. Come up hith- 
 er. And they ascended to heaven in a 
 [the] cloud, and their enemies beheld 
 them. There is evident purpose to indicate 
 in the witnesses, not only a fellowship with 
 their Lord in suffering and death, nor alone 
 in their resurrection to life, but in an ascen- 
 sion to heaven, like his own. The symbolism 
 thus parallels their experience with his. But 
 we must remember that it is symbolism ; that 
 these "two witnesses" are rather a personifi- 
 cation than actual persons; that in them we 
 are to recognize the whole body of Christian 
 witnesses during a long period of persecution 
 for Christ's sake; that under the imagery of 
 their death we are to read the silencing of 
 testimony ; under that of the indignitj' shown 
 to their dead bodies, the scornful malice of 
 the persecutors toward those who preferred 
 death to the denial of their Lord; while in 
 their resurrection we see the restoration of 
 spiritual power, boldness, and effectiveness to 
 the silenced witnesses ; and in their ascension 
 to heaven in a cloud, the forth-bursting of 
 the witnessing spirit, such in its extent, the 
 vigor of its inspiration, the intensity of its 
 manifestations, as to astonish all beholders. 
 
 13. And the same hour was there a 
 great earthquake. In the Apocalyptic sym- 
 bolism the earthquake indicates the breaking 
 up of some settled order, by sudden provi- 
 dential visitations. Here it indicates such a 
 visitation, in the shattering of great anti- 
 christian power. — And the tenth part of 
 the city fell. The city in whose streets the 
 
158 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 "bodies of the witnesses had lain unburied. 
 Applying the imagery, we understand by it 
 an effect upon the corrupt system of hierarch- 
 ical oppression under which the witnesses 
 had suffered, such as may be seen in a city, 
 when some large part of it is laid prostrate 
 by an earthquake. "The tenth part of the 
 godless city," says Lange, "falls in the earth- 
 quake. Ten, as perfect development, realized 
 freedom, is also perfect will, decided ten- 
 dency. Thus, with the fall of a tenth part 
 of the antichristian world, the backbone of 
 that world is broken; henceforth it is a con- 
 fused mass, anxiously expectant of the end." 
 — And in the earthquake were slain of 
 men seven thousand. It seems to us that 
 this simply carries out the imagery. Any 
 attempt to give literal or realistic interpreta- 
 tions to the number, seven thousand, as also 
 the tenth part, necessarily fails. — And the 
 remnant were affrighted, and gave glory 
 to the God of heaven. In these words we 
 have indicated the fact that even amongst the 
 enemies of God there may be some capable 
 of learning the lessons of his providence, 
 enforcing his word. When revolution and 
 reformation come, these heed the warning, 
 and "so as by fire" are saved. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 "We must call attention, once more, to that 
 which was said of the evident intention of 
 what Carpenter, in Ellicott, calls "the inter- 
 posed visions" of the tenth and eleventh 
 chapters. If we place ourselves in the posi- 
 tion of one contemplating the scenes exhibited 
 under the first five trumpets, we may realize 
 how to such a one it might well seem as if 
 every purpose of mercy and good-will toward 
 men in the mind of God was suffering utter 
 defeat; as if alike the truth he had given to 
 the world had been shrouded in final eclipse, 
 and all witness for that truth silenced forever. 
 What has, nevertheless, become of the truth, 
 is shown in the tenth chapter; what has be- 
 come of the witnesses, in the eleventh. 
 
 From what appears in the former of these 
 chapters it is made evident that no purpo.se 
 of God, as regards the gospel of man's salva- 
 tion, fails. He permits to this gospel a fiery 
 ordeal, extending through many centuries. 
 But at the fit time he appears again in its 
 behalf, and through chosen instruments 
 causes it to be once more declared, as here 
 
 represented in the little book, in primeval 
 simplicity, and in a ministry that bears it 
 "to all the world." By what appears in the 
 eleventh chapter, we are given to understand 
 that while the outer court of the symbolical 
 temple, and the city itself, are trodden under 
 foot by the enemies of God, and truth, and 
 righteousness, the inner sanctuary is kept 
 safe; in other words, there survives, in the 
 very worst of times, a fiuthful remnant by 
 whom an undesecrated altar is preserved, a 
 true worship offered, and that truth which 
 embodies the substance of ancient types 
 maintained. These are the "witnesses." The 
 voice of a true testimony in God's behalf 
 does not die out of the world, even when 
 persecution rages most hotly ; nor is it wholly 
 drowned even when the world's loud tumult 
 is at its worst. These witnesses do, indeed, 
 testify— "prophesy" — "in sackcloth"; the 
 garment of distress and mourning. Such of 
 the Lord's true people as survive in such 
 times are a hunted flock. The truth itself is 
 under reproach, and deriding voices rave 
 against it. The true church and its ordi- 
 nances are, in the world's esteem, placed in 
 humiliating contrast with the shows and 
 splendors of that apostasy which for the time 
 is supreme, while everything beautiful, and 
 sacred, and beneficent in Christianity is as if 
 clad in the sackcloth of humiliation, and 
 lamenting, in the language of the ancient 
 prophet, that there are none to stand upon the 
 Lord's side. And there comes a time when 
 the triumph of evil seems -complete. It is 
 the deeper gloom that precedes the dawn. 
 All the powers of darkness triumph. The 
 murderers of the witnesses "rejoice over 
 them and make merry, and send gifts one to 
 another." But the triumph is brief Just at 
 this crisis God appears for his truth and his 
 people. The slain witnesses stand upon their 
 feet. They rise in a vigor of life like the 
 glory that shone in the person and face of the 
 risen Lord. Their enemies behold them with 
 consternation, and the triumph which now 
 comes to them in turn is like the Lord's own 
 ascension to heaven in a cloud, receiving all 
 power in heaven and in earth. Effects follow 
 which show how truly divine is that interven- 
 tion. The hostile power shakes, as when 
 earthquakes rock the globe, while the great 
 and wicked city, in whose streets the slain 
 witnesses have lain, feels the shock. 
 
Ch. XL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 159 
 
 This is, in general, the picture sketched for 
 us in the striking symbolism of this chapter. 
 If we have read this symbolism aright, there 
 can be, it should seem, only one answer to 
 the question where the historical counterpart 
 shall be sought. There is one point of crisis 
 in modern times which fulfills in a remark- 
 able degree the conditions of an adequate 
 historical parallel to the Apocalyptic picture 
 here sketched. Not as fulfillments of the 
 prophecy in exact detail, but as indicating 
 some general aspects of the period as having 
 this significance, we note the following: 
 
 In A. D. 1512-17, a Council was held in 
 Rome, called from the place of its assembly — 
 the Church of St. John Lateran — the Fifth 
 Lateran Council. At the eighth session of 
 this Council, held in December, 151B, a papal 
 bull was issued, in which was a summons to 
 all dissidents from the papal authority to 
 appear before the Council at its next session, 
 in the following May, and to show causa for 
 their continued refusal to acknowledge the 
 pope's supremacy. When the Council came 
 together in that session, May 5, 1514, no 
 answer appeared to this summons. Not that 
 there were no longer those in Christendom 
 who refused allegiance to the usurped author- 
 ity of Rome, nor because any one could have 
 imagined that opportunity for free protest 
 before the Council would have been allowed; 
 but because, joined with the impossibilitj' of 
 a response under such conditions, it was a 
 fact that, just at that time, there actually was 
 no one ready, like the WickliflTe and the 
 Huss of a former age, or the Luther who was 
 soon to appear, to give a voice to the spirit of 
 revolt against Rome, which, though widely 
 prevalent, was for the most part nursed in 
 secret. " Throughout the length and breadth 
 of Christendom," says Elliott — and his 
 words are true in the sense just explained — 
 "Christ's witnessing servants were silenced: 
 they appeared as dead. The orator of the 
 session ascended the pulpit, and, amidst the 
 applause of the assembled Council, uttered 
 that memorable exclamation of triumph — an 
 exclamation which, notwithstanding the long 
 multiplied anti-heretical decrees of popes and 
 councils, notwithstanding the more multi- 
 plied anti-heretical crusades and inquisitorial 
 fires, was never, I believe, pronounced before, 
 and certainly never since — 'Jam nemo re- 
 clamat, nullus obsistit 1 ' ' There is an end of 
 
 resistance to the papal rule and religion; 
 opposers exist no more ! ' And again, ' The 
 whole body of Christendom is now seen to be 
 subjected to its Head, that is, to thee!' " 
 Three years and a half later, October 31, 
 1517, Luther nailed his theses to the Witten- 
 berg church -door! 
 
 We do not regard this, as Elliott seems to 
 do, as the exact and exhaustive fulfillment of 
 the prediction concerning the death and res- 
 urrection of the witnesses. Elliott's critics 
 maintain that the historical interval from 
 May 5, 1514, to October 31, 1517, exceeds the 
 prophetical three days (years) and a half, by 
 eighteen days and one half, according to the 
 Speaker's Commentary, reckoning each year 
 as having 365 days. While in our opinion the 
 objection is without serious weight, since 
 there is no reason to suppose that prophetic 
 intervals of time would be measured with 
 such absolute accuracy as this reasoning im- 
 plies, we are, upon the other hand, inclined 
 to view the historical incident as illustrative 
 only in a general way of those aspects of the 
 period in question which the prophecy antici- 
 pates. It is undoubtedly true that for some 
 time previous to the meeting of this Fifth 
 Lateran Council, as described, the murderers 
 of God's people had been especially active, 
 with results of intimidation and the ap- 
 parent silencing of dissent and protest highly 
 gratifying to the hierarchy. The crusades 
 against the Albigenses and Waldenses had 
 well-nigh extirpated those troublesome here- 
 tics. The measures of the Inquisition in 
 various parts of Europe had succeeded to the 
 utmost wish of those by whom they were car- 
 ried on. A threatening schism in the papal 
 body itself was healed during the sessions of 
 this Council. So fully, in view of all, did the 
 members of the Council sympathize in the 
 exultant confidence of their orator, that upon 
 the final adjournment they celebrated the 
 triumph which Popery seemed to have 
 achieved in a feast, whose splendor had never 
 in Rome been equaled. It was like the re- 
 joicing, the merry-making, and the sending 
 of gifts of which our prophecy speaks. It is 
 also matter of history that in that same Coun- 
 cil there was an emphatic re-affirmation of the 
 long-standing papal law that the bodies of 
 heretics should be denied all rites of Christian 
 burial; so that here, also, we find almost 
 literal fulfillment of the words : "Do not suffer 
 
160 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 their bodies to be put in graves." Those con- 
 spicuous examples of the application of this 
 law in the exhuming and burning of the bones 
 of Wickliffe, at an earlier date, by command 
 of the Council of Constance, and the direction 
 given by the same Council that the ashes of 
 Huss should be cast into the Lake of Con- 
 stance, are familiar facts. It may be added, 
 that in like manner the ashes of Savonarola 
 were thrown into the Arno, and that it was 
 common for the papal bulls to ordain that the 
 heretics against whom they were fulminated 
 should not only be put to death, but should 
 be denied Christian burial. These, certainly, 
 are very remarkable correspondences with 
 parts of the prophetic vision now studied. 
 It may not be necessary to press them as ex- 
 haustive fulfillments of the prophecy; yet in 
 a general way they are fulfillments, and jus- 
 tif3' us in fixing upon the period now in ques- 
 tion as that to which the eye of the seer, in 
 this part of his vision, was Apocalyptically 
 directed. 
 
 It is doubtful if any exposition can be i 
 given, not open to serious objection, that will | 
 make the numbers in this passage — the forty- | 
 two months, the twelve hundred and sixty 
 days, and the three days and a half — indica- 
 tive of exact and identical periods. The two 
 former are periods during which the witnesses 
 were to prophesy ; the last that in which their 
 dead bodies should lie unburied in the streets 
 of the city. It is quite impossible that these 
 should be identical. In the Excursus at the 
 end of the next chapter, we suggest a possible 
 explanation of the forty-two months and the 
 twelve hundred and sixtj' days, also of the 
 time, times, and a half, during which the 
 mother of the man-child should be "nour- 
 ished" in the wilderness; these three being, 
 apparently, different expressions for the same 
 period. In like manner, the three days and 
 a half in this present chapter might be ac- 
 counted for by the historical incidents of 
 which we have just spoken. We confess, 
 however, to a feeling of great hesitation in 
 accepting proposed historical solutions of 
 Apocalyptic numbers; so many such solu- 
 tions have been confidently proposed, yet in 
 the end have proved delusive. It must be 
 remembered, after all, that these numbers are 
 a part of the symbolism of the book, and it is 
 perliaps better to treat every such solution 
 which may be proposed, however probable it 
 
 may seem, as at most hypothetical. Keasons 
 might be given for treating them as wholly 
 sj'mbolical, the allusion being to notable in- 
 cidents in former history; as, for example, in 
 the case now immediately in hand, the three 
 years during which the ministry of Elijah, 
 himself a prophet "clothed in sackcloth," 
 was silenced through the persecutions of 
 Jezebel and the hard-heartedness of the 
 people; or the three days during which our 
 Lord lay in the tomb. We fail, it is true, to 
 find exact correspondences here, yet exactness 
 of that nature may be unnecessary where 
 such symbols are employed. 
 
 A question may have been suggested by 
 our exposition of the words: "When they 
 shall have finished their testimony the wild 
 beast shall make war upon them," which 
 ought to be noticed. It might seem, possibly, 
 as if it were not until they have finished 
 their testimony that the beast makes war 
 upon the witnesses. And this niay be thought 
 to imply that the witnesses find no hindrance 
 or opposition in giving their testimony, until 
 it is finished; as if all goes well with them 
 until then. But the contrary of this is made 
 plainly to appear where it is said that they 
 prophesy "clothed in sackcloth." Indited, 
 that the witnesses give their testimony in 
 circumstances of trial and danger, is implied 
 all through the passage in which they and 
 their ministry are described. They have 
 enemies, those who desire to "hurt them." 
 They are compelled, in vindication of their 
 mission, like Elijah and like Moses, to invoke 
 the special interposition of divine power — 
 only, in what is said of their shutting heaven, 
 that it rain not, turning the waters into blood, 
 and smiting the earth with every plague, we 
 are to understand that in this language as 
 imagery, founded on the record of God's 
 vindications of his servants in ancient times, 
 is simply presented the truth, that like those 
 witnesses of the Older Dispensation, they 
 have God on their side, who appears for them, 
 vindicates and defends them, in every needful 
 way. But there came a time when the war 
 of the wild beast upon the witnesses assumed 
 a character peculiarly violent and murderous. 
 This was when, in the growth of opposition 
 to the Papacy, the popes were made to see 
 that more violent, and more cnnccrfed meas- 
 ures must be used. Out of this grew those 
 crusades, in the twelfth and thirteenth cen- 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 161 
 
 H^The second woe is past; and, behold, the third i 14 The second Woe is past: behold the third Woe 
 oe coiuetn ouickiv. o*i7iititii rtuwtHif 
 
 woe coiueth quickly. 
 
 15 And 'the seventh angel sounded; ''and there were 
 great voices in heaven, saying, •'The kingdoms of this 
 world are become Ihe. kimjdoni^ of our Lord, and of his 
 Christ; «and he shall reign for ever and ever. 
 
 Cometh quickly. 
 15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there fol- 
 lowed 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 i for ever 
 
 och. 8: 13; 9: la; 15 : 1. ...6 ch. 10: 7....C la 
 
 .27: 13; ch. 16 : 17; 19 : 6. . . .rf ch. 12 : 10. .. .« Dan. 2 : M ; 7:14 18 27.- 
 the ages of the ages. ' ' 
 
 -G r. unto 
 
 turies, which were in such a literal sense a 
 "war," and a most cruel one. 
 
 We must not be too realistic in our interpre- 
 tations of the imagery of a passage like this 
 now studied. The death of the witnesses, is 
 represented in the vision as it seemed to those 
 who rejoiced over it. Their dead bodies lying 
 in the streets of the city is only a vivid pic- 
 ture of the conviction their enemies had— a 
 mistaken one, as the event proved— that there 
 was now an end to them and to their torment- 
 ing testimony. Their resurrection in like 
 manner vividly pictures the unexpectedness 
 and intensity of that outburst of protest and 
 opposition which occurred, as we know, so 
 soon after it had been supposed, and pro- 
 claimed, that opposition and protest had been 
 crushed and silenced. For the witnesses, 
 after all, were not dead, as their enemies 
 imagined. All over Europe, there were those 
 who deeply felt the iniquity of the Papal 
 rule, who abhorred the corruptions of the 
 priesthood, and realized the dishonor so 
 brought upon all true religion. A "new 
 learning" had gained a hold upon the best 
 minds of the age, and out of this came an 
 intellectual stimulus which was sure to sooner 
 or later rise in revolt against the despotism 
 that sought to shackle alike the faith and the 
 thought of mankind. The miracles of history 
 are, after all, processes of cause and effect. 
 Still it is not difficult to realize the shock of 
 surprise to the priesthood when the Keforma- 
 tion burst on Europe. The number of those 
 who came forward in support of the move- 
 ment; the influential position many of them 
 held; the political and military power soon 
 enlisted in behalf of the Keformers— these 
 developments of formidable opposition burst 
 upon a scene of things where the pope had 
 long seemed absolute master, with startling 
 effect. Apocalyptic imagery shows it to us as 
 a falling of the tenth part of the city, and the 
 slaying of "seven thousand names of men." 
 From the shock of that revelation of its real 
 impotency, even in the moment of its tri- 
 umph, Kome has never recovered. 
 
 14-19. The Seventh Trumpet Sounds. 
 14. The second woe is past ; and be- 
 hold, the third woe cometh quickly. 
 
 The word "and" is not in the Greek. The 
 verse is made more graphic by omitting it 
 The phrase, "second woe," does not apply to 
 what we have in the tenth chapter, or to so 
 much of this present one as we have now 
 considered. All this is "interposed" be- 
 tween the sounding of the sixth and the 
 sounding of the seventh trumpet. It applies 
 alone to the vision described immediately in 
 connection with the sounding of the sixth 
 trumpet. In like manner, the "third woe"' 
 has respect to what is implied in that which 
 follows to the end of our present chapter, 
 rather than to what is expressly said. The 
 picture given us is that of a triumphant 
 epoch in the Eedeemer's Kingdom. But this 
 itself implies the overthrow and the passing 
 away of that which opposes, with all which 
 this involves. It is a "woe," involving the 
 defeat and the ultimate overthrow of that 
 which resists the Eedeemer's reign, or his 
 kingdom of grace. 
 
 15. And the seventh angel sounded, 
 and there were great voices in heaven, 
 saying. The revision reads, "And the sev- 
 enth angel sounded; and there followed great 
 voices in heaven; and they said." The 
 literal rendering would be, "the seventh angel 
 sounded a trumpet" (i<Td\niae), or "his trum- 
 pet." Whose voices, is not in any way in- 
 dicated. It seems to be a climacteric acclaim, 
 in which the heavenly choruses unite, as if to 
 celebrate the advent of some glorious epoch, 
 for which they had been looking and wait- 
 ing.— The kingdoms of the world. We 
 should read, "the kingdom of the world," in 
 the singular. This is the true reading of the 
 Greek ; and it expresses the idea more exactly. ■ 
 The kingdoms of the world, as political 
 powers, as organized nationalities, viewed 
 as such, are not what the reign of Christ 
 contemplates ; but the world itself, as a whole, 
 though including these so far as their direct 
 relations to his own spiritual kingdom are 
 
162 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 K)And "the four and twenty elders, which sat before 
 God on their seats, tell upon their faces, and wor- 
 shipped (iod, 
 
 17 Savin;;, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Al- 
 mighty," ' wliich art, and wast, and art to come; because 
 thou hast taken to thee thy great power, <:and hast 
 reigned. 
 
 18 ''And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is 
 come, «and the time of the dead, that they should be 
 judged, and tluit thou shouldest give reward unto thy 
 servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that 
 fear thy name, /small and great ; a and shouldest de- 
 stroy them which destroy the earth. 
 
 16 and ever. And the four and twenty elders, who sit 
 before tiod on their thrones, fell upon their faces, 
 
 17 and worshipped (jod, saying, We give thee thanivs, 
 O Lord tiod, ihe Almighty, who art and who wast; 
 because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst 
 
 18 reign. And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath 
 came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and Ihe 
 time to give their reward to thy servants the pro- 
 phets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy 
 name, the small and the great; and to destroy them 
 that destroy the earth. 
 
 ach. 4:4: 5:8; 19: 4....6 ch. 1: 4, 8; 4:8 
 
 ; 16: 5 c oh. 19: 6 d ver. 2: 9 e Dan. 7 : 9, 10; ch. 6: 10.... /ch. 19: 6 g ch. 
 
 13: 10; 18:6. 
 
 concerned. — Are become [is become] the 
 kingdoms [the kingdom] of our Lord and 
 of his Christ. Following the Greek e.\- 
 actly, we should read, "The kingdom of the 
 world is become [omitting 'the kingdom'] 
 of our Lord and of his Christ." More ex- 
 actly still, according to the Greek, we might 
 read, "The kingdom of the world became 
 [eycVero — denoting an accomplished fact] of 
 our Lord and of his Christ." The meaning 
 is that the kingdom of the world has become 
 our Lord's possession. The expression, "of 
 our Lord," seems to be a mention of the 
 Divine Being in general, as thus supreme; 
 while the additional one, "of his Christ," 
 indicates specifically as the king the Anointed 
 One, the Redeemer, the "Christ." Para- 
 phrastically, we might read, "of our Lord, 
 the Lord God, and of his Anointed One" — 
 anointed, crowned, as at his ascension, that 
 he may be King in Zion. — And he shall 
 reign forever and ever. Literally, '■'■unto 
 
 the-ages of ages' ^ (.ei? rows aioiva^ riav aitavuiv)^ the 
 
 N^w Testament expression for eternity. 
 
 16. And the four and twenty elders, 
 which sat before God on their seats, 
 
 [" </troM«,s"]. We have here another re- 
 minder of the fiict that John still has before 
 him- that wonderful vision of the theophanj' 
 dcfScribed in the fourth chapter. In the 
 ch-anges of the Apocalyptic drama, successive 
 scenes have appeared — some of things in 
 heaven, some of things on the earth, some in 
 which hesiven and (tarth alike share. These 
 come and go, while that which the seer first 
 beheld through the opcmed door of heaven 
 reinains as a fixed element in the whole, atten- 
 tion being from time to time centred upon it 
 aniew. So it is now. These elders, represen- 
 tatives of the redeemed church, understand- 
 ing -that now the epoch of fulfilliiHiiit has 
 cohle for the promises that have comforted 
 
 and sustained during the long and hot ordeal, 
 welcome its appearing. — Fell upon their 
 faces, and worshipped God. They had 
 before been seen in acts of worship, and their 
 voices heard in loud choruses of praise ; now 
 they fall upon their faces, showing by this act 
 of deep adoration their sense of the great and 
 wonderful manifestation now made of the 
 goodness, and wisdom, and power of God. 
 
 17. Saying, We give thee thanks, O 
 Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, 
 and art to come ; because thou hast 
 taken to thee thy great power, and hast 
 reigned. The best Greek text (Westeott and 
 Hort), omits the words here translated, "and 
 art to come." They are supposed to have 
 been inserted by copyists, under the impres- 
 sion that they were necessary to make the 
 passage correspond with ch. 1 : 4. The words 
 are wanting alike in the Sinaitic and the 
 Alexandrine manuscripts. 
 
 18. And the nations Avere angry, and 
 thy wrath is come, and the time of the 
 dead, that they should be judged, and 
 that thou shouldest give reward unto thy 
 servants the prophets, and to the saints, 
 and them that fear thy name, small and 
 great ; and shouldest destroy them which 
 destroy the earth. Carjjenter, in EUicott, 
 arranges the two verses, in the order of the 
 clauses, as follows : 
 
 We thank thee, O Lord, 
 The God, the Almighty, 
 He that is, and he that was, 
 Because thou hast takeu thy great power, and didst 
 reign. 
 
 And the nations were angry, 
 And then came thine anger. 
 And the season of the deail, to be judged. 
 And to give their reward unto thy servants the pro- 
 phets, and to the saints. 
 And to them that fear thy name, the small and the 
 
 great. 
 And to destroy them that destroy the earth. 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 163 
 
 19 And "the temple of God was opened in heaven, 
 and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testa- 
 ment: and 'there were lightnings, and voices, and 
 thunderings, and an earthquake, <^and great hail. 
 
 19 And there was opened the temple of (iod that is' 
 in heaven ; and there was seen in his temple the ark 
 of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and' 
 voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great 
 hail. 
 
 a ch. 15 : 5, 8 6 ch. 8: 5; 16: 18 c ch. 16: 21. 
 
 The best Greek text omits, as we have 
 said, the words, "and art to come." It is a 
 forced exposition, however, to find in this any- 
 especial significance. Hengstenberg, for ex- 
 ample, takes the absence of this clause — found 
 in other places in similar connections — as an 
 indication that now the final end has come, 
 and that now the church no longer looks 
 forward to the advent which has so long been 
 the object of hope and expectation; in other 
 words, that this chorus of praise carries us 
 beyond the second coming of the Lord, and 
 beyond the millennium, to the final judg- 
 ment and the end of the world. This, how- 
 ever, assumes that the formula, "which art, 
 and wast, and art to come," as found else- 
 where, alludes in the last part of it to the 
 anticipated second coming. We have seen, 
 upon the contrary, that it is but a form of 
 expression for that august name under which 
 of old Jehovah made himself known to Moses 
 and to Israel. It is simply declarative of the 
 eternity of the Divine Being. In this place, 
 the omission of thewords, "and art to come," 
 must be regarded as purely incidental ; the 
 clause "which art," sufficiently to the pur- 
 pose in this place, declaring how God exists 
 in an eternal "now." We are to remember, 
 here, what was said to the souls under the 
 altar, that they should "wait yet for a little 
 season" for the vindication that was the bur- 
 den of their cry, "How long, Lord"? Also 
 what was said by the "strong angel," .stand- 
 ing with his "right foot upon the sea, and his 
 left foot on the earth," and proclaiming that 
 "there shall be delay no longer, 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 tid- 
 ings which he declared to his servants, the 
 prophets." The seventh trumpet is now 
 sounded, and that epoch of fulfillment has 
 come. What is implied in this we reserve 
 for the General Comments. 
 
 19. And the temple of God was opened 
 in heaven, and there was seen in his 
 temple the ark of his testament [cove- 
 nant]. The corrected reading is, "And there 
 
 was opened the temple of God that is in 
 heaven, and there was seen the ark of his 
 covenant in his temple." The emphatic thing, 
 here, is that "the ark of his covenant" is 
 disclosed. This, as seen in the ancient temple, 
 was the .symbol of divine provision, and pro- 
 mise, and pledge. It was a perpetual me- 
 morial of the covenant between God and his, 
 people, preserving, at the same time, those., 
 things which were such expressive types of 
 the "better things to come." Its disclosure, 
 now, in vision, is the sign that the timefor a 
 final, full, complete fulfillment of covenant 
 promise has arrived. Of the good things 
 which the Lord hath spoken concerning the 
 house of Israel, all must come to pass. "The 
 mystery of God" is now to be "finished." — 
 And there were lightnings, and voices, 
 and thnnderings, and an earthquake, 
 and great hail. It is by this kind of ikl- 
 agery that in various places irt this book, a»^ 
 in 8: 5; 16: 18, great and startling revolutions 
 are described; those epochal dispensations in , 
 the divine providence which change the face 
 of the world. What is imported by it in 
 this place, we shall have occasion to notice in 
 what appears below. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 If we have been correct in our expositions 
 of these two chapters, the tenth and eleventh 
 — and we venture to hope that we have not 
 wholly failed to carry with us the convic- 
 tions of our readers — the conclusion of all 
 will be that the passage just noticed, ver. 14- 
 19, cannot be viewed as fully explained, when 
 taken as a picture of the closing Dispensation 
 and the last days; or, at most, the inaugura- 
 tion of the millennium. That strong expres- 
 sion in the heavenly chorus: "The kingdom 
 of this world has become the kingdom of our 
 Lord, and of his Christ," many have seemed 
 to think, could be adequately interpreted only 
 as the final, full, everla-siting victorj' of the 
 kingdom of God over all its enemies. We 
 oflTer the suggestion : that it is none too strong 
 as representing the change which takes place 
 when this kingdom, having passed ihe period 
 
164 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 of ordeal, enters that of final progress and 
 achievement. In the General Comments at 
 the end of the tenth chapter, we have noted 
 the significance of that epochal point of 
 change, at which the Church of Jesus Christ, 
 resuming its function as the messenger of a 
 pure and true gospel, and as announcing to 
 the world the finishing of "the mystery of 
 God," became, as never before, an element 
 of powerful and effective transformation. 
 Surely, the church, and Christianity as em- 
 bodied in the church, have been since that 
 time a "kingdom," in a marked and pre- 
 eminent sense. There has been in them an 
 element of spiritual power not equaled even 
 in those days of primitive vigor, when the 
 religion of Christ seemed carrying all before 
 it. For in these later centuries, Christianity 
 has been able, not only to overcome the oppo- 
 sition without ; but to reform the evil within. 
 The progress has been steady, of the grow- 
 ing supremacy of Christian principle in all 
 spheres and relation? of human life, the effect- 
 iveness of Christian teaching as an element 
 of intellectual and moral revolution, and the 
 whole work of social and political transfor- 
 mation after Christian ideals. If one should 
 judge of this progress by what appears at any 
 one moment, or in any one generation of the 
 post-reformation period, he might see much 
 to make him doubtful as to which force is 
 really prevailing in the struggle — the Chris- 
 tian or the Antichristian. Looking at the 
 period as a whole, the change is so wonderful, 
 especially as we compare the period with 
 former ones, that the thoughtful and candid 
 observer must surely see the only explanation 
 in the fact that "the kingdom of this world 
 has become the kingdom of our Lord, and 
 of his Ciirist." There are those who are fond 
 of attributing all to the growth of intelli- 
 gence; but what is this "intelligence," in its 
 really good and great sense, save a reflection 
 of the heavenly radiance itself? to the power 
 of modern ideas^)ut where did these ideas 
 have their source? to intellectual freedom 
 and resultant cultures and developments — 
 but to what is the modern world above all 
 indebted for its intellectual freedom? If we 
 think of the world as "the field" for gospel 
 sowing, how widely has the sower gone 
 abroad, and what wonderful harvests have 
 followed the sowing I If we think of it as 
 tlie territory over which Christ is to reign in 
 
 millennial glory, to what a wonderful degree 
 is his reign already established, and how 
 almost literally true are those words now, 
 which the inspired apostle, by anticipation, 
 addressed to the church in the beginning of 
 its history — "aW things are yours!'' If we 
 apply in this way the words under considera- 
 tion, ver. 14-19, we mu.st, without doubt, 
 understand them as embracing the whole of 
 this period to which our own age belongs — 
 that which is still future as well as that which 
 is already past. 
 
 With the closing words of this chapter one 
 grand section of the Apocalyptic scheme is 
 complete — that, namely, which, viewing the 
 Church of Jesus Christ as the true Israel of 
 God, exhibits its earthly career under imagery 
 based upon the history of ancient Israel in its 
 relations with the heathen world in each age. 
 The next chapter, as we shall see, takes us 
 back again to "the beginning of the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ," and the same great history 
 is prophetically foreshadowed in a new system 
 of symbols, and at new points of view. In 
 that second section, beginning with chapter 
 twelve and closing with chapter nineteen, the 
 fortunes of the church are traced more in de- 
 tail, and events at " the time of the end" are 
 dwelt upon in a way not attempted here. 
 The closing passage in this present section 
 comprises, within the compass of a few verses, 
 centuries of human life ; and in the two final 
 verses seems to sum up all those tremendous 
 events which are to make memorable to all 
 eternity the last ages of time. The "angry 
 nations" are Gog and Magog gathering again 
 their hosts for a war upon the city and camp 
 of the saints, as described in chajiter twenty, 
 below; the wrath that comes is the fire from 
 heaven wliich devours them; "the time of 
 the dead that they shall be judged" is the 
 assembling of all "the dead, both great and 
 small," before "the great white throne"; the 
 reward of the faithful is the glory and bless- 
 edness of the final redemption; and the de- 
 struction of "them which destroy tlie earth " 
 is the consignment of dragon and beast and 
 false prophet to the lake that burns with fire 
 and brimstone, forever and ever. As the 
 temple door, seen in Apocalyptic vision, 
 opens, and the ark of the covenant is dis- 
 closed, it is a sign that the covenant promises 
 have all come to their fulfillment; while the 
 lightnings, and voices, and thundcrings, and 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 165 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 AND there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a | 1 And a great sign was seen in heaven ; a woman 
 woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under 1 arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet 
 her leet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars : | ' 
 
 earthquake, and down-rushing tempest of 
 hail, synibfjlize the tumult of a world's final 
 catastrophe, and that passing away of the old 
 which ushers in the "new." 
 
 THE CHURCH IN THE WILDER- 
 NESS. 
 
 1-6. The Woman and the Dragon. 
 
 1. And there appeared a great wonder 
 in heaven. The primary meaning of the 
 word here translated "wonder" (<n)M<to>'), is 
 "sign." The latter word is also the prefer- 
 able rendering in this place, inasmuch as 
 what is described, like all other appearances 
 in these successive visions, is presented to 
 view, not simply as something wonderful, but 
 as having Apocalyptic meaning and signifi- 
 cance. It is to some extent equivalent to the 
 word "symbol," as used in the exposition. 
 We may very properly connect it, in its form 
 and significance, with the Greek word in 
 ch. 1 : 1. We there read : "And he sent and 
 signified (eo-ij^iai-ei/) it by his angel unto his ser- 
 vant John." "Signified it" by "signs" 
 (arifLfia), such as the "great" one — great in its 
 purpose and import — here described. A like 
 usage of the same Greek word is found, Matt. 
 24: 30: "Then shall appear the siffn of the 
 Son of man in heaven." What these opening 
 words of the chapter say is, then, that now a 
 new, and a "great" representative and sym- 
 bolical figure appears on the scene. The word 
 "heaven" must not be taken as indicating, 
 strictly, the abode of the blessed — that is to 
 say, it must not be too literally, or exclusively, 
 taken in that sense. In this place, as in 4: 1, 
 where mention is made of the door "opened 
 in heaven," the word indicates, in general, 
 the Apocalyptic scene — the great theatre upon 
 which John sees all these amazing visions 
 come and go. We cannot conceive of the 
 "dragon" as in heaven, in the strict meaning 
 of the word, nor of the "wilderness" as there; 
 nor, even, the "woman" herself, with her 
 "man-child." Neither, under any such strict 
 construction can we readily connect with 
 these features of the vision those subsequent 
 ones, of the war between Michael and the 
 dragon, the wild beast rising out of the sea, 
 
 with other like figures and changes in the 
 drama as it proceeds. If, however, we con- 
 ceive of the scene of the vision as being itnelf 
 a vision, with what is most prominent and 
 most fixed in it belonging to the spiritual 
 sphere, yet so broad and general in range as 
 to take in the earth with earthly objects and 
 incidents, the firmament, also, with its stars, 
 we shall better apprehend the true character 
 of the description as it stands. Upon this 
 Apocalyptic scene, then, thus broad and 
 varied,this "great sign" appears. — AAVoman, 
 clothed with the sun, and the moon under 
 her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
 twelve stars. The passage in Canticles {6: lo) 
 is sometimes quoted in this connection, as 
 suggestive in its parallelism: "Who is she 
 that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the 
 moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
 army with banners?" Beginning with the 
 earliest of the commentators on this book, 
 Victorinus, whose works have been preserved, 
 expositors, so far as we can find — with the ex- 
 ception of those Romanists who, consistently 
 with the fundamental error in their general 
 teaching, understand b3' the woman the virgin 
 mother of the Lord — agree that by this "sign," 
 this new figure in the Apocalj^ptic drama, we 
 must understand the Church. It is the 
 Church, taken in a very large sense, as the 
 spiritual kingdom of God — "antiqua Eccle- 
 sia,'^ says Victorinus, '^patrum et prophet- 
 arum, et sanctorum apostolorum," — " th« 
 ancient church of the fathers, the prophets, 
 and the holy apostles." It is this church, 
 however, in the strictlj' spiritual sense. The 
 importance of this distinction will appear 
 when we come to study the fortunes of the 
 church as in the wilderness— God's faithful 
 spiritual remnant. As "clothed with the 
 sun," the church here appears in her true 
 character as "the light of the world." It is, 
 saj's Carpenter, in Ellicott, "the radiance of 
 her Lord, whose countenance was as the sun " 
 (ch. 1:16), and caught from him, as reflected 
 divine glory .shone in the face of Moses when 
 he came down from the mount. The moon 
 under her feet may indicate how all sub- 
 ordinate lights are su-bject to her ; or it may 
 indicate the inferiority of that which shines 
 
166 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIL 
 
 2 And she being with child cried, "travailing in 
 birth, and pained to be delivered. 
 
 3 And there appeared another * wonder in heaven; 
 and behold •'a great red dragon, ''having seven heads 
 and ten horns, °and seven crowns upon his heads. 
 
 2 and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she 
 was with child: and she crieth out, travailing in 
 
 3 birth, and in pain to be delivered. And there was 
 seen another sign in heaven ; and behold, a great 
 red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and 
 
 al». 66: 7; Gal. 1: 19 6 Or, sign c ch. 17 : 3 d ch. 17:9, 10 e ch. 13: 1. 
 
 by mere reflection. The light in which the 
 church is clothed, and in which she becomes 
 the light of the world, is an original radiance 
 — the light of the sun. The moon, again, is a 
 symbol of change; the sun oi fixedness and 
 steadfastness. Human teaching is full of 
 change and fluctuation; the divine teaching 
 shines steadily on, from age to age, whether 
 the heaven itself be cloudy or clear. The 
 crown of twelve stars seems to be an allusion, 
 once more, to the twelve tribes of ancient 
 Israel, and the twelve Christian apostles. 
 The "crown" is the garland (o-re^^ai/os) given 
 as a reward to victors not the royal crown 
 («io8rj/ia) worn by kings. This crown, there- 
 fore, is not a symbol of sovereignty ; nor is 
 the church sovereign, in any sense of the 
 word. It is the symbol of her overcoming. 
 The stars are representative of that ministry 
 by which her function as the light of the 
 world is discharged. "Twelve" is the num- 
 ber of spiritual completeness. The represen- 
 tative allusion is to the twelve tribes of Israel, 
 and again and chiefly to the twelve apostles. 
 
 2. Aiid she being with child cried, 
 travailing in birth, and pained to be 
 delivered. The revision says: "And she 
 was with child, and she crieth out, travailing 
 in birth, and in pain to be delivered." We 
 are here, again, at the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian Dispensation. The same periods in 
 Christian history which have already been 
 exhibited, under the symbolism of former 
 vision-s, are now agam coming in view, and 
 the kingdom of God in its world-history once 
 more appears on the scene, in the successive 
 vicissitudes of Its great ordeal. But the 
 vision now becomes far more specific. This 
 same point of beginning was indicated, at the 
 opening of the first seal («: 1,2), by the appear- 
 ance of the rider on the white horse, going 
 forth as a conqueror. Under that symbol- 
 ism, as we saw in our exposition of the pa.s- 
 sage, was exhibited in a general way simply 
 that era of triumph in which the Gospel Dis- 
 pensation opened. We are now, again, at 
 the same point of beginning in Christian 
 history ; but we see how, in the Apocalyptic 
 
 order, the visions become more distinct and 
 definite. Consistently with this, the present 
 one opens with the Incarnation — the birth of 
 the man-child. In his human nature, Christ 
 was of that people in whom was embodied, 
 under earthly forms and types, the kingdom 
 of God — in that sense, the Church. This 
 kingdom of God did not pass away, nor even 
 in its essential nature undergo any change, 
 when the old Judaic order gave place to the 
 new and Christian one. Taken in this large 
 sense, the church is one, and is here repre- 
 sented, as we have seen, under the symbol 
 of the Woman, clothed with the sun. She 
 comes on the scene at the moment when that 
 great wonder of the Incarnation is about to 
 transpire. 
 
 3. And there appeared another wonder 
 [''sign"] in heaven. It is not, we must 
 again observe, in heaven as the especial 
 abode of God and all holy beings, that even 
 the Woman is seen — for the church, though 
 heavenly in origin, has its history on earth : 
 neither is it, as some have held ^Bede. Bengel, 
 et al.), in heaven, in the sense of the Christian 
 Church, that the Woman appears — for the 
 Woman is herself the church. Neither, 
 therefore, is it in heaven as taken in either 
 of these two senses, that this other "sign" 
 appears, but in the Apocalyptic "heaven," 
 as already explained. — And behold a great 
 red dragon, having seven heads and 
 ten horns, and seven crowns npon his 
 heads. The word translated "crowns," 
 here, is not the same as in ver. 1. It means 
 "diadems," and is so tran.slated in the re- 
 vision. It denotes sovereignty. This inaus- 
 picious "sign," or its equivalent, has once 
 before been introduced, in ch. 9: 11, where 
 the same being is seen as the "king" over 
 that thronging multitude of evil spirits repre- 
 sented in the imagery of the locusts out of the 
 pit. He is here, as there, the Abaddon, the 
 Apollyon — both "Destruction," and "De- 
 stroyer." Only now his symbol is still more 
 significant of his true nature. He is the 
 Dragon, uniting to the serpent form which 
 he chose in the first temptation (he is ex- 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 167 
 
 4 And "his tail drew the third part »of the stars of 
 heaven, <^aud did cast them to the earth: and the 
 dragon stood <^betore the woman which was ready to be 
 dehvered, «lor to devour her child as soon as "it was 
 born. 
 
 5 And she brought forth a man child, /who was to 
 rule all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was 
 caught up uuio ood, and to his throne. 
 
 4 upon his heads seven diadems. And his tail draweth 
 the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast 
 them to the earth: and the dragon staiideth before 
 the woman who is about to be delivered, that when 
 
 5 she is delivered, he may devour her child. 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 
 
 ach. 9: 10, 19.... 6 ch. 17: 18.... c Dan. 8: 10....d ver. 2....e Ex. 1 : 16... ./Ps. 2: 9; ch. 2: 27 ; 19:15. 
 
 pressly called in ver. 9 of this chapter "that 
 old serpent, the Devil, and Satan"), that 
 most hideous one of all which earthly crea- 
 tures present — that of scaly monsters, dreadful 
 to the sight and fearful in the encounter. 
 His color is a iiery-red, denoting the rage in 
 which he hums against all that is good, and 
 the insatiable spirit of destruction that ani- 
 mates him. The seven heads indicate that 
 he comprehends and sums up in himself all 
 that is infernal in spirit and in form, while 
 the ten horns symbolize, as Lange says, " the 
 complete world-power." Upon his seven 
 heads, seven crowns are seen, denoting the 
 absoluteness of his infernal sovereignty. In 
 this terrific figure, then, we have presented 
 to view the consummation of wickedness, 
 of deadly hate, of that which, Satanic or 
 worldly, arms itself most obdurately against 
 God and his church. 
 
 4. And his tail drew ["rfrawe^A," pres- 
 ent tense] the third part of the stars of 
 heaven, and did cast them to the earth. 
 The mention, here, in such a way, of the 
 dragon's tail is consistent with the fact that 
 such creatures as the crocodile, whose form 
 and nature are in part seen in this figure of 
 the dragon, have so much of their power in 
 the tail, and so often use it to sweep their 
 prey within reach. "T'Aree," says Lange, 
 "is the number of spirit. A third is a frac- 
 tion — in reference to spiritual things." The 
 frequent recurrence of this fraction in ch. 8, 
 will be readily recalled: "the third part of 
 trees,'" ver 7, "the third part of the sea," 
 "the third part of the creatures which were 
 in the sea," "the third part of the ships," 
 ver. 8, 9; "the third part of the sun," "the 
 third part of the moon, and the third part of 
 the stars," ver. 12, etc. In all this imagery 
 physical things are employed to set forth that 
 which is spiritual; and it has already been 
 explained as denoting disastrous revolutions 
 in the sphere of spiritual things. In our 
 present passage, as in the former one, by the 
 falling to earth of these stars is meant, in the 
 
 words of Lange, "an apostasy of the third 
 part of the spiritual church — heaven. These 
 stars are, by the lashings of the Satanic tail, 
 by the magic of an apparently prodigious 
 vital power, cast from heaven to earth; i. e., 
 from being stars of the invisible church, 
 they become demonic organs of the extel*nal 
 church, and of Christian political order." 
 Thus is indicated that apo.stasy in which the 
 Christian ministry' became an antichristian 
 hierarchy. The description seems to be in 
 some degree anticipatory, looking forward 
 so as to foreshadow that career of mischief 
 which subsequent chapters note in detail. 
 The fractional "third" is not, of course, to 
 be literally pressed. — And the dragon stood 
 before the woman which was ready to 
 be delivered, for to devour her child as 
 soon as it was born. We may translate: 
 "And the dragon stood [Anglo-American re- 
 vision, "standeth"] before the woman who 
 is about to be delivered, that when she is 
 delivered he may devour her child." The 
 words have an underlying historical sense, 
 and as based on this a more extended figura- 
 tive one. At the very moment of his birth 
 the child Jesus encountered the hostility of 
 Herod, thoroughly Satanic in its malice and 
 violence. At a later time Satan himself was 
 met in personal conflict, alike in the temp- 
 tations of the wilderness, and in those re- 
 peated instances of demoniacal possession 
 which seem to have had a like meaning. But 
 these were representative of a wider fact — the 
 fell spirit of hate and ho.stility toward the 
 Redeemer personally and his whole work of 
 redemption, shown by him through whose 
 malice sin itself came into the world, "and 
 death by sin," and by whom, also, all the 
 hosts of opposition, age by age, are mar- 
 shaled and led on. The dragon standing 
 before the woman, ready to devour her child 
 as soon as born, is a wonderfully' vivid repre- 
 sentation, under physical imagery, of a mo- 
 mentous and far-reaching spiritual fact. ' 
 5. And she brought forth a man-chilA, 
 
168 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 6 And "the woman fled into the wilderness, where 
 »he hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed 
 her there "a thousand two hundred and threescore 
 ■ days. 
 
 6 was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. And 
 the woman tied into the wilderness, where she hath 
 a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish 
 her a tllousaud two hundred and threescore days. 
 
 1 ver 4 h ch. 11: 3. 
 
 who was [is] to rule all nations with a 
 rod of iron. Mure exactly, slie brought 
 forth "a son, a man-child." The manhood 
 of the child is thus emphasized. He was to 
 possess pre-eminent manhood. In the words 
 that follow it is shown how he is "born a 
 conqueror," as Lange expresses it; in har- 
 inony with what the first seal disclosed of him 
 who went forth "conquering and to con- 
 .quer." Here we read, he shall "rule all 
 nations with a rod of iron." Conquer and 
 rule them, however, in a way all his own. 
 The word for "rule" (Troifj-aiveiv) \s here, as in 
 ch. 2: 27, to govern, or rule, as a shepherd. 
 It is the same word as in the Septuagint of 
 Ps. 2:9: "Thou shalt break [rule, noiixavel] 
 them with a rod of iron." This man-child 
 is to fulfill that Messianic prophecy. The 
 nature of tlie "rule," the "shepherding," is 
 to be especially marked. It is not a rule of 
 mere force, not a mere exertion of arbitrary 
 power. It is such rule as t.ie shepherd has 
 over his flock. The staff, however, the "rod," 
 which he bears as the symbol of this rule, is 
 "of iron." The sovereignty exercised is 
 gentle, yet constraining; it is the rule of 
 love; but of power no less. He who exer- 
 cises it "shall not strive nor cry," yet he shall 
 "bring forth judgment unto truth." This 
 rule, too, was to extend to "all nations." 
 Not at once, at least as an accomplished fact; 
 but ultimately, as a supremacy anticipated, 
 announced, even at the beginning, virtual, 
 even during the centuries when it should I 
 seem to be successfully resisted, and in the i 
 end complete and unquestioned. These j 
 words: "who is to rule the nations with a 
 rod of iron," cover in their significance long 
 ftges of human history. They reveal the 
 thread of divine purpose, running through 
 all the confusions, anarchies, and revolutions j 
 of this world's affairs, down to the very time 
 of the end, and which will at last be seen to 
 have been amidst all a principle of order, 
 ipaking the end certain even from the begin- 
 ning. — And her child was caught up unto 
 God, and to his throne. "After a con- 
 flict," says Alford, " witii the prince of this 
 
 world, who came and tried him, but found 
 nothing in him, the sou of the woman was 
 taken up to heaven and sat on the right hand 
 of God. Words can hardly be plainer than 
 these." He rejects wholly, and with reason, 
 Elliott's strange notion, into which he seems 
 forced by the necessities of his peculiar theory 
 of interpretation, that by the man-child in 
 this place is meant the Emperor Constantine, 
 born in his conversion, a son of the church, 
 and "caught up unto God and to his throne" 
 by being made sovereign of the Roman 
 Empire, united with the solemn public pro- 
 fession of the divinity of the Son of man. It 
 is by such violent wresting of the plain mean- 
 ing of the text, we must again say, in earnest 
 protest, that the book we are studj'ing has so 
 often been made -to seem hopeless of satisfac- 
 tory interpretation. The final effort of the 
 dragon to "devour" the child was in insti- 
 gating the Jews to crucifj'^ him at the last. 
 But that crowning incident, which seemed, 
 indeed, like a victory for the dragon, was the 
 triiwnph of tlie Redeemer. Erom that valley 
 of humiliation and death, he was "caught up 
 unto God and to his throne." " For liim hath 
 God exalted, a Prince and a Saviour, for to 
 give repentance unto Israel, and the remis- 
 sion of sins." This is the history underlying 
 the wider spiritual significance of the word.*. 
 "Caught up unto God and to his throne," 
 means, in this broader view, the victorious 
 reign of Christ among the nations from age 
 to age. 
 
 6. And the woman fled into the wil- 
 derness, where she hath a place pre- 
 pared of God. The flight of the woman 
 into the wilderness is more fully described in 
 ver. 14. We reserve for the comment in 
 that place our exposition of this significant 
 but diflicult statement. Here we may simply 
 noti(!e that this flight into the wilderness was 
 wholly in accordance with divine purpose 
 and plan. — Where she hath a place pre- 
 pared of God, and it was provided that 
 they should feed [Rev. Ver., ''ma;/ nnur- 
 isA"] her there a thousand two hundred 
 and threescore days. Of the meaning of 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 169 
 
 this, and the connection of the number given 
 with simihir ones before noticed, it will be 
 better to speak further on. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 It is important to remark that the repetition 
 of the same general subject, in vision and pro- 
 phecy, is no unusual thing in the Scriptures. 
 Exarajjles are readily found in the Old Testa- 
 ment. Thus Joseph's two dreams, as related 
 to his brethren (Gen. 37: 511), hud the same sig- 
 nificance, though dift'ering in form. Of Pha- 
 raoh's two dreams (Geu. 4i: i-u)^ Joseph, in ex- 
 pounding them, said : "The dream of Pharaoh 
 is one." The prophecy in Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dream (Dan. 2: 29-15), of the image of gold, silver, 
 brass, and iron, was interpreted by Daniel 
 with a meaning identical, at least in the 
 main particulars, with his own vision de- 
 scribed in ch. 8: 1-12. The Messianic pro- 
 phecies appear under many forms, some 
 more and others less explicit. Joseph ex- 
 plains to the Egyptian king the meaning of 
 this feature in the prophetical procedure : 
 "For that the dream was doubled unto 
 Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is estab- 
 lished by God, and God will shortly bring it 
 "to pass." We may thus trace in it a double 
 intention: (1) that the one vision or predic- 
 tion ma^' confirm, the other; (2) that in study- 
 ing them together they may mutually explain 
 each other. Necessarily, prophecy is obscure. 
 Couched in vision and symbol, in order that 
 it may the better serve the end of prophecy — 
 which is to foreshadow, not to relate, as in 
 history — it is to be comprehended even "in 
 part" only as a result of much study. Such 
 study is fiicilitated by reproducing the gen- 
 eral theme under various forms of representa- 
 tion, as an artist might use the same general 
 subject in successive pictures. Such is the 
 method follov^ed in this book. The same 
 periods of Christian history are repeatedly 
 brought under view, under differing aspects, 
 yet so in relation to each other as that they 
 become mutually explanatory. This we 
 have seen, already, in the case of the seals 
 and the trumpets. It is once more before us 
 in tlie relation of this present division of the 
 book (<^h. i2;i9), to that which we have ju.st 
 been studying (ch. 5:ii). 
 
 It would seem that Alford's view of the 
 account given, here, of the birth of the man- 
 child is too strictly literal, and Carpenter's 
 
 too little so. The former says: "On the na- 
 ture of this vision, as introductory to the 
 whole imagery of the latter part of the Apoca- 
 lypse ... it is only needful to add that the 
 principal details . . . are rather descriptive 
 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." This seems to imply that the ac- 
 count must be taken as simply historical; 
 and in the details of his subsequent exposi- 
 tion he evidently proceeds upon this theory. 
 Upon the other hand. Carpenter, in Ellicott, 
 says: "This, then, is the picture of the 
 Church fulfilling her destiny in pain. Her 
 Avork was to bring forth Christ to men, and 
 never to be satisfied till Christ was formed in 
 them; i. e., till the spirit of Ciiri.«t, and the 
 example of Christ, and the teaching of Christ 
 were received, loved, and obeyed, and men 
 transformed to the same image, even as by 
 the Spirit of the Lord." Even if this re- 
 moter meaning be found in the passage, we 
 can see no good reason for rejecting, or pass- 
 ing by, that which is nearer at hand, and so 
 much more obvious. May not that story of 
 the Lord's human birth with which the Gos- 
 pels begin, be used, here, in the prophecy as 
 a prophetical point of view, from which the 
 seer looks forward to ages of the future, an- 
 ticipating that spiritual outcome which lay, 
 as a germ, in the historical fact? This ap- 
 pears to be Lange's view, where he says: 
 "The ti7iity of the Old and the New Testa- 
 ment Church of God lay, doubtless, much 
 nearer to the contemplation of John, than to 
 that of an exegesis whose view is, in many 
 respects, too exclusively fixed ujjon externali- 
 ties. Though it is impossible that John could 
 have apprehended the woman as Mary her- 
 self, yet the fact was most closely present to 
 his consciousness that this Mar3% whose bod- 
 ily oflTspring Christ was, was the final concen- 
 tration of the Old Testament Theocracy — the 
 Theocracy which, in its inner essence, spiritu- 
 ally gave birth to the Messiah, and which, in 
 respect of this inner essence again, continued, 
 as tlie Kingdom of God, in a new and New 
 Testament shape." A less labored exegesis, 
 yet one which for that very reason may be 
 more satisfactory to plain readers, is that of 
 Durham ; "This description of the Church's 
 
170 
 
 REVELATION. [Ch. XII. 
 
 7 And there was war in heaven : 
 
 angels fought 'against the dragon 
 fought and his angels. 
 
 "Michael and his 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his 
 ; and the dragon angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the 
 
 a Dan. 10: 13, 21 ; 12: 1.... 6 ver. 3 ; ch. 20:2. 
 
 infancy," he says, "is set down with special 
 allusion to the manner of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ and hi.s coming into the world: (1) as 
 he was a child, born of a woman, in many 
 outward wants, so are his people brought forth 
 in many straits; (2) as Herod watched to de- 
 stroy him, as soon as he was born, so doth the 
 devil by other persecuting instruments watch 
 the Church to cru.sh her seed, immediately 
 after their birth, as it were, and in their very 
 infancy, even as Pharaoh sought to destroy 
 the Jew's male-children; (3) As Christ was 
 born, and preserved till he had finished the 
 work committed to him, notwithstanding all 
 of the enemy's malice and craft, so shall it be 
 with the Church's seed; (4) as he, immedi- 
 ately after his birth was pursued, made to 
 flee, and carried to Egypt, so .shall it be with 
 the gospel-church, who should be made to 
 flee immediately after the first delivery." 
 "Whether, or not, we carry the parallelism into 
 this measure of detail, the general thought, 
 here, seems to be a just one, save that Dun- 
 ham appears to confuse, in some measure, the 
 Church and the Child. The Church is not 
 the Cliild, but the Mother of the Child. 
 
 With the appearance of the dragon that 
 representation begins of the forces in opposi- 
 tion to the kingdom of God in its progress 
 among men, which characterizes the division 
 of the book now to be studied. Its Old Tes- 
 tament analogies are found in the Book of 
 Daniel. The symbolism employed is that of 
 monstrous bestial forms. Chief amongst them 
 is this of the dragon, identified as "that Old 
 Serpent, the Devil, and Satan." That he 
 appears first on the scene is consistent with 
 the fact that all opposition to God's spiritual 
 kingdom, and all persecution of his j)eoplc, is 
 of Satanic instigation. We shall find in due 
 time how the dragon (ch. 13.2) gives to another 
 of these monstrous forms "his power, and 
 his throne, and great authority" (lievision), 
 the formidable yyower there represented being 
 so recognized as simply the instrument of 
 Satan. The second beast, which comes up 
 out of the earth (i3:ii), in his turn "exer- 
 ciseth all the jiower of the first beast" which 
 came up out of the sea, and which received 
 
 his authority and power and throne from the 
 dragon. Back of all these monstrous and 
 terrible forms of deadly hostility to God and 
 his truth, and to his people, we find the dra- 
 gon, whose instrument they are, and who 
 invests them with such attributes of terror. 
 This Satanic element in the whole represen- 
 tation, is the key to all right exposition of the 
 visions as they come, one after another, on 
 the scene. 
 
 7-12. Michael and the Dragon. 
 
 7. And there was war in heaven. "And 
 there became {ifivtto) war in heaven." "A 
 war broke out in heaven," we might, perhaps, 
 paraphrase it. Some expositions of the pas- 
 sage now to be studied, appear to set aside its 
 symbolism, almost entirely'. Thus Alford 
 says: "We now enter upon a mysterious 
 series of events in the world of spirits, with 
 regard to which merely fragmentary hints 
 are given us in the Scriptures. In the 
 Old Testament we find the adversary, Satan, 
 in heaven. In Job 1 : 6, he appears be- 
 fore God as the Tempter of his saints; in 
 Zechariah 3, we have him accusing the High- 
 priest in God's presence [how singular that 
 these should be taken as literal and actual 
 occurrences!]. Again our Lord, in Luke 10: 
 18, exclaims, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall 
 from heaven.' So that this casting down of 
 Satan from the oflRce of accuser in heaven, 
 was evidently connected with the great justi- 
 fying work of redemption." Is it possible 
 that this writer would teach us that Satan 
 was ever allowed to be actually and per- 
 sonnlly in heaven, as an accuser of God's 
 children ? Is there any place in Scripture 
 where the language used is more evidently 
 pictorial and figurative, than in these above 
 quoted? Carrying out his theory of interpre- 
 tation here, Alford must hold, if consistent, 
 that this "war in heaven" was an actual 
 occurrence; that in the very presence of 
 God in heaven, such a conflict took jilace; as 
 if the poetical inventions of Milton, in his 
 own picture of suc;h a conflict, were veritable 
 history! We once again place over against 
 Alford's literalness, the contrasted view of 
 Carpenter, in Ellicott. The note ujion this 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 171 
 
 8 And prevailed not ; neither was their place found 
 any more in heaven. 
 
 8 dragon warred and his angels; and they prevailed 
 not, neither was their place found any more in 
 
 passage describing the war in heaven is : 
 "We shall fail to catch the spirit of its mean- 
 ing if we insist upon detaching the passage 
 from its context; and the more so that the 
 structure of the chapter seems to give an ex- 
 press warning against doing so. The narra- 
 tive of the woman's flight into the wilderness 
 is suspended that this passage may be inserted. 
 Could wo have a clearer indication of the 
 anxiety of the sacred writer to connect this 
 war in heaven with the birth of the man- 
 child? The man-child is born; boi-n a con- 
 queror. The dragon is his foe, and the 
 powers of the foe are not confined to the 
 material and historical world; he is a power 
 in the world spiritual ; but the man-child is 
 to be entirely a conqueror. His rapture into 
 heaven is the announcement that there, in 
 the very highest, he is acknowledged victor, 
 and his victory is won over the power of the 
 old serpent, whose head is now bruised. 'The 
 prince of this world cometh,' said Jesus 
 Christ, 'and hath nothing in me. Now is 
 the judgment of this world ; now is the prince 
 of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted 
 up, will draw all men unto me.' Do we need 
 more?" Perhaps not, if sutficient scope be 
 allowed to the words quoted. If, however, 
 they are understood as limited to the work 
 of redemption, victoriously achieved by our 
 Lord, we do "need more." For in the visions 
 of this book redemption is only one element 
 among many. The "war" which comes 
 before us in such variety of phases, covers a 
 very wide field of conflict, and involves many 
 issues. It is a war of hostile forces opposed 
 to each other upon the world-theatre, and 
 whose vicissitudes are recorded in the world's 
 written history, as well as a war between the 
 Redeemer and the Destroyer in the interest 
 of man's redemption. The .symbolism of our 
 present passage — and we must remember that 
 it is with symbolism that we are dealing- 
 brings it before us in that wide meaning and 
 scope which takes in the whole conflict of 
 Christ with Satan, the kingdom of God with 
 the kingdom of the Evil One. The scene of 
 it, as it appears in the vision, is the Apoca- 
 lyptic "heaven." — Michael and his angels 
 fought against the dragon ; and the dra- 
 gon fought and his angels. When we 
 
 come to consider ver. 11, below, we shall find 
 help in the more full interpretation of these 
 words. Those who are there represented as 
 oiiercoming seem clearly to be they who are 
 here seen to be contending — the "angels" of 
 Michael. The weapons they use, likewise 
 (ver. 11) — "the blood of the Lamb" and "the 
 word of their testimony" — suggest the nature 
 of the conflict. Of this we shall have more 
 to say directly. For the present we must 
 observe how evident it is that the word 
 "angels" is not to be understood as meaning 
 angels in the literal sense. It is not through 
 "the blood of the Lamb" that angels over- 
 come, neither are they angels who have com- 
 mitted to them the word of "testimony." 
 Alike the conflict, the issue, and the parties 
 contending are such as we find again men- 
 tioned in ch. 17: 14, where of those to whom 
 the dragon gives his power, and whom he 
 uses as his instruments, it is said: "These 
 shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb 
 shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, 
 and King of kings; and they that are with 
 him are called, and chosen, and faithful," or, 
 as the new version gives it, "and they also 
 shall overcome that are with them, called, and 
 chosen, and faithful," the words in italics 
 being supplied. The passages are so evi- 
 dently parallel in their general sense, that 
 we must view them a.s^ introducing the same 
 characters. "Michael and his angels" are 
 the Lamb and they "that are with him." 
 The "Michael" of our present passage is a 
 representative figure, in the same sense that 
 "the Lamb" is so. Only the former one 
 brings before us the Divine Person so repre- 
 sented, in his character and office as a divine 
 leader and prince, as the latter presents him 
 more in his oflBce as the suffering Saviour. 
 He is spoken of in Dan. 10: 21, as "Michael 
 your prince." By the dragon "and his 
 angels," we understand Satan, and all Satanic 
 agents and instruments. 
 
 8. And prevailed not. The evil power, 
 though with all its hosts marshaled and led 
 on, suflTers defeat. — Neither was their place 
 found any more in heaven. As seen in the 
 vision, they not only suffer defeat, but are 
 driven off" the scene of conflict, leaving for 
 Michael and his angels a perfect victory. 
 
172 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 9 And "the great dragon was cast out, ''that old ser- 
 pent, called the Devil, and Satan, 'which deceiveth the 
 whole world: <'he was cast out iulo the earth, and his 
 angels were cast out with him. 
 
 1(J And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, «Now 
 is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of 
 our God, and the power of his C hrist: for the accuser 
 of our brethren is cast down, /which accused them be- 
 fore our (-Tod day and night. 
 
 9 heaven. And the great dragon was cast down, the 
 old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, 
 the deceiver of the whole i world; he was da'st down 
 to the earth, and his angels were cast down with 
 10 him. And 1 heard a great voice in heaven, saying, 
 -Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the 
 kingdom of our (iod, and the authority of his 
 Chnst: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, 
 who accuseth them before our (jod aay and night. 
 
 a Luke 10: 18; J-hQ Vi: .fl 6 Geu. 3: I, 4; ch. 20: 2 cch. 20: 3....dch. 9:1 e ch. 11: 15; 19: 1..../ Job 1: 9: 2: 5; 
 
 Zech. 3 : 1. 1 Gr. inhabited earth. . . .2 Or, Now is the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom, become our God's, and 
 
 the authority in become his Christ's. 
 
 Those who view the passage as describing an 
 actual conflict in the actual heaven, of course 
 under.stand by the words just given, the cast- 
 ing out of the rebel angels. There is no good 
 reason for supposing any reference, here, at 
 all, to that event of which we find in the 
 Scriptures only intimations so very obscure — 
 the revolt and defeat and fall of the rebel 
 angels. Such an event has no proper connec- 
 tion with the subject of these visions, and can 
 be brought into the interpretation only by 
 giving a violent wrench to the words as they 
 stand. This will be confirmed, we trust, by 
 what appears below. 
 
 9. And the great dragon was cast out 
 [cast down], that old serpent, called the 
 Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the 
 whole world. The author of evil is here 
 indicated, by his attributes and his deeds. — 
 He was cast out [cast down] into the 
 earth, and his angels were cast out with 
 him. We have, here, another reason why 
 what is described cannot be the fall of those 
 "angels which kept not their first estate," 
 since not "the earth," but hell — the "outer 
 darkness" — was "the place prepared for the 
 devil and his angels." Lange's view that 
 what occurs is the casting of the dragon and 
 his angels "out of the inner spiritual church 
 Upon the external church and the ecclesias- 
 tico-political institution," assumes that at first 
 the dragon and his angels were in the " inner 
 spiritual church" — a very violent assump- 
 tion, surely. Besides, as we shall see presently, 
 the scope of the passage is not to be limited 
 thus absolutely to a particular period or event 
 in Christian history. The victory described, 
 let be observed again, is not annihilation, 
 neither is it final victory, as what appears in 
 ver. 12 plainly shows. The dragon and his 
 angels are driven from the field of view com- 
 prehended in this present vision — the vision 
 of "the war," — but they have not abandoned 
 any of their fell purposes, and will soon re- 
 
 appear in other measures of attack upon the 
 kingdom of God. They are cast out "into 
 the earth"; by which we simply understand 
 their failure in one form of assault, and their 
 forced withdrawal to another and for them 
 a more hopeful scene of operations — " the 
 earth"; understanding by this, not merely 
 the world of human abodes, but that world 
 as seen from its most "earthly" side; that 
 which, in itself, " earthly and sensual," easily 
 becomes "devilish." 
 
 10-13. The Victory Celebrated. 
 
 10. And I heard a loud voice saying in 
 heaven. Or, "And I hoard a great voice in 
 heaven, saying." Now is come salvation, 
 and strength, and the kingdom of our 
 God, and the power of his Christ. In 
 the Greek the article occurs, and should be 
 translated, in connection with each of the 
 words, "salvation," "strength" ("power," 
 Svvaixii), and "kingdom." In the Greek, 
 besides, the word translated "is come" {iyevero) 
 in the common version, should be rendered 
 "became," or "is [has] become." The new 
 revision translates, "Now is come the salva- 
 tion, and the power, and the kingdom of our 
 God, and the authority (cfouo-i'a) of his Christ." 
 In the margin, however, it has, "Now is the 
 salvation, and the power, and the kingdom 
 become our God's, and the authority is 
 become his Christ's"; the second "is become" 
 being supjilied. The general sense, in either 
 case, is the same, possibly made a little more 
 clear in the second form of the translation. 
 This burst of heavenly praise, as in 11 : 16-18, 
 and in other places, seems to be simply the 
 adoring recognition by heavenly beings of 
 the new manifestation seen of divine power 
 and grace, achieving victories over the en- 
 emies of God and the destroyers of the world. 
 We trust it will not be amiss if we compare 
 these interposed acclamations of thanksgiving 
 and praise to the choruses of the Greek 
 drama. The four-and-twenty elders, repre- 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 173 
 
 11 And "they overcame him by the blood of thel 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the 
 Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; *and they Lamb, and because 'of the word of their testimony; 
 
 loved not their lives unto the death. 
 
 a Rom. 8: 33, 34, 37 ; 16: 20. ...6 Luke 14: 
 
 sentatives of the redeemed church, the four 
 living creatures, representing the sentient 
 creation, the angels encircling all with their 
 countless hovering hosts, are spectators, along 
 with John, of the successive scenes in this 
 far grander and more momentous drama; 
 and as the chorus of the Greek tragedy, from 
 time to time, gives utterance to the passion of 
 the scene, so in this case the beholding myr- 
 iads of heaven, as new and startling exhibi- 
 tions of divine power appear, or fulfillments 
 of divine purpose, burst out anew in trium- 
 phant songs and hallelujahs. It is like the 
 "joy in heaven" of which our Lord was 
 wont to speak. We are not to understand, 
 therefore, that "the salvation, the power, 
 and the kingdom" have now first in the 
 history of the universe become of God and 
 Christ; for these from eternity and to eter- 
 nity are theirs; but new detnonstr a tio)is of the 
 divine reign, in power and grace, are seen 
 and acknowledged. — For the accuser of 
 our brethren is cast down, which ac- 
 cused them before our God, day and 
 night. The Hebrew Satan, means an ad- 
 versary who, as Gesenius says, "seduces men 
 to evil, and accuses and calumniates them 
 before God." It corresponds to the Greek 
 word ((caT>)v<op), here used, and translated " rtc- 
 cuser.^' As intimated above, it is altogether 
 a mistaken literalism to understand by this 
 an actual, i)ersonal accusation of men in the 
 presence of God. It is rather a representa- 
 tion, under the figure of such personal accu- 
 sation, of that Satanic agency by which men 
 are seduced to sin, and through their sins are 
 brought into condemnation. The imagery 
 recognizes, in a graphic and striking waj', 
 the part which the author of evil has, alike 
 in the sin and in the dreadful consequences 
 which follow. [It is scarcely safe to disre- 
 gard entirely the literal sense of the designa- 
 tion, accuser, or accuser of our brethren. 
 For the arch-enemy, ever ready to fan the 
 spirit of persecution to a flame, in State or 
 Church, has always an excuse for what he is 
 doing. The early Christians were accused of 
 Thyestian feasts, of licentious orgies, of dis- 
 honoring the gods and the emperors, or of 
 
 refusing to serve the state in this or that 
 oflBce. At a later period, the humblest and 
 purest Christians were persecuted by the 
 Papal Church, but always under pretence of 
 zeal for truth. "Perverters of truth," "de- 
 spisers of the sacraments," "heretics of every 
 name," were assailed with accusations of 
 evil before they were brought to the court of 
 the Inquisition or sent to the stake. The 
 Destroyer is also the Accuser. And these 
 accusations have often been very sanctimo- 
 nious, made as it were before God, and under 
 the plea of honoring his holiness. — A. H.] 
 This ceaseless activity of temptation and 
 Satanic instigation reaches all men. Christians 
 as well as others— a fact strikingly recognized 
 in those places in his Epistles where Paul sets 
 forth so graphically the perpetual warfare of 
 the Christian soldier. The machinations of 
 Satan are especially busy with such — "night 
 and day" — seeking to disturb their peace 
 with God, and to bring between them and 
 him the clou'^ of his just displeasure. It is 
 of such that the heavenly chorus speaks — 
 "our brethren." 
 
 11. And they overcame him. The ad- 
 versary always suflTers final defeat, because 
 " greater is he that is for us than they that be 
 against us." — By the blood of the Lamb, 
 and the word of their testimony. Many 
 expositors seem to think that the allusion is 
 alone to the personal triumph of the redeemed 
 soul in the final salvation. Thus Alford : 
 "Without that," the shedding of the blood 
 of the Lamb, "the adversary's charges against 
 them would have been unanswerable ... It is 
 because they have given a faithful testimony, 
 even unto death, that they are victorious." 
 Bengel's paraphrase of the previous verse 
 better indicates the scope of the passage : 
 "The salvation, by which the saints are de- 
 livered, the power by which the enemy was 
 overthrown, the kingdom which displays 
 God's majesty." The overcoming has refer- 
 ence to all this. Upon the verse (ver. ii) now 
 immediately in view, Bengel's comment is; 
 "Because of the blood of the Lamb — this 
 blood purified the brethren from all sin, and 
 so the accuser could bring nothing against 
 
174 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIL 
 
 12 Therefore "" rejoice, ve heavens, and ye that dwell 1 12 and thev loved not their life even unto death. There- 
 
 in thcui. I' Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of 
 the sea: for the devil is come down unto you, having 
 great wrath, ''because he knowelh that he hath but a 
 short time. 
 
 lore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that 'dwell 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. 
 
 a P;j. 96 : 11 ; Is.i. 40 : 13 : ch. 18 : 20. 
 
 icb. 8: U; 11: 10....C uli. 10: 
 
 -1 Gr. tabernacle. 
 
 them. And because of the word of their tes- 
 timony — the word which they believed, and 
 because they believed, they spoke and gave 
 testimony to it, and suffered all for it. . . . 
 Where there is such power in the heart, 
 there also will the name of Christ, and the 
 righteousness, which is in that name, be con- 
 fessed without fear." It is not, then, simply 
 the personal overcoming of the faithful be- 
 liever; it is his overcoming, not only as con- 
 tending in Christ, but /or him; Christ's re- 
 deemed one and true soldier, loving not his 
 life unto the death. We, therefore, think it 
 limiting the words quite too much to make 
 them mean only what directly concerns the 
 believer's own salvation. It is his whole 
 battle as one of the "called, and chosen, and 
 faithful"; standing with Michael against the 
 dragon "and his angels." Particular atten- 
 tion should be given to the force of the Greek 
 preposition (Sti) with the accusative (Sii to 
 a'lxa — Sia Toi/ \6yov). It means "oM account of," 
 "'because of [not 'by,' as in the common ver- 
 sion], the blood of the Lamb, and the word 
 of their testimony." 
 
 12. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and 
 ye that dwell in them. This summons to 
 general rejoicing itself shows that more is 
 meant in the victory over the accuser of the 
 brethren than simply the redemption of be- 
 lieving souls. It implies that it is a victory 
 in which all heavenly beings have reason to 
 rejoice, as the "casting down" of a common 
 enemy, an assertion of that righteous divine 
 supremacy, upon which the stability of heaven 
 itself, and the per])etuity of blessedness for 
 those who dwell there, is built. — Woe to the 
 inhabiters of the earth, and of the sea. 
 An important correction of the Greek text 
 occurs here. The best authorities omit the 
 words, "the inhabiters df," making the pas- 
 sage read: " Woe to the earth and the sea." 
 Lange says : " Hengstenberg rightly refers the 
 sea to the sea of nations, and thus, here also, 
 a contrast to it is formed by the earth as the 
 theocratic institution and order, as ecclesia.s- 
 tical, and, relatively, ecdesiastico-political 
 authority." We can see no sense in loading 
 
 down a very plain passage with such pedantic 
 lumber as this. By "the earth and the sea," 
 it is enough to understand the world in wiiich 
 men dwell. — For the devil is come down 
 unto you, having great wrath. We un- 
 derstand by this, simply, that in the changes 
 of the vision, the adversary is seen to take up 
 a new theatre of conflict. The general fact 
 implied is the persistency of the dragon in his 
 hostility, and the fact that the defeat of his 
 machinations in one direction only inflames 
 the " wrath " with which he continues the war 
 in another. Other considerations presenting 
 themselves in this connection are noticed in 
 the General Comments. — Because he know- 
 eth that he hath but a short time. "His 
 season is short," says Carpenter in Ellicott. 
 "He may be active, sowing tares among the 
 wheat, and animating various hostile powers, 
 such as the wild beasts of ch. 13, but he has 
 only a season ; there is a limit to his power 
 and the time of his power." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 In the above exposition we have expressed 
 our dissatisfaction with that view of the "war 
 in heaven" which treats it as "a mysterious 
 series of events in the world of spirits," con- 
 nected with the revolt and fall of the rebel 
 angels. If it be granted, as perhaps in some 
 sense it should be, that such an occurrence 
 has actually taken place in the moral history 
 of the universe, what proper connection has 
 it with the subject of these visions? That 
 subject is the temporal history of the king- 
 dom of God. The fall of "those angels who 
 kept not their first estate," does not belong to 
 this history, and has no other relation to it 
 than that exceedingly remote one of a revolt 
 in heaven antedating, no one can say by 
 how many ages on ages, the fiill of man on 
 earth. If it .should be .said that it was by the 
 prince of the fallen angels that man himself 
 was drawn into sin, the answer will be that 
 the book we are studying does not concern 
 itself with that event in the very beginning 
 of man's history, but with events belonging 
 to the history of his redemption, and to the 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 175 
 
 final victory of the good over the evil of 
 God's universe. Is it credible that events 
 lying far back m the fathomless past — pos- 
 sibly before earth and man had existence 
 even — and having only that remote connec- 
 tion with what transpires on earth during 
 the Dispensation whose history is here fore- 
 shadowed, should be introduced in the midst 
 of scenes depicting, Apocalyptically, wiiat 
 belongs to the closing periods of the history 
 of our race? 
 
 Taking the view suggested in our exposi- 
 tion, the connection seems natural and evi- 
 dent. The figure of the Woman and the 
 birth of the Man-Child, represent on the 
 Apocalyptic scene how through the Church, 
 as the spiritual kingdom of Grod, an incarnate 
 divine Saviour was given to men. Even as 
 he is born, the Destroyer is seen watching, 
 and ready to "devour" him. The Woman 
 flees into the wilderness, whore a shelter is 
 provided for her. So much of the vision rests 
 upon underl^nng historical fact. But now a 
 scene occurs in which we have presented in a 
 general way, along with what has just ap- 
 peared, a comprehensive view, anticipative 
 of much that is yet to be disclosed in detail. 
 "The Captain of our Salvation," "Michael," 
 our "prince," is seen, with a great company 
 of faithful ones, encountering and overcom- 
 ing the vast army of the infernals — the dra- 
 gon "and his angels." On both sides, these 
 are representative forms, as so often in these 
 visions. They represent, on the one side, 
 Christ and his faithful followers, faithful 
 "even unto death," and on the other, the 
 forces, infernal and human, with which, in 
 all ages of earthly history, these must con- 
 tend. The special allusion, however, is to 
 events occurring at the opening stage of that 
 New Dispensation which was to be through- 
 out a scene of battle such as is described. 
 The issue here depicted of the "war" in this 
 its first outbreak, may be taken as setting 
 forth tho?,e first results of the struggle, in the 
 opening period of Christian history, when the 
 gospel won such triumphs in the face of such 
 an array of formidable and deadly opposition. 
 In this case, the "casting down" into the 
 earth of the dragon with his angels indicates 
 that the "war" is by no means ended. The 
 enemy is driven off the scene of the present 
 vision, but he is sure to re-appear. In still 
 greater wrath, and in machinations still more 
 
 deadly, he continues the war, only seeking 
 for it a new theatre. The earth and the sea — 
 the inhabited world — may well beware of 
 him. Taking possession of what is most 
 "earthly" and "sensual," and making it 
 devilish, he will use this — the world-power, 
 in all its forms and forces — to resist, and if 
 possible overthrow, that kingdom of grace 
 and power which means such good for men, 
 such disastrous overthrow for him. Thus is 
 foreshadowed what comes to view, more in 
 detail, in subsequent chapters. 
 
 Where the Dragon, or Satan, is called the 
 "Accuser of our brethren," and where these 
 are said to "overcome him by the blood of 
 the Lamb and by the word of their testi- 
 mony," we understand to be indicated what 
 is most characteristic of him and of them in 
 the relations they sustain, the one to the 
 other. In his dealing with the human race, 
 Satan has always this, as his chief character- 
 istic, that he seeks to ruin man in his relations 
 with God. By as much as he causes sin and all 
 evil to prevail, by so much he brings on men, 
 and on the world, divine displeasure and 
 divine judgment. The persecutions, the 
 cruelties, to which he instigates wicked men, 
 have this for their aim above all — to prevent 
 the reign of righteousness, and disappoint 
 and bring to nought all purposes and plans 
 having in view the supremacy of truth, and 
 the increase of holiness and happiness. Thus 
 he is the "Adversary," the "Accuser," who 
 would call down ruin on mankind by making 
 them like himself, and bringing them into the 
 .same condemnation. He is resisted and "over- 
 come" because of "the blood of the Lamb," 
 and because of the witness for Christ and his 
 truth, which the faithful bear. The victory, 
 ultimately to be so complete, is grounded in 
 that atonement for human sin, in which the 
 Redeemer struck such a blow at the very 
 foundations of Satan's kingdom. Througli 
 death he has destroyed ("brought to nought") 
 him that had the power of death, that is, the 
 devil (Heb.2:u). Here is the ground of the 
 victory. "The blood of the Lamb" is the 
 hope of the world; and they who "over- 
 come" do so, just because of the shedding 
 of that blood, by which the prayer of faitli 
 is made availing, and all endeavor victorious. 
 In the "word of their testimony" these carry 
 the war into the enemy's own territory. It 
 is the weapon of their warfare, made "mighty 
 
176 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto 
 the earth, he persecuted "the woman which brought 
 forth the man child. 
 
 14 'And to the woman were given two wings of a 
 great eagle, "that she might tty ■'into the wilderness, 
 into her place,- where she is nourished «for a time, and 
 times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 
 
 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down 
 to the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought 
 
 14 forth the man child. And there were given to the wo- 
 man 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, 
 
 o ver. 5 » Kx. 19: 4. 
 
 r. 6 d ch. 17 . 3 e Dau. 7 : 25 ; 12:17. 
 
 through God." They "love not their lives 
 unto the death." Such has been their record 
 in many a stormy period of their history. 
 And so tru.sting in "the blood," and faithful 
 unto death in their testimony, they overcome. 
 While the passage considered has this 
 amount of scope, in its general view, we 
 must emphasize its special reference to what 
 occurred at the very beginning of the present 
 Dispensation. That triumphant era was a 
 "casting down" of the dragon; a defeat of 
 Satan. "I beheld Satan," said Jesus, "as 
 lightning fall from heaven." Thus did he, 
 himself, in imagery like this in our present 
 text, describe the effect on the kingdom of 
 evil, of his own glorious victory in that which 
 he came to accomplish "through the suffering 
 of death." So far as the words we have been 
 considering reach beyond this, they are an- 
 ticipative; in their more exact, and more 
 limited sense, they describe, in effect, what 
 was before exhibited at the opening of the 
 first seal, and the sounding of the first trum- 
 pet. 
 
 13-17. The Flight of the Woman. 
 
 13. And when the dragon saw that he 
 was cast unto the earth. When he re- 
 alized his own discomfiture. He persecuted 
 the woman which [who] brought forth 
 the man-child. As the birth of the child 
 symbolizes the Incarnation, and as the tri- 
 umphant issue of the struggle above depicted 
 sets forth the completeness of Christ's re- 
 deeming work in his death, resurrection, and 
 ascension, and the wide and glorious victories 
 of a preached gospel in its first ministration, 
 so here we have brought to view that out- 
 break of persecution, which was an event so 
 momentous in Christian history. These per- 
 secutions, indeed, began with the very first 
 preaching of the gospel, as recorded in the 
 beginning of the Acts; but from the time 
 when Paganism, armed with all the power 
 of the Roman Empire, made its a.ssault upon 
 Christianity, during many long, dismal cen- 
 turies, persecution became a leading fact in 
 
 the history of the church. These few signifi- 
 cant words just quoted give us that fact, 
 summarizing in a single sentence the annals 
 of centuries of suffering for Christ's sake, and 
 at the same time indicating the real author 
 of all persecution. The Dragon, disappointed 
 in his attempt to devour the Child, and now 
 persecuting the Woman — Satan assailing 
 Christ through his church — that is what per- 
 secution, pagan or papal, or whatever other 
 form it takes, really means. 
 
 14. And to the woman were given two 
 wings of a great eagle. ''The two wings 
 of the great eagle." This perhaps empha- 
 sizes the allusion to like imagery in the Old 
 Testament (as in Exodus 19: 3, 4), where God 
 commands Moses to say to the children of 
 Israel, "Ye have seen what I did unto the 
 Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' 
 wings, and brought you unto myself"; also 
 in Deut. 32: 11, 12, "As an eagle stirreth up 
 her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth 
 abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them 
 on her wings; so the Lord alone did lead 
 him" (Israel). And again in Isaiah 40: 31, 
 we read of those who "mount up with wings 
 as eagles." The article in the corrected 
 translation may remind us that the eagle's 
 wings which bore the woman to her place of 
 refuge were those on which the Lord's faith- 
 ful ones, in all their straits and extremities, 
 are upborne. — That she might fly into the 
 wilderness. Thus we have again taken up 
 what was so briefly mentioned in ver. 6. At 
 that point, the vision of the war in heaven, 
 as setting forth high spiritual meanings of the 
 things about to be narrated or foreshadowed 
 in the temporal annals of the kingdom of 
 God, was interposed. The main vision is 
 now resumed, and the woman re-appears, 
 fleeing into the wilderness. — Into her place, 
 where she is nourished for a time, and 
 times, and half a time, from the face of 
 the serpent. In the sixth verse we road, 
 "The woman fled into the wilderness, where 
 she hath a place prepared of God. that they 
 
Ch. XIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 177 
 
 15 And the serpent ''cast out of his mouth water as a I 15 from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast 
 flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be I out of his moulh after the woman water as a river, 
 carried away of the Hood. I that he might cause her to be carried away by the 
 
 a Isa. 59 : 19. 
 
 should feed her there a thousand two hun- 
 dred and three score days." To this pre- 
 pared "place" she now flees, and is there 
 "nourished." The period of her wilderness 
 state is given in ver. 6 as one thousand tv/o 
 hundred and sixty days ; in ver. 14- as a 
 time, times, and half a time; "a season, 
 seasons, and half a season," so Carpenter in 
 Ellicott, translates — one year, two years and 
 half a year, or three and a half years — once 
 more the forty-two months, or twelve hun- 
 dred and sixty days. Here we have another 
 crucial point in the interpretation of our 
 book. In the study of it, much will depend 
 upon what is understood by "the wilderness." 
 The history of that long period which fol- 
 lowed the outbreak of wide and general per- 
 secution, may help us, if we do not exact too 
 much from it in the way of detailed paral- 
 lelism. Perhaps no one word would better 
 represent the conditions under which Chris- 
 tianity, especially the true, spiritual Christi- 
 anity, survived, during the period while 
 persecution was a fact so common and almost 
 inevitable in Christian history, as the word 
 here used, "wilderness." A wilderness life 
 implies hardship, an unsettled abode, a being 
 hunted, outlawed, and oppressed. It is a 
 condition where there may be devious and 
 bewildered wandering, with scarcity of pro- 
 vision, hunger, thirst, and all forms of suifer- 
 ing. It is that which stands in marked 
 contrast with the ordered, safe, and happy 
 manner of life which men choose, and which 
 few are willing to forego, save under the con- 
 straint of some strong necessity. The wil- 
 derness life of Israel on their way to Canaan 
 is a perfect example of what such a life must 
 always be in like circumstances. The wil- 
 derness, however, may be a refuge, as indeed 
 it was to ancient Israel ; and one fleeing to it, 
 though he will find danger even there, may 
 be safe from the greater danger that drove 
 him thither. Now, in a general way, this 
 represents the Chri.stian condition during 
 long centuries in which the dragon, and the 
 powers to which he gave "his power, his 
 seat, and great authority," persecuted the 
 church. These powers come before us in 
 chapters immediately subsequent to the pres- 
 
 ent one. Here, in the "wilderness" state of 
 the church, we have a general picture of its 
 subsequent condition. But a distinction seems 
 made between the nominal church and the 
 real one. Even in the wilderness the woman 
 is "nourished"; the wilderness is for her a, 
 place of refuge, as she flees "from the face of: 
 the serpent." The nominal church, itself, in, 
 time becomes a persecutor, as we shall see in? 
 subsequent expositions, and the object of this 
 persecution is that "remnant of her," the' 
 woman's, "seed" of which we read in ver. 17.; 
 In later chapters, we find the apostate church 
 represented as the Harlot, drunk with the^ 
 blood of the saints. The distinction so im-, 
 plied must be recognized, even here, although 
 only intimated in a remote way. The length 
 of this period of wilderness life is symboli- 
 cally indicated in the numbers given, the 
 three years and a half, the twelve hundred : 
 and sixty days, as before (ch. ii : 2), in the forty-i 
 two months of the treading down of the holy, 
 city by the Gentiles, as also in ver. 3 of the 
 same chapter, the thousand two hundred and 
 threescore days of the prophesying of the 
 witnesses. It is quite clear that these numbers 
 all relate to the same period. It is the period 
 of the church's wilderness state. Shall we 
 take the numbers given, then, as indicating 
 an exact historical period ? In the view of 
 many ihey should be treated as symbols, like 
 so much else in the book where we find them. : 
 Thus, the note of Carpenter, in Ellicott, after 
 characterizing it as the period "of the 
 church's trouble and persecution," adds: 
 "It is not to be sought, by any effort to find 
 some historical period of persecution corre- 
 sponding in length to that, lasting three years 
 and a half, or twelve hundred and sixty days, 
 or j^ears. No such attempt has hitherto been 
 crowned with success. The period is sym- 
 bolical of the broken time (the half of the 
 seven, the perfect number) of the tribulation 
 of God's people." The caution, here, is wise, 
 and it is perhaps safer to treat the numbers as 
 symbolical. In an Excursus, however, at 
 the end of this chapter, we off"er some tenta- 
 tive suggestions which may be thought worthy 
 of notice, at the other point of view. 
 
 15. And the serpent cast out of his 
 
178 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIL 
 
 16 And the earth helped the woman ; and the earth 
 opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which 
 the dragon cast out ot his mouth. 
 
 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, aand 
 went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 
 » which keep the commandments of God, and have "the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ. 
 
 16 stream. And the earth helped the woman, and the 
 earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the river 
 
 17 which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the 
 dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went 
 away to make war with the rest of her seed, who 
 keep the commandments of God, and hold the testi- 
 
 iGen. 3: 15; ch. 11: 7; 13: 7....6cli. U: U....C 1 Cor. 2 : 1; 1 John 5 : 10; cb. 1 : 2, 9; 6: 9 ; 20: 4. 
 
 mouth water as a flood after the woman, 
 that he might cause her to be carried 
 away of the flood. The more literal trans- 
 lation is: "And the serpent cast out of his 
 mouth behind the woman water as a river, 
 that he might cause her to be carried away by 
 the river." This is supposed to refer to the 
 troubled condition of the Koman Empire, 
 during the period, especially, of the barba- 
 rian invasions from the North, and when it 
 might have seemed as if in the general disso- 
 lution Cliristianity itself must perish. The 
 language used shows how in those violent 
 political upheavals of which we so often read 
 in history, more than mere human power 
 and passion are at work. In the imagery of 
 our passage those inundations of barbarous 
 myriads were the "flood" or river, cast out 
 of his mouth by the dragon, that he m.ight 
 destroy the woman. 
 
 16. And the earth helped the woman, 
 and the earth opened her mouth, and 
 swallowed up the flood [river] which the 
 dragon cast out of his mouth. In the 
 slow process of centuries, and in the operation 
 of those causes through which races blend, 
 revolutions subside into new forms of political 
 and social order, and new civilizations rise 
 out of the ruins of perished old ones, the dis- 
 turbed condition described in the former verse 
 passed away, and (comparative order and 
 quiet was restored. Of tliis Christianity hiid 
 the benefit. " Tlie earth helped the woman." 
 
 16. And the dragon was wroth with 
 the woman. This recalls the main fact in 
 the representation, and that which explains 
 alike what is already described, and what is 
 to be told in the chapters following. The 
 wrath of the dragon, here, is the clue to the 
 whole vast complication of hostilities, out- 
 rages, and persecutions. — And went [or, v^ent 
 away, aii^A;r<:] to make war with the rem- 
 nant of her seed, vihich keep the com- 
 mandments of (iod, and have [hold] the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ. The better 
 reading i-^ "the testimony of Jesus," omitting 
 
 " Christ." With those who did not keep the 
 commandments of God, and held not the 
 testimony of Jesus, he had no war. Tliese, 
 indeed, as we shall see farther on, he uses as 
 instruments of his war upon "the remnant 
 of the woman's seed" — those faithful ones 
 who in every age have been true and worthy 
 children of her, "whose is the adoption, and 
 the glory, and the covenants, and the giving 
 of the law, and the service of God, and the 
 promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom 
 is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over 
 all, God blessed forever. Amen." (Rom. 9; 
 4, 5. Revision.) 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 A few points we must notice in closing the 
 exposition of this chapter. The dragon, seek- 
 ing to devour the Child, and afterward perse- 
 cuting the Woman and making war on "the 
 remnant of her seed," suggests two main 
 ideas: (1) That Messiah, the Eedeemer, 
 achieves his great work through suffering, as 
 the effect of his encounter with that Enemy 
 from whom he comes to deliver ; (*2) That the 
 history of redemption, and the history of the 
 kingdom of God, in all that it proposes and 
 achieves, is a history of exposure and conflict; 
 destruction threatening at the very outset; 
 flight and apparent defeat following, yet ulti- 
 mating in victory and safety; the Child 
 "caught up to God and to his throne," declar- 
 ing his supremacy and foreshadowing the re- 
 sult of the struggle. Even in the wilderness 
 the woman is protected and "nourished," 
 and there remains a "remnant of her seed. ' 
 The "war in heaven" presents the same two 
 main ideas, under another aspect. 
 
 Both Auberlen and Lange call attention to 
 the fact that the "one Woman," in this chap- 
 ter, "has in the end of the days (ct>- it, is, i9), 
 divided into the antitheses of the Harlot and 
 the Bride." Even in this chapter, as we have 
 seen, the same notable distinction is more 
 remotely indicated; more especially, in the 
 mention made of "the remnant of her seed." 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 179 
 
 The phrase implies, prophetically, exactly 
 that distinction which, we know from history, 
 in time grew up; when the great body of 
 Christendom apostatized and became itself a 
 "persecuting" power, while only a faithful 
 "remnant" kept the commandments of God, 
 and the "testimony of Jesus." The way is 
 thus prepared for that subsequent representa- 
 tion in which the Woman is seen, in the one 
 character, as the "Mother of Abominations," 
 and in the other, as the glorious and beautiful 
 Bride of the Lord. 
 
 Opinions among expositors vary greatly, as 
 to what shall be understood by "the wilder- 
 ness." The flight of the woman into the wil- 
 derness, says Auberlen, "is nothing else but 
 the passing away of the kingdom of God 
 from the Jews, and its introduction among 
 the Gentiles." The wilderness, says Lange, 
 "is the reign of asceticism. She is borne 
 thither," he adds, "upon the wings of the 
 great eagle. A super-terrestrial spirit of re- 
 nunciation in heroic spirits — existing in a free 
 form, even in the life of John — is the saving 
 power that bears the New Testament The- 
 ocracy, the true Church, into the wilder- 
 ness" — a most unlikely solution. Elliott un- 
 derstands by the wilderness, "the faithful 
 Church's loss of its previous character of 
 catholicity or universality, its invisibility in 
 respect of true Christian public worship, and 
 destitution of all ordinary means of spiritual 
 sustenance" ; a view quite as forced and far- 
 fetched as that of Lange. Alford expresses 
 himself as "disposed to interpret the perse- 
 cution of the woman by the dragon, of the 
 various persecutions by Jews which followed 
 the Ascension, and her flight into the wilder- 
 ness, of the gradual withdrawal of the Church 
 and her agency from Jerusalem and Judea, 
 finally consummated by the flight to the 
 mountains oh the approaching siege, com- 
 manded by our Lord himself." Each of 
 these may, indeed, be included in the idea 
 of the wilderness; but can either with any 
 propriety be said to exhaust the .symbolism? 
 Carpenter understands by the wilderness, in 
 the most general way, "the hard lot which 
 so often becomes the portion of the Lord's 
 people, yet in the midst of which they find 
 unexpected comforts" ; as the Psalmist says: 
 "Thou preparest a table before me in the 
 presence of mine enemies." It would per- 
 haps not be too much to say that each of 
 
 these expositors indicates one feature of that 
 which, taking the .symbolism in its proper 
 scope, is the true meaning of the word as here 
 employed. The kingdom of God, having 
 been rejected by the Jews with contempt and 
 persecution, passed over to the Gentiles, as 
 Auberlen points out, and in so doing entered 
 the borders of that wilderness which was to 
 be during so many ages its place of sojourn. 
 The asceticism of Lange was one feature of 
 the wilderness state. As Elliott points out, 
 the Church now becomes devoted to exter- 
 nalities, is weakened by he-resies and divisions, 
 cuts itself oft' from sources of "spiritual sus- 
 tenance," and in the great body of it ceases 
 to be a church at all. This was all fore- 
 shadowed, and in some sense typified, in that 
 flight of the Christians into the mountains of 
 Perea, mentioned by Alford, at the time 
 when Jerusalem was "encompassed with ar- 
 mies"; and is itself emblematic of that still 
 wider spiritual fact upon which Carpenter 
 dwells — ^the wildernesses of Christian trial 
 and temptation, so much a common lot of 
 those who must still encounter "the evil of 
 the world." We can see no reason for sing- 
 ling out any one of these as exhausting a 
 symbolism which seems, in fact, to compre- 
 hend them all. The wilderness to which the 
 woman fled was a condition, not a place, nor 
 is it fully implied in any single historical 
 incident; and what that condition was, the 
 history of Christianity during many cen- 
 turies, while the Apostasy prevailed, abun- 
 dantly shows. 
 
 EXCUKSUS A.— THE FORTY-TWO 
 MONTHS AND TWELVE HUNDRED 
 AND SIXTY DAYS. 
 
 Occasion has been taken at various places 
 in the exposition of this and previous chap- 
 ters, to express doubts of the possibility of 
 any historical identification of specific peri- 
 ods, as represented by numbers given in this 
 book. It may be, however, that the subject 
 ought not to be dismissed with only the brief 
 notice thus fiir given to it. Should any 
 readers feel desirous of further .study of it, 
 what we here supply may at least aftord sug- 
 gestions as to the elements entering into the 
 question. 
 
 Below we give some of the various methods 
 proposed for identifying the numbers so far 
 mentioned in the book ; the forty-two months- 
 
180 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 during which the outer court of the temple 
 should be trodden down of the Gentiles, the 
 twelve hundred and sixty days of the prophe- 
 sying of the Witnesses, the twelve hundred 
 and sixty days, and the time, times, and a 
 half, during which the Woman should be 
 "nourished" in the wilderness. We trust it 
 is already sufficiently apparent from our ex- 
 position, ;hat these numbers all indicate the 
 same period — that of the troubled, persecuted, 
 "wilderness" condition of the church. The 
 Witnesses, during the entire period, "pro- 
 phesy, clothed in sackcloth"; the outer 
 court of the temple, representing the great 
 body of the church— all of it save that "rem- 
 nant " of the Woman's "seed," symbolized 
 in one vision by the inner court, or holiest 
 place, is '''trodden down," subdued under the 
 feet of that godless and hostile antichristian 
 world-power, perpetuated by the great Apos- 
 tasy — here represented by the word "Gen- 
 tiles"; while the Woman, during the same 
 period, dwells in her prepared place in the 
 wilderness. In all these ways that now famil- 
 iar passage in Christian history is brought to 
 view which describes the apostasy, on the 
 one hand, the precarious fortunes of the 
 suffering "remnant" on the other. In the 
 numbers given, is it intended to indicate this 
 period in a precise way, or should the num- 
 bers themselves be viewed as symbols? 
 
 Our exposition shows that upon the whole 
 we think the latter alternative the safer view. 
 So many attempts at the identification of 
 prophetic numbers, or periods, have disas- 
 trously failed, that the safer conclusion seems 
 to be that such identification may never have 
 been intended; but that, instead, we should 
 treat these numbers as in the same way Apoc- 
 alyptic as other features of the book. Were 
 any attempt to be made on our own part in 
 the other line of inquiry, our data and our 
 conclusions would be different from those of 
 any of the writers consulted by us. We 
 suggest the following, as hypothetical and 
 tentative, merely. 
 
 The point of difficulty is to determine the 
 date at which the twelve hundred and sixty 
 days, the forty-two months, the three years 
 and a half, shall begin. The days, it is 
 assumed, are the days of prophecy, each 
 standing for a year. Knowing the point of 
 beginning, the terminal {)oint is easily ascer- 
 tained. It is (juite essential, however, that 
 
 this terminal point shall be such in the events 
 then transpiring as to justify the theory that 
 they do, indeed, mark the end of this period 
 of Christian trouble — this wilderness state of 
 the church. Our exposition has made much 
 of that epoch in modern history whose mo- 
 mentousness, every way, so grows upon one 
 the more it is studied — the epoch of the 
 Reformation. Simply by way of experiment 
 one might take some date in that epoch — 
 perhaps the notable one of the year in which 
 Luther publicly declared his position as a 
 reformer, b^' nailing his celebrated theses to 
 the door of the church in Wittenberg — the 
 year A. D. 1517. Deducting the number 
 twelve hundred and sixty from this, we have 
 as a suggested date for the opening of the 
 period in question, A. D. 257. Or, if it shall 
 be preferred to select some earlier date — say 
 A. D. 1511 or 1510, our point of beginning for 
 the twelve hundred and sixty days will be 
 A. D. 250. To make our experiment seem at all 
 plausible in its result, this latter date ought 
 to be a significant one in its relation to that 
 condition of Christianity represented in our 
 book under the image of the Woman in the 
 wilderness, or the Witnesses prophesying in 
 sackcloth. We shall mention three things 
 connected with that date, and leave them 
 with the reader for such weight in his own 
 conclusions as he may think proper to give 
 them. 
 
 The first of these is that it is the date of the 
 first general persecution. It was in the year 
 A. D. 249 that the Konian Emperor Decius 
 came to the throne. His predecessor was the 
 emperor Philip, against whom Decius had re- 
 belled, and whom he had dethroned and slain. 
 Gibbon says: "The fall of Philip introduced, 
 with the change of masters, a new system of 
 government so oppressive to the Christians 
 that their former condition, ever since the 
 time of Domitian, was represented as a state 
 of freedom and security compared with the 
 rigorous treatment which they experienced 
 under the short reign of Decius." Consider- 
 ing Gibbon's elaborate depreciation of all that 
 other historians have said of the suflTerings of 
 the Christians under pagan persecution, the 
 words we here quote may be taken in their 
 full force. In point of fact, this was the first 
 deliberate and organized effort, on the part of 
 a Roman emperor, to destroy the Christian 
 religi(.in throughout the empire. Nero s per- 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 181 
 
 secution was limited to the city of Rome; 
 Domitian's was directed chiefly against those 
 prominent Christians, the surviving relatives 
 of our Lord, or those who were supposed to 
 be such, in whom he fancied rivals to his own 
 imperium. Whatever more extensive meas- 
 ures of persecution were contemplated near 
 the close of his reign were cut sht>rt by his 
 death. Trajan's persecution was circumscribed 
 in extent, and reached only those who had in 
 some public way abandoned the state religion ; 
 the fourth, under Hadrian, was not a govern- 
 mental matter at all, but was simply the re- 
 sult of riotous outbreai<s in some of the cities 
 of Asia Minor; that of Marcus Aurelius was 
 limited and partial; others, until the time of 
 Decius, were in like manner partial, and in 
 some sense incidental. It was Decius who at 
 last realized how the pagan faith and worship 
 were threatened with destruction through the 
 wide and rapid growth of Christianit3^ By 
 him, for the first time, the efl^ort was distinctly 
 made to completely uproot and destroy the 
 new religion. His successors, Valerian and 
 Diocletian, followed his example. Soon after 
 came the conversion of Constantine, under 
 him the disastrous union of church and state, 
 and then out of this the new forms of assault 
 in which an apostate church became itself the 
 persecutor. 
 
 If one, therefore, were to search amidst 
 those early centuries for some date at which 
 to fix the actual beginning of that long war 
 of oppressive antichristian powers against 
 them that " kept the commandments of God 
 and the testimony of Jesus," that which we 
 have named, a. d. 250, would seem as suitable 
 as any other. But the date we name is notable 
 in another respect. Speaking of the interval 
 of twenty years between a. d. 248 and 268, a 
 part of it included in the reign of Decius, 
 Gibbon says: "During that calamitous pe- 
 riod, every instant of time was marked, every 
 province of the Roman world was afflicted, 
 by barbarous and military tyrants, and the 
 ruined empire seemed to approach the last 
 and fatal moment of its dissolution." It was 
 the time of the Gothic invasion, succeeded 
 by so many other inroads of barbarians, under 
 which it appeared at one time as if the very 
 last vestige of the old civilization were about 
 to disappear. It might not seem much out 
 of the way to select this as that point in mod- 
 ern history of which such signal foreshadow- 
 
 ings have come before us in previous chapters 
 of this prophecy. 
 
 The third circumstance connected with the 
 date named (a. d. 250), which we note for 
 such weight as the judicious reader may think 
 proper to give it, is this: At that point in 
 history, certainly as well as at any other, we 
 may locate, in a distinct and definite way,. 
 the origin of the papacy. Elliott, in Horce 
 Apocalypticce, evidently assumes that this 
 should be sought in some specific event; 
 either, for example, such as the public claim 
 made, a. d. 431, in the Council of Ephesus, 
 by the legate of Pope Celestine, as "a thing 
 undoubted that the Apostle Peter received 
 the keys and power of binding and loosing, 
 which Peter still lives and exercises judgment 
 in his successor's, even to this day and always," 
 — a claim twenty years later reaffirmed by 
 the legate of Pope Leo, in the Council of 
 Chalcedon, — or in the recognition of this claim 
 by imperial edicts, such as that of the em-' 
 peror Theodosius in A. D. 380, of Valentinian 
 and Theodosius II. in a. d. 445, or the em- 
 peror Justinian in A. D. 533. It is a question 
 whether in an inquiry of this nature it would 
 not be more correct to seek for the roots of the 
 great apostasy, rather than to fix upon some 
 particular stage of its growth. And those 
 roots would be found in the gradual develop- 
 ment of those views of the church and the 
 episcopate, out of which, in point of fact, the 
 whole system of papal usurpation ultimately 
 grew. Of course, since such development is 
 always slow, and more or less hidden, it is 
 not easy to name that point in it which may 
 best be treated as the characteristic and de- 
 cisive one. And still, something approximate 
 to exactness might be possible. If we were, 
 on our own part, to select any such point, it 
 would perhaps be the age of Cyprian, who 
 became Bishop of Carthage in A. d. 248. 
 Cyprian, it is true, like Jerome and others at 
 a later date, did not always act consistently 
 with his own church theory. The theory 
 itself, however, had no less of historical sig- 
 nificance on this account. Cyprian's doctrine 
 upon the subject of the church and the epis- 
 copate, as presented in his treatise upon "(TAe 
 Unity of the Church," shows what had come 
 to be authoritative, if not universally ac- 
 cepted, in Christian teaching. We may copy 
 a few brief passages. After having, in one 
 place, quoted our Lord's saj'ing to Peter, of 
 
182 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 which so much has long been made (muu. 
 16:18,19), he says: "Although to all the apos- 
 tles, after the resurrection, he gives an equal 
 power, and says, 'As the Father hath sent 
 me, even so send I you, receive ye the Holy 
 Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they shall 
 be remitted unto him, and whosesoever sins 
 ye retain, they shall be retained' — yet, that 
 lie might set forth unity, he arranged by his 
 authority the origin of that unity, as begin- 
 ning from one" ; that is, from Peter. "As- 
 ."urodly," he goes on, "the rest of the apos- 
 tles were also, the same as was Peter, endowed 
 with a like partnership both of honor and 
 of power; but the beginning proceeds from 
 unity; which one church, also, the Holy 
 Spirit in the Song of Songs (designated in the 
 person of our Lord, and says, ' My dove, my 
 spotless one, is but one. She is the only one 
 of her mother, elect of her that bare her.' 
 Does he who does not hold this unity of the 
 church think that he holds the faith?" From 
 this, then, he argues that for him who is not 
 in this one, indivisible church, salvation is 
 impossible. What enormous structures of 
 hierarchical usurpation have been built upon 
 this one principle, no student of Christian 
 history need be told. In like manner, Cyp- 
 rian holds "the episcopate itself to be one 
 and undivided." And he adds, " Let no one 
 deceive the brotherhood by a falsehood ; let 
 no one corrupt the truth of the faith by per- 
 fidious prevarication. The episcopate is one, 
 each part of which is held by each one for 
 the whole." It is not necessary to suppose 
 that either Cyprian or others understood the 
 bearing of their own principles, as regards 
 the church and the episcopate; least of all 
 can they have foreseen to what despotic uses 
 their teaching and the authority of their 
 great names would be applied. It is all the 
 same true that, in the growth of ideas such as 
 these which we quote from him, the Great 
 Apostasy had its root. Could we fix upon 
 any date as more likely to be Apocalyptically 
 foreseen as that at which the "wilderness" 
 state of the church should begin than that of 
 the age of Cyprian ? 
 
 Tiirc-o main causes of disturbance, corrup- 
 tion, and those widely })revalent evils and suf- 
 ferings which characterize that state, come 
 thus distinctly forth uj)on the scene of hi.story 
 in the same gen«>ral period — hierarchical and 
 ecclesiastical usurjjatioii ; persecution, delib- 
 
 erate, systematic, and with express purpose to 
 root out the pure faith of the gospel ; and 
 political and national anarchy, superinduced 
 by barbaric invasions which make the whole 
 •of Europe, for a succession of centuries, a 
 "wilderness" indeed. If we may date, now, 
 the beginning of the twelve hundred and sixty 
 days, or years, at this point, the middle of the 
 third century, say A. D. 250, we shall find the 
 period in question closing at the epoch of the 
 Reformation — an epoch, next to that of the 
 Saviour's advent itself, most auspicious for 
 Christianity and the world. 
 
 The above suggestions we leave with the 
 reader, for such entertainment, be it less or 
 more, as they may fairly claim. It will be 
 proper, however, to connect with them some 
 notice of other theories proposed, as to the be- 
 ginning and ending of the forty-two months, 
 the twelve hundred and sixty days, the time, 
 timrs and a half (three and a half yeafs). 
 The learned Joseph Mede, whose writings 
 upon the Apocalypse appeared between the 
 middle and close of the last century, begins 
 by claiming it as demonstrated, "out of Eze- 
 kiel's measures," that the outer court of the 
 temple "contained the inner court three 
 times and a half in quantity," and that in 
 accordance with this, "the time, forty-two 
 months, allotted to the profanation of the outer 
 court, should contain the times of the inner 
 court thrice and a half." Forty-two months 
 are three and a half years; so that "the times 
 of the inner court" should be one year, or 
 three hundred and sixty days— "each day for 
 a year." From which he concludes that "the 
 visible church continued in the primitive 
 purity of Christian worship, answerable to the 
 divine measure, three hundred and sixty 
 years," or adding the five "dies embolismnles" 
 three hundred and sixty-five years. About 
 A. D. 365, he claims, "began the idolatry of 
 relics and saint-worship to enter." This, how- 
 ever, supposes that the reckoning of the three 
 hundred and sixty-five years is from the birth 
 of our Lord. If the point of beginning be 
 the date of his suffering, then by the received 
 chronology we must begin the twelve hun- 
 dred and sixty days at A. D. 393 ; if at the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70, the date of 
 beginning will be A. D. 430; if from the date 
 at which the Ai)ocalypse was revealed to John, 
 it will be A. I). 454. At nearly the last-named 
 date, A. u. 4TC, the western emi)ire finally 
 
Ch. xiii.j 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 183 
 
 CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 AND I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw "a 
 beast rise up out of the sea, ''having seven lieads 
 and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and 
 upon his heads the "^ name of blasphemy. 
 
 1 mony of Jesus : and i he stood ujiou the sand of the 
 sea. 
 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having 
 ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten dia- 
 
 sDau. 7: 2, 7 6 cli. 12 : 3 ; 
 
 passed away. It is clear that there is here no 
 satisfactory point of departure, and upon add- 
 ing the twelve hundred and sixty days to the 
 several dates above named, the reader con- 
 versant with history will see that the point to 
 which we proceed remains in an equally un- 
 satisfactory state. 
 
 Elliott, in Horce Apocalypticce, selects for 
 the point of beginning, A. D. 533, the date of 
 the celebrated letter of the emperor Justinian 
 to the Pope, in which the latter was formally 
 recognized as head of the church. Adding 
 the twelve hundred and sixty years, and 
 we are brought to the date of the French 
 Kevolution. The reader will readily under- 
 stand that it needs all Elliott's ingenuity to 
 make this seem like the epoch of deliverance 
 and triumph which the prophecy imports. 
 
 Bengel's theories as to the interpretation of 
 Apocalyptic numbers have been completely 
 discredited by the result. As a significant 
 example, however, of the mistakes that very 
 learned and entirely sincere men have made 
 in dealing with matters of this kind, we may 
 note what he proposes upon the matter in 
 hand. His point of departure is the determi- 
 nation of the value of a prophetic year. 
 With this view, he takes the number GHB in 
 ch. 13: 18, and comparing it with the forty-two 
 months given in ver. 5 of the same chapter as 
 the period during which the beast should 
 "continue," he decides that the two numbers 
 correspond, and that they each represent 
 "the time of the beast." He then divides 
 six hundred and sixty-six, which he regards 
 as six hundred and sixty-six days (or years), 
 by forty-two, and finds, as the result, that a 
 prophetic month is fifteen and six-sevenths 
 days (years). Neglecting the fraction, he 
 decides that a prophetic day is about half a 
 year. Proceeding upon this basis, he finds 
 that "twelve hundred and sixty prophetic 
 days are six hundred and fifty-seven full 
 ordinary years." He then takes for his point 
 of departure the year a. d. 804, and adding 
 657, finds the twelve hundred and sixty days 
 closing in A. d. 1521. It was in A. D. 864, he 
 
 claims, that "the woman obtained a firm 
 place in the wilderness, in Europe, especially 
 in Bohemia; and there, in particular, she was 
 fed, until more free and more abundant food 
 was vouchsafed to her by means of the Re- 
 formation. The close of the one thousand 
 two hundred and sixty days is the Refor- 
 mation.' 
 
 In what we have written above, in the first 
 part of this Excursus, it has not been our 
 purpose to add another to the list of con- 
 fidently proposed solutions of the question iu 
 hand. We aim simply to offer suggestions, 
 or what we may call hypothetical tests, for 
 the use of any who may be interested in in- 
 quiries of this nature, or who may think 
 them essential in a comment upon books like 
 the Apocal3'pse. 
 
 THE REVELATION OF ANTICHRIST. 
 1-10. The Wild Beast Out or the 
 Sea. And I stood upon the sand of the 
 sea. According to the corrected reading by 
 best manuscripts it should read "/*<■ stood" 
 («(TT(i9r)), meaning the dragon. It will be 
 noticed that the Revised Version also places 
 the words: "and he stood upon the sand of 
 the sea," at the close of the last chapter. 
 Their most natural connection, indeed, would 
 seem to be with the seventeenth verse of that 
 chapter: still, they have also a connection 
 with what follows in the present, although a 
 remoter, and, perhaps, less obvious one. The 
 arrangement which places these words at the 
 seventeenth verse of chapter twelve seems to 
 be, upon the whole, preferable, while it is 
 also according to the best manuscript au- 
 thority. "The sea" is by most interjireters — 
 Dusterdieck, however, strongly objecting — 
 taken symbolically; as representing "the 
 great, restless mass of human kind." (Car- 
 penter, in Ellicott): "the billowy life of 
 peoples." (Lange): "the sea of nations." 
 (Victorinus and many others): "Europe." 
 (Bengel) : "the commotions then taking 
 place in the world." (Thomas Scott). It 
 should be kept in mind, however, that in the 
 
184 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 2 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 
 *and his feet were as Ihit feel of a bear, ^and his mouth 
 as the mouth of a lion: and ■'the dragon gave him his 
 power, 'and his seat, /and great authority. 
 
 2 dems, and upon his beads names of blasphemy. 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 
 
 iDau. 7: 6.... 6 D:.n. 7:5....c Daii. 7: ■t....dch. 
 
 ch. 16: 10..../ch. 12: 14. 
 
 vision !i sea appears, which, although it he one 
 feature of a vision, is wholly real to John as 
 he gazes upon it, while on the "sand," or 
 shore of the sea, he beholds the dragon stand- 
 ing. The Apocalyptic significance of what 
 he beholds, is another thing. — And saw a 
 beast rise ["rising," in Greek the present 
 participle] up out of the sea. Adopting 
 the rendering, "and he stood upon the sand 
 of the sea," we must change these following 
 words to, "and / saw," etc. Of the beast 
 which thus ri.ses we shall speak directly. 
 For the present it suffices to note the force of 
 the word in the Greek (eijpiof), "wild beast." 
 A distinction is to be noted between it and 
 the word which denotes the animal nature, 
 simply iiwov) ; or, as Carpenter expresses it, 
 the former [Oripiov), is a word which "makes 
 the beast nature predominant." The word in 
 this place implies ferocity and destructiveness. 
 — Having seven heads and ten horns. 
 "Having ten horns and seven heads," in 
 the corrected reading. The numbers, here, 
 might be treated as pure symbols, each ex- 
 pressing in its own way the idea of complete- 
 ness — that the formidable power represented 
 combines all the elements essential alike to 
 its nature and its operations ; seven expressing 
 this idea of completeness in a general way, 
 and ten the same idea in specific applications 
 to what is worldly, especially that which 
 relates to nations and their rulers. Reasons 
 will appear below, however, for at least asso- 
 ciating with this general symbolism what is 
 more actual and historical. — And upon his 
 horns ten crowns. "Diadems," may indi- 
 cate better the exact meaning. They are, as 
 in the case of the dragon, symbols of sover- 
 eignty.— And upon his heads the name 
 of blasphemy. The Alexandrine manu- 
 script reads " names "(oi-oMaTa). Westcott and 
 Hort adopt this reading in their Greek text, 
 and the revision follows it in the translation. 
 The whole clause will then read, "having ten 
 horns and seven heads, and upon his horns 
 ten diadems, and upon his lieads names of 
 bliisphemy." 
 
 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. Important help, now, 
 may be obtained in the interpretation of the 
 entire passage, with the words immediately 
 in hand, by a reference to Dan. 7 : 1-6. In 
 the vision there described is "a sea," upon 
 which "the four winds of heaven strive" — a 
 representation of the stormy, tumultuous, 
 national life of the world. Three beasts are 
 seen to arise out of the sea, one like a lion, 
 another like a bear, the third like a leopard. 
 In the vision which John sees, these three are 
 united in one. The bestial forms in Daniel 
 are understood to represent, the first the 
 Chaldean kingdom, the second the Medo- 
 Persian, the third the Grecian. After these 
 kingdoms was to come a fourth, recognized 
 as the Roman, and represented in the vision 
 by "a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 
 and strong exceedinglj'." Turning to John's 
 vision, we find, as above said, the three first 
 beasts of Daniel's vision combined in one — 
 leopard, bear, and lion. John's vision, there- 
 fore, so far blends in a single representation 
 the bestial forms in that of Daniel. The 
 characteristic feature in the vision of John is 
 the grouping or blending of the symbolical 
 forms seen ; while in Daniel it is their in- 
 dividualizntion. Where, then, in John's 
 grouping of many in one, shall we find 
 Daniel's fourth beast? It will be noticed 
 that Daniel does not compare his fourth 
 beast to any one animal form, as in the case 
 of the others; but describes it in general terms 
 only. It is "dreadful and terrible, and 
 strong exceedingly." We may first notice 
 what Auberlen says upon this: "His," 
 John's, "beast rises up out of the sea, as the 
 four beasts of Daniel; it hasten horns, like 
 Daniel's fourth beast; finally, it is composed 
 of lion, bear, and leo{)ard : that is, of the 
 Danielle beasts. The fourth beast, it is true, 
 is not mentioned, because it cannot be com- 
 pared with any other; but it is indicated by 
 the ten horns." If we follow Auberlen, then, 
 the head, in John's vision, which bears the 
 ten horns, will correspond with Daniel's 
 fourth beast. Auberlen represents tliis as the 
 seventh head, by which he understands "the 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 185 
 
 Gprmano-Slavonic Kingdom," or group of 
 kin-rdoms, into which the Koman Empire 
 upon its dissolution broi^e up, or which em- 
 braced, in a general wa^', the territory which 
 the empire had covered. Viewing the seven 
 heads as representing seven world-powers, 
 which in history appear as hostile to the 
 people and kingdom of God, he names them 
 as follows: "1. Egypt, 2. Assyria, 3. Baby- 
 lon. 4. Medo-Per»ia, 5. Greece. The Roman 
 is the sixth, and the Germano-Slavonic King- 
 dom is the seventh." With this view, Elli- 
 cott's commentary seems in the main to 
 agree. In the note upon the parallel passage 
 in ch. 17 : 10, of our book, it says: "Daniel 
 saw four wild beasts arise from the sea; they 
 represented the three great world-powers, 
 Babj'lon, and its three successors, Persia, 
 Greece, and Rome. This is a guide to us 
 here, as most commentators admit ; but two 
 great world-powers had preceded Babylon, 
 viz., Egypt and Assyria; these figure in the 
 ancient prophecies as forces hostile to the 
 righteous King. St. John, whose visions took 
 the range of the world's drama, could not see 
 the representative of the ever-rising spirit of 
 worldly hostility to God's chosen, without 
 seeing Egypt and Assyria included. The 
 voices of Moses and Isaiah called to him 
 across the centuries that in these the world- 
 principle of that day found its clearest and 
 strongest manifestation. In various empires 
 the world-power showed itself: in Eg.ypt, the 
 house of bondage (Ex. 20:2); in Assyria, that 
 exalted herself against God (isa.37: 23) ; in 
 Babylon, the hammer of the whole earth 
 (jer. 50:23); in Persia and in Greece; and in 
 succession these kingdoms fell, only to be 
 succeeded by another— Rome. Five fell [ch. 
 17 : 10] ; the one is. But what is the seventh, 
 the other which is yet to come? We must 
 recall the appearance of the wild beast. It 
 had seven heads and ten horns. Where were 
 these ten horns? It seems generally ad- 
 mitted that they were all on the seventh 
 head. The seventh head, which represents 
 the seventh kingdom, or manifestation of the 
 world-principle which is described fin ch. 17: 
 10] as not yet come, then, was different in 
 appearance from the others. It was ten- 
 horned. It had not the same unity of ap- 
 pearance as the others. Now the ten horns 
 are explained as ten kings, or minor powers 
 [17: 12]. The conclusion, therefore, is that 
 
 the seventh head must be rather an aggrega- 
 tion of monarchies than a single universal 
 empire. This agrees with Daniel's prophecy 
 that out of the fourth kingdom, wliich corre- 
 sponds, as we have seen, with the sixth head 
 of the wild beast here, ten kings should arise 
 (d;iu. 7: 7,23,24)." By tlils aggregation of mon- 
 archies, the writer quoted seems to mean 
 the same as Auberlen means in speaking of 
 the "Germano-Slavonic Kingdom." It is, 
 as we have already said, that "aggregation 
 of monarchies" which on the fall of the 
 Roman Emjjire by degrees arose in Europe — 
 all ultimately subject to the Papacy, and 
 filled with its antichristian spirit. The 
 Speaker's Cotnmentary summarizes its own 
 view thus: "The four forms of worldly 
 dominion which Daniel had symbolized 
 separately are here combined into one form, 
 representing the universal world-power; and 
 of that one torm the empire of Pagan Rome, 
 as the seer beheld it, supplied the outline." 
 
 It would be easy to fill pages with the 
 theories of interpretation for this part of our 
 work, furnished by different writers, ancient 
 and modern. We shall not confuse the reader 
 with them. That which is given above, and 
 in which the three authorities quoted mainly 
 agree, is the only one consistent with the prin- 
 ciple of interpretation followed in our own 
 exposition throughout the book, and in 
 which the symbolical figures on the Apoc- 
 alyptic scene are regarded as representative 
 of forces, rather than of individual person- 
 ages, orof distinct organisms, whether national 
 or other. Now, it is to be observed that how- 
 ever differing in other respects, the great 
 powers named above agreed in this — that their 
 attitude toward that beneficent force in this 
 world which we term the kingdom of God, 
 was ever one of bitter hostility. Whatever 
 nation or organism represented in any age 
 that kingdom was with these hostile powers 
 an object of attack. So it was with ancient 
 Israel. So it was with Christianity and the 
 Christian Church when these appeared. If 
 ever Israel was for the time in alliance with 
 any one of these powers, it was always an al- 
 liance unnatural, pernicious in result, and dis- 
 approved of God. When between Chris~ 
 tianity and the Roman State a like alliance 
 occurred, this also was unnatural, unchristian, 
 and in its consequences disastrous. Between 
 the "light" of God's spiritual kingdom and 
 
186 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 3 And I saw one of his heads ■'as it were wounded to 
 death; and liis deadly wound was healed: and <^ all the 
 world wondered after the beast. 
 
 3 power, and his throne, and great authority. And / 
 naw one of his heads as though it had been i smitten 
 unto death; and his dealli-stroke was healed: and 
 
 aver. 12: 14 b ch. 17: 
 
 the "darkness" of that world-spirit which 
 ever dwells in and animates the great world- 
 forces; between the "Christ" of the one and 
 the "Belial" of the other, there has never 
 been any possibility of such a "yoking to- 
 gether" as God can approve or the certain 
 eftects will justify. Alike hostile in spirit 
 and purpose was that papal power which 
 came in the place of the pagan one, and which 
 was in the dominant political forces of the 
 Middle Ages, what Paganism had been during 
 all the centuries of the ancient world. So 
 that the ten horns of the seventh head, al- 
 though representing monarchies nominally 
 Christian, really belong to the same general 
 grouping of world-powers hostile to the true 
 kingdom and the true people of God. It is, 
 therefore, this one great, pervading force, or 
 principle, embodied in so many differing and 
 yet resembling ways, which we understand 
 to be before us in tlie first beast of the Apoc- 
 alypse. Thus viewed, this beast becomes 
 antichrist, in his worldly, not spiritual mani- 
 festation. These world-powers stood opposed 
 to the kingdom of God, not alone, perhaps 
 not so much upon religious, as upon political 
 grounds. It was in the interest of their own 
 despotism thiit they made war upon the truth 
 and the peojjle of God, because discerning in 
 these the revelation of a principle hostile to 
 the world-principle, in its assertion that God 
 in Christ is ''Kitir/of kings and Lordoi lords." 
 And this explains the words quoted above, 
 but not commented upon at length: "Upon 
 his heads names of blasphemy." Every one 
 of these great w<jrld-powers, each represented 
 in the monarch who filled the throne, asserted 
 for itself the dominion, and often even the 
 divine titles, wliich belong to God alone. It 
 was in this spirit that Nebuchadnezzar made 
 his impious boast, " Is not this great Babylon 
 that / have built, for the house of the king- 
 dom, by the might of my power, and for the 
 honour of my majesty?" Then it was that 
 the word came to him: "The kingdom is de- 
 parted from thee. And they shall drive thee 
 from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the 
 beasts of the field ; they shall make thee to 
 eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass 
 
 over thee, until thou know that the Most High 
 ruleth in the kingdo?n of men, and giveth it to 
 whomsoever he wills." The blasphemy of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, thus rebuked and punished, 
 equally characterized all those selfish, bloody, 
 and impious despots who cursed the earth 
 with their tyranny during successive centu- 
 ries, and whose claim to such supremacy' as 
 they asserted was a perpetual defiance cast in 
 the face of God. It reached its climax in 
 those Roman Emperors who even claimed to 
 be gods, and demanded that divine honors 
 should be paid to them even while living. In 
 all these things we have what is symbolized 
 in the "names of blasphemy" on the seven 
 heads of the beast; the seven heads alone 
 being here mentioned in that connection, 
 while in the seventeenth chapter the whole 
 beast is described as "full of names of blas- 
 phemy." A more full treatment of the gen- 
 eral subject of the symbolism here, as also 
 that of the second beast, we ofter in the 
 Excursus upon Antichrist at the end of this 
 chapter. — And the dragon gave him his 
 power, and his seat [thro7ic], and great 
 authority. By this is indicated, as already 
 pointed out, that this despotism, especially in 
 its war upon the people and the truth of God, 
 is but the representative and the instrument 
 of the great enemy of both God and man. 
 Theantichristian spirit, whatever its form and 
 manifestation, is devilish. It is important to 
 note, at this point, the continued presence 
 and activity of the dragon, or Satan. He 
 does not now retire from the scene. The earth 
 and human life remain the theatre of his 
 activity, until the strong angel from heaven 
 binds him in chains and makes the abyss his 
 prison. 
 
 3. And I saw one of his heads as it 
 were wounded to death. The words, "I 
 saw," are not in the Greek, and should be 
 marked as supplied in the translation. As-" 
 suming the correctness of what has been said, 
 above, in the identification of the beast, with 
 its seven heads, the evident interpretation of 
 the words now before us is, that they i)oint to 
 that event, so signal in itself, and so vast in 
 its consequences, the destruction of tiie Ro- 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 187 
 
 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power 
 unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, 
 « Who J.V like unto the beast? who is able to make war 
 with him'.' 
 
 5 And there was given unto him 'a mouth speaking 
 great things and blasphemies; and power was given 
 unto him to continue "^ forty and two months. 
 
 4 the whole earth wondered after the beast ; and they 
 worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority 
 unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, say- 
 ing. Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to 
 
 5 war with him? and there was given to him a mouth 
 speaking great things and blasphemies; and there 
 was given to him authority ito continue forty and 
 
 acb. 18: 18 6 Daii. 7 : 8; 11:25; II: 
 
 . .c cU- 11 : 2 ; 13 : 6. 1 Or, to do bis works during. See Dan. 11 : 28. 
 
 man Empire in its pagan form. We should 
 note, however, the qualifying expression, "as 
 it were." It seemed a wounding unto death. 
 — And his deadly wound was healed. 
 Kome lived on, under a new form and new 
 names. Even the paganism of the old empire 
 was renewed in the idolatries of the Roman 
 Church. Its spirit essentially survived even 
 in the Christian Empire founded by Constan- 
 tine ; much more in that later one which, 
 originating with Charlemagne, was during so 
 many centuries confederate with the Papacy. 
 In the Papacy itself it survived, and even as 
 a world-power; for the popes, to this very 
 moment, have always made much of their 
 temporal sovereignty, and have been, so far 
 as this, among the most haughty, most ex- 
 acting, most domineering of temporal princes. 
 The deadly wound was healed. The world- 
 old Antichrist did not die. —And all the 
 world wondered after the beast. Despot- 
 ism has always been able to command the 
 homage of that worldly spirit to which in 
 so many ways it makes appeal. Men pay 
 obeisance to the very name of king or em- 
 peror. They are captivated by the splendors 
 of royalty. The palace, the throne, the gor- 
 geous retinue, the very tinsel of the humblest 
 retainer, dazzles them. They "wonder after" 
 a power which after all is "the beast," and 
 only because the god of this world has blinded 
 their eyes. 
 
 4. And they worshipped the dragon 
 which gave power unto the beast. " Be- 
 cause he gave his power unto the beast," is 
 the better reading. It is the worst feature of 
 despotism, and ever has been, that it corrupts, 
 while it oppresses. The subjects of it, denied 
 the exercise of those rights which imply the 
 higher attributes of manhood, deteriorate, in 
 the very act of becoming subservient. Too 
 often they become "worldly, sensual, devil- 
 ish," and in that spirit " worship the dragon." 
 — And they worshipped the beast, say- 
 ing. Who is like unto the beast ? who is 
 able to make war Avith him ? A graphic 
 picture of the servility of spirit in which the 
 
 world has consented to the domination of a 
 power whose right of rule was neither "di- 
 vine," since it came, not from God, but from 
 the enemy of God ; nor by any human choice, 
 since consent was never asked; nor is justified 
 by its fruits, since these were, not the happi- 
 ness and elevation, but the misery and degra- 
 dation, of those whom it both ruled and op- 
 pressed; yet which, century after century, 
 continued to impose upon human weakness 
 and depravity, and by force of mere iniquity 
 maintained its supremacy. There came a 
 time, indeed, when men learned to under- 
 stand at once their own rights and the nature 
 of that usurpation in which these had so long 
 been denied them. Yet until that time came 
 — and how long it was in coming! — "all the 
 world wondered after the beast." None dared 
 withstand him; for they said, "Who is able 
 to make war with him ? " 
 
 5. And there was given unto him a 
 mouth speaking great things and blas- 
 phemies. This, evidently, alludes to the 
 beast, in his whole embodiment, to Anti- 
 christ, here especially seen in his worldly 
 manifestation, though equally, and even 
 more true of him, in his spiritual one. The 
 great things and the blasphemies are the pre- 
 tensions of this haughty, usurping, God- 
 defj'ing, and man-enslaving power. Com- 
 pare with this Dan. 7: 8, where speaking of 
 the "little horn" which "came up among" 
 the ten horns described by him, Daniel says: 
 "And behold, in this horn were eyes like the 
 eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great 
 things." This is the characteristic, alwaj's, 
 of the world-power, the beast, when filled 
 with the dragon-spirit. — And power was 
 given unto him to continue forty and 
 two months. The Greek word translated 
 "continue" (jrot^trat), means, here, more 
 properly, to "act," or "do." Accordingly 
 in the margin of the revision, we find, " ^o do 
 his works." The difiference in meaning is 
 important. What is spoken of is not the 
 absolute duration of this world-power in its 
 whole embodiment, from the beginning to 
 
188 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against 
 God, to blaspheme his name, "and his tabernacle, and 
 them that dwell in heaven. 
 
 7 And it was given unto him *to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them: <^and power was given 
 him over all kindreds, and tongues, and uatious. 
 
 6 two months. And he opened his mouth for blas- 
 phemies against (iod, to blaspheme his name, and 
 his tabernacle, ecu them that i dwell in the heaveu. 
 
 7 2And it was given unto him to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them: and there was given 
 to him authority over every tribe and people and 
 
 a Johu 1: 14; Col. 2:9 6 Dau. 7 : 21 ; ch. 11 ; 7 ; 12: 17 c ch. 11 : 18 ; 17: 15.- 
 
 oiiiit, And it was given . . 
 
 lit uuthot iiics 
 
 the end. This might be said to comprehend 
 well nigh the whole period of human history. 
 The forty and two months are the period 
 during which this bestial power in that espe- 
 cial form in which John sees it, with its sixth 
 Roman head, and its seventh head with the 
 ten horns — concentrating and consummating 
 the sinister world-power of all former ages, 
 as well as those of its own — should "act," 
 should be allowed to exercise the power per- 
 mitted to it in opposing and seeking to de- 
 stroy. It is, again, the period of the ordeal, 
 so often already brought before us in this 
 book. Should any prefer the theory that 
 aims at the definite indentification of this 
 period, we may refer thein to the " Excursus," 
 at the close of the last chapter. The view of 
 Lange, however, may be preferred, when he 
 says: "These periods are not to be chrono- 
 logically calculated; still less are they to be 
 conformed to each other [for our own part, 
 we find them necessarily "conformed to each 
 other," having reference, in all these in- 
 stances, to the same season of trial for the 
 church and people of God]; the distinction 
 is in the choice of form. The forty-two 
 months constitute a changeful time of tribula- 
 tion, in which the number of rest and joy is 
 continually crossed by the number of toil and 
 distress, (7X6)." The word "given" must 
 not be misapprehended. It is "given" in the 
 sense of "permitted," "allowed." It is the 
 permissive providence of God, in its long- 
 suffering patience, and with a view to infi- 
 nitely wise ends, giving rein and scope for a 
 time to the kingdom of evil and of darkness. 
 G. And he opened his month in blasphe- 
 mies n$;ainst C>od. Even as a world-power. 
 Antichrist is a hideous impiety. — To blas- 
 pheme his name. Deny and dishonor the 
 8Ui)r('macy, i>iid the very being and person 
 of God. — And his tabernacle, and them 
 that dwell in heaven. The best Greek text 
 omits the "and" (xai) ; so that the literal 
 translation will be "his tabernacle, those 
 dwelling [or 'taberna(!ling,' the word for 
 'tabernacle' — and 'dwell' being one the 
 
 noun, and the other the verb, from the same 
 root] in heaven." The revision reads, it will 
 be noticed: "His tabernacle, even [this word 
 being supplied] those that dwell in heaven." 
 The two clauses are thus in ajjposition. 
 Alford understands by those that tabernacle 
 in heaven, the angels of God. Lange says; 
 "Not only is God's work of grace in Chris- 
 tians who are yet in this world blasphemed, 
 as a recognized reality ; but the inhabitants 
 of the world beyond are themselves, likewise, 
 blasphemed as vain shadows, or as men who, 
 for a phantom hope, have sacrificed their pre- 
 tensions to this present life." The comment in 
 EUicott is: "The saints, to whom the name 
 of the Lord is a strong tower, and who have 
 a tabernacle of witness in this wilderness 
 world, can yet tabernacle their spirits where 
 their treasure is, in the heaven, according to 
 that word, 'our citizenship is even now in 
 heaven' (Phii. 3:20)." Alford' s view seems in- 
 admissible; since the mention of "taber- 
 nacle" implies a pilgrim state, such as is true 
 of Christians in this world, and has once been 
 true of the saved in heaven ; but is not and 
 never was true of angels. What seems to be 
 meant by blaspheming the tabernacle of God, 
 is casting contempt upon all those spiritual 
 mercies of God, through which his people are 
 redeemed and kept while pilgrims in this 
 present evil world; and by blaspheming them 
 in heaven, the despising and rtfviling of that 
 heavenly hope, in the fruition of which the 
 redeemed of God are made safe and happy 
 with him forever. 
 
 7. And it was given unto him to make 
 war with the saints. "Given" in the sense 
 of "permitted." — And to overcome them. 
 Oppression and persecution long seemed to 
 have their own way in this world, as if the 
 antic^hristian world-power were stronger than 
 God him.self But this was only because it 
 pleased God to so "permit," for a season. 
 In the margin of the revision will be seen the 
 words, "The Greek text in this ver.se is un- 
 certain." Westcott and Hort, accordingly, 
 place in brackets the Greek for the words, 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 189 
 
 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship 
 him, "whose names are not written in the book of lite 
 ot the Lamb slain 'from the foundation of the world. 
 
 9 <^lf any man have an ear, let him hear. 
 
 10 ''He that leadeth into captivity shall go into cap- 
 tivity; «he that killeth with the sword must be killed 
 with the sword. /Here is the patience and the faith of 
 the saints. 
 
 8 tongue and nation. And all that dwell on the earth 
 shall worship him, every (jiw whose name hath not 
 been i written from the foundation of the world in 
 
 9 the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain. It 
 10 any man hath an ear, let him hear, sjf anyman 
 
 ^ 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 the faith of the 
 saints. 
 
 a Ex. 32 : 32 ; Diin. I'J 
 26:52.. ./cli. 14: 1; 
 
 wvrld 2 The Gi'n.ek text in ihi^ vei'se is somewhul u 
 
 Phil. 4:3; ch.3:5:20: 12, 15; 21 : 27....6 eli. 17 : 8....c ch. 2 : 7....d Isa. .33 : 1. .. .e Gen. 9 : 6 ; Afatt. 
 1 Or. written in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the 
 I'tuiii... 'S Oi-,Wii.\\tii\\ into captivity iOv.atedfastne&s. 
 
 "And it was given him to make war with the 
 saints and to overcome them." There seems, 
 however, to he only uncertainty as to whether 
 these words really belong to the text. As the 
 reasons for omitting are not conclusive, it is 
 best perhaps to retain them. — And power 
 [authority] was given him over all kin- 
 dreds, and tongues, and nations [every 
 kindred, and tongue, and nation]. How 
 completely, during long centuries, the world 
 was trampled down by this godless power, 
 is a well-known fact of history. So it was 
 "given," "permitted," in that "mystery of 
 God" which human reason, quite in vain, 
 seeks of itself to fathom or explain. 
 
 8. And all that dwell upon the earth 
 shall worship him, whose names are not 
 [every one whose name hath not been] writ- 
 ten in the book of life of the Lamb slain 
 from the foundation of the world. A 
 most important exception is here implied. 
 Even during the supremacy of this wild 
 beast out of the sea, this reign of the godless 
 and God-def^'ing world-power, there were 
 some whose names were written in "the book 
 of life of the Lamb." This is implied in the 
 statement that all save these worshiped the 
 beast. These are the witnesses, prophesying 
 in sackcloth; they are named to us, again, in 
 the symbol of the temple's inner court; they 
 are the faithful "remnant" of the "seed" 
 of the woman. These do not vrorship the 
 beast. Here is the one ray of relieving light 
 traversing those centuries of darkne.ss. The 
 order of the clauses in this verse is somewhat 
 c.anged, as will be observed, in the revision. 
 The margin retains the same order as in the 
 common version ; the text, however, is made 
 to read: "every one whose name hath not 
 been written from the foundation of the world 
 in the book of life of the Lamb that hath 
 been slain." If this translation be preferred, 
 it implies the doctrine of the eternal election 
 of the redeemed ; if that of the common ver- 
 
 sion be chosen, it presents to view that eternal 
 covenant of the Father and the Son, in which 
 redemption was provided. "From the foun- 
 dation of the world," is the New Testament 
 mode of representing what took place in the 
 remote past, before time, as measured in the 
 periods of this world, had existence. We 
 notice that the order of clauses in the re- 
 vision, as given above, is that preferred by 
 the American revisers. The English revisers 
 place the marginal reading in the text, and 
 remove the rendering here given to the mar- 
 gin. In deciding upon this order (which also 
 is adopted by Hengstenberg, Dii-^terdieck, and 
 other.s, while Carpenter, in Ellicott, and 
 Lange prefer the other), the American re- 
 visers may have had some reference to ch. 
 17 : 8, where we read, " whose names were not 
 written in the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world," and which seem to be a re- 
 peating of what is said here. The structure 
 of the Greek in our present passage allows of 
 either rendering; the parallel passage at 17: 8 
 seems, however, to favor the changed order 
 of the clauses. 
 
 9. If any man have an ear, let him 
 hear. The solemn call to attention so fre- 
 quent in this book. 
 
 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall 
 go into captivity; he that killeth with 
 the sword must be killed with the sword. 
 The change of translation, here, is important: 
 "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" — 
 so the revision. Alford translates: "If any 
 man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth; 
 if any to be slain with the sword, he should 
 be slain with the sword." Carpenter's is, for 
 substance, the same. The text followed by 
 these two writers uses the Greek word for 
 "kill" in the passive voice and infinitive 
 mood. The text of Westcott and Hort, which 
 the revisers follow, and also of Tischendorf, 
 
190 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIIL 
 
 11 And I beheld another beast "coming up out of the I 11 And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth ; 
 earth ; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake 
 as a dragon. I 
 
 gives the indicative future of the active voice, 
 with an alternative present indicative active 
 in the margin. This text gives the latest 
 revision, and is probably safest to follow. 
 Adopting the translation of the revision, the 
 sense will be not materially different from 
 that assigned to the words in Ellicott, where 
 they are taken as "a caution to the suffering 
 saints . . . that the way of the church's vic- 
 tory lay through suffering captivity and meet- 
 ing the sword, and that the temptation to take 
 the sword, or seize the weapons of their foes, 
 would be fatal to their true success." Hence 
 the force of the words which follow. — Here 
 is the patience [endurance, steadfastness] 
 and the faith of the saints. In this way 
 shall their endurance unto the end, their faith 
 in God, and their patient waiting for him be 
 tried. 
 
 11-18. The Wild Beast Out of the 
 Earth. 
 
 11. And I beheld another beast, coming 
 up out of the earth. Alford's notice of 
 the resemblances and differences of the two 
 beasts in this chapter bring? out the chief 
 points so clearly that we copy his words here: 
 " (1) These two beasts are identical as to genus; 
 they are both ravaging powers (flipta), hos- 
 tile to God's flock and fold. (2) They are 
 diverse in origin. The former comes up out 
 of the sea ; that is, if we go back to the sym- 
 bolism of Daniel, is an empire, rising up out 
 of confusion into order and life; the latter 
 comes out of the earth, i. e., we may not un- 
 reasonably say, arises out of human society 
 and its progress ; which as interpreted by the 
 context, will import its origin and gradual 
 development during the reign and progress 
 of the secular empire denoted by the former 
 beast. (3) The second beast is, in its zeal and 
 action, entirely subsidiary to the first. It 
 wields its authority, works miracles in its 
 support, causes men to make and to worship 
 its image; nay, itself is lost in the splendor 
 and importance of the other. (4) An impor- 
 tant distinction exi.sts between the two beasts, 
 in that the second one has two horns like a 
 lamb. In other words, this second beast puts 
 on a mild and lamb-like appearance, which 
 
 the other does not. But it speaks as a dragon ; 
 its words, which carry its real character, are 
 fierce and unrelenting; while it professes that 
 which is gentle, its behests are cruel." As in 
 our own exposition, he views the first beast 
 as representing, "not the Roman Empire 
 merely, but the aggregate of all the empires of 
 this world as opposed to Christ and his king- 
 dom." The Roman Empire, distinctively, he 
 finds represented in the sixth head of the 
 beast, which "was crushed, and to all appear- 
 ance, exterminated." The deadly wound so 
 made, however, was healed "in the establish- 
 ment of the Christian Roman Empire." It is 
 important that we make especial note of the 
 fact that the first beast in its entirety, repre- 
 sents, not any one hostile world-power, but 
 the "aggregation" of such in all ages up to 
 the time when the Roman power appeared, 
 flourished, reigned, and fell, and including 
 that power itself. In other words, represents 
 that mighty evil principle of t3'rannous hos- 
 tility which has appeared and re-appeared 
 from age to age, alwaj's, however diverse in 
 form, identical in spirit. As will be seen 
 presently, this same power again re-appears 
 in the wild beast out of the earth, with re- 
 semblances and differences which may leave 
 us in no doubt as to its own identification. — 
 And he had two horns, like a Iamb. 
 This first itiMii in the description is specially 
 important. Indeed, it marks the only point 
 of real and radical difference between this 
 beast and the former one. The first beast 
 exhibited in its whole exterior the ferocity 
 and destructiveness of its nature. This one 
 put on a symbol of gentleness and mildness ; 
 assumes, indeed, in some part of its exterior, 
 the semblance of that one among animals 
 which is most gentle and harmless, and which 
 stands as a ty)ie of " the meekness and gentle- 
 ness of Christ" himself It is clear, there- 
 fore, that this second embodiment of the anti- 
 christian principle assumes to be itself Chris- 
 tian ; its pretensions are to represent all that 
 is most Christian.— And he spake as a 
 dragon. His voice betrays him. It would 
 he hard to imagine two wider opposites than 
 the lamb-like pretense and the dragon reality. 
 
Ch. XIIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 191 
 
 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast 
 before him, and causeth the earth and them which 
 dwell therein to worship the first beast, "whose deadly 
 wound was healed. 
 
 13 And ''he doeth great wonders, =so that he maketh 
 fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight 
 of men, 
 
 14 And ''deceiveth them that dwell on the earth 'by 
 the means of those miracles which he had power 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, 
 which had the wound by a swoi'd, /and did live. 
 
 12 as a dragon. 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 
 
 13 beast, whose death-stroke wa.s healed. And he doeth 
 great signs, that he should even make fire to come 
 down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight 
 
 14 of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the 
 earth by reason of the signs which it was given hin» 
 to do iu 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 
 
 ; ch. 16 : 14. . . .c 1 Kings 18 : 38 ; 2 Kings 1 : 10, 12. . . .d oh. 12 : 19 ; 19 : 20. 
 .2:9, 10..../2KingH20:7. 
 
 It is the combination of hypocrisy with feroc- 
 ity, and each in its utmost extreme. 
 
 12. And he exerciseth all the power of 
 the first beast before him. Though differ- 
 ing in form and in origin, the two beasts are 
 in spirit, purpose, and etfect, identical. The 
 "power" spoken of is power in the sense of 
 "authority," and the word is so translated in 
 the revision. "Before him" means in his 
 presence, or in his sight. The first beast, 
 evidently, does not pass from the scene, but 
 is still present. The second beast does not 
 succeed him, but reigns jointly with him, 
 only with even superior "authority," as if 
 usurping even that "bad eminence." Yet it 
 is usurpation of a peculiar kind. _ He "ex- 
 ercises the authority" of the first beast in 
 the interest of that beast.— For ho causeth 
 the earth, and them which dwell therein 
 to worship the first beast, whose deadly 
 w^ound was healed. The idea given us, 
 then, of these two beasts is, that though the 
 one is a growth out of the disorderly and 
 tumultuous national life of the world, while 
 the other represents some new principle of 
 organization, in which pretension is made to 
 what is Christian in spirit and in fact, j^et 
 they embody one and the same evil princi- 
 ple; while that which is later in origin, 
 although exercising the "authority" of the 
 former one, to some extent even as usurping 
 it, nevertheless seeks the same bad end, aim- 
 ing to promote in the world the same suprem- 
 acy of evil. In other words, this power 
 represented 113' the second beast, while it 
 professes to be Christian, is itself worldly ; 
 and while in pretense exercising power in the 
 interests of Christ's kingdom, in truth seeks 
 to promote, and does promote, that same 
 antichristian usurpation which, age after age, 
 oppressed the earth, defied God, and on all 
 its seven heads carried the "names of blas- 
 phemy." 
 
 13. And he doeth great wonders. In a 
 
 vision all the appearances seem to be real. 
 It does not, therefore, consi.st with the Apoca- 
 lyptic character of the representation here, 
 that even any intimation should be given of 
 the unreality of these "wonders," or "signs," 
 further than is afforded in the next verse, 
 where it is said that in all the beast is a 
 deceiver. The word for wonders (ay)^.ela) is 
 one of the words commonly used in the New 
 Testament to denote real miracles. These in 
 the vision appear to be real, and are accord- 
 ingly spoken of in that light. — So that he 
 maketh fire come down from heaven on 
 the earth [unto the earth] in the sight of 
 men. This appears to be an allusion to what 
 took place on Mount Carmel, in the times of 
 Ahab and Elijah, when the prophetical mis- 
 sion of the latter was justified, in opposition 
 to Baal and his prophets, bj' the fire that 
 came down from heaven and consumed the 
 sacrifice on the altar. In the vision, the 
 second beast is seen performing a like won- 
 der, with a view to establish his claim to be 
 even more than the messenger and represent- 
 ative of God on earth — his vicegerent. This 
 second beast, then, is a power which makes 
 this claim, and in support of it professes to 
 work those miracles by which, in ages past, 
 the prophets and messengers of God have 
 been recognized as sent of him. 
 
 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on 
 the earth by the means of those miracles 
 which he had power to do in the sight 
 of [the presence of] the beast. The text, as 
 corrected by best authorities, should be trans- 
 lated: "the signs which it was given [per- 
 mitted] him to do " (to (r-qixeia. a i&66r] avTijj ■noirfaai). 
 
 Clearly, it is not meant that these were real 
 miracles, however they may have seemed, in 
 
 I the vision, to be such. It may be an open ques- 
 tion whether some supernatural power, of an 
 
 ' evil kind, may not have been exercised by 
 
192 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of 
 the beast, that ttie iuiaj^e of the beast should both 
 speak, "and cause that as many as would not worship 
 the image of the beast should be killed. 
 
 10 And he eauseth all, both small and great, rich and 
 poor, free and bond, 'to receive a mark in their right 
 Land, or in their foreheads: 
 
 15 lived. And it was given unlo him to give breath to 
 it, even to the image of the beast, Mhat the image of 
 the beast should both speak, and cause that as many 
 as should not worship the image of the beast should 
 
 16 be killed. And he eauseth 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 
 
 ach.l6:2; 19:20; 20: 4... .6 ch. 14: 9; 19 
 
 20 ; 20 : 4. 1 Some ancient nutborities read, that even the image of the beast should 
 
 speak ; and he shall cause, etc. 
 
 those who in different ages of the world, by arts 
 such as these here alluded to, have deceived 
 "them that dwell on the earth." However this 
 maybe, that the "great wonders" here spoken 
 of were in no sense such miracles as those by 
 which Christian truth is sustained, is clear. 
 And while, as we shall see in the end, the 
 identification of this second wild beast is so 
 certain, we find alike in the character he 
 bears, and in the terms in which the "signs" 
 he was permitted to do are here spoken of, 
 abundant testimony to the real nature of 
 these lying wonders. — Saying to them that 
 dwell on the earth that they should 
 make an image to the beast which had 
 the wound by a sword [the stroke of the 
 sword] and did live. This renewed mention 
 of the "deadly wound" that was "healed," 
 seems to emphasize that incident, as being in 
 itself remarkable, and as characterizing in a 
 peculiar way, the first beast, as he appears in 
 the vision. The persistency of the antichris- 
 tian principle, in this world, in its war upon 
 God and his people, is, indeed, one of the 
 most remarkable facts of history. Wounded 
 unto death in one form, it never fails to re- 
 appear in another. When the empire itself 
 became Christian, and the emperor, in the 
 insignia of royalty, was seen presiding in a 
 Christian council, and lending the whole 
 strength of the imperial authority to enforce 
 its decrees, it must have seemed as if Chris- 
 tianity had at last triumphed in truth. The 
 Christian imperium was itself antichristian, 
 and lent itself to that new form of the same 
 godle.ss principle which appeared in the great 
 antichristian apostasy, in its confederacy with 
 the dragon to make war upon the woman, 
 and upon "the remnant of her seed." Anti- 
 christ had not died. For those whom the 
 second beast — the new manifestation of the 
 old evil principle — succeeded in deceiving, 
 were taught to worship, not himself, but his 
 "image." The power which the Koman 
 Church claimed and exercised was not the 
 old Roman imperium, but its semblance. 
 
 And in reproducing it, in that sense, and 
 exercising it under the mask of a so-called 
 Christian hierarchy, it reproduced, also, 
 under similar Christian guises, the Roman 
 Paganism. Its masses, its festivals, its wor- 
 ship of the virgin, and saints, and of images — 
 these are none of them Christian. They are 
 the old pagan idolatry under new forms. 
 That which Romanism at one time deceived 
 all Europe into worshiping was, thus, "the 
 image of the beast which had the stroke of 
 the sword and lived." 
 
 15. And he had power [it teas given to 
 him] to give life [spirit, wveCfiaJ unto the 
 image of the beast. Never was Antichrist 
 more truly alive than while the papal suprem- 
 acy lasted. — That the image of the beast 
 should both speak, and cause that as 
 many as would not worship the image 
 of the beast should be killed. That dra- 
 gon voice which was heard in the world 
 through all former ages of oppression, of 
 cruel warfare upon all that maintained the 
 cause of truth, and righteousness, and God, 
 was heard again in this new revelation of 
 Antichrist. And the same deeds of murder 
 were re-enacted, upon even a more monstrous 
 scale. By no pagan power, in its hostility 
 to the kingdom of God, were such cruelties 
 practiced as by antichristian Christianity, 
 itself 
 
 16. And he eauseth all, both small and 
 great, rich and poor, free and bond, 
 to receive a mark in their right hand, 
 or in their foreheads. The more exact 
 translation of the new revision may be seen 
 above. The sense, however, is not altered by 
 the change of rendering. What, then, was 
 this " mark of the beast" ? In ancient times, 
 slaves received a brand, or mark, upon the 
 forehead, hand, or some other part of the 
 body, indicative of the ownership of their 
 masters. In ch. 7 : 3, we find the servants of 
 God thus receiving a mark in their foreheads. 
 Here it is those who are servants of the beast, 
 or those worshiping the image of the beast— 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 193 
 
 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that 17 right hand, or upon their forehead ; and that no 
 
 had the mark, or "the name of the beast, 'or the num^ 
 ber of his name. 
 
 18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understand- 
 ing count ■'the number of the beast: «for it is tlie num- 
 ber of a man ; and his number in Six hundred three- 
 score and six. 
 
 man should be able to buy or sell, save he that hath 
 the mark, even the name of the beast or the number 
 18 of his name. Here is wisdom. He that halh under- 
 standing, let him count the uuml)er of the beast; 
 for it is the number of a man : and his number is 
 iSix hundred and sixty and six. 
 
 ach. 14: 11....5ch. 15: 2.. ..c cli. 17 
 
 ...d ch. 15 ; 2 e ch. 21 : 17. 1 Some aucieat authorities read, Six hundred and sixteen. 
 
 the servants and followers of Antichrist. " It 
 is utterly unnecessary," says Carpenter, most 
 truly, "to take this brand of evil literally, 
 any more than we took the seal of Christ 
 (ch. 7:3) literally. That seal," he adds, "we 
 understand as spiritual, in the faith and in 
 the character; this evil brand we must inter- 
 pret in like manner. It surely means acqui- 
 escence in character and action to the prin- 
 ciples of this tyrannical world-power; the 
 right hand is the symbol of toil and social 
 intercourse ; the forehead is the symbol of 
 character, as time is ever writing its awful 
 tale upon men's brows." 
 
 17. And that no man mi^ht buy or sell, 
 save he that had the mark or the name 
 [even the name'\ of the beast, or the num- 
 ber of his name. Here occurs one of those 
 intimations which point so surely to the right 
 identification of the persecuting power sym- 
 bolized. One of the means used, both under 
 pagan emperors and under popes, to compel 
 conformity, was that here alluded to — the in- 
 terdiction of ordinary intercourse between 
 those who refused thus to conform, either to 
 the pagan or the papal beliefs and rites, and 
 their fellow-citizens — extending even to the 
 mere intercourse of buying and selling. Al- 
 ford quotes a pas.sage from Bede, in which this 
 is asserted of Diocletian ; and also a canon 
 of the third Lateran Council, held A. D. 1139, 
 to the following etfect: "iVe quis eos — scil. 
 hereticos — in domibus vel in terra sua tenere 
 vel fovere vel negotiationem cum eis exercere 
 presumat : Let no one presume to hold inter- 
 course with the heretics, either in houses or 
 in land, or any species of negotiation." In 
 more modern times like interdicts have been 
 imposed in papal countries, and even in Prot- 
 estant ones, where under dominant church- 
 and-state systems the old hierarchical spirit 
 survived. The clauses, "save he that had 
 the mark, or the name of the beast, or the 
 number of his name," are symbolical expres- 
 sions, pointing to the same general idea as 
 wehave set forth in the statement that those 
 
 who owned subjection to the beast received 
 "a mark, in [on] their right hand, or in 
 [upon] their forehead." It expresses the ab- 
 solute subjection imposed by this evil power. 
 The stigmata were symbols of servile subjec- 
 tion. Those who bore them were claimed as 
 slaves, were held, bought, and sold as prop- 
 erty ; or, when it was a mark of military 
 enrollment, it implied absolute control on the 
 part of the monarch to whose service they 
 were devoted, and his right to compel such 
 service at his own arbitrary will. No student 
 of history needs to be told how perfectly in 
 this particular the popes copied the absolu- 
 tism of the pagan imperium; the second beast 
 thus "exercising all the authoritj' of the first 
 beast," with even a more absolute claim to 
 ownership in both body and soul. 
 
 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath 
 understanding count the number of the 
 beast ; for it is the number of a man ; 
 and his number is six hundred three score 
 and six. It seems unnecessary to raise any 
 question as to the reading, here, whether it 
 shall stand "sixteen and six" {£(c/cai8«ac^), or, 
 "sixty and six" (tf^KOfTa If). Some ancient 
 authorities give the former, but the text as 
 settled bj^ Westcott and Hort, the latter, which 
 may be accepted as correct. There is also a 
 further question as to what is implied in the 
 expressions, "Here is wisdom," and, "Let him 
 that hath understanding." Alford views them 
 as a species of challenge, inviting students of 
 the passage to exercise their "wisdom" in 
 solving the mystery of the beast's number. 
 Others seem to think the implication to be 
 that a solution is really impossible to the 
 merely human "wisdom," or "understand- 
 ing," and to be left as one of those mysteries 
 which to men are inexplicable. Perhaps the 
 word "challenge" is not quite appropriate in 
 such a case; and still, the reading of this 
 "number of the beast" seems to be proposed 
 as a thing possible, though difficult ; while a 
 clue to the difficulties of it appears to be given 
 in the clause, "for it is the number of a man." 
 
194 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIIT. 
 
 Just what this Imports, it may not be easy to 
 determine. What is "the number of a man? " 
 The most likely answer is that which is sug- 
 gested in the phrase used more than onee in 
 other places, as in the preceding verse of this 
 chapter, and again in verse second of chapter 
 fifteen, "the number of his name''' — that is, 
 the number of the name of the beast. If, 
 then, the number of the beast is the number 
 of his name, "the number of a man," in the 
 clause under consideration, appears to mean 
 ■"the number of " a man's "name"; and this 
 may most reasonably be supposed to be the 
 number resulting from adding together the 
 separate numbers represented by the several 
 letters of the name, in accordance with the 
 Greek system of enumeration. It is upon 
 this basis, in fact, that the various attempts 
 made to solve the difficulty — and they have 
 been very many — have mostly proceeded. We 
 cannot, of course, take space for discussing 
 these numerous attempts. A very ancient 
 solution, dating from the time of Irenseus, 
 seems to us the only really probable one. 
 According to this method of solution, the 
 name in question is the name Z/«iet«os, Latin 
 (in its Greek form as AoTeiras). The numerical 
 value of the letters will amount to 606 (A ^=30, 
 a = l, T = 300, € = 5, 1 = 10, v = 50, = 70, s = 
 200; total, 666). Alford appears to prefer this 
 view. As explained by Irenaeus, who lived 
 before the papal manifestation of Antichrist 
 had come, the word denoted in this place the 
 pagan Roman Empire. After alluding to this, 
 Alford, si)eaking of Papal Rome as now 
 equally to be included, says: "The Latin 
 Empire, the Latin Church, Latin Christianity, 
 have ever been its commonly current appella- 
 tions; its language, civil and ecclesiastical, 
 has ever been Latin; its public services, in 
 defiance of the most obvious requisite for 
 public worship, have ever been throughout 
 the world conducted in Latin ; there is no one 
 word which could so completely describe its 
 character, and at the same time unite the 
 ancient and modern attributes of the two 
 beasts, as this." It may possibly seem to 
 some readers that if the number is said to be 
 "the number of o man,''' the implication 
 must be the natnt; of some individual man, or 
 emperor — which is not true of Lateinos. This, 
 however, does not necessarily follow. Th.e 
 meaning may be, and probably is, that we 
 must find the immber of the beast from the 
 
 number of his name, just as we should find 
 the number of a man from the number of his 
 name. Besides, it is quite impossible that any 
 one man, either emperor or pope, should meet 
 the conditions of the intense and comprehen- 
 sive characterization of the "beast" as here 
 described. Upon the whole, we prefer the 
 explanation above given, conceding, however, 
 the liability to error in a case of this kind. 
 Accepting it, the second beast becomes Anti- 
 christ in his manifestation as a spiritual power, 
 chiefly papal Rome, as the first beast was Anti- 
 christ in his manifestation as a world-power, 
 culminating in pagan Rome. 
 
 EXCURSUS B.— ANTICHRIST. 
 
 The topics needing a wider treatment, sug- 
 gested by the foregoing exposition, may be 
 most conveniently grouped under the one 
 general topic of the chapter. The chapter 
 itself is one of those pivotal ones, upon each 
 of which some section of the Apocalyptic 
 scheme appears to turn. To some extent, it 
 sums the revelations of previous chapters, 
 and in a like measure anticipates those which 
 follow. The operation of evil forces, hostile 
 to Christ and to his kingdom and cause, has 
 been before us under the seals and the trum- 
 pets. Here the same forces come upon the 
 scene in distinct personifications, and the 
 "mystery" of that "iniquity" which we 
 have .seen at work is revealed in the attri- 
 butes, symbolizing all that is most bloody, 
 cruel, . and destructive, with which these 
 "wild beasts" are endowed. It becomes 
 clear, also, that what might have seemed to 
 be distinct forces, though operating to a like 
 evil end, are really manifestations of one 
 sinister power. The first beast receives from 
 the dragon "his power, and his seat, and 
 great authority"; while the .second beast 
 " exercises all the authority of the first"; and 
 not only .so, but he does this in Itis sight, in 
 his presence — the duality of the representation 
 becoming thus, in a measure, lost in the 
 unity of spirit and design. Agiiin, the second 
 beast, though lamb-like in some part of his 
 exterior, speaks "with the voice of the 
 dragon." Tliese three sinister appearances, 
 therefore, really represent one and the same 
 hostile power. As to its origin and spirit, 
 this power is Satanic; as to one form of its 
 manifestation, it "rises up" out of political 
 tumult and disorder, while as to the other, it 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 195 
 
 is a birth out of organized and usurping 
 systems, earthly in their nature, though mak- 
 ing pretensions far higher — the three repre- 
 sent one mighty principle of evil, which, be- 
 cause in history it nuikes war, as the concen- 
 tration and expression of all that is worst in 
 it, upon Christ and his cause and his people, 
 bears the appropriate name. Antichrist. 
 
 There is only one place in the New Testa- 
 ment where this precise name occurs^viz., in 
 John's First Epistle, 2: 18, 'UT: "Little 
 children, it is the last hour: and as ye 
 heard that antichrist cometh, even now have 
 there arisen many antichrists: whereby we 
 know that it is the last hour. . . . Who is 
 the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is 
 the Christ? This is the antichrist, even 
 he that denieth the Father and the Son." 
 [Revised Version.] This passage is very 
 important as suggesting the correct view 
 of the antichristian principle, whatever the 
 form or the period of its manifestation. John 
 does not mean to say that every one denying 
 that Jesus is the Christ is himself Antichrist, 
 but that in this denial is the essence of all 
 that is antichristian, whensoever and howso- 
 ever it shall appear. When this apostle 
 comes to represent this same fullness "of all 
 subtlety and -all mischief" under Apocalj-ptic 
 imagery, he gives us, as we have seen, that 
 wider view which takes in all history, and 
 which exhibits this power to us as represented 
 in all forms of oppressive and impious despot- 
 ism, and, as in every age and under all its 
 various shapes, one and the same "enemy of 
 all righteousness." 
 
 The peculiar antichristian development, 
 that which was in an especial sense Ant\ch7-ist, 
 this apostle, in the passage just quoted from 
 his epistle, exhibits to us as having had its 
 beginning in the very church of Christ itself 
 He speaks, in the connection of the passage, 
 of those who "went out from us," because 
 they "were not of us; for, if they had been 
 of us, they would have continued with us; 
 but they went out that they might be made 
 manifest that they are not of us." They had 
 not "the anointing of the Holy Ghost," of 
 which he speaks in the same connection. 
 They were the worldly element in the 
 church — a fact which may, in some measure, 
 explain what is said, that the second beast 
 "rises up out of the earth," an elemen.t which 
 more and more manifested itself, gathering 
 
 strength, age by age, until at last it had be- 
 come the wholly dominant one. This was, in 
 its fully developed state, as a cruel and oppres- 
 sive hierarchy, the "wild beast out of the 
 earth"; having its origin in that earthly, 
 selfish, sensual, usurping, and violent spirit, 
 which, contrasted with what is heavenly 
 and truly Christian, is, indeed, earthly and 
 ffniiichristian. This is Antichrist, in his ex«- 
 press and peculiar manifestation. This is 
 "The Man of Sin." 
 
 It is clear, then, if our exposition of the 
 chapter be correct, that we are not to find the 
 whole meaning and scope of this name which 
 has played so great a part in modern religious 
 controversy in the Papacy alone. Indeed, 
 the passage quoted from John's First Epistle, 
 itself, makes this evident. Like utterances are 
 found in the writings of Paul : as in 2 Thess. 
 2: 7: "For the mj^stery of lawlessness [Re- 
 vised Version] doth already work; only there 
 is one that restraineth now, until he be taken 
 out of the way." The allusion here must be, 
 as in the case of the passage from John, to 
 those incipient tendencies, beginning already 
 to appear, which threatened a development 
 so inauspicious, and "whose" final "com- 
 ing" was, indeed, as the imagery in our 
 chapter so evidently sets forth, "according to 
 the working of Satan with all power and 
 signs of lying wonders; and with all deceit 
 of unrighteousness for them that perish." 
 Antichrist is, therefore, rather a princijAe, a 
 force — we might say a tendency, if that word 
 were strong enough — than a power, or an 
 organism, and is to be recognized elsewhere, 
 as well as in that great antichristian apostasy 
 to which so many have been inclined to limit 
 the term. 
 
 Carpenter, the author of the exposition of 
 the Apocalypse in Ellicott's Commentary, 
 has some thoughts upon the subject here 
 noticed, which are so apposite and weighty 
 that we must transcribe what he says. After 
 presenting a view in substance the same as 
 that which we offer above, he proceeds: "Is 
 there, then, no personal Antichrist? It has 
 been ably argued that the Man of Sin must 
 be an individual. There are certain expres- 
 sions which seem to point to a single person — 
 notably the remarkable use of the masculine- 
 gender when the wild beast is referred to 
 (Rot-. 13:5); but it sccms morc consonant with 
 the symbolism of the Apocalypse to regardi 
 
196 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 the wild beast as the figurative embodiment 
 
 of the false, seductive, antichristian spirit 
 which belongs to more ages than one, which 
 reveals itself in divers aspects, and yet 
 always manifests the same hostility to the 
 Divine Spirit. It must not be supposed, 
 however, that this view denies a personal 
 Antichrist. On the contrary, it is in perfect 
 harmony with this view to note that the wild- 
 beast spirit has often culminated in an indi- 
 vidual; the typical forecasts of Antichrist 
 have often been individuals. Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, Herod, Nero, might fairly be re- 
 garded as the incarnation of the ungodly 
 spirit. Similarly, in later ages, it is not to be 
 wondered at that holy, Christ-taught men, 
 groaning for the sorrows of the world and the 
 corruptions of Cliristianity, saw in many who 
 occupied the papal chair, the very representa- 
 tives of the false prophet — The Antichrist. . . 
 It follows that the view here maintained does 
 not exclude the possibility of a future Anti- 
 christ, in whom the typical features shall yet 
 find a clearer and fuller manifestation than 
 in any former age. We think it, however, 
 J7iore important to note the principles which 
 may constitute the Antichrist in every age: 
 these being summarily seen in the words of 
 John : ' He is antichrist that denieth both the 
 Father and the Son.' "We deem it possible 
 to imagine the rankest materialism allying 
 itself with a gorgeous ritual — to see the high- 
 priests of science acquiescing in the most elab- 
 orate of ecclesiasticisms, and the agnostic in 
 creed becoming a ceremonialist in worship, till 
 the satire shall be only too sadly true, 'I 
 found plenty of worshipers, but no God.' '" 
 The thought suggested, here, is weighty and 
 momentous. The true Christianity is con- 
 fronted, in this age, by two formidable ene- 
 mies: the one a false and usurping ecclesias- 
 ticism, the other an infidelity more bold, more 
 sweeping in its denials, more daring in its 
 blasphemies, and at the same time more 
 seductive, than any which the world has 
 before seen. It might seem as if no two 
 forces were less likely to enter into alliance 
 with each other than a hierarchical system 
 which builds on the superstition of its devo- 
 tees, and an atheistical system which de- 
 nounces all religion as superstition, which is 
 intolerant towsird all religious ceremonial, 
 which treats the church and its ministry with 
 contempt; and which, with more reason, 
 
 views every priestly system as usurpation and 
 tyranny. And still, mortal foes have more 
 than once been found in combination, and 
 these two may j'et combine. Should this ever 
 occur. Antichrist will have a new revelation. 
 We may call attention, here, to the fact, 
 that the second beast, in the later pages of 
 this book, seems to assume the name of "the 
 false prophet" — or rather, this designation is 
 given to him, in place of that which he 
 originally bears. The name occurs, first, in 
 ch. 16: 13, where we read: "And I saw three 
 unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the 
 mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth 
 of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
 false prophet." Where the word "beast" 
 alone occurs, the beast out of the sea appears 
 to be meant; the second beast, or beast out of 
 the earth, at the point just noted (cu. i6:i3), 
 drops his original designation altogether, and 
 henceforward is known as "the false pro- 
 phet." These "unclean spirits as frogs " are 
 "spirits of devils, working miracles, which 
 go forth unto the kings of the earth and of 
 the whole world, to gather them to the battle 
 of that great day of God Almighty." These 
 thus described are, therefore, among the later 
 manifestations of Antichrist, and the language 
 used seems to imply that antichristian ecclesi- 
 asticism — the second beast — undergoes a cer- 
 tain change. It appears, under this later 
 form, less as an oppressive, domineering sys- 
 tem, and more as a misleading and deceitful 
 one, a "false prophet," uniting with all its 
 other features that of the pre-eminent de- 
 ceiver. This would seem to come through 
 some such combination as that mentioned 
 above; or at least, in a practical, if not a 
 formal and intentional, co-operation of cor- 
 rupt and corrupting ecclesiasticism with in- 
 fidelity, atheism, delusion, and all those agen- 
 cies by which human beings are so often 
 ruinously blinded and misled. The "beast" 
 element and the "false prophet" element 
 may enter into no actual alliance; and still 
 may be manifestations of one and the same 
 bitterly antichristian principle, each being 
 more or less prominent in operation and 
 effect, as opportunity may oft'er or allow. 
 As the last times draw on, we may suppose 
 that such a system of ecclesiastical tyranny 
 as once held the world in chains nuiy grow 
 less and less possible, while the function of 
 the "false prophet" gains scope in the same 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 197 
 
 CHAPTE 
 
 AND I looked, and, lo, "a Lamb stood on tlie mount 
 Sion, and with him 'a hundred forty ami four 
 thousand, ■'having his Father's name written in their 
 foreheads. 
 
 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, ^as the voice of 
 many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and 
 1 heard the voice of 'harpers harping with their harps: 
 
 3 And /they sung as it were a new song before the 
 throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and 
 no man could learn that songwbut the hundred arid 
 forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from 
 the earth. 
 
 R XIV. 
 
 1 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 tlie name of his 
 
 2 Father, written on their foreheads. And I heard a 
 voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, aud 
 as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which 
 I heard wa.s as the. voice of harpers harping with their 
 
 3 harps : 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 
 
 ach. 5- 6 fcch. 7: 4 cch. 7: 3; 13: 16 d ch. 1:15; 19: 6 e ch. 5: 8..../ch. 5 : 9 ; 15 : 3 g vir. 1. 
 
 proportion. This latter designation, in such 
 a case, becomes the more fitting one. 
 
 In view of all we may well say that, so long 
 as Christians see still upon the field "enemies 
 of all righteousness" so formidable as these, 
 whether singly or in combination, they may 
 well presume that the days of Antichrist are 
 not yet numbered, nor the wars of the mili- 
 tant church yet at an end. 
 
 REDEMPTION VICTORIOUS. 
 
 1-5. The Lamb on Mount Zion. 
 
 1. And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood 
 on the mount Sion. Antichrist has now 
 been revealed. What will be the issue of the 
 collision between the forces of destruction so 
 personified, and the forces of redemption, 
 summed and expressed in Christ and his 
 'redeeming work? Will he that destroys 
 triumph, or he that saves? This chapter is to 
 tell us. We should read ''the Lamb." It is 
 the Lamb before seen "in the midst of the 
 throne." He is now beheld standing on 
 Mount Zion. The holy hill, on which stood 
 the fortress and the palace of the king, must 
 here be understood as used in symbol, as 
 Babylon also is below; the two being in con- 
 trast, both as to their nature and as to their 
 destiny — Zion, the eternal, safe citadel, stand- 
 ing forever, Babylon doomed to fall, finally, 
 irrecoverably. The hill on which David 
 reigned thus appears as the type of that on 
 which "David's greater Son" shall reign 
 eternally — that is, the redeemed church. In 
 the changes of the vision, all those features 
 of it which are fixed and permanent remain- 
 ing as before — the throne, the living creatures 
 and the elders — a new scene is presented. It 
 is assumed that Antichrist is busy on earth in 
 his work of destruction ; and now stands 
 revealed the power by which he is opposed — 
 the Lamb on Mount Zion.— And with him 
 
 a hundred forty and four thousand. This 
 number has been given before (ch. 7:4) — the 
 sealed ones "of all the tribes of the chil- 
 dren of Israel." The number is both sym- 
 bolical and representative. It symbolizes 
 fullness, completeness, a round and perfect 
 number; it represents the whole company of 
 the saved. Those who appear with the Lamb 
 on Mount Zion are thus representative fig- 
 ures, just as the four-and-twent^^ elders and 
 the four living creatures are. — Having his 
 [the Lamb's] Father's name written in 
 their foreheads. Those who serve the beast 
 have his name in their foreheads. They who 
 follow the Lamb have his Father's name so 
 written. In this is symbolized the difference 
 in character and condition which underlies 
 all diflPerences in destiny. 
 
 2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as 
 the voice of many waters, and as the 
 voice of a great thunder. What the voice 
 is, the clause following explains. The com- 
 parisons used, "many waters," and "great 
 thunder," suggest the mingling of myriad 
 voices, and at the same time their uni.son in 
 one vast diapason It is as when the mighty 
 sea waves are dashing upon the shore; the 
 impression, as one listens, is partly that of a 
 single sublime rush of sound ; partly it sug- 
 gests the "many waters'" which come flowing 
 in, billow upon billow. — And I heard the 
 voice of harpers harping with their harps. 
 See, for a more correct rendering, the Revised 
 Version, above. By "heaven " in the preced- 
 ing clause, is still meant the whole Apocalyp- 
 tic scene; only, it is probable that these 
 heavenly harpers are invisible. The sweet, 
 mighty peal of melody comes as if from a dis- 
 tance, and reminds theseerof infinite heavenly 
 spaces far beyond the range of vision, and of 
 infinite multitudes there "harping with their 
 harps." 
 
 3. And they sung as it were a new 
 
198 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 4 These are they which were not defiled with women ; 
 "for they are virgins. These are they^wliich follow 
 the Lauib whithersoever he goeth. These <^were re- 
 deemed from among men, <^beiiKj the tirstfruits unto 
 Ciod and to the Lamb. 
 
 4 that had been purchased out of the earth. These 
 are they who were not defiled with women ; for they 
 are virgins. The.se are. they who follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth. These were pureV ased from 
 among men, to be the first fruits unto God and unto 
 
 a 2 Cor. 11 : 2....i ob. 3: 4 ; 7 : 15. 17 ; 17 : 11.... cell. 5:9 d 1 James 1: 18. 
 
 song before the throne, and before the 
 four beasts [living creatures], and the 
 elders. Wlietlier visible on the scene, or 
 not, the harpers belong to it; their song is one 
 of adoration of him that sits upon the throne, 
 and in sympathy with the encompassing 
 elders and living creatures. Their song is 
 '"'■ as it were ne-w" — the ever new song of re- 
 demption, celebrating that display of grace in 
 God's redeeming work, which can never cease 
 to be a wonder and a praise. — And no man 
 could learn that song but the hundred 
 and forty and four thousand which were 
 redeemed from the earthl Some expt)si- 
 tors (as Lange, Lord, Bengel, Hengstenberg), 
 seem to understand that the hundred and 
 forty-four thousand are themselves the harp- 
 ers. This appears to be a mistake. The hun- 
 dred forty and four thousand "learn" the 
 song; implying that others are singing it and 
 from these they learn it — or, at least, they 
 "learn'' it so that the chorus of heavenly 
 praise and the chorus of the redeemed blend 
 in harmony. Lange says: "The voices are 
 ill part voices of Christian nations (the voice 
 of great waters), in part the voice of the great 
 prophets (the voice of a great thunder ' ' ). This 
 interpretation of the symbolism is too con- 
 jectural, and cannot be depended upon. 
 What the picture given naturall3' suggests is, 
 first, a chorus of heavenly musiq harps and 
 voices uniting, in which the wonders of re- 
 demption are extolled; those "angels," 
 amongst whom, as our Lord has told us, there 
 is such "joy over one sinner that repenteth," 
 uniting in hymns of ecstatic praise to him by 
 whom redemption is wrought. This song the 
 redeemed themselves "learn." And only 
 they can learn it. Alford .says, mosttrulj': 
 "The sweetest and most skillful harmonies 
 convey no pleasure to, nor are they appreciated 
 by, an uneducated ear; whereas the expe- 
 rienced musician finds in every chord the 
 most exquisite enjoyment. . . . Even so this 
 heavenly song speaks only to the virgin heart, 
 and can be learnt only by those who accom- 
 pany the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." 
 The expression, "redt!(!med \purchased] out 
 of the earth," reminds us of the parallel pas- I 
 
 sage, ch. 5:9: " For thou wast slain, and hast 
 redeemed us to God [hast bought us for God] 
 by thy blood, out of every kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, and nation." There is 
 another Greek word (Aurpdw) for the specific 
 idea to "redeem," or "ransom"; the word 
 here used {iyopaim), denoting to purchase, as 
 above, in ch. 13: 17. If we compare the words 
 in our present text with ch. 5:9, we shall the 
 better see the true scope of the number given 
 for those who learn the new song — the hun- 
 dred forty and four thousand. Here it is a 
 specific number; there the implication is of a 
 multitude altogether countless. We must in- 
 fer that here as there, the "purchased out of 
 the earth" are really innumerable; and that 
 therefore the number itself is symbolical and 
 representative. Twelve is the number for 
 spiritual completeness, applied to the servants 
 and people of God, as seven is of completeness, 
 perfection, in the wider .sense. Alford ex- 
 plains this, in his "^Prolego7nena" : "Twelve 
 is the number especially appropriated to the 
 church, and to those appearances which are 
 symbolically connected with her. Twice 
 twelve is the number of the heavenly elders ; ' 
 twelve times twelve thousand the number of 
 the sealed elect." Other examples of the use 
 of this number he gives as follows: "The 
 woman in ch. 12:1. hasacrown of twelve stars; 
 the heavenly city has twelve gates; at the 
 gates twelve angels, and on them the names of 
 the twelve tribes of Israel ; also twelve foun- 
 dations, and on them the names of the twelve 
 apostles; and its circumference (probably) 
 twelve thousand stadia. Finally, in the inid.st 
 of her [the city] the tree of life brings forth 
 twelve manner of fruits." The germ of this 
 symbolism seems to be in the original twelve 
 tribes, and again in the twelve apostles chosen 
 by our Lord. The number found here, there- 
 fore, "an hundred forty and four thousand," 
 represents, not an exact enumeration, but the 
 whole vast company of the redeemed — "a 
 number which no man can number," and for 
 this reason, probably, represented thus in 
 symbol. 
 
 4. These are they which were not de- 
 filed with women; for they are virgins. 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 199 
 
 5 And "in their mouth was found no guile: for 'they 
 are without laiilt before the throne of (_iod. 
 
 G And I saw another angel "fly in the midst of 
 heaven, •'having the everlasting gospel to preach unto 
 them that dwell on the earth, "and to every nation, 
 and kindred, and tongue, and people, 
 
 5 the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no lip: 
 they are without bleluish. 
 
 6 And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, 
 having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them 
 that 1 dwell on the earth, and unto every nation and 
 
 iPs. 32:2; Zeph. 3: 13.... 6 Ei.lies. 5 : 27 ; Jude 24. ...c ch. 8: 13.... d Ephes. 3: 9, 10, 11; Tims 1: 2. 
 
 The persistent tendency in some writers to 
 forsake the symbolism which pervades this 
 book, is seen in the various interpretations 
 given to 'the words just written. Komanist 
 expositors will have it that these so named 
 are the ascetics, especially monks. Augus- 
 tine, Bede, Dtisterdieck, think the reference 
 is, in general, to celibacy; Hengstenberg, to 
 chastity, whether in the married or single 
 life; De Wette's view is, in general, like 
 that of Hengstenberg. Alford's is similar. 
 Lange's reference to the Old Testament sym- 
 bolism, in this connection, where idolatry is 
 so often represented under the idea of un- 
 chastit}', is much more to the purpose. With 
 this may be associated that of the New Testa- 
 ment, in which the church appears as the 
 virgin Bride of the Lord. Carpenter's view, 
 in Ellicott, therefore, that what is represented 
 under the symbolism of this passage is purity, 
 as one characteristic of the redeemed, seems a 
 just one; this purity, we may add, as in con- 
 trast with what is seen in them that "worship 
 the beast." It is the ancient figure of a pure 
 and true worship of God, with all which that 
 imports, as contrasted with the impure idol- 
 atries of those who bear in their foreheads 
 the mark of the beast, implying every man- 
 ner of antichristian "iniquity." These are 
 they which follow the Lamb whitherso- 
 ever he goeth. Here, as Carpenter says, is 
 a second characteristic; which is, implicit 
 obedience. "They are those who are with 
 Christ, who have tasted the cup that their 
 Lord tasted, and have taken up the crass 
 and followed him."— These were redeemed 
 [purchased] from among men, being the 
 first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
 This denotes '' sepnrntinn, or unworldliness ; 
 they were purchased from among men, as a 
 first fruit to God, and to the Lamb." They 
 are "not their own, for they are bought with 
 a price." Their recognition of this, in all 
 life's relations, in all service and suffering, in 
 all outward conduct and inward experience, 
 is one of the things that characterize the 
 redeemed. 
 
 5. And in their mouth was found no 
 guile [no lie']* A literal rendering of the 
 Greek would be: "And in their mouth there 
 was not found a falsehood." They are truth- 
 ful — not hypocrites, not deceivers — they are 
 what they seem to be. — For they are Avith- 
 out fault before the throne of God. The 
 corrected te.xt omits the words: "before the 
 throne of God.'' .The word translated "for" 
 {yap), is also omitted by "VVestcott and Hort, 
 though retained by Tischendorf. The clauses 
 as so amended would read simply: "They are 
 without fault," blameless. This cannot mean 
 sinless perfection, at least in the militant 
 earthly state of the redeemed. It implies 
 two things — that the character required of 
 such as theyMS found in them, and that in the 
 redemption of which they are made the sub- 
 jects, they are placed in a condition of abso- 
 lute acceptance. They are "accepted in the 
 Beloved." 
 
 6-12. Angelic PRorL.\MATroNS. 
 
 6. And I saw another angel fly [flying] 
 in the midst of heaven. The word "an- 
 other," here, seems intended simply to dis- 
 tinguish this angel from all that have before 
 appeared. In the mention, also, of the second 
 and third of these messenger angels, below, 
 the form of expression appears meant to be 
 emphatic of this distinction. Literally it is, 
 "■Another angel, the second^^ ; ^'Another angel, 
 the third.'' The first angel flies in mid- 
 heaven. From the mid-heaven, his field of 
 view may be conceived as embracing the 
 whole inhabited world. His voice, also, 
 sounding fnmi the height of heaven, a "loud 
 voice" (ver. 7), rcaches to every part of the 
 world, and is conceived as heard by all human 
 creatures. This proclaihation, therefore, is 
 world-wide; a fact very important to a right 
 apprehension of what is here intended. — 
 Having the everlasting gospel to preach. 
 The translation of Carpenter, in Ellicott, is: 
 "having an everlasting gospel, to declare 
 glad tidings." In the Greek, the words 
 "gospel" and "preach" — as rendered in the 
 common version— have a closer relation to 
 
200 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 7 Saying with a loud voice, " Fear God, and give glory 
 to hiiu; for the hour of his judgment is come: 'and 
 worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, 
 and the fountains of waters. 
 
 7 tribe and tongue and people; and he saith with a 
 great voice, tear (iod, and give him glory; for the 
 hour of his judgment is eouie: and worship him 
 who made the heaven and the earth and sea and 
 fountains of waters. 
 
 o ch. 11: 18; 15 : 4 b Nell. 9: 6; Ps. 33 . 6; 124: 8; UB: 5. 6; Acts 14: 15; 17: 24. 
 
 each other than is implied in the "glad tid- 
 ings," and "proclaim" of the revision. Car- 
 penter's rendering is the more literally exact 
 one. The noun "gospel" and the verb 
 "preach" {'■'■ declare glad tidings"), having 
 in the Greek the same radical part, empha- 
 size the same leading idea, namely, that this 
 which the angel proclaims is "glad tidings." 
 The leading thought in the verse, so far, is 
 the preciousness of this gospel. The epithet 
 " everlasting," "eternal," intimates alike the 
 .eternal, divine purpose upon which the war- 
 rant of this announcement rests, and that 
 unchangeableness of God, which makes it 
 sure that of all which he has spoken no one 
 word of promise shall fail.— Unto them that 
 dwell oil the earth, and to every nation, 
 and kindred, and tongue, and people. 
 The preposition (eVl) translated in this place, 
 as also by the revisers "unto," is rendered by 
 Carpenter "over." It is here followed by 
 the accusative case, and signifies properly 
 "extending over," implying the extent of the 
 proclamation. The verse, as a whole, con- 
 firms the view taken of the significance of 
 the angel's flight in mid-heaven. It is a 
 world-wide proclamation. The two leading 
 thoughts, therefore, in the verse are, (1) the 
 preciousness of the glad tidings announced in 
 this proclamation of the angel; and (2) the 
 absolute universality of the announcement, so 
 fsir as this world is concerned. The angel 
 himself mu.st be viewed as a representative 
 figure, setting forth the idea of that instru- 
 mentality in general, by means of which the 
 gospel is thus preached to the ends of the 
 earth. The actual messengers are not angels, 
 least of all any single angel, but men. This 
 angel " flying in mid-heaven, having an 
 everlasting gospel to declare glad tidings" in 
 all the earth, represents the church and its 
 ministers, to whom this charge has really 
 been committed, and by whom the gospel is 
 preached, "to every nation, and tribe, and 
 people, and tongue." The appearance of the 
 angel, besides, in the vision, seems clearly 
 significant of .some period of Christian history 
 when this world-wide preaching of the gospel 
 
 should be a fact, and not merely a conception 
 or a hope. This period can well be no other 
 than that in which, following upon a recovery 
 of Christian truth in its simplicity, and its 
 preciousness, after many centuries of obscur- 
 ing false-teaching, the church in its various 
 instrumentalities steadily advances to the re- 
 alization of that divine idea contained in the 
 Lord's own words: "The field is the world." 
 7. Saying, with a loud voice. The loud 
 voice aids the conception of a proclamation 
 sounding round the world. — Fear God, and 
 give glory to him. Such is the tenor of this 
 proclamation. How is it "glad tidings?" A 
 question which renews itself as we note the 
 words which follow. — For the hour of his 
 judgment is come. The two clauses seem 
 to be a summary of the gospel message con- 
 sistent with its ultimate meaning and purpose. 
 The gospel is not alone the announcement of 
 a method of human salvation. Redemption 
 is not salvation only. There are great and 
 far-reaching aims in both which concern the 
 basis upon which universal well-being rests, 
 and which, rightly understood, are above all 
 the occasion of "gladness" for those to whom 
 the "tidings "shall come. These aims also are 
 implied in the tenor of the gospel message it- 
 self " Fear God and give glory to him "—this, 
 indeed, is the gospel. For not only is the 
 fear of God the beginning of that wisdom 
 which makes wise unto salvation, but the 
 gospel proffer and promise themselves rest 
 upon an appeal first made to men as sinners, 
 and calling them to "fear God." The "be- 
 ginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of God," was, " Repent, for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand." To "give glory" to 
 God is to see him, view him, trust him, yield 
 to him, as " the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Chri.st"; honoring him in that utter 
 submission to him which true penitence im- 
 plies, and in that faith which sees him as the 
 gracious and the faithful One. Thus does the 
 proclamation of the angel of the gospel set 
 forth alike what is mo.st fundamental and 
 what is most comprehensive in the gospel 
 message itself. The further announcement 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 201 
 
 8 And there followed another angel, saying, "Baby- 
 lon is lalU'n, is lalleii, ''that great eity, because she 
 made all iialious diink of the wine of the wrath of 
 her foruicati<in. 
 
 y And the third angel followed them, saying with a 
 loud voice, "If any man worship the beast and his 
 image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his 
 hand, 
 
 8 And another, a second angel, followed, saying, 
 Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who hath uiade 
 all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of 
 her fornication. 
 
 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying 
 with a great voice. If any man worshippeth" the 
 beast and his image, and receiveUi a mark on his 
 
 a Isii.21 : 9; Jer. 51: 8; ch. 18: 2 6 Jer. 51 : 7 ; oh. 11: 3; 16: 19; 17: 2, 5; 18: 3, 10, 18, 21; 19: 2 c ch. 13: 14, 15. 
 
 that the "hour of his judgment is come," indi- 
 cates that the time has arrived in which those 
 assertions of divine sovereignty, and those 
 divine vindications of such as have suffered 
 and served, and shall continue to do so, for 
 which the church of the redeemed was so 
 long as if waiting and watching, shall be re- 
 alized. The hour of God's judgment, that 
 manifestation of himself as the righteous 
 Judge and Sovereign, though a terror to the 
 wicked, brings "gladness" to "the upright 
 in heart.'' We are to notice, also, that this 
 judgment is coincident, in point of time, wiXh 
 the renewed and world-wide preaching of the 
 gospel. What this imports comes to view 
 more clearly as we study what is found below, 
 in chapter sixteen, in connection with the 
 pouring out of the seven vials, — And wor- 
 ship him that made heaven, and earth, 
 and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 
 That men may thus worship God, the Author 
 and Framer of all things, and that so his 
 righteous sovereignty on earth may be fully 
 established — with this in view, as the ultimate 
 end, is the gospel preached. 
 
 8. And there followed another angel, 
 saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that 
 great city. "Another, a second angel," 
 is the more full translation. The order of 
 the subsequent words, as in the revision, 
 " Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great," makes 
 the sense more vivid and emphatic. Bf)th 
 the Sinaitic and the Alexandrine manuscripts 
 omit the word "city." This reading West- 
 cott and Hort, and the revisers, follow. Here, 
 occurs, for the first time in this book, the 
 symbolic name "Babylon," of which so much 
 is made in subsequent chapters. The ftill 
 significance of this name we must reserve ff)r 
 treatment in the General Comments, below. 
 Alford's view that Rome pagan and papal, 
 principally papal, is intended, may be quoted 
 here, as what seems correct. The tenor of 
 this proclamation of the second angel then is, 
 that the violent hostile power, against which 
 the truth and the people of God have so long 
 
 had to contend, has now at last come to the 
 hour of its overthrow. — Because she made 
 all nations drink of the wine of the 
 wrath of her fornication. The word "be- 
 cause" should be omitted. " W/to hath made," 
 etc., is according to the amended Greek text. 
 Fornication is the Old Testament expression 
 — so much followed bj' John in this book — 
 for idolatry': while under the imagery of 
 this last word is here implied all those anti- 
 christian excesses into which the worshipers 
 of the beast, the citizens of " Babylon," were 
 drawn. The intoxicating character of this 
 pernicious influence, and the fanaticism which 
 made so large an element in all antichristian 
 opposition and violence, are implied in the 
 symbol of "wine" here used. It is deadly 
 wine: "the wine," says the note of Carpen- 
 ter in Ellicott, "alike of her sin and of her 
 doom, of her fornication and the wrath that 
 shall overtake it." 
 
 9. And the third angel [another angel, a 
 third] followed them, saying with a loud 
 [great] voice. If any man worship the 
 beast and his image. The second angel 
 has proclaimed the fall of Babylon. The 
 connection of the whole passage indicates that 
 a certain identity is to be recognized between 
 Babylon, as the symbol of God-opposing 
 power, and the wild beast described in a pre- 
 vious chapter, and now again mentioned as 
 representative of that same power, in its chief 
 and comprehensive manifestation. Of this, 
 more in the General Comments below. — And 
 receive his mark in [a mark on] his fore- 
 head, or in [t(pon] his hand. The indica- 
 tion of character, here, should not be re- 
 stricted to actual and positive confederacy 
 with the beast, in avowed and open hostility 
 to God and his cause. Men may join them- 
 selves to the enemies of God without any 
 formal or declared intention of so doing. The 
 words of Jesus, "He that is not with us is 
 against us"; "he that gathereth not with 
 me scattereth," suggest the principle by 
 which all character and conduct must be 
 
202 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 10 The same "shall drink of the wine of the wrath 
 of <iod, wliich is » pourfd out without mixture into 
 "the cup ol his iuiiiynation; and <' he shall be tormented 
 with "tire and brimstone in the presence of the holy 
 angels, and in the presence of the Lamb : 
 
 10 forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of 
 the wine of the wrath of t>od, which is 'prepared 
 unmixed in the cup ol his anger: and he sliall be 
 tormented with tire and brimstone in tlie presence 
 of the holy angels, and in the presence of the 
 
 o Pa. 75:8; Isu. 51 : 17; Jer. 25: 15....6ch. lS:6....dcU. IB: 19....e ch. 20: 10..../cli. 1!»: 20. 1 (iv. mingled. 
 
 determined. Sin itself, especially sin that is 
 persistent, uurepented of, with the hardening 
 processes inseparable from it, and the in- 
 variable tendency of bad to become worse 
 —sin, itself, is "the mark of the beast." 
 Whether more or less agcgravated and defiant, 
 it allies us with the enemies of God, and, 
 unexpiated and unforgiven, must make us 
 partakers of their doom. 
 
 10. The same shall drink of the Avine 
 of the wrath of God. "i/e also [xal outos] 
 shall drink," is better. The expression "shall 
 drink of the wine of the wrath of God," 
 takes us back to the similar one in ver. 8: 
 "Who [Babylon] hath made all pations to 
 drink of the wine of the wrath of her forni- 
 cation" — they shared in her crime, they 
 shall now share in her doom. This point 
 of resemblance makes it the more evident 
 that Babylon, as the enticer, and the first 
 wild beast fixing his mark upon those who, 
 of purpose or otherwise, are confederate with 
 him and serve under him, as also the second 
 beast which compelled all that dwell upon 
 the earth "to worship the first beast whose 
 deadly wound was healed" — are in a general 
 way to be identified. — Which is poured out 
 without mixture into the cup of his in- 
 dignation. Some expositors appear to find 
 apparent opposition of ideas in this passage. 
 If the marginal reading in the revised version 
 itself were adopted, the words would stand: 
 "which is mingled unmixed." Carpenter, in 
 Ellicott, translates, "which is mingled pure," 
 taking the word "pure," however, in the 
 sense of undiluted. Alford's rendering is 
 nearly the same, though he explains the 
 word "pure" by the word "unmixed." The 
 Greek word {Kepavvvtii), from which tbe parti- 
 cipial form {KeKepatTufvov), here employed, 
 comes, is often used in the sense of "pour," 
 while the word (iKparou), translated in the 
 comnion version " without mixture," though 
 having the original sense of pure, undiluted, 
 has also the ac^piired meaning of ".s^row./;." 
 A littoral translation of the passage, therefore, 
 presenting its meaning in its sim))lest form, 
 would be: "which is jjoured out strong," i. e., 
 
 without dilution. It seems unlikely that the 
 just wrath of God should be here compared 
 to any kind of mixed drinks, in which the 
 intoxicating quality was made more intense 
 by the infusion of noxious elements. The 
 meaning clearly is, that the wine of the 
 wrath of God is poured out without dilution, 
 into the cup of his indignation ; and of this 
 strong wine of his wrath the worshiper and 
 servant of the beast must drink. — And he 
 shall be tormented with fire and brim- 
 stone in the presence of the holy angels, 
 and in the presence of the Lamb. Some 
 difficulty of interpretation is found in the 
 words "in presence of," etc. Is it to the tor- 
 ments of hell that reference is made? and do 
 those who are condemned to such torments 
 sulfer thus " in the presence of," in the sight of, 
 "the holy angels" and the Eedeemer him.self? 
 Alford thinks that the words must be literally 
 taken, and as indicating "that the torments 
 are visible to the angels and the Lamb." He 
 refers, as a parallel passage, to the parable of 
 the rich man, in torment, and Lazarus in 
 Abraham's bosom (Luke i6: 2:1). Lange's com- 
 ment is: "Can this [what appears in our 
 present passage, not with allusion to the para- 
 ble] be said of the torments of hell in the strict 
 sense of the term? The torments of hell re- 
 sultant upon being cast into the lake of fire, 
 are spoken of later. Do they not begin, 
 however, in this present life, especially at the 
 end of time, where time and eternity come 
 in contact with each other?" Carpenter 
 seems to take the words as describing effects of 
 sin in the present life. He says: "Sin, which 
 is first embraced as a delight, becomes soon an 
 inexorable tyrant, by an awful retribution 
 compelling men along the routine of evil 
 habits which they loathe, while they long foi, 
 and long for even while they loathe them ; 
 there is a destiny of unrest in all sin. 'The 
 wicked are like the troubled sea, which can- 
 not rest.' It is well that soletnn words like 
 these should be read by the light of the most 
 certain of all truths — the power sin has of 
 stamping its indelible features upon the 
 human character, and giving to habit the 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 203 
 
 11 And "the smoke of their torment ascondeth up 
 for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, 
 who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever 
 receiveth tlie marlc of his name. 
 
 1:^ 'Here is the patience of the saints: "^here are 
 they that keep the commandments of God, and the 
 faith of Jesus. 
 
 11 Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up 
 ifor ever and ever; and they liave no rest day and 
 night, tliey that worsliip tlie beast and liis image, 
 
 12 and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. Here 
 is the ^patience of the saints, they that keep the 
 commandments of God, and tlie faith of Jesus. 
 
 I Isa. 34: 10; ch. 19 : 3 6 ch. 13: 10 c ch. 12 : 17. 1 dr. unto ages of ages 2 Or, sted/astness. 
 
 force of destiny." De Wette tran.slates 
 cfiuTTioi', '''' nach dem UrtheUe," "according to 
 the judgment of" — the holy angels and the 
 Lamb. Both Diisterdieck and Alford reject 
 this as inadmissible. Perhaps light upon the 
 true interpretation, here, may be gained from 
 what we tind in 2 Thess. 1 : 6-9: "And to you 
 that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation 
 of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the 
 angels of his power in flaming Are,- rendering 
 vengeance to them that know not God, and 
 them that obey not the gospel of our Lord 
 Jesus" (Revised Version). If the visitation 
 upon worshipers of the beast pointed at in 
 the passage under consideration be under- 
 .stood as made by "the Lord from heaven 
 with the angels of his power," the signifi- 
 cance of the words, "in the presence of," is 
 .sufficiently plain. Nor is it necessary to take 
 the expression, "tormented with fire and 
 brimstone," as having sole reference, perhaps 
 not express reference, to the punishment of 
 hell. Both here and in the words which fol- 
 low, there seems to be allusion to the judg- 
 ment that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 when "the Lord rained fire and brimstone 
 upon" them. The figure of the combination 
 of all the forces of ungodliness as "Babylon," 
 makes the allusion still more significant; 
 while the characterization of the ungodly 
 themselves as those having "the mark of the 
 beast" is in like manner consistent with the 
 conception of such wickedness as that of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, visited with just judg- 
 ment. The words in question, therefore, "tor- 
 mented with fire and brimstone in the pres- 
 ence of the holy angels and in the presence of 
 the Lamb," may be understood as indicating 
 in general the righteous judgment of God, 
 through those whom he makes the instru- 
 ments of such judgment, and as comprehen- 
 sive of the judgment in its whole extent, and 
 its whole period, in time and in eternity. 
 This punishment, each one found with the 
 mark of the beast upon him, must share. 
 11. And the smoke of their torment 
 
 ascendeth up forever and ever. ''Goeth 
 up unto the ages of ages.^' In the account 
 given (Gen. 19: 28) of the destruction of the cities 
 of the plain, we read : "And lo! the smoke of 
 the country went up as the smoke of a fur- 
 nace." Upon this, the symbolism of our 
 present passage is clearly founded. That 
 judgment of God in the old time is used to 
 represent and illustrate the visitation that 
 .shall come upon my.«tical Babylon and all 
 worshipers -of the beast. Doubtless, the idea 
 of hell-torments is included; for "the smoke 
 of their torment goeth up for ever and ever." 
 Yet the judgment begins even in this life; 
 national judgment sent upon the people as a 
 whole, and those rulers, who have made 
 themselves servants and instruments of the 
 beast ; judgment upon systems of false doc- 
 trine, of idolatrous worship, persecuting hie- 
 rarchies — all the various forms which organ- 
 ized ungodliness has assumed in this world; 
 and punishment, too, upon individual sinners, 
 each according to the measure of his demerit; 
 punishment felt in the very nature of sin, 
 much more in those consequences of sin 
 which endure forever. — And they have no 
 rest, day nor night, who worship the 
 beast and his ima^c, and whosoever 
 receiveth the mark of his name. This is 
 in the main a recapitulation. 
 
 12. Here is the patience of the saints ; 
 here are they that keep the command- 
 ments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 
 The changes which appear in the corrected 
 translation should be noticed. The marginal 
 reading, " steadfsistness," in the revised ver- 
 sion, may also be noticed with advantage. 
 The verse contrasts the saints, their character, 
 and their destiny, with those whose character 
 and prospects have, in previous verses, been 
 so vividly set forth. These "keep the com- 
 mandments of God"; they keep the "faith 
 of Jesus." Their steadfastness, "patience," 
 is seen in their ,fidelit}', and in their waiting 
 for Christ. The ajiostasy and ungodliness of 
 the world around them only bring into mor® 
 
204 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. 
 Write, <■ Blessed are the dead 'which die iu the Lord 
 from henceforth: Vea, saith the Spirit, ■'lliat they may 
 rest Irom their labours; and their works do follow 
 them. 
 
 13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, 
 Blessed are the dead who die 'iu the" Lord from 
 lieuceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
 from their labours: for their works follow with them. 
 
 oEccles. 4: 1, 2; ch. 20:6. 
 
 .b I Cor. 15: 18; 1 Tliess. 4: 16... .c 2 Tliess. 1 : 7: Heb. 4 ; 9, 10; ch.6: 11.- 
 hence/ortU, yea, saith the Spirit. 
 
 -1 Or, in the Lord. From 
 
 vivid contrast their piety and their constancy, 
 while tlie avvfulness of the doom visited on 
 the enemies of God, makes all the more 
 resplendent the glory and felicity of his 
 redeemed. 
 
 13. The Voice from Heaven. And I 
 heard a voice from heaven saying unto 
 me. The voices in the several visions ju.st 
 described have been connected with angel 
 forms, coming forth upon the Apocalyptic 
 scene. A voice is now heard, the source of 
 which is invisible. This is represented in the 
 words "from heaven." — Write, Bles.sed are 
 the dead who die in the Lord from 
 henceforth. The connection of this an- 
 nouncement with what immediately precedes 
 is quite clear. We have just read of "the 
 patience of the saints ; them that keep the 
 commandments of God, and the faith of 
 Jesu.s." Of all such as these, as they " die in 
 the Lord," John is commanded to write that 
 they are "blessed." The command to write 
 this emphasizes it, as an announcement to 
 which particular attention should be given. 
 The "saints" who "keep the commandments 
 of God and the faith of Jesus," are called to 
 the exercise of "patience," of steadfastness. 
 They have much to endure. Let it be written, 
 how sure shall be their recompense for all. 
 "Whatever the nature of their ordeal, whether 
 more or less severe, in whatever age of the 
 long period during which the gospel shall 
 have this world-wide proclamation and Baby- 
 lon shall be visited with doom, whether in 
 stormy days of persecution, or those in which 
 only the more insidious assaults of evil shall 
 call for resistance — through all, this word 
 shall hold true, that they who die in the 
 Lord are blessed. This, too, may aid in the 
 exposition of the words, "from henceforth." 
 They do not mean, of course, that such as in 
 ages previous died in the Lord are not blessed; 
 but they have reference to that future now 
 immediately held in view — that of which we 
 are yet to read, where vials of judgment will 
 be poured out, and great Babylon will (!ome 
 to its final fall. In the midst of all this, dur- 
 ing all that troubled future, "from hence- 
 
 forth," they who endure, faithful unto death, 
 may be certain of this, that dying in the 
 Lord they are blessed. It may be well to 
 note that the expression "from henceforth" 
 (a translation of aTr' apn), implies something of 
 a pleonasm. "Henceforth" means all that 
 "from henceforth" can mean. Besides, the 
 Greek word (opn) does not of itself mean 
 "henceforth." It is the emphatic word for 
 "now," "the present moment." A literal 
 translation would theretbre be, "from this 
 time," "from this present moment." — Yea, 
 saith the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 their labours. The burden-bearing, the vari- 
 ous forms of personal trial, all the suttering 
 and all the weariness of their earthly lot, are 
 implied in the contrast of the word "rest." 
 This word means heaven, in all that makes it 
 the perfect opposite, the glorious and blessed 
 antithesis of earth. — And their works do 
 follow them. The results of what they do 
 and suffer in God's cause and for the name 
 of Jesus, shall last on into that future of bles.s- 
 edness, and there be found in all their rich- 
 ness. The.se shall be the "friends," who 
 shall "receive them into everlasting habita- 
 tions." 
 
 general comments. 
 
 We have special occasion, in the study of 
 the present chapter, to notice that contrast of 
 forces, tendencies, and final issues which so 
 pervades the visions of this book. It is won- 
 derful how invariablj' in ever3' part of the 
 book the figure of the Redeemer confronts 
 that of the Destroj'er; how, in everj'^ case, the 
 Enemy is overthrown by the Defender. "Vic- 
 tory turns," always, "on Zion's side." It 
 would be hard to imagine anything more for- 
 midable than the hostile forces pictured forth 
 in chapter thirteen — in the dragon, the beast 
 out of the sea, and the beast out of the earth. 
 In these three the whole hostile power of the 
 universe is seen in combination against God 
 and his people. The dragon represents the 
 forces of hell ; the beast out of the sea, world- 
 power in its most fierce and deadly form and 
 spirit ; and the beast out of the earth, corrupt 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 205 
 
 ecclesiasticism, pei^ecuting hierarchies, all 
 that is most fell and most destructive in spirit- 
 ual wickedness in high places. Against these 
 stands arrayed, so far as human eyes can see, 
 simply the church of the Lord Jesus; and 
 this, at certain periods, so reduced in number 
 as to be scarcely found at all. At one tim«, 
 so has the enemy prevailed, that the only 
 apparent indication that there remains in the 
 universe even any protest against his disas- 
 trous supremacy is the cry of the souls under 
 the altar. At another time, the dragon chases 
 the woman with the man-child into the wil- 
 derness and casts out after her a destroying 
 flood, following her and her seed with bitter 
 persecution till only a "remnant" is left. 
 At another, the Lord's "two witnesses" — his 
 sole representatives in a godless and unbeliev- 
 ing world — lie slain and unburied in the streets 
 of the gr. at city, while their enemies rejoice 
 over them, sending gifts to one another, and 
 triumphing in the apparent silencing of the 
 last whisper of testimony for God, and pro- 
 test against their own iniquitous rule. In 
 each of these instances, and in all similar, the 
 contrasted picture is at once seen. The slain 
 witnesses soon rise from the dead and ascend 
 into heaven in sight of their dismayed enemies, 
 while a glorious form, robed in the symbols 
 of salvation, descends from heaven with "the 
 little book" of a recovered and restored gos- 
 pel in his hand. The woman in the wilder- 
 derness has a place prepared her of God, and 
 "her son, a man-child,'' "caught up to God 
 and to his throne," is seen appointed to "rule 
 all the nations with a rod of iron." The cry 
 of the souls under the altar is answered in the 
 proclamation, coming in the fullness of the 
 divine plan, that there shall be delay no 
 longer, but that the mystery of God shall 
 hasten to its consummation, fulfilling the 
 promise and prophecy on which the faith of 
 the Lord's suffering remnant has been sus- 
 tained in all ages of the ordeal. So in our 
 present chapter, in its relation to the one pre- 
 ceding; while upon the one hand the dragon 
 and the beasts are seen in their work of ravage, 
 upon the other appears the Lamb on Mount 
 Zion, and with him the glorified company of 
 those who have "gotten the victory." Finally, 
 in the verses just considered, upon the one 
 side is heard the proclamation of dire over- 
 throw and perdition for those who bear the 
 mark of the beast, and upon the other, from 
 
 open doors of heaven come words of glorious 
 promise and assurance for them that keep the 
 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 
 "God has not forgotten the world," nor in 
 any age of time, however dark or tempest- 
 uous, is victory for his own cause or final 
 felicity for his people one moment in doubt. 
 
 In this chapter, for the first time, we en- 
 counter that symbolical figure of which so 
 much is made in the visions of subsequent 
 ones — " Babylon the Great." It may be noted 
 that she comes thus for the first time on the 
 scene at the moment of her downfall. The 
 first mention of her name is in the proclama- 
 tion, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!" 
 It has, we trust, sufficiently appeared in our 
 exposition that the power thus indicated is the 
 same which has before been revealed as the 
 Beast, or, perhaps, more properly, it com- 
 prises under one symbol, what is represented 
 both by the first beast and by the second. 
 The vivid imagery of the seventeenth chap- 
 ter, where the same symbolical figure occu- 
 pies the whole field of view, and again the 
 eighteenth chapter, where what before had 
 been seen as a woman re-appears as a city — all 
 this shows how by various modes of represen- 
 tation that evil force which in all ages opposes 
 itself to the kingdom of God is made to reveal 
 itself, alike in its nature, its purpose, and its 
 doom. We readily see, besides, why it is that 
 the symbols used change as they do, as if 
 some versatile actor were filling many parts 
 in the same drama. The object is in these 
 waj's to set forth more fully in detail that 
 which has already been given succinctly in 
 the treatment of the original symbols. The 
 world's sin, all the variety of its many-sided 
 exhibition ; the world-sovereignty, defying 
 and resisting the sovereignty of God ; the 
 apostate church, enticing, false, and cruel; 
 the doom of each, in so far as it is the enemy 
 of God — these come before us in Babylon, 
 "that great city," and its final overthrow, 
 with wonderful vividness. 
 
 Babj'lon, from the time when the tower was 
 built whose height, it was imagined, might 
 defy any renewal of divine judgment, such 
 as the flood which had depopulated the earth, 
 all through those ages in which its power 
 grew and its supremacy was confirmed, repre- 
 sented in a peculiar way the principle of hos- 
 tility to God and to his people. No other city 
 and no other name, in the Old Testament 
 
206 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon 
 the cloud one sat "like unto the Son of man, 'having 
 on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp 
 sickle. 
 
 14 And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the 
 cloud / saw one sitting like unto • a son of man, 
 having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand 
 
 lEiek. 1 : 26; ))an. 7: 13; ch. 1 : 13....&ch. 6: 2. Or, the Son. 
 
 period, was so significant of this as Babylon. 
 The pride of dominion, devotion to sensual 
 delights, tlie spirit of oppression and cruelty, 
 culminated in this great city by the Euphrates. 
 To God's people the name was long a name of 
 dread. When the prophet announced the 
 coming of one who should burst in her mighty 
 gates and humble her to the ground, it was a 
 paean of victory for the Lord's cause. And 
 the overthrow of the city, the suddenness of 
 it, the completeness of it, the utter desolation 
 which was ultimately to come upon the spot 
 where Babylon had stood, these give it a place 
 alike in history and in prophecy unique and 
 peculiar. That city which had once been 
 so filled with song, and revel, and the voice 
 of feasting, and the shouts of armies return- 
 ing from victorious wars; in which once had 
 stood the most amazing achievements of 
 human art; whose stability seemed to prom- 
 ise endurance while the world should last, 
 adorned with splendor and shining with all 
 that could most delight the senses and foster 
 the vanity of the builder — was at last, during 
 long centuries, to be a silence and a desola- 
 tion. Such things have made Babylon in its 
 fall a fitting type of that final ruin which 
 must visit, at last, all the enemies of God. 
 As such we find it in the visions of this book. 
 
 14-20. The Harvest and the Vintage. 
 
 14. And I livoked, and behold a white 
 cloud. We may be reminded, here, of the 
 "bright cloud" which overshadowed the 
 group on the mountain of the Transfigura- 
 tion (Matt. 17:5), also of the cloud which "re- 
 ceived " Jesus out of the sight of his disciples 
 at the Ascension (-^cwi: 9) ; and, as well, of 
 those passages where it is said of our Lord 
 that he shall come, at his second appearing, 
 "in the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 24: ,to; Mark i3: 26; 
 Hcv. 1: 7). — And upon the cloud one sat [one 
 sitting] like unto the Son of man. The 
 rendering of the revised version, "like unto 
 a Son of man," with " <Ae Son of man " in 
 the margin, raises again the question which 
 we had before us in ch. 1 : 13. We may refer 
 to what is said there, for evidence that the 
 omission of the article in the Greek is no con- 
 clusive indication that it should be omitted in 
 
 the translation. A like omission, as there 
 pointed out, in places where the Holy Spirit is 
 mentioned, shows that it is quite consistent 
 with New Testament usage, in cases of this 
 kind. Any word which has the force of a 
 proper name, may stand without the article 
 in Greek, where in English the article is found. 
 But even if the rendering of the revised ver- 
 sion were imperative, as it clearly is not, the 
 conclusion would still be, as it is with the arti- 
 cle supplied, that the being here indicated is 
 Christ. The other forms appearing in tiie con- 
 nection of the vision are angelic. Here is one 
 "like unto a son of man"; one not angelic, 
 but human. Who else could he be but the in- 
 carnate Lord? There is, however, as we have 
 seen, a warrant for retaining the words of the 
 common version, " like unto the Son t>f man" ; 
 in which case the Lord Jesus is unmisttikably 
 pointed out. — Having on his head a golden 
 crown. This sign of kingship makes it the 
 more certain that this can be none other than 
 the Lord himself. The crown, besides, indi- 
 cates that some advanced stage of the Dispen- 
 sation has now been reached, where victories 
 have been achieved, while power and king- 
 ship and dominion are no longer dela^-ed, but 
 held in full possession and exercise. — And in 
 his hand a sharp sickle. In our Lord's 
 first appearance in the course of these visions, 
 he holds " in his right hand seven stars (i: le) ; 
 in his second (5: 6, 7), he takes the sealed book 
 out of the hands of the angel, and breaks its 
 seals; in the third (10:1.2), he appears under 
 the representative form of a strong angel, 
 clothed with a cloud, crowned with the bow 
 of the covenant, and liolding in his hand 
 "the little book"; in the fourth he is "the 
 Lamb on Mount Zion, and with him an hun- 
 dred forty and four thousand, having his 
 Father's name written in their foreheads." In 
 our present passage, he is crowned as a king, 
 but holds in his hand the sickle of the reaper. 
 The symbolism in each of the former cases, as, 
 we trust, our exposition has shown, is signifi- 
 cant. Equally so is it here. The Lord ap- 
 pears, now, as a King, coming forward in 
 emphatic assertion of his sovereignty, and as 
 such bringing the great aims of his kingdom 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 207 
 
 15 And another angel "came out of the temple, cry- 
 ing with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, 
 'Thrust iu thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come 
 for thee to reap; for the harvest "of the earth is ripe. 
 
 1(5 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle 
 on the earth ; and the earth was reaped. 
 
 17 And another angel came out of the temple which 
 is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 
 
 15 a sharp sickle. 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 
 
 16 earth is ^ ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his 
 sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reajied. 
 
 17 And another angel came out from the temple 
 which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 
 
 o ch. 16 : 17. . . .ft Joel 3 : 13 ; Matt. 13 : i 
 
 . .c Jer. 51 : 33 ; ch. 13 : 12. 1 Gr. become dry. 
 
 to their consummation. For such a consum- 
 mation the harvest is, always, and when the 
 reaper goes forth with his sickle and reaps and 
 gathers in the ripe grain, the promise of the 
 year is fulfilled, and its work achieved. 
 
 15. And another angel came out of the 
 temple. Here, again, as in 11: 1, seq., it is 
 the inner sanctuary of the temple {va6s) that is 
 meant. From this inner sanctuary, this holy 
 place, and holy of holies, the angel comes ; 
 as when a messenger, or a minister comes 
 from the presence, the cabinet of a king, made 
 acquainted there with his purposes and com- 
 mands, and commissioned now to make them 
 known. — Crying with a loud voice to him 
 that sat on the cloud. Some have appeared 
 to think that an angel, merely, would not 
 be represented, even in vision, as speaking in 
 tones of direction to one himself divine, and 
 that therefore we must not see in him who 
 sits upon the cloud the Lord himself. The 
 ditRculty is met by remembering that the 
 angel speaks simply as commissioned, and as 
 announcing the supreme divine purpose and 
 will. The situation is, after all, quite con- 
 sistent with the representation, throughout 
 the New Testament, of our Lord as ever 
 executing the will of the Father. In his 
 incarnation, he takes the position of one act- 
 ing as the instrument of a purpose. He can 
 say, " I and my Father are one"; and j^et, in 
 another view of his purpose and mission, he 
 can say, "I came not to do mine own will, 
 but the will of him that sent me." In that 
 character and attitude he is seen here. He is 
 "the Son of man," executing that divine 
 purpose in which he himself shares, but of 
 which he is the instrument. The words of 
 the angel remind us of this, while at the same 
 time they announce the fact that the time has 
 come for the consummation of that great 
 divine purpose and plan. — Thrust in [ni/j-ipov, 
 ''send"] thy sickle, and reap; for the 
 time is come for thee to reap : for the 
 harvest of the earth is ripe [lit., become 
 
 dry], " There is a time to sow and a time to 
 reap." There is a time, also, for the ground 
 to be fallow, that it may be the more ready 
 for the sower and the seed. As our Lord 
 foreshadowed in one of his parables, the hi.s- 
 tory of God's kingdom in this world has had 
 very much of this analogy with those pro- 
 cesses through which alike the seed and the 
 soil in which it is sown mu.st pass, ere the 
 harvest come. The seeming delays in God's 
 spiritual kingdom are much like tho.se vicissi- 
 tudes of the passing year in which the hopes 
 of the husbandman are now encouraged and 
 now clouded. There are even analogies to 
 that which one sees when large tracts of 
 countrj' are given over to neglect, and al- 
 lowed to return almost to their wilderness 
 state. The rank vegetation, as it grows and 
 dies, fattens the soil, and makes it the more 
 productive when the plough once more rends 
 its bosom and the seed is cast in. Somewhat 
 like this are tho.se aspects of Christian history 
 which might otherwise seem so difficult of 
 comprehension. But in God's husbandry the 
 harvest, even "the harvest of the earth," the 
 whole earth, is sure to come. 
 
 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust 
 in his sickle on the earth {^cast his sickle 
 upon the earth], and the earth Avas reaped 
 [or, '' hoTvested"]. The preposition in the 
 Greek (ejrl, with the accu.sative), the revisers 
 correctly translate "upon." Alford renders, 
 "And he that sat upon the cloud put his 
 sickle upon (into, from above) the earth." 
 The action, of course, is wholly sjnnbolical. 
 The sickle is "cast" (e^aAe^) into the ripe har- 
 vest on the earth, and the harvesting follows. 
 The action described is the casting of the 
 sickle into the earth, not any act of reaping — 
 the reaping follows, but how, is not said. 
 
 17. And another angel came out of the 
 temple which is in heaven. Again it is 
 the inner sanctuary (t-aos). He also having 
 a sharp sickle. The significance of this ap- 
 pears in what follows. 
 
208 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 18 And another angel came out from the altar, " which 
 had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him 
 that had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in thy sharp 
 sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; 
 for her grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, 
 ami gathered the vine of the earth, and cast il into 
 i^the great winepress of the wrath of God. 
 
 21) And ''the winejjress was trodden « without the city, 
 and hlood came out of the winepress, /even unto the 
 horse bridles, by the space of a thousand (nid six hun- 
 dred furlongs. 
 
 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. 
 
 19 And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and 
 gathered the * vintage of the earth, and cast it into 
 the winepress, the great wineprcix, of the wrath of 
 
 20 God. And the winepress was troddeu 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. 
 
 [ch. 16: 8 b Joel 3 : 13 c ch. 19: 15 d Isa. 63. 3; Lim. 1 : 15 e Heb. 13: 12; ch. 11 :8..../oh. 19: 14. 1 dr. vine. 
 
 18. And another angel came out from 
 the altar, which had power over the fire. 
 
 The meaning is more clear in the revised 
 version : " He that hath power over the fire.'' 
 This refers us back to ch. 8: 3-5; from which it 
 appears that the altar spoken of is the altar 
 of incense. The angel having "power [au- 
 thority] over the fire," is the angel who, as 
 there described, took the censer and filled it 
 with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the 
 eartii." It was a signal of judgment, since 
 "voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and 
 an earthquake" followed. The appearance 
 of this angel having authority over the fire, 
 in the vision now considered, is in like man- 
 ner a signal of judgment. As he comes, also, 
 from the altar of incense, where the "prayers 
 of all the saints" are oflfered, we must con- 
 nect with what is now about to follow those 
 prayers of the saints, as is also done in the 
 passage above quoted. We have seen the 
 gathering in of the harvest of salvation. But 
 in this, as in all the other visions, there is a 
 reverse side to the picture. Besides the har- 
 vest there is the vintage. — And cried with a 
 loud cry [ivith a great voicel, to him that 
 had the sharp sickle, saying. It is the 
 angel from the temple who is addressed. He, 
 like the angel from the temple mentioned in 
 ver 15, comes from the immediate presence 
 of God, commissioned to execute divine pur- 
 pose. The angel at the altar of incense, 
 through whom the prayers of the saints re- 
 ceive their answers, as they cry to heaven for 
 vindication and protection, gives to him the 
 signal. — Thrust in [''send" (ne/xxiiov)] thy 
 sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of 
 the vine of the earth; for her grapes 
 are fully ripe. Carpenter says: "The vin- 
 tage symbolizes a harvest of judgment; do 
 not the words respecting Babylon (the wine 
 of the wrath of her fornication, ver. 8) come 
 to the mind, and confirm this? . . . And it 
 
 is not without significance that the angel to 
 whom this cry is addressed comes forth from 
 the temple, the sanctuary of God's faithful 
 ones, as one who has witnessed their secret 
 sorrows and their suiferings, and is fitted to 
 'recompense tribulation' to the troublers of 
 
 Israel (2Thess. l: 61." 
 
 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle 
 
 [cast his sickle] into [7ipo7i] the earth, and 
 gathered the vine of the earth, and cast 
 it into the great winepress of the wrath 
 
 of God. ' ' Gathered the vi?itage of the earth ' ' 
 is better. The words " wine-press of the wrath 
 of God" place the nature of the vintage be- 
 yond doubt. It is not as the harvest. That 
 was mercy, gathering in the sheaves of salva- 
 tion, as the precious grain is gathered and 
 garnered; this is justice, casting the reaped 
 clusters, ripe in wickedness, into "the wine- 
 press of the wrath of God"; thus s^^mbolizing, 
 not a garnering and a preserving, but crushing 
 and final destruction. The two are, therefore, 
 in vivid contrast. 
 
 20. And the winepress was trodden 
 without the city. What city? Jerusalem, 
 Alford thinks, "where the scene has been 
 tacitly laid, with occasional express allusions, 
 such as that in our ver. 1." Lange says: "In 
 the s^MTibolical apprehension of the passage, 
 
 only the City of God can be meant 
 
 Nothing, therefore, save the vital church of 
 God of the last time can be understood — in its 
 quality, incontrovertibly, of passing into the 
 visible appearance of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
 and the imperishable City of God." Heng- 
 stenberg also thinks the church is meant, but 
 the church in its militant state. Carpenter's 
 note is: "The wine-presses usually stood out- 
 side the city ; it is so represented here, not 
 without an allusion to those who fall under 
 the weight of this judgment because they have 
 refused the defence of the true city and sanc- 
 tuary." The mention in this connection of 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 209 
 
 Mount Zion (ver. i), and of the temple (ver. 15, 17), 
 would seem to indicate some general refer- 
 ence to Jerusalem. We must keep in mind 
 the symbolism, however, and so doing, the 
 general view suggested by Carpenter, in El- 
 licott, is better than, especially, any such 
 overloading of the figures used, as in the 
 paragraph from Lange, just quoted. — And 
 blood came out of the winepress, even 
 unto the horse bridles, by the space of 
 a thousand and six hundred furlongs. 
 The symbolism, here, is of the most intense 
 character, and we must be careful not to be 
 betrayed into any obscuring literalism. Wine 
 is called in Gen. 49: 11, and Deut. 32: 14, "the 
 blood of grapes," not, says Hengstenberg, "on 
 account of its red color, but because it is pre- 
 pared from the juice and strength of grapes." 
 The transition to the symbolism of actual 
 blood is therefore the more easy. The men- 
 tion of "the horse bridles" seems to intro- 
 duce the idea of instruments used to execute 
 the divine judgments, while the imagery em- 
 ployed simply sets forth the idea of the fear- 
 fulness of the judgments. We may compare 
 with this passage ch. 19: 13, 14, 15. One ap- 
 pears clothed in a vesture dipped in blood; his 
 name, "The Word of God." He is described 
 as "treading the wine-press of the fierceness 
 and wrath of Almighty God." But "armies 
 which are in heaven" follow, "upon white 
 horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure." 
 These are with him as he treads the wine-press 
 of divine wrath. In our present passage the 
 same general symbolism appears to be em- 
 ployed, although the details vary. We quote 
 furtlier from Hengstenberg: "Such is the 
 depth of the sea of blood ; but its breadth 
 measures sixteen hundred stadia. We are 
 here to take for our starting-post the holy 
 city, before whose gates a sea of blood (a sea, 
 not a river) begins, and completes a circle of 
 sixteen hundred stadia. The number denotes 
 a judgment encircling the whole earth. Four, 
 the signature of the earth, is first multiplied 
 by itself, aad then again by one hundred. 
 Quite similar is the formation of the one hun- 
 dred and forty-four thousand ; the fundamen- 
 tal number is twelve, first multiplied by itself, 
 and then by one thousand. Similar, also, is 
 the formation of the number six hundred and 
 sixty-six. According to several expositors, 
 the number here must be the length of Pales- 
 tine. But this proceeds on the false supposi- 
 
 tion that it is a stream of blood which is here 
 spoken of, instead of a sea of blood. Besides, 
 the length of Palestine cannot be made prop- 
 erly to square with such a measurement; so 
 that we are thrown on mere conjecture, to 
 which no license is given in the Apocalypse. 
 Finally, one does not see what Palestine could 
 have to do here, since throughout the Apoc- 
 alypse it has no signification attached to it." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We are now approaching the close of the 
 Dispensation, or age. The next chapter 
 begins by announcing "the seven last 
 plagues." In them, we are told, "is filled 
 up," completed, "the wrath of God." His 
 final visitations upon the sinful and liostile 
 world, contemporaneous with the consumma- 
 tion of his purposes of grace and redemption, ' 
 are now to be set forth in Apocalyptic scenery. 
 " The statement," says Carpenter, " that these 
 are the last plagues, seems to show that the set 
 of visions now commencing carry us down to 
 the end of the age ; there are no other plagues 
 after these ; they are the last plagues ; the 
 vials, like the seals and trumpets, run up to 
 the final consummation." 
 
 What we find in the closing verses of the 
 chapter just considered, must, therefore, be 
 looked upon as in some degree anticipatory 
 of the events to be more particularly de- 
 scribed in those immediately following. The 
 fourteenth chapter, indeed, as a whole, seems 
 to be a general picture of the period during 
 which the gospel should have world-wide 
 propagation, down, even, to the close of the 
 period ; this gospel propagation being attended 
 by providential visitations vindicating tlie jus- 
 tice and sovereignty of G(jd, set at naught by 
 those who reject the gospel and seek to hinder 
 its spread. The pivotal verses of the chapter 
 appear to be the sixth, seventh, and eighth ; 
 in the first of which the gospel angel fiying in 
 the midst of heaven is described ; in the' 
 second his proclamation; while in the third 
 another angel follows him, proclaiming the 
 fall of great Babylon. Those standing with 
 the Lamb on Mount Zion, with a notice of 
 whom the chapter opens, are the great multi- 
 tude gathered out of the world by the min- 
 istry of that gospel of redemption. Those 
 who perish in the treading of the wine-press 
 of God's wrath, are they whom Babj'lon has 
 made to drink of the wine of the wrath of her 
 
210 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 fornication, and who now partalve of her doom. 
 The chapter covers the whole period since the 
 time when, at the Reformation, a true and 
 pure gospel began to be proclaimed, during 
 the ages of the great missionary enterprises 
 of the church, in which the news of redemp- 
 tion is carried to all nations, down to that 
 "end" which our Lord declared should 
 "come" when this world-wide ministry 
 should have been fulfilled. 
 
 We may say, therefore, that although the 
 final consummation, in this ending of the 
 gospel period and in the last judgment, is not 
 solely indicated in this chapter, it is included. 
 Events, too, are transpiring, meanwhile, 
 which, in some sense, foreshadow it. God's 
 purposes of mercy seem hastening to their 
 final fulfillment. There are no more such 
 delays as in previous ages have constrained 
 the suifering saints to cry, "How long, O 
 Lord?" Many hindrances are taken out of 
 the way; many corrupting and misleading 
 influences are held in check, or their opera- 
 tion overruled; the world's natural progress 
 no longer prevents, but promotes the propa- 
 gfttion of the truth, and the time comes 
 when the apostolic declaration is literally 
 tcue — "all things are yours." At the same 
 time, the evil power so long dominant suffers 
 fatal blows. Events occur which seem to 
 foreshadow the final doom of apostasy and 
 all, organized hostility to God, and to his 
 people, and to his truth. Even at this day 
 in which we live there is truth in the declara- 
 tion : "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great" ; 
 80 fast are the changes that have come upon 
 wTiat seemed once so secure against all 
 change — such weakness and decrepitude 
 have seized upon that which was once so 
 strong. 
 
 ■ If we have been correct in our interpre- 
 tation of the symbolism of the tenth chap- 
 ter, particularly the "little book," and the 
 ahgel standing with one foot on the sea, and 
 one on the land, we shall be justified in tra- 
 cing a parallelism between what is found there, 
 artd what is written in the sixth verse of the 
 present chapter. If the little book is the re- 
 covered gospel, especially with reference to 
 its central, saving truth ; and if the angel 
 ■who holds it and delivers it to God's servant 
 fwr communication to "many peoples, and 
 nations, and tongues, and kings," stands thus 
 upon the sea and the land, as claiming both 
 
 for the field of gospel proclamation — then the 
 general sense, there, is clearly the same as 
 here, where the angel is seen "flying in mid- 
 heaven, having eternal good tidings to pro- 
 claim unto them that dwell on the earth, and 
 unto every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and 
 people." In noticing that part of the tenth 
 chapter, also, which speaks of the seven 
 thunders and their voices, whose utterances 
 the seer was not permitted to "write," we 
 quoted the words of Durham, that these voices 
 of the seven thunders may have been proc- 
 lamations of the same judgments as in the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth chapters are de- 
 picted in the pouring out of the seven vials, 
 and the destruction of Babylon. At that 
 stage of the revelation it was not fitting that 
 these things should be declared; they are 
 therefore reserved for a later one. If this 
 view may stand, the parallelism noted above 
 may be carried still further; and just as the 
 period whose opening was signalized by the 
 "little book" was one of gospel proclamation 
 throughout the world, accompanied by signal 
 judgments of God upon every form of "spir- 
 itual wickedness" and hostility, so in the 
 present chapter, it is the same period, with 
 the same two grand characterizing features. 
 
 We ought to note, before leaving the sub- 
 ject of this chapter, the significance of this 
 connection of mercy with judgment in those 
 dispensations of God which characterize, 
 thus, "the last times." The great designs of 
 his providence and grace in this way reach 
 their consummation in those two aspects 
 which belong to all history, yet which have 
 not been wont, in the long past, to come forth 
 in such clear and full manifestation. Wicked 
 men in the world have often demanded, 
 "How doth God know? Can he judge 
 through the dark cloud ? " And the suflfering 
 and waiting saints have often called from the 
 altar of their innnolation for God to appear 
 in vindication of himself and them, yet ap- 
 parently without response. This will not 
 always be. As events approach their con- 
 summation, they seem to hasten, as if eager to 
 rcac^h the goal; while "the mystery of God" 
 is "finished" in the open and msmifest execu- 
 tion of perhaps long-concealed designs. Men 
 begin to see where was "the hiding of his 
 power"; see where that power has wrought 
 in events of the past which may have seemed 
 of man and the eartli only, and in contem- 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 211 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AND "I saw another sign in heaven, great and mar- 
 vellous, 'seven angels having the seven last plagues; 
 «l'or in them is tilled up the wrath of God. 
 
 2 And 1 saw as it were ''a sea of glass « mingled with 
 fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the 
 beast /and over his image, and over his mark, atul over 
 the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, 
 • having the harps of God. 
 
 1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and 
 marvellous, seven angels having seven plagues, 
 which are the last, for in them is linisiied the wrath 
 of (iod. 
 
 2 And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with 
 fire; and them that come oft' victorious Irom the 
 beast, and from his image, and from the number of 
 his name, standing iby the glassy sea, having harps 
 
 a ch. 12 : 1, 3. . . .6 ch. 16 : 1 ; 21 : 9. . . .c ch. 14 : 10. . . .d ch. 4 : 6 ; 21 : 18. . 
 
 1 Or, upon. 
 
 .eMatt. 3: ll..../ch. 13 ; 15 ; 16: 17....sr ch. 5: 8; 14:2.- 
 
 porary events recognize his hand, alike in its 
 "goodness" and in its "severity." We may 
 come upon this thought again as we study 
 the pouring out of the vials, and seek to find 
 there some indications of that providence in 
 judging and punishing which so accompanies 
 the grace that causes proclamations of re- 
 demption to go forth in all the lands and 
 languages of the world. 
 
 THE SEA OF GLASS AND THE SEVEN 
 LAST PLAGUES. 
 
 1-4. The Sea of Glass. 
 
 1. And I saw another sign in heaven, 
 great and marvellous. Another wonderful 
 "sign," foreshadowing things to come. The 
 same word (o-n-petoi') has before occurred at ch. 
 12 : 1, 3. Carpenter says, in his comment 
 there: " It is a sign that is seen; not a mere 
 wonder, but something which has a meaning ; 
 it is not a 'surprise ending with itself,' but a 
 signal to arrest attention, and possessing sig- 
 nificance ; there is ' an idea concealed behind 
 it.' " — Seven angels having the seven last 
 plagues. ''^Having seven plagues, the last." 
 The Greek, which the revised version follows 
 more exactly than the common one, em- 
 phasizes the fact that these are the last plagues. 
 — For in them is filled up [Jinished] the 
 wrath of God. In other words, these now 
 to be described are final judgments; or, 
 speaking more correctly, perhaps, judgments 
 belonging to the last times. Those depicted 
 in the seals and the trumpets were, as we then 
 saw, in a manner synchronous ; the visions, 
 respectively, covering very nearly the same 
 period, and relating in general to the same 
 events. Resemblances with these, in general 
 character, will be noted again in the visita- 
 tions at the outpouring of the vials. But 
 there is this important difference, that while 
 those of the seals and the trumpets belong 
 chiefly to the opening and intermediate cen- 
 turies of the Chriitian Diopeuiutlon, these of 
 
 the vials belong to its close. In this first verse 
 of the chapter, however, these closing scenes 
 are simply announced in a summary way, 
 anticipating the more particular description.? 
 of chapters sixteen and seventeen. 
 
 2. And I saw as it were a sea of 
 glass mingled with fire. The translation 
 of the revisers, "a glassy sea," does not seem 
 to express the exact force of the Greek words 
 (lis vaXivrjv), wliich mean "appearing as if made 
 of glass." The appearance was that of a sea 
 of glass. It had the clear, shining, crystal- 
 like aspect which one sees in glass; but min- 
 gled with fire — an element alike of splendor 
 and of terror. This same sea of glass seems 
 to have been before described at ch. 4 : 6, 
 where it is spoken of as "before the throne." 
 Once more, then, our attention is called to 
 the fact that in these successive visions certain 
 features are fixed and permanent. Once more 
 the throne is before us, and the crystal sea in 
 which both it and the form there seated are 
 glassed. It seems to be agreed among ex- 
 positors that the persons described in the 
 words next following stand, not upon the sea 
 itself, but upon the shore of the sea. Diister- 
 dieck pronounces the former exposition un- 
 natural, and "out of harmony with the 
 scenery in ver. 4, 6." He also thinks that 
 the symbolism, here, is in general like that 
 in ch. 22: 1, et. seq., where we read of "the 
 river of the water of life, clear as crystal, pro- 
 ceeding out of the throne of God, and of the 
 Lamb." It is "on either side of the river," 
 on the banks of it, that trees of life grow, 
 tiieir fruit gathered hy the "nations" of the 
 redeemed, there walking in glory and felicity. 
 He conceives that in like manner, here, the 
 "conquering" ones throng the banks of the 
 crystal sea which mirrors the glory of the 
 Enthroned One, and testifies to them in its 
 crystal-like purity and its flame-like splen- 
 dor how gracious, j'et how just, how severe, 
 yet how righteous, are those "ways" of God 
 which become the theme of their song. "The 
 
212 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 3 And they sing "the song of Moses the servant of 
 God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, *(ireat and 
 marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; <^just 
 and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 
 
 3 of God. And they sing the song of Moses the ser- 
 vant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, 
 Great and marvellous are thy works, U Lord (iod, 
 the Almighty ; righteous and true are thy thy ways, 
 
 a Ex. 15: 1: Deut. 31:30; cli. 14: 3.... 6 Deut. 32 . 4; Ps. Ill: 2; 139: 14....cPs. 145: 17; Hoseal4:9; ch. 16: 7. 
 
 sea," says Hengstenberg, "denotes the great 
 flood of the wonderful works of God, of his 
 righteous and holy ways, of his judicial acts, 
 manifested among men. The glass denotes 
 their blamelessness and purity ; and the sea 
 being mingled with fire, indicates that it is 
 chiefly about the manifestations of God's 
 wrath, his punitive righteousness, that the 
 vision is occupied." The whole scene in con- 
 nection with the sea of glass, like the burden 
 of the song given below, is plainly intended 
 as a preparation for what is to come in the 
 outpouring of the vials. The first verse has 
 already spoken of these as "filling up" the 
 wrath of God. In them his righteous severity 
 against evil is exercised. This is symbolized 
 in the sea of glass mingled with fire — setting 
 forth, thus, in striking imagery, how pure and 
 yet how awful is the divine justice when it 
 awakes to punish. This, also, as we shall see, 
 is in part the burden of the song of those who 
 are now to be mentioned. — And them that 
 had gotten the victory over the beast, 
 and over his image, and over the number 
 of his name, stand [standing] on the sea 
 of glass. "Them that come victorious from," 
 etc. {Revision). The reference, here, to ch. 
 13 : 17, 18, is evident. The beast, his image, 
 and the number of his name, seem to be used 
 in the same general sense as where Paul says: 
 " Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, 
 but against the principalities, against the 
 powers, against the world-rulers of this dark- 
 ness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness 
 in the heavenly places" (Eph.6:i2. Revision). 
 Those who stand upon the sea of glass are 
 they who are conquerors over all these, and 
 "more than conquerors" through him that 
 hath loved them. The expression "victorious 
 //•ow" is taken by some commentators as in- 
 dicating rath(!r an escape than a victory after 
 conflict. Perhaps it is both ; since ,so often in 
 our conflict with temptation, and with every 
 manner of evil, we prevail because delivered 
 in our weakness through him who is our 
 strength. — Having the harps of God. The 
 article should be omitted. " Sacred hari>s," 
 says Alford, "part of the instruments of 
 
 heaven, used solely for the praise of God." 
 "The harps of God," says Diisterdieck, "are 
 those which serve alone for the praise of God." 
 "The phrase is not," says Carpenter, "to be 
 considered as equivalent to very great or very 
 glorious. The harps they hold are called 
 harps of God, not merely because they are 
 dedicated to him, but because they are truly 
 God's. . . . If our power to sing in trial here 
 a song worthy of God is only found in God, 
 so will the songs of heaven be sweet only in 
 him ; for those who dwell there shall be all 
 taught of him." 
 
 3. And they sing the song of Moses, 
 the servant of God. Why is it called the 
 song of Moses, the servant of God ? Because 
 it celebrates deliverance and victorj', as was 
 done in the- song of Moses and the Children 
 of Israel after the passage of the Red Sea — 
 alike the deliverance and the victory being 
 ascribed to God. These words of that ancient 
 paean may worthily be sung forever on the 
 harps of heaven : "The Lord is my strength 
 and song, and he is become my salvation : he 
 is my God, and I will prepare him a habita- 
 tion ; my father's God, and I will exalt him. 
 . . . Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the 
 people which thou hast redeemed; thou hast 
 guided them in thy strength unto thy holy 
 habitation" (Exod. i5: 2, is). Carpenter, in Elli- 
 cott, says : " Israel stood on the margin of the 
 Red Sea, and saw the tokens of the overthrow 
 of the great world-power of that day ; so these 
 saints stand by the border of the flre-blent 
 sea of glass, and sing the song of triumph 
 over the doom of the great world-powers of 
 every age." — The song of the Lamb. It 
 is both of Moses and of the Lamb. Even the 
 song of Moses was the song of the Lamb ; for 
 the Jehovah of the Old Testament was the 
 Christ of the New. The "Angel of the Cove- 
 nant," in both Dispensations, was one and the 
 same. The song, therefore, is one: "Not 
 two songs," says Lange, "sung respectively 
 by Old and New Testament believers (An- 
 dreas) ; not the song of Moses applied to Christ 
 and the things of Christ (Grotius); not a song 
 composed at once by Moses and the Lamb 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 213 
 
 4 "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy 
 name? for (hijii only art, holy: for 'all nations shall 
 come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are 
 made manifest. 
 
 4 thou Kin^ of the ' ages. 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 righteous acts have beeil made manifest. 
 
 a Ex. 15 : 14, 15, 16 ; Jer. 10 : 7 6 Ina. 66 : 23. 1 Many ancient authoiiiies read, nations. 
 
 (Ewald, Diisterdieck) ; but the whole redemp- 
 tion as mediated by Moses and by Christ, 
 with a distinct reference to the song of Moses 
 and the passage through the Red Sea, as a 
 type of the passage through those rivers of 
 fire by which the faithful of the last time 
 shall be separated from the hardened sinners 
 of that time." — Saying, Great and mar- 
 vellous are thy works, Lord God Al- 
 mighty; just and true [righteous and trice] 
 are thy ways, thou King of saints [" of the 
 ages,'^ Revision]. " King of the ages," mean- 
 ing Eternal King, is the now accepted reading. 
 Looking back from the point of final redemp- 
 tion, the saints of God realize much which 
 was dim to them before. Far more than 
 when his ancient people had reached the land 
 toward which they had toiled during forty 
 weary years, will the people of God, as their 
 redemption draws nigh, have occasion to say, 
 "There failed not aught of any good thing 
 which the Lord God had spoken concerning 
 the house of Israel ; all came to pass." Then, 
 in their song, even a review of God's dealings 
 towards his own people will prompt the 
 strain, "Righteous and true are thy ways." 
 In their periods of trial, they may often have 
 wondered at the methods alike of providence 
 and of grace; yet even then they were en- 
 abled, "through faith," to work righteous- 
 ness, to stop the mouths of lions, to quench 
 the violence of fire, to escape the edge of the 
 sword — "from weakness were made strong, 
 waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies 
 of the aliens." Much more, now, do they see 
 how sure were those promises in which they 
 trusted, how true and how strong was the 
 arm on which they leaned. The words, 
 "righteous and true are thy ways," may, 
 however, have especial reference to those 
 "ways" of God in which his righteousness 
 and truth are vindicated. Not only does no 
 word of promise fail, but no principle of 
 righteousness fiiils of ultimate vindication; 
 no word of denunciation against wrong and 
 wickedness is spoken in vain. The triumph 
 of evil, in the day of its exulting reign, is, as 
 compared with the long eternity of its over- 
 
 throw, but for a moment; while not one act 
 of outrage against God and against his truth, 
 his throne, and name, and people, goes un- 
 avenged. Thus are his "righteous acts" 
 celebrated by these redeemed spirits, as "the 
 seven angels having the seven plagues, the 
 last," in which "is finished the wrath of 
 God," are about to stand forth in their mis- 
 sion of judgment. 
 
 4. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, 
 and glorify thy name? The amended text 
 omits "thee," so that the words stand, "Who 
 shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy 
 name?" The ground of the question is in 
 what follows in the verse. — For thou only 
 art holy. "Glorious in holiness, fearful in 
 praises." — For all nations shall come and 
 worship before thee. Lange speaks of 
 what is here uttered as "a genuine New 
 Testament trait, as expressive of the hope that' 
 many shall yet be converted even under the 
 ministry of the vials." Some writers, as De 
 Burgh, quoted in the Speaker's Commentary, 
 understand the words as equivalent to a pre- 
 diction of the conversion of the world at our 
 Lord's second coming. The Speaker's Com- 
 mentary itself much more judiciously treats 
 them as containing "the sum of the Old Tes- 
 tament predictions as to the conversion of the 
 heathen." Taken in their whole connection, 
 they appear to us simply declarative of the 
 fact that connected with the visitations of the 
 vials there will be the gathering in of gospel 
 trophies, with the world's ultimate subjection 
 to him " whose right it is." These visitations 
 Lange very appropriately describes as "judg- 
 ments of hardening," and we shall see, pre- 
 sently, in what sense this is eminently true of 
 them. Yet they are judgments of hardening 
 only for those who are directly the objects of 
 them. There are others upon whom far 
 other infiuences are at work, and these so 
 wide in their operation and so eff"ective as that 
 the glowing words become true: "All nations 
 shall come and worship before thee." The 
 gospel ingathering, contemporaneous with 
 the vial judgments, is so wide-reaching and 
 so abundant, that the phrase, "all nations," 
 
214 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 5 And after that I looked, and, behold, "the temple 
 of the tabernacle of the testimony la heaven was 
 opened : 
 
 G 'And the seven angels came out of the temple, 
 having the seven plagues, ''clothed in pure and wliite 
 linen, and having their breasts girded with golden 
 girdles. 
 
 5 And after these things I saw, and the temple of 
 the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was 
 
 6 opened : and there came out from the temple the 
 seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed 
 ^ with preciuus stone, pure and bright, and girt about 
 
 acb. 11 : 19. See Num. 1 :50 b ver. 1 c Ex. 28: 6, 8; Ezek. 41: 17, 18; ch. 1 : 13. 1 Mauy aiicieut aulborities read, in linen. 
 
 may with propriety be used in describing it. 
 The period of the vials, we may add, becomes 
 thus the more evident. It is that period of 
 gospel progress and triumph which belongs 
 to the later ages of the Dispensation. — For 
 thy judgments are made manifest. This 
 is a reason given for what has just been dis- 
 closed. "Righteous acts," as rendered by 
 the revisers, is more accurate. The Greek 
 word here (Sucatii/aaTa), is the same which, in 
 ch. 19: 8, is by some, as we shall see in the 
 note on that place, rendered "righteousness." 
 The "line linen" of the bride's apparel is 
 there said to be the " righteousness ' ' (SucatuiixaTa) 
 — -"righteous acts," the revisers render, both 
 there and here — "of the saints." The ren- 
 dering in this place of the common version 
 by "judgments," is misleading. It is not 
 simply the manifestation of God's judgments 
 that brings all nations to worship him; it is 
 the manifest righteousness of his judgments. 
 Wliat we understand, therefore, is, that the 
 visitations of the vials, while they operate as 
 punishment upon the direct objects of them, 
 will at the same time be in such a way illus- 
 trative of God's righteousness as that the 
 providences of his administration shall join 
 with the gracious acts of redemption in sub- 
 duing the world, and bringing it to his feet. 
 The strong language used may even look for- 
 ward to the triumphs and glories of that 
 millennial age, of which we read in the 
 twentieth chapter of our book. 
 . 5-8. The Angels of the Vials. 
 
 5. And after that [after these things] I 
 looked [/ saw]. The succession is not one 
 of time, but of events; rather the seer's ob- 
 servations of them. The expression is equiva- 
 lent to, "What I next saw," etc. It indicates, 
 according to Hengstenberg, "that the main 
 scene here begins, and that what went before 
 has only the character of an introduction, a 
 prelude." — And, behold, the temple of the 
 tabernaeic of the testimony [the temple 
 of the tabernacle of witness'] in heaven was 
 opened. Again it is the inner temple, (•-aos). 
 The expression, "tabernacle of witness" 
 
 occurs also at Acts 7 : 44, where Stephen says 
 in his address to the Sanhedrim: "Our 
 fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the 
 wilderness." The phrase seems to be sug- 
 gested by the fact that the ark of the cove- 
 nant and the tables of stone (called, in Exodus 
 31: 18, "the tables of testimony") were for 
 Israel, during the long period of their history, 
 a "witness" of that covenant which God had 
 made with them as his chosen people. As 
 these were enshrined in the tabernacle, this 
 last might appropriately be termed "the 
 tabernacle of witness," and as the temple, 
 upon its erection, served the ends of the 
 tabernacle^ this also might, with equal apt- 
 ness of allusion, be styled "the temple of 
 the tabernacle." These earthly things, how- 
 ever, were a "pattern of heavenly things" ; 
 and now, in the symbolism of the vision, 
 they re-appear with the higher significance 
 belonging to them as such. "It is," says 
 Hengstenberg, "an elevated spectacle, when 
 the temple of the tabernacle is opened in 
 heaven — dreadful for the world, but joyful, 
 though mingled with trembling, for the 
 church." 
 
 6. And the seven angels came out of 
 the temple, having the seven plagues. 
 The order of the words in the revised 
 version is better. The angels came out 
 from that inner temple, perhaps even from 
 that holy of holies, where the symbols of 
 Jehovah's covenant with his people were 
 enshrined — from the immediate pn>sence, 
 therefore, of those tokens of the divine 
 promise and faithfulness, which for so many 
 ages were to his people a reminder and a 
 pledge. These angels come, now, commis- 
 sioned to fulfill that divine word. Their 
 mission, therefore, is not one of wrath and 
 judgment merely. It is, rather, the fulfill- 
 ment of covenant promise. Not, however, 
 the promise of blessing to his people alone, 
 but of judgment upon their enemies, as well. 
 If we turn to those passages in the Old Tes- 
 tament where promises are made to Israel, 
 especially as the covenant people, we shall find 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 215 
 
 7 "And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven 
 angels seven golden vials full of tlie wrath of (jod, 
 'who liveth for ever and ever. 
 
 7 their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the 
 four living creatures gave unto the seven angeLs 
 seven golden bowls full of the wrath of Uod, who 
 
 ich.4:6....i 1 Thess. 1:9; ch.4: 9; 10:6. 
 
 this second feature of them made exceedingly 
 prominent: "The Lord shall judge the ends of 
 the earth" (i Sam. 2: 10); "He shall judge [vindi- 
 cate, avenge] the fatherless and the oppressed" 
 (p.-. 10: 18) ; "Arise, O God, and judge the 
 earth" {ps.82:8); "He shall judge the world 
 with righteousness" (Ps.96:13); He shall 
 "judge among the heathen" (ps. iio:6); "He 
 shall judge among many nations" (isa.2:4); 
 "Mine arm shall judge the people" (isa.54: 5). 
 In these and like passages, reference is made 
 immediately to those enemies of Israel who 
 were their enemies because enemies of the 
 God of Israel ; hut, in their typical and 
 remoter sense, they cover that principle of 
 divine administration in all its applications, 
 which keeps in view the ends of final juatice, 
 and final and complete vindication of the 
 divine admini.<tration itself This, also, is a 
 part of Jehovah's covenant with his people, 
 and this, also, he will keep to the letter. In 
 the succession of visions in our book, the 
 instruments to this end are now seen coming 
 forth ; and as significant of their mission in 
 this feature of it, they come from the sacred 
 inner chamber, where the Shekinah is seen 
 above the mercy-seat, and where the ark of 
 the covenant stands. The expression, "having 
 the seven plagues," is simply indicative of 
 office. The "plagues" are actually given to 
 them with the vials; but the words now read 
 designate the seven angels oflBciallj'.— Clothed 
 in pure and Avhite linen, and having 
 their breasts girded with golden girdles. 
 The revision reads, "arrayed with 2yrecious 
 stone, pure and bright" — the words in 
 italics being supplied. The revisers follow 
 the text of Westcott and Hort (eVSeSu/neVoi 
 xieov KcQapov kay.-npov), which follows the Alex- 
 andrine manuscript. The Sinaitic reads, as 
 translated, " clothed in pure, bright linen." 
 The authorities for the two readings, respec- 
 tivelj', seem to be very evenly balanced. 
 Perhaps a deciding consideration might be 
 the singularity of the reading, ''■ arrayed 
 with precious stone." A similar one is 
 found, however, in the Septuagint, at Ezek. 
 28: 13, where the splendor of the King of 
 Tyre is thus described: "Thou hast been in 
 
 Eden, the garden of God ; every precious 
 stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, 
 and the diamond." The same Greeic word, 
 (cvSiiu,) "to clothe, dress, put on," is used in the 
 present passage. Westcott and Hort, in 
 justifying the reading they prefer, quote also 
 a similar expression from Chrj-sostom. The 
 verb used by him, however, is different 
 (orrAi^u), meaning "to arm, equip, encounter." 
 Upon the other hand, the idea of "arrayed 
 with precious stone," seems almost an im- 
 possible one. Alfordsays: " The remarkable 
 reading "stone" (Aifloc) can hardly be gen- 
 uine, though strongly attested." He speaks, 
 also, of "pure and glistening linen" as "the 
 well-known clothing of angels and heavenly 
 beings," and refers, in proof, to Acts 10: 30; 
 Matt. 17: 2; and 28: 3; and to ch. 19: 8, in 
 our present book. Lange rejects the reading 
 "stone," wholly. Carpenter, in Ellicott, 
 does not give any decision, although ap- 
 parently preferring the word " linen "(Aivoi'). 
 Diisterdieck seems to pronounce for "the 
 more difficult reading," and suggests that the 
 word "linen" (kivov) in the Sinaitic manu- 
 script was substituted for the correct one, 
 because "stone" (kienv) was thought to leave 
 the sense so obscure. The point is not a vital 
 one. Our own preferences lean toward the 
 version, "arrayed in linen, pure and glisten- 
 ing." It is, as Alford shows, in such array 
 that heavenly beings are described in various 
 parts of the New Testament, while such a 
 description seems far more congruous here. 
 The pure and glistening apparel well be- 
 comes those who appear on the scene as 
 ministers of the righteous purposes of the 
 pure God. The golden girdles remind us of 
 that which our Lord himself wears, as de- 
 scribed in ch. 1:18. 
 
 7. And one of the four beasts [liritig 
 creatures] gave unto the seven angels 
 seven golden vials. " Bowls," rather than 
 "vials," is the proper word; for the Greek 
 term (<J>ioAr)), Alford says, means "a shallow 
 bowl, or cup, in which they drew out of the 
 mixing vessel" (xpariip^ The question as to 
 the significance of the fact that the vials are 
 given by one of "the four living creatures," 
 
216 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 3 And "the temple was filled with smoke ' from the 
 glory of God, and from his power; and no man was 
 able to enter iulo the temple, till the seven plagues of 
 the seven angels were fulfilled. 
 
 8 liveth 1 for ever and ever. And the temple was tilled 
 with smoke from the glory of God, and from his 
 power; and none was able to enter the temple, till 
 the seven plagues of the seven angels should be 
 finished. 
 
 1 Kx. 40: 34; 1 Kiii?s 8: 10-, 2 Ctimn. 6: 14; I-a. 6:4 b 2 Thess. 1 : 9. 1 Gr. unto the ages of the ages. 
 
 may be a difficult one. Hengstenberg explains 
 thus: "That the vials are presented to angels 
 by one of the four beasts is explained by ch. 
 16: 1 : 'Pour out the seven vials of the wrath 
 of God on the earth.'' The cherubim [as such 
 he views the beasts] act here as the representa- 
 tives of the living creatures of the earth, on 
 which the judgmetits of God are to alight." 
 Alford takes a similar view. He regards the 
 living creatures (S<ia), as "representatives of 
 creation'^; and one of these gives the vials, 
 "inasmuch as the coming plagues are to be 
 inflicted on the objects of creation." This is 
 true only in part. The fifth vial (ch. i6:io) is 
 poured out "upon the beast," and it is his 
 "kingdom" that is filled with "darkness" 
 and "pain." Besides, it can hardly be de- 
 nied, we think, by any one, that "the objects 
 of creation" mentioned under the several vials 
 are named in a wholly symbolical manner. 
 It will not be claimed that there are, have 
 been, or will bo, literal fulfillments of what is 
 thus shadowed forth. The real objects of the 
 visitation are men, and the world of nature is 
 only used in the description for purposes of 
 imagery. The reason given above for the 
 fact under consideration does not seem, there- 
 fore, quite adequate. Carpenter's statement 
 appears to be better: " These vials are given 
 by one of the living creatures who represent 
 creation ; it is through creation that the wrath 
 of God can visit the rebellious ; that wrath of 
 God is simply the operation of God's righteous 
 law against sin. His statutes are eternally 
 righteous. He has given to all things a law 
 which cannot be broken ; that law is adverse 
 to evil, and will in the end cast it out, for it 
 does the bidding of God, who lives unto the 
 ages of the ages." Dr. Vaughan's comment 
 is: "These incense-bowls are given to the 
 ministering angels by one of the four living 
 beings who represent creation. The agencies 
 of which we are about to read as employed in 
 the judgments which follow are, in form at 
 least, judgments upon natural objects, and 
 judgments by natural instruments also." It 
 may be proper to connect with the passage 
 under consideration those powerful words of 
 
 the apostle in Kom. 8: 19, 20, 21: "For the 
 earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for 
 the revealing of the sons of God. For the 
 creation was subjegted to vanity, not of its 
 own will, but by reason of him who subjected 
 it, in hope that the creation also shall be de- 
 livered from the bondage of corruption into 
 the liberty of the glory of the children of 
 God." {Revision.) Viewing the living crea- 
 tures as representatives of the physical crea- 
 tion, it seems, in the light of such a concep- 
 tion of its participation in the etfects of the 
 fall, as this in the passage just cited, emi- 
 nently suitable that they should, in the sym- 
 bolism of the vision, be seen deeply interested 
 in the events through which the final "re- 
 vealing of the sons of God" is drawn on. 
 Repeatedly on former occasions we have 
 found them sharing with the four and twenty 
 elders in paeans of praise to God, as the crea- 
 tor, and the righteous sovereign. Here, again, 
 they exhibit a like participation, and by 
 their act of giving the judgment-vials to the 
 instruments of divine purpose, indicate the 
 fact that not man alone, but the whole uni- 
 verse of being is in waiting for "the new 
 heaven, and the new earth, wherein dwelletli 
 righteousness." — Full of the wrath of God, 
 who liveth forever and ever. It is import- 
 ant not to lose sight of the fact that (xod's 
 "wrath " in such places as this is to be under- 
 stood only in the sense proper to an infinitely 
 good and just being. It is that holy indig- 
 nation which arms itself against all wicked- 
 ness, and that absolute punitive justice which 
 is as essential in the conception of a perfect 
 ruler, as is the mercy that pities, and when it 
 may, forgives. 
 
 8. And the temple was filled with 
 smoke from the glory of God and from 
 his power. In the sixth of Isaiah we read: 
 "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, 
 high and lifted up, and his train filled the 
 temple. Above it stood the seraphim : each 
 one had six wings: with twain he covered his 
 face, and with twain he covered his feet, and 
 with twain he did fly. And one cried unto 
 another, and said. Holy, holy, holy is the 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 217 
 
 Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his 
 glory. And the posts of the door moved at 
 the voice of him that cried, and the house 
 was filled with smoke." This impressive 
 picture seems to be here reproduced. What 
 we are made to see, is the manifested presence 
 of God; the "smoke," here, answering to 
 the "cloud" so often associated with mani- 
 festations of the divine presence. — And no 
 man was able to enter into the temple, 
 till the seven plagues of the seven angels 
 were fulfilled. ''Finished,''^ or '^ ended," 
 would be an accurate rendering of the Greek. 
 An impressive way, it would seem, of setting 
 forth the inexorableness of the doom now 
 about to fall on those who are the objects of 
 the visitation. None can enter the temple to 
 intercede. From that sacred place and that 
 awful Presence, the ministers of judgment go 
 forth, and "the door is shut." 
 
 EXCUESUS C— THE VIALS. 
 
 From the beginning of the twelfth chapter 
 of the book, as already explained, the visions 
 we are studying present to us the Kingdom 
 of God, in its essential nature, as in conflict 
 with that which is most essential in antichris- 
 tian hostility. We thus distinguish this part 
 of our book from the portion comprehended 
 between the fourth and eleventh chapters, 
 inclusive, where the view presented is more 
 of the external and outward relations of the 
 church to the world, The imagery in this 
 earlier portion, as several times noted, rests 
 upon Israelitish history as recording events 
 growing out of the relations of Israel with 
 their heathen enemies. In that later portion 
 of the book with which we are now dealing, 
 it is the Church of God as distinctively Chris- 
 tian that conies into view ; and the two great 
 powers whose struggle is thus vividly repre- 
 sented on the Apocalyptic scene, are, upon 
 the one side, Christ and his church ; upon the 
 other. Antichrist and the deadly array of 
 forces, earthly, sensual, and devilish, mar- 
 shaled under his banner. 
 
 The pivotal passages in the earlier section 
 of the book thus distinguished (chs. 4-11), are 
 those of the seals and the trumpets. One 
 fact, now, it is pertinent to our present pur- 
 pose to notice. At the opening of the seventh 
 seal, the movement of the vision comes to a 
 pause, while, as in the shifting of the scenery 
 in the exhibition of some great drama, an 
 
 entirely new set of representations begins;, 
 with the coming forward of the trumpet- 
 angels. The sounding of the seventh trum- 
 pet, in like manner, is followed by results 
 different from those of either of tlie ])receding 
 six. We hear it as a blast of triumph, and 
 immediately is heard the loud acclaim, "The 
 kingdom of the world is become the kiruj- 
 dom [the possession] of our Lord and of his 
 Christ" (Revision)." 
 
 As the seventh seal is opened, we are told 
 that "there was silence in heaven for the 
 space of half an hour." This we have in- 
 terpreted as indicating a pause in the Apoca- 
 lyptic movement, with intimation of the 
 peace and rest which follow the long and 
 hot ordeal of Christian trial. There may be 
 in this a glancing forward to the final end, 
 yet the point in the Apocalj^ptic develop- 
 ment distinctively reached, we take to be the 
 same as that indicated by the seventh trum- 
 pet. This we have explained as being, not 
 the end of the world, or of the Dispensation, 
 but the appearance of a great and moment- 
 ous epoch; the closing of that period of 
 fierce ordeal which had lasted through so 
 many centuries, and the beginning of a new 
 order, in which the Kingdom of God enters 
 upon a series of triumphs that sliall last on 
 to the end. It is to this subsequent period 
 that the vials belong. They do not represent 
 the same period, nor the same events, as the 
 seals and the trumpets. They belong to that 
 period in which the truth of those words 
 shall be historically made certain — "the 
 kingdom of the world is become the posses- 
 sion of our Lord and his Christ." They are 
 the reverse side of that picture, on which are 
 seen revealed the victories of redemption, 
 the triun)ph of the Kedoemer and "them 
 that are with him" over Antichrist and all 
 his array. 
 
 If this view be a just one, then the study 
 of the two chapters, especially, to be next 
 taken up, the. sixteenth and seventeenth, will 
 have for us an interest even greater than in 
 the case of those already considered. For 
 the period to which thej^ relate is the period 
 to which our own ago belongs; the period 
 reaching from that great epoch, the Refor- 
 mation, down to the (;nd of the Dispensation. 
 The twelfth and thirteenth chapters have 
 rapidly sketched, in outline, the fortunes oif 
 the Kingdom of God, from the birth of the 
 
218 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVI. 
 
 AND I heard a great voice out of the temple saying 
 "to tlie seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out 
 the vials 'of the wrath of God upon the earth. 
 
 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple, say- 
 ing to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the 
 seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. 
 
 a ch. 15 : 1. . . .6 ch. 14 : 10 ; 15-7. 
 
 Man-child, through those vicissitudes which 
 followed upon the development of the anti- 
 christian spirit, down to the same point as was 
 indicated by the seventh seal and the seventh 
 trumpet. The fourteenth chapter opens with 
 a general picture of the redeemed multitude, 
 standing on Mount Zion, while all heaven 
 resounds with the new song of redemption. 
 Then appears the gospel angel fljnng in mid- 
 heaven with a proclamation of glad tidings 
 for the whole world, indicating that the time 
 has at last come when, indeed, as the Lord 
 promised, "this gospel of the kingdom shall 
 be preached unto all nations." At the same 
 time great Babylon falls; the power that had 
 been so prosperous in wickedness, so formid- 
 able in its hostility, so seductive and yet so 
 fierce, reads the hand-writing of its own 
 final-doom. Then comes upon the scene one 
 "like unto the Son of man," and reaps the 
 ripe harvest that grows from the world-wide 
 sowing of the seed; and next the angel of 
 judgment with his own sharp sickle gathering 
 the vintage of the earth's wickedness, and 
 casting it into "the wine-press of the wrath 
 of God." All this is general and anticipa- 
 tory. With the fifteenth chapter a new series 
 of visions begins, and that which had before 
 been thus delineated as if in outline appears 
 in detail, while the prophecy becomes more 
 easy of elucidation from the stand-point of 
 history. The sixteenth and seventeenth chap- 
 ters describe the pouring out of the vials, with 
 the effects that follow. The eighteenth chap- 
 ter is a wonderfully vivid description of the 
 overthrow of Babylon, or the final destruc- 
 tion of Antichrist; following which, to the 
 end of the book, the pictures are all descrip- 
 tive of the victories and glories of redemption, 
 with only incidental mention of calamities 
 that visit the enemies of God — save that, in 
 the closing verses of the twentieth chapter we 
 have the awful picture of the last judgment. 
 The vials, then, are to be explained in the 
 light of recent history, and in that of events 
 now passing. Possibly some difficulty may 
 be sugg(!sted by the nature of the effects 
 which, in the vision, follow the pouring out 
 of the vials, severally. If the reader, how- 
 
 ever, has accepted the system of exposition in 
 the case of the seals and the trumpets, he will 
 readily see how all the imagery, forceful and 
 striking as it is, must be taken. The fact that 
 it is imagery is the key to the whole difficulty. 
 It is perfectly consistent with the prophetic 
 method in this book, as has again and again 
 become evident, that objects in the material 
 world, and visitations of a physical nature, 
 represent in symbol events in history, in 
 human experience, and even in the sphere of 
 spiritual things. We are not, therefore, to 
 understand any of these descriptions literally, 
 but view them as imagery, and seek for that, 
 under the imagery, which will be for us their 
 true meaning. 
 
 It will be noticed, as we proceed in our 
 exposition, that the "seven plagues" have 
 certain striking resemblances to those which 
 were visited upon Egypt, as described in Exo- 
 dus. This is simply, again, the prophetic 
 method followed, more or less, throughout 
 this book. To a very large extent, the Old 
 Testament history supplies the Apocalyptic 
 imagery. And this is quite in keeping with 
 the New Testament method, as a whole. The 
 newer record continually refers back to the 
 older one; the history in the New Dispensa- 
 tion links on to the history in the Old Dis- 
 pensation ; the prophecies of the Old are 
 fulfilled in the New; the law, even, "is 
 become our tutor, to bring us to Christ." 
 (Revised Vei'sion). So it is here. The pro- 
 phet of the New Testament clothes his visions 
 in the costume of the Old, and we are thus 
 made to see how the whole record is one ; that 
 it is one Kingdom of God whose law is re- 
 vealed, whose privileges are declared, whose 
 earthly fortunes are described or foreshad- 
 owed, and whose final glory is predicted, 
 from the first word of the first inspired prayer 
 to the final benediction at the close. 
 
 THE POURING OUT OF THE VIALS. 
 
 1,2. Thk Fikst Vial. 
 
 1. And I hoard a great voice out of the 
 temple. We must recall what is described 
 in the closing verse of the previous chapter; 
 the temple filled with tokens of the divine 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 219 
 
 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial "upon 
 the earth; and ''there lell a noisome and grievous sore 
 upon the men » which had the marlc of the beast, and 
 upon them ''■ which worshipped his image. 
 
 2 And the tirst went, and poured out his bowl into 
 the earth ; and ' it became a noisome and Ki'ievous 
 sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, 
 and who worshipped his image. 
 
 .ch.8:7....6Ex.9:9, 10, 11.... cch. 13:16, 17.... dch. 13:14. \ Or, there came. 
 
 presence, and all save that presence excluded. 
 This "voice," therefore, is a divine voice, and 
 the command a command of God himself. — 
 Saying to the seven angels. Go your 
 \vays {Go ye] and pour out the seven 
 vials [boivls] of the wrath of God upon 
 [into] the earth. As before explained, the 
 word translated "vials" is properly "bowls." 
 They are bowls "of the wrath of God"; that 
 is to say, they represent the judgment side of 
 his dispensations — visitations upon opposing 
 powers and forces which are in the world at 
 the same time with the instruments and 
 methods of redemption, and are in an attitude 
 of continual hostility and opposition to these. 
 The expression, "wrath of God," must not 
 be misinterpreted. It is in some sense a 
 strongly figurative one. It is "wrath" in 
 that only meaning of the word which is con- 
 sistent with the character and acts of a holy 
 being; not vindictive wrath, not a mere out- 
 burst of violence, but righteous indignation 
 felt toward the evil, and the visitation upon 
 it of deserved punishment. By as much as 
 God approves the good, he disapproves the 
 bad ; by as much as he desires and delights in 
 the welfare of all sentient being, by so much 
 is his displeasure excited against that which 
 creates and propagates misery ; and while his 
 power is active in lending efficiency to the 
 instrumentalities by which he saves, the same 
 power is also active in subduing and ulti- 
 mately paralyzing that which destroys. Thus 
 the manifestation of God in history has the 
 two sides, mercy and judgment. It is the 
 judgment-side that is here brought to view. 
 That God permits, for a time, the apparent 
 triumph of evil — that he even allows it to 
 exist at all — is one of those mysteries which 
 cannot now be solved. Though he permits 
 it, however, he does not tolerate it, and the 
 day of its doom is sure to come. The ex- 
 pression, "Go your ways," is an old English 
 form, for which the revisers properly substi- 
 tute the better one, "Go ye." The preposi- 
 tion translated in the common version "upon" 
 (6is\ means "into." The vials are poured 
 out "into the earth" just as in ch. 8: .'), the 
 
 fire from the altar is cast into the earth, as the 
 trumpets are about to sound. 
 
 2. And the first went and poured 
 out his vial upon [into] the earth. The 
 
 words "earth," "sea," "rivers," "foun- 
 taiiLs," "sun," "air," etc., seem to be used 
 in this chapter, with the exception of the 
 word earth in ver. 1, with symbolical mean- 
 ing. The whole representation, as noted above 
 in "Excursus C," is imagery, events in the 
 world of men and in history being set forth 
 under a symbolism resting on objects and in- 
 cidents in the world of nature. The word 
 "earth," in ver. 1, appears to be used in a 
 general sense, embracing alike the world of 
 nature and the world of men ; in ver. 2 in a 
 more special sense; antithetical to "sea," in 
 ver. 3. The mention of "the beast" in ver. 
 2 may help to explain the symbolism in the 
 word "earth." The wild beast mentioned in 
 ch. 13: 11, comes "up out of the earth." 
 This we have explained as that later develop- 
 ment of Antichrist seen in a corrupt ecclesias- 
 ticism and an opprecsive hierarchy, the Rome 
 of the Papacy, "exercising all the power" 
 of the beast out of the sea, which is Antichrist 
 in his development as a hostile and persecu- 
 ting world-power. In this second verse of our 
 chapter, the first judgment vial is poured out 
 upon the earth whence the second beast, or 
 the spiritual Antichrist, comes forth ; in other 
 words, it is a visitation upon that system of 
 "spiritual wickedness" represented and em- 
 bodied in the papal Antichrist. — And there 
 fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
 the men which had the mark of the 
 beast, and upon them which worshipped 
 his image. The second beast, we are told in 
 ch. 13: 12-16, compelled "the earth and them 
 who dwell therein" to receive the mark of 
 the first beast "in their right hand and in 
 their forehead," and also that they should 
 make and worship "an image to the beast." 
 This he does while "exercising all the power 
 of the first beast before him." In this way it 
 is indicated how the oppressive and persecu- 
 ting spiritual power re-produced in itself all 
 the worst elements of the oppressive and per- 
 
220 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 3 And the second angel poured out his vial « upon the 
 eea; and 'it becuuie as the blood of a dead man: 'a.nd 
 every living soul died iu the sea. 
 
 3 And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; 
 and 1 it became blood as of a dead man ; and every 
 2 living soul died, even the things that were in the 
 sea. 
 
 1 ch. 3:8 6 Ex. 7: 17, 20 cch. 8: 9. 1 Or, there came 2 Gr. soul of life. 
 
 secuting secular power; the Kome of the 
 Papacy wa.s the Rome of the empire under a 
 new and even worse form. That subjection 
 which it claimed and enforced was a submis- 
 sion to, and adoration of, the tyrannical 
 usurpation practiced by the emperors, and 
 now renewed by the popes. The "mark" 
 (xopayfia), was a sign of subjection, or servitude. 
 By those, therefore, who "had the mark of 
 the beast" and "worshipped his image" are 
 meant the subjects and servants of the papal 
 Anticiirist. What we read here of the "noi- 
 some and grievous sore" reminds us of the 
 "boils" in the sixth Egyptian plague (Ex. 7:20). 
 The word translated "sore" means, in the 
 Greek, a running sore, ulcer, or boil. That 
 ancient visitation is thus made the basis 
 of the imagery used in the present passage. 
 The oj)pressive, tyrannical, and God-defying 
 Pharaoh was himself "the beast" in one of 
 his earliest forms of historical manifestation. 
 The physical judgment sent upon him and 
 his people was an example, and in some sense 
 a type, of the judgment with which God will 
 sooner or later visit every form of iniquitous 
 usurpation. What was there physical, how- 
 ever, is here spiritual ; or rather, by the 
 "sore," must be understood what is of the 
 mind rather than of the body — that conscious- 
 ness of impending overthrow, the torment of 
 internal dissension, and "the fearful looking- 
 for of judgment " which comes upon iniqui- 
 tous and oppressive powers as the day of doom 
 for them draws on. There was a time when 
 Antichri.st feared nothing, in heaven or in 
 earth. Earthly powers acknowledged his 
 supremacy, and even his blasphemous pre- 
 tensions to a divine prerogative appeared to 
 pass unchallenged. But that time passed 
 away. And now for a long period, the 
 "noisome and grievous sore," of conscious 
 decline and impending doom has fallen upon 
 this evil jxiwer and upon all who have borne 
 at its bidding the mark of the beast, and have 
 worshiped his image. 
 
 3. TiiK Skconu Vial. 
 
 3. And the second angel poured out 
 his vial upon [inio] the sea. The "sea," 
 
 in the symbolism of this book, represents, 
 according to Lange, " the worldly life of 
 states and nations" ; according to Carpenter, 
 in Ellicott, "the tumultuous impulses and 
 passions of the masses." Both these are no 
 doubt included in the conception as com- 
 plete. It was out of this sea that Antichrist, 
 as the first beast — the hostile world-power 
 — arose. The appearance of the second beast 
 does not imply the c/isappearance of the 
 first; only the two are confederate in their 
 war upon the kingdom of God, while the 
 "power" of the first "exercised" by the 
 second, makes this later form of the anti- 
 christian development all the more formid- 
 able. Especially does that sea of disturbed 
 and tumultuous world-life out of which the 
 first beast arises, remain. A time will come 
 when there shall be "no more sea" (cii. 21:1), 
 but that time is not yet. — And it became as 
 the blood of a dead man: and every liv- 
 ing soul died in the sea. Literally', "every 
 soul of life" — "in its physical sense," says 
 Alford, "of animal soul." The final clause 
 of the verse may properly have the more full 
 rendering of the revised version, "'even the 
 things that were in the sea." We are re- 
 minded of the first Egyptian plague (Ex. 7: 20); 
 also of the effect follovnng the sounding of 
 the second trumpet in ch. 8: 8, 9, of this book, 
 where "a great mountain burning with fire" 
 is cast into the sea, and the third part of the 
 sea becomes blood, the third part of the 
 creatures in it die, and a third part of the 
 ships are destroyed. What we have in our 
 present passage must not be taken as a repe- 
 tition of the one just mentioned, nor as re- 
 ferring to the same events. The differences 
 are obvious. The resemblance is in the fiiot 
 that the visitation now is upon the same form 
 of disturbed human life, with like effects. 
 This effect, however, is more complete; for 
 ^''every soul of life" and the things that are 
 in the sea "die," instead of only "a third 
 part," as before;. So, also, does the form of 
 the visitation diff'cr. It is not, now, as in ch. 
 8: 8, 9, a great wi>rld-power, the Roman Em- 
 pire, bursting into volcanic eruptions, ex- 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 221 
 
 4 And the third angel poured out his vial "upon the 
 rivers aud louutains ol waters; *and they became 
 blood. 
 
 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, "Thou 
 art righteous, O Lord,''wliich art, and wast, and shalt 
 be, because thou hast judged thus. 
 
 4 And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers 
 and the fountains of the waters; ' and -it became 
 
 5 blood. Aud I heard the angel of the waters saying, 
 Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou 
 
 och. 8: 10 6 Ex. 7 : 20 c cli. 15: 3 d ch. 1 : 4, 8; 4 : 8; 11 : 17. 1 Some authorities read, and they became... 2 Or, there < 
 
 oloding in fragments, blazing in self-destruc- 
 tion, and destroying in turn on every side; it 
 is a less obvious but more destructive visita- 
 tion. The pouring out of the vial is a silent 
 act, such as God's dispensations so often are. 
 There are no immediate signs of a great world 
 cataclj'sin taking place. Yet the judgment is 
 all the more awful because of this silence, 
 and its effects more terrible because an im- 
 mediate and direct dispensation of indignant 
 divine justice. Yet we observe that "the 
 sea" itself is made the instrument of the 
 punishment. Its waters become blood, and 
 these destroy the life that is in them. It is 
 through processes inherent in the nature of 
 man, of events, and of that system of things 
 which he has ordained, that God works, in 
 judgment equally as in mercy. "The worldly 
 life of states and nations," says Lange, "be- 
 comes the subject of a process of decompo- 
 sition which leads to death. Consummate 
 passionate subjectivism and party-spirit, in 
 all the forms of senseless self-intoxication, in 
 mercantile, socialistic, absolutist, and many 
 other directions, finally rupture all social, 
 popular, and political coherence. The sea 
 becomes blood, and this blood is as that of a 
 dead man; dead blood. All the goods of the 
 social life of the nations lose their vital value, 
 because they have become the property of 
 consummate egoism. They are dead like the 
 men who determine their value, and operate 
 fatally upon every one who would carry on 
 his life in this sea of blood. Every living 
 being, it is declared, died in the sea." Saj^s 
 Carpenter: "The sea, out of which the wild 
 beast rose, from which the world-power drew 
 strength, is turned to blood, the blood as of a 
 dead man, corrupt and loathsome. The sea 
 represented the tumultuous impulses and pas- 
 sions of the masses; there is a certain healthy 
 force in these, but under certain conditions, 
 when devoted to selfishness and earthliness, 
 they become corrupt and deadly. Ruled by 
 God and by right, the voice of multitudes is 
 melodious as the voice of the sea, and the 
 free movement of peoples like the ocean, a 
 health-giving moral environment to nations; 
 
 but swayed by impulse, or directed by world- 
 liness, they become an element of corruption, 
 killing every token of a better life." How 
 the prophecy as thus expounded is fulfilled in 
 the history of recent times, with other fulfill- 
 ments yet to come, we notice in the General 
 Comments below. 
 4-7. The Third Vial. 
 
 4. And the third ans^el poured his vial 
 upon [into'] the rivers aud fountains of 
 [the] waters; and they became [it became] 
 hlood. Something like this, also, is described 
 (ch.8: 10) as occurring at the sounding of the 
 third trumpet. "A great star" falls "from 
 heaven. . . burning as a torch ; and it fell upon 
 the third part of the rivers, and upon the foun- 
 tains of the waters. . . . and many men died 
 of the waters, because they were made bitter." 
 In our present passage the waters become 
 blood. The symbolism of the rivers and the 
 fountains of waters is the same in both places ; 
 and there is a similarity in the causes and the 
 effects described. But, as in the case before 
 noticed, there are also differences. The causes 
 now operating are more sweeping, and their 
 effects still more destructive. Those sources 
 and currents of national life from which and 
 hy which it is sustained, are now worse than 
 embittered — they are turned to blood. Knowl- 
 edge becomes deadly, opinion corrupt and 
 poisonous, those elements of faith, virtue, 
 piety, so essential in the mental life of peo- 
 ples, equally as in the soul-life of the indi- 
 vidual, undergo deadly transformation. 
 
 5. And I heard the angel of the waters 
 say. Grotius, quoted by Alford and Dtister- 
 dieck, interprets "the angel of the waters" 
 as meaning the angel who poured out the 
 vial into the waters. Diisterdieck thinks the 
 angel symbolizes the waters, as the four liv- 
 ing beings symbolize creation in general. De 
 Wette understands the guardian angel of the 
 waters. Lange proposes a mystical significa- 
 tion, which need not be even quoted. The 
 angel of the waters appears to be a purely 
 symbolical being, like the four angels men- 
 tioned in ch. 7:1: "standing on the four 
 corners of the earth, holding the four winds 
 
222 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVL 
 
 6 For ""they have she<l the blood 'of saints and pro- 
 phets, ''aud thou hast given them blood to drink; for 
 they are worthy. 
 
 TAnd I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, 
 •^Lord Uod Almighty, 'true and righteous a/e thy judg- 
 ments. 
 
 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial /upon the 
 sun; ffand power was given unto him to scorch men 
 with fire. 
 
 6 Holy One, because thou didst thus 'judge: for they 
 poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and 
 blood hast thou given them to drink: they are 
 
 7 worthy. And I heard the altar saying. Yea, () Lord 
 God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy 
 judgments. 
 
 8 And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun ; 
 and it was given unto ^it to scorch men with fire. 
 
 a Matt. 2;J: 34, 35; ch. 13: 15 b ch. 11 :18; 18: 20 c Isa. 49 : 26 d ch. 15: 3 ech. 13: 10; 14: 10; 19:2..../ch. 8: 12 g ch. 
 
 9: 17, 18; 14: 18. 1 (Jv, judge. Because they . . .prophets, thou hast given them blood also to drink.... i Or, Aim. 
 
 of the earth." In all these instances the 
 angelic forms introduced belong entirely 
 to the scenery of the vision. — Thou art 
 righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, 
 and shalt be, because thou hast judged 
 thus. A change of reading is given by West- 
 cott and Hort, which the revised version fol- 
 lows in rendering "thou Holy One," in place 
 of "and shalt be," while the words, "O 
 Lord," are omitted. The angel of the waters 
 is in the vision as if charged with the guardi- 
 anship of the rivers and fountains. He now 
 appears as recognizing the justice of the 
 visitation upon these. 
 
 6. For they have shed the blood of 
 saints and prophets, and thou hast given 
 them blood to drink ; for they are worthy. 
 There is a change of subject, here; "they" 
 referring to those who are the human subjects 
 of the visitation; those who drink of these 
 rivers and fountains now changed to blood. 
 The designation of them as those who "poured 
 out" the blood of saints and prophets is in- 
 tentionally broad and general, being made to 
 include actual persecutors, and those who in 
 a later time have and manifest the persecu- 
 ting spirit. "They are worthy "—they have 
 deserved that blood shall be given them to 
 drink, since thej' have been so willing to shed 
 the blood of the righteous. And I heard 
 another out of the altar say. Both the 
 Sinaitic and the Alexandrine manuscripts 
 read: "I heard the altar saying," (^icouo-aroO 
 tfu(ria<TTr)piou Aeyoi'Tos). Tliis reading the revised 
 version adopts. The note by Carpenter is : 
 "The altar beneath which the souls of the 
 martyrs cried, and on which the prayers of the 
 saints were offered, is represented as confirm- 
 ing the testimony to the just dealings of God." 
 —Even so. Lord God Almighty, true and 
 righteous are thy judgments. Thus does 
 the altar respond to the angel. " Over against 
 the praise of Jehovah," saj's Lange, "the 
 voice from the altar brings in view the 
 almighty sovereignty of God, the rule of 
 
 Elohim Sabaoth ; and instead of God's holi- 
 ness it magnifies, together with the righteous- 
 ness., the truth of the judgments of God." 
 
 8, 9. The Fourth Vial. 
 
 8. The fourth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the sun. We must refer again to the 
 leighth chapter, in the twelfth verse of which 
 we find the sun used in a symbolism akin to 
 that which is seen here. Only in that place 
 the sun is "smitten," its light dimmed, also 
 that of the moon and the stars, so that "the 
 third part of them is darkened." We have 
 explained this, in our notes upon the passage, 
 as descriptive of that obscuration of the divine 
 light of revelation, and that corruption of 
 Christian teaching which brought on those 
 centuries of darkness during which Chris- 
 tianity was experiencing its great ordeal. 
 Assuming that the same symbolism is em- 
 ployed here, we must especially notice that 
 while in the former passage this light is 
 dimmed, it is here made to have a "scorch- 
 ing" quality; for, power was given [or, 
 ^^ it was given' ''\ unto him [or, "t7" the sun] 
 to scorch men with fire. It is said (Mai. 4: 2) 
 of the Sun of Righteousness, that upon them 
 who fear the name of God he shall arise "with 
 healing in his wings." Where revelation is 
 compared to the sun, allusion must in like 
 manner be made to that beneficent action of 
 the great luminary in which all nature lives 
 and rejoices. But that which is the instru- 
 ment of blessing may become also the instru- 
 ment of suffering. The rays of the sun, when 
 fierce and burning — the^re element predomi- 
 nating over the light element — may blast and 
 wither, instead of stimulating to growth and 
 clothing with beauty. In a like way divine 
 revelation, through the abuses of human 
 fanaticism, foil}-, and unbelief, may, in visita- 
 tions of divine judgment, and as a punish- 
 ment of the headiness tmd high-mindcdness 
 of men, "scorch" as with fire. This effect 
 may come in two ways — in that violent and 
 bitter unbelief to which men may be driven 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 223 
 
 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and "blas- 
 phemed the name of (jod, which hath power over these 
 plagues: 'and they repented not ■'to give him glory. 
 
 lu And the filth angel poured out his vial ''upon the 
 seat of the beast ; 'ami his kingdom was full of dark- 
 ness; /and they Knawod their tongues for pain, 
 
 11 And w blasphemed the God of heaven hecause of 
 their pains and '■ their sores, 'and repented not of their 
 deeds. 
 
 9 And men were scorched with great heat : and they 
 blasphemed the name of (jod who hath the power 
 over these plagues; and they repented not to give 
 him glory. 
 
 10 And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne 
 of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and 
 
 11 they gnawed their tongues for pain, and they blas- 
 phemed the God of heaven becau.se of their pains and 
 their sores ; and they repented not of their works. 
 
 ! ch. IS: 2 ecb. 9: 
 
 ,./ch. 11 : 10 g ver. 9, 21 A ver. 
 
 in their hatred of the truth, and in the fanati- 
 cal extremes into which those may fall who 
 through misinterpretations of the word are 
 Carried away by mystical dreams, or deceived 
 by outrageous impostors, or become the vic- 
 tims of passionate revolt against all truth and 
 aill authority. It was said of the Wonderful 
 Child (Lukfl2:34, 35), that he should be "for a 
 sign that shall be spoken against, that the 
 thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." 
 And, indeed, the Christ, and that revelation 
 of which he is the centre and soul, have been 
 in the world, and never more than in these 
 later centuries, a test of the world's true moral 
 condition. As the Bible has been made free 
 for the reading and study of all, it has, while 
 administering instruction and comfort to those 
 receiving its teachings in simple faith, stirred 
 to a more bitter antagonism those who, re- 
 solved not to receive it, or allow its authority 
 as a revelation, have armed theinselves against 
 it. The very nature of a revelation, besides, 
 affords opportunity for those perversions and 
 extravagances to which diseased imagination 
 or the spirit of imposture may incite men. 
 It opens brief and dim glimpses of those mys- 
 teries of the universe of which it is so natural 
 for men to covet a knowledge, and to covet it 
 the more as they have reason to know that it 
 is forbidden. Thus alike in the way of un- 
 belief and of deception, revelation may be 
 abused, and God's best gift be turned to a 
 blighting curse. 
 
 9. And men were scorched with great 
 heat, and blasphemed the name of God. 
 The daring language in which infidelity has 
 given utterance to its defiance of God, or to 
 the denial of his very existence, is a fact only 
 too conspicuous and well known. Not less 
 blasphemous are those impostures which, pre- 
 tending to found themselves in the written 
 word, or in some new revelation, have misled 
 so many. Indeed, the spirit of blasphemy has 
 burned the more intensely as the utterance or 
 the pretense has become more antagonistic to 
 the truth. For it is the nature of truth to 
 
 avenge itself upon those who fight it or per- 
 vert it, by either the hardening process which 
 renders the soul more and more inaccessible 
 to all that is good, and more and more a prey 
 to all that is bad ; or by stinging it with fierce 
 involuntary convictions which startle it at 
 times with the dread consciousness of God's 
 anger and of overhanging doom. Thus the 
 very revelation itself becomes an instrument of 
 punishment; and the more blasphemers cry 
 out against him who hJath power over these 
 plagues, the more they suft'er. — And they 
 repented not to give him glory. It is 
 neither in the experience nor in the dread of 
 divine judgment that repentance has its birth. 
 10, 11. The Fifth Vial. 
 
 10. And the fifth angel poured out his 
 vial upon the seat [throne] of the beast. 
 By the beast we always understand Anti- 
 christ; here it is Antichrist in that manifesta- 
 tion of the antichristian spirit which belongs 
 especiallj' to the last times. The pouring out 
 of the vial upon his "throne" must indicate 
 visitations which threaten his power at its 
 centre and "seat." "The throne of the 
 beast," says Lange, "is the principal system 
 upon which the power of the ilntichristian 
 life of the people rests." Events threatening 
 to the supremacy, and the very existence of 
 the Roman Antichrist, the Papacy, mu.st be 
 especially intended. — And his kingdom was 
 full of darkness. " Became fiiled vjith dark- 
 ness." The basis of the imagerj'^, here, is the 
 ninth Egyptian plague (Ex. 10:21), the "dark- 
 ness which might be felt." In like manner 
 the "kingdom" of Antichrist is darkened at 
 the pouring out of the fifth vial. This dark- 
 ness, however, is not material, nor yet is it 
 moral; for the latter is the permanent condi- 
 tion of antichristianity, and this now de- 
 scribed is a condition induced by a special 
 cause. — They gnawed their tongues for 
 pain. "They" means the subjects of the 
 antichristian kingdom. The darkness is a 
 condition attended by "pain," .sufl^ering. 
 
 11. And blasphemed the God of heavea 
 
224 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 because of their pains and their sores, 
 and repented not of their deeds. Taking 
 the whole representaiion together, it seems 
 clearly to point to a condition such as befalls 
 the adherents and supporters of some evil 
 power, when a blow smites it at the very 
 "seat," upon the very "throne" of its domin- 
 ion, and sends consternation and confusion 
 through its whole extent. The "darkness" 
 which follows is the darkness of bewilder- 
 ment and fear ; the lurid light by which they 
 had walked fails them, and they grope about 
 in uncertainty and in the agony of those who 
 fear the worst without being able to see, at 
 all, when or how it may come. There will 
 be a period in the history of every such 
 power when its policy is clear, its purpose 
 decided, its means ample, and its right on- 
 ward course from strength to strength un- 
 wavering. It may seem to carry all before 
 it, and its supremacy seem sure and perma- 
 nent. But there comes a reverse. A blow is 
 given it that sends a shock through its whole 
 extent. Those who liave built everything 
 upon their assurance of the stability of this 
 power are struck with consternation. The 
 "pains" and "sores," distressing doubt and 
 agonizing apprehension, eat into their very 
 life. Yet they "repent not." Instead they 
 "blaspheme the God of heaven." They cry 
 out against him because it has pleased him 
 that not the evil, but the good, not the wicked 
 but the righteous, not the kingdom of Anti- 
 christ, but the kingdom of his own " Beloved 
 Son," shall prevail and stand. Is not this an 
 epitome of antichristian history in these late 
 centuries? 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We will say at once that we regard the 
 period of the vials as that period to which our 
 own age belongs. The resemblances seen in 
 the vision under each vial to what appeared 
 under the seals and the trumpets, especially 
 the latter, are simply those which occur often 
 in history, and are among the ways in which 
 history repeats itself The differences, as no- 
 ticed in the exjjosition, plainly indicate that 
 the scenic forshadowing is not of the smne 
 events, but of like events. The same great 
 forces — the Kingdom of God and the king- 
 dom of the beast — appear on the scene, but 
 in a difierent attitude as to each other. The 
 seals and trumpets exhibit them in conflict. 
 Under the vials, the Kingdom of God has 
 
 prevailed, and the kingdom of the beast, 
 visited with judgments, is "filled with dark- 
 ness" and with torment. " The kingdom of 
 the world" is no longer the kingdom of the 
 beast; it "is become the Kingdom of our 
 Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign." 
 The period, therefore, is one in which Re- 
 demption triumphs and "the accuser of the 
 brethren is cast down." 
 
 It is worthy of notice under what aspect 
 incidents in the moral, intellectual, social, 
 and political history of this period are made 
 to appear, as represented on the Apocalyptic 
 scene. Those phenomena of modern life 
 which to the contemporary generation seem 
 so formidable, as if they were signs that the 
 enemy prevails, are here seen as visitations 
 of judgment. National disturbances, socialis- 
 tic frenzies, the ravings of fanaticism, ma- 
 licious outbursts of the persecuting spirit, in- 
 fidel blasphemy, surpassing even what any 
 former age could show — these things often 
 seem like signs that the evil forces of the 
 universe are prevailing, and as if God had 
 given over the world to be ravaged by them. 
 In the imagery of our chapter, they are seen 
 as, instead, visitations of divine anger; the 
 writhings of evil under processes of divine 
 procedure in which the final destruction is 
 hastened on. 
 
 These aspects of modern life to which we 
 are referring are at the same time such in 
 their nature as might be looked for under 
 existing conditions. The Reformation, it- 
 self a revolution, became the parent of many 
 such. It set free human forces, originated 
 tendencies and threw open doors of oppor- 
 tunity, in their measure unexampled in his- 
 tory. These could not, as things are in this 
 world, all be salutary, in development and 
 result. Political freedom was sure to be 
 abused; intellectual freedom, as man is con- 
 stituted, and with all his bad passions in full 
 vigor, was sure to degenerate more or less into 
 the riot of intellectual revolt, insubordina- 
 tion, and wild uproar; even that most preci- 
 ous gift of all, a free Bible, would be most of 
 all abused, and, as the sun of the moral 
 heavens, become to .some a blasting curse, 
 while to others a beneficence and a blessing. 
 It is under circumstances such as these sup- 
 posed, that the gospel becomes, if to some "a 
 savor of life unto life," to others "a savor of 
 death unto death." 
 
CH. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 225 
 
 The symbolism which describes the waters 
 of the sea, and even the rivers and fountains, 
 as turned to blood, should be especially no- 
 ticed. We refer the reader again to the in- 
 terpretation of this symbolism in Carpenter 
 and by Lange, as quoted above. It will be 
 seen that these judicious expositors under- 
 stand by it disastrous changes in "the worldly 
 life of states and nations," and "corrupt and 
 deadly" conditions seen in "the tumultuous 
 impulses and passions of the masses." Scarce- 
 ly any other feature of secular life in the 
 modern period characterizes it more. Con- 
 spicuous instances might easily be named; 
 such as the fanatic and immoral excesses 
 which dishonored the Reformation-movement 
 itself; the tyrannies and oppressions by which 
 dominant systems, during centuries of war, 
 misrule, and general misery, sought to repress 
 and kill every uprising of popular freedom, 
 whether in things secular or in tnings re- 
 ligious; that hideous orgie of murder and 
 every imaginable crime, the massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew, representative of a long cata- 
 logue of like enormities; the horrors of the 
 French Revolution ; and, as belonging to our 
 own times, the socialistic and nihilistic out- 
 breaks often so formidable. These, while 
 they arise under the operation of causes in- 
 herent in the very nature of existing systems, 
 are none the less a visitation of God upon the 
 upholders of those systems, and upon those, 
 no less, who imagine that wickedness is cured 
 by wickedness. The "violent dealing" in- 
 stigated, not by a just and intelligent view of 
 human right and human duties, but by the 
 bad passions of bad men, while it may punish 
 the oppressor against whom it is aimed, re- 
 turns to plague the inventors of it. More of 
 this is no doubt yet to come in the history of 
 the modern world ; but whether present, past, 
 or yet future, it is then rightly understood 
 when seen as the visitation of a . righteous 
 divine indignation against that deep-seated 
 evil of the world which displays itself in | 
 communistic revolt no less than in the despot- 
 isms by which such revolt is instigated — the 
 angels of the vials, pouring out "the wrath 
 of God." 
 
 Much might be said of the later fortunes of 
 the Roman Antichrist, as illustrating one 
 part of the exposition proposed above. There 
 is a striking contrast between the proud, con- 
 fident, self-assured, and domineering attitude 
 
 of the Papacy during ages preceding the 
 Reformation, and its attitude during the 
 times which have followed that great event. 
 Whoever seeks to understand the sulyect will 
 be the more convinced as he studies it more 
 thoroughly, that the shock given by that 
 event to the papal system was a fatal one, and 
 that it has ever since been felt as such. While 
 in those countries of Europe — England, Scot- 
 land, Germany, France — which were the 
 representative nations of that period, the 
 papal authority was in some cases completely 
 overthrown and in others greatly weakened, 
 the tendency toward revolt S})read far and 
 wide among those peoples who still acknowl- 
 edged the claims of the Roman See. The 
 policy of the popes themselves was such as 
 to foster, rather than repre.ss, the tendency 
 toward reformation principles. Not only in 
 the wars carried on in Italy between the sev- 
 eral Italian princedoms and states, but in 
 those upon the wider theatre of Europe as a 
 whole, they took such a part as to disgust 
 intelligent men even among their own ad- 
 herents; while among the Roman Catholic 
 nations of Europe themselves, the effect was 
 such that, as Robertson {Histo7-y of Charles 
 the Fifth) says, the "veneration" once felt 
 "for their sacred character" became "almost 
 totally extinct." A most signal indication 
 of this was the storm and sack of the City of 
 Rome by the armj^ of the Duke of Bourbon — 
 a R(mian Catholic prince, sent upon that 
 strange enterprise by the Roman Catholic 
 emperor Charles, the very pillar and support 
 of popery in Europe — in which such horrors 
 were enacted by a Roman Catholic soldiery, 
 at the very centre of Roman Christendom, 
 as historj' can scarcely anywhere parallel. 
 Alike the Inquisition and the Order of the 
 Jesuits were expedients resorted to by the 
 hierarchy to save themselves from the de- 
 struction that threatened ; yet while these 
 may have availed at first, ultimate reaction 
 again.st them, on the part of rulers and 
 peoples, proved that the damage they wrought 
 through the ferocity of the one and the un- 
 principled methods and practices of the other, 
 was far greater than the help they gave in 
 the earlier times of their history. The rapid 
 spread of Reformation principles, even at the 
 outset, was amazing. In fortj'-eight years 
 after Luther, in 1517, nailed his thesis to the 
 Wittenberg church-door, that is, in 1505, a 
 
226 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVL 
 
 '12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial "upon the 
 great river Euphrates; 'and the water thereof was 
 dried up, ''that the way of the kiugs of the east might 
 be prepared. 
 
 la And I saw three unclean ^spirits like frogs covie 
 out of the mouth of ''the dragon, and out of the mouth 
 of the beast, and out of the mouth of /the false prophet. 
 
 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 
 
 1.3 the kings that come from the sunrising. And 1 saw 
 comiiii/ 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 unclean spirits, as it were frogs : 
 
 icb. 9: U b See Jer. 50: 38; 51: 36 cisa. 41:2, 25 d 1 John 4: I, 2, 3 e ch. 12: 3, 9..../ch. 19: 20; 20: 10. 
 
 Venetian ambassador, writing home to his 
 government, was obliged to confess, "There 
 remain firm to the pope only Spain and Italy, 
 with some few islands, and those countries 
 possessed by Your Serenity in Dalmatia and 
 Greece"; while the papal rule in even Spain 
 and Italy, as we have seen, often tottered. 
 Taking the papal history of the last three or 
 four centuries as a whole, one sees in it the 
 record, not of growth, but of decline. The 
 efforts made to regain the lost supremacy 
 have, in every instance, wrought ultimate 
 damage. As always happens to a decaying 
 power, each effort at self-resuscitation has 
 re-acted in still deeper decline; while the 
 consciousness of this has made the triple 
 crown a crown of thorns to its wearer, and 
 has often smitten the hierarchy itself with 
 dismay. As we now write, what were once 
 styled "the thunders of the Vatican," have 
 sunk into peevish complaints. Of those 
 Italian States where the pope was once owned 
 as a temporal ruler, and where he showed 
 how utterly bad a government of priests 
 might be made, not a rood is left to him. 
 Surrendering none of his claims to both 
 spiritual and temporal supremacy, he finds 
 these claims repelled in tones that penetrate 
 even the privacy of Vatican seclusion ; and 
 while vaunting himself king of kings, finds 
 left to him of the old-time supremacy not 
 even a name. The vial has been poured out 
 upon the throne of the beast. 
 
 ia-16. The Sixth Vial. 
 
 12. And the sixth angel poured out his 
 vial upon the great river Euphrates. 
 "Upon the river, the great Euphrates.''' In 
 our exposition of the sounding of the sixth 
 trumpet (ch.9: i.-i, ii, e<. »e?.), we have noticed the 
 symbolism implied in the mention of "the 
 river Euphrates." That river, in ancient 
 times, separated the barbarous and hostile 
 heathen nations of the far East from the 
 territory and people of Israel. It was the 
 boundary line between that which repre- 
 sented, on the one side, the true religion and 
 the true civilization, and that which rejjre- 
 
 sented, on the other, heathenism and barba- 
 rism. The former symbolizes, in the vision 
 here studied, the kingdom of God among 
 men ; the latter, all which opposes that king- 
 dom and seeks its overthrow. As the 
 drying up of the Euphrates, in ancient 
 times, would have afforded easy passage for 
 armies of heathen enemies to come against 
 Israel ; so here, we trace an Apocalyptic 
 foreshadowing of events in which hindrances 
 to this inroad of evil shall be taken away. — 
 And the water thereof was dried up, 
 that the way of the kings of the east 
 [the sun-rising] might be prepared. Some 
 have taken this as indicative of events 
 auspicious in character, like the conversion 
 of the Jews to Christianity (Herder) — an 
 interpretation plainly impossible, since in no 
 sense could such an event be exhibited under 
 the figure of kings of the east coming from 
 beyond the Euphrates, as is here so plainly 
 implied; or as the conversion of Constantine 
 (Grotius), or that of believing princes in the 
 time of the Keformation (BuUinger and 
 others). The events foreshadowed are, 
 clearly, not of this nature. The vials are all 
 judgment-vials ; vials of "the wrath of God." 
 The events occurring under them are visita- 
 tions of that wrath. The connection here, 
 also, implies this. What appears in the 
 verses immediately following must be kept in 
 clo.se association with this now in hand. B3' 
 "the kings of the east" must be meant 
 powers and forces having a like relation 
 with the spiritual kingdom of God, to that 
 which the heathenism of the far East sus- 
 tained to the kingdom of Israel. They are 
 hostile powers, here termed "kings," as 
 symbolizing the haughty spirit in which they 
 assert their claim to sovereignty' in the 
 thought, and faith, and life of the world. 
 
 13. And I saw three unclean spirits 
 like frogs come out of the mouth of the 
 dragon, and out of the mouth of the 
 beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
 prophet. This is the pivotal verse in the 
 wiiole passage. By "the false prophet" is 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 227 
 
 14 "For they are the spirits of devils, 'working 
 miracles, ivhich go forth unto the kings of the earth 
 «and of the whole world, to gather them to ''the battle 
 of that great day of (iod Almighty. 
 
 15 "Behold, 1 come as a thief. Blessed is he that 
 watcheth, and koepeth his garments, /lest he walk 
 naked, and they see his shame. 
 
 l(i sAiul he gathered them together into a place called 
 in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 
 
 14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; that 
 go forth ' unto the kings of the whole - world, to 
 gather them together unto the war of the great day 
 
 15 of (iod, the Almighty. (Behold, 1 come as a thief. 
 Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his gar- 
 
 16 ments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) 
 And they gathered them together into a place which 
 is called in Hebrew ^ Har-Magedon. 
 
 alTini. 4:1; James 3 : 15....5 2 Tliess. 2 : 9 ; ch. 13: 13,14: 19: 20....C Luke 2 : l....d ch. 17: 14; 19: 19; 20: 8....eMMtt. 24:43; 
 
 IThess. 5:2; 2 Pet. .H : 10 ; ch. 3: 3..../2 Cor. 5:3; ch. 3: 4, 18 g ch. 19: 19. 1 Or, upon 2 Gr. inhabited earth 3 Or, 
 
 Ar-Magedon. 
 
 meant the second beast. In ch. 13 : 14, it is 
 said of him that he " deceiveth them that 
 dwell on the earth bj"^ reason of the signs 
 which it was given him to do in the sight of the 
 [first] beast." To "deceive" by "all power 
 and signs and lying wonders, and with all 
 deceivableness of unrighteousness in them 
 that perish," (2Thess.2: 9), is peculiarly the 
 work of the false prophet. And such as this 
 is the second wild beast, Antichrist, in its 
 development as a corrupt, oppressive, and 
 persecuting ecclesiasticism. The coming 
 forth of these "three unclean spirits" points 
 to a peculiar and formidable combination 
 of what is worst and most to be dreaded in 
 the world against all that is good. Thej' 
 represent three great forces — the Satanic, 
 denoted by the dragon ; the worldly, in its 
 most dreaded aspect, as represented by those 
 world-powers which were most rapacious and 
 deadly ; and the dehiding, whether seen in 
 the false Christianity which has deceived 
 such myriads of human souls, or the more 
 openly antichristian manifestations which 
 grow out of it in the various forms of fanati- 
 cism, or in those of unbelief. These spirits 
 are "like frogs." They are unclean; the 
 clamorous croaking of those inhabitants of 
 pools and marshes is no unworthy symbol of 
 the discordances with which the dragon, the 
 beast, and the false prophet fill the world. 
 
 14. For they are the spirits of devils 
 [demons], working miracles [sifjns]. Their 
 true nature is thus indicated. As we see 
 them in history they are human ; in reality — 
 in respect of those spiritual forces of which 
 what is human is but the instrument — they 
 are demons. — Which go forth unto the 
 kings of the earth and of the whole 
 world. The rendering of the revision is 
 much to be preferred, while it conforms to 
 the best Greek text. "Kings of the earth 
 and of the whole world," seems like tautology. 
 We should also read, as in the margin of the 
 
 revision, "go forth upon." These demonic 
 influences take possession of the world's 
 reigning forces, and thus engage them on 
 the side of evil, in its war against the good. — 
 To gather them to the battle [the war] 
 of that great day of God Almighty. 
 "The great day of God the Almighty,^^ is 
 better. The word in the Greek {v6XeiJ.ov), it is 
 important to notice, means, not "battle," but 
 "war." It is not any single struggle of oppos- 
 ing forces that is meant, but a protracted one, 
 involving many "battles," and lasting, pos- 
 sibly, through generations, or even centuries. 
 The passage, therefore, does not describe any 
 single "battle of Armageddon," such as in- 
 terpreters have often imagined. It points, 
 rather, to great historical conflicts between 
 truth, righteousness, and redemption, on one 
 side, and the combined array of falsehood, 
 iniquity, and perdition, on the other— the 
 prize of the victor being the world and man. 
 
 15. Behold, I come as a thief. 
 Blessed is he that watcheth, and 
 keepeth his garments, lest he walk 
 naked, and they see his shame. This 
 verse is parenthetical. It is of the same 
 nature as the warnings occurring from time 
 to time in other parts of the book, as in the 
 Epistles to the Seven Churches, and very 
 often in other books of the New Testament. 
 .John seems here to speak as personating 
 the Lord Jesus. The "coming as a thief" 
 cannot be definitely interpreted, however, of 
 the Lord's second coming. In this con- 
 nection, the force of the admonition is that 
 in a time when the powers of evil are thus 
 abroad, it will well become the Lord's people 
 to "watch," to "keep" themselves from all 
 defilement, and to have the eye ever directed 
 to him who sees and knows all, and will in 
 his own times and ways appear, alike to 
 vindicate and to judge. 
 
 16. And he ^thry] gathered them to- 
 gether unto a place called in the Hebrew 
 
228 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the 
 air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of 
 heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done. 
 
 17 And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; 
 and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, 
 
 tongue Armageddon. The form of this 
 name given in the revision is helpful to the 
 right interpretation of its figurative signifi- 
 cance. "Har" is ^''mountain." Har-Ma- 
 gedon is, therefore, the mountain Magedon, 
 or Megiddo. "The mountain, in Palestine, 
 designates," as Alford says, "the neighbor- 
 hood where the Canaan itish kings were over- 
 thrown by Barak (Judges 5 : i9) ; an occasion 
 which gave rise to one of the triumphal songs 
 recorded in the Old Testament." Here, also, 
 was fought the battle between King Josiah 
 and Pharaoh-Necho, of Egypt; likewise a 
 battle between the Kings of Israel and Judah, 
 when Ahaziah was slain by Jehu. It is "a 
 high table-land surrounded by hills" (Car- 
 penter), and "was the great battle-field of 
 the Holy Land." The mountain is in sight 
 from the spot where John was born, and 
 where his youth was spent. "To the fisher- 
 man of the Lake of Galilee," Alford says, 
 " who would know Megiddo as he .saw its 
 background of highland lit up by the morn- 
 ing or evening sun across the plain from his 
 native hills, the name would, doubtless, be a 
 familiar one." It seems to appear, now, in 
 the scenery of the vision, as a symbol of the 
 great impending "war" between the array 
 brought forward by the dragon, the beast, 
 and the false prophet, and the "called, and 
 chosen, and faithful," who "follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever hegoeth." The subject, "they" 
 of the verb, evidently means the three unclean 
 spirits, (v. 14). 
 
 17-21. The Seventh Vial. 
 
 17. And the seventh angel poured out 
 his vial into [upon'] the air. In a com- 
 mentary upon this book by Thomas Bright- 
 man, bearing date A. D. 1615, we find the 
 following note upon these words: "The event 
 of this vial [the seventh], shall be common, 
 as which is poured upon the aire, which com- 
 passeth the land and sea round about, which 
 aire yet is not the elementary aire, that we 
 breath in; but some other thing that is signi- 
 fied by this name, as was usual in the other 
 seals. Now we know that the drvill is called 
 in Scripture 'the prince that hath power over 
 the aire (Kph- 2; 2). . . Seeing therefore the aire 
 
 belongeth to his jurisdiction, this last vial 
 shall bring a most grievous Calamity unto 
 the whole kingdom of the devill. The former 
 vials did plague some members thereof, 
 severally ; this shall destroy the whole body 
 of the wicked with a common destruction." 
 This old writer seems, here, in his quaint fash- 
 ion, to present correctly the significance of 
 the imagery employed in the passage next 
 to be considered. The view so given seems 
 preferable to that of Lange, who thinks "the 
 air" symbolizes "the common life-sphere of . 
 men. The anger-vial in the air, is, there- 
 fore," he says, . . . "a deadly decomposition 
 of the spiritual life-sphere of men, resulting 
 in the falling asunder of great communities" 
 . . . . also, "the cosmical decomposition of 
 the earthly life-sphere — the end of the world." 
 This seems to us a straining of the sense 
 beyond what it will properly bear. In the 
 symbolism of "the air," considered with 
 reference to that of "the earth," "the sea," 
 etc., there appears to be an allusion, first, to 
 that atmospheric environment which embraces 
 all earthly things, and secondly to the air 
 itself as the element which carries in its bosom 
 the forces which are capable of such destruct- 
 iveness. The "voices, and thunders, and 
 lightnings," of which we read in the next 
 verse, the terrific storm of hail of which 
 mention is made in the last verse of the chap- 
 ter, are atmospheric phenomena; while the 
 "earthquake" occurring at the same time, is 
 but the response of the more solid globe to 
 the awful war of elements in the f;ir that 
 environs it. The whole picture exhibits to 
 us an elemental cataclysm of the most ter- 
 rific kind, such as may fitly image forth the 
 utter and final downfall of the kingdom of 
 evil. And there came a great voice out 
 of the temple of heaven. The revised 
 version bore follows the text of Westcott and 
 Hort, ahd translates, "a great voice out of the 
 temple, from the throne." This is the read- 
 ing of the Alexandrine manuscript; the 
 Sinaitic reads, "a voice out of the temple of 
 God." Westcott and Hort, with the revisers, 
 evi>:lently prefer the Alexandrine text. The 
 point is not material, as the sense is not af- 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 229 
 
 18 And "there were voices, and thunders, and light- 
 nings; *and there was a great earthquake, ''such as 
 was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an 
 earthquake, and so great. 
 
 19 And ■'the great city was divided into three parts, 
 and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon 
 •came in remembrance before God, /to give unto" her 
 the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 
 
 18 from the throne, saying. It is done : and there were 
 lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was 
 a great earthquake, such as was not since 'there 
 were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so 
 
 19 mighty. 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 (jod, to 
 give uulo her the cup of the wine of the fierceness 
 
 8: 5; 11: 19.. 
 
 .b ch. 11 : 13 c Dan. 12 : 1 d oh. 14: 8; 17: 18 e eh. 18: 5.... /Is 
 
 14: 10. 1 Some aucieut authorities rea<l, there tcae a man. 
 
 . 51 : 17, 21' ; Jer. 25 : 15, 16 ; ch. 
 
 fected in either case, in any important way, 
 save that the words "from the throne," make 
 it more clear that the voice itself is divine. 
 The weight of authority seems to favor this 
 reading. The voice is that which, in the 
 beginning of the chapter, gives to the angels 
 their commission— the voice of God himself. 
 — Saying, It is done. It is not sufficient to 
 say, with Diisterdieck, that the words, "It is 
 done," .simply announce the fulfillment of 
 what had been commanded, when the seven 
 angels were sent forth to "pour out the vials 
 of the wrath of God upon the etirth." What 
 follows, in subsequent verses, plainly shows 
 that the words have, in fact, an import fiir 
 more solemn and fearful. They announce 
 the end — the accomplishment of that which 
 God had purposed and decreed — the final 
 visitation "of the wrath of God." It does 
 not follow that they indicate the end of the 
 world. This may be implied ; but the dis- 
 tinct and explicit announcement is, that the 
 kingdom of evil, the reign and warfare alike, 
 of the dragon, the beast, and the false 
 prophet, have reached their final close, so 
 that the ruin now coming upon them will be 
 final and forever. It is the "finishing" of 
 "the mystery of God." 
 
 18. And there were voices, and thun- 
 ders, and lightnings. The order of the 
 words is different from that in the revised 
 Greek text — "lightnings, and voices, and 
 thunders." Here, again, we find a notable 
 likeness to what was seen under a former 
 vision. In connection with the sounding of 
 the seventh trumpet, there were " lightnings, 
 and voices, and thunders"; also the "earth- 
 quake," of which mention is made in the con- 
 nection here; and "great hail," correspond- 
 ing to what is likewise here more definitely 
 described. We have not, in our exposition of 
 this chapter, treated the vials as synchronous 
 with the trumpets, notwithstanding the re- 
 markable likenesses between the two visions 
 which from time to time have been pointed 
 
 out. These likenesses are due to the fact that 
 like imagery is employed to indicate like 
 events. In each instance, however, while the 
 general aspect of what transpires is similar in 
 the one case to what appears in the other, the 
 effect seen under the vials is vastly more com- 
 plete and fintil than under the trumpets. So 
 in this present case, as will appear. — And 
 there was a great earthquake, such as 
 was not since men were upon the earth, 
 so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 
 The order of the words in the revision is more 
 exactly according to the Greek. Tischendorf 
 has in his text the singular number — "since a 
 man was upon the earth." We have before 
 explained the symbolism of the earthquake 
 as denoting great revolutions, such as shake 
 down sj'stems and shatter great powers and 
 combinations. Such an one occurred at the 
 sounding of the seventh trumpet, when at the 
 resurrection of the witnesses the kingdom of 
 Antichrist received a shock, under which a 
 tenth part of the city — the great antichris- 
 tian system — fell. The earthquake here de- 
 scribed is like that one, but vastly more over- 
 whelming. That denoted the weakening and 
 crippling of powers hostile to God and to his 
 kingdom; this denotes their rfes<?'?<c^ion. There 
 have been many such in history ; but never one 
 so great, so mighty, as this. The Speaker's 
 Commentery also calls attention to the fact that 
 "in the case of this earthquake there is no re- 
 pentance, such as followed that in ch. 11 : 13." 
 19. And the great city was divided into 
 three parts. By the "city" in this and 
 similar connections is meant concentrated 
 and organized force hostile to God; in "the 
 great city" the symbolism is emphasized — 
 it is the combination of all these forces — 
 Antichrist in the completeness of final de- 
 velopment. lL\\e Speaker' s Commentary snys: 
 "The signification of this verse seems to be 
 that, under-stood in the most general manner, 
 'the great city' is the centre of the world- 
 power, where 'the throne of the beast' («r. lo) 
 
230 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 20 And "every island fled away, and the mountains 
 were not found. 
 
 21 'And there fell upon men a great hail out of 
 heaven, cn-ry stone about the weight of a talent: and 
 nuen blasphemed God because of ''the plague of the 
 hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. 
 
 20 of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the 
 
 21 mountains were not found. And great hail, every 
 stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out 
 of heaven upon men : and men blasphemed (iod 
 because of the plague of the hail ; for the plague 
 thereof is exceeding great. 
 
 och. 6: U ich. 11: 19 c ver. 9: 11 d See Ex. 9: 23, 24, 25. 
 
 is always to be found, whatever the forms of 
 evil may be under which that power is ex- 
 hibited — whether unbelief, or superstition, or 
 sensuality." In the eighteenth chapter, as 
 well as in subsequent parts of the same verse, 
 tliis city appears as Babylon ; and the over- 
 throw here briefly spoken of as its falling 
 asunder in three parts is in that chapter vividly 
 exhibited in detail. The qualifying word 
 "great," as also in the phrase, "Babylon the 
 Great," alludes to the fact that what ancient 
 Babylon was comparatively in miniature, this 
 other Babylon is upon a vast scale. There 
 was no lack of formidableness in the proto- 
 type ; in this more modern reproduction, how- 
 ever, the breadth, and fury, and effect of the 
 power exercised are such as to almost dwarf 
 that of old in the comparison. This great 
 city is now by the mighty earthquake shaken 
 to the ground. It " was divided into three 
 l)arts," shattered and overthrown. We should 
 note that it is not said, as in former instances, 
 that "a third part" of the city was shaken. 
 The whole city was rent asunder by the earth- 
 quake, each "third part" being visited with 
 overthrow. "The three evil spirits," says 
 Carpenter, "endeavored to unite all powers 
 in one grand assault; but there is no natural 
 cohesion among those whose only bond is 
 hatred of the good. The first convulsion 
 shakes them to pieces." — And the cities of 
 the nations fell. The destruction of "the 
 great city," like the effects following upon the 
 pouring out of the fifth vial upon the throne 
 of the beast, indicates a visitation upon the 
 antichristian power at its centre, as when the 
 capital of a great empire is taken and de- 
 stro^'ed. As in such a case, subordinate 
 powers, dependent on that, share its fate, so 
 here. While at its centre the rule of Anti- 
 christ is thus laid prostrate, the effect spreads 
 to every subordinate centre; the ruin reaches 
 widely as the empire; of evil itself. The vivid, 
 impressive picture shows us the capital of this 
 O'npire, and every subordinate or confederate 
 capital throughout the world, visited by the 
 same earthquake shock, and all, in the .same 
 moment, tumbling in ruins. In this way is 
 
 Apocalyptically set forth the final doom of all 
 ungodliness, and all spiritual wickedness, 
 alike in high places and in low.^And great 
 Babylon came in remembrance before 
 God, to give unto her the cup of the wine 
 of the fierceness of his wrath. These 
 words summarize what has gone before, and 
 anticipate, in like summarj', the more detailed 
 description in the two following chapters. 
 
 20. And every island fled away, and 
 the mountains were not found. At the 
 opening of the sixth seal, among other por- 
 tents, the seer beholds "every mountain and 
 island moved out of their places." Here we 
 must take the language used, not literally, 
 as denoting actual physical occurrences, but 
 figuratively, in a symbolism resting on the 
 literal and physical. In the vision under the 
 sixth seal, a great world-cataclysm is re- 
 vealed. All things seem rushing to destruc- 
 tion, as men naturally imagine them to be 
 when vast revolutions — falling empires, pros- 
 trated thrones, mighty fjrces brought in 
 collision and working mutual overthrow — are 
 taking place. It is so, again, here. In the 
 scenery of the vision the mountains and the 
 islands ' flee away" and "are not found." 
 "The islands, like the mountains," says 
 Hengstenberg, "denote kingdoms. The dif- 
 ference is merely this, that in the designation 
 of kingdoms by islands, respect is had only 
 to their separate existence, while they are 
 called mountains, in so far as they exercise 
 dominion over others." 
 
 21. And there fell upon men a great 
 hail out of heaven, every stone about 
 the weight of a talent. The change in the 
 order of the words, in the revised version, 
 will be noticed. Hail-stones frequently appear 
 in Scripture imagery as tokens of divine 
 visitation. Examples are Isa. 30. 30; Ezek. 
 13: 11; besides parallel passages in our pre.s- 
 ent book. " About the size of a talent " lends 
 vividness to the imagery. [The weight of a 
 talent was, in round numbers, about fifty 
 pounds. Josephus ( Wars of the Jews) v. 6. 3), 
 says that the soldiers of the tenth legion had 
 engines ^catapults) which threw stones larger 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 231 
 
 than the rest, adding : " Now, the stones that ] 
 were cast were of the weight of a talent, and 
 were carried two furk)ngs and further. The 
 blow they gave was no way to be sustained, 
 not only by those that stood first in the way, 
 but by those that were beyond them for a 
 great space." Whiston's Translation. — A. H.] 
 By the "hail" must be meant calamities of 
 various sorts, "tribulations," such as our 
 Lord spoke of in Matt. 24: 21, as character- 
 izing the last days. As an historical pactillel 
 or illustration, we may refer to Josh. 10: 1-11, 
 where it is told how the Lord cast down great 
 stones from heaven, upon the enemies of 
 Israel. — And men blasphemed God be- 
 cause of the plague of the hail; for the 
 plague thereof was [ is ] exceeding 
 great. " Blasphemed,'' not repented. "The 
 proud, hard spirit," is the comment of Car- 
 penter in Ellicott, "which still hates the 
 good, remains. Thus, sin is its own worst 
 penalty. As an illustration of this hard, un- 
 subdued spirit, we may call to mind Capaneus 
 in Dante's Inferno, and the words in which 
 Virgil addresses him : 
 
 'Thou art more punished, in that this thy pride 
 Lives yet uncnienched ; no torment save thy rage 
 Were to thy fury pain proportioned full.' " 
 
 EXCUKSUS D.— THE BATTLE (WAR) 
 OF ARMAGEDDON. 
 
 A single word in one part of the passage 
 here studied (v. u), suggests how mistaken is 
 the view that bj' " the battle of Armageddon " 
 is meant one great and decisive struggle 
 between the powers so often seen in array 
 against each other in the course of this book. 
 The word, in the Greek (n-oAe/iioi'), as noted 
 above, means "war." It is not "battle" 
 ifiixv*')- This corrected rendering, also, will 
 help toward a more clear and accurate view 
 of what is meant by "the war of Arma- 
 geddon" itself. 
 
 Instances are frequent, in this book, of the 
 use of cities, such as Babylon ; rivers, as the 
 Euphrates; and localities, as in the present 
 case, to symbolize great spiritual forces or 
 facts. Armageddon is used in the same way 
 as Jerusalem, or "the holy city," Euphrates 
 and Babylon. It does not mean a localitj', 
 in any literal sense, whether the same as that 
 mentioned in the sacred history, or some 
 other figuratively called by its name. It is 
 the name of a locality used to make more 
 
 specific, vivid, and real, the Apocalyptic 
 scenery amidst which the great spiritual 
 events and effects foreshadowed are repre- 
 sented as taking place. Let us note the 
 evident historical basis of the imagery, as so 
 employed. 
 
 Gesenius hypothetically gives the meaning 
 of the name "Megiddo" as "place of 
 troops." The form " Magiddon" {Mngeddo) 
 is the Greek, as used \>y the iSeptuagint, for 
 Megiddo. The first S3'llable of the name 
 "Armageddon," according to the Hebrew 
 spelling, may mean either "citj'," or "moun- 
 tain." Schaff prefers the former; other 
 writers, as Alford, the latter. Schaff de- 
 scribes it as "a city of Manasseh, situated 
 within the borders of Issachar, and formerly 
 a royal city of the Canaanites, whose king 
 and its neighboring towns were conquered by 
 Joshua. . . . The neighboring stream, prob- 
 ably the 'waters of Megiddo,' is the largest 
 perennial tribute of the Kishon. The valley, 
 or plain, of Megiddo, also called Megiddon, 
 was part of the plain of Esdraelon." This 
 plain. Dean Stanley {'^Sinni and Palestine," 
 ch. ix), terms "the battle-field of .lewish 
 history and the chief .scene of our Lord's 
 ministrations. Bounded as it is," he adds, 
 "by the hills of Palestine on both north and 
 south, it would naturally become the arena 
 of war between the lowlanders who trusted 
 in their chariots, and the Israelite high- 
 landers of the neighboring heights. To this 
 cause mainly it owes its celebrity, as the 
 battle-field of the world, which has, through 
 its adoption into the language of the Apoca- 
 Ij'pse, passed into a universal proverb." 
 Another writer (Clarke) quoted in the 
 Speaker^ s Commentary, says of the plain of 
 Esdraelon that it "has been a chosen place 
 of encampment in every contest carried on in 
 Palestine from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 King of Assj-ria, unto the disastrous march of 
 Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. 
 Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian Crusaders, 
 and antichristian Frenchmen, Egj'ptians, 
 Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors 
 of every nation that is under heaven, have 
 pitched their tents on the plain of Esdraelon, 
 and have beheld the banners of their nations 
 wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon." 
 
 Signalized in history in the way here indi- 
 cated, the significance of this localitj', as used 
 in the symbolism of our book, is suflBciently 
 
232 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 CHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 AND there came "one of the seven angels which had 
 the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto 
 me. Come hither; ''1 will shew untu thee the judgment 
 of 'the great whore •'that sitteth upon many waters : 
 
 1 And there came one of the seven angels that had 
 the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come 
 hither, 1 will shew thee the judgment of the great 
 
 a ch. 21: 9 6 ch. 16: 19; 18: 16, 17. 19 c Nah. 3:4; ch. 19: 2 d Jer. 51 : 13 ; ver. 15. 
 
 clear. Two things in what Stanley says of it 
 may be specially noted : that this valley, or 
 plain, is appropriately named as "Me battle- 
 field of the world,'' and also that this part of 
 Palestine was ^' the chief scene of our Lords 
 ministrations.'' These two features may be 
 treated as prominent in the passage above 
 studied. The unclean spirits out of the mouth 
 of the dragon, the beast, and the false pro- 
 phet, go forth to gather the nations to war in 
 that which is the world's battle-field, and 
 where also our Lord has taught and worked 
 miracles. In other words, the scene of this 
 war is the world itself, and distinctively the 
 Christian world. What has therefore been 
 termed "the battle of Armageddon" is that 
 final and climacteric, and perhaps long-con- 
 tinued struggle between the Kingdom of 
 God and the kingdom of evil which is to 
 characterize the last days. It is not any 
 brief "battle," sudden in onset and soon 
 decided. It is a "war," with Christendom 
 as the field, in which th'e forces on either side 
 will be arrayed with a consciousness that the 
 struggle is final, and in which there may be 
 many campaigns and many vicissitudes ere 
 the final issue comes. 
 
 It should be noted by what means the forces 
 of evil are brought together for this "war of 
 Armageddon." Unclean spirits, the progeny 
 of the dragon, the beast, and the false pro- 
 phet, Satanic, worldly, spiritually deluding, 
 will be the instruments at work, the recruit- 
 ing agents of evil for this war. We have 
 here indications of a most formidable com- 
 bination. It may be presumed that alliances 
 will be seen, that ought to appear impo.ssible, 
 in the nature of things. Unbelief may league 
 with superstition, license with despotism, the 
 church-liatiiig world with the apostate church, 
 knowledge with ignorance, science in its most 
 magnificent pretension with the stupidity 
 ihat holds all .science in contempt — the dra- 
 gon-spirit, the beast-spirit, and the falsehood- 
 spirit effect alliances amongst these, and unit- 
 ing them in a common hatred of Christianity 
 and Christ, of God, and the truth, and the 
 
 people of God, "gather them together unto 
 the war of the great day of God, the Al- 
 mighty." 
 
 How far indications of such things as we 
 here describe are seen in aspects of the pres- 
 ent time, we leave with the observant and 
 thoughtful reader to decide. It is probable 
 that as yet only beginnings of it all are ap- 
 parent. Enough is evident, however, to give 
 great emphasis and force to the words of 
 warning spoken in immediate connection 
 with those which announce the impending 
 struggle: "Behold, I come as a thief Blessed 
 is he that watcheth [is wakeful], and keepeth 
 [preservethj his garments, lest he walk naked, 
 and they see his shame." 
 
 MYSTICAL BABYLON. 
 
 1-2, The Woman and the Beast. 
 
 1. And there came one of the seven 
 angels which had the seven vials, and 
 talked with me. What is now to be de- 
 scribed should, it would appear, be regarded 
 as occurring under the seventh vial. It is 
 told in ver. 19 of the last chapter how, among 
 other incidents connected with the pouring 
 out of that vial, "Babylon the Great was re- 
 membered in the sight of God, to give unto 
 her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of 
 his wrath." This judgment of Babylon is 
 now more fully set forth ; and as preliminary 
 to it, a vision is introduced in which Babylon 
 itself appears in its my.stical character. 
 There may be a reason for what Alford 
 i claims, that the angel who calls the seer's 
 attention to what now appears, and explains 
 its significance, is the angel of the seventh 
 vial. That seems natural and probable, al- 
 though there is nothing to nnike it certain. 
 — Come hither; I will shew unto thee the 
 judgment of the great whore that sitteth 
 upon many waters. Alford, Lange, Car- 
 penter, and the Speaker' s Commentary, trans- 
 late " hither," omitting the "come." "The 
 reference," says Lange, "is not to a local mo- 
 tion, but to a certain direction of the contem- 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 233 
 
 2 "With whom the kings of the earth have com- 
 mitted loruicatiou, and 'the inhabitants of the earth 
 have been wade drunk witli the wiue of her fornica- 
 tion. 
 
 2 harlot that sittetli upon many waters; with whom 
 the Icings of the earth committed fornication, and 
 they that dwell in the earth were made drunken 
 
 acb. 18:3....& Jer. 51:7; ch. 14:8; 16:3. 
 
 plation in accordance with the guidance of 
 the angel." In a sense this may be true. In 
 ver. 3, below, we read, "He carried me away 
 in the spirit into the wilderness." There 
 was no actUiil, bodily change of place, but in 
 changes of the vision, John saw before him a 
 wilderness, with the objects described as 
 there, so that he seems to himself to have 
 been transported thither. The more full 
 discussion of the question of identity, as 
 regards the sinister figure now to be intro- 
 duced, belongs perhaps, more properly, in 
 connection with subsequent verses of the 
 chapter. It is not a question altogether easy 
 of solution. Miiny commentators, as Au- 
 berlen, Alford, Lange, understand by the 
 woman the church, in its condition of spiritual 
 aposta.sy. Lange connects what is seen here 
 with what is described in chap. 12, where "we 
 behold a celestial woman, clothed with the 
 sun, the moon under her feet, adorned with a 
 garland of chosen stars, equipped with eagle's 
 wings." This same woman he seems now to 
 find changed to "a harlot, riding or sitting 
 upon a scarlet beast, . . . and thus herself 
 founded upon an antichristian world-power 
 and bloody violence." One naturally hesi- 
 tates to adopt this view. "It is hard to un- 
 derstand," siiys the Speaker's Commentary, 
 "how such a statement can be made in the 
 face of the Lord's promise, 'Lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world' 
 — especially hard is it, if we remember how 
 the church is described when she appears 
 again after chapter twelve, as the 'Bride,' 
 as 'the New Jerusalem' (ch. i9:7, 8; 21:2, 9, lo; 32: 
 17; cr. John 3: 29)." The mind revolts at the 
 idea of such a glorious being, as the woman 
 that appears in chapter twelve, changed 
 to a "mother of abominations'' in chapter 
 seventeen, and again in chapter nineteen, 
 become the bride of the Lord, arrayed " in 
 fine linen, bright and pure." Nor does the 
 diflRculty seem to be evaded by adopting, 
 with Wordsworth, the idea of "« faithless 
 church." It may well be doubted if there can 
 be such a thing as a faithless church. There 
 may be what .shall call itself a church, 
 yet in which there shall be found scarcely a 
 remnant of what is properly the character of 
 
 a true church. Indeed, the phrase itself, "a 
 true church," might be said to imply a 
 pleonasm. There can surely be no such 
 thing as a false church, in tiny proper sense 
 of the phrase; for the very fact of its false- 
 ness proves that it is no church of Christ at all. 
 Such phrases may be conventionally employed 
 as matters of convenience. But when, as in 
 the exposition of our present passage, we come 
 to an interpretation of sacred symbols, under 
 which are presented to us, on the one side, 
 what is befitting in a divine institution be- 
 loved of its Founder, and, upon the other, 
 the combination of all that is most sinister, 
 odious, and pernicious, we surely must discard 
 conventional phrases, and call things by their 
 right names. We decline, therefore, to see in 
 this woman on the scarlet beast the Mother of 
 the Man-child. It may, however, be intended 
 in this vision to suggest how, by the harlot, 
 that character is assM/werf; as, in fact, the anti- 
 christian power, in its spiritual form, has ever 
 claimed for itself, not only the character of 
 a church of Christ, but an exclusive possession 
 of this character. It should be observed that 
 nowhere in the interpretation of the vision 
 given in this chapter by the angel, is there any 
 sign that this assunied character is allowed. 
 The closing verse of the chapter says: "The 
 woman which thou sawest is that great city, 
 which reigneth over the kings of the earth." 
 The same is implied in the verse now before 
 us, where it is said of the harlot that she "sit- 
 teth upon many waters." Almost the same 
 words are, in Jeremiah 51 : 13, applied to 
 Babylon: "O thou that dwellest upon many 
 waters." These waters are said, in ver. 15 of 
 our chapter, to be "peoples, and multitude;--, 
 and nations, and tongues." Of the significance 
 of these descriptive clauses we shall have 
 more to say in the proper place. For the 
 present, we simply suggest the impossibility 
 of viewing the woman in this chapter as in 
 any sense either the church of Christ, or a 
 church of Christ, but as an impure and hate- 
 ful power, assuming the name and seeking to 
 impose itself upon the world as alone en- 
 titled to recognition as that church which is to 
 God "as the apple of his eye." 
 2. With whom the kings of the earth 
 
234 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 3 So he carried me away in the spirit "into the 
 wilderness: and I saw a woman sit 'upon a scarlet 
 coloured beast, lull of <^ names of blasphemy, ^having 
 seven heads and «ten horns. 
 
 3 with the wine of her fornication. And he carried 
 me away in the Spirit into a wilderness : and I 
 saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, 
 1 full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads 
 
 a ch. 12:6, 14 & ch. 12 : 3 c ch. 13: 1 d ret'. 9 e ver. 12. 1 Or, namtt full of blasphemy. 
 
 have committed fornication. It is thus 
 indicated how hetvveen this pretender to the 
 character and prerogatives of the church, and 
 "the kings of the earth" — the ruling political 
 forces, whether monarchical or other — a pecu- 
 liar confederacy exists, involving criminality 
 of the sort represented so often under the 
 symbol of "fornication." Upon the one hand 
 is here implied the seductiveness and craft of 
 the woman; upon the other, that "the kings 
 of the earth" are fully caught in the snare 
 and drawn by her into a confederacy with her in 
 the criminality charged. The word here used 
 is the one most in keeping with the imagery 
 employed — that of an intriguing, abandoned 
 woman, with her debauched retinue. Only, 
 in this case, it is "the kings of the earth" 
 who are thus corrupted, and who lend them- 
 selves as ministers of her will. In the crime 
 charged there seems an allusion to the Old 
 Testament mode of representation for that sin 
 of idolatry into which Israel so often fell. 
 Here, however, it implies simply what is false 
 in religion and worship, and indicates that the 
 confederacy between the woman and those 
 whom she so easily sways is in behalf of such 
 a religion. It is, in one sense, an apostate 
 church, fallen into idolatr}'; while in another, 
 it is a spurious ecclesiasticism, pretending to 
 all that is most genuine in a church of Christ, 
 yet a pretender, merely, and engaging the 
 ruling powers of the world in support of prac- 
 tices as false and as forbidden as when Israel 
 fell into the practices of the heathen nations 
 around them. — And the inhabitants of the 
 earth have been made drunk with the 
 wine of her fornication. Not simply the 
 rulingpowersof the world are seduced by these 
 harlot sorceries, but "they that dwell in the 
 earth" — as the revised version translat(^s — 
 the masses of the people no less. They are 
 drunken ; the idolatries into which thej' fall 
 become a fanaticism ; they are carried away 
 as by a delirium of intoxication. In this way 
 the words of the angel prepare the seer for 
 that which is soon to be disclosed on the 
 Apocalyptic scene, with such measure of ex- 
 planation as consists with the Apocalyptic 
 character of the whole. 
 
 3. So he carried me away in the spirit 
 into the [a] wilderness. The question here 
 arises, whether we shall translate, after both the 
 common version and the revision, "in the 
 Spirit" — meaning the Holy Spirit of God — 
 or "in spirit," meaning that of John him- 
 self; denoting, as Lange expresses it, simply 
 "a change effected in the ecstatic direction of 
 the seer." A like expression has occurred, 
 and been noticed in our exposition, at ch. 
 1:10, "I was in the Spirit" {iv ■nvtvit.a.Ti), 
 which we decided to render with the article, 
 notwithstanding the absence of the article in 
 the Greek, consistently with what we found 
 to be a New Testament usage. The words 
 here, in the Greek, are the same as in the 
 former place, though the connection is dif- 
 ferent. At ch. 1 : 10, an account is given of 
 that peculiar condition into which the seer is 
 brought, and which makes all that follows in 
 the visions of the book possible to him. In 
 21 : 10, and in the verse now studied, we are 
 simply informed, in this way, that John be- 
 comes conscious of a new scene as passing 
 before him, with new figures and incidents 
 represented. Lange and Carpenter prefer, 
 apparently for this reason, to translate, simply, 
 "in spirit." Alford and others render, as is 
 done in the revision, "in the Spirit." Even 
 if the latter be preferred, it seems clear that 
 the emphasis is not now, as in 1 : 10, upon the 
 fact that the mj^sterious and sacred influence 
 felt comes from the divine Spirit, but that 
 now, the movement in John himself, so 
 caused, takes a new "direction." If with the 
 word "wilderness" the definite article were 
 used, the perhaps necessary inference would 
 be that this is the wilderness mentioned in 
 chapter twelve, and into which the woman 
 with the Man-child is borne on her eagle's 
 wings. Even as it is, we may assume the 
 general reference to be the same. The scene 
 ui)on which the woman in this present chap- 
 ter appears, is that of the disordered national 
 and moral condition amidst which the Papacy 
 arose, and which supplied to it the oppor- 
 tunity it used to such evil purpose. — And 
 I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet- 
 coloured beast. We have here, again, the 
 
Ch. XVIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 235 
 
 4 And the woman "was arrayed in purple and scarlet 
 colour, 'and decked with gold and precious stones and 
 pearls, "^having a golden cup in her hand ''lull of 
 abominations and tilthiuess ot her fornication : 
 
 4 and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in 
 purple and scarlet, and i decked with gold and 
 precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a 
 golden cup full of abominations, -even the uucleuu 
 
 I oh. 18: fi, 16 ft Dan. 11 : 38....C Jer. 51 : 7; oh. 18 : 6 d oh. U: 8. 1 Or. gilded 2 Ov, and of the unclean tilings. 
 
 word (e-qpCov) used in former instances. The 
 scarlet color may be meant to intensify our 
 conception of the bloody and cruel nature of 
 the beast ; possibly, also, it may represent 
 sovereignty in that world-power which the 
 beast symbolizes. — Full of names of blas- 
 phemy, having seven heads and ten 
 horns. The beast is thus identified as the 
 one described in chapter thirteen. We there, 
 in our exposition, understand the sinister ap- 
 pearance so indicated, as symbolizing Anti- 
 christ in his manifestation as a world-power, 
 imperial or other. He is represented in our 
 present passage as "full of names of blas- 
 phemy." In the former case he is described 
 as bearing "upon his heads names of blas- 
 phemy." Both alike make allusion to those 
 assumptions of divine prerogative, or other 
 usurpations, either impious or tyrannical, or 
 both, seen in all antichristian world-powers. 
 "There is no form of irreligion," says Lange, 
 "which is not comprehended in the absolute 
 Machiavelism of world-monarchy; religious 
 persecution, contempt of humanity, despot- 
 ism over consciences, breach of promise, a 
 doctrinal system of faithlessness — and thelike 
 — are some of the first articles." Alford's 
 comment is: "The names of blasphemy, 
 which were found before on the heads of the 
 beast, have now spread over its whole surface 
 [''full of names of blasphemy']. As ridden 
 and guided by the harlot it is tenfold more 
 blasphemous in its titles and assumptions than 
 before. The heathen world had but its Divi 
 in the Cresars, as in other deified men of note; 
 but Christendom has its 'most Christian' and 
 'most faithful' kings, such as Louis XIV. 
 and Philip II.; its 'Defenders of the Faith,' 
 such as Charles II. and James II.; its society 
 of unprincipled intriguers called after the 
 name of our Lord, and working Satan's work, 
 ^ad major rm Dei glo7-iani' ; its holy oflfice 
 of the Inquisition, with its dens of darkest 
 cruelty; finally its 'patrimony of St. Peter,' 
 and its 'holy Roman Empire'; all of them, 
 and many more, new names of blasphemy 
 with which the woman has invested the beast. 
 Go where we will, and look where we will, 
 
 in Papal Christendom, names of blasphemy 
 meet us. The taverns, the shops, the titles 
 of men and of places, the very insurance 
 badges on the houses, are full of them." 
 
 4. And the woman Avas arrayed in 
 purple and scarlet colour, and decked 
 with gold and precious stones and 
 pearls. The description is of an abandoned 
 woman, enriched with meretricious spoil, and 
 arrayed in that deceitful splendor in which 
 vanity delights, and under which vice often 
 seeks to hide its shame. There is something 
 striking, and at the same time suggestive in , 
 the contrast between the gaudy magnificence 
 of the woman, and the desolate and savage 
 aspect of the wilderness where she appears. 
 The latter represents, most fitly, the spiritual 
 and moral desolation amidst which the Roman 
 Babylon so long bore rule. In the purple and 
 scarlet color of her array, as in that of the 
 beast, there is, perhaps, a suggestion of pre- 
 tension to sovereignty. The "gold and pre- 
 cious stones and pearls," are the trappings in 
 which usurped sovereignty has ever delighted, 
 and by means of which it has ever sought to 
 hide its own essential poverty in all that could 
 really entitle it to the homage it claimed; 
 they also, when viewed as symbolisms of the 
 antichristian apostasy, remind us of the shows 
 and splendors in which the Roman Church, 
 so-called, has made itself so magnificent, and 
 so unlike the true Bride of the Lord. — 
 Having a golden cup in her hand, full of 
 abominations and (ilthiness of her for- 
 nication. There is a notable similarity, 
 here, to the description of Babj'lon in Jere- 
 miah 51:7: "Babylon hath been a golden 
 cup in the Lord's hand that hath made all 
 the earth drunken : the nations have drunken 
 of her wine; therefore the nations are mad." 
 By the "abomination and filthiness" ("un- 
 clean things") mentioned, must be under- 
 stood those enormities which history discloses 
 as belonging to the character and career of 
 mystical Babylon, the so-called "Church" 
 of Rome, more especially its idolatries, its 
 false teaching, and the vices which make it 
 in history a spectacle so disgusting. 
 
236 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 5 And upon her foreliead tens a name written, 
 "MYSTERY, BAKYLON 'THE GREAT, ^THE 
 IKJTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF 
 THE EARTH. 
 
 6 And I saw ''the woman drunken 'wilh the blood 
 of the saints, and with tlie blood of /the uiartys of 
 Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great 
 admiration. 
 
 7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou 
 
 5 things of her fornication, and upon her forehead a 
 name written, Imystekv, Babylon thk ukkat, the 
 
 MOTHER OK THE HAKLOTS ANU OF THK ABOMINA- 
 
 6 TiuMs OF THE EARTH. Aud 1 saw the woman 
 drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the 
 blood of the ^ martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw 
 
 7 her, I wondered with a great wonder. Aud the 
 angel said unto uie. Wherefore didst thou wonder? 
 I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of 
 
 i2Thess. 2: 7. ...6 ch. 11 : 8 ; U: 8; 16 : 19 • 18: 2, 10, 
 
 :ch. 18:9; 19:2. ...dch. 18: 24. 
 i/sttry, BABYLOU THE GREAT 2 Or 
 
 ../cb.6:9, 
 
 5. And upon her forehead was a name 
 written. As was customary witli harlots 
 in ancient times.— Mystery, Babylon the 
 Great, the Mother of Harlots and 
 Abominations of the Earth. "Wliether 
 to take the word "mystery," as a part of the 
 name, or simply as a kind of preliminary 
 announcement that the name itself is sym- 
 bolical and m3'stical, does not seem quite 
 clear; probably the latter is the more correct 
 view. What follows in the name rests upon 
 the fact that a great and wicked city is a 
 centre of evil influence and vicious conta- 
 gion; a "mother of abominations." Not 
 only are its fashions and social customs copied 
 in all dependent cities, and even among the 
 rural populations; but its vices are emulated, 
 and what is worst in its example, eagerly re- 
 produced. Upon this general fact, amply 
 illustrated by special cases in ancient as well 
 as modern times, the symbolism here is made 
 to rest. Like such a city — like the most con- 
 spicuous example of such, "Babylon the 
 Gretit" — is this evil power; this Scarlet 
 Woman, impudently assuming the character 
 of the "Celestial Woman" whom the dragon 
 persecuted, j'et in reality the Mother of Har- 
 lots. The symbol is perfect as applied to the 
 papal Babylon. In the personal vileness of 
 so many of her popes; in the immoralities of 
 her hierarchy, fostered by institutions like 
 that of celibacy in the priesthood, and in 
 the policy which .she never hesitated to avow, 
 and which by example and jirecept alike she 
 encouraged and inspired; in her heartless- 
 ness, her ambition— in .short the combination, 
 so utterly unexampled, of what is worst in 
 mean hypocrisy, and open iniquity — the 
 Church of Home, during centuries, was a 
 centre from which demoralization and in- 
 iquity spread in all directions, reaching alike 
 to high places and low. The characteriza- 
 tion implied in the symbol is perfect. 
 
 6. And I saw the woman drunken with 
 the blood of the saints, and with the 
 
 blood of the martyrs of Jesus. The two 
 
 designating words, "saints" and "martyrs," 
 must indiciite the same persons, only imply- 
 ing that wliile saints they suflered as martyrs, 
 and martyrs of Jesus, laying down their lives 
 in fidelity to him and to his cause. It is 
 among these saints and martyrs that we ought 
 to look for the church, not the persecuting 
 power, which in its greedy and cruel thirst, 
 made itself drunken with their blood. — And 
 when I saw her, I wondered with great 
 admiration. ''With a great wonder," is 
 better. Many reasons have been given for the 
 "wonder" here expressed, as: Because so 
 powerful a beast carries a woman (Bengel); 
 Because the Roman power remains still un- 
 broken after Christ has come (Hengstenberg) ; 
 Because a change so extraordinary has passed 
 over the woman ( Auberlen and Alford) ; Not 
 because heathen Rome persecuted the saints, 
 but because a Christian church, calling her- 
 self "the Mother of Christendom," i. e., the 
 Church of Rome, should be "drunken with 
 the blood of the saints" (Wordsworth); Be- 
 cause John did not understand the symbolism 
 (Ziillig and De Wette). The comment of Car- 
 penter in Ellicott is : " The wonder probably 
 rose from the strange alliance of the woman 
 with the wild beast. It was not wonderful to 
 see the vision of a wild beast or monster deal- 
 ing out death and slaughter; but to see a 
 woman allied with the monster and drunken 
 with the blood of the holy, provoked aston- 
 ishment." In other words, as De Wette and 
 Ziillig express it, John "did not understand 
 the symbol," while its extraordinary chiirac- 
 ter made the feeling of surpri.se and amaze- 
 ment more intense. This more simjile and 
 natural way of exjilaining the matter is justi- 
 fied iilso by the fact that the angel, having 
 asked him why he wondered, proceeds, as if 
 addressing himself to the feeling thus ob- 
 served, to expliiin the meaning f>f the vision. 
 7. And the angel said unio mo. Where- 
 fore didst thou wonder ? I will tell thee the 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 237 
 
 marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, 
 atid of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven 
 heads anil tin horns. 
 
 H The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and 
 "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and ''go into 
 perdition: and they that dwell on the earth "shall 
 wonder, ''whose names were not written in the book of 
 life from the foundation of the world, when they be- 
 hold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 
 
 the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven 
 8 heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou 
 sawest was, and is not ; and is about to come uji out of 
 the abyss, ' and to go into perdition. And they that 
 dwell on the earth shall wonder, iliey whose name 
 halh 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 s shall come. 
 
 o oh. 11: 7; 13: 1.... 6 ch. 13 : 10 ; ver. 11. 
 
 .ccb. 13:3....(ich. 13: 8. 1 Snm< 
 
 ....3 iiv. shall be present. 
 
 iicieat authorities reail, and he (locth 2 Gr. on. 
 
 mystery of the woman, and of the beast 
 that carrieth her, which hath the seven 
 heads and ten horns. This explanation of 
 the vision is exceptional — being quite unusual 
 in this book — and indicates alike how pro- 
 found, and at the same time how important, is 
 its significance. And in truth, as we shall see 
 presently, the woman on the scarlet-colored 
 beast presents to view, in its most formidable 
 shape, a combination of all the several forms 
 of hostility which the church, the people, and 
 the cause of God encounter in this world. 
 The dragon gave to the beast his power and 
 great authority, and of this the color of the 
 beast may be a reminder (the great red dragon 
 and the scarlet-colored beast). The woman 
 represents the second beast, alike in her char- 
 acter as such and as the false prophet. The 
 symbolism of the book, in so far as it relates 
 to forms of hostility encountered and over- 
 come by "the kingdom of God and of his 
 Christ," is thus concentrated in the sinister 
 vision now to be explained. In this explana- 
 tion, too, help is given toward a better com- 
 prehension of some parts of what has gone 
 before, especially of those visions where these 
 same inauspicious appearances have already 
 been seen. 
 
 8-18. Angelic Exposition of the 
 Vision. 
 
 8. The beast that thou sawest was, 
 and is not; and shall ascend out of the 
 bottomless pit, and go into perdition. 
 The language employed is remarkable, and it 
 becomes more so as we notice in connection 
 the closing words of this eighth verse, where 
 it is said of the beast that he "was, and is 
 not, and yet is." A like description of him 
 occurs at ver. 11. Such language can only be 
 explained as characterizing some great his- 
 torical power appearing and re-appearing 
 under various forms, and here spoken of 
 more with reference to its manifestations than 
 to its essential being. If we recall the period 
 at which these visions were seen, and some of 
 
 the events then recent, we shall,, perhaps, 
 have a clearer view of the meaning of the 
 enigmatical words in question. On an occa- 
 sion then not so very far back, and which 
 John himself might easily recall, our Lord's 
 disciples had asked him: "Wilt thou at this 
 time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Had 
 thej' in fact understood all that was really 
 imported in the restoration of the kingdom 
 to Israel, they might very naturally have 
 supposed that the time for this great event 
 had come. Their Lord himself had said: "I 
 saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven." It 
 might easily have seemed as if the coming of 
 Christ, the setting up of his kingdom, and 
 the death-blow given by him to the kingdom 
 of Satan, were something final and conclu- 
 sive; as if, especially, there was to be no more 
 in this world the uprising and growth of such 
 hostile forces as in the past had opposed them- 
 selves to God's cause and God's people, and 
 had made themselves so formidable; as if the 
 world-power itself, that evil energy which 
 had re-appeared under successive forms in 
 Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, 
 Greece, were now to be subdued under the 
 auspicious dominion of him who, as "Prince 
 of the kings of the earth," was to "reign in 
 righteousness." In some sense this was true. 
 This power did receive its death-blow in that 
 which was accomplished in the advent, the 
 ministry, and above all in the death of the 
 Lord. Yet, like everything evil and nox- 
 ious, it proved to be tenacious of life. The 
 angel could truly say to John, that "it was 
 and is not"; the death of Christ and the 
 setting up of his kingdom in this world, had 
 so changed all the conditions of this warfare 
 of the evil against the good, as that in truth it 
 existed no longer as it had been. Yet the 
 hour of its absolute annihilation had not yet 
 struck. It was to re-appear, ascending "out 
 of the bottomless pit" — that is, with a fresh 
 infusion of the Satanic spirit, more violent 
 and bloody than ever, as if conscious of ita 
 
238 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 9 And "here is the mind which hath wisdom. 'The 
 seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman 
 sittelh. 
 
 10 And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and 
 one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he 
 Cometh, he must continue a shtjrt space. 
 
 9 Here is the i mind which hath wisdom. The seven 
 
 heads are seven mountains, ou which the woman 
 
 lOsitteth; 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. 
 
 a ch. 13: 18 6 ch. 13: 1. 1 Or, meaning 2 Or, there are. 
 
 own impending doom. So the words were 
 true, as spoken of this dreaded power, that 
 "it was, ' is not, and yet is"; a noxious 
 principle of life appearing and re-appearing 
 under the form of great political organisms, 
 sometimes apparently crushed, yet breaking 
 out anew, as if freshly emerging from that 
 "bottomless pit" whence it brings all its 
 inspiration, and back to which, in the hour 
 of its "perdition," it must finally go. — And 
 they that dwell on the earth shall won- 
 der, whose names were not written in 
 the book of life from the foundation ot 
 the world, when they behold the beast 
 that was, and is not, and yet is. The 
 revision makes the closing words : "and shall 
 come," according to the corrected Greek 
 reading. "And shall be present" (Trapeo-rai), 
 is an alternative rendering which Carpenter 
 adopts. The reading of the Sinaitic manu- 
 script is, "and shall come [or be present] 
 again" (irdKiv napecrai). The hostile world- 
 power under its Roman form, had not yet, in 
 John's time, fully revealed itself in its oppo- 
 sition to the spiritual Kingdom of God. An 
 ordeal was before the church more severe and 
 more bitter than any in the past. Of this, 
 the words here spoken were a prophecy. 
 The " wonder" which, it is said in this verse, 
 they shall experience "whose names were not 
 written in the book of life from the founda- 
 tion of the world," is not altogether such as 
 Joiin himself experiences. The words look 
 forward to the time when this beast and his 
 rider, seen now in vision, shall become ac- 
 tualities in the uprising and development of 
 combined political and ecclesiastical powers, 
 which shall " wear out the saints of the Most 
 High." The real character of these powers 
 will be no matter of doubt or wonder to those 
 who.se names are written in the book of life 
 from the foundation of the world. To others 
 the needed "spiritual discernment" will be 
 wanting, and they will fail to see, back of all 
 exterior pomps and pretensions, the real 
 wickedness, or anticit)ate the doom, of Anti- 
 christ. It is as when it is said in ch. 13: 3: 
 
 "All the world wondered after the beast." 
 The language in which the Lord's true peo- 
 ple are here characterized should be noticed. 
 They are the Lord's chosen. Their names 
 were in the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world. "The Lord knoweth, ' and 
 from eternity has known, "them that are his." 
 
 9. And here is the mind that hath wis- 
 dom. "And" should be omitted. "It 
 needs," says Carpenter, "true wisdom to 
 behold many incidents of this world's history 
 and not find stumbling-blocks in them.'' — 
 The seven heads are seven mountains 
 on which the woman sitteth. We must 
 understand an allusion to seven-hilled Rome, 
 but must be careful not to limit the view by 
 the literalism that would confine it there. 
 Mountains themselves are symbols of great 
 political powers. Babylon, in Jeremiah 61 : 
 25, is called a "destroying mountain." When 
 it is said to "the men of Israel," in Isaiah 41 : 
 15, that they shall, with "the threshing in- 
 strument" God will give them, "thresh the 
 mountains and beat them small," the symbol- 
 ism is the same. And again the s^'inbol has 
 a double use, where it is promised and foretold 
 how "the mountain of the Lord's house shall 
 be established in the tops of the mountains," 
 implying the supremacy of the Kingdom of 
 God over all kingdoms. Thus, while there is 
 unquestioned allusion to the seven hills on 
 which Rome stood, the imagery reaches be- 
 yond these, and takes in those great powers 
 of the older world in which had lived the 
 same spirit that lived anew in the imperial 
 city. 
 
 10. And there are seven kings. The 
 corrected reading, here, makes the connec- 
 tion and the meaning much more clear. We 
 .should read, as in the revised version,- "and 
 they [t/ie mountains] are seven kings (koX 
 jSoo-iAer? inrd fitriv). The word "kings" is used, 
 as often, for "kingdom."— Five are fallen, 
 and one is, and the other is not yet 
 come. Carpenter, in Ellicott, prefers to 
 translate, "five fell." For the identification of 
 these five fallen kingdoms, we may refer to 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 239 
 
 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the 
 eighth, and is of the seven, »and goeth into perdition. 
 
 12 And 'the ten horns which thou sawest are ten 
 kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but re- 
 ceive power as kings one hour with the beast. 
 
 11 And the beast that was, and is not, is himself aLso 
 an eighth, and is of the seven ; and he goeth into 
 
 12 perdition. And the ten horns that thou sawest are 
 ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; 
 but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, 
 
 o ver. 8 b Dim. 7 : 20 ; Zcch. 1 : 18, 19, 21 ; ch. 13: 1. 
 
 the exposition in chapter thirteen. As there 
 suggested, the proper identification of the five 
 seems to find them in Egypt, Assyria, Baby- 
 lon, Persia, and Greece. These had Allien. 
 The sixth, Rome, was then still in existence ; 
 the other had not yet come. This last is the 
 seventh head, or mountain, or kingdom. By 
 this • seventli head Alford understands "the 
 Christian Empire, beginning with Constan- 
 tine"; agreeing with Auberlen, who in this 
 Christian Empire sees " Christianity become 
 worldly," and out of this a new form of 
 ordeal for the Kingdom of God arising, taking 
 the form, ultimately, of the Germaiio-Slav- 
 onic " kingdom." Wordsworth understands 
 by the seventh head the imperial power of 
 Germany, rising upon the ruins of that of 
 Italy. We refer again to chapter thirteen, 
 and to the passage there quoted from Carpen- 
 ter, who, understanding that upon this seventh 
 head the ten horns appear, decides that by 
 this seventh head must be meant that ag- 
 gregation of monarchies which followed in 
 Europe after the downfall of the Empire — 
 the Gerinano-Slavonic "kingdom" of Aub- 
 erlen. These monarchies, as is well known, 
 were supporters and instruments of the 
 Papacy ; properly, therefore, in the symbol- 
 ism here represented as a head of the beast on 
 which the woman sits. — And when he Com- 
 eth he must continue a short space. 
 "He," that is, the power represented by the 
 seventh head with its ten horns. The "short 
 space," or "little while," seems to correspond 
 with the "one hour" of ver. 12. 
 
 11. And the beast that was, and is not, 
 even he is the eighth, and is of the seven. 
 John does not say that this "eighth" is "one" 
 "of the seven." In that case, consistently 
 with his uniform usage, he would have writ- 
 ten, "one of the seven " {eU « rioy inrd), using 
 the Greek word for one (c's), as in ver. 1 of 
 this chapter, "one of the angels," etc.; also 
 in clu 5: 5, "one of the elders"; 6:1, "one 
 of the seven seals"; 7: 13; 15: 7, etc. The 
 same usage appears in other of the writings of 
 John. In Mark 14: 60, a different one ap- 
 pears : " This is one of them (oJto5 ef airiav eari-v) ; 
 
 the word for "one" («is), being omitted. The 
 
 same appears. in Luke 22: 58; Acts 21 : 8; and 
 Col. 4. 9. Hence we see that John's custom 
 is not the same as that of his fellow-evangel- 
 ists ; so that, if he had intended to say that 
 "the eighth" was one of the seven heads in 
 any sort of transformation, he would have in- 
 serted the "one" {tU). This he does not do. 
 We must, therefore, interpret the words, "one 
 of the seven," in some other way. The prepo- 
 sition "of" (ex) must, it would seem, be taken 
 in its sense of "out of," or " from." Diister- 
 dieck and Lange understand the meaning to 
 be that "the eighth proceeds from the totality 
 of the seven." Carpenters view is similar. 
 He gives the alternative translation "out of 
 the seven " — "not one of them, but one rising 
 out of them; no eighth empire shall rise, but 
 the wild beast, now smitten in all the seven 
 heads of his power, will, in the convulsive 
 death-throe, seem an eighth power, in which 
 the ebbing life of all the seven finds expres- 
 sion." A time arrives when the seven distinct 
 manifestations of hostile world-power, in the 
 form of great political organisms, mostly im- 
 perial, have run their course. Antichrist, 
 however, has not yet perished. That deadly 
 principle, making war upon the kingdom of 
 God during all the ages of history, survives, 
 yet not in any distinct form of organic mani- 
 festation ; in a manifestation, rather, repre- 
 sentative of all former ones, in which their 
 spirit, with something of their method, will 
 survive. And this is the final one ; for he 
 goeth into perdition. It is in this final 
 manifestation that Antichrist meets his doom, 
 destroj^ed by the breath of the Lord's mouth 
 and consumed by the brightness of his com- 
 ing. This "eighth," therefore, is not a king- 
 dom. It is a manifestation of Antichrist 
 which comes after the downfall of all the 
 antichristian kingdoms, and is rather a sur- 
 vival of the antichristian principle, violently 
 hostile, as of old, no less deadly in purpose, 
 yet driven to a use of other weapons and to 
 the effecting of new combinations. Of the 
 significance of all this, in the application to 
 present times, we shall have more to saj' in the 
 General Comments below. 
 1*^. And the ten horns which thou saw- 
 
240 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power 
 and strength unto the beast. 
 
 14 ■■ These shall make war with the Lamb, and the 
 Laml) shall overcome them: '■for he is Lord of lords, 
 and King of kings: «and they that are with him are 
 called, and chosen, and faithful. ^ 
 
 13 for one hour. These have one mind, and they give 
 
 14 their power and authority unto the beast. These 
 shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over- 
 come them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of 
 kings; and they also shall overcome that are with 
 
 icU. 16: 14; 19: 19.... 6 Deut. 10: 17; 1 Tim. 6: 15; ch. 19: 16....C Jer. 50:44,45; ch. 14: 4. 
 
 est are ten kings. By "kings," in such a 
 connection as this, kingdoms are meant. — 
 Which have received no kingdom as yet. 
 
 The kingdoms themselves had not yet ap- 
 peared in history. — But receive power 
 [authority', eloueriW] as kings one hour with 
 the beast. The "one hour" is the same in 
 general meaning as the "short space" in ver. 
 10. It is not to be taken as indicative of a 
 definite period, but only as sjMiibolically set- 
 ting forth that the kingdoms represented by 
 the ten horns will remain in confederacy with 
 the "beast" for only a comparatively short 
 period. 
 
 13. These have one mind, and they 
 shall give [and. they gine] their power 
 [&vvaixLv'\ and strength [authority, (^ovaiav] 
 utnto the beast. The history in which this 
 prophecy finds its fulfillment is familiar to all 
 who have made themselves conversant with 
 events following the breaking up of the Ro- 
 man Empire — the sixth head of the beast — 
 and the formation of that "aggregation of 
 monarchies" amongst which, during the mid- 
 dle ages, Europe was divided. There was a 
 period in which, in all these monarchies, the 
 Papacy was supreme, the antichristian prin- 
 ciple was dominant. They gave their power 
 and authority to the beast — lent themselves to 
 the support of the antichristian usurpation; 
 prompted to this partly by superstitious rev- 
 erence for the spiritual authority it claimed, 
 and partly, perhaps chiefly, by political aims 
 and exigencies. 
 
 14. These shall make war with the 
 Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome 
 them. The mention of "the Lamb" carries 
 us back to chapters fifth and sixth, in which 
 the glorious person of whom John had al- 
 ready written as "the Lamb of God that 
 taketh away the sin of the world" appears 
 as the one worthy to open the sealed book, 
 and to serve, therefore, as the medium of 
 those august revelations. He bears here the 
 same name, although now appearing not as 
 the Sufl'ering, but as the Conquering One. — 
 For he is Lord of lords, and King of 
 kings. In which fact we have revealed to 
 
 I us, at once, the reason of the victory, and the 
 
 j fatal error of those who had made war upon 
 
 him. — And they that are with him are 
 
 called, and chosen, and faithful. We 
 
 understand the reference, here, as being to 
 events already several times foreshadowed in 
 previous visions; more especially to what is 
 on record of what must have been to the 
 enemies of a pure and true Christianity a 
 most unexpected outcome of the long struggle 
 between the Antichrist, with the whole power 
 of the world on his side, and the few "called, 
 and chosen, and faithful" ones who stood for 
 the truth. It was, as we have seen in our 
 exposition of chapter eleven, while the dead 
 bodies of the Witnesses lay in the streets of the 
 great, wicked city, and while their enemies 
 were rejoicing and sending presents to each 
 other, that these slain Witnesses arose from 
 the dead and ascended into heaven in the 
 sight of them all; while consternation filled 
 the hearts of the murderers, and a tenth part 
 of the city fell. The almost simultaneous 
 revolt again.st papal usurpation, corruption, 
 and cruelty in a great part of Europe, at 
 what is termed the Reformation, was extra- 
 ordinary in itself, and a great surprise to the 
 hierarchj'. At the very moment when that 
 tremendous uprising was on the point of oc- 
 curring, it had been claimed that "the whole 
 body of Christendom " had been brought into 
 subjection, and every voice of even protest 
 silenced. It may be that when he, who, as 
 "Lord of lords and King of kings" won 
 this great victor^', is here spoken of as "the 
 Lamb," there is an allusion to the gentle, 
 quiet, and wholly spiritual method of warfare 
 in which the victory itself was won. Never 
 were the words of the apostle more true in 
 their application : "The weapons of our war- 
 fare are not carnal, but mighty through 
 God." And the express mention, hefe, of 
 the "called, and chosen, and faithful," is a 
 recognition by the great Leader of "them 
 that were with him" that is wholly like 
 himself, and anticipatory of that which shall 
 be when the humblest of his followers will be 
 "confessed" before the Father, and the holy 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 241 
 
 15 And he saith unto me, "The waters which thou 
 sawest, where the whore sittelh, 'are peoples, and mul- 
 titudes, and nations, and tongues. 
 
 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the 
 beast, <^these shall hate the whore, and shall make her 
 desolate ''and naked, and shall eat her tiesh, and 
 "burn her with tire. 
 
 17 /For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his 
 will, and to agree, and give their kiugdoni unto the 
 beast, f until the words of (iod shall he lultilled. 
 
 18 And the woman which thou sawest ''is that great 
 city, 'which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 
 
 1.5 him, called and chosen and faithful. And he 
 saith uuto me. The waters that thou sawest, 
 where the harlot sitteth, are ix'oplcs, and inulti- 
 
 16 tudes, and nations, and tongues. And the te» 
 horns that thou sawest, and the beast, tlu-se shall 
 hate the harlot; and shall make her dcsulate and 
 naked, and shall eat her tlesh, and shall burn her 
 
 17 utterly with fire. For God did put in their heart.s 
 to do his mind, and to come to one mind, and to 
 give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words 
 
 18 of God should be accomplished. And the woman 
 whom thou sawest is the great city, which i reigneth 
 over the kings of the earth. 
 
 I ver. 1 ; Isa. 8: 7. 
 
 ..b ch. 13:7....cJer. 50:41,42; ch.l6: 12 
 ll....Sch. 10: 7....Ach. 16: 19.... i 
 
 ...d Ezek. 16: X7U: ch. IS: I6....e ch. 18: 8. 
 ch. 12 : 4. 1 Gr. hath a kingdom. 
 
 ../2 Thess. 2: 
 
 angels. The translation in the revised version, 
 following the corrected reading in the Greek, 
 should be noticed: literally, "And they that 
 are with him [shall overcome], called, and 
 chosen, and faithful." 
 
 15. And he saith unto me, The waters 
 which thou sawest, where the whore sit- 
 teth, are peoples, and multitudes, and 
 nations, and tongues. The woman sits 
 upon the beast, which however stands by the 
 "many waters." This beast, it should be re- 
 membered, is the beast out of the sea, as de- 
 scribed in chapter thirteen. The "many 
 waters," here, allude to this, and they serve 
 to explain it. In each case the symbolism 
 suggests that confused, tumultuous, ever- 
 changing national and political life of which 
 all history is the amazing picture, and out of 
 which oppressive and persecuting monarchies, 
 as well as disorderly democracies, have arisen. 
 
 16. And the ten horns which thou saw- 
 est upon the beast, these shall hate the 
 where, and shall make her desolate and 
 naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall 
 burn her with fire. Under this intense 
 imagerj^ we have set forth what is alreadj'^ 
 matter of history. No one familiar with the 
 annals of the period following the Keforma- 
 tion can fail to see how accurately the predic- 
 tion foreshadows the event. How hollow, 
 after all, had be':--! the confederacy between 
 the Papacy and the various European powers, 
 by which its pretensions had been maintained, 
 was shown when, under the pressure of polit- 
 ical interest, or the instigation of motives still 
 less worthy, a TIenrj', a Francis, even a 
 Charles, and at an earlier date, a Henry the 
 Fourth of Germany, with the princes and re- 
 publics of Italy, turned against the popes. 
 The word "hate" in the verse just written is 
 not too strong an expression of the animosities 
 which flamed up in various parts of Europe 
 against the arrogant priest, and his hierarchj', 
 
 who in their claims to absolute spiritual do- 
 minion so often sought, at the same time, to 
 override and .subjugate all prerogatives of 
 monarchs and all rights of peoples. To what 
 an extent the animating spirit of the frequent 
 wars between Protestant and Roman Catholic 
 powers was hatred of Rome, no student of the 
 history of those troubled times needs to be 
 told. The words, "shall burn her with fire" 
 — " utterly with fire," in the revised version — 
 point to an issue of these events which is not 
 yet reached, but is not far awa\'. 
 
 17. For God hath put in their hearts to 
 fulfil his will, and to agree, and give 
 their kingdom unto the beast, until the 
 words of God shall be fulfilled. The 
 more accurate translation in the revised ver- 
 sion should be noted. What is now said in- 
 dicates that political organisms and forces are 
 not so entirely independent in their action as 
 they themselves may suppose. Some doubt 
 is suggested by commentators as to whose will 
 is meant in the words, "to fulfil his will," 
 whether it be the will of the beast — God im- 
 pelling these various powers "to unite and 
 serve the beast" — or whether it be God's will 
 that is intended. The latter seems the more 
 correct view. The whole verse sets forth the 
 supremacy of God's purpose in the events 
 foreshadowed. Even those who set them- 
 selves in array against him, and join in con- 
 federacy with his enemies, are acting so in ac- 
 cordance with that purpose — although very 
 far from doing it with intention — as that they 
 may be said to do his will, even in this. 
 Much more do they so, when, under the 
 promptings of whatever motive, they break 
 the bonds of their evil confederacy, and in 
 mutual strife avenge unwittingly the cause 
 of those whom they have jointly made to 
 sufl'er. In both these waj's does God make 
 the wrath of man to praise him. 
 
 18. And the woman which thou sawest 
 
242 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIL 
 
 is that great city, Avhich reigneth over 
 the kings of the earth. The use of the 
 
 present {reigneth), here, seems to require that 
 we shall understand by "the great city" the 
 Rome of that day. It is Rome, however, as a 
 figure on the Apocalyptic scene ; representing 
 Babylon of old seated by the "many waters" 
 of the Euphrates, and itself the symbol of 
 another "Rome," in which what was worst 
 in the city by the Euphrates and the city by 
 the Tiber should re-appear. The antichris- 
 tian power, in its spiritual form, is thus given 
 to us under a twofold symbolism. It some- 
 times appears as a woman, assuming, the 
 character of the woman that bore the Man- 
 child, and whom the dragon persecuted — in 
 other words, assuming, even when most cor- 
 rupt and most unlike the Church of the Lord 
 Jesus, bought with his blood, nevertheless to 
 be that church, with exclusive right to the 
 name; and sometimes as a city, a metropolis, 
 central and sovereign, rich and populous, and 
 adorned with all that wealth and the pomps 
 of sovereignty can bestow. The Woman is 
 the City, because under each of these, as a 
 symbol, the same evil power Apocalyptically 
 appears. 
 
 OEXERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 While it h important not to overstrain any 
 part of our exposition of this chapter, it is 
 equally important that the real significance, 
 of portions of it especially, shall not be 
 missed. The clue to this exposition we find, 
 as has been seen, no doubt, partly in past, 
 and partly in current history. If we may 
 assume that these visions have definite mean- 
 ing.s, at all, we are justified in searching for 
 these in that history where fulfilled prophecy 
 finds ijts adequate interpretation, or in those 
 current aspects of the world's affairs where 
 other fulfillments may appear, or, possibly, 
 in those foreshadowings of the future which 
 the present does sometimes afford. 
 
 The more recent tendency of opinion, as 
 regards Apocalyptic exposition, has been 
 toward views which discredit the custom, so 
 long prevalent with writers upon this book, 
 of fixing upon historical persons and specific 
 historical events as intended by the symbols 
 employed in the several visions. Were there 
 no other ground for such discredit, this fact 
 alone were sufficient, that it has been found 
 impossiV)]e to reach anytiiing like agreement 
 as to the actual persons or the events which 
 
 shall be decided upon as answering the condi- 
 tions of the problems in each case. It is 
 scarcely an exaggeration to say that each in- 
 dividual writer has his own distinct theorj^ as 
 to that point, so that the study of the various 
 interpretations proposed leaves one as if in a 
 wilderness of conflicting opinion. And, in- 
 deed, one can readily see how this should be. 
 There have been so many personages in his- 
 tory since this book was written like the 
 symbolical figures appearing in the visions, 
 and so many events like what the prophecy 
 seems to foreshadow, that very naturally the 
 selection made out of these by any writer is 
 determined just by the impression he happens 
 to receive as to the degree of this likeness, in 
 the one case or in the other. Is it to be sup- 
 posed that the interpretation of a book like 
 this, filling a place so peculiar among the 
 inspired books, and bearing upon its face 
 such evidence of vast significance, would be 
 left to contingencies such as these, and indeed 
 any final judgments as to its real meaning be 
 thus made practically impossible? 
 
 It would onlj' confuse the reader to give in 
 detail the various theories of exposition pro- 
 posed for the sinister figures presented to 
 view in this seventeenth chapter, and which 
 are, so evidently, reproductions of those of 
 the thirteenth. The Romanist school has its 
 explanations, carefully devised to evade the 
 conclusions reached by Protestant interpre- 
 ters. The Rationalist school has others, the 
 aim of which is to escape any inference of 
 even a possibly prophetical character in the 
 book or in any part of it. Those who look 
 upon the whole representation as foreshadow- 
 ing things still future, the "Futurists," have 
 their conjectures as to the identity of the 
 wild beast; while those who take it that the 
 prophecy has already reached its complete 
 fulfillment, the "Preterists" are, of course, 
 at the opposite extreme. Hence, the variety 
 of interpretations given of the seven heads of 
 the beast; as, the seven forms of Roman 
 government, during the whole history of that 
 people, kings, consuls, decemvirs, military 
 tribunes, dictators, emperors, and finally the 
 Gothic King Odoacer; or seven emperors, 
 selected as the fancy or judgment of the 
 writer might dictate. Some explain the 
 seven heads allegorically, as denoting the 
 seven chief vices: pride, avarice, luxury, 
 gluttony, envy, anger, and sloth. Renan, in 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 243 
 
 his " Antechrist,^' makes what is called the 
 "Nero-fable" the originating principle of 
 the whole book {^''niere de V Apocalypse^ ^). 
 This was the rumor prevalent at one time in 
 the East, that Nero had not been killed, as 
 was supposed, but that he still lived, and 
 would in due time return, recover the em- 
 pire, and resume his brutal reign. "More 
 than one pretender," says Dean Merivale, 
 "arose to claim his empire, and twenty years 
 later a false Nero was protected by the Par- 
 thians, among whom he had taken refuge, 
 and only surrendered to the repeated and 
 vehement demands of the Roman govern- 
 ment." Upon this fable Eenan conceives 
 that the author of the Apocalypse founded 
 his whole scheme. In his analysis of the 
 book, having reached the seventeenth chap- 
 ter, Renan says: "The beast is Nero, whom 
 the people have believed to be dead, who 
 will return, but whose second reign will be 
 ephemeral, and end in final overthrow. The 
 seven heads have a double meaning; they 
 are the seven hills upon which Rome is 
 seated ; but they are above all seven em- 
 perors — Julius Csesar, Augustus, Tiberius, 
 Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba. The five 
 first are dead ; Galba is now reigning, but he 
 is old and feeble, and will soon fall. The 
 sixth, Nero, who is at the same time the 
 beast and one of the seven kings, is not dead 
 really ; he will reign again, but for a little 
 time; thus he will be the eighth king, and 
 will then perish. As to the ten horns, they 
 are the proconsuls and the imperial legates of 
 the ten principal provinces, who are not real 
 kings . . . These kings in part are as hostile to 
 the Christians as Nero himself Representing 
 the interests of the provinces, they will humil- 
 iate Rome, will take from her the right to dis- 
 pose of the empire, a right which until then 
 she has enjoyed; they will maltreat her, will 
 set her on fire, and will divide amongst them- 
 selves the relics of her greatness." 
 
 This is the pivot upon which R^nan's 
 theory of exposition for the Apocalypse turns. 
 It may represent the rationalistic method of 
 dealing with this book, in general. How 
 necessary it becomes to cramp and belittle 
 the whole Apocalyptic scheme, readers will 
 easily understand. The author of the book 
 is no longer the apostle, but a pseudo-John, 
 a fanatical Jew, though at the same time a 
 Christian, who takes this method to gratify 
 
 the desire of vengeance excited by Roman 
 oppression and persecution, alike of Jew and 
 of Christian, and to triumph over the im- 
 pending destruction, signs of which were al- 
 ready seen in the political confusions into 
 which the empire was rapidly falling. The 
 date of the writing is fixed arbitrarily in the 
 reign of Galba. History and criticism alike 
 are compelled to grind in the mill of this 
 rationalistic interpretation. It is not surpris- 
 ing, in the least, that Renan' s book, though 
 written with all the splendor of style and the 
 fascinating art of narration for which he is 
 well known, has failed to gain any currency 
 for his peculiar ideas as to the origin and 
 meaning of the Apocalypse. 
 
 As we have had occasion before to say, we 
 find no system of interpretation for this re- 
 markable book suited to the grandeur of its 
 own conception and plan, save that which 
 views the long period covered by it upon the 
 .same large scale, finding in it the movement, 
 rather, of great forces and epochal events, 
 than of individuals, however conspicuous, or 
 of .specific events, however striking in some 
 of their aspects they may seem. Antichrist, 
 therefore, as has already been shown, is 
 neither an individual nor any one political 
 power or organism; it is not even any one 
 system hostile to the spiritual Kingdom of 
 God, like Romanism. It is that deadly force, 
 manifested in all ages, and organizing itself 
 under many imperial forms, by which God's 
 gracious purposes toward men have always 
 been resisted, and are so still. It bears the 
 name of Antichrist, because for those living 
 in the Christian age this is the name most 
 appropriate for it, inasmuch as, while Christ 
 himself represents, in his person and in his 
 spiritual reign, divine purposes of wisdom and 
 grace, it is especially against hhn that all the 
 warfare is directed. Whether by open as- 
 sault or by insidious undermining, the aim is 
 to overthrow that which he builds up, and 
 bring to naught those human hopes which 
 most of all centre in him. It is the peculiar 
 characteristic of this latest form of the world- 
 old Antichrist that it pretends to be itself 
 that which it has set itself with such animosity 
 of purpose to destroy. Hence the propriety 
 of the symbolism under which it appears as a 
 woman, claiming to be the very Chuich of 
 God itself— the Mother of the Man-child — 
 yet a woman debauched and debauching, at- 
 
244 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XYII. 
 
 tended by her retinue of roj'al lovers, ar- 
 rayed in harlot splendors, and so represent- 
 ing, even while calling itself by the holiest 
 names, all that is most corrupting and de- 
 basing. The force that sustains this latest 
 and worst organic manifestation of the anti- 
 christian principle is the same which has 
 lived on through so many centuries and so 
 many changes. Its old-world manifestations 
 have had their day, and "are fallen." Yet 
 the hostile and deadly force itself survives, 
 and in such vigor that it carries this new 
 development of the same principle to even 
 greater achievements in wickedness than any 
 before recorded. But the hour of doom for 
 this also is sure to come. The powers once in 
 confederacy with the papal Antichrist in time 
 turn against it. The ten horns hate the har- 
 lot, and make her desolate and naked, and 
 eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. Yet, 
 though she perishes, the beast on which she 
 rides still lives on — the hostile antichristian 
 jjrinciple remains, combining in its mani- 
 festations qualities seen in all the seven heads 
 of the beast, and so appearing as an eighth 
 head ; and in this form encountering the final 
 doom — it "goes into perdition." 
 
 We must ask the reader to note some of 
 those aspects of the present period which 
 may suggest that it is now the time of that 
 "eighth" head of the beast which is "of the 
 seven and goeth into perdition." (1) The 
 first is that the prophecy as to the destruction 
 of the alliance between the harlot and the ten 
 horns upon the seventh head of the beast, has 
 so evidently been fulfilled. "We have ac- 
 cepted, in our exposition, the view which 
 regards this seventh head of the beast with its 
 ten horns as that "aggregation of monarch- 
 ies" into which the Roman Empire, repre- 
 sented by the sixth head, was broken up. 
 The histories of the last three or four centuries 
 show to us thi.s group of monarchies, the 
 European governments — at first nearly all 
 confederate with the Papacy and supporting 
 its usurpations — one after the other turning 
 against it, until in the very seat and centre of 
 its power, in Italy and Rome itself, the anni- 
 hilating blow to its supremacy was given. 
 Romanism survives, but the Papacy has been 
 reduced to driveling imbecility ; and the in- 
 struments of this have been the ten horns of 
 the beast. (2) Opposition to a tru^; Christian- 
 ity survives. Indeed, tliere has seldom, per- 
 
 haps never, been an age in which the assault 
 upon Christianity, in its Scriptural and primi- 
 tive form, was more determined or more 
 deadly than in our own. Antichrist himself 
 is not dead, nor inert. (3) What characterizes 
 the age peculiarly', in the respect now no- 
 ticed, is the variety of form assumed by this 
 antichristian hostility. In part it is political; 
 the old forms of intolerant oppression for 
 conscience' sake, have as yet by no means 
 ceased. In part, it is hierarchical and ritual 
 abuse. Romanism maintains all the spiritual 
 pretensions of its priesthood, its mariolatries, 
 and its ritual shows; asserts still the ethcacy 
 of masses, and prayers to the saints ; parades 
 still its crosses, its images, its consecrated 
 wafers, its celibacies, and its indulgences — 
 while in other so-called Christian communi- 
 ties these are feebly copied, yet with enough 
 of their spirit to retain much of their mis- 
 chievousness. In part, the antichristian hos- 
 tility takes the form of false teaching. The 
 "false prophet" has by no means abdicated 
 his functions. In truth, never was this form 
 of the long assault upon the Kingdom of God 
 more active or more determined than now. 
 The defences of the sacred city are tested at 
 every point. The watchmen on the wall are 
 compelled to sleepless vigilance ; the soldier 
 of Christ can never for a moment, with safety, 
 "lay his armor by." Too often the enemy 
 is found in the very heart of the citadel, while 
 antichristian doctrine is preached in Christian 
 pulpits, and the dialect of Zion is heard upon 
 the lips of her deadliest foes. 
 
 It does not seem like a suggestion of the 
 imagination merely, to see thus, in the as- 
 pects of the present time what may explain 
 the symbolism of that eleventh verse of our 
 chapter, to which we are now alluding. If 
 we are right in the view we take, a clue is 
 given us to much in what appears in current 
 historj' that tn&y be perplexing, and even 
 alarming. Doubtless Antichrist is active still, 
 and commands a variety of agencies and 
 methods that make his schemes peculiarly 
 formidable. But it is for him "the last time," 
 After all, what we see is rather a scattering 
 than a multipljnng of force. One after the 
 other, new forms of attack suflTer defeat. No 
 one of them succeeds. The end is foreshad- 
 owed in the incidents of each passing day. 
 The Beast has reached his final manifestation, 
 "and goeth into perdition." 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 245 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 AND "after these things I saw another angel come 
 down fi-diu heaven, liaving great power; 'and the 
 earth was lightened with his glory. 
 
 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 
 'Babylon the great is I'alleu, is fallen, and -^ is become 
 the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul 
 spirit, and « a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
 
 1 After these things I saw another angel coming 
 down out of heaven, having great authority; and 
 
 2 the earth was lightened with his glory. And he 
 cried with a mighty voice, saying. Fallen, fallen is 
 Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of 
 demons, and a i hold of every unclean spirit, and a 
 
 och. 17: 1 6 Ezek. 43: 2.. 
 
 e Isa. 14 : 2J ; 34: 11 ; Mark 5: 2. 3. 1 Or, prison. . "• . u 
 
 THE FALL OF BABYLON. 
 
 1-3. The Heraldic Angel. 
 
 1. And after these things I saw another 
 angel come down from heaven. "De- 
 scending out of heaven," will, perhaps, best 
 express what actually took place. The ex- 
 pression, ''another angel," probably does 
 not refer, explicitly, to any one of the previ- 
 ous angelic appearances. Still, as we take 
 into account the description which follows in 
 this verse, we may see a closer connection 
 with ch. 10 : 1, than with any other place in 
 which the angel is described descending from 
 heaven. — Having great power, and the 
 earth was lightened with his glory. The 
 word, here (efovo-i'a), indicates "authority," 
 not "power." The translation in the revision 
 is therefore the correct one. The force of the 
 word {i^ovaia) appears to be indicated in the 
 concluding words of the verse, "and the 
 earth was lightened with his glory." The 
 meaning seems to be that this angelic form 
 was seen resplendent with a glory that indi- 
 cated how truly representative he was of the 
 divine authority and purpose; as, when the 
 ambassador of a great king, anciently, was 
 sent upon some especially important mission, 
 one was chosen whose rank and personal dig- 
 nity made him the fit incumbent of such an 
 office, while his retinue and outfit were made 
 to have a splendor suitable to the greatness of 
 the monarch by whom he was sent, and the 
 importance of his commission. In this case, 
 as in former ones, we see no occasion for at- 
 tempts to identify the angel, whether as one 
 of the archangels, or as the Holy Spirit, or 
 as the Lord himself The angelic figure seen, 
 like others introduced in these visions, is S3'm- 
 bolical and representative. The angel both 
 S3-mboIizes and represents the power and 
 purpose of God, in respect to that which is 
 here announced, viz. : the overthrow and 
 final destruction of mystical Babylon. 
 
 2. And he cried mightily, with a strong 
 
 voice. The word "mightily" should be 
 omitted. It is not in the Greek text. "He 
 cried with a mighty voice," is the proper ren- 
 dering.— Saying, Babylon the great is 
 fallen, is fallen. Tiie closing verse of the 
 previous chapter is: "And the woman which 
 thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth 
 over the kings of the earth." With this 
 guide to the interpretation of the symbol, it 
 seems surprising that any expositors should 
 have fiiiled to identify the city in this chapter 
 as the woman in the previous one. And since 
 among Protestant communities it is so gene- 
 rally agreed that the woman must be under- 
 stood as Papal Rome, the conclusion seems 
 clear that the symbolism of the city must be 
 understood in the same way. It cannot, 
 therefore, be imperial Rome (Bossuet, Hengs- 
 tenberg), nor Rome simply as a city (Bengel), 
 nor in the more general and rather vague 
 view, the "world-city," as the Speaker's 
 Commentary seems to interpret. The picture 
 in this chapter is so perfectly- descriptive of 
 the overthrow and ruin of an actual citj', 
 that writers upon it seem to have sometimes 
 been misled thereby, and to have thus fallen 
 into a literal method of interpretation which 
 cannot be justified, either by the tenor of the 
 passage itself, or by the general usage of the 
 hook. The double form of the symbolism, it 
 is true, might be suppo.sed to offer critical 
 difficulties. The same ]Jower appears in chap- 
 ter seventeen as a woman, and in chapter 
 eighteen as a city. The two are after all 
 discriminated, and there is no real confusion. 
 The allegory in each case is consistently 
 maintained, while it is in nowise amiss that 
 what in one of these vivid pictures is a citj-, 
 should, in a change of representation, appear 
 in the other as a woman. That which we 
 find in this present chapter is certainly very 
 striking, alike in conception and in delinea- 
 tion. Under the sj'mbol of a cit.y, such as 
 Babylon of old was, a pretentious, worldly, 
 
246 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 3 For all nations "have drunk of the wine of the 
 ■wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth 
 liave couiniitted fornication with her, 'and tlie uier- 
 chauts of the earth are waxed rich through the ahund- 
 auce of her delicacies. 
 
 31 hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For ^by 
 sthe wine of the wrath of her fornication all the 
 nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth com- 
 mitted fornication with her, and the merchants of 
 the earth waxed rich by the power of her * wanton- 
 ness. 
 
 a cb. 14: 8; 17 : 2 6 ver. 11 : 15; Isa. 47 : 15. 1 Or. prison 2 Snnie niithorities read. 0/ the 1 
 
 uQcieut authorities ouiit, the zvine of 4 Or, luxury. 
 
 have drunk 3 Some 
 
 corrupt, domineering, and oppressive system 
 of false religion is represented in its spirit, its 
 forms, the means used to ensure its suprem- 
 acy, the deceitful glory that crowns it, and 
 the awful ruin that overtakes it in the end. 
 The imagery is perfect in its every detail, 
 each stroke of the rapid pencil in harmony 
 with the ideal. Nor, when we bear in mind 
 the grand scope of the book as a whole, and 
 how its real subject is nothing less than the 
 beginning, and growth, and struggle, and 
 ordeal, and final triumph of the Kingdom of 
 God among men, can we bring ourselves to 
 believe that this graphic picture of consum- 
 mating events can relate to anything less than 
 the downfall of that power, in which anti- 
 christian opposition to God's kingdom had its 
 latest and most formidable organic manifesta- 
 tion? AVe understand by Babylon, therefore, 
 the Rome of the Papacy, here depicted under 
 the figure of a great city, the centre alike of 
 political and commercial supremacy; once, 
 like Babylon, declaring: "I shall be a lady for- 
 ever" (isu. 47:7), or as in ver. 7 of this chapter: 
 " I sit a queen and am no widow, and shall see 
 no sorrow ; " yet now brought to the ground, 
 a ruin, a desolation, and a lesson forever. The 
 verb, in the words written above: "Fallen, 
 fallen is Babylon the great" (the Greek aorist), 
 denotes, says Burger, "the certainty of what 
 is to happen." The seer, although the actual 
 event lies far down in the future from his 
 own time, beholds it, nevertheless, as already 
 accomplirshed. — And is become the [a] 
 habitation of devils ["demons' ^^. The 
 conception is that of a city lying in utter 
 ruin and desolation, without human inhabi- 
 tants, yet the befitting resort of those demons 
 that delight in calamity, and in those waste 
 and desolate places which are most like their 
 own dismal habitation. — And the hold of 
 every foul spirit. The Greek word (<^uAa-c^) 
 literally means "prison." Some writers, like 
 De Wette and Ilengstenberg, understand by 
 it a place of banishment; others, a place of 
 custody. The same word occurs in the next 
 .succeeding clause, a cage of unclean birds. 
 
 The revision translates "hold," as will be seen, 
 in each place. In some sense it is a "cage," 
 a "prison," alike to the unclean birds and 
 the unclean spirits; since it is the place to 
 which both alike are conceived as driven 
 from the abodes of men, and from every scene 
 in which some element of purity and felicity 
 might remain. As the unclean bird avoids 
 the human habitations, and is found, rather, 
 in localities where corruption and all hideous 
 things abound, so the unclean spirits may be 
 supposed to haunt the same; as if driven to 
 and imprisoned by that element which is most 
 in keeping with their own uncleanness. The 
 imagery here, then, reproduces that graphic 
 passage in Isaiah (i3;2i), where, of the great 
 and wicked city by the Euphrates, it is said: 
 "Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; 
 and their houses shall be full of doleful 
 creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and 
 satyrs [some, as Stuart, understand these as 
 here, 'demons'] shall dance there." 
 
 3. For all nations have drunk of the 
 wine of the wrath of her fornication, 
 and the kings of the earth have com- 
 mitted fornication with her. This is al- 
 most a repetition of 17 : 2, and clearly suggests 
 the identity of the city in this chapter with 
 the woman in that. The change of reading 
 indicated by the translators in the revised 
 version will be noticed. Tischendorf, in his 
 eighth edition, expresses doubt as to whether 
 the error may not be in those ancient copies 
 upon which change of the words "have 
 drunk" (n-en-wKav), to " have fallen" {niiTTuKav), 
 is made to rest. Carpenter regards the two 
 renderings as "akin." The Alexandrine 
 manuscript omits the word "wine" (oii-oi;); an 
 omission, however, which Westcott and Ilort 
 evidently treat as of doubtful authority, 
 while the revisers do not recognize it. — And 
 the merchants of the earth are waxed 
 rich through the abundance of her deli- 
 cacies. The ])icture is that of a great city, 
 the centre of the world's commerce, abounding 
 in luxury and in all the means of worldly in- 
 dulgence; in the ample and abundant market 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 247 
 
 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, I 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 
 "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have uo 
 
 of her sius, and that ye receive not of her plagues. | fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of 
 
 I Isa. 48; 20; 52: 11 ; Jer. 50; 8; 51 : 6, 45; 2 Cor. 6: 17. 
 
 it affords for all manner of delicacies enrich- 
 ing "the merchants of the earth." This pre- 
 jnires us for what is said in ver. 11, of the 
 mourning of the merchants at her final over- 
 throw. Applying the imager^', we find it 
 descriptive of those seductions through which 
 the papal Babylon succeeded in winning to 
 its allegiance every worldly interest, having 
 at its devotion not only "the kings," the po- 
 litical forces of the world, but also its "mer- 
 chants," and alike the ministers and the 
 devotees of luxury. 
 
 4-10. The Summoning Voice from 
 Heaven. 
 
 4. And I heard another voice from 
 heaven. Another voice besides that of the 
 descending angel. Bengel and Hengsten- 
 berg understand it as the voice of Christ. As 
 the Speaker's Commentary justly says, this is 
 "opposed to the character of the entire pas- 
 sage," which, indeed is, in the form of it, like 
 the many other angelic proclamations in the 
 book. — Come out of her, my people. 
 Just for the reason that the angelic utterance 
 is representative, it is as if the utterance of 
 God himself, or of Christ. The angel speaks, 
 here as elsewhere, not in his own name, nor 
 his own words, but in the name and in the 
 words of that divine authority which speaks 
 through him. — That ye be not partakers 
 of her sins, and that ye receive not of 
 her plagues. The rendering of the revised 
 version is more correct, and at the same time 
 expresses the meaning more exactly. The two 
 clauses, "have no fellowship with her sins" — 
 "receive not of her plagues," are closely con- 
 nected, as cause and consequence. God's 
 people are enjoined to leave the wicked city, 
 lest they shall be drawn into partnership with 
 her in her iniquities, and share also in her 
 punishment. A passage strikingly parallel 
 with this is that in Jeremiah 50: 8, where, an- 
 nouncing the impending ruin of ancient 
 Babylon, the prophet exhorts the Lord's 
 people: "Remove out of the midst of Baby- 
 lon, and go forth out of the land of the Chal- 
 deans, and be as the he-goats before the 
 flocks." And again, still more noticeably, in 
 51: 6: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, 
 
 and deliver every man his soul ; be not cut off 
 in her iniquity ; for this is the time of the 
 Lord's vengeance ; he will render unto her a 
 recompense." These predictions of the im- 
 pending overthrow of the literal Babyhm 
 afford, evidently, a basis for the imagery in 
 this chapter. The warning uttered in the 
 words now under consideration, finds its coun- 
 terpart not only in the passages just quoted 
 from Jeremiah, but in other i)arts of the Old 
 Testament; as in the warning to Lotto flee out 
 of Sodom (Geii. 19: 15,22), to the "congregation" 
 to depart out of the tents of Korah, Dathan, 
 and Abiram (Num. i6;26), and again in Isaiah 
 (48:20), to depart out ^:f Babylon, with the tes- 
 timony', "The Lord hath redeemed his servant 
 Jacob." The injunction of our Saviour to 
 his own discij)les, to flee out of Jerusalem in 
 the day of its impending doom (Man. 24:i6\ is 
 still a further example of parallelism. Ai)ply- 
 ing the imagery as thus suggested, we seem 
 to find evidence in the words now studied that 
 even in that modern Babylon, the so-called Ro- 
 man Church, there would be found some of 
 the Lord's true people. Thej' are there, how- 
 ever, as Israel in the Babylon of old ; as the 
 Lord's disciples in wicked and doomed Jeru- 
 salem. Canon Wordsworth, in commenting 
 upon the passage, says: "Even now, at this 
 present time — as this prophecy means — the 
 Holy Spirit, who reads the heart, and who 
 wrote the Apocalypse, sees some people of God 
 in Rome." When one reads, indeed, or sings 
 the familiar hymn of Bernard of Clairvaux, 
 beginning — 
 
 Jesus, the very thought of thee 
 With sweetness fills my breast; 
 
 But sweeter far thy face to see, 
 And in thy presence rest — 
 
 it .seems impossible to see in the author of 
 such words only the self-righteous monk or 
 the mere polemic. And, again, as we sing 
 the hymn of Thomas Aquinas: 
 
 O bread to pilKrinis given, 
 
 O food that angels cat, 
 O manna s(Mit from heaven, 
 
 For heaven-born natures meet! 
 Give us, for thee long pining, 
 
 To eat till richly filled; 
 Till, earth's delights resigning, 
 
 Our every wish is stilled. 
 
248 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 5 "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and 'God 
 hath reiiiemliercd her iniquities. 
 
 ■• Hfwaitl her even as she rewarded you, and double 
 unto lier double according to her works: din the cup 
 which she liatli filled' fill to her double. 
 
 7 /How much she hath glorified herself, and lived 
 deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for 
 she saith in her heart, I sit a izqueen, and am no widow, 
 and shall see no sorrow. 
 
 8 Therefore shall her plagues come *in one day, 
 death, and nioiniiing, and famine; and 'she shall be 
 utterly burned with tire: *for strong is the Lord God 
 who judgeth her. 
 
 5 her plagues: for her sins i have reached even unto 
 heaven, and (jod liad remembered her iniquities. 
 
 6 Render unto her even as she rendered, aud double 
 tin/u her tlie double according to her works: in the 
 cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. 
 
 7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed 
 2 wanton, so much give her of torment aud mourn- 
 ing: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and 
 am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. 
 
 8 Therefore in one day shall her i)lagues come, death, 
 and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly 
 burned with fire; ■^for strong is the Lord God who 
 
 a Gen. 18: 20,21 ; Jer. 51:9; Jonah 1: 2 6 ch. 16: 19 c Ps. i:n: 8; Jer. 50: 15. 29; 51: 24, 49; 2 Tim. 4: 13; ch. l.t : 10 d ch. 
 
 14: 10....e ch. 16: 19....^ F.zek. 28 : 2. etc... .j Isa. 47 : 7. S: Ze|.h.2: 15.... Aver. 10: Isa. 47 : 9....i ch. 17: 16. . ..<: Jer. 50: 34; 
 ch. 11 : 17. — 1 Or, claoe togetlier . . . .2 Or, luxurious ... .'i Some aucient authorities omii. tAe Lord. 
 
 it may seem strange to us, till we realize 
 liow many things influence religious pre- 
 po.ssession and association, that men like those 
 named, or others in our own time, should be 
 found in a communion so utterly unlike 
 what a church of Christ should be. Chris- 
 tian charity, however, takes comfort in the 
 conviction that not all who are in Rome are 
 of Rome. The voice of warning in the pas- 
 sage now before us is, also, a voice of pro- 
 phecy — a prophecy fulfilled in the numerous 
 instances in which the Lord's true people 
 have found it impossible to longer "fellow- 
 • ship" the "sins" of the papal Babylon, and 
 have "come out of her." Doubtless there are 
 to be many more such secessions ; probably, as 
 the hour of doom for her draws on, more and 
 greater than ever before. One element of 
 the downfall may be the abando^iment of 
 this iniquitous system by an increasing num- 
 ber of those who, aware of its true character, 
 dread lest they shall be involved in its doom. 
 
 5. For her sins have reached unto 
 heaven, and God hath remembered her 
 iniquities. Some commentators prefer the 
 translation in the margin of the revision, "her 
 sins clave together even unto heaven." "The 
 idea," says Carpenter, in Ellicott, "is of a 
 great heap firmly fastened, and towering, like 
 another Babel, as far as heaven." Upon the 
 final clau.se of the verse his comment is: 
 "God hath remembered her [Babylon]. 
 Sometimes the oppressed have thought that 
 God had forgotten the voice of mercy ; but 
 the long-sutfering of the Lord is salvation." 
 
 6. Reward her even as she rewarded 
 you, and double unto her double accord- 
 ing to her works : in the cup which she 
 hath filled, fill to her double. "You" 
 should be omitted. It is not in the amended 
 Greek, and is misleading. It would imply 
 that the command to visit this judgment upon 
 
 Babylon is addressed to those people of God 
 who have just been exhorted to come out of 
 her. This is not the meaning. The address 
 in this sixth verse is to those whom God ap- 
 points as the instruments of judgment and 
 punishment. The correct translation, in the 
 revised version, implies this. Who these in- 
 .struments are, is not indicated. Hengstenberg 
 thinks they are the "ten horns" mentioned 
 in chapter seventeen. These may be in- 
 cluded ; but it should seem that the commis- 
 sion embraces all varieties of agencies and 
 methods for effecting that final destruction in 
 which shall be requited unto the inj'stical 
 Babylon, fourfold, the evil it has wrought. 
 
 7. How much [''^ in as many things as''] 
 she hath glorified herself, and lived de- 
 liciously, so much torment and sorrow 
 give her. When pride and luxury come to 
 their doom, the depth of the fall bears a cer- 
 tain proportion to that height to wliioh pre- 
 sumption had soared. — For she saith in her 
 heart, I sit a queen, and am no Avidow, 
 and shall see no sorrow. The latter nega- 
 tive is emphatic (o« n.ri) — "in no wise," "shall 
 surely not see sorrow," or mourning. It was 
 even thus, as we have seen, that Babylon of 
 old boasted herself. Even more self-suffi- 
 cient, haughty, and in its own imagination 
 secure was the modern Babylon, when in the 
 height of its power and presumption. 
 
 8. Therefore shall her plagues come 
 in one day, death, and mourning, and 
 famine. "Death," says Alford, "for her 
 scorn of the prospect of widowhood, mourn- 
 ing for her inordinate reveling, famine for 
 her abundance." "In one day" shall all 
 this befall her, indicating how much as a 
 sudden surprise the visitation shall come. — 
 And she shall be utterly burned with 
 fire. Whether, as Elliott maintains, this 
 means the actual burning of Rome by the 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 249 
 
 9 And "the kings of the earth, who have committed 
 fornication aud lived deliciously with her, 'shall l)e- 
 wail her, and lament for her, = when they shall see the 
 smoke of her burning, 
 
 9 judged her. And the kings of the earth, who eom- 
 mitted foruication and lived i wantcuily with her, 
 shall weep aud wail over her, when they look upon 
 
 a Kzek. 26 : 16, 17 ; ch. 17 : 2 ; ver. 3 6 Jer. 50 : 46 c ver. 18; oh. 19 : 3. 1 
 
 Or, luxurioitaly. 
 
 army of the Duke of Bourbon, the general 
 of Charles V., is much more than doubtful. 
 The language is wholly figurative, the allu- 
 sion being to the fact that in the final over- 
 throw of cities, anciently, the flame finished 
 what the storm and the sack had begun. In 
 excavating, now, those mounds which are all 
 that remains of such cities — Troy, or Nine- 
 veh, or others — the explorer finds evidence 
 abundant that in this way the crowning ruin 
 was wrought. Our passage simply means 
 that, in the overthrow of mystical Babylon, 
 its destruction shall be utter and entire. Tliere 
 may also be an allusion to the punishment 
 appointed for the harlot in Lev. 20: 14 ; 21: 9. — 
 For strong is the Lord God who judgeth 
 her. We may recall the words in 17: 17: 
 " For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil 
 his will." Overruling providences direct to 
 the purposed end the agencies necessary to its 
 accomplishment. As the connection of the 
 words just quoted show, these agencies will 
 be found in those worldly powers which had 
 "given their kingdom unto the beast," had 
 lent themselves to the designs of Antichrist, 
 and been willing servants of his in his war 
 upon the people and the Kingdom of God; 
 and which, as we know, were during cen- 
 turies in close confederacy with the popes 
 and their hierarchy in all the worst iniquities 
 done by them. These at last turn against the 
 harlot (ch. 17: 16) ; thej' hate her, they make her 
 desolate and naked, they eat her flesh, and 
 burn her with fire. Connecting these words 
 with those now more immediately before us, 
 we perceive that the divine "strength " seen in 
 the overthrow of mystical Babylon is not in 
 any direct exertion of divine power, but, as we 
 have said, in that overruling of the divine 
 providences, which turns to ministers of his 
 will those powers of the world that, far 
 from having any view to the promotion of 
 his designs, only seek their own ends of sel- 
 fish ambition. In nothing is the almightiness 
 of God more signalized in history than where, 
 thus, he both uses and "restrains" the wrath 
 of man. 
 
 9, 10. The Mourning of the Kings. 
 
 9. And the kings of the earth. By "the 
 
 kings," here, are those world-powers intended 
 which have already appeared on the scene as 
 instruments of the city's overthrow? It is not 
 necessary, we may say in reply, to treat the 
 vision as if it were a connected and consistent 
 narrative of actual events. The whole repre- 
 sentation is scenic and dramatic, and is to be 
 interpreted accordingly. Neither, therefore, 
 is it necessary to regard the "kings" who 
 take part in this lamentation as the very same 
 as those who become, under the constraining 
 impulses of divine providence, the immediate 
 instruments of Babylon's destruction. It is 
 "the ten horns" of the beast which hate the 
 harlot and burn her with fire. These words 
 point to certain specific world-powers, 
 European monarchies, at first confederate 
 with the Papacy, and afterwards compelled 
 by the extravagance of its pretensions and 
 the outrageousness of its usurpations to turn 
 against it. The vivid picture now especially 
 before us is of another kind; more general, 
 less distinct and specific in the figures that ap- 
 pear in it, and less affected by limits of time. 
 Besides, even those powers providentially 
 made instruments for bringing upon the 
 doomed city deserved judgment, must not be 
 supposed to have acted with any conscious- 
 ncos of what they were doing, least of all with 
 any purpose to make the overthrow so com- 
 plete and awful. When the Emperor Charles 
 sent an army against Rome itself, it was not 
 that he had become a supporter of the Refor- 
 mation. When Henry the Eighth proclaimed 
 himself head of the Church of England, it 
 was not that he had become at heart and 
 really a Protestant. The ecclesiastical policy 
 of kings, in that age peculiarlj-, was deter- 
 mined by their political policy, or by private 
 passion or piqvie. It was the divine over- 
 ruling that made their acts so destructive of 
 papal power and pretension. Although, there- 
 fore, we should view these same powers as in- 
 cluded with the "the kings of the earth" 
 here represented as lamenting the overtlirow 
 of Babylon, there is no neccessary inconsist- 
 ency implied; while, in fact, the picture is, 
 as we said, altogether general, and is intended 
 to make more vivid and intense our concep- 
 
250 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, 
 savin", "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty 
 city! 'for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
 
 11 And ''tlie merchants of the earth shall weep and 
 mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise 
 any more. 
 
 10 the smoke of her burning, standing afar otf for the 
 fear of her torment, saying. Woe, woe, tlie great 
 city, Babylon, the strong city ! for in one hour is thy 
 
 11 judgment come. And the merchants of the earth 
 weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their 
 
 ; Isa. 21 : 9; ch. 14 : 8 6 ver. 17 : 19 c Ezek. 27: 27-36; ver. 3. 
 
 tion of that great event, the fall and destruc- 
 tion of mystical Babylon. — Who have com- 
 mitted fornication and lived deliciously 
 with her. It is the past relation between 
 them and the harlot-city which they recall, 
 and which now again comes to the foreground 
 of the scene, as represented. — Shall bewail 
 her and lament for her, when they shall 
 see the smoke of her burning. In Jere- 
 miah 50: 4(1, we read: "At the noise of the 
 taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and 
 the cry is heard among the nations." On 
 whatever terms of antagonism and hostility 
 great cities or empires may stand with each 
 other, when some vast calamity visits one of 
 them, a shudder passes through all the rest. 
 While, perhaps, they triumph over the down- 
 fall of an enemy or a rival, underneath this 
 feeling there is the reminder how unstable is 
 all earthly greatness, and the consciousness 
 of liability to calamities of the same nature. 
 Even the overthrow of a power like the 
 Papacy, or its weakening to such an extent as 
 to make it no longer dreaded, while it may 
 have been a relief in one way to the political 
 powers so long restive under its meddlesome 
 pretensions, yet could not fail to be looked 
 upon by them with apprehension. Though 
 often a perplexing and annoying element in 
 political complications, it had, nevertheless, 
 been often a convenience ; besides that despot- 
 isms of every kind are wont to make com- 
 mon cause against human freedom and 
 against all efforts to destroy, or even limit, 
 their absolutism. 
 
 10. Standing afar off for the fear of 
 her torment. This is no generous sorrow, 
 sympathizing and anxious to afford relief It 
 "stands afar off," selfishly solicitous lest .some 
 spark of the great burning shall kindle a 
 conflagration nearer home. — Saying, Alas, 
 alsis, [woe, i/'of], that great eity Babylon, 
 that mighty city. A like vivid scene is 
 depicted at Ezek. 26: If), 16, where of Tyre 
 the prophet says: "Shall not the isles shake 
 at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded 
 cry, when the slaughter is made in the 
 
 midst of thee? Then all the princes of the 
 sea shall come down from their thrones, and 
 lay away their robes, and put ofi" their broid- 
 ered garments; they shall clothe themselves 
 with trembling; they shall sit upon the 
 ground, and shall tremble at every moment, 
 and be astonished at thee." See, also, Ezek. 
 27: 35. — For in one hour is thy judgment 
 come. The same words, "in one hour," are 
 found in ver. 17, 19, recurring, says a writer 
 on the passage, "with the monotony of a 
 passing bell." 
 
 11-16. Lamentation op the Merchants. 
 
 11. And the merchants of the earth 
 shall [omit ^^ shall" — the verb is present 
 tense] weep and mourn over her; for no 
 man buyeth their merchandise [ca?'go] 
 any more. In ver. 3, we have already been 
 told how "the merchants of the earth waxed 
 rich" through their traffic with the now 
 doomed city, hastening to its downfall. Of 
 this we are reminded here. In the enumera- 
 tion which follows, the picture is perfect of a 
 great city, stretching its lines of commerce in 
 all directions, even to the remotest sources of 
 traffic, gathering unto itself all that can most 
 efficiently minister to its pride and luxury. 
 For a literal counterpart to it, one may read 
 with profit what is said of Tyre, in the twenty- 
 seventh and twenty-eighth chapters of Eze- 
 kiel. In the Rome of his own time, however, 
 John might readily find another; and indeed 
 the city by the Tiber may have, in great part 
 at least, supplied him with the original of 
 this graphic delineation. The following sen- 
 tences might almost be thought to have been 
 written by Gibbon ("Decline and Fall," Vol. 
 I., Ch. 2) as illu.strative of our present pas- 
 sage: "The most remote countries of the 
 ancient world were ransacked to supply the 
 pomp and delicacy of Rome. The forest of 
 Scythia afforded some valuable furs. Amber 
 was brought overland from the shores of the 
 Baltic to the Danube; and the barbarians 
 were astonished at the price which they re- 
 ceived in exchange for so u.sele.ss a com- 
 modity. There was a considerable demand 
 
Ch. XVIIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 251 
 
 12 "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious 
 stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and 
 silk, and scarlet, and all thyiue wood, and all manner 
 vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious 
 wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 
 
 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and 
 frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and 
 wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, 
 and ' slaves, and <= souls of men. 
 
 12 ' merchandise any more ; ' merchandise of gold, and 
 silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and tine linen, 
 and purple, and silk, and scarlit ; and all Ihyine 
 wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel 
 made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, 
 
 13 MiiX marble; and cinnamon, and -spice, and incense, 
 and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, 
 and tine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; 
 and iiiKichandise of horses and chariots and ^slaves; 
 
 a ch. 17: 4 6 Ezek. 27: 13. 1 Gr. cargo 2 Gr. 
 
 for Babylonian carpets, and other manufac- 
 tures of the East ; but the most important and 
 unpopuhir branch of foreign trade was carried 
 on witli Arabia and India. . . . The return 
 of the fleet of Egypt was fixed to the montlis 
 of December or January ; and as soon as their 
 rich cargo had been transported on camels 
 from the Ked Sea to the Nile, and had de- 
 scended that river as far as Alexandria, it 
 was poured, without delay, into the capital of 
 the empire. The objects of Oriental traffic 
 were splendid and trifling ; silk, a pound of 
 which was esteemed not inferior in value to 
 a pound of gold ; precious stones, among 
 which the pearl claimed the first rank after 
 the diamond; and a variety of aromatics, that 
 were consumed in religious worship and the 
 pomp of funerals. The labor and risk of the 
 voyage was rewarded with almost incredible 
 profit." There was, indeed, no lack of in- 
 stances, present or past, suggestive of imagery 
 such as that by which the passage now studied 
 is made so graphic. Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, 
 Alexandria, Rome, and other of the great 
 cities enriched and corrupted by conquest or 
 by commerce, stand in history as examples of 
 that prosperity which builds its gaudy struc- 
 tures upon the brink of ruin. When at last 
 the gulf swallows them, nations and commu- 
 nities feel the shock as depicted here, while 
 the selfish sorrow and consternation of tho.se 
 who have found in the folly, and luxury, and 
 splendor of such cities markets for their 
 "merchandise," is such as under the symbols 
 of this vision we find so strikingly set forth. 
 
 12, 13. The merchandise of gold, and 
 silver, and precious stones, and pearls. 
 The articles of merchandise enumerated in 
 these verses may be classified in groups. First 
 are the treasures here named. Next the "soft 
 clothing" and other luxurious attire, fine 
 linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; 
 tho.se materials used in the finishing and fur- 
 nishing of luxurious dwellings; thyine [sweet- 
 scented] wood, and all manner vessels of 
 
 ivory, and all manner vessels of most 
 precious wood, and of brass, and iron, 
 and marble ; then aromatics, such as Gib- 
 bon also mentions, cinnamon, and odours, 
 and ointments, and frankincense; next 
 articles of drink and food, wine and oil, 
 and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, 
 and sheep; then horses, and chariots, 
 and slaves, and souls of men. "Tlie 
 climax of wicked worldliness," says a writer, 
 "is reached in this last; it gives the finishing 
 touch to the picture of a society wholly en- 
 grossed in pleasure and indolence and selfish- 
 ness, which lays every market under tribute to 
 add to its luxuriousness, and sticrifices not only 
 the happiness, but the lives and liberties of 
 their fellow-creatures to their own enjoyment. 
 The word translated "slaves" is, literally, 
 "bodies." Some expositors prefer to trans- 
 late the word thus literally, and tliis render- 
 ing, as will be observed, is also given in the 
 margin of the revision.* We may, perhaps, 
 Siiy that by "bodies" are meant slaves viewed 
 simply as compelled to servile labor; wliile 
 ^^ souls of men" is, as Lange expresses it, 
 "indicative of an augmentation, the extreme 
 
 *The structure of the clause, as it stands in the 
 Greek, is peculiar, and somewhat perplexing. There 
 are three words in the genitive which would be liter- 
 ally translated imd of /lorxi's (liithov), and of chariots 
 (peSiiv], mul of x/ares (ffiofioTcoc). Then, in the accusa- 
 tive, o«rf .to?//.v o/ wc" 'il/vxi? arBpuiTTiuv). Aiinther in- 
 stance of the same kind is found in the previous verse 
 (ve:-. li), where, following merchandise (vowof), we liave 
 a succession of genitives, and then in the accu&atn. , 
 "all thyine wood" {TTav{vKov eutvoi/). It is an e.\am])le 
 of what Winer (sect. G3: 2: 1) calls "the orafio vm-iu/a," 
 which "is found," he says, "in accurate writers, when 
 the .sequence of the preceding construction would have 
 been heavy, ambiguous, or not entirely suited to the 
 thought." "It takes place when, in parallel sentences 
 and members of sentences, two (synonymous) construc- 
 tions have been adopted, each of wliich is complete in 
 itself." He calls it " /irtKror/rnconx structure of a sen- 
 tence." If we accept this, then "souls of men," in the 
 accusative, is a "synonymous" though "heterogene- 
 ous" form of e.\pression, with change of case to give 
 it the more of emphasis, and so lending intensity to 
 what is implied in the (awfiaruv), or " bodies." 
 
252 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are de- 
 parted from thee, and all things which were dainty 
 and g(jijdly are departed from thee, and thou shall find 
 theiu u(» moi'e at all. 
 
 15 "The merchauts of these things, which were 
 made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of 
 her torment, weeping and wailing, 
 
 115 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, 'that was 
 clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and 
 decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 
 
 17 " l'"or in one hour so great riches is come to nought. 
 And "^every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, 
 and sailors', and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off. 
 
 14 and i souls of men. And the fruits which thy soul 
 lusted after are goue from thee, and all things that 
 were dainty and sumptuous are perished iruui thee, 
 
 15 and iiii'ii shall find them no more at all. The mer- 
 chants of the.se things, who were made rich by her, 
 shall stand afar otf for the fear of her torment, 
 
 16 weeping and mourning; saying. Woe, wue, the 
 great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and 
 purple and scarlet, and sjeclced with guld and 
 
 17 precious stone and pearl 1 for in one hour so great 
 riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and 
 every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, 
 and as many as ^gain their living by sea, stood alar 
 
 a ver. 3: 11 6 ch. 17 : 4 c ve.-. 10 d Isu. 23: 14; Ezek. 27: 29. 1 Or, lives 2 Gr. gilied 3 Gr. work the )ea. 
 
 consequence of slave-holding." The slavery 
 described, therefore, was not simply of the 
 body, but of the soul; and traffic in such 
 slaves was traffic, far more than simply in 
 the bodies — in the souls of men. It is, as is 
 said in Ellicott: "The finishing touch to a 
 picture of society wholly engrossed in plea- 
 sure and indolence and selfishness" — "wicked 
 worldiiness" in its "climax." 
 
 14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted 
 after are departed from thee, and all 
 things which were dainty and goodly 
 are departed from thee, and thou shalt 
 find them no more at all. This is in the 
 nature of an apostrophe to the wicked and 
 worldly city, in its hour of doom. The 
 "sumi)tuous" of the revision is more cor- 
 rectly expressive than the "goodly" of the 
 older version. The "shall find," besides, is 
 in the third person, not in the second, as the 
 old ver.^ion imports. 
 
 15. The merchants of these things, 
 which were made rich by her, shall stand 
 afar off for the fear of her torment, 
 weeping and wailing. In the description 
 of the wailing of the kings, the future tense 
 of the verb is used ("shall bewail her"); tit 
 the eleventh verse, in the best Greek, which 
 the revision follows, the tense changes to 
 "the graphic present," as Alford terms it; 
 in this fifteenth verse the future is resumed. 
 Like the kings, the merchants "stand afar 
 off," in selfish " fear of her torinent." Even 
 this lament expresses, not sorrow for the 
 doomed city, but lamentation at the loss of 
 such wealth, and such opportunities of mer- 
 chandize. 
 
 16. And saying, Alas, alas, that [fhr'\ 
 great city, that wns clothed in fine linen, 
 and purple, and scarlet, and decked with 
 gold, and precious stones and pearls 
 \_stone and pearl]. Observe how the attention 
 
 is wholly occupied with the exterior splen- 
 dors of the city. It is the loss of these which 
 the merchants lament; to what is beyond these 
 they give no thought. 
 
 17. For in one hour so great riches is 
 come to nought [is made desolate]. Still 
 it is the "riches." Here recurs, also, the 
 dismal refrain, "in one hour." 
 
 17-19. Lament of the Shipmasters. 
 
 17. And every shipmaster, and all the 
 company in ships, and sailors, and as 
 many as trade by sea. The amended text 
 reads, "and every one sailing to a place," or 
 
 "sailing any whither" (xal n-as 6 en-i roitov wKiiov^, 
 
 for "and all [the company] in ships" (koi nSa 
 en-i Tujf TrAot'wf). The clausc, " as many as trade 
 by sea," may be translated, "as many as 
 work (epydiovrai) the sca." The Speaker's Com- 
 mentary, as also Lange, prefers "pilot" to 
 "shipmaster." The former word, however, 
 would now be misleading. The pilot, an- 
 ciently, accompanied the ship in its entire 
 voyage, while the modern one is called into 
 service only on vessels entering or leaving 
 harbor. The word "shipmaster" perhaps ex- 
 presses the meaning as correctly as any that 
 ciin be found. The clau.se, "all that sail any- 
 whither," seems to be general, descri))tive of 
 those who make voj-ages, whether as con- 
 nected with the working of ships, or using 
 them simply for purposes of transport. Next 
 are mentioned the sailors, and after these all 
 such as are interested in the sea as the iiigh- 
 way of traffic, or as in any way the source of 
 gain, including fishermen, pearl-divers, etc. 
 This specific mention makes the description 
 more grajjhic. — Stood afar off. In each 
 case — kings, merchants, shipmasters, sailors — 
 the group described stands "afar off." The 
 same feature of avoidance appears in all. 
 They lament, but they do not sympathize; 
 least of all do they offer help. Tiiey are as 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 253 
 
 18 "And cried when they saw the smoke of her burn- 
 ing, saying, ' What cily is "like uuto this great city ! 
 
 ly And <^they cast dust on tlieir heads, and cried, 
 weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, 
 wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea 
 by reason of her costliness! ''for in one hour is she 
 made desolate. 
 
 20 " Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apos- 
 tles and prophets: for /God hath avenged you on her. 
 
 18 off, and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of 
 her burning, saying, Wliiit city is like the great city? 
 
 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weep- 
 ing 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 I for in one hour 
 
 20 is she made desulate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, 
 and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; lor 
 God hath judged your judgment on "her. 
 
 a Ezek. 27 : 30, 31 ; 
 
 . ...6ch. 13:4....c Jo'^h. 7: 6; 1 Sam. 4 : 12; J..h2: 12; Ezek. 27 : 30.... d ver. 8....C Isa. 44 : 23: 49:13: 
 Jer. 51 : 4». . . ./ Luke 1 1 : 4», oU : ch. la : 2. 
 
 if conscious that the doomed city perishes at 
 the hand of God, and as if while grieving at 
 the magnitude of the worldly loss, neverthe- 
 less recognizing a kind of justice in the over- 
 throw. Babylon is for each of these groups 
 "that great city "; not however with a great- 
 ness that commands from them any emotion 
 of either reverence or pity. Their sorrow is 
 whollj' a selfish sorrow. " The hope of their 
 gains is gone." 
 
 But yesterday, the word of Caesar might 
 
 Have stood against the world ; now lies he there, 
 
 And none so poor to do him reverence. 
 
 18. And cried when they saw the 
 smoke of her burning, saying, What city 
 is like unto this great city! In what sense 
 these words are to be taken, the next verse 
 shows. 
 
 19. And they cast dust on their heads, 
 weeping and wailing. The casting of dust 
 on the head, or lying prostrate in the dust, 
 were Oriental modes of expressing the ex- 
 tremity of grief or despair. The verb "stood " 
 in the previous verse, and "cast" in the pres- 
 ent one, are, of course, in the past tense, to 
 which the future in previous verses here 
 changes. These transitions from future to 
 present (ver. ii. i/, 13), and again from present to 
 future (ver. 15, 16), and now, once more from 
 future to past, are indicative of the animated 
 character of the description. It is as if in the 
 hurry of narration, and in the rapid changes 
 of the Apocalyptic scenerj^ present, past, and 
 future become in a manner confused. — Say- 
 ing, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein 
 Avere made rich all that had ships in the 
 sea, by reason of her costliness! The 
 shipmen and traders are like the merchants. 
 It is that many were made rich by her; for 
 this they lament the doom of Babylon. Al- 
 ford prefers to translate, "whereby were 
 made." He thinks the "in" (e^), cannot be 
 local, as it is made to be in the authorized 
 version. Carpenter and others prefer the ren- 
 dering, "in which all who had their vessels 
 
 in the sea grew rich out of her costliness" — 
 out of "her extravagances of living and the 
 splendor of her palaces, which drew materials 
 from all parts of the world." — For in one 
 hour is she made desolate. Once more 
 the refrain, "in one hour"; the words, "is 
 she made desolate," answer to those in the 
 lament of the merchants: "in one hour so 
 great riches is made desolate." 
 
 20. Rejoice over her thou heaven, and 
 ye holy apostles and prophets. In ver. 4, 
 a voice from heaven has summoned all in 
 Babylon who are the Lord's people to "come 
 out of her." This same voice, it seems to be, 
 now calls upon heaven and all holy beings to 
 rejoice over her fall. These are placed in a 
 position of marked contrast to the worldly 
 and covetous groups of mourners before in- 
 troduced, lamenting the fate of the harlot 
 with whom they had "lived deliciously," 
 of the great city wherein "so many were 
 made rich." The change in the revised ver- 
 sion from "holy apostles and prophets," to 
 "j'e saints, ye apostles, and ye prophets," 
 rests upon an amended reading in the Greek 
 text. It has been argued, says Carpenter, 
 "that this verse represents the apostles to be 
 in heaven, and from this it has been inferred 
 that the twelve must all have died before the 
 Apocalypse was written; and, if so, St. John 
 was not the writer. The verse, however, has 
 no reference whatever to the question; it is 
 not meant to state who have passed into 
 heaven and who have not ; it is simply a sum- 
 mons to all who have fought on the side of 
 their Lord to rejoice at the removal of one 
 of the great obstacles to the manifestation 
 of Christ's Kingdom." — For God hath 
 avenged you on her. The translation here 
 involves an idea which does not belong to the 
 passage in the original. The revision trans- 
 lates properly, and gives the true sense. It is 
 not "vengeance" upon the Roman Babylon 
 for which even they call who have suffered 
 most at her hands. It is that righteousness 
 
254 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great 
 mill-stone, and cast il into the sea, saying, "Thus with 
 violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, 
 and 'shall be found no more at all. 
 
 22 •'AuJ the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of 
 pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in 
 thee ; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall 
 
 21 And 1 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. 
 
 22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute- 
 players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all 
 in thee; and no craftsman, -of whatsoever craft, 
 
 t Jer. 51:64....6ch. 12:8; 16: 20. ...c Isa. 21: 8; Jer. 7:34; 16: 9; 25: 10; Ezek. 26: 
 
 ite-s omii. of whatsoever craft. 
 
 '1 Gr. one 2 Some aDcient auttaori- 
 
 and justice may be vindicated in the case of a 
 power by whom both have been, during long 
 ages of oppression and wrong, outraged and 
 set at nought. It is, to use again the words 
 of the writer just quoted, such a rejoicing as 
 "all holy men, whether on earth or in 
 heaven," experience, " when any great evil 
 is swept away." It may be proper to connect 
 this verse, in its exposition, with the prayer 
 of the martyrs in 6: 10. Again, in 16: 5-7, 
 there is mention made of that righteous judg- 
 ment of God which visits upon persecuting 
 powers the blood they have shed. The re- 
 visers use a somewhat peculiar phraseology 
 in the literal rendering of the Greek : " God 
 hath judged your judgment on her." The 
 exact force of the words "judged your judg- 
 ment," is not clear. The Speaker's Commen- 
 tary suggests, "(1) Either 'what you have 
 judged,' or 'what she hath judged concern- 
 ing you.' (2) 'What seemed right to you.' " 
 Hengstenberg's paraphrase is, "The doom 
 which she pronounced upon you, the judg- 
 ment which she held over you, your condem- 
 nation"; as in ch. 13: 10: "He that leadeth 
 into captivity shall go into captivity : he that 
 killeth with the sword must be killed with 
 the sword." This is, perhaps, on the whole, 
 the most likely interpretation. There may 
 be an allusion to what we have in ch. 17 : 16: 
 "And the ten horns which thou sawest, and 
 the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and 
 shall make here desolate and naked, and shall 
 burn her utterly with fire.'' By this fear- 
 
 be, "a certain strong angel." It is to be 
 noticed how exactly the symbolism, here, 
 copies that of predictions against Babylon, 
 Tyre, and other doomed cities, in the Old 
 Testament. Thus, in Jeremiah 51 : 60-64, we 
 read how Jeremiah "wrote in a book all the 
 evil that should come upon Babylon," and 
 said to Seraiah, a prince of the king's court, 
 "when thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, 
 and shalt read all these words," then— when 
 thou hast made an end of this book — "thou 
 shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the 
 midst of Euphrates ; and thou shalt say. Thus 
 .shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from 
 the evil I will bring upon her." The sym- 
 bolical action thus described is reproduced in 
 the present passage as a picture of the doom 
 of mystical Babylon.— Saying, Thus with 
 violence shall that great city Babylon 
 be thrown down, and shall be found no 
 more at all. The imagery here, while pre- 
 senting the same general idea as that in pre- 
 vious verses, has a marked difference in form. 
 The ruined Babylon has before been de- 
 scribed as a desolated city, its walls and 
 dwellings thrown prostrate or burned with 
 fire, and completely forsaken of inhabitants. 
 In the sense of such a ruin and a desolation, 
 the city may be said to still survive. In the 
 verses now before us, however, the imagery 
 implies a complete and final destruction; as 
 when a great stone, cast into the sea, sinks out 
 of sight, and is "found no more at all." The 
 two representations are not inconsistent with 
 
 ful manner of death many and many a j each other, as might possibly seem at first 
 martyr perished at the hands of the Koman | sight. A pile of ruins, or a desolated site, 
 harlot. By the same shall she perish. Her j with here and there some relic of former 
 violent dealing shall come down upon her magnificence, is not a city. Those who now 
 own head. j visit the supposed site of ancient Babylon, 
 
 21-24. The Stone Cast into the Sea. 
 
 21. And a mighty angel took up a stone 
 like a great mill-stone, and cast it into 
 the sea. Literally, the words are, "one 
 strong angel." Winer (i8:9) seems to con- 
 sider the numeral "one" (ets), in places like 
 this, as used for the indefinite pronoun (W?), 
 "a certain one." Thus the rendering would 
 
 whether right or wrong in their belief that 
 there the city once stood, find no Babylon 
 there. Babylon, in truth "is found no more 
 at all," nor shall it ever be again. Such is 
 the doom appointed to the Roman Anti- 
 christ. 
 
 22, 23. And the voice of harpers, and 
 musicians, and of pipers [flute-players], 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 255 
 
 be found anymore in thee; and the sound of a mill- 
 stone shall be heard no more at all iu thee; 
 
 23 "And the light of a candle 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 great men of the earth; ''for by 
 thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 
 
 24 And «in her was found the blood of prophets, 
 andof saints, and of all that /were slain upon the earth. 
 
 shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice 
 of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 
 
 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 lie heard no more at all in thee: for thy 
 merchants were the princes of the earth; for with 
 
 24 thy .sorcery were all the nations deceived. And in 
 her was found the blood of pro))licts and of saints, 
 and of all that have been slain upon the earth. 
 
 aJer. 25: 10....5 Jer. 7:31; 16:9; 25: 10; 33: 11....C Isa. 23:8....(i2 Kings 9 : 22; Nah. 3 : 4 ; ch. 17 : 2, 5....ech. 17: 
 
 /Jer. 51:49. 
 
 and trumpeters, shall be heard no more 
 at all in thee. We may compare the highly 
 poetical language in Isaiah (24:8); "The mirth 
 of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that re- 
 joice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth." — 
 And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft 
 he be, shall be found any more in thee. 
 All the sounds of busy industry have sunk 
 into utter silence. — And the sound of a 
 mill-stone shall be heard no more at all 
 in thee, and the light of a candle shall 
 shine no more at all in thee. Family life 
 has wholly ceased ; the cheerful lights of 
 home, "the sound of the grinding," all that 
 once betokened life with its enjoyments and 
 occupations. — And the voice of the bride- 
 groom and of the bride shall be heard 
 no more at all in thee. Of Jerusalem it 
 had anciently been said: "I will take from 
 them the voice of mirth, and the voice of 
 gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the 
 voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, 
 and the light of the candle" (Jer. 25:io). No 
 imagery could more vividly set forth the ruin 
 of a busy and populous city. — For thy mer- 
 chants were the great men [the princes] 
 of the earth. The causes of this utter and 
 final overthrow are now resumed and sum- 
 marized ; allusion being first made to the 
 greatness of Babylon, and to the sources of that 
 ill-used prosperity by which it had been built 
 up. — For by thy sorceries were all nations 
 deceived. Here is her guilt. " We must 
 understand," says the note in Carpenter, "her 
 artful policy, her attractiveness, and the se- 
 ductions by which she drew into the meshes 
 of her worldliness and sin all the nations 
 around." 
 
 24. And in her was found the blood 
 of prophets, and of saints, and of all 
 that were slain upon the earth. We are 
 reminded of the passage in Matt. 23: 3.5, 36: 
 "That upon you [upon Jerusalem] may come 
 all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, 
 from the blood of righteous Abel unto the 
 
 blood of Zacharias, whom ye slew between 
 the porch and the altar. Yerily I say unto 
 you. All these things shall come upon this 
 generation." Auberlen reminds us that in 
 speaking of the murders done by "the Harlot 
 of the New Covenant," the Roman Bab3'lon, 
 we must not "confine our thoughts to cases 
 like those of Huss, the Waldenses, the 
 Huguenots, the British ^Martyrs, etc., or the 
 martyrs which are yet future; but bear in 
 mind the words, 'Whoso hateth his brother 
 is a murderer' (iJohn3:i5). AV^herever true, 
 faithful Christians are neglected and oppressed 
 by the rulers of the church .... there we 
 commit murder against the saints of God." 
 In the bloodj^-minded and murdering 
 "church" of the Apostasy, the persecutions 
 of Antichrist in all former ages culminated. 
 Indeed, so was the antichristian spirit inten- 
 sified in this latest manifestation of that spirit, 
 and with such hideous accumulation were the 
 deeds so inspired multiplied, that it is scarcely 
 a figure of speech to say, as is said here : " In 
 her was found the blood of prophets, and of 
 saints, and of all that have been slain upon 
 the earth." 
 
 GENERAL COMMEXTS. 
 
 We must once more call attention to the 
 fact, and emphasize it, that what we find in 
 this chapter, is Apocalyptic imager^', through- 
 out. Those who treat it as descriptive of the 
 Roman city itself, overlook this; besides that, 
 the visitations upon Rome under the northern 
 barbarians, though severe, fell far short of 
 realizing the intense sj'mbolism of this chap- 
 ter. Great as were the calamities suffered by 
 the city, either then or at any other time, they 
 never approached the realitj' of what we have 
 here set forth. A similar objection lies against 
 the explanation of Elliott, in Horce Apoca- 
 lypticce, who, including with this chapter the 
 nineteenth, also, as far as ver. 4, and viewing 
 the fulfillment as still future, draws these con- 
 clusions from the whole: "(1) The destruction 
 of Rome, the mystic Babylon (comprehend- 
 
256 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 ing not only the city and the ecclesiastical 
 state; but probably the political tripartition, 
 and unexpectedly, be effected by an earth- 
 quake and volcanic fire. (2) Immediately 
 before this event there will be a great diffu- 
 sion of religious light, and a sounding forth 
 of strong appeals on the character and immi- 
 nent doom, both of Rome and the Popedom, 
 alike in the church and in the world. (3) 
 The Jews will probably at, or just after, this 
 catastrophe, be converted (indicated by the 
 Hebrew Hallelujah — this being the first intro- 
 duction of a word from that language in 
 praise). (4) Down to the time figured by 
 this chorus (a song represented as being in 
 heaven), no translation of the living saints or 
 resurrection of the departed will have taken 
 place." Stuart, also, in some parts of his 
 comment on this chapter, seems to understand 
 by Babylon the city of Rome. Elliott's view, 
 while it is open to the objection of losing 
 sight, in some places, of the symbolical char- 
 acter of the whole chapter, which makes it 
 impossible that any literal and actual city 
 should be understood, encumbers the exposi- 
 tion with fanciful interpretations, like those 
 which have been so much the bane of Apoca- 
 lyptic exposition from the beginning. 
 
 We have already called attention to the 
 evident fact that the woman of chapter seven- 
 teen is the city of chapter eighteen. The 
 angel says to John, distinctly (n:i8): "The 
 woman which thou sawest is that great city 
 which reigneth over the kings of the earth." 
 The difference between the vision in chap- 
 ter seventeen and that in chapter eighteen, 
 maj' be stated in the following particulars: 
 (1) The change of symbolism, so that the 
 woman in the one chapter becomes the city 
 in the other; (2) the fact that the judgment 
 announced in the former is more dwelt upon, 
 in the latter, with more detailed description; 
 (8) the change of imagery descriptive of this 
 judgment, a change made necessary by the 
 change of the woman-symbol to that of a 
 city; and (4) the fact that, while in chapter 
 seventeen the instruments of Babylon's over- 
 throw are indicated, in chapter eighteen the 
 nature and consequences of that overthrow 
 are more dwelt upon. 
 
 As to the identification of the woman in the 
 one chapter, and so of the city in the other— 
 the clue seems given us in the fact that this 
 symbol of a woman is employed at all. So 
 
 far as we know, commentators are agreed that 
 by the woman in chapter twelve, mother of 
 the Man-child, driven by the dragon into the 
 wilderness, must be understood the Church, 
 in that large sense which makes it identical 
 with the spiritual Kingdom of God in the 
 world, embracing all times, and the Lord's 
 true people of every age and name. In that 
 same wilderness appears (ch. n.3-6) another 
 woman, evidently assuming the character of 
 that celestial fugitive whose flight thither 
 had before been represented on the Apoca- 
 lyptic scene. We have refused to give to this 
 sinister appearance the name "church," with 
 any manner of qualifying epithet. We do 
 not believe "the Church of the living God" 
 ever was, or ever could be, "apostate." There 
 was a church in the wilderness during those 
 ages of darkness and suffering; but this 
 woman upon the seven-headed beast, drunk 
 with the blood of saints, was not that church. 
 They, rather, who suffered at her hands, 
 whose blood she drank, represented that 
 church — a fugitive church, "persecuted" by 
 "the dragon," who casts out of his mouth 
 floods of worldly confusion and turbulence, 
 "that he might cause her to be carried away 
 by the flood "; yet with her "two wings of a 
 great eagle" flying away to the "place pre- 
 pared of God" where she is "nourished," as 
 Elijah was in his own wilderness. The 
 woman, "the mother of harlots and abomina- 
 tions of the earth " is not this woman, yet she 
 pretends to be, and persuades many that she 
 is ; so much so, indeed, that even yet sincere 
 persons find it difficult to distinguish between 
 them. Who can this woman be, this sorcerer 
 and harlot, if not the so-called Church of 
 Rome ? This is the Babylon of chapter 17 : 5, 
 and the Babylon, also, of chapter 18: 2. "The 
 woman is that great city which reigneth over 
 the kings of the earth." 
 
 The criminal association of the woman with 
 "the kings of the earth," and her "reigning 
 over them," find historical parallels in what 
 is recorded of papal Rome during all the cen- 
 turies of its disastrous supremacy. She was 
 their mistress in a double sense: she ruled 
 them, and at the same time wantoned with 
 them. Her conduct was perfectly that of the 
 heartless courtesan, by turns arrogant and 
 seductive; now training her lovers after her 
 by every manner of seductive wile, and now 
 making them the victims of her termagant 
 
Ch. XVIIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 257^ 
 
 abuse, or of her capricious exactions. The 
 subserviency of kings to popes, during those 
 centuries, was only equaled by the corrupt 
 terms upon which their alliances were framed, 
 and the utterly unprincipled ways in which 
 pope and king conspired against every inter- 
 est of humanity and of religion. Dark chap- 
 ters in history', indeed, are they in which these 
 things are chronicled. Like to this in its 
 significance is the imagery of our present 
 chapter. The seductive woman and the 
 luxurious city, filling her markets with the 
 costly products of every zone, and through 
 her extravagance and her lavish self-indulg- 
 ence both exciting and gratifying the spirit 
 of a covetous commerce — these answer to each 
 other in every way. Both alike represent the 
 pernicious influences that went abroad over 
 the world from the papal centre, and illustrate 
 the misciiiefs of a system in which the worst 
 of ends were sought by the worst of means. 
 
 That Jinal destruction of Babylon, of which 
 this chapter contains such a vivid description, 
 must be still future. The premonitions of it, 
 however, already appear; indeed, the pro- 
 gressive fulfillment is taking place before our 
 eyes. We must not be misled by any im- 
 pression that what is Apocalyptically repre- 
 sented as stidden, is sudden in the same way 
 that things are so to us. With the Lord "a 
 thousand years are as one day." Babylon 
 really "fell," when about the beginning of 
 the sixteenth century, such a tremendous 
 defection occurred as we have already noticed ; 
 her adherents forsaking her by whole king- 
 doms at a time. Within the life-time of a 
 man, the enormous despotism which shadowed 
 Europe from the Mediterranean to the North 
 Sea, and from the Atlantic to the Russian 
 border, was reduced to such extremities, that 
 only desperate expedients saved it from utter 
 overthrow. Indeed, the parallel between this 
 system of corrupt ecclesiasticism, and a great, 
 luxurious and wicked city, brought by its 
 own excesses to a condition where all its 
 greatness is mere hollowness and show, was 
 perfect. To this Bellarmine, himself a Roman- 
 ist writer, in effect testifies. "For some 
 years," he says, "before Lutheran and Cal- 
 vinistic heresies were published, there was not 
 (as contemporary authors testify) any severity 
 in ecclesiiistical judicatories, any discipline 
 with regard to morals, any knowledge of 
 sacred literature, any reverence for divine 
 
 things : There was not alnioHt any religion 
 remaining.^' (Quoted by Robertson, in his 
 History of Charles the Fifth). A system- 
 whose claim to the reverence and obedience 
 of mankind is in its spiritual character, holds 
 a most absurd position, when it insists upon, 
 that claim while there is in it "not almost 
 any religion remaining." Thenceforth its 
 appeal must be to the superstition of the 
 ignorant, or the interest of the worldly and. 
 unprincipled. It was a fact fatal to Roman- 
 ism that these two classes by no means em- 
 braced the whole of mankind ; that there was 
 enough of religious earnestness left to test 
 thoroughly the claim to embody in itself the_ 
 whole of Christianity of a system out of 
 which, by the confession of its own most 
 intelligent champions, whatever of Christi- 
 anity it may once have possessed, had almost 
 wholly departed. So it came to pass that, in 
 the first onset of the Reformation, it seemed 
 as if this showy and pretentious, yet rotten 
 and hollow system of hierarchical despotism 
 was on the point of being crushed. "The 
 victory of Protestantism," says Macaulay^ 
 "was rapid and decisive. . . . About half a 
 century after the great separation, there were 
 throughout the North [of Europe] Protestant 
 governments and Protestant nations." {Essay 
 on "Ranke's History of the Popes'^). From 
 this well-nigh annihilating blow Rome has 
 really never recovered. The measures of 
 Pius v., a ruthless and resolute man, who set 
 himself with determined purpose, and with, 
 all the art and craft of a true Italian, to stem 
 the tide of defeat, and change the fortunes 
 of the field; the co-operation with him of. 
 Philip II., of Spain, and of the Guises and 
 Lorraines in France; the institution of the 
 Order of the Jesuits, and the founding of the. 
 Inquisition — by such measures and instru- 
 ments as these a reaction was effected, and 
 some of the ground lost seemed for a time 
 recovered. But as we look back over the, 
 history of those centuries, we perceive in the 
 Papacy, as shown in another like connection, 
 not a power with vitality' unimpaired, stand- 
 ing up resolutely and successfully against 
 formidable assaults; but a power doomed and 
 already defeated, desperately rallying its 
 shattered strength in a struggle already hope- 
 less, and by its furious efforts only hastening 
 its own destruction. The Inquisition was long 
 a terror; but it was far more a reproach to 
 
258 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIX. 
 
 AND after these things "I heard a great voice of much 
 people in heaven, saying, Allelulia; 'Salvation, 
 and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our 
 Ood : 
 
 2 For "true and righteous are his judgments; for he 
 hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the 
 earth with her fornication, and "hath avenged the 
 blooil of his servants at her hand. 
 
 1 After these things I heard as it were a great 
 voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying. Halle- 
 lujah ; SaUation, and glory, and power, belong to 
 
 2 our God: for true and rigliteous are his judgments; 
 for he hathjudged the great harlot, who did corrupt 
 the earth with ner fornication, and he hath avenged 
 
 och. 11: 15....6ch. 4: 11; 7: 10, VI; 12 : 10. ...c ch. 15 : 3 ; 16: 7.... d Deut. »2 : 43 ; ch.6: 10; 18: 20. 
 
 the system in whose support an instrument so 
 hideous could be used, and has in the end 
 wrought far more mischief to the power that 
 employed it, than to that against which it 
 was used. The Jesuits have served the evil 
 cause to which they devoted themselves, body 
 and soul, with most extraordinary fidelity ; 
 but they have, time after time, made them- 
 selves so intolerable by their unprincipled 
 cour.ses, as that Koman Catholic princes and 
 republics have been compelled to cast them 
 out as a menace and a disgrace. The persist- 
 encj' with which the popes themselves have 
 clung to those pretensions which, even in such 
 a time as that of the middle ages they found 
 it difficult to enforce, assuming, even in this 
 nineteenth centurj', to be supreme over all 
 governments, and to have a right to rule alike 
 the counsels and the consciences of rulers and 
 peoples; the measures adopted by them, or 
 under their direction, such as the proclama- 
 tion of the dogma of Papal Infallibility by 
 the Vatican Council of 1809-70, attempting 
 thus to force upon an age of enlightenment 
 and free thought, doctrines which not even 
 mediajval subserviency would accept — in all 
 these ways, Popery has, by its struggles for 
 self recovery, simply been making more com- 
 plete and hopeless its actual downfall. 
 
 There is a prophecy in these things, them- 
 selves. They presage for the Koman hie- 
 rarchy a complete and final overthrow. How 
 far in the future this ultimate event may lie, 
 no one of us can say ; but that it is sure to 
 come, the signs of the present time unite with 
 Ai)Ocalyptic testimony in declaring. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY TRIUMPH. 
 
 1-4. A Song of Deliverance. 
 
 1. And after these things. "And" is 
 rightly omitted. — I heard a great voice of 
 ranch people in heaven. Alford says, upon 
 this: ".\s each of the great events and judg- 
 ments of the book is celebrated by its song of 
 
 praise in heaven, so this also; but more 
 solemnly and formally than the others, seeing 
 that this is the great accomplishment of God's 
 judgment on the enemy of his church." He 
 then instances, as examples of heavenly praise 
 on like occasions, ch. 4: 8-11, "introducing 
 the whole heavenly scenery"; ch. 5: 9-14, 
 "celebrating the worthiness of the Lamb to 
 open the book "; chs. 7: 10-12; 11 : 15-18, "on 
 the close fulfillment of God's judgments at 
 the soundingof the seventh trumpet"; ch.15: 
 3, "on the introduction of the series of the 
 vials"; and ch. 16:5, "on the retributive 
 justice shown in the pouring out of the third 
 vial." A like song of praise now celebrates 
 the deli verance experienced in the doom visited 
 upon Babylon. The amended Greek text of 
 the words quoted above would read, "as it 
 were {m) a great voice." — Saying, Alleluia: 
 salvation, and glory, and honour, and 
 power, unto the Lord our God. The 
 amended reading omits the words "honor" 
 and "the Lord." In the amended text, also, 
 following the Sinaitic and Alexandrine man- 
 uscripts, in.stead of "unto our God" (t<P eecp 
 riiJiCiv), we find "of our God" (toO fleoO ^iuwi/). 
 The form differs, therefore, from what we 
 have, for example, in 7: 12, where "unto our 
 Gf>d" is the rendering of the best Greek. 
 Here it is "of our God," or "are our God's," 
 meaning that these terms of praise, "salva- 
 tion," "glory," "power," are his, not ours; 
 or, as the revisers give it, "belong to our 
 God." The whole work of deliverance being 
 wrought by his pov^er, the praise and' the 
 glory of it are his. 
 
 2. For true and righteous are his .iudg- 
 ments. To holy beings, and also to beings 
 regenerated and redeemed, God's truth and 
 righteousness are supreme occasions of re- 
 joicing praise. On these, as on eternal foun- 
 dations, the stability of the moral universe 
 and the fidelity of all moral beings must for- 
 ever depend. In that which is the immediate 
 occasion of this song of praise, they are illus- 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 259 
 
 3 And again they said, Allelulia. And <"her smoke 
 rose up foi- ever and ever. 
 
 4 And 'tlie tour and twenty elders and the four 
 beasts fell down and worshipped Ciod that sat on the 
 throne, saying, ''Amen: Alleluia. 
 
 5 And a voice came out of the throne, saving, 't Praise 
 our tiod, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, ' both 
 small and great. 
 
 3 the blood of his servants at her hand. And a second 
 time they I say, Hallelujah. And her s«i..ke noeth 
 
 4 up 2 for ever and ever. And the lour and twenty 
 elders and the four living creatures fell down and 
 worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, 
 
 5 Amen ; Hallelujah. And a voice came forth from 
 the throne, saying. Give praise to our (iod, all ye his 
 servants, ye that fear him, the small and the great. 
 
 ilsa.34.10; ch. 14:11; 18: 9, 18....6 oh. 4: 4, 6, 10; 5: U....cl Chion. 16: 36 ; Neh.5:13: 8:6; ch. 5 : 14....d Pa 134- 1- 
 lib: I e oh. 11: 18; 20: 12. 1 Gr. have said 2 Gr. unto the ageeo/the agee. ' 
 
 trated anew.— For he hath judged the 
 great whore, which did corrupt the earth 
 with her fornications, and hath avenged 
 the blood of his servants at her hand. 
 
 The theme of this great song ' ' of much people 
 in heaven " is therefore the final overthrow 
 and destruction of that evil power which 
 during so many centuries had made the earth 
 the scene of its ravages. This is, then, a song 
 celebrating the world's deliverance from that 
 power. As the "harlot" is specifically named, 
 we must understand the reference to be to that 
 form of the antichristian manifestation which 
 is described in the two immediately preceding 
 chapters. The "beast" and "the false pro- 
 phet," other forms of the same manifestation, 
 are mentioned, and their fall described in 
 ver. 20, below. 
 
 3. And again [the second time] they said. 
 Alleluia. "This last 'Alleluia,' " says Car- 
 penter, "clearly belongs to the song, or 
 chorus. It is separated from the body of it 
 by the descriptive words, ' And again they 
 said.' " He arranges thus : 
 
 Alleluia! 
 The salvation, and the glory, and the power 
 
 Are our God's, 
 Because true and righteous are his judgments; 
 Because he judged the great harlot who corrupted the 
 
 earth with her fornication. 
 And avenged the blood of his servants out of her hand. 
 
 Alleluia. 
 — And her smoke rose up forever and 
 ever. The imagery here rests upon that of 
 chapter eighteen, in which Babylon appears 
 as a city. The picture it presents is that of 
 such a city, not only in ruins, but smoking, 
 as a vast funeral pile. It is an "eternal 
 burning"; in other words, the ruin is final. 
 It is not as when the flames of a burnt city at 
 last die down, and men clear away the charred 
 timbers and the blackened stones, preparatory 
 to a rebuilding. It is, rather, as if the flames 
 were never to lack fuel, but forever burn on, 
 making all restoration and rebuilding eter- 
 nally impossible. So with great Babylon. So 
 with that power which for so long a time cor- 
 
 rupted the world with its sorceries, oppressed 
 the church, and wore out the saints of the 
 Most High. 
 
 4. And the four and twenty elders and 
 the four beasts [living rreaturrs] fell down 
 and worshipped God that sat [sitteth'] on 
 the throne, saying. Amen: Alleluia. By 
 the "much people" in ver. 1, must be under- 
 stood the great body of those who are subjects 
 of this deliverance— who have suffered at the 
 hand of the power now brought to its final 
 overthrow, and in their song celebrate that 
 great event. "The four and twenty elders " 
 appear as the representatives of this body 
 of redeemed ones in that permanent symbol- 
 ism which so frequently re-appears in the 
 successive visions. "The four living crea- 
 tures," as before explained, represent that 
 "creation" which "groaneth and travailcth 
 in pain together," waiting for the final " adop- 
 tion, to wit, the redemption" of God's elect 
 people. Both of these unite in the same song 
 of deliverance with their melodious "Amen" 
 and their responsive "Alleluia." 
 
 5-8. A Heavenly Chorus. 
 
 5. And a voice came out of the throne, 
 ("/orM/rom the throne" is better), saying, 
 Praise our God, all ye his servants, and 
 ye that fear him, small and great. The 
 language used, in this call to praise, shows 
 that the voice, though it came from the throne, 
 cannot have been the voice of God. It is not 
 a divine being, evidently, who sa^-s: "Praise 
 our God." Perhaps the expression "forth 
 from the throne," is not to be taken too liter- 
 ally. The Speaker's Commentary under- 
 stands the preposition "from" (<in6), as "de- 
 noting direction merely, not the source of the 
 voice." Hengstenberg, quite incorrectly, 
 understands the voice as of "him that sitteth 
 on the throne," and supposes, strangely 
 enough, that this is Christ. The Speaker's 
 Commentary notes that Christ nowhere em- 
 ploys the expression, ^^our God." In John 
 20: 17, he says, "my God," and adds: "and 
 your God." The form of expression implies, 
 
260 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 6 "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
 tude, aud as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
 of mighty thuuderiiigs, saying, Allelulia: fori-the Lord 
 Ood omnipotent reignetli. 
 
 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him : 
 for «the marriage of the Lamb is come, aud his wife 
 hath made herself ready. 
 
 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multi- 
 tude, aud as the voice of many waters, and as the 
 voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for 
 
 7 the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us 
 rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the 
 glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is 
 
 a Ezek. 1 : 24 ; 43 : 2 ; ch. 14:2 h ch. 11: 15. 17; 12: 10; 21: 22 c Matt. 22: 2; 25 : 10 ; 2 Cor. 11 : 2 ; Ephes. 5 : 32 ; ch. 21 : 2, 9. 
 
 there, that the Father is his God in a sense 
 different from tliat in which he is "oz<r God." 
 For him to use the latter plirase would be to 
 make hiinself human. This he never does, 
 in any other sense than as the God-man. 
 Bengei thinks the voice is that of the four 
 living creatures. Diisterdieck thinks it the 
 voice of the elders. Clearly, the source of 
 the voice is purposely left without indication. 
 Carpenter understands it simply as coming 
 "from the direction of the throne," and 
 thinks it "better to leave it indefinite." 
 What the voice utters is a call to universal 
 praise, responsive to the song of deliverance 
 just sung by those in whose behalf this de- 
 liverance has been wrought. "All" the 
 "servants" of God are summoned to join in 
 this responsive chorus; all that "fear him, 
 both small and great." The call embraces 
 the universe of holy and regenerated being. 
 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 
 thunderings [thunders]. The description is 
 accumulative, advancing to a climax. Or, 
 perhaps, we may say that the chorus itself 
 swells from a .sound like that of the blended 
 voices of a great multitude, to such as is 
 heard in the roar of seas, and at last in the 
 tremendous peal on peal of "mighty thun- 
 ders." Thus is represented to us the interest all 
 heaven feels in the triumphs of God's King- 
 dom on earth, and those deliverances which 
 come in the victories of his grace and provi- 
 dence.— Saying, Allelulia, for the Lord 
 God [th.e Lord our God] omnipotent [the 
 Almighty] reigneth. This cannot be simply 
 a general acknowledgment that God reigns. 
 It is a thankful and joyful recognition of 
 his sovereignty called forth by recent events, 
 in which the fact has found signal illustration. 
 The assertion and vindication of his suprem- 
 acy in the events just described, culminating 
 in the downfall of Babylon — this it is that 
 inspires the rapturous and triumphant song. 
 So long the victory of truth and righteous- 
 ness seemed delayed ; so long the blood of 
 
 the martyrs cried to heaven, to all appearance, 
 in vain ; so long the wicked triumphed, might 
 prevailed over right, evil and wrong and 
 error seemed to carry all before them; while 
 as each crisis came and the vindication still 
 tarried, deriding voices cried: "Where is 
 now their God?" — when at last the omnipo- 
 tent arm is reached forth, and it is seen that 
 it is God himself who after all reigns — it is for 
 the entire universe of holy being an hour of 
 triumph worthy of celebration in songs tliat 
 fill heaven. The Greek word here used (e/Saai- 
 Xfvcrev) literally translated, would read: "hath 
 become king," [or, "reigneth as king," i.e., 
 showed his kingship, his kingly power which 
 had seamed to be in abeyance. — A. H.] It 
 may be that in the form of the expression, 
 the fact of this exertion of sovereign power 
 is emphasized. 
 
 7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give 
 honour to him, for the marriage of the 
 Lamb is come. We are approaching, now, 
 some of those questions, touching "the last 
 things," upon which the Christian world is 
 so much divided, and concerning which posi- 
 tive conclusions are so difficult, perhaps im- 
 possible, of realization. Our own aim will 
 be to keep close to the text, seeking by care- 
 ful study of the words written, in themselves 
 and in their connection, to find the meaning 
 of what is thus set down. What, then, is 
 meant by "the marriage of the Lamb"? The 
 general representation of the intimate and 
 tender relation of Christ with his saved peo- 
 ple, under the figure of marriage, is made 
 familiar to us by its frequent use, alike in the 
 Old Testament, and in the New. AVe may 
 instance in the Old Testament that beautiful 
 pastoral, "Solomon's Song," and in the New 
 Testament, the marriage of the king's son in 
 Matt. 22: 2-14, and the parable of the ten 
 virgins in Matt. 25: 1-13. A significant pas- 
 sage is that in Eph. 5: 22-!i2, where Paul bases 
 on this analogy important teachings as to the 
 Christian law of marriage itself In all these 
 places, save one, the idesi of the marriage of 
 Christ with his church is that of' a relation 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 261 
 
 3 And "to her was granted that she should be arrayed 
 in fine linen, clean and white: 'lor the tine liueu is the 
 righteousness of saints. 
 
 8 come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And )♦ 
 was given unto her that she should arrav herself in 
 fine linen, bright and pure: for the tine "linen is the 
 
 a Ps. 45: 13, U; Ezek. 16: 10; cb. 3 : 18 i Pa. 132:9. 
 
 already formed, not of one yet future; the 
 plain implication is that Christ, in the very 
 fat't of his progressive redeeming work, puts 
 himself in this relation with his people, they 
 being viewed, in the imagery thus employed, 
 in the oneness of their fellowship as a people, 
 and not so much as individuals. In one of 
 the places noted above, however, the parable 
 of the virgins, the thought seems to be carried 
 forward to the end of the Dispensation. A 
 difference in phraseology, suggestive of this, 
 may be noticed. In Matt. 2'2: 2, describing 
 the marriage of the king's son, we read, 
 "The kingdom of heaven is likened" — the 
 meaning seeming to be that such as the para- 
 ble illustrates is the kingdom of heaven in its 
 present and progressive character. In the 
 parable of the virgins we read, "The kingdom 
 of heaven shall then be likened" — implying 
 that at the time of what is mentioned in chap- 
 ter twenty-four, the coming of the Lord to 
 take account of his servants as to the use made 
 of the talents committed to them, that which 
 is now described, namely, likeness, not to the 
 marriage, but to the coming of the bride- 
 groom to receive his bride, and to the mar- 
 riage supper, shall be true of the kingdom of 
 heaven. It seems clear, therefore, that the 
 marriage of the Lamb is presented to us under 
 two distinct aspects: (1) that of the original 
 institution of this relation between Christ and 
 his redeemed people; and (2) that of the con- 
 summation of this relation at the end of that 
 long period of trial and ordeal during which 
 his elect are gathered out of the nations of 
 men, and when the hour of triumph for him 
 and for them at last comes. In other words, 
 the distinction is between the mnrringe (or 
 betrothal, in that age equivalent to marriage), 
 and the marriage supper (the final and con- 
 summating ceremonial). Consistently with 
 this distinction, the word in the Greek, in the 
 verse now studied (^Aflei'), which in both our 
 versions is translated, "is come," is really in 
 a past tense, and would be rendered, literally, 
 ^^came" — " the marriage of the Lamb came" 
 —apparently pointing to what has already 
 taken place. In ver. 9, below, we read, 
 "Blessed are they which are bidden to the 
 marriage supper of the Lamb." This indi- 
 
 cates something to occur at the time when 
 this prophecy shall be fulfilled. Between the 
 marriage, in Jewish cust(mis (or betrothal, 
 equivalent to marriage, as we have said), a 
 considerable interval occurred. It was at 
 "the marriage supper" that the bridegroom 
 received full possession of his bride. This 
 supper occurred at the bridegroom's own 
 house, to which the bride was conducted in 
 festal procession, and with great rejoicing. 
 Keeping all this in mind, we may the more 
 clearly see the exact force of the words before 
 us. At the time to which we are now brought 
 down in the progress of Apocal3'ptic disclo- 
 sure of things then to come, "the marriage 
 of the Lamb," the betrothal, the gathering 
 of his elect, has been fully accomplished; and 
 the time for "the marriage supper" has ar- 
 rived. — And his wife hath made herself 
 ready. Abbott, in his commentary upon 
 Matt. 25: 1-13, says: "The betrothal was 
 itself a much more solemn act than with us, 
 and was often accompanied by a public cere- 
 monial. [It was made a festal occasion, as 
 Matt. 22: 2-14 implies.] Usually a period of 
 twelve months intervened between the be- 
 trothal and the wedding ceremony, during 
 which time the bride-elect continued to live 
 with her friends, and all communications be- 
 tween herself and the bridegroom were car- 
 ried on through the medium of a 'friend of 
 the bridegroom ' (John.i:M). . . . The essential 
 feature in the wedding ceremony consisted in 
 taking the bride to her future husband's 
 home. Throughout the day preceding this 
 ceremony, both parties fasted, confessing 
 their sins, and seeking forgiveness. It is 
 thought, also, that the bride prepared herself 
 for the wedding ceremony by a bath, taken, 
 as it certainly is in modern times, with some 
 pomp, and as an important part in her share 
 of the wedding ceremonial (Rutus: 3; Ezek. 23: 40; 
 Epii.5: 26, 27)." In the imagery of our present 
 passage, the words, "and his wife hath made 
 herself ready," indicate that the interval be- 
 tween the betrothal and the bringing home of 
 the bride is past, and the time come for the pub- 
 lic ceremonial of the marriage — the bride has 
 prepared herself for the marriage ceremony. 
 8. And to her was granted that she 
 
262 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 9 Aud he saith unto me, Write, <• Blessed are they 
 which are called unto the marriage supper of the 
 haiub. Aud he saith unto me, 'These are the true say- 
 iuas of God. 
 
 9 righteous acts of the saints. And he saith unto me. 
 Write, Blessed are they who are bidden to the mar- 
 riage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me 
 
 a Mutt. 2i: 2, 3; Luke 14: 15, 16 6 cb. 21 : 5 ; 22-6. 
 
 should be arrayed [should array herself] 
 ill fine linen, clean and white; for the 
 fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 
 
 The rendering, "bright and pure," in the 
 revision, is preferable. The substitution will 
 also be noticed of "righteous acts of the 
 saints," for " righteousness of saints." Lange 
 and Carpenter prefer "righteousnesses of the 
 saints"; and the former comments: "The 
 Greek word for righteousness in this place 
 {SiKaiuitia, here used in the plural, SucanoMaTa), is 
 always a means by which justice is satisfied, 
 or acquittal is obtained, whether it be by the 
 performance of the right, or the expiation of 
 the wrong (by undergoing punishment), or 
 atonement, as the concrete unity of the doing 
 and the sutfering of that which is right." It 
 is the same word which Paul uses in the 
 Epistle to the Romans (is i" 5: le), to express his 
 idea of justification. "The source of these 
 righteousnesses," says the note in Ellicott, "is 
 divine; it is given her to be so arrayed. It is 
 no fictitious righteousness ; it is real, though 
 it never would have been bar's but for him 
 without whom she can do nothing (of. John 15 : 
 4. 5 ; Phil. 3: 810)." The translation "righteous- 
 nesses" is perhaps preferable to "righteous 
 acts," although it is difficult to render the 
 Greek term by any single English word. 
 The latter — "righteous acts" — might appear 
 to imply that the acceptance which the saints 
 enjoyed is occasioned by meritorious deeds of 
 their own, which the Greek word does not or- 
 dinarily imply; whereas, not only are they 
 "accepted in the Beloved," but their bright 
 and pure array is here expressly said to be 
 "given" them. The word "righteousness," 
 with its far wider meaning, while it more accu- 
 rately represents the Greek, comprehends alike 
 that "righteousness" of the saints, "which 
 is offered by faith," and besides, all that in 
 character and life which has testified to the 
 genuineness of the faith. We agree with 
 Carpenter, that the song closes with the 
 words, "hath made herself ready." The 
 eighth verse, now under consideration, is ex- 
 planatory, and the words of John himself. 
 The contrasted adornment of the bride and of 
 
 the harlot should be noticed. In the array of 
 the latter were all manner of meretricious 
 splendors ; that of the former is simple, but 
 "bright and pure" — as Grotius says: "the 
 grave attire of the matron, not the gaudy 
 splendor of the harlot." By these tokens is 
 the true church known from the false, even 
 now ; much more will it be so then. 
 
 9. And he saith unto me. Who is it 
 that speaks? A question not easily answered. 
 Some expositors recall ch. 1 : 1, where it is 
 said that this "Revelation" was "signified 
 unto John" by his [God's] angel." They sup- 
 pose that this angelus interpres, "interpret- 
 ing angel," is present with John, throughout, 
 that the "great voice, as of a trumpet," 
 spoken of in 1 : 10, was the voice of this angel, 
 and that his presence with the seer is to be 
 everywhere assumed. They think that in the 
 verse now considered, the words, "he said 
 unto me," are an abrupt mention of the same 
 interpreting angel — an abruptness to be ex- 
 plained, like other peculiarities of the book, 
 by its character as a vision, the conditions 
 being all abnormal, such as the very nature 
 of a vision presupposes. Others think — and 
 this is the view of such as Bengel, De Wette, 
 Hengstenberg, Diisterdieck, Alford, and Car- 
 penter — that the angel here is the same as the 
 angel mentioned in ch. 17:1: "One of the 
 angels which had the seven vials." Lange 
 takes it to be the angel mentioned in 18 : 21, 
 the "mighty angel" with the millstone. 
 There is a significant passage at ch. 22:8, 
 where we read : "And when I had heard and 
 seen, I fell down to worship before the feet 
 of the angel which showed me these things.''^ 
 In ver. 10 of the present chapter a like thing 
 is said, and here, as in 22: 9, John is forbidden 
 to render this act of worship to a "fellow- 
 servant." The similarity of the two passages 
 suggests that the "angel" in each is identi- 
 cal with the angel in the other, while the 
 manner in which the mention of him in each 
 is introduced suggests a probability that in 
 both it is the angel-interpreter of whom we 
 read, as noted above, in the very opening of 
 the book. We incline, on our own part, to 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 263 
 
 10 And "I fell at his feet to worship him. And he 10 These are true words of God. And I fell down before 
 
 said unto me, 'See thon ilo U not: I am thy fellow- 
 servant, and of thy brethren ''that have the testimony 
 of Jesns: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is 
 the spirit of prophecy. 
 
 his feet to worship him. And he saith unto me, See 
 thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant witli tUee and 
 with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus: 
 worship' God : for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit 
 of prophecy. 
 
 ach. 22: 8.... 6 Acts 10: 26; U:U, 15; ch. 22:9....c 1 John 5 : 10; ch. 12: 17. 
 
 this view, although the point seems incapable 
 of positive deterniination. If we adopt it, we 
 must make one other important distinction 
 between this angel and the various other 
 angelic appearances, which are appearances 
 merely, belonging in each case to the scenery 
 of the vision. This angel is a real one, and 
 acts and speaks as such. — Write, Blessed 
 are they which are called to the mar- 
 riage supper of the Lamb. This is equiva- 
 lent to saying, "Blessed are they who in 
 the consummation are found among the elect 
 ones, the finally saved." Commentators note 
 six of these "benedictions of the Apoca- 
 lypse," as they are called, chs. 1:3; 14: 13; 
 20:6; 22:7, 14 — the present one completing 
 the six. "We must not," says Carpenter, 
 "draw too sharp distinctions between the 
 bride and the guests; the imagery is varied 
 to give fullness and force to the truths which 
 no emblems can adequately express." If any 
 such distinction were made, it would be be- 
 tween the church, the whole body of the re- 
 deemed, as such, and the same redeemed 
 company as individuals; in the former case, 
 the imagery presents them as the bride, in 
 the latter, as the guests.— And he saith unto 
 me, These are the true sayings [words] 
 of God. A solemn confirmation of the tJ-uth 
 and certainty of the things here and thus 
 made known. 
 
 10. And I fell at his feet to worship 
 him. An act to which he is moved, not un- 
 naturally, by the heavenly splendor in which 
 .the angel appears to him, and by the wonder- 
 fulness and blessedness of the things dis- 
 closed. The worship seems to be prompted 
 by a feeling that this being must be himself 
 divine. Other angelic appearances John 
 seems to have recognized as angelic simply. 
 In the present case, his wonder and gratitude 
 are such that only an act of worship, as to 
 one believed to be divine, can adequately ex- 
 press what he feels. — And he said unto me, 
 See thou do it not. Literally, ".sfic, not,"' 
 'Hake heed, not'' ; the words : '' i/iou do it," 
 being supplied.— I am thy fellow-servant, 
 and of thy brethren that have the testi- 
 
 mony of Jesus. The rendering in the re- 
 vised version is less ambiguous: "I am a 
 fellow-servant with thee and with thj' breth- 
 ren." In the common version, a hast^' reader 
 might understand the words as being: "I 
 am one of thy fellow-servants and one of 
 thy brethren," and from this infer that the 
 "angel" is in fact a redeemed human spirit, 
 sent to John upon this errand as the Apoca- 
 lyptic interpreter. This is the view taken by 
 such commentators as Eichhorn and Ziillig. 
 The meaning is, really, that the angel is 
 John's fellow-servant, and a fellow-servant 
 of all those who "have the testimony of 
 Jesus." In the parallel passage (22:9) the 
 words are: "them which keep the sayings of 
 this book." The Speaker's Commentary, ac- 
 cordingly, appears to prefer the rendering 
 here, "which hold the testimony of Jesus." 
 By "the testimony of Jesus" must be under- 
 stood testimony to him and for him ; full and 
 open recognition of him in his exalted being 
 and office, and a witnessing ministry in that 
 behalf The words teach that angels, like 
 men, see in Jesus the divine Redeemer of 
 the world, and that — in their own sphere of 
 instrumentality — they have a share with 
 redeemed men themselves, in that minis- 
 try through which he is in this character 
 preached "in all the world." — Worship 
 God. The only proper object of worship. — 
 For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit 
 ot prophecy. We incline to the opinion 
 that the word "prophecj'," here, is to be 
 taken in its large sense — chieflj-, indeed, im- 
 plying what is usually meant by the word; 
 but embracing every form of inspired utter- 
 ance. What the angel says, therefore, is that 
 to testify to and for Jesus, is the mission of 
 all those who, in the communications of God 
 to men, serve as the in.struments of his revela- 
 tions. It is true of angeLs, as it is true of 
 inspired men, and of uninspired men who 
 have this "testimony of Jesus." So central irt 
 the whole scheme of divine revelation, as in 
 the whole .system of divine provision, are the 
 person and work of Jesu.s, that, whether ex- 
 pressly or not, all that is spoken in revelation, 
 
'264 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 11 "And I saw heaven opened, and behold 'a white 
 horse; and he that sat upon hiiu w(i.i called <^ Faithful 
 and True, and •'in righteousness he doth judge and 
 make war. 
 
 11 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white 
 horse, and he that sat thereon, ' called Faithtul and 
 True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make 
 
 a ch. 15: 5 b ch. 6:2 c cb. 3 14 d Isa. 11 : 4. 1 Some ancieul authorities omit, called. 
 
 or proffered in promise, centres also in him. 
 To "preach Jesus" is, in so far as service in 
 the Kingdom of God on earth is concerned, 
 the mission, alike of men and of angels, 
 Even the prophets of the Old Testament 
 were moved bj' "the Spirit of Christ which 
 was in them'' (iPet. i:ii). The exact force of 
 the connecting particle "for'" is somewhat 
 .obscure. Are the words, : "The testimony of 
 Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," a reason 
 ■given why he should "worship God"? Or 
 is the immediate antecedent to this clause to 
 be found earlier in the verse? The latter 
 seems the more probable. After the injunc- 
 tion, "Worship God," the angel returns to 
 •the point stated at the beginning of the verse, 
 and shows how a common service of witness- 
 ing for Jesus places angels and men upon one 
 level as fellow-servants, so that the man is 
 not to worship the angel any more than the 
 angel the man. Both alike must "worship 
 God." The words, however, are capable of 
 expansion beyond the application made of 
 them here, and ma^^ be regarded as intended, 
 as well, to show how "the testimony of 
 Jesus" is the organizing principle in all reve- 
 lation. 
 • 11-16. The CoNQUERiNa Word. 
 
 11. And I saw heaven opened, and be- 
 hold a white horse ; and he that sat upon 
 him was called Faithful and True. The 
 words "I saw heaven opened" may be put 
 in relation with those at thje beginning of 
 this chapter— "After these things I heard a 
 great voice of much people in heaven." 
 Those uniting in this chorus of praise appear 
 to have been invisiVjle to John. They were 
 "in heaven," in the sense of being apart 
 from the immediate scene of these visions, 
 while their voices came to the hearer of them 
 as if from behind a veil, beyond which lay 
 the regions of the blest. That veil now parts, 
 "heaven opens," and the white horse with 
 his rider once more is seen. For the white 
 horse "and him that sat upon him" have 
 appeared upon the scene of a former vision. 
 At the op('ning of the first seal (ch.6:i,2)j "I 
 saw," says John, "and behold a white horse; 
 and he that sat on him had a bow, and a 
 
 crown was given unto him : and he went 
 forth conquering and to conquer." This 
 opening of the first seal was the initiatory a(t 
 in the revelations, which, in successive chap- 
 ters, we have been studying. The white 
 horse and his rider were first of the striking 
 figures that have appeared on the scene, 
 taking part in successive acts of the Apoca- 
 lyptic drama. And now, after so much has 
 intervened, covering centuries of time and a 
 vast tract of human history, we see them 
 again. Their first appearance signalized an 
 era ; it represented the opening of the Chris- 
 tian Dispensation. The white horse sym- 
 bolized alike the character of him who rode 
 and the spirit and aims of that conquering 
 career in which he was riding forth ; the 
 crown indicated dominion, and the bow the 
 nature of the warfare by which he was to 
 conquer. Our exposition at that place shows 
 how, under these impressive symbols, the 
 opening, triumphant era of the Christian 
 Dispensation is set forth. The striking simi- 
 larity between what is now before us and that 
 which was thus seen at the beginning of these 
 disclosures, suggests that between the occasion 
 of the one of those and that of the other there 
 must be a like semblance. That was an era 
 in the history of God's spiritual kingdom 
 among men; so also must this be. In the 
 former case, however, the rider of the white 
 horse is not named. Here the name is given 
 him, "Faithful and True." It is a name 
 most significant; significant especially of this, 
 that the promises by which faith and hope 
 have, during so many centuries of trying 
 vicissitude been sustained, are now on the 
 eve of fulfillment; that the time has come 
 when it will be shown how, of all the good 
 things which the Lord had spoken, not one 
 has failed; but all came to pass (Josh. 21:45). 
 This is he who at the beginning rode forth 
 crowned and conquering. They who, age 
 after age, have submitted to his reign, have 
 enlIst(Hl under his banner, have fought and 
 sufferiHl and died in his cause, shall now find 
 that, however it may have seemed in ages of 
 gloom and trial, the final trium])h and the 
 great reward were never for a moment in 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 265 
 
 12 "His eyes were as a flame of fire, 'and on his head [ 12 war. And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his 
 were many crowns; 'and he had a name written, that I head ore many diadems; and lie hatli a name writ- 
 
 no man knew, but he himself. 
 
 13 liAud he tvas clothed with a vesture dipped in 
 blood: and his name is called «The Word of God. 
 
 \'A ten, which no one knowelh hut he himself. And lie 
 is arrayed iu a garment 'sprinkled with blood: and 
 
 ach. 1: 11; 2 : 18... .6 ch. 6 : ^....cch. •.! : 17 ; ver. 16.... d Isa. fi.) : 2.3. 
 
 read, dipped in 
 
 ; Jobu 1; 1 ; IJohn 5 : 7.- 
 
 doubt. He wliom tliej^ have followed is 
 "Faithful and True." — And in righteous- 
 ness he doth judge and make war. His 
 
 cause is the righteous cause. He makes war 
 only on that which deserves destruction, and 
 he arraigns and judges only those who are 
 criminals as well as enemies. More especially 
 does this become true as we see that the enemy 
 he makes war upon is Antichrist himself. 
 
 13. His eyes were as a flame of fire, 
 and on his head were many crowns. The 
 "eyes as a flame of fire" remind us of him 
 who appeared to John at the first (ch. i:u). 
 The "crowns" or diadems are indicative of 
 dominion. That they are "many" indicates 
 the completeness of that dominion which he 
 has won. Upon his former appearance we 
 simply read that "there was a crown given 
 unto him." Here there are many crowns. 
 The ultimate dominion there foreshadowed is 
 here completely achieved; it is the result of 
 conquest, and in it '''all might and all do- 
 minion" are subdued and made subject. — 
 And he had a name written, that no man 
 knew ["?io man knmveth''] but he himself. 
 He has already been called by one name, 
 " Faithful and True." A little further on we 
 are told of j^nother name which he bears, 
 "The Word of God"; and .still again, that on 
 his vesture and on his thigh there was the 
 even more august name, "King of kings and 
 Lord of lords." But here we have mention 
 of a name which "no man [no one] knoweth 
 but he himself" Beyond and within all that 
 is communicable of the being and per.son of 
 him who thus appears, there is the incom- 
 municable and the inscrutable. What he is 
 in his relation to his own people, as the faith- 
 ful and true one; what he is as the summary 
 and the fullness of all divine revelation, the 
 Logos, the Word of God; what he is in his 
 relation to the world, the King of its kings, 
 the Lord of its lords, exercising over all mas- 
 tery and all dominion a dominion and a mas- 
 tery infinitely superior and supreme — this can 
 be in a measure understood. But who has 
 ever penetrated beyond these, so as to know 
 
 him as he is in his essential being? There is 
 a name belonging to him which has never yet 
 been revealed to created intelligence. The 
 question where the name was written, which 
 some commentators discuss, cannot be an- 
 swered, and need not be. Is this, then, the 
 "new name," mentioned in ch. 3:12: "I 
 will write upon him [vpo7i hhn who over- 
 comes] my new name." We think it doubt- 
 ful. The name there does not seem to be a 
 name which no one knoweth. Do not they 
 upon whom it is written know? It is, be- 
 sides, more in accordance with the whole 
 spirit of the imagery, here, to take this mj's- 
 terious name as a symbol of the mj'sterious 
 and wonderful nature of him who bears it, 
 and as showing that back of all niayiifestation 
 in the person of our Lord, there is that which 
 entitles him to the name given him by a 
 prophet of the Old Dispensation — "The Won- 
 derful." 
 
 13. And he was clothed with a vesture 
 dipped in blood. The revision, it will be 
 noticed, renders: "a garment sprinkled with 
 blood." *" Is this blood the blood of his ene- 
 mies, or his own blood, "shed for many, for 
 the remission of sins"? The former seems 
 the more likely view, as we consult the paral- 
 lel passage, as also the connection here. The 
 Old Testament basis of the imagery used is 
 understood to be the passage in Isa. 63: 1-3, 
 
 *The Greek word in the Sinaitic text, preferred by 
 Tischendorf, is "sprinkled abn\it," "be sprinkled," 
 (TTfpipfpafi/iieioi', from iTfpipaii'u)\ instead of "dipped" 
 (PeBa-tifJ^evoi', from fiairTw , as in the text followed by 
 the common version. Westcott and Hort, whose text 
 with the word for "sprinkled" {'pepavTKrtxfvov'i, the 
 revision follows, after referring to manuscript author- 
 ity, say: "The versions are somewhat ambifjuous; but 
 all the Latins liave xfnirsam, asper.i/nn, or ronxpersnm, all 
 of which readings point to paii-cu, ar pairiCio, [/o .\)>rin- 
 l-le] or one of their compounds, rather than pdirrio, 
 [fn dip.] A word denoting sjiriiikling seems also to agree 
 best with the context, and with RiUlical symbolism 
 generally; see espcoially isa. C,:i: :i, where eppoi-TtV^ij 
 [from poi-Ti^uj lo xj/rink/e], or according to some MS.S. 
 ^ppof-^t;. [from paivui. al.so meaning to sjirivhle]. is used 
 by Aquila and .Symiuachus." [Notes on Select Read- 
 ings, Vol. II., pp. 140]. Diisterdieck, Lange, Alford, and 
 Carpenter, retain Oe3a»iM«'»'o»'\ "dipped." The Speak- 
 er'' s Commentary appears to prefer the other. 
 
266 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 14 "And the armies which were in heaven followed 
 him upon white horses, 'clothed in fine linen, white 
 and clean. 
 
 15 And ''out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that 
 with it he should siuite the nations: and ''he shall rule 
 them with a rod of iron; and «he treadeth the wine- 
 press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 
 
 14 his name is called The Word of God. And the ar- 
 mies that are in heaven followed him upon white 
 
 15 horses, clothed in tine linen, white and pure. And 
 out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, tha-t 
 with it he should smite the nations: and he shall 
 rule them with a rod of iron : and he treadeth the 
 1 winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, 
 
 acta. 14: 20 b Mutt. 28: 3: cli 
 
 7 : 9....C Isa. 11 : 4; 2 Thess. 2:8; ch. 1 : IB; ver. 21 d Ps. 
 
 63 : 3 ; ch. 14 : 19, 20. 1 Gr. winepress of the wine of the fierceness. 
 
 : 9; oh. 2 : 27 ; 12: 5.... e Isa. 
 
 especially the third verse, where the glorious 
 person described appears as saying: "I have 
 trodden the wine-press alone, and of the peo- 
 ple there was none with me; for I will tread 
 them in mine anger, and trample them in 
 my fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled 
 on all mj' garments, and I will stain all my 
 raiment." In the connection of our present 
 passage, we find the words : "And he treadeth 
 the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of 
 Almighty God." It would seem, then, that 
 the allusion in the mention of blood is not to 
 our Lord's redeeming work ; but to that work 
 of judgment, in which he visits with final 
 overthrow all the opponents of his toHmphing 
 kingdom of grace. — And his name is called 
 the Word of God. It is John alone, of New 
 Testament writers, who speaks of Jesus as the 
 Word (Aoyos). We are reminded, as we rpad 
 what he says here, of the sublime words with 
 which he begins his Gospel: "In the begin- 
 ning was the Word, and the Word was with 
 God. and the Word was God." Such is he who 
 now appears in *'ision to the same apostle. 
 
 14. And the armies which were in 
 heaven followed him upon white horses. 
 Those who think that the vision here de- 
 scribed is a picture of our Lord coming forth 
 in the final judgment, understand by the "ar- 
 mies," armies of angels. They quote Matt. 
 25:31 — "When the Son of man .shall come 
 in his glory, and all the holy angels with 
 him" — as a parallel passage. The descrip- 
 tion, however, of the "great white throne," 
 in Rev. 20:11, is much more in correspon- 
 dence with these words from Matthew. Be- 
 sides, the connection of our passage shows 
 that it is not to the final judgment of the 
 world that he upon the white horse comes, 
 but for the final overthrow and destruction of 
 Antichrist. And this is wrought by means 
 like those which are used in the whole prog- 
 ress of his kingdom. That angels have a 
 share in the work that goes forward under 
 the Gospel Dispensation — in the conflict 
 where fierce collisions occur, and in the more 
 peaceful toil of the more i)eaceful times — we 
 
 do not doubt. We do not, nevertheless, un- 
 derstand angels to be meant here, in speaking 
 of "the armies of heaven." In truth, the 
 words, in ch. 17 : 14, seem to be used in an- 
 ticipation of what we have in this place, and 
 to be conclusive on the point we are con- 
 sidering: "These" — the ten horns of the 
 beast — "shall make war with the Lamb, and 
 the Lamb shall overcome them ; for he is 
 Lord of lords, and King of kings" — the same 
 title given to him in our present text — "and 
 they that are with him are called, and chosen, 
 and faithful." These terms of description 
 apply alone to his own saved people, and it 
 must be of such as these that these "armies 
 of heaven" are composed. It is not to be 
 forgotten, either, that what we are studying, 
 here, is imagerj' the same in general charac- 
 ter as has occupied us throughout the book. 
 When the rider and his horse appear at the 
 opening of the Christian Dispensation, the 
 symbols used represent simply the conquer- 
 ing power and effect of the gospel itself. In 
 a like way, what we are now studying is just 
 a vivid picture of the overmastering efliiciency 
 of Christian instrumentality accompanied by 
 special and unusual exertions of divine powen 
 and bj' striking interpositions of providence, 
 and thus made "mighty through God to the 
 pulling down of" the last of the enemy's 
 "strongholds." It is the final glorious vic- 
 tory of truth and righteousness upon the 
 same field where they are now contending. — 
 Clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 
 " ]rhitc, pure.^' It has already been ex- 
 plained that this "fine linen" is," the right- 
 eousnesses of the saints"; its mention here 
 shows again, and conclusively, who these are 
 that compose "the armies of heaven." 
 
 15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword. Symbolizing the fact that it is "the 
 word of the Lord," the gospel, that is to 
 achieve final victory. — That with it he 
 should smite the nations. Smite them 
 with conviction, overcome all forms of op- 
 position, silence infidelity, and cover with 
 confusion those who remain obdurate to the 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 267 
 
 16 And "he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a 
 name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF 
 LORDS. 
 
 17 And I saw an augel standing in the sun; and he 
 cried witli a loud voice, saying "to all the fowls that fly 
 in the midst of heaven, ■'Come and gather yourselves 
 together unto the supper of the great <iod; 
 
 18 «That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh 
 of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh 
 of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh 
 of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 
 
 16 the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on 
 his thigh a name written, Kino of kings, and Lord 
 
 OF LORDS. 
 
 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 </«</ be gathered together 
 
 18 unto the great supper of (jod; that ye may eat the 
 flesh of kings, 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. 
 
 aver. 12....i D.in. 2: 47; 1 Tim. 6 : 15 ; ch. 17: 14. .. .c vpr. 21....d Ezek. 39 : 17.. 
 
 tary tribunes ; Gr. chiliarchs. 
 
 '. F.zek. 39 : 18, 
 
 -1 Gr. ( 
 
 ..2 Or, mili- 
 
 last. — And he shall rule them with a rod 
 of iron. — Fulfilling the prophecy and prom- 
 ise of the Second Psalm: "Ask of me and I 
 shall give thee the heathen {the nations] for 
 thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
 the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt 
 break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt 
 dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 
 By this, as well as by what we have in the 
 text studied, is meant all in the nations that 
 is in opposition to Christ's kingdom. Every 
 form of such opposition will be completely 
 overcome. The shepherd's staff with which 
 our Lord rules and leads his people becomes 
 a rod of iron when used against his enemies. 
 — And he treadeth the winepress of the 
 fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 
 This intense imagery and language must 
 simply teach us how final and how severe 
 will be God's judgment upon the evil of the 
 world. And yet, in the destruction of evil 
 they must suffer who have been its upholders. 
 It is as when the pillars of the Dagon temple 
 gave way under the mighty strain while 
 Samson "bowed himself with all his might," 
 and in the fall the mocking onlookers were 
 crushed. The judgments of God, even upon 
 the wicked and the finally obdurate, are not 
 arbitrary. It is the evil of the world that 
 kindles the divine wrath to "fierceness" ; yet 
 when, in the overthrow of evil, they who are 
 on its side are crushed, it is what every prin- 
 ciple of justice and right makes inevitable. 
 The figure of the " wine-press" is an evident 
 allusion to the passage in Isaiah before quoted, 
 16. And he hath on his vesture and on 
 his thigh a name written. King of kings, 
 and Lord of lords. The name "Faithful 
 and True" describes him in his relations with 
 his redeemed ones. "The Word of God" as the 
 medium, and, at the same time, the substance, 
 of that revealed truth through which all the 
 aims of this Dispensation are achieved. " King 
 of kings and Lord of lords" as supreme even 
 
 in the dominion of the world — holding and, 
 in due time, effectually asserting a supremacy 
 which even the proudest and mightiest must 
 acknowledge. 
 
 17-21. Final Doom of Antichrist. 
 
 17. And I saw an angel standing in the 
 sun. We still are to remember, as we pro- 
 ceed now to the striking passage wiiich fol- 
 lows, that we are dealing with vision and with 
 imagery. Many writers explain the position 
 of the angel, in the sun, as enabling him best 
 to "call to the birds." Others think that 
 the sun is spoken of here symbolically, "as 
 revelation," and the angel holds his position 
 there as announcing what revelation makes 
 known of the approaching doom of Anti- 
 christ. We incline to take it simply as one 
 part of the scenery of the vision; or, if more 
 is imported, that this is, that a position thus 
 central and commanding was most suitable 
 for the herald of such events as are now at 
 hand. — And he cried with a loud voice, 
 saying to all the fowls [birda] that fly in 
 the midst of heaven. Come, and gather 
 yourselves together unto the supper of 
 the great God. "The armies of heaven" 
 with their mighty leader have been seen rid- 
 ing forth. Against whom they march is 
 shown in ver. 19, below. It is "the beast, 
 and the kings of the earth, and their armies." 
 What the result of the conflict will be is 
 announced in this summons of the angel. 
 The imagery is predicated upon the fact that 
 to the field of a battle, after the deadly 
 struggle is over, birds of prey were wont to 
 flock. The words, "the supper of the great 
 God," are taken by some as presenting a 
 picture in contrast with "the marriage sup- 
 per of the Lamb." This is perhaps a strain- 
 ing of the imagery. We prefer to take the 
 words just as a vivid setting forth of the 
 divine participation, in purpose and act, in 
 these final events. 
 18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings. 
 
268 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 19 "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
 and their armies, gatliered together to make war and their armies, gatliered together to make war 
 against him that sat on tlie liorse, and against his armj*. against him that sat upon the horse, and against his 
 
 20 'And tlie l)east was taken, and witu him the false 20 army. And the beast was taken, and with him the 
 
 prophet that wrouglit miracles before liim, with which 
 he deceived, them that had received the mark of the 
 beast, and "them that worshipped his image. •'These 
 bothwere cast alive into a lake of fire « burning with 
 brimstone. 
 
 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 
 
 och. 16: 16; 17: 13, 14....6ch. 16: 13, U c oh. 13: 12, 15.... d ch. : 10. See Dan. 7 : 11... .e ch. 14: 10; 21:8. 
 
 and the flesh of captains, and the flesh 
 of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, 
 and of them that sit on them, and the 
 flesh of all men, both free and bond, 
 both small and great. This is simply car- 
 rying out the imagery of the whole passage. 
 The picture is of a great battle, which results 
 in the absolute annihilation of the enemy. 
 The kings, the captains, the great warriors, 
 soldiery of every grade and class, "bond and 
 free, small and great," lie slaughtered on the 
 field. This result of the struggle is announced 
 by anticipation, in the summons of the angel. 
 
 19. And I saw the beast, and the kings 
 of the earth, and their armies, gathered 
 together to make war against him that 
 sat on the horse, and against his army. 
 What had been thus anticipated and an- 
 nounced, is now to take place. 
 
 20. And the beast was taken, and with 
 him the false prophet that wrought mira- 
 cles before him. '^That wrought the signs 
 in his sight,'' or, "in his prese7ice," is better. 
 By "the beast," we still understand Anti- 
 christ, in the general sense as that antichris- 
 tian principle, or force, which has survived 
 during so many ages, and under so many 
 forms. "The false prophet" is to a certain 
 extent identified with the second beast, or 
 corrupt ecclesiasticism ; but it includes false- 
 ness in religion of every kind and name. It 
 is the personification of that spirit of lies and 
 deception which has been so long in the 
 world, and which, as we have seen, has fresh 
 and various manifestation in the last times. 
 These two, Antichrist and the false prophet, 
 the imper.sonation of hostility and the imper- 
 sonation of deceit, are in closest alliance. It 
 is Pilate, as representing the haughty and 
 godless impersonation of world-power, and 
 Herod, as reprtfsenting perverted theocracy, 
 re-appetiring in immensely increased propor- 
 tions, and under other and yet more sinister 
 names. Notice that the false prophet per- 
 forms his pretended miracles "in the sight," 
 
 "in the presence" of the beast. Whatever 
 form falseness, in either organization or in 
 doctrine, may take, it is in the interest of the 
 world-long antichristian war upon the king- 
 dom of God. By the "miracles," or "signs" 
 (aijjueia), are meant the pretended miracles, the 
 legends, the sophistries — all that parapherna- 
 lia of deception in which Satanic art and per- 
 verted human craft, working together, might 
 seem to have exhausted the whole armory of 
 lies. — With which he deceived them that 
 had received the mark of the beast. A 
 most significant clause. Only those who have 
 the mark of the beast can be deceived by 
 such "lying wonders," or such sophistries as 
 those which the false prophet practices. "The 
 wise shall understand." Those "led captive 
 by the devil" are "willingly" so. E%'ery 
 kind of depraved tendency, and every form 
 of pre-disposition on the side of error and 
 sin is, so far, "the mark of the beast," be- 
 cause it is, so far, a sign that we belong — not 
 to God — but to the enemy of God.— And them 
 that worshipped his image. The image 
 of the beast is thtit usurped power which he 
 exercises in the interest of this war upon the 
 people and Kingdom of God. The second 
 beast, we are told (ch.i3:i4), compelled them 
 that dwell on the earth to "make an image 
 to the beast." In ancient times the image, 
 or statue, of the Roman Emperor was made an 
 object of worship. In numerous cases Chri.s- 
 tians suffered death because of their refusal to 
 join in this degrading idolatry. Papal abso- 
 lutism was the image or reproduction of im- 
 perial absolutism. Kindred in nature is that 
 dominance over the faith of mankind which 
 every manner of false teaching claims. When 
 it cannot oppress in ordinary forms of ]>erse- 
 cution, it over-awes by other means ; and by 
 sneers, and derision, and mockery, seeks to 
 intimidate when it cannot convince. It is all 
 "the image of the beast" ; and they who yield, 
 whether to the tyranny of popes, or to infidel 
 reviling, bow down to "the image of the 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 269 
 
 21 And the remnant "were slain with the sword of 
 him tluit sat upon the horse, which sirord proceeded 
 out of his mouth: 'and all the fowls "were tilled with 
 their flesh. 
 
 21 tire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest wore 
 killed with the sword of him that sut upon the 
 horse, eoen ttic, .sword which came forth out of his 
 mouth : and all the birds were tilled with *heir fiesh. 
 
 over. 15.... 6 ver. 17 : 18.... cell. 17: 16. 
 
 beast." It is such as these that the false pro- 
 phet deceives. — These both were cast alive 
 into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 
 
 "7%e lake of fire that burneth^'' is a more 
 exact representation of tlie Greelt. This, of 
 course, is imagery, and denotes utter and com- 
 plete annihilation. Fire itself consumes; the 
 element of brimstone adds intensity to the 
 flame, and makes it utterly destructive. The 
 force of the representation is, that the beast and 
 the false prophet now come to a complete and 
 utter perdition. [Is this certain? i. e., if we 
 understand "complete perdition" to be annihi- 
 lation. If, in the imagery of the vision, "the 
 beast" and "the false prophet" are living, 
 and extremely sinful beings, it is surely pos- 
 sible that "the lake of fire that burneth with 
 brimstone," is conceived of as a source of 
 suftering rather than of annihilation (compare 
 
 Luke 16; 23, 24, 28, and the eNposiiion of Rev. 20: 10, 14, 15). To 
 
 say that the beast and the false prophet are 
 not reallj' single persons, is of course, no objec- 
 tion to this view. In the symbolism they are 
 living beings, personal and sinful, and must 
 be conceived of as such when cast into the 
 lake of fire, which is itself a part of the sym- 
 bolism. — A. H.] 
 
 21. And the remnant Avere slain Avith 
 the SAVord of him that sat upon the 
 horse, Avhich sAVord proceeded out of 
 his month ; and all the foAvIs [birds] Avere 
 filled Avith their flesh. "The remnant' 
 means the followers of the beast and the false 
 prophet — those who fought upon their side, 
 "What was announced by the angel in his 
 summons to all birds of prey now comes to 
 pass. The result of the struggle is utter de- 
 struction for those who fought against the 
 rider upon the white hor.se. This victory is 
 complete ; the field is swept clear of enemies; 
 not one is left to continue the fearful strife. 
 Under imagery so intense and tremendous,' is 
 represented to us the final triumph of that 
 gospel of Jesus Christ, whose beginnings were 
 so glorious, whose ordeal was so severe, whose 
 vicissitudes have been so great, often so appa- 
 rently threatening; but whose issue is the 
 salvation of all the "called and chosen and 
 faithful," the discomfiture of beast and false 
 
 prophet alike, and the hopeless ruin of all 
 who have been with them in their war against 
 God's Kingdom and God's truth. 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 The bearing of what appears in this chapter 
 upon questions that will arise in the study of 
 the next, ought to be especially noted. The 
 chapter, in every part of it, presents to view a 
 consummation — a consummation variously in- 
 dicated, and in which various parts of the 
 divine plan are seen in triumphant execution. 
 One of these is revealed to us in the theme of 
 the heavenly song with which the chapter 
 opens. In chapters seventeen and eighteen, 
 mystical Babylon, the Rome of the Papacy — 
 that great apostasy whose career has filled so 
 large a part of the whole period of the Chris- 
 tian Dispensation, and through which such 
 dishonor and damage have been wrought — this 
 mystical Babylon, whether in its symbol of 
 the harlot sorceress or that of the powerful 
 and rich, the corrupt and corrupting city, is 
 discovered to us, alike in its power and its 
 decline, its prosperity and its final overthrow. 
 The doom of Babylon, then, at the opening 
 of the nineteenth chapter, becomes the theme 
 of heavenly song, in which all God's "ser- 
 vants" inearth and heaven join. Herein is 
 one part of the consummittion. This "mys- 
 tery of God" is herein completely "finished." 
 His design in permitting the rise and reign of 
 such an evil power is fully accomplished, and 
 now, "at the blast of the breath of his nos- 
 trils," what seemed so mighty and so endur- 
 ing, vanishes "as the chaff of the summer 
 threshing-floor." 
 
 And now appears another consummation. 
 " The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
 bride hath made herself ready." In other 
 words, tlie ends of the Dispensation, in prepar- 
 ing for the church, as including the Lord's 
 redeemed people of all ages, a glorious and 
 happy era, have now been accomplished. To 
 this Bride of the Lamb " it is given that she 
 should array herself in fine linen, bright and 
 pure," which is the "righteousness of the 
 saints." Not that the Kingdom of God has 
 passed its earthly period, or the redeemed all 
 
270 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 been gathered home in final holiness and happi- 
 ness — for there are yet to be the thousand years 
 of the millennium — and after thatanother, and 
 a final great struggle and victory. But in the 
 destruction of the corrupting harlot, one 
 source of damage to the Christianity of the 
 world is taken finally away. In the overthrow 
 of the beast and the false prophet, others are 
 soon to be removed. Accompanying these 
 deliverances, we may suppose that there shall 
 be peculiar gifts of grace and spiritual power 
 sent from above ; the negative aspects of the 
 new era being accompanied by conspicuous 
 positive features, and the Christian world be- 
 coming at last what the gospel ideal has all 
 along required. The redeemed on earth and 
 the redeemed in heaven are more truly "one 
 family"; the church above and the church 
 below become in a pre-eminent sense "one 
 church of the Living God." It is the era of 
 consummation in grace and redemption. 
 During long ages of betrothal the Lamb had 
 waited for his Bride. She "hath" now 
 "made herself ready"; and "blessed," in- 
 deed, "are they who are called to the mar- 
 riage-supper." 
 
 Simultaneously with all this occurs the 
 overthrow and final destruction of the beast 
 and the false prophet. We understand bj' the 
 symbol of the white horse and his rider, with 
 the glorious retinue accompanying, exactly 
 this of which we have just been speaking, 
 only seen now under a new aspect. The 
 symbol of the bride and the marriage-supper 
 presents to view the Lamb's redeeming work 
 iji its happy and glorious consummation. 
 The symbol of the horse and his crowned 
 rider presents to view the same exalted 
 being riding forth to take possession of the 
 world itself, which he has also redeemed. 
 The names he bears declare alike who he is 
 and why he comes. He is Faithful and True 
 — the trust, and hope, and joy of his people 
 in all ages. He is the Word, the God mani- 
 fest. "No man hath seen God at any time; 
 the only-begott£n Son, which is in the bosom 
 of the Father, he hath declared him." Now, 
 in these last days, the Word of God, in him- 
 self a consummation of gospel promise and 
 provision, comes forth upon the scene with 
 attendant efficacies of divine power which 
 carry all before them. He is King of kings 
 and Lord of lords. This world, so long the 
 scene of usurped dominion, belongs to him. 
 
 He comes now again to his own, and his own 
 will now receive him. The beast and the 
 false prophet are consumed with the breath 
 of his mouth, and destroyed with the bright- 
 ness of his coming. A triumphant gospel, 
 made mighty through God to the pulling 
 down of strongholds, gains final and consum- 
 mating victories so absolutely complete, that 
 no form of symbolical representation can 
 adequately depict them save that of a field of 
 battle piled with slaughtered foes, kings and 
 their armies, the chief captains and the hosts 
 they led all dead on the field, while the in- 
 stigators of the rebellion thus finally crushed, 
 beast and false prophet, are led captive in 
 chains, and as their final doom cast into the 
 burning lake. 
 
 This is, therefore, the consummation. It is 
 the climax of the present Dispensation ; it is 
 the gospel in its final triumph. The mil- 
 lennium is prepared. The opening of the 
 next chapter shows us Satan himself chained 
 and shut up in a sealed prison. Nothing is 
 then left to hurt or destroy, in all God's holy 
 mountain. The wolf henceforth shall dwell 
 with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid ; and the calf and the young 
 lion and the fatling together; and a little 
 child shall lead them. For he has come who 
 with righteousness shall judge the poor, and 
 reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. 
 Righteousness is the girdle of his loins, and 
 faithfulness the girdle of his reins — the Won- 
 derful, the Counsellor, the Everlasting Father, 
 and the Prince of Peace. 
 
 It will be seen that we understand this com- 
 ing of the Lord, foreshadowed in the rider 
 on the white horse, as a spiritual coming. 
 The consistency of the symbolism requires 
 that we shall interpret what is seen in this 
 part of the vision in harmony with that other 
 appearance at the opening of the first seal, 
 under which was presented to view a tri- 
 umphing gospel in its first era. That was the 
 truth winning victories; this is the truth, 
 symbolically impersonated in him who is 
 himself the Truth, winning a more resplen- 
 dent and a final victory. We believe it to be 
 in the purpose of God that this honor shall 
 be given to his revealed word, and to the 
 institutions and forces of Christianity; that 
 hy these the ultimate achievement shall be 
 gained. After ages of reproach and of hard 
 struggle against every manner of opposing 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 271 
 
 AND I saw an angel come down from heaven, " having 
 the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in 
 his hand. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, 
 having the key of the abyss and a great chain ' in 
 
 I ch. 1 : 18 ; 9 : 1. 1 Gr. upon. 
 
 force, we believe it to be in his purpose to 
 justify that courageous utterance of the great 
 apostle, which has been since on the lips of so 
 many: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
 Christ; for it is the power of God unto sal- 
 vation.'' To us it would seem almost like a 
 confession of defeat, if those methods of di- 
 vine grace in operation so long were suddenly 
 to be displaced, and a new dispensation, under 
 other auspices, take possession of the field. 
 The millennium, in our view, will be brought 
 on by the same means as have been employed 
 in all ages of the gospel history, so that the 
 truth and its instrumentalities — truth as it is 
 fn Jesus, and the church bought with his 
 blood — may stand forever vindicated. 
 
 How much of detailed event may be re- 
 garded as implied in the general picture given 
 us in this chapter, it is impossible to say. It 
 is the opinion of Elliott, and others seem to 
 share his view, that the occurrence of the 
 Hebrew word, "Alleluia," in the song of 
 praise at the opening of the chapter, hints at 
 that important event, the conversion of the 
 Jews. His words are: "I infer that the 
 Jews will probably just at, or after this catas- 
 trophe [the fall of Babylon], be converted 
 (conjunctively with a vast number of Gen- 
 tiles), the completed outpouring of the seven 
 vials having marked the time for it; and join, 
 and indeed take the lead in, the earthly 
 church's song of praise on the occasion: the 
 language used to designate this song in the 
 Apocalyptic prefigurations, being now for the 
 first time Hebrew, Hnllelujah ; a circumstance 
 very remarkable, and noted by manj' previous 
 commentators as having the meaning I sug- 
 gest — not to add that its probability is en- 
 hanced, as I think, by the fact that the Jews 
 themselves, at least, some of the most learned 
 of their Rabbis, have supposed that the res- 
 toration of their people is to follow on the 
 fall of Rome." He notes, as agreeing with 
 him in this view, Brightman, Vitringa, Dau- 
 buz, and others. Perhaps the suggestion 
 should not be hastily dismissed. The remark- 
 able preservation of the Jewish nationality, 
 in spite of the wide and prolonged dispersion, 
 
 seems to point toward some as yet unfulfilled 
 purpose in the original calling of that people. 
 The ancient prophecies, so long interpreted 
 as promising a restoration of the Jews to their 
 own land, and their re-establishment as a 
 nation, would seem to imply, at least, that as 
 a people, they are one day to "return and 
 come" to the spiritual " Zion, with songs and 
 everlasting joy upon their heads"; while 
 Paul's words, in Rom. 11: 15-21, appear to 
 teach that there is to come a "receiving" of 
 these once so "cast awa}%" which is to be not 
 only to them, but to the Gentile world as well, 
 as "life from the dead." Our own belief is 
 that in the consummation of which we have 
 spoken, the Jews, as converted, and so 
 "graffed in," are to share, and in a way to 
 signalize in some remarkable manner, divine 
 purposes of grace toward that people and to- 
 ward the world. 
 
 Other thoughts, suggested in a general way 
 by the chapter we have studied, may present 
 themselves more appropriately in the consid- 
 eration of that which now follows, and whose 
 connection with this one should be particularly 
 remarked. 
 
 MILLENNIUM AND FINAL JUDG- 
 MENT. 
 
 1-3. The Binding of the Dragon. 
 
 1. And I saw an angel come down from 
 heaven, having the key of the bottomless 
 pit [of the abyss] and a great chain in his 
 
 hand. " Corninff down out of heaveii^' ; the 
 angel is again seen in the act of descending. 
 The chain is "upon" his hand, "as a chain 
 naturally would be," says Alford. Many 
 commentators — Hengstenberg among the 
 moderns — think that the angel is Christ. 
 There is no good reason for this, or for view- 
 ing the angelic appearance in this case other- 
 wise than in former passages. By the 
 "abyss" in many places in this book (as in 9. i; 
 11:7; 17:8), the abodc of Satan and all evil 
 spirits is meant. The mention of their abode 
 as a place, ought, probably, to be regarded as 
 belonging to the sj^mbolism of the book, and 
 must not be treated in a way too realistic. 
 
272 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 2 And he laid hold on "the dragon, that old serpent, 
 which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou- 
 sand years, 
 
 a And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
 up, and 'set a seal upon him, <^ that he should deceive 
 the nations no more, till the thousand years should be 
 fulfilled : and after that he must be loosed a little 
 
 2 his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old 
 serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound 
 
 3 him for a thousand years, and cast him into the 
 abyss, and shut it, and scaled il over him, that he 
 should deceive the nations no more, until the thou- 
 sand years should be finished: after this he must be 
 loosed for a little time. 
 
 a ch. 12: 9. See 2 Pel. 2:4; Jude 6 6 Dan. 6: 17 cch. 16: U, 16: vev. 
 
 So, likewise, with the chain on the hand of 
 the angel, and, indeed, the scenery and action 
 of the whole vision. 
 
 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that 
 old serpent, which is the Devil and 
 Satan. We readily recall the previous 
 mention of the dragon, in chapter twelve. 
 In ver. 9 of that chapter he is identified in 
 exactly the same terms as here — "that old 
 serpent, called the Devil and Satan," with 
 the added words, " which deceiveth the whole 
 world." It is there told how he was "cast 
 out into the earth, and his angels with him." 
 We have since been told much of his ravage 
 as the instigator of all the worst things done 
 on the earth, especially by his own instru- 
 ments, the beast and the false prophet. He is 
 the Devil— "the ftilse accuser," "the slan- 
 derer," and Satan, "the adversary,' "the 
 enemy." His dragon form well befits his 
 nature. — And bound him a thousand 
 years. Treating this language as sjnnbolical 
 — as we ought to do — we understand by it an 
 eflfectual restraint applied to that evil of the 
 world, Satanic in origin, through which such 
 fearful ravage has been wrought. Some 
 part of this merciful interposition is de- 
 scribed for us in the previous chapter. The 
 beast and the false prophet. Antichrist in the 
 various forms of his operation, have been 
 overthrown and destroyed. And now a like 
 fate awaits him whose instruments these were, 
 and who gave to them "his power, his seat, 
 and his great authority." For the present, 
 he is simply chained and imprisoned. There 
 is to be for him one more opportunity of mis- 
 chief, as is intimated below. Then will come, 
 for him also, a final overthrow. Whether 
 the thousand years should be understood as 
 indicating an e.xact period of that length, is 
 doubtful. It has usually been so understood ; 
 the tendency of opinion among commenta- 
 tors, at present, is to view it as denoting in 
 general a long extended period, with fixed 
 and definite bounds, and within which certain 
 great designs of God shall be brought to a 
 
 full consummation. If any prefer to regard 
 it as an exact thousand years, and so to apply 
 to it in a strict sense the word " millennium," 
 we can see no serious objection to the view. 
 
 3. And cast him into the bottomless 
 pit [the abyss], and shut him up and set a 
 seal upon him [shut it and sealed it over 
 him]. We must treat this as imagery, con- 
 sistently with the almost universal law of 
 interpretation for this book. The imagery 
 however is intense and vividly suggestive. 
 That interposition of divine power which 
 now puts the evil of the world under rigorous 
 restraint, is mighty and effective. Antichris- 
 tian systems, not only, are brought to nought, 
 but the myriad forms of temptation and in- 
 stigation in which men have been assailed 
 are made to cease, while, in a like proportion, 
 the good, the true, and the beneficent have 
 scope and power. While there is no reason 
 to think that exactly what the vision sets 
 forth will literally occur, there can be no 
 doubt that the author of evil, and all the 
 agencies and methods through which for 
 thousands of years he has wrought such in- 
 finite mischief, will be as effectually put down 
 and held in check as if the binding, the im- 
 prisoning, and the sealing were to occur pre- 
 cisely as they appear in the vision. — That he 
 should deceive the nations no more. In 
 ch. 12: 9, it is said of him that he "deceiveth 
 the whole world." The omnipresent activity 
 of Satan and his instruments, so far as this 
 world is concerned, is here distinctly indi- 
 cated. What a change it must be when this 
 ceases, and Satanic agency becomes among 
 men a thing unknown ! — Till the thousand 
 years should be fulfilled [should he fin- 
 ished]', and after that he must be loosed 
 for a little season. As intimated above, 
 the dragon does not at once meet the fate of 
 the beast and the false prophet. This which 
 comes before us in the present chapter is not 
 & final finishing of "the mystery of God"; 
 at least until we come to the closing verses of 
 it. The millennium is not the absolute com- 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION; 
 
 273 
 
 4 And I saw "thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
 ^judgment was given unto them: and J mw "the souls 
 of theiu that were beheaded lor the witness of Jesus, 
 and for the word of God, and ■' which had not wor- 
 shipped the beast, 'neither his image, neither had re- 
 ceived A(\smark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; 
 and they lived and /reigned with Christ a thousand 
 years. 
 
 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and 
 judgment was given unto them ; and / saw the souls 
 of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of 
 Jesus, and for the word of (lod, and such as wor- 
 shipped not the beast, neither his image, and re- 
 ceived not the mark upon their forehead and upon 
 their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ 
 
 a Dau. 7 : 9, 22, 27 ; Matt. 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : 30. 
 
 ..6 1 Cor. 6:2, 3....ceh.6:9....dch. 13: 12....e ch. 13 : 15,16. 
 2 Tim. 2 : 12 ; ch. 5 : 10. 
 
 ./Rom. 8: 17; 
 
 pletion of God's designs as regards the world 
 and men. It is an era in the history and 
 progress of his kingdom, but there is to be a 
 history beyond it. In it we see those minis- 
 tries of redemption which, during centuries 
 and under conditions so adverse in many 
 ways, had seemed to operate under such dis- 
 advantage and with comparatively limited 
 result — in the millennium we perceive these 
 in operation with the power and effect prop- 
 erly belonging to them, and with those hin- 
 drances again.?t which they had contended 
 so long taken out of the way. But there 
 will be one more uprising of evil before the 
 final end comes — Satan is once more to be 
 "loosed." Yet only "for a little season" — 
 "a little time," as the revision more exactly 
 expresses it. 
 
 4. The Millennial Reign. And I saw 
 thrones, and they sat upon them. What 
 follows, now, is a natural sequence of the 
 binding of Satan. "With the dragon, the beast, 
 and the false prophet removed from the 
 scene, a great change comes to the earth and 
 to men. As one element of this change — its 
 chief element — the kingdom of God is mani- 
 fested in peculiar power. At the opening of 
 that other great era which ushered in the 
 Dispensation — now, in one phase of it, closed 
 — it was said, "The kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand. ' There were those then living who, as 
 our Lord declared they would, saw that king- 
 dom come with pOwer— in the resurrection and 
 ascension of the Christ, and in the miraculous 
 outpouring of the Spirit. The millennial era 
 is signalized in a like way. "I saw thrones," 
 John says, in declaring to us the vision in 
 which the opening glories of this great epoch 
 were made to appear. These "thrones " sym- 
 bolized the manifestation of the kingdom in 
 new power and splendor. The words "and 
 they sat upon them," simply say, in the 
 peculiar style of this book, that these thrones 
 were occupied. The " they " is indefinite, and 
 having no antecedent, cannot be understood 
 
 as indicating who these enthroned ones were. 
 The expression appears to be used merely to 
 say to us that the thrones were not empty. 
 —And judgment was given unto them. 
 
 To the occupants of the thrones. Not final 
 "judgment," surely ; this is reserved for the 
 occupant of another throne, " the great white 
 throne," described in the end of the chapter. 
 Some assistance, at this point, may be gained 
 from a parallel passage in Daniel (oh. 7 : 21, 22). " I 
 beheld, and the same horn" — the little horn 
 described in the previous verse — "made war 
 with the saints, and prevailed against them ; 
 until the Ancient of Days came, and judg- 
 ment was given to the saints of the Most 
 High ; and the time came that the saints pos- 
 sessed the kingdom." The sinister power 
 here described— "the little horn"— we have 
 seen much of, under the symbol of the beast, 
 in previous chapters of our book. By the 
 coming of "the Ancient of Days," we under- 
 stand those signal interpositions of divine 
 power and supremacy through which all the 
 great forces of opposition have been, at the 
 point in Apocalyptic disclosure now reached, 
 so eflTectually cast down. In the vision of 
 our present chapter, the time has come when 
 "the saints possess the kingdom," and "judg-, 
 ment is given unto them." All that is im- 
 ported in the word "judgment," as used in 
 Daniel and also here, it may be impossible to 
 ascertain. The reference is, no doubt, to con- , 
 ditions of the millennial life, most of which 
 are quite beyond our power of foresight or 
 anticipation. Lange says: "The entire 
 aeon" — the millennial age — "is to be con- 
 ceived of as an seon of separations and elimi- 
 nations in an ethical and cosmical sense — 
 separations and eliminations such as are nec- 
 essary to make manifest and to complete the 
 
 ideal regulations of life The reference 
 
 can only be to a critical government and 
 management, preparatory to the final con- 
 summation." It is doubtful if the meaning 
 can be anything positively, least of all, form- 
 
274 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 ally judicial. It is, as we conceive it, 
 more like the judgments mentioned by our 
 Lord, in difl'erent places in the fifth of John. 
 The "Father," he says, in ver. 22 of that 
 chapter, has "committed all judgment 
 unto the Son" ; in ver. 27, "has given him 
 authority to execute judgment, because he is 
 the Son of man" ; and in ver. 30, he says, 
 " As I hear, I judge ; and my judgment is 
 just; because I seek not mine own will, but 
 the will of him that sent me." " Under the 
 economy of grace," says Dr. John Brown, 
 commenting on the passage, "the whole 
 administration of the divine moral govern- 
 ment is put into the hands of the incarnate 
 Son — the glorified God-man, Christ Jesus. . . 
 The Fatlier administers government, under 
 the new economy, not directly, but by the 
 Son. Everything connected with the gov- 
 ernment of the church and of the world, 
 inclusive of the final distribution of rewards 
 and punishments, has been entrusted to him." 
 Dr. Brown regards the word "judge" in this 
 passage quoted from the Gospel, as "equiva- 
 lent to 'govern — to rule.'" Until the time 
 of the millennium, the judgment which our 
 Lord exercises is a moral judgment ; his own 
 character, his teachings, the institutions of 
 Christianity, his religion, in short, judges the 
 world; arraigns it, convicts it of the wrong 
 that is in it; condemns it. We must suppose 
 that in the millennium this becomes even 
 more conspicuously true, and that in it, then 
 as now, his elect people will share. Even 
 now, they judge and condemn the world in 
 proportion as they have Christ's truth, and 
 in their example copy Christ's life. When 
 the consummation comes, and the gospel 
 reign is fully established, this judgment will be 
 even more expressed, decided, and conclusive. 
 The millennium itself will judge all the 
 former ages; and they who have part therein 
 will, in all that belongs to them as the Lord's 
 redeemed people, pass judgment upon that 
 old, sinful, unhajjpy world, in which, during 
 so many centuries, the dragon, the beast, and 
 the false jjrnphet contended with the right- 
 ful Sovereign for su))reniacy. — And I saw 
 the souls of them that were beheaded 
 for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
 word of (iod, and which had not wor- 
 shipped the beast, neither his image, 
 neither had received his mark upon 
 their foreheads, or in their hands [and 
 
 upon thei: hands]. These words refer us, 
 clearly, to what has gone before in descrip- 
 tions of the ordeals endured by the Lord's 
 faithful ones during many ages, and their 
 fidelity under them. Literally, "them that 
 had been beheaded (■imti\tKiay.ivuiv),'' would 
 read "them that had been smitten (or slain) 
 with the axe." In a former allusion to these 
 martyrs {ch.6:9), a different word is used— 
 (e<r</)a7/x«i'to)>') — meaning literally, "slain by cut- 
 ting the throat." The two descriptions of 
 the manner of death are substantially iden- 
 tical. The allusion is, in the two places, quite 
 clearly, to the same class — those who suffered 
 a violent death " for the witness of Jesus and 
 for the word of God." The rendering of 
 what follows in the revision makes the 
 meaning much more clear than that of the 
 old version. The form of the latter might 
 indicate that this following clause should be 
 treated as appositional with that which pre- 
 cedes, and be regarded as describing the same 
 class of martj'red saints. A different sense 
 is afforded by the translation — doubtless a 
 correct one — ''^ and such as (oiripes)." The 
 words show that besides those who had suffered 
 martyrdom, ftYZ those were seen who had not 
 worshiped the beast, nor worn his mark, nor 
 bowed down to his image — that is to say, all 
 the faithful of former ages. John sees " the 
 souls " of these. It is not as in ver 12 of this 
 chapter, where he says, "I saw the dead, the 
 small and the great, standing before the 
 throne." — And they lived and reigned 
 with Christ a thousand years. The word 
 here translated "lived," (e^ijo-of), does not 
 mean "lived again," (ivei-ntrav). There is no 
 mention of a resurrection in this fourth verse. 
 These now described we understand to be 
 those mentioned in the beginning of the 
 verse: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon 
 them, and judgment was given unto them." 
 The occupants of the thrones are Christ and 
 his redeemed people. In other words, in the 
 millennial age, the kingdom of (Jod has 
 achieved such consummation of all its great 
 designs that the positions of absolute suprem- 
 acy in the world, the reigning influences, 
 government, administration, all the forces 
 that control individual, social, and political 
 life, are so in the hands of Christ as King, 
 and of his people as "with him," that they 
 may truly be said to "reign." It is a condi- 
 tion, the exact contrast of that which now 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 275 
 
 ■■5 But the rest of the dead lived not aRain until the 
 thousand years were finished. This is the first resur- 
 rection. 
 
 5 a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not 
 until the thousand years should be finislied. Thi« 
 
 appears, where every step of progress in 
 Christ's kingdom is contested, and the seats 
 of power are so often filled by his enemies. 
 In the millennium this shall no longer be. 
 The earth "filled with the knowledge of 
 God," the forces of evil either annihilated or 
 chained, truth triumphant, and righteousness 
 and peace prevailing, the gospel ideal will 
 be seen, no longer as a hope, but as a reality. 
 5. But the rest of the dead lived not 
 again until the thousand years were 
 finished. "But" should be omitted, as in 
 the revision. '^ Should be finished'' is better 
 than "were finished." The words in the 
 Greek here translated "lived not again," 
 mean simply "lived not," and the revision, 
 as will be seen, so translates. There is no 
 word in the Greek for "again." Whether 
 the language used shall be taken as equivalent 
 to "lived not again until," etc., and so as im- 
 plying actual bodily resurrection, is not en- 
 tirely clear. If the passage in John 5: 25, 28, 
 29, be taken as in some sense the basis of this, 
 the resurrection, here mentioned, must be 
 bodily and literal, since in that former passage 
 the antithesis is, first a spiritual life from the 
 dead, and second, a coming to life of "all 
 that are in their graves." If, besides, the 
 words "the rest of the dead lived not until," 
 etc., be understood of a literal resurrection, 
 they must be anticipative of what appears in 
 the closing verses of this chapter. The whole 
 representation, then, as regards the first and 
 the second resurrection, will stand thus : That 
 period of gospel consummation which we 
 understand to be meant in what is termed 
 "the millennium," is brought on by an 
 overwhelming and triumphant manifestation 
 of divine power in connection with evangeli- 
 cal agency and effort; this being indicated, at 
 the close of the nineteenth chapter, by the 
 victories of the crowned rider upon the white 
 horse, with the armies of heaven following 
 him. The effect is to not only greatly multi- 
 ply throughout the world the number of 
 believers so as to place them in the immense 
 majority, but to so elevate the tone of Chris- 
 tian living, so infuse it with "the power" of 
 the Lord's own "resurrection," as that they 
 maybe said, in a supreme sense, to live; while 
 
 Christianity itself will have gained such 
 supremacy, as that its forces will be "reign- 
 ing" forces. In this new age of the church, 
 too, the spirit of primitive Christianity will be 
 in such measure revived and restored, as that 
 it shall be as if those ancient confessors had 
 returned to the earth. This is the spiritual 
 resurrection, corresponding Apocalyptically 
 to that mentioned in John 5: 25; but this as 
 seen in the realization of its highest earthly 
 ideal. Kesurrection in the other, more literal, 
 sense, however, does not take place "till the 
 thousand years are finished." [The General 
 Editor is glad to find himself at this point 
 in substantial accord with Dr. Smith; his 
 own view of this difficult passage may be 
 stated briefly as follows: (1) That the faithful 
 dead (prominence being given to the martyrs) 
 are represented as having lived and reigned 
 with Christ during this period, because the 
 living servants of Christ were like those faith- 
 ful martj'rs, possessing their spirit of fidelity 
 to the Lord, and remind every observer of 
 them. The church of that period will be a 
 martyr church in its fidelity to the Lord. 
 (2) That "the rest of the dead," i. c, the vio- 
 lent, persecuting foes of Christ and his jjcople, 
 are represented as not having lived U7itil (ixpi) 
 the thousand years were accomplished, because 
 during this blessed period there will be no re- 
 appearance of bitter and prevailing enemies 
 to Christ. It will he as i/evil men, with all 
 their terrible forces, were in their graves, and 
 had no representatives among the living; or, 
 if anj', but few and weak representatives, un- 
 able to make head again.st the victorious and 
 controlling children of God. (3) That the 
 living of the martyred dead in the lives of the 
 faithful servants of Christ, is called, in the 
 sj'mbolism of this passage, "the first resurrec- 
 ti(m," while the living of "the rest of the 
 dead," in the violently' wicked, after the 
 thousand years are finished, is called by im- 
 plication the second resurrection. For when 
 it is said that "the rest of the dead lived not 
 until the thousand years should be finished," 
 it is surely implied that they were to live 
 again. And this renewed life is described 
 in ver. 7-9. Both resurrections are there- 
 fore included in the symbolism of the pas-r 
 
276 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the tirst 
 resurrection: on such "the second death hath no 
 power, but they shall be 'priests of Ciod and of Christ, 
 •and shall reign with him a thousand years. 
 
 6 is the first resurrection. Blessed and ho'y is he that 
 hath part in the tirst 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. 
 
 ach. 2: 11; 21 : 8 b Isa. 61 : 6; 1 Pel. 2:9; oh.l: 6; 5: 10 c ver. 4. 1 Or, authority 2 Some ancient iiuthoiities le^ii, the. 
 
 sage.— A. H.]— This is the first resurrec- 
 tion. "This" which is described in ver. 4, not 
 the living again of "the rest of the dead." 
 
 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath 
 part in the first resurrection: on such 
 the second death hath no power, but 
 they shall be priests of God and of 
 Christ, and shall reign with him a thou- 
 sand years. Words of benediction, imply- 
 ing the fullness and the endlessness of bless- 
 ing ensured to the Lord's redeemed ones. 
 The admonitory implication in the last part 
 of the verse should be noted. Over those 
 who have part in the first resurrection the 
 gecond death hath no power, authority — 
 {i^ovaiav) — it caiiiiot claim them nor reach 
 them. Over those who have not such part in 
 the first resurrection the second death hath 
 power, as is set forth in such awful imagery 
 in the closing verses of this chapter. 
 
 EXCURSUS E. -I. THE FIRST RESUR- 
 RECTION. 
 
 Two main topics are brought to view in 
 that portion of our chapter thus far studied 
 — the First Resurrection and the Millennium. 
 In offering some further thoughts upon these, 
 we must note a few points, as preliminary, 
 which may be accepted as guiding ones. (1) 
 First of all is the close connection between 
 this chapter and that which precedes. This 
 twentieth chapter is sometimes dealt with as 
 if it stood wholly by itself; or, at all events, 
 as if the succession of visions were here 
 broken, while we go back to "the beginning 
 of the gospel." So it is when, as is done by 
 some writers (for example, in the Speaker's 
 Com,mentary), the binding of the dragon is 
 understood as the effect upon Satan's king- 
 dom wrought by the personal coming, and 
 ministry, and above all the death, of our 
 Lord — as when he himself said, "I saw Satan 
 as lightning fall from heaven" — or by others 
 as the final overthrow of Paganism. The 
 nineteenth and twentieth chapters, it should 
 seem, ought not to be thus separated. The 
 latter comes, in the succession of the visions, 
 in immediate connection with tiie former. I 
 
 This is made the more apparent as we con- 
 sider (2) how, in the natural order of events, 
 the binding of the dragon follows the destruc- 
 tion of the beast and the false prophet. To 
 place the binding of Satan at the opening of 
 the Christian Dispensation, is to disregard the 
 fact that we see him active and powerful upon 
 the Apocalyptic scene during the whole Chris- 
 tian period, and the instigator of every form 
 of organized wickedness. It is from the pur- 
 suit of the dragon that the woman flees into 
 the wilderness; it is the dragon that "gives 
 power unto the beast"; it is the dragon that 
 makes war upon "the remnant'" who "keep 
 the commandments of God, and have the tes- 
 timony of Jesus Christ." There is a Satanic 
 presence and activity, either express or im- 
 plied, in all this long v."ar upon the kingdom 
 and people of God. The beast and the false 
 prophet are simply his instruments. He, 
 himself, back of all, is the recognized source 
 of ail the evil that is done by them. Now 
 that they have perished, his own doom natu- 
 rally follows. It is a sequence which might 
 almost have been anticipated. (3) Care must 
 be exercised not to break in too abruptly, in 
 our interpretatio :, upon the pervading sym- 
 bolism of the book. This seems to be t".e 
 fault of that extreme Chiliasm which takes as 
 literal so much of the millennial imagery. 
 Throu.hout most of the book, thus far, we 
 have been dealing with symbols. From the 
 point where the Apocalypse properly begins — 
 the opening of the fourth chapter — our work 
 has been to find under imagery the meaning 
 of the Spirit in a succession of amazing vis- 
 ions. We must not, here, break in abruptly 
 upon this method of interpretation, and begin 
 now to take what is pictorial and figurative 
 as if it were literal and realistic. (4) It is 
 very important that we do not read into the 
 l)assage meanings suggested by general theo- 
 ries as to the time of the Lord's second 
 advent, or the nature in detail of the millen- 
 nium. What the passage actually contains, 
 in plain language or in fair implication, is 
 what we should find i i it — that, and no more. 
 We will now notice, briefly, two theories 
 
Cir. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 277 
 
 of interpretation for the words in our passage, 
 as seen in tlieir connection, "This is the first 
 resurrection." One is that which views this 
 resurrection as a literal one, including either 
 all who until the millennium have died in 
 the Lord, or else those only who have been 
 conspicuous for their fidelity under trial in 
 all centuries of the long period of ordeal. 
 Alford treats this "first resurrection " as thus 
 literal. His words are: "If, in a passage 
 where two resurrections are mentioned, where 
 certain souls lived ("//wx""' ^iw^"), at the first, 
 and the rest of the dead lived (veKpol eir)(Tav) 
 only at the end of a specified period after the 
 first — if in such a passage the first resurrection 
 may he understood to mean spiritual rising 
 with Christ, while the second means literal 
 rising from the grave — then there is an end 
 to significance in language, and Scripture is 
 wiped out as a definite testimony to any- 
 thing." Upon this we remark (1) that it is 
 at least an over-statement of the case, as it 
 stands. A transition from the figurative to 
 the literal, exactly of that kind which Alford 
 pronounces so utterly inadmissible, does cer- 
 tainly occur at that place in the fifth of John, 
 of which we have already taken some notice. 
 The transition in that place is evident, from 
 that spiritual life from the dead which is the 
 effect of regeneration to the final rising and 
 coming forth of " all that are in their graves." 
 A conjunction thus of the figurative with the 
 literal in the same association of thought 
 which is possible there without a "wiping out 
 of Scripture as a definite testimony to any- 
 thing," is surely quite as possible here. (2) 
 In the next place, it is right to frankly admit 
 the force of the antithesis implied in the 
 wqrds, "the rest of the dead," in ver. 5. The 
 interpretation which Alford supposes to be 
 thus made imperative might be admitted 
 without carrying with it any part of Alford's 
 related views as to the pre-millennial date of 
 our Lord's Second Advent. The living and 
 reigning with Christ predicated of tliose who 
 "have part in th i first resurrection" does not 
 necessarily imply a personal presence of the 
 Lord. Such a thing, too, is no doubt con- 
 ceivable as a resurrection of the righteous 
 dead, and their presence on the earth during 
 the millennial period, along with those who 
 live the ordinary earthly life. Questions 
 arise in that connection, however, which are 
 hard to dispose of. Under what conditions 
 
 will this association of the risen saints with 
 the already living ones be maintained? How 
 will it be w.th those who at the opening of the 
 millennium are thus living on the earth — will 
 they be subject to death? If so, will they at 
 once be raised again? Will they pass from 
 mortality to immortality without tasting of 
 death? How, also, will those words of Paul 
 in 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17, which tell how the Lord 
 shall descend, the dead in Christ rise first, 
 and we which are alive and remain be caught 
 up to meet the Lord in t e air, be made; 
 to comport with an exegesis of our present 
 passage which seems to leave no room for. 
 attending incidents such as Paul describes?. 
 It is by no means claimed that the view of 
 this difficult section of our chapter which we 
 have ventured to suggest, is itself without 
 serious difficulty. Yet where each one of 
 the various interpretations offered is open to, 
 objection at some paint, the student of this 
 passage may be willing to consider, in con- 
 nection with others, that which makes the. 
 first and second resurrections here analogous, 
 in a general way at least, to the spiritual and 
 literal resurrections placed in such relations 
 with each other by our Lord in the fifth of. 
 John. 
 
 The other theory of interpretation for our 
 passage which we proposed to notice, is that 
 of Whitby. We take so much of this, given 
 in his own words, as concerns the present 
 point: "I believe," he says, "that after the 
 fall of Antichrist there shall be such a glori- 
 ous state of the church, by the conversion of 
 the Jews to the Christian faith, as shall be to 
 it life from the dead; that it shall then flour- 
 ish in peace and plenty, in righteousness and 
 holiness, and in a pious offspring; that then 
 shall begin a glorious and undi.sturbed reign 
 of Christ over both Jew and Gentile, to con ■ 
 tinue a thousand years, during Satan's bind- 
 ing; and that, as John the Baptist was Eiias 
 because he came in thv. spirit and power of 
 Elias, so shall this be the church of the mai 
 tyrs, and of those who had not received the 
 mark of the beast, because of their entire free- 
 dom from all doctrines and practices of the 
 antichristian church, and because the purity 
 of the times of the primitive martyrs shall 
 return." 
 
 Perhaps the view we have suggested will 
 not be thought to differ very widely from this. 
 We should say that the passage in the fifth. 
 
278 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 of John being in some sense the basis of what 
 we have in our present chapter, the idea, 
 virtually the same in both places, is here 
 conceived Apocalyptically, and expressed in 
 Apocalyptic language and imagery ; besides 
 being applied under those circumstances of 
 extraordinary spiritual manifestation which 
 usher in the millennial age. 
 
 II. THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 Of our view as to the nature of the millen- 
 nium, we have already given some intima- 
 tions. The millennium we look upon as tfie 
 era, or period of consum^nation. The open- 
 ing period of Christianity was one of singular 
 triumph and progress; symbolized in our 
 book in the opening of the first seal. The 
 next was a period of ordeal, symbolized, as to 
 its beginning, by the red horse and his rider, 
 of the latter of whom it is said that "it was 
 given him to take peace from the earth"; 
 and as to the various characterizing features 
 of it in what appeared at the opening of the 
 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seals. This 
 same period is again exhibited in vision under 
 the first six trumpets. Following the period 
 of ordeal comes that of development. It is a 
 period symbolized in its main feature by the 
 "little book" and the angel flying in the 
 midst of heaven, having the everlasting gos- 
 pel to proclaim to the whole world. There 
 were to be, even in this period, divine visita- 
 tions, revolutions, commotions, yet not as in 
 the period of ordeal, while its main character- 
 istic should be the proclamation of the divine 
 message to men, in the simplicity of its 
 original form, as gospel, and as "prophecy" 
 in announcements of the swiftly coming con- 
 summation. During this period, the preach- 
 ing of the word is the power by which it 
 pleases God to work out his purposes; his 
 providences so accompanying and sustaining 
 this, as that the cause of truth in all great 
 national and social changes, all intellectual 
 progress and achievement, invention, dis- 
 covery, the founding of new nationalities, 
 and the revolutionizing of old ones — all shall 
 turn out "f(jr the furtherance of the gospel." 
 The ptiriod comes to a close in the complete 
 and fiiuil overthrow of Antichrist. And now 
 comes that of the consummation. Two things 
 especially characterize this — the binding of 
 the dragon, and the "thrones" filled by the 
 Great King and his. assessors, the saints of all 
 
 ages. The former means such a restraint and 
 coercion applied to evil in all its forms as that 
 it shall no longer be the mighty power it has 
 been. We have no doubt that the personal 
 Satan is put under the kilid of restraint repre- 
 sented in the symbolism of ver. 1-3. What is 
 especially to be noted, however, is the effect of 
 this in making the dominion of the earth and 
 the world pass away from him to other and 
 worthier hands. That supremacy and domin- 
 ion which ancient prophecies foreshadowed, 
 and toward which, through ordeal and the 
 various stages of long development, with the 
 vicissitudes characterizing it, the course of 
 events in Christian history has steadily moved 
 — this "kingdom" becomes now a glorious 
 actuality, and it is no longer the evil, but the 
 good, that prevails. 
 
 It would seem as if the Lord's people ought 
 to expect that the consummation, the mil- 
 lennium, will come in this way. After cen- 
 turies of such history as the history of Chris- 
 tianity has been up to this hour, and is likely 
 to continue for some time longer, it would 
 seem as if there would surely come vindi- 
 cation for that which so long had guttered re- 
 proach. The great apostle was not "ashamed" 
 to be a preacher of this gospel, knowing that, 
 whatever a deriding world may say of it, it is 
 "the power of God and the wisdom of God." 
 So have felt thousands and thousands of faith- 
 ful men in their ministry of the same truth. 
 Will there not come, one day, an overwhelm- 
 ing vindication of this confidence? Will not 
 the gospel be one day proved to be "the 
 power of God and the wisdom of God"? 
 Everywhere in the Bible, from the point 
 where it is promised that the seed of the 
 woman shall bruise the serpent's head, all 
 the types, all the prophecies, every divine 
 institution, the very name — "Kingdom of 
 God," "Kingdom of heaven "—given to this 
 great spiritual force against which so many 
 formidable forces stand in fierce array during 
 so many ages — all this looks forward, con- 
 stantly, in either exi)ress or implied forms of 
 predictive foreshadowing, to a time to come, 
 when this very same power, as we now see it, 
 and in its j)resent methods of operation, shall 
 completely triumph. 
 
 It seems a fault of that theory of the mil- 
 lennium which views it as a personal reign 
 of Christ on the earth, that it seems to de- 
 scribe a new dispensation, rather than the con- 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATIOK 
 
 279 
 
 summation and triumph of the present one. 
 Especially is this the case, when it is asserted, 
 as a necessary part of this theory, that the 
 last ages of the present Dispensation are to be 
 peculiarly gloomy ones — Antichrist and all 
 powers of evil triumphing, and the world 
 almost wholly surrendered to the devil and 
 his angels. Does not that seem like a failure 
 of Christianity, so far as this world is con- 
 cerned, in its whole system of instituted 
 agencies, and as if only in a new Dispen- 
 sation, with a new and ditferent array of 
 spiritual forces, the designs of this present one 
 could after all be accomplished? Is it not 
 more as we should expect from all we know 
 of God"s customary procedure, from the lan- 
 guage of type, and prophecy, and psalm, and 
 from the very fact that "the church of the 
 living God, the pillar and ground of the 
 truth," is "« kingdom,'" not a mere system 
 of human instrumentalities, destined to be 
 worsted at last in their final struggle with the 
 evil of the world — is it not what we ought to 
 look for, that the millennium shall come as 
 the victorious consummation of Christian 
 progress and triumph — the Kingdom of God 
 with all its aims achieved, and with not one 
 word of promise or prophecy unfulfilled? 
 
 If this view be accepted, the nature of the 
 millennium is more easy of anticipation. It 
 is what the people of God wish to see, fully 
 become a fact. Said Jesus, of the prophets 
 and holy men: "Verily I say unto you, that 
 many prophets and righteous men desired to 
 see the things which j'e see, and saw them 
 not; and to hear the things which ye hear, 
 and heard them not," (Matt. i3:i7). Will not 
 that same thing be said in the millennium, 
 and in a like sense? What the people of God 
 now "desire to see," is the gospel universally 
 prevailing, and universally victorious. What 
 that would be, we can in a measure under- 
 stand. What the world would be, with the 
 dragon, the beast, and the false prophet cast 
 out of it; what it would be with Christianity 
 everywhere prevailing and everywhere the 
 reigning force, we can in some degree antici- 
 pate. What a vast array of crimes and 
 miseries would go out of the world along 
 with those evil forces, whose symbols we 
 have just made use of once again! The 
 tempting devil, the oppressing, corrupting, 
 tyrannous world-force— the wild beast of our 
 prophecy; the lying and deluding false pro- 
 
 phet, the second wild bea.st, with all the 
 power of the beast before him — or which 
 preceded him in appearance on the Apoca- 
 lyptic scene — with additions of power to do 
 mischief peculiarly' his own — these banished 
 from the world, and what a revolution would 
 not that itself be! The world thus becomefi 
 the undisputed theatre for the promotion and 
 achievement of the great design of Cliris- 
 tianity. Its truth gains ready access and 
 prevails. Its motives and aims no longer 
 traduced, no longer resisted, enter into and 
 sway the very life of the world. The family, 
 society, the nation, the world-wide commu- 
 nity of nations, are transformed by the very 
 indwelling of that Spirit which, amidst so 
 many resisting influences, acts upon them 
 only from without. The industries of life do 
 not cease, neither does the spirit of enterprise 
 subside into sluggishness and inertia; but 
 human exertion, though it nvAy take like 
 directions, is informed with another spiritj 
 and la^'s what it gains on quite other altars. 
 The fields of slaughter in past ages, so bloom 
 with the harvest of consecrated and success- 
 ful and happy toil, that .scarcely can it be 
 believed what scenes of blood and horror 
 were once enacted there. Great cities become 
 centres of regenerative power; themselves 
 transformed, transforming efficacy goes forth 
 from them, along those same channels of nec- 
 essary influence which now reek with what is 
 most filthy and most poisonous. Ttiil sings 
 at its happy daily tasks; worship rejoices in 
 each return of its accustomed hour; human 
 enjoyment is purified by the spirit that controls 
 it; and if there be burdens, they are turned 
 to pleasures by the motive that pron>pts the 
 bearing of them. In a word, the world and 
 humanity' become what they were invited to 
 be during ages of unvalued profilers of the 
 divine gift. It is the marriage supper of the 
 Lamb, and "blessed," indeed, are they who 
 "enter in." 
 
 This consummation, as we term it, is to 
 have its own period. Whetlier this shall be 
 for a literal and actual "thousand j'ears," it 
 may not be necessary for us now to deter- 
 mine. It will, at all events, have its own 
 limits; its own beginning and its own ending. 
 There are those who doubt if the aspect of 
 the world at the present time, warrants the 
 belief that we are approaching a consumma- 
 tion of this nature. It is because they see 
 
280 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 7 And when the thousand years are expired, "Satan 
 shall be loosed out of his i)rison, 
 
 8 And shall go out 'to dtceive the nations which are 
 in the lour quarters of the earth, «Gog and Magog, ''to 
 gather theiu together to battle: the number of whom is 
 as the sand of the sea. 
 
 7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan 
 
 8 shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth 
 to deceive the nations that are in the four corners 
 of the earth, (jog and Magog, to gather them together 
 to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of 
 
 a ver. 2 4 ver. 3. 19 c Ezek. 38: 2; 39 : 1 d ch. 16 : U. 
 
 that aspect at only one angle of vision. That 
 there is wickedness abundant in the world to- 
 day, is but too sadly true — opposition to every 
 form of truth and every endeavor to promote 
 righteousness and a true human welfare. Yet 
 the world is not, even in this, what it was. 
 Humanity may seem worse than ever, be- 
 cause we know more of it; crime more preva- 
 lent, because in every instance it gets dragged 
 into the light; blasphemous error more for- 
 midable, because it is allowed to speak all 
 that is in its heart. Christianity may seem 
 less a united force, because it is the spirit of 
 the age to "try all things." The church may 
 seem more worldly, because the time is nearer 
 when all things shall be hers. But, upon the 
 other hand, what a tremendous force is the 
 Christianity of to-day, when all is said! Is 
 it conceivable that this auspicious power, 
 which is so rapidly taking possession of the 
 wide earth, can dwindle into that imbecility 
 which some millennarians appear to predict 
 for it? It has been said that in twenty-five 
 years more, if the present rate of progress 
 continues, India will become as thoroughly 
 Christian as Great Britain is to-day ; there will 
 be thirty millions of Christians in China, 
 and Japan will be as fully Christianized as 
 America is now. The old heathen systems, 
 they tell us, are honey-combed, through and 
 through, bj' Christian influence. It looks as 
 if a day may come soon, when these systems, 
 struck by vigorous blows, will fall in tre- 
 mendous collapse. Meantime, every "weapon 
 formed against" Christianitj% breaks in the 
 hand that holds it. Already, the Lord's 
 "right hand hath gotten him the victory." 
 Surely, not in such a day as this should faith 
 fail, or those theories of the future gain cur- 
 rency which tend to paralyze, rather than to 
 nerve and insj)ire, the arm of Christian en- 
 deavor. 
 
 7-10. TiiK Loosing of Satan, and the 
 Final Overthrow. 
 
 7. And when the thonsand years arc 
 expired [are Jiniihad], Satan shall be 
 loosed out of his prison. A change in 
 
 the phraseology employed, apparently of 
 some significance, should be remarked here. 
 Heretofore we have noticed the constantly 
 occurring "I saw," showing that what then 
 follows is to be treated as vision. What is 
 now to be described is announced differently. 
 It has the customary form of prophecy. In 
 ver. 7, 8, the verb is in what is termed "the 
 prophetic future." In ver. 9, 10, the historic 
 form is resumed, a past tense being again 
 employed. The language is still symbolical 
 and figurative, yet the prophet does not seem 
 to be now describing a vision, but foretelling 
 the future in the manner customary in t)ther 
 prophetic books. The "loosing" of Satan 
 figuratively indicates a temporary return of 
 the old times of evil and suffering. How 
 these are brought on, there is nothing in the 
 passage to show, or even suggest. All we 
 can say is that the millennium, glorious and 
 happy as is the period of it, is not the Jinai 
 consummation and triumph of the kingdom. 
 The loosing of Satan and the effects that 
 follow, it may be further said, are prelimi- 
 naries to the general judgment. This great 
 and awful event, it would seem, is to come 
 upon the world at a time when that evil 
 of the world which in it is to suffer a blow 
 so annihilating shall be on exhibition in a 
 climax of iniquity apd outrage. It will be 
 according to the usual course of things if 
 "Gog and Magog," wickedness in the form 
 of organized assault, shall be possessed by 
 a fury all the greater because of the long 
 restraint under which they have been held. 
 The brief but vivid description here, and the 
 law of things under such conditions, justify 
 the belief, moreover, that this final outburst 
 of evil will be formidable beyond all pre- 
 vious example. Our Lord himself once said 
 (Luke 18: 8): "When the Son of man cometh, 
 shall he find faith on the earth?" 
 
 8. And shall po out [shall come forth] to 
 deceive the nations which are in the 
 four corners of the earth, Gog and Ma- 
 gog. The earliest use of the name Magog is 
 at Gen. 10 : 2, where he is mentioned as one 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 281 
 
 of the sons of Japheth. Of Gog we first read 
 ill Ezek. 38: 2: "Son of man, set thy face 
 against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief 
 prince of Meshecli and Tubal, and prophesy 
 against him." Meshech and Tubal are men- 
 tioned along with Magog in Gen. 10 : 2. Jo- 
 sephus states that the Scj'thians were the 
 descendants of Magog, and this, the Speakers 
 Commentary says, "is generally accepted as 
 true." Canon Rawlinson says: "The most 
 striking trace of the former condition of 
 things which remained in the days of Herod- 
 otus, was the existence, everywhere in Wes- 
 tern Asia, of a large Scythic or Turanian 
 element in the population"; a "condition of 
 things," he adds, "which the recently dis- 
 covered cuneiform records place altogether 
 beyond a doubt." Further on, after noticing 
 the regions where "these Scythic writings" 
 are found, he remarks: "They can only be 
 accounted for by the supposition that before 
 the great immigration of the Aryan races 
 from the East, Scythic or Tartar tribes oc- 
 cupied the countries seized by them." He 
 speaks of the names Mui^kai and Tuplai as 
 "constantly associated in the Assyrian in- 
 scriptions, just as Meshech and Tubal are in 
 Scripture." These Muschai, or Moschoi, are 
 regarded as those Muscovite ancestors of the 
 modern Russians by whom that great empire 
 was founded and the ancient city of Moscow 
 built. [See Rawlinson's Herodotus, Vol. 1, 
 Essay xi\ The Scythians were a peculiarly 
 wild and barbaric people, representative of 
 that rude, ferocious spirit which is so for- 
 midable to all civilized nations, and from 
 which the civilization of the ancient world 
 suffered so much. It is agreed among com- 
 mentators that, although the fact is not speci- 
 fically mentioned in the Old Testament, there 
 is evidence of a Scythic invasion of Judea, in 
 the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and that it 
 is to the dreaded Scythian nations of the north 
 that the latter prophet alludes in the passage 
 of his prophecy above quoted. The .striking 
 language used in the chapter (ch. 38) where 
 this prophecy occurs, plainly implies that the 
 devastation wrought in this invasion was a 
 signal one, and left in the minds of those who 
 suflTered from it a terrifying sense of the for- 
 midableness of this one of their numerous 
 enemies. Some part of what is said, besides, 
 seems to glance forward to what is under 
 view in our present chapter. Concerning 
 
 "Gog, the land of Magog," the prophet is 
 commissioned to make known this word of 
 the Lord : " It shall come to pass at the same 
 time when Gog shall come against the land 
 of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury 
 shall come up in my face . . . And I will 
 call for a sword against him throughout all 
 my mountains, saith the Lord God . . . And 
 I will plead against him with pestilence and 
 with blocJd; and I will rain upon him, and 
 upon his bands, and upon the many people 
 with him, an overflowing rain, and great 
 hail-stones, fire, and brimstone.^' AVhether 
 this intense imagery looks forward to that 
 grand consummating overthrow of the forces 
 of evil which our present passage describes, 
 or not, it seems clear that the passage in 
 Ezekiel is that upon which the symbolism of 
 John in the verses before us is made to rest. 
 As representative of that mighty combination 
 of wickedness and destructiveness to be seen 
 in the last days, he uses these names, Gog and 
 Magog, themselves representative to God's 
 ancient people of that rude ferocity, that bru- 
 tal destructiveness, which came down upon 
 them with such ten-or and slaughter in the 
 Scythians of the far, wild north. In the 
 last days, the gathered forces of evil, sum- 
 moned by Satan to a final war upon the king- 
 dom and people of God, will come from all 
 directions, "the four corners of the earth," 
 and so make assault. In the symbolism of 
 our book, these are as Gog and Magog — 
 names once so terrible in the land of Israel. 
 — And gather them together to battle. 
 "70 the ivar" {«i« r'ov -noKeixov), is the correct 
 rendering — a period of struggle, more or less 
 extended. — The number of whom is as 
 the sand of the sea. A resisting fcrce 
 may be subdued, and still survive. The pre- 
 dominance of good in the millennium does 
 not make it impossible that evil shall even 
 then remain in the world, though under 
 checks and restraints that so cripple its power 
 as to greatly limit its mischief. It is con- 
 ceivable, also, that, toward the close of such 
 a period as we suppose the millennium to be, 
 what had been thus put down gradually re- 
 covers strength, and in due time becomes for- 
 midable again. Such as this is often seen. 
 In fulfillment of divine purpose .scope is again 
 allowtid to Satanic agencies. With the world 
 as populous as we may well suppose at the 
 close of the millennial age, it is quite con- 
 
282 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 9 "And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and 
 compassed the eaiup of the saints about, and the be- 
 loved city : and tire came down from God out of heaven, 
 and devoured them. 
 
 10 *And the devil that deceived them was east into 
 the lake of tire and brimstone, ^ where the be;^sit and 
 the false prophet iirr, and -^ shall be tormented day and 
 night for ever and ever. 
 
 9 the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the 
 earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, 
 and the beloved city: and tire came down' out of 
 10 heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that 
 deceived them was cast into the lake of tiro and 
 brimstone, where are also the beast and the false pro- 
 phet ; and they shall be tormented day and night 
 - for ever and ever. 
 
 olsa. 8:8; Ezek. 38:9, 16.... 6 ver. 
 
 .c ch. 19: 20....IJ ch. 14: 10. 11. 1 Some ancient auiboriiies insert, /rom God....'i Gr 
 
 unto the ages of the ages. 
 
 ceivable that in many quarters of it at once 
 this uprising should occur. Wickedness and 
 wicked men once more become bold and de- 
 fiant. The old war is renewed. 
 
 9. And they went up on [over] the 
 breadth of the earth, and compassed the 
 camp of the saints about, and the be- 
 loved city. The tense of the verb here used 
 is that which denotes the historical past. In 
 the previous verse, the events indicated are 
 described as future; here they are pictured as 
 if seen by one to whom they were already 
 past. By "the camp of the saints" and "the 
 beloved city" we are to understand the 
 "blessed and holy" people of the millen- 
 nium, them.selves, here presented to us under 
 these figurative phrases. The "city" is not 
 the "New Jerusalem"; that is yet to be re- 
 vealed, as in the next chapter. The uprising 
 of evil at the end of the millennial age has 
 been spoken of as a "war." Consistently 
 with this, the people of God are represented 
 as if standing on the defensive. They are as 
 if holding a city — a "beloved" one, like the 
 Jerusalem of old — with its engirdling "camp." 
 Upon these, in the imager^^ of the passage, 
 the assaulting forces, numberless, and for- 
 midable exceedingly, come; as when in the 
 ancient days, Jerusalem was beleaguered by 
 "armies of the aliens." — And fire came 
 down from C.od out of heaven, and de- 
 voured them. "From God" should be 
 omitted. The imagery rests upon those inci- 
 dents in thj3 history of ancient Israel, in 
 wliicii, at a moment of extremity and almost 
 of despair on the part of the Lord's people, 
 divine judgments smote the enemy with an- 
 nihilating overthrow. We have quoted from 
 Ezekiel a passage in which this was threat- 
 ened againt Gog. In a similar way, the army 
 of Sennacherib was annihilated. Fire from 
 heaven destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; and 
 in a like visitation the divine judgment upon 
 sinners was, in still other instances, executed. 
 
 (See 2 Kings 1:9-14; Num. 16: 16,17,18; Lev. 10: 1,?), Bv 
 
 judgments as manifestly divine, as awful 
 and as consuming, shall this final ujirising of 
 evil be quelled. 
 
 10. And the devil that deceived them 
 was cast into the lake of fire and brim- 
 stone, where the beast and the false 
 prophet are, and shall be tormented day 
 and night for ever and ever. "And they 
 shall be tormented"; the beast and the false 
 prophet are included. What shall we under- 
 stand by the "lake of fire and brimstone," as 
 here and elsewhere mentioned? We cannot 
 take the idea in any literal or physical sense, 
 for various reasons : (1) Satan, who is cast into 
 the lake of fire, as a spiritual being cannot be 
 supposed susceptible to effect, "tormenting" 
 or otherwise, from physical causes or agencies. 
 (2) The beast and the false prophet are not 
 even personalities, much less beings subject to 
 any kind of physical effect. The same may 
 be said of "death and hell," mentioned in 
 ver. 14, as "cast into the lake of fire"; (3) the 
 lake of fire belongs, therefore, in general, to 
 the symbolism of the book, and must be 
 treated accordingly; (4) the lake of fire "is 
 the second death" (ch. 20: u), and no proper 
 view of the phrase "second death" can rep- 
 resent it as implying physical effects of any 
 kind whatever. Hengstonberg saj's: "As 
 the fire and brimstone [in the lake of fire] 
 point to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah, so it is very natural to suppose that allu- 
 sion is made to the Dead Sen as the image of 
 hell." "The imagery," .says Stuart, "is the 
 most terrific which the whole compass of na- 
 ture can afford — a lake of fire burning with 
 brimstone. The intensity of the flame, the 
 suffocating nature of the fumes, and also the 
 revolting odor which issues from the sulphur, 
 all conspire to render this an image of unpar- 
 alleled horror." Where the beast and the 
 false prophet, death and hell, are represented 
 as cast into such a lake of fire, the whole is 
 figurative; these impersonalities being treated 
 as personal, and their final destruction repre- 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 288 
 
 11 And I saw a great white throne, and hiui that sat 
 on it, from whose lace "the earth and the heaven fled 
 away ; 'and there was found no place for theui. 
 
 12 And 1 saw the dead, "^sniall and great, stand before 
 God: rf and the books were opened : and another "book 
 was opened, which is the buuk of life: and the dead 
 were judged out of those things which were written in 
 the books, /according to their works. 
 
 11 And I saw a great white throne, and liini that sat 
 upon it, from whose face the earib and th(; lioaveu 
 fled away; and there was found no place lor tlieni. 
 
 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, stand- 
 ing before the throne ; and books were ojiened : and 
 another book was opened, which is llteliiml: of life: 
 and the dead were judged out of the things which 
 were written in the books, according to their works. 
 
 1 a Pet,. 3: 7, 10, 11; cli. 21 : 1....6 Dan. 2: 35.... cell. 19: 5.... d Diiii. 7: 10... .e P.-<. 69: 28; Dun. 12 : 1 ; Phil. 4:3; ch. 3:5; 13: 
 »; 21: 27 /Jer. 17: 10; 32: 19; Mult. 16: 27; Kom. 2:6; ch. 2 : 23; 22: 12; ver. 13. 
 
 sented as if they were capable of suffering 
 like actual beings, and as doomed to such 
 suftering forever. As applied to Satan, the 
 conception relates to an actual being, and is a 
 representation of his final and actual doom ; 
 this, however, being presented to us, like so 
 much el.se in this book, under figurative form. 
 His condition, when at last the deserved doom 
 strikes him, will be that of helpless, hopeless, 
 weltering torment, such as that of one tossed 
 forever on the billows of a lake of fire. It is 
 torment, however, of a nature suited to his 
 own nature, being such as a spirit is capable 
 of suftering. More than this we cannot hope 
 to know upon a subject invested in such 
 awful mystery. 
 
 11-15. The Final Judgment. 
 
 11. And I saw a great white throne, 
 and him that sat on it, from whose face 
 the earth and the heaven fled away; and 
 there was found no place for them. The 
 fleeing away of the earth and the heaven 
 must not be taken literally. What imme- 
 diately follows in the connected passage 
 shows this. The actual "earth" must re- 
 main, since it is described as giving up its 
 dead, alike its sea and its land. The language 
 is intensely poetical, and wonderfully sublime 
 in its suggestiveness. In the vision, so awful 
 is that divine Presence which appears on the 
 throne, that even inanimate nature cannot 
 bear the sight. It seems as if quailing at 
 that dread Presence ; as if fleeing from the 
 glance of that Eye which pierces all veils 
 and fathoms all depths. The whole is in- 
 tended to make more vivid the tremendous 
 picture, and prepare us for what is to follow. 
 Parallel passages seem to require that we 
 shall know in this Enthroned One, "the Son 
 of man" (asinjiau. 25:.3i. 32) : "When the Son 
 of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
 holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon 
 the throne of his glory; and before him shall 
 be gathered all nations." It is the culmina- 
 tion of that "judgment" which the Father 
 
 "hath committed" unto "him; which 
 during long ages had been exercised as a 
 moral administration and rule, and now 
 brings all its aims and measures to a climax, 
 in final, supreme, and irreversible judgment 
 of "the quick and the dead." 
 
 13. And 1 saw the dead, small and 
 great [the great and the small], stand be- 
 fore God. In the person of him wiio fills 
 the throne, all the awful glories of the God- 
 head unite. It is said of even the Word made 
 flesh in his earthly manifestation, tliat he 
 "was God"; how truly may this be said of 
 him now! What subterfuge will they now 
 find who had refused to see that divinit}' 
 through the veil of his humiliation? What 
 consternation must fill the hearts of "them 
 also that pierced him"! In this presence 
 and at this tribunal, all earthly distinctions 
 vanish. "The great and the small" are 
 upon one level. All alike must be judged 
 out of the things written in the books. — And 
 the books were opened ; and another 
 book was opened, which is the book of 
 life. Of him that overcometh, it is promised 
 that his name shall not be blotted out of the 
 book of life. It is the roll of the redeemed. 
 The names of the Lord's true peojiie are all 
 there. — And the dead were judged out of 
 those things Avhich were written in the 
 books, according to their works. How 
 much of this whole description, now, we 
 ought in our interpretation to treat as fore- 
 shadowing actual occurrences, is a very dif- 
 ficult question. Two points, at least, may be 
 treated as certain : (1) That in this final judg- 
 ment there is to be an actual personal coming 
 of the Lord, in the overwhelming glory of a 
 divine manifestation. It is here that, in our 
 own sj^stem of interpretation, we find the 
 fulfillment of those predictions, scattered 
 through the New Testament especially, 
 which speak of that second coming. In this 
 connection it is that we trace the realization 
 of what Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, 
 
284 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; 
 "and death and lu-Il delivered up the dead which were 
 in them: '•and they were judged every man according 
 to their worlv.s. 
 
 14 And "^ death and hell were cast into the lake of 
 fire. ''This is the second death. 
 
 13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; 
 and death and Hades gave up the dead that 
 were in them; and they were judged every man 
 
 14 according to their works. And death and Hades 
 were cast into the lake of tire. This is the second 
 
 a ch. 6:8 b ver. 12 c I Cor. 15: 26, 54, 55 d ver. 6; ch. 21: 8. 
 
 (iThess. 4:1318), SO vividly (Jepicts of the Lord's 
 descent from heaven "with the voice of the 
 archangel and the trump of God," the res- 
 urrection of the blessed dead and the glori- 
 fying "change" of living saints, while all in 
 one beatific company are "caught up to 
 meet the Lord in the air"; thenceforth to 
 be "ever with the Lord." For this coming 
 of the Son of man has two great purposes — 
 to judge the wicked and the lost, and to re- 
 ceive unto himself the people who are his 
 "purchased possession." We may refer also 
 to 1 Cor. 15: 50, et seq., as being to a like 
 effect. (2) In some real and actual sense 
 there is to be a "judgment." The "books" 
 we look upon as belonging to the scenery of 
 the vision. They sj'mbolize that perfect and 
 exact knowledge of each individual character 
 and life upon which the final judgment shall 
 be based. It is as if there were a record, in- 
 disputable, exact, confounding to all the 
 condemned, which shall absolutely justify 
 the final sentence, and vindicate forever the 
 unimpeachable rectitude of the divine ad- 
 ministration. The book of life .symbolizes 
 the fact that of those which had been "given" 
 to him, the Redeemer has "lost none." It 
 is as if a roll had been kept during all the 
 centuries of earth's history, and the name 
 there entered of every one saved by faith, or 
 embraced by the terms of the salvation pro- 
 vided in Chri.st. No name which a rightly- 
 founded Christian hope had expected to find 
 on that page shall fail to be there found. 
 Under this form of sj'mbol, it is shown us 
 how, in that great day, this is a "hope that 
 maketh not asliamed." Yet within all that 
 is thus to be viewed as symbol is the certain 
 and literal fact, that in this way the affairs 
 of the world shall be finally wound up — in 
 an assignment to each human being of that 
 ultimate^ unchangeable condition, of joy or 
 of woe, which his own life has prepared for 
 hiin. 
 
 13. And the sea gave up the dead which 
 were in it; and death and hell [Ilndrs] 
 gave up the dead which were in them : 
 
 and they were judged every man accord- 
 ing to their works. By "Hades " is meant, 
 of course, the world of spirits. "Death" 
 surrenders the body, and "Hades" the spirit. 
 Even "the sea" gives up the dead that were 
 in it. It is now that "the rest of the dead," 
 the dead in the strict and literal sense, "live 
 again." All are thus raised, the righteous 
 and the wicked — the former "to life," the 
 latter "to shame and everlasting contempt," 
 ^Dan. 12:7). The Scripturcs know of no other 
 resurrection of the body but this. 
 
 14. And death and hell [Hades] were 
 cast into the lake of fire. We can only 
 understand hy this that there will never again 
 be such a thing in the universe of God as 
 that "death" which was such a dread thing 
 in all human history — such a separation of 
 body and spirit, the one returning to dust, 
 the other a di.sembodied inhabitant of a world 
 of souls. Events of this nature shall be 
 known no more. They belonged to the 
 history of man on the earth. Now that this 
 history is ended, they also are ended. Death 
 and Hades, as dread powers, are here personi- 
 fied. And this cessation of them is pictured 
 as the destruction of actual beings. [Death, 
 as representative of the dissolution of body 
 and soul, and Hades, as representing the 
 state of the wicked in the unseen world be- 
 fore the last judgment, will be swallowed up 
 forever in the second death, the lake of fire. 
 In the resurrection of the la.st day, that of 
 the wicked cannot be a resurrection to life, 
 but only to death, in the sense of being 
 finally condemned and of passing into their 
 final stiite of separation from God. — A. H.] — 
 This is the second death. Mention of 
 the "second death" has already been made 
 in ver. 6 of this chapter. Over the "blessed 
 and holy," the regenerated and saved, the 
 second death "hath no power." It is not 
 said to them as to the rest of mankind : "De- 
 part into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
 devil and his angels." AVe can understand 
 by this only the presentation in figurative 
 form of that final condition which awaits the 
 
Ch. XXI.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 285 
 
 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book I 15 death, exien the lake of fire. And if any was not 
 of life "was cast into the lake of fire. found written in the book of life, he was cast into 
 
 I the lake of tire. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 \ ND 'I saw a new heaven and a new earth: <^for the I 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the 
 first heaven and the tirst earth were passed away ; first heaven and the first earth are passed away ; and 
 
 and there was no more sea. 
 
 ich. 19: 20 h Isa. 65: 17; 66: Tt: 2 Pet. 3: 13 c ch. 20: 11. 
 
 unsaved. For them, and for "the devil and 
 his angels," it is a condition as real as it is 
 dreadful. The impersonalities named, death 
 and hades, the beast and the false prophet, 
 are described as sharing it under a pictorial 
 mode of representation, the meaning of which 
 is that they, in their power to deceive and to 
 destroy, to sadden and to wound, are to be 
 "felt and feared no more." 
 
 15. And whosoever was not found 
 written in the book of life was cast 
 into the lake of fire. With these terrible 
 words the record of man's history on earth 
 closes. As these are spoken the curtain 
 descends. "When next it rises, we shall see 
 "a new heaven and a new earth." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 The fact should be emphasized that we 
 have now reached not only the end of the 
 Dispensation under which all the great events 
 so fVir represented on the Apocalyptic scene 
 have transpired, but the end also of the period 
 of human probation. The latter of these in- 
 dicates the great point of contrast between all 
 that has engaged us heretofore in these studies, 
 and that which is now to follow. The re- 
 maining two chapters set forth the final 
 states, either of the saved or of the lost. 
 Evidence of this will appear in the course of 
 the following exposition. With the judg- 
 ment, man's earthly history ends. The "mys- 
 tery of God" is "finished." Promise, and 
 prophecy, and tj^pe, have been all fulfilled ; 
 the designs of God in appointing to man such 
 a dwelling-place, and for so long a period, have 
 been all accomplished. W^hat remains of the 
 book is the lifting of a veil beyond which lie 
 the endless spaces of the changeless future. 
 
 Upon the final condition of lost men, our 
 book, in this part of it, does not dwell at 
 length. The two closing chapters are almost 
 wholly occupied with pictures of the saved in 
 their happy state. Only an alluf.ion here and 
 there brings to our attention that contrasted 
 picture from which even inspiration seems to 
 turn away, as if it were too sorrowful and 
 
 terrible for steady contemplation. It is a 
 mystery into which we can have no desire to 
 penetrate. That the justice of the divine ad- 
 ministration, that i)rinciple of rectitude so 
 essential in a perfect moral sovereignty, will 
 be completely satisfied and vindicated, there 
 can be no doubt. That the doom of the 
 finally lost will be no more severe than those 
 great interests of universal justice demand, 
 we may be sure. All that is doubtful to us, 
 all that is hard to un<lerstand, all that appeals 
 to pity or to terror, we leave with that 
 "Judge of all the earth" wlio will "do 
 right." 
 
 The indications are that the overthrow and 
 subjection of evil in the universe is to be com- 
 plete and final. If we knew all that is to be 
 known of reasons of the divine procedure in 
 permitting a calamity so fearful as the origi- 
 nal outbreak of evil— that sin " which brought 
 death into the world and all our woe" — we 
 should most certainly acquiesce in it as infi- 
 nitely to be approved. All the more are we 
 sure of this as we see that the period during 
 which evil shall have scope and opportunity has 
 its fixed and unalterable limit. The overthrow 
 of evil, however, will not be its annihilation. 
 Its "everlasting punishment," the "smoke" 
 of its "torment ascending forever and ever," 
 necessitate the implication that there will be 
 those who suffer; otherwise the "punish- 
 ment," the "torment" is a clear impossi- 
 bility. But the world of doom will forever 
 be a region apart. Never again will evil be 
 suifered to break out of bounds, or Satan 
 allowed to go forth to deceive the nations. 
 Into the City of the Blessed "there shall in 
 no wise enter any thing that defilcth, neither 
 whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh 
 a lie." "For the former things are passed 
 away." 
 
 ALL THINGS NEW. 
 
 1. The New Heaven and New Earth. 
 
 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new 
 earth. A crucial question meets us in the 
 opening verse of this chapter. What is to be 
 
286 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 understood by the "new heaven and new 
 earth" ? A correct exposition of much which 
 follows will depend upon the answer to this 
 question. There are two words in the Greek 
 iveoi and KaLvoi), representative of our English 
 word "new." These two words distinguish 
 shades of meaning which our own language 
 does not express in any such way. It is the 
 second word (xaii'ds), which occurs in this 
 place, and, indeed, throughout the book ; as 
 where we read of the "new name" (ch.2:i7), 
 the "new song" (5:9; u:3), "new Jerusalem," 
 in ver. 2 of this present chapter, and the 
 making all things new," in ver. 5. A further 
 example of New Testament usage, in this 
 regard, is at Matt. 13 : 52, where the wise 
 householder is described as bringing out of 
 his treasure "things new and old"; also, at 
 Matt. 27:60, and John 19:41, where the 
 tomb in which our Lord was laid is spoken 
 of as "new." The latter word ((catfds), is used 
 in all these places, and in others similar. It 
 is the word employed in speaking here of 
 the "new heaven and new earth." Perhaps 
 a passage somewhat more to the present pur- 
 pose, is that at Luke 22 : 20, where our Lord 
 says: "This cup is the new [icaifd?] testament 
 [covenant] in my blood." The distinction in 
 the two Greek words (ve'os, Kcuvoi), seems to be 
 that, while the former expresses newness of 
 aspect, appearance, the latter denotes new- 
 ness in kind; newness in contrast to what is 
 old; a sense strongly implied in all the cases 
 noted above. A word is also used by our 
 Lord (Matt. 19:28), apparently in allusion to the 
 same "new heaven and new earth," men- 
 tioned in our passage, a study of which may 
 help us at this point: "Verily, I say unto 
 you, ye which have followed me, in the re- 
 generation, 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." It is not, we should observe: "ye 
 which have followed me in the regeneration," 
 as is sometimes read; but, "ye which have 
 followed me," shall in the regeneration sit 
 upon thrones, etc. The mention of the Son of 
 man sitting on the throne of his glory, points 
 forward to that "regeneration" of which we 
 are to learn in our present chapter; the mak- 
 ing all things new. The word for "regene- 
 ration," (iraii.i.vytvt<Tia), is the Same as is used to 
 denote the Christian new birth in Tit. 3: 5, 
 where we read of "the washing of regenera- 
 
 tion." The Christian new birth is a new 
 creation only in a figurative sense, implying 
 transfo7nnation, radical moral change — the 
 human nature, the man, retaining its per- 
 sonal identity unchanged. Our Lord's use 
 of the word in reference to that "new birth" 
 of the physical creation to which we are now 
 directing attention, warrants a view of the 
 new heaven and the new earth somewhat 
 corresponding to that "new man in Chri.st 
 Jesus," which is the result of spiritual re- 
 generation. — For the first heaveu and the 
 first earth were passed away. AVe may 
 here refer to the passage in 2 Pet. 3:7: " But 
 the heavens that now are, and the earth, by 
 the same word, have been stored up for fire 
 [or stored with fire], being reserved against 
 the day of judgment and destruction of un- 
 godly men." {Revised Version). It does not 
 belong to us, in this place, to discuss at length 
 the words quoted. We may note, however, 
 that they do not necessarily teach that the 
 heaven, or the heavenly bodies, and the 
 earth, are to be absolutely consumed by fire, 
 nor that the words before considered in 20 : 14 : 
 "Before whose face the earth and the heaven 
 fled away," are to be so understood. Peter 
 does not say, or imply, in the words quoted, 
 that the earth shall be actually burned up. 
 In ver. 10, of the same chapter, the words 
 occur, in our version ; " The earth also, and the 
 works that are therein, shall be burned up." 
 But there is here a disputed reading. The 
 text of Westcott and Hort has, "shall be dis- 
 covered" (eiipee^o-cTai) ; although the revision 
 translates "burned up," with the note in the 
 margin. "The most ancient manuscripts 
 ve&d discovered.^ ^ "Shall be found," is pro- 
 posed as an alternative. EUicott's and the 
 Speaker's Commentary suggest that the difli- 
 culty found in the obscurity of the passage in 
 this translation, might be relieved by giving 
 it the interrogatorial form: "And shall the 
 earth and the works therein be found?"* 
 We need not decide the point here. It will 
 suffice to say that even taking the rendering 
 "burned up," we are not obliged to conclude 
 that the destruction of the earth by fire will 
 be total, or that more is implied than such 
 changes, by means of fire and, perhaps, of 
 other physical agencies, as will adapt it to 
 
 'Alford thinks that the word (fupeflijcreTat), shall he 
 found, grew out of the word urenlur, (shall be burned 
 up), in the same Latin version. 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 287 
 
 2 And I John saw "the holy city, new Jerusalem, 1 2 the sea is no more. And I saw ' the holy city, new 
 coming down from Ciod out of heaven, prepared »as a Jerusalem coming; down out of heaven from (Jod, 
 bride adorned for her husband. | made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 alsa. 52:1; Gal. 4:-26; Heb. 11: 10; 12:22; 13:14; oh. 3: 12; ver. 10. .. .6 Isa. !>4 : 5 ; 61: 10; 2 Cor. 11 : 2. 1 Or, the holy citi/ 
 
 Jerusalem coming down new out of heaven. 
 
 the new life that is to be lived upon its surface. 
 There have been already many such changes 
 in the physical history of our globe. There 
 is nothing unlikely, but much in itself prob- 
 able, in the idea that still another and a yet 
 more signal change awaits it. The earth as 
 it now is, was fitted to be the abode of human 
 beings during the long ages appointed for 
 the working out of God's plan of redemption. 
 "When that period ends, it is natural to sup- 
 pose that a new phase will appear in even the 
 earth's own condition, and that through ap- 
 propriate transformations it will be itself re- 
 generated, and so made a fitting abode for 
 regenerated man. It would be, besides, quite 
 in the order of customary divine procedure, 
 if all this were to come about, in part at least, 
 in a use of agencies and laws already active. 
 It is often remarked how the elements of 
 fresh physical revolutions are stored beneath 
 the earth's crust, and in its atmosphere, with 
 a possibility of outbreaks such as shall con- 
 sume what is now seen upon its surface, and 
 possibly change the very "elements" of 
 things in nature. It is more diflScult to see 
 in what sense the old "heaven" shall "pass 
 away," and a "new heaven" appear. Per- 
 haps all we need to infer is, that such changes 
 in atmospheric conditions and the relations of 
 other worlds to our own, as are necessarily 
 involved in those transpiring in the earth 
 itself, will occur. We understand, therefore, 
 from the words under consideration, only 
 that the old earth and heaven "pass away" 
 in the sense of experiencing changes which fit 
 them for the new and heavenly life of the 
 redeemed, and that in this sense there will be 
 "a new heaven and a new earth." AU that is 
 involved in this no one can safely undertake to 
 show. — And there was no more sea. "yl?irZ 
 the sea. does not exist longer," will be a literal 
 rendering. The explanations proposed are 
 numerous. The Speakey s Commenfnrj/ groups 
 them thus: (1) The sea exists no longer, be- 
 cause the " new earth" has arisen out of the fire 
 (Beda, De Wette, Ebrard, Alford, Bisping) ; 
 (2) The former "sea" has passed away, like 
 the former "earth"; but this does not pre- 
 clude a "new" sea, any more than a "new" 
 
 earth (Diisterdieck); (3) The sea of the 
 nations, the wicked, restless world (St. Au- 
 gustine, Heng.stenberg, Wordsworth); (4) 
 Because in Paradise there was no sea, and 
 here all is Paradise (Ziillig); (5) Because no 
 longer required to separate and keep apart 
 divisions of the human race (Andreas, Ger- 
 lach); (6) The old heaven and earth of the 
 former Israel having passed away, the sea, 
 the emblem of the Gentiles, is no more (I. 
 Williams). The Sj^eaker' s Cominentary pre- 
 fers the exposition noted as (3). The view 
 of Carpenter seems substantially the same. 
 Underlying this figurative sense, however, 
 why may there not be a literal one, as in that 
 of the new earth ? The earth will be new 
 physically, as well as in a higher and wider 
 sense than simply a phj'sical one, whatever 
 that may import — in a high spiritual sense, 
 involving all that belongs essentially to the 
 new, glorious, and immortal life of its re- 
 deemed inhabitants. We doubt if it is con- 
 sistent with the rules of correct interpreta- 
 tion, to treat the new earth as involving thus' 
 the literal with the figurative, and to take the 
 word "sea" only in a sense strictly sym- 
 bolical. All that which the sea has s^'mbol- 
 ized in various parts of this book will doubt- 
 less have passed away. But whj* not the sea 
 itself, at least in so fsir as will satisfy the real 
 import of the passage? The redeemed race 
 will be one, no longer many, and no longer 
 needing to be protected against each other's 
 aggression by interposed oceans. The con- 
 ditions of life will be changed, and that 
 "highway of nations," now used for so 
 many purposes, will be needed no longer. 
 The physical uses of these wide watery tracts 
 will be called for no more, under conditions 
 so "new" as will exist in the "new heaven 
 and new earth." We can see no serious ob- 
 jection to taking the words "there shall be no 
 more sea," in the same blending of the literal 
 and figurative, as in the sense of the nevr 
 earth and the new heaven. 
 
 2-4. New Jerusalem. The Taber- 
 nacle OF God -with Men. 
 
 2. And I John saw the holy city, new 
 Jerusalem, coming down from God out 
 
288 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, 
 Behold, "tlie tabernacle of God i.s with men, and he 
 will dwell with theiu, and they shall be his people, and 
 God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 
 
 3 And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, 
 Behold, the tabernacle of (iod is with men, and he 
 shall 'dwell with them, and they shall be his 
 peoples, and God himself shall be with them, -and be 
 
 a Lev. 26: 11, 12; Ezek. 43 : 7 ; 2Cor.6:I6; cb.7:15. 1 Qr. tabernacle.... 2 Some ancient authorities omit, aud be (Aeir God. 
 
 of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned 
 for her husband. The name, "Jolin," should 
 be omitted. The descending city is seen in 
 vision. By "the holy city" we understand 
 the redeemed church in its final felicity and 
 glory. Its descent out of heaven belongs to 
 the scenery of the vision, and symbolizes 
 that manifestation of the church in this 
 final heavenly state in which all the results 
 of completed redemption shall gloriously 
 appear. In the imagery here, as seen in 
 connection with ver. 1, 2 of the next chapter, 
 there is a blending of the city and the 
 garden — Jerusalem and Eden. Both are 
 used to represent the final state of the saved: 
 Eden as implying the recovery in redetnption 
 of all that had been lost in the fall, and Jeru- 
 salem as implying the security of the re- 
 deemed. The garden had lain open to the 
 tempter. Man's condition then was one of 
 moral trial. Man redeemed will be safe for- 
 ever. Of this, the walled city is the expres- 
 sive symbol. The use of the city Jerusalem 
 to represent this is eminently appropriate. 
 Jerusalem was the central scene of the divine 
 manifestation during the long ages of time. 
 The temple and worship of the true God were 
 there, and there onlj', in all the earth. The 
 revelations of himself which God made 
 during those centuries culminated there. 
 When Christ, the God manifest, came, it 
 was to this "holy city." Through its gates 
 he passed, when that word to Zion was ful- 
 filled : "Behold thy King cometh ! " There 
 he manifested his divine power and sove- 
 reignty. There, also, he suffered, "the just 
 for the unjust." Over its doom he wept — the 
 beloved citj'. Herein were types significant 
 of great things, and in the New Jeru.salem all 
 these types are fulfilled, as we shall see. 
 Commentators seem to puzzle themselves 
 unnecessarily over the clause : "Prepared as a 
 bride adorned for her husband." If the 
 marriage of the Lamb occurred before the 
 millennium, they ask, how is it that now, after 
 a period of a thousand years, she is still 
 spoken of as the "Bride"? "It is rather 
 awkward," writes Dr. Brown, "to suppose 
 a bridal preparation and the presentation of 
 
 the parties to each other, a thousand years 
 after the union has been consummated." 
 This is to invent diflRculties. There is noth- 
 ing said, here, of "a presentation of the 
 parties to each other," neither is it said or 
 implied that the church comes from heaven 
 as a bride. The simile is used merely to 
 describe the glorious appearance of what is 
 seen, and is a simile purely. The marriage 
 of the Lamb came in that consummation of 
 his redeeming work which was seen In the 
 millennium. His redeemed people now ap- 
 pear as "a glorious church, not having spot, 
 or wrinkle, or any such thing; holy and with, 
 out blemish," (Epii.5:?7). This is all that the 
 simile imports. The bearing upon this of 
 ver. 9 will be noticed presently. 
 
 3. And I heard a great voice out of 
 heaven, saying. Behold the tabernacle 
 of God is with men, and he shall dwell 
 with them. Literally, ''he shM tnhei^nncle 
 with them." The best manuscript also reads : 
 "a great voice out of the throne." In ch. 7 
 occurs what resembles the closing words of 
 our present passage, and yet difl^ers. We 
 there read, as in the correct translation, and 
 in allusion to the redeemed, "God shall taber- 
 nacle over them," "shall spread his taber- 
 nacle ove?' (eVt) them." Here we read: "God 
 shall tabernacle with (fifra) them." It is 
 the same general idea, but in the words 
 now before us expressed in a specially em- 
 phatic way. What is said is that God will 
 have his dwelling in the midst of them. 
 —And they shall be his people. The word 
 in the Greek is plural — "peoples." It will 
 be noticed that the revision so translates. It 
 would seem that a distinction is intention- 
 ally made between those who are "redeemed 
 out of every tribe, and tongue, and nation, 
 and people" (ch. 5:9), and that one people who 
 were anciently chosen, not as God's sole elect 
 ones, but as a typical peojile foreshadowing 
 the later "election of grace." This redeemed 
 company is not only "a multitude which no 
 man can number," but represents in its vast 
 and various assemblages all the world's ages 
 and "peoples." And these are all God's 
 "peoples." Distinctions of nationality will 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 289 
 
 4 "And God sliall wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes; and 'there shall he no more death, ^neither 
 sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there he any more 
 pain : for the Cornier things are passed away. 
 
 5 And rfhe that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I 
 make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: 
 for /these words are true and faithful. 
 
 4 their God : and he shall wipe away every tear from 
 their eyes; and death shall he no more; neither 
 shall there lie mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any 
 
 Smore: the first things are passed away. And he 
 that sitteth on the throne said, lithold, I make all 
 things new. And he saith, 'Write: for these words 
 
 oIs!i. 25: 8; ch. 7: 17.... 6 1 Cor. 15 : 26, 54 ; ch. 20:14.... cisa. .%: 10; 61:3: 65: 19....d ch. 4 : 2. 9 : 5:1; 20: ll....«Isa 43- 19- 
 2 Cor. 5 : 17 / ch. 19 : 9. 1 Or, Write, These words are faithful and true. ' ' 
 
 no doubt have disappeared, at least in the 
 old divisive sense, and still the fact seems to 
 survive, in some form, that redemption had 
 gathered its trophies thus widelj', and thus 
 without discrimination of race or clime. — 
 And God himself shall be with them, 
 and be their God. Alford translates, " and 
 he shall be God with them." This would 
 recall more vividly than either the common 
 version or the revision, the saying in Matt. 
 1 : 23: "They shall call his name Emmanuel, 
 which being interpreted is, God with us." 
 Possibly, too, it might suggest that amongst 
 the redeemed in glory the God manifest will 
 be the glorified Redeemer himself. The 
 Sinaitic manuscript omits "their God" {''and 
 he" being supplied in the translation where 
 the words are retained). Westcott and Hort 
 adopt this amended reading, although the 
 revi.sers evidently have not followed it. Al- 
 ford retains the words, translating, "and he 
 shall be God with them, their God." In any 
 case, it rather weakens, than helps, the force 
 of the passage to supply, in translating, the 
 words "and be." Alford's text, it should be 
 added, diifers somewhat from that used by 
 the revisers ; yet, even with his text, the trans- 
 lation proposed by him is a questionable one. 
 It is safer to translate, as in the revision, 
 "and God himself shall be with them." 
 At the same time, it is quite proper to note 
 in connection with these, the words in Matt. 
 1 : 23, as illustrative of the meaning here. 
 
 4. And God shall wipe away all tears 
 from their eyes. ''Every tear" is more 
 expressive. — And there shall be no more 
 death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
 neither shall there be any more pain. 
 What shall 7iof be in the heavenly state is 
 scarcely less momentous to us than that 
 which shall he. The words in the Greek are 
 more forcible than in the translation. The 
 word for "sorrow" means, strictly, "wailing." 
 "Itdenotes," says Trench, "thatgrief which 
 so takes possession of the whole being that it 
 cannot be hid." It means, especitilly, mourn- 
 
 ing for the dead. "The 'crying,' " says Car- 
 penter in Ellicott, "is the voice of despair 
 and dismay, as well as sorrow." The em- 
 phatic words so used set forth the more 
 vividly the contrast between the "former 
 things" and those which in the new heaven 
 and new earth shall be found. 
 
 5-8. The Life Eternal and the Sec- 
 ond Death. 
 
 5. And he that sat upon the throne 
 said. Behold, I make all things new. 
 Lange evidently understands the great white 
 throne, referring to ch. 20: 11; so likewise 
 Alford. We do not see how this can be. 
 That vision has passed wholly from the scene, 
 and with it the throne, its Occupant, and the 
 judgment. These are a part of " the former' 
 things" which "have passed away." It ia 
 better, in our opinion, to recall the fact that 
 the throne described at chap. 4: 2, 3; in 5: 1 ;. 
 and in other places, remains through all this 
 succession of visions as a fixed element in 
 the Apocalyptic scenery. It is "out of" this 
 throne that the "great voice" came, men-. 
 tione-d in ver. 3 of our present chapter, de- 
 claring to John and to us the significance of 
 all this which thus passes before him in 
 vision. It is now from the same throne that 
 God speaks, saying, "Behold, I make all 
 things new." It is declaring that time, the 
 old earth, and the old state of trial, with its 
 vicissitudes, its temptations, its pains, and its 
 death, are no more. At the same time, offers 
 of redemption, promises of grace, hopes 
 looking to the future, and faith resting in a 
 revealed word — these, too, are " passed away." 
 Faith "is turned to sight," hope has come to 
 a full fruition. Time, with all its offers and 
 opportunities, is ended. The saved have 
 nothing now to fear; the unsaved have 
 nothing to hope. — And he said unto mc. 
 Write, for [hecanse] these words are true 
 and faithful. "Faithful [" worfliy to be 
 trusted"], &nA ivwG [or " genuine"]." It is 
 not the attending angel who speaks — if we 
 suppose an attending angel throughout, iM 
 
290 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 6 And he said unto me, "It is done. *Iam Alpha 
 and Omega, the beginning and the end. 'I will give 
 unto hiui that is athirst ot the I'ouutain of the water of 
 life freelv. 
 
 7 He thatoverconieth shall inherit all things; and"*! 
 will be his (jod, and he shall be uiy sou. 
 
 8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abomi- 
 nable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sor- 
 cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their 
 part in /the lake which burneth with tire and brim- 
 stone : which is the second death. 
 
 6 are faithful and true. And he said unto me, They 
 are come to pass. 1 am the Alpha and the Omega, 
 the beginning and the eud. I will give unto him 
 that is athirst of the fountain of the water of lite 
 
 7 freely. He that overcometh shall inherit these 
 things; and I will be his Ood, and he shall be my 
 
 8 son. 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 tire and brim- 
 stone ; which is the second death. 
 
 I oh 16- 17 ftch 1 -S- 22: 1.1....clsn. 12:3; 55: 1 ; John 4: 10, 14; 7:37; ch.22: 17... .d Zech. 8: 8 ; Heb. 8 : 10.... el Cor. 
 6: a, 10; Gal. 5: 19,20,21; Ephes. 5 : 5; ITiin. 1:9; Heb. 12:14; oh. 22 : 15..../ch. 20: 14 15. 
 
 some do — but the same voice from the throne. 
 That which John is to "write" is the faithful 
 and true words now spoken, especially those 
 immediately following, which declare the 
 final .state of the righteous and the wicked. 
 
 6. And he said unto me, It is done. 
 The Greek word is in the plural, and its 
 literal rendering is, as in the revision, "They 
 are come to pass." The word also translated 
 "It is done," in ch. 16: 17, is the same word, 
 but in the singular. The allusion there is to 
 a specific incident in the order of Apocalyptic 
 disclosure. Here it is, says Wordsworth, 
 "the divine promises and judgments"; 
 Lange, all the things before spoken (the 
 Adyot) — "they have become facts"; the Speak- 
 er's Commentary, "what the seer has beheld 
 is now accomplished; the old world has 
 passed away, the new earth has come into 
 being" — expositions whicli are substantially 
 equivalent.— I am Alpha and Omega, the 
 beginning and the end. "The Alpha and 
 the Omega" is better. This declaration has 
 already occurred at ch. 1 : 8, and again occurs 
 at 22 : 13, below. In the verse now before us 
 it seems to be God the Father who speaks, as 
 in 1: 8. In 22: 13, it is plainly the Lord 
 Jesus, or some voice representative of him. 
 The word.s following, in that place, " Behold. 
 I come quickly," seem decisive on that point. 
 It would appear, therefore, that these words, 
 so expressive of that eternity of being which 
 belongs alone to God, are in this book given 
 as alike words of the Father and of the Son — 
 consistently with that saying of the latter in 
 the Gospel by the .same writer, "I and my 
 Father are one.'— I Avill give unto him 
 that is athirst of the fountain of the 
 water of life, freely. We are reminded of 
 the passage in Isaiah (55: i), "Ho, every one 
 that thirsteth "; also of our Lord's words to 
 the woman of Samaria (.iohn4: u). Those de- 
 sires and longings of man's soul which the 
 
 world never satisfies and never can, are in 
 these cases, and in others, represented by the 
 sensation of "thirst." The allusion is especi- 
 ally to those desires after spiritual good 
 which the Spirit of God awakens. In the 
 case of the saved, the soul's thirst shall be 
 slaked at "the fountain of life." It is a 
 perpetual, exhaustless, not intermittent, sup- 
 ply, like a fountain whose drainless sources 
 never fail. Generation after generation, cen- 
 tury after century, it gives drink to the 
 thirsty. Such as this is "the fountain of 
 life." It draws upon the "fullness" of God, 
 and shall be exhaustless forever. And it is 
 "free." Pre-eminently, then, will the words 
 be true, "Whosoever will." 
 
 7. He that overcometh shall inherit 
 all things. "Shall inherit these things" 
 (TauTtt). The "things" exhibited in the vision, 
 including all that are yet to be mentioned, 
 and all that has ever been the subject of 
 divine promi.se. — And I will be his God, 
 and he shall be my son. How wonder- 
 fully near to us does the divine Father 
 come in this, and how tender are the Avords 
 of assurance! The promise comes to a climax 
 just as the fearful words of doom upon the 
 unsaved are about to be uttered. 
 
 8. But the fearful, and unbelieving, 
 and the abominable, and murderers, and 
 whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idol- 
 aters, and all liars, shall have their part 
 in the lake which burneth Avith fire and 
 brimstone, which is the second death. 
 The amended translation in tlie revision will 
 be noticed. By "the fearful" we must un- 
 derstand such as those mentioned in Heb. 10: 
 38; those who "draw-back," ".shrink back," 
 in the revision, and in the verse following, 
 "them that .shrink back unto perdition." 
 There is no reference, of course, to that "fear 
 and trembling" with which we are exhorted 
 to work out our own salvation ; nor to that 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 291 
 
 9 And there came unto nie one of "the seven angels 
 which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, 
 and tulked with me, saying. Come hither, I will shew 
 thee ' the bride, the Lamh's wife. 
 
 10 And he carried nie away "iu the spirit to a great 
 and high mountain, and shewed mc'that great city, 
 the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven froiu 
 God. 
 
 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 wile of the Lamb! 
 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain 
 great and high, and shewed me the holy city Jcrusa- 
 
 ach. 15: 1,6, 7....i ch. 19:7; ver. 2....C ch. 1: 10; 17:3....d Ezek. 48; ver. 2. 
 
 timorousness which an overcoming sense of 
 unworthiness causes. Hengstenberg is far 
 from being justified in quoting as any way in 
 point tho.se gentle rebukes by our Lord of 
 his own disciples, for their "little faith." 
 The man in the parable of the talents, who 
 accounts his lord "an austere man" and is 
 "afraid" and hides his talent in the earth, is 
 more like what is intended here. Those also 
 are included who "shrink back" from the 
 "hardness" to be encountered in a Christian 
 life, and from the self-surrenders, the cross- 
 bearing made necessary. These cut them- 
 selves off from the benefits implied in the 
 gospel offer by refusing its invitations. By 
 the "unbelieving" must be meant rejecters 
 of Christ, and especially scoffing unbelievers 
 who make a mock of redemption and "do de- 
 spite unto the Spirit of grace." The "abom- 
 inable" are those who defile themselves with 
 open and flagrant sin, like the murderer.?, the 
 fornicators, the sorcerers, idolaters, and liars 
 next mentioned. These "go away into ever- 
 lasting punishment," represented here under 
 that same imagery which has already been 
 used to describe the fate of the beast, the 
 false prophet, and the dragon. It is a "sec- 
 ond death." The first death was a sundering 
 of body and soul, and separation from all in 
 this life to which it is natural for men to cling 
 most vehemently. The second death is the 
 perdition of the soul itself, its separation from 
 God, from heaven, and from the fountain of 
 life — given over to the evil it has chosen, as 
 the worst of puni.shments. 
 
 9-27. The Holy City Described. 
 
 9. And there came unto me one of the 
 seven angels that had the seven last 
 plagues. It was "one of the seven angels 
 which had the seven vials" that showed to 
 John "the judgment of the great harlot that 
 sitteth upon many waters." It is now one of 
 the same seven angels who shows to him "the 
 bride, the Lamb's wife." In this seems to be 
 implied the part these angels have in those 
 "last things" which belong to the winding- 
 
 up of earth's history and the manifestation of 
 "the new heaven and new earth." The view 
 is thus confirmed which treats the vials as 
 belonging to the end of the Dispensation. 
 That a like instrument is used in exhibiting 
 to us those strongly contrasted figures— the 
 Harlot and the Bride— makes the contrast 
 itself more notable. It will be observed that 
 the revision translates, "w;Ao were laden with 
 the seven last plagues." We might translate, 
 "who were full of." [Thus, the angels are 
 said to be full of that with which the bowls 
 which they had were, more strictly speaking, 
 filled.— A. H.] The more intense expression 
 is used, perhaps, to represent more vividly 
 the nature of the plagues.— And talked with 
 me, saying, Come hither, I will shew 
 thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. This 
 refers to her who has before been spoken of 
 as the bride, and is now the wife. In ver. 2, 
 the simile of the "bride adorned for her hus- 
 band" is used, as before explained, to describe 
 the redeemed and glorified church. In the 
 verse now considered, there is an allusion to 
 what is said in ch. 19: 7-9, of the bridal 
 splendor and the happy "marriage supper." 
 The Lamb and the bride now appear, however, 
 in the consummation of this high and holy 
 union; it is "the bride, the wife of tlieLamb." 
 10. And he carried me away in the 
 spirit to a great and high mountain. 
 The preposition (iir\) Alford i)refers to render 
 "upon" or "onto." This, at least, is im- 
 plied. As in ch. 17: 3, we have the question 
 to consider whether to translate "in the 
 Spirit" — the Holy Spirit — or simply "in 
 spirit." Perhaps the place in ch. 1 : 10, to 
 which we again refer the reader, may be 
 allowed to decide here as in 17: 3, although 
 the cases are not strictly parallel. But as in 
 the latter place, so here, it is not the source 
 of the influence of which John is conscious 
 that is emphasized, but the effect, as giving 
 him a new "ecstatic direction" (Lange). We 
 do not suppo.se any bodily change of place, 
 but that such a change seems to occur, be- 
 
292 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 11 « Having the glory of God : and her light was like 
 unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, 
 clear as crystal ; 
 
 11 lem, coming down out of heaven from God, having 
 the glory of God: her Might was like unto a stone 
 most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as 
 
 t ver. '23 ; ch. 22 : 5. 1 Gr. luminary. 
 
 cause of the change made in the Apoca- 
 lyptic scenery. — And she.wed me that 
 great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend- 
 ing out of heaven from God. It will be 
 noticed that the revision has "the holy city 
 Jerusalem." Before it has been called "the 
 new Jerusalem"; now it is "the holy city 
 Jerusalem." The descriptive word "holy" 
 seems to anticipate what soon follows in the 
 more detailed picture. We have already 
 touched upon what is implied in the repre- 
 sentation of the final state of the redeemed 
 under the image of a city. The chief thing 
 .so intended seems to be security. It is a 
 walled city. The imagery is based upon 
 facts familiar to the age in which John 
 wrote — familiar, in fact, in all history up to 
 recent times. Every city must have its wall. 
 Only thus could those dwelling in it be se- 
 cure against robber hordes in time of peace, 
 or assaulting armies in time of war; to one 
 or the other of which in those troubled cen- 
 turies they might almost always be ex- 
 posed. Nothing is implied, here, of liability 
 on the part of the redeemed to renewed 
 assault from the hosts of evil, such as when, 
 following the millennium, "the camp of 
 the saints and the beloved city" were be- 
 leaguered by the hosts of Gog and Magog. 
 A single thought is presented in this image 
 of the city of the saved — that of the com- 
 pleteness of their salvation. Two points of 
 difference are noted between the "holy 
 city" as mentioned here, and "the beloved 
 city" in 20: 9— it now "descends out of 
 heaven from God," and it is " holy." Before 
 it was "beloved," as it is now; but now it is 
 indeed, "without spot, or wrinkle, or any 
 iiuch thing." All that is imported in the 
 clause, "descending out of heaven from 
 God," it may be impossible to show. There 
 can hardly be a reference to what Paul says 
 in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, of being 
 "caught up to meet the Lord in the air," 
 since the representation here is so wholly 
 scenic. "We may, perhaps, interpret the 
 symbolism as setting forth, chiefly, two ideas: 
 (1) the perfection of the final saved state — 
 heavenly perfection ; (2) that this perfection 
 is " from God." 
 
 11. Having the glory of God. A 
 
 "glory" caused by the immediate presence 
 of God, and more fully indicated as to its 
 nature in what follows. — And her light was 
 like unto a stone most precious, even 
 like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 
 This is the light of "the glory of God," the 
 splendor of the Divine Presence, having now 
 its dwelling amidst the redeemed, as of old 
 the Shekinah of the tabernacle and temple. 
 Hence, it is literally her "light-giver" 
 (</)co(rTijp), including, in this place, however, the 
 light imparted, with the luminary that imparts. 
 No radiance known on earth could fully 
 represent the light of this City of the Blessed, 
 save that of " a stone most precious" — that 
 diamond lustre which combines with the 
 "clearness of the crystal," the indescribable 
 hue that makes "the stone most precious" fit 
 to adorn the diadems of monarchs, and the 
 most coveted of earthly things. It is not 
 "the light of the sun" (.22:5), nor of any 
 artificial illumination. It is light seen only 
 in the immediate presence of God, and of 
 which we can only say that the most glorious 
 of earthly radiances are "like unto" it. On 
 comparing the description of the glory of 
 him that sat on the throne in ch. 4: 3, 4, with 
 that of the glory of God in this verse, it will 
 be .seen that there is a marked difference. In 
 the former it is said, " And he that sat was to 
 look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone ; 
 and there was a rainbow round about the 
 throne, in sight like unto an emerald." In 
 the latter, the light of that glory "was like 
 unto a stone most precious, even like a jaspci 
 stone most precious." The jasper, with its 
 pure, clear radiance, is said to symbolize the 
 holiness of God; tlie sardius, a red stone, his 
 righteous wrath against iniquity and sin; the 
 rainbow, his grace manifested toward the 
 guilty. These were all in place in the for- 
 mer representation while sin was to be dealt 
 with — impenitence to be visited with just 
 displeasure, and grace to be shown toward 
 the penitent. But in the New .lerusalem, as 
 Gebhardt says, "Very naturally, the red .sar- 
 dius st<me, as well as the bow like a green 
 emerald, disappear, and only the jasper of 
 crystal clearness remains as an image of God; 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 293 
 
 12 And had a wall great and high, and had "twelve 
 gates, aud at the gates twelve angels, aud names written 
 thereon, which are Ike names of the twelve tribes ot the 
 children ot Israel : 
 
 13 'On the east three gates; on the north three gates; 
 on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 
 
 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, 
 and " in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 12 crystal: having a wall great and high; having 
 twelve 'gates, aud at the 'gates twelve angels; and 
 names written thereon, which are t/ir; nanus of the 
 
 13 twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east 
 were three 'gates; and on the north three 'gates; 
 aud on the south three 'gates; and on tlie west tliree 
 
 14 'gates. And the wall of the city had twelve loun- 
 dations, and on them twelve names of the twelve 
 
 a Ezek. 48 : 31-34 b Ezek. 48 : 31-34 e M»tt. 16 : 18 ; Gal. 2:9; Ephes. 2 : 20. 1 Gr. portals. 
 
 for, with the end of the old world and its 
 sins, the nature of God can no longer mani- 
 fest itself either as wrath or as grace, but as 
 holiness." In reading the verse, we should 
 omit "and," as in the revision. 
 
 12. And had a wall, great and high, 
 and had twelve gates, and at the gates 
 twelve angels. ^^ Having," etc., is to he 
 substituted for "and had" in each place here. 
 The imagery in the description which now 
 follows seems to be, in some sense, a repro- 
 duction of that in the two last chapters of 
 Ezekiel, which might be read with profit in 
 this connection. The picture in this place, 
 however, limits itself to the city, instead of 
 including the whole land of Israel, as in 
 the former case, and while mentioning some 
 of the details of description in the older 
 prophecy, adds others. Here, as there, the 
 city has twelve gates; but we read here of 
 "twelve angels," one at each gate. — And 
 names written thereon, which are the 
 names of the twelve tribes of the chil- 
 dren of Israel. So also in Ezekiel, the 
 position of the gates, as assigned to the several 
 tribes, being there indicated. 
 
 13. On the east three gates ; on the 
 north three gates; on the south three 
 gates ; and on the west three gates. A 
 like distribution is made in the older pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 14. And the wall of the city had twelve 
 foundations, and in [on] them the names 
 of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Of 
 this, Ezekiel, a prophet of the law, has noth- 
 ing to say. Such imagery was possible only 
 when the gospel had come. This verse has 
 afforded opportunity for some of the most 
 extraordinary feats of modern "criticism." 
 Thus, Kenan founds upon it evidence of 
 John's ''hatred" for Paul. Having (L' Antp- 
 Christ p. 34), spoken of Peter and Paul as 
 "chiefs of the opposing parties in the bosom 
 of the church," he proceeds to say that "the 
 author of the Apocalypse, on the morrow after 
 
 the death of the apostles, at least of the death 
 of Peter," is seen to be "of all the Jewish 
 Christians, most hostile to Paul." In a foot- 
 note he gives his proof of this extraordinary 
 statement, which is "above all," this passage 
 in our book, "which excludes Paul from the 
 number of the apostles." From which we 
 are to understand that in representing the 
 foundations of the city as twelve, instead of 
 thirteen (the place of Judas among the twelve 
 having been filled by the choice of Matthias), 
 John necessarily excludes Paul from the 
 apostleship! Upon that, "above all," Renan 
 rests his statement that "of all the Jewish 
 Christians" John was "most hostile to Paul." 
 A better example of the shallowness of so 
 much of the vaunted "criticism," need not 
 be desired. Other rationalistic writers note 
 the passage now under view as proof that 
 John cannot have been the author of the 
 Apocalypse, since "thus to style himself a 
 foundation would be inconsistent with apos- 
 tolic modesty" — (the Speaker's Commentary, 
 which names Liicke, Ewald, and Bleek, as 
 making this objection). To all which it is 
 sufficient to reply: (1) That the idea of a 
 hostile collision between certain of the apo.s- 
 tles, especially of Paul and John, is a pure 
 fiction. How unsupported it is inaj' be in- 
 ferred from the fact that the chief point of 
 proof, so far as R^nan is concerned, at any 
 rate, is the passage now considered ; (2) that 
 there is no evidence of a question ever arising 
 amongst the apostles as to whether ^Matthias 
 should be regarded as completing the number 
 twelve, or whether Paul should be admitted 
 to the apostolic circle, either by supplanting 
 Matthias, or by making up the whole number 
 to thirteen. Paul names him.self "the apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles" (Rom. ii: m), and .seems to 
 have been strenuous only that in this office 
 he should be regarded as having furnislied 
 " the signs of an apo.stle," so that his authority 
 among the Gentile churches might not suffer. 
 (3) There is here, especially, no possibility of 
 
294 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 15 And he that talked with me " had a golden reed 
 to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall 
 thereof. . 
 
 lU And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as 
 large as the breadth: and he measured the city with 
 the reed, twelve thousand lurlongs. The length and 
 the breadth and the height of it are equal. 
 
 15 apostles of the Lamb. And he that spake with me 
 had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, 
 
 16 and the ' gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 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 furlongs: the length 
 and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. 
 
 lEzek. 40:3; Zech. 2:2; cli. 11:1. Gi: portals. 
 
 a question like this arising. What we have 
 is the description of a city seen in vision. 
 Three features of it have, so far, been named 
 —the wall, the gates, the foundation. Of the 
 wall, we have already spoken suflBciently. 
 The gates are said to be twelve, named for the 
 twelve tribes of Israel; the foundations 
 twelve— " probably," says Alford, "each 
 portit)n of the wall joining two gates had a 
 conspicuous basement, of one vast stone" — 
 and upon these "the names of the twelve 
 apostles of the Lamb." The twelve gates, 
 with the names of the tribes inscribed on 
 them, represent the church as the true Israel ; 
 the twelve foundation stones represent that 
 foundation upon which the church is built; 
 "the twelve apostles of the Lamb," in whom 
 and by whom that truth is revealed on which 
 the whole structure stands; "Jesus Christ 
 himself" being "the chief corner-stone" 
 (E|.h.2: 20). "The symbolical character of the 
 whole description," in the words of the 
 Spenkei-'s Commentary, "sets aside all refer- 
 ence to individuals, and lies apart from every 
 conclusion based upon the meaning of the 
 words taken literally"; (4) the attribution to 
 John, in such a case, of a purpose to exclude 
 Paul in a spirit of personal hostility from 
 the number of the twelve, is therefore gratu- 
 itous to the very verge of absurdity; while 
 to found upon the fact that he was himself an 
 apostle, a difficulty as to John's authorship 
 of the book, is equally trivial. John simply 
 describes, as in other cases, what came before 
 him in the vision. 
 
 15. And he that talked with me had a 
 golden reed to measure the city, and the 
 gates thereof, and the wall thereof. In 
 this and the immediately following verses we 
 have again a passage very difficult of ex- 
 planation. It is importiint as a first point in 
 the exposition to rightly conceive the ])urpose 
 of the measuring. W<! have before had this 
 act of measuring, in the case of the temple, 
 mentioned ch. 11 : 1. In that case, w*; inter- 
 preted the act of measuring as .symbolical of 
 
 protection. The conditions are all different 
 in the present case from what we found in 
 the former one, and the symbolism must 
 therefore differ. The purpose, here, is simply 
 to describe "the holy city Jerusalem," as 
 seen in the vision, and to convey, in terms of 
 human language and in imagery drawn from 
 the facts of earthly life, some idea of that 
 glorious and happy condition of the finally 
 saved, of which the city itself is a symbol. 
 In no place throughout the whole book could 
 a realistic interpretation be more entirely 
 unsuitable and misleading than here. Much 
 of the difficulty of the passage, besides, re- 
 sults from a leaning to such realism in ex- 
 positions proposed. We will, on our own 
 part, notice first the several details of the 
 description. 
 
 16. And the city lieth foursquare, and 
 the length is as large as the breadth. 
 The measurement of the city in Ezekiel 
 (4S: 30-35}, rcvcals a like proportion there. In 
 our English manner of speech, the clause, 
 "and the length is as great as the breadth," 
 would be tautology, since that is of course 
 true of any " four-square " figure. The Greek 
 word (TeTpdywi-os), translated "four-square," 
 means, literally, "four-sided," or, having 
 "four angles"; the following clause, there- 
 fore, is in a measure, epexegetical and ex- 
 planatory. — And he measured the city 
 with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. 
 "Twelve thousand stadia'^ would be more 
 exact. The stadium was one-eighth of a 
 Roman mile, and in that sense only would be 
 properly represented by the word "furlong." 
 — The length and the breadth and the 
 height of it are equal. Does this mean that 
 each side of the city was twelve thousand fur- 
 longs, and the height the same? It should 
 be notic(;d that it is said in the words next 
 before quoted, "and he measured the city 
 with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs." 
 The most natural construction is that the 
 entire circuit of the city had this extent, which 
 would give three thousand furlongs, or three 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 295 
 
 17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred 
 and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a 
 uian, that is, of the angel. 
 
 18 And the building of the wall of it was o/ jasper: 
 and the city wan pure gold, like unto clear glass. 
 
 17 And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and 
 forty and four cubits, avcordhuj to the nie;u-jure of a 
 
 18 man, that is, of an angel. And the building of the 
 wall thereof was jasper: and the city was pure gold. 
 
 hundred and seventy-five miles, to each side. 
 This is the view of Stuart, Alford, De Wette, 
 and others. The statement that the length, 
 breadth, and height were equal, involves a 
 difficulty. That the city should be three hun- 
 dred and seventy-five miles square is conceiv- 
 able. That it should be the same in height 
 seems well-nigh impossible, according to every 
 reali.sticviev/of thecase. " Everything shows, 
 however,'' as Stuart most properly says, "that 
 all literal exegesis in such a case as the pres- 
 ent, excepting merely so far as to get a proper 
 idea of the grandeur and the eongruity of the 
 imagery, is entirely out of question. . . . We 
 are relieved by calling to mind that all is 
 symbol." As regards the vast extent of the 
 city, apart from its height, the same writer 
 notes "that subsequent parts of the descrip- 
 tion bring to view country as well as city." 
 17. And he measured the wall thereof, 
 a hundred and forty and four cubits, 
 according to the measure of a man, that 
 is, of the angel. "Themeasure of a man " 
 means human measure; or suc^h as men em- 
 ploy. The revision reads, "of a man, that is, 
 of an angel." Some commentators, accept- 
 ing this rendering, refer to the passage in 
 Luke 20: 36, as a parallel one, where we read 
 of redeemed men, that they shall be "equal 
 unto the angels "; and "reckon and measure 
 all things by a spiritual and divine arithmetic, 
 and by a heavenly and angelic mensuration." 
 This is Wordsworth's comment. Stuart's is 
 far more likely to be correct. "It is an angel," 
 he says, "who makes the ineasurement; and 
 lest we might think it was a larger, or at any 
 rate a different, measure from that in ordi- 
 nary use {avOpiairov, of a man), the writer ex- 
 pressly guards us against such an error." He 
 takes the concluding words of the verse in the 
 Greek (6 i<TTi.v ayy4\ov, that is, of an angel), as 
 equivalent to that is, the measure of an ang I 
 (o fiTTLv fidrpov ayye\ov), and accordingly tran.s- 
 late.s, "which is that ^or the measure] of the 
 angel." The height of the wall, one hundred 
 and fortj'-four cubits, gives us two hundred 
 and sixteen feet. Now, if we apply ourselves 
 to gain from these details some di.stinct con- 
 ception of what they import, we must begin 
 
 by recalling the fact that John is here pre- 
 senting to us, under imagery takeiv from 
 earthly things and man's earthlj^ life, a pic- 
 ture of the heavenly state as it shall finally 
 be. Two main conceptions evidently appear 
 in it — that of a city, with Jerusalem as the 
 type, and that of a garden, a paradise, with 
 Eden as the tj'pe. This latter will come dis- 
 tinctly in view in subsequent expositions, 
 Stuart expresses it b^' saying that the descrip- 
 tion embraces "country as well as cit^*." This, 
 then, which we have before us is the home of 
 that "great multitude" of the redeemed, as it 
 shall be in " the new heaven and new earth." 
 Bearing this in mind, and remembering that 
 the whole scene is pictorial, we see a manifest 
 reason for the extent implied in the measure- 
 ment noted above. Various jittempts have 
 been made to explain the height of the city, 
 so as to relieve the description in this particu- 
 lar of its difficulties. Lutiiardt, as quoted in 
 the Speaker's Commentary, "supposes a city 
 situated on a lofty mountain, with its houses 
 in terraces around the mountain sides. The 
 city would thus appear as a pyramid." Al ford's 
 view is similar — that the height of the city 
 included the rock, or hill, on which it was 
 placed, "thus recalling somewhat the form 
 of the earthly Jeru.«alem on its escarpment 
 above the valley of the Kedron." We pre- 
 fer this to Stuart's suggestion that "in the 
 mind of the seer it [the city] was regarded as 
 containing mansions all of one height, and 
 which, from the loftiness of this height, were 
 fitted to hold almost countless myriads of 
 inhabitants." If one considers what, from 
 the measurements given, this height mu.st be, 
 the extreme difficulty of the conception will 
 at once appear. The tremendous contra.st, 
 too, between the height of the buildings and 
 the height of the wall, almost ju.stifies Alford's 
 characterization of this view as "too absurd 
 to come at all into question." For some sug- 
 gestions as to the symbolical significance of 
 this whole passage — an element in the entire 
 case of great im])ortance — we refer the reader 
 to the General Comments at the close of the 
 chapter. 
 18 And the building of the wall of it 
 
296 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 19 "And the foundations of the wall of the city were 
 garnished with all manner of precious stones. The 
 tirst foundation icK.s jasper ; the second, sapphire ; the 
 third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 
 
 2c) The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the 
 seventh, chrysolyte; tlie eighth, heryl ; the ninth, a 
 topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, a 
 jacintii; the twellth, an amethyst. 
 
 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every 
 several gate was of one pearl: 'and the street of the 
 city xviis pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
 
 22 ■'And 1 saw no temple therein : for tlie Lord God 
 Almighty and the Lamh are the temple of it. 
 
 19 like unto pure glass. The foundations of the wall 
 of the city were adorned with all manner of precious 
 stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, 
 
 20isapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, em- 
 erald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the 
 seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, 
 topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; tlie eleventh, -]a.- 
 
 22 cinth ; the twellth, amethyst. And the twelve agates 
 were twelve pearls; each one of the several sgates 
 was of one pearl : and the street of the city was pure 
 
 22 gold, -las it were transparent glass. And I saw uo 
 temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and 
 
 a Isa. 54 : 11. . . .6 ch. 22 : 2. . . .c John 4 : 
 
 -1 Or, lapis lazuli 2 Or, sapphire. . . .3 Gr. portals 4 Or, transparent as gla 
 
 was of jasper; and the city was pure 
 gold, like unto clear glass. The word 
 here transhited "building" {iv&MixTi\(i <.<;), is a 
 very rare one, found, indeed, only in one 
 place in Josephus (4n(. i5: 9.6), where the 
 meaning seems to be, not "building," but 
 "materials." Stuart understands by it, in 
 this place, "superstructure"; that is, so 
 much of the wall as was above the founda- 
 tion. It is clear, at all events, that a dis- 
 tinction is made between this "building" 
 and the "foundations" mentioned in the 
 verses which follow. To represent the 
 Bplendor of the city itself, it is here described 
 as "of pure gold, like unto clear glass," 
 which must be, as Alford expresses it, "ideal 
 gold, transparent, such as no gold is here, 
 but sur])assing it in si)lendor." 
 
 19,20. And the foundations of the wall 
 ©f the city were garnished [ndorned'] with 
 all manner of precious stones. More 
 literally, ''''with every precious sto7ie.^' The 
 more particular statement next following, in 
 some measure, ex])lains this. — The first 
 foundation was jasper; the second, sap- 
 phire ; the third, a chalcedony; the 
 fourth, an emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ; 
 the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chryso- 
 lite ; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a 
 topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the 
 eleventh, a jacinth ; the twelfth, an ame- 
 thyst. The passage in Isa. 54: 11, 12, may he 
 noticed in this connection : "O thou afflicted, 
 tossed witii tempest, and not comforted, be- 
 hold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, 
 and lay tiiy foundations with sapphires. And 
 1 will make thy windows agates, and thy 
 gates of carbunc^les [lit., "sparkling gems"], 
 and all thy borders [better, ''thy whole ci)'- 
 cwi^"] of pleasant stones." The numbering, 
 in our present passage, of the several founda- 
 tions — "first," "second," "third," etc. — re- 
 fers, doubtless, to the spaces between the 
 
 gates. The foundation, in each of these in- 
 tervals, is represented as composed of a single 
 vast stone, "precious" as described. 
 
 21. And the twelve gates were twelve 
 pearls; every several gate was of one 
 pearl ; and the street of the city was 
 pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
 The mention of transparent gold, like glass, 
 reminds us of ver. 18, where it is said that 
 "the city" was "of pure gold, like unti) 
 clear glass." The word in Greek for street 
 (wAaTeia) mcaiis, iiot the buildings, but the 
 level way, doubtless here the pavement. It 
 is to be noticed that while the foundatit)ns of 
 the city have the variety here mentioned, the 
 gates exhibit an equally remarkable same- 
 ness. Each of them is a pearl — a thing held 
 in human estimation as most precious, which 
 exhibits no such variety as precious stones do, 
 and never needs embellishment at the hand 
 of man. Of the symbolism implied in the 
 precious stones of the city's foundations, and 
 the pearl of its gates, we speak in the General 
 Comments below. , 
 
 22. And I saw no temple therein ; for 
 the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
 are the temple of it. The word for temple 
 (vaos) has here a like significance with that 
 which we found in it at ch. 11 : 1. The allu- 
 sion is to the temple at Jerusalem, and more 
 especially to that inner sanctuary, the Holy 
 Place and the Holy of Holies. What we are 
 told here is that in the New Jerusalem there 
 will be no such .sanctuary; and the reason, 
 that "the Lord God Almight3' and the Lamb 
 are the temple of it." This must mean that 
 in their communion with God and the Lamb, 
 the redeemed of the new heaven and new 
 earth will need no such interviedinries as are 
 necessary in this world and this present life, 
 and as wt^re especially .so in the times of the 
 Old Dispensation — neither altar, nor victim; 
 nor i)riest, incense, or sacred fire; nor sprin- 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 EEVELATION. 
 
 297 
 
 23 "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of 
 the moon, to sliiue in it: lor the glory of God did 
 lighten it, and the Laiub i.s the light lliereof. 
 
 24 *An<l the nations of them wliieh are saved shall 
 walk in th ■ light of it : and the kings of the earth do 
 bring tl eir 4lory and honour into it. 
 
 25 <:Aiid ihe gales of it shall not be shut at all by 
 day: for "there shall be no night there. 
 
 26 «And they shall bring the glory and honour of the 
 nations into it. 
 
 27 And /there shall in no wise enter into it any 
 thing that delileth, neither irhalsoevcr worketh abomi- 
 nation, or nuikfj/i a lie: but they which are written in 
 the Lamb's s book of life. 
 
 23 the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city 
 hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, lo 
 shine upon it: for the glory of (iod did lighten it, 
 
 24 'and the lamp thereof i.v the Lamb. And Ihe nations 
 shall walk -amidst the light there<jf: and the kings 
 
 25 of the earth do bring their glory into it. .\nd the 
 ■*gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (lor 
 
 26 there shall be no night there) : and they shall iiring 
 the glory and the lionour of the naliims into it: 
 
 27 and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing 
 ^unclean, or he thaf'maketh an abomination and a 
 lie: but only they who are written in the Lamb's 
 
 aver. 11: Ism. 24: 2:{; 60 19, 20; ch. 22- 5.... 6 Isi 
 e ver. 24 . . . ./ Isa. 35 : »; 52 : 1 ; Bil: 21; Joel 3 : 17; 
 
 60: 3, 5, U: 66: 12....clsa. 60: 11.... d la 
 
 .. , Jh. 21: U : 15.....I7 Pliii.4: 3; ch. 3 : 5 ; 13 : H ; 20: 12. 
 
 the lamp thereo/. ...i Or, by 3 Gr. portals 4 Gr. common 5 Or, doeth. 
 
 :2n; Zech. 14 : 7 : ch..22 :5.... 
 r, and the Lamb, 
 
 kled blood. These were types, and in the 
 New Jerusalem all will have reached their 
 fulfillment; they were provisions for a state 
 in which all things are seen "as through a 
 glass, darkly" ; in that perfect life which the 
 redeemed live, they see "face to face." 
 
 23. And the city had [hath] no need of 
 the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in 
 it; for the glory of God did lighten it, 
 and the Lamb is the light [lamp] thereof. 
 In Hebrews (i: 3), we read that the iSon is "the 
 brightness" [^^ effulgence," Revised Version] 
 of the Father's "glory." Some commenta- 
 tors, like Grotius and Ewald, put an unjusti- 
 fiably forced construction upon what is said 
 in this verse, when they explain it as meaning 
 that "the glory of God" is the sun, and "the 
 Lamb" the moon. The verse presents a sin- 
 gle and simple truth — that the conditions of 
 redeemed life will be so changed that the 
 light of sun or moon will no longer be 
 needed ; the immediate presence of God ir- 
 radiates the city of their abode, as now it 
 irradiates heaven. It seems to be implied, 
 however, that the personal manifestation of 
 God in the midst of the redeemed will be the 
 Lamb. "The glory of God" does not neces- 
 sarily signify that God the Father will be 
 thus manifested, but only that "glory" 
 which indicates his peculiar presence, as the 
 Shekinah of old. "The Lamb," however, 
 is a di.stinct and conceivable personality, and 
 it may be that in him peculiarly "the bright- 
 ness of" the Father's "glory" may shine. 
 
 24. And the nations of them which are 
 saved shall walk in the light of it. The 
 best Greek te.\t omits "of them which are 
 saved," and the words therefore are, in a 
 correct tran.slation, ''And the nations shall 
 walk in the light of it." "Shall walk by 
 means of her light," is Alford's translation.— 
 
 And the kings of the earth do bring their 
 glory and honour into it. It is to be no- 
 ticed that the tense of the verb is the present 
 ("honor," riM.r\v, is here omitted by the re- 
 visers). Upon this, as we shall see directly, 
 an important point of expt)sitit)n is made to 
 rest. 
 
 25. And the gates of it shall not be 
 shut at all by day: for there shall be no 
 night there. It will be noticed that the 
 revisers have included the second jiart of 
 the verse in parenthesis. This seems to be 
 correct; and the meaning becomes, accord- 
 ingly, that if shut at all, the gates tnust be 
 shut by day, since there fs no night there; 
 but as they are not shut by day, they stand 
 ever open. 
 
 26. And they shall bring the glory and 
 honour of the nations into it. With this 
 seems to be connected, in meaning, that which 
 immediately follows. 
 
 27. And there shall in no wise enter 
 into it anything that defilcth [auj/thing 
 unclean], neither Avhatsoever [or, he that] 
 worketh abomination, or maketh a lie 
 [■tnaketh an abomination and a lie] ; but [onli/] 
 they which are written in the Lamb's 
 book of life. Alford's comment upon the 
 words, "And they shall bring the glory and 
 honor [costliness, he translates], "of the 
 nations into it," is: "Among the mysteries of 
 this new heaven and new earth, this is set forth 
 to us: that, besides the glorified church, there 
 .shall still be dwelling on the renewed earth 
 nations, organized under kings [referring to 
 the words in ver. 24, 'the kings of the earth,' 
 etc.], and saved by means of the influences 
 of the heavenly city." His final comment, 
 at the end of the chapter, is : " If then the 
 kings of the earth, and the nations, bring 
 their glory and their treasures into her [the 
 
^98 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 city], and if none shall enter into her that is 
 not written in the book of life, it follows, that 
 these kings, and these nations, are written in 
 the book of life. And so perhaps some light 
 may be thrown on one of the darkest mys- 
 teries of redemption. There may be — I say 
 it with all diffidence — those who have been 
 saved by Christ without even forming a part 
 of his visible organized church." This last 
 we may believe without accepting that view 
 of this passage on which Alford has founded 
 it. "The outlook of the prophet," says Car- 
 penter, "is from the loneliness and depression 
 of the then persecuted and despised Church; 
 but in the vision he sees her beautiful and 
 enlarged and honored. All nations and peo- 
 ples flock within the walls; it is the echo of 
 the ancient prophecies. 'AH kings shall fall 
 down before him ; all nations shall honor 
 him.' " But do these words of the ancient 
 prophecy point to the new heaven and new 
 earth, and to the holy city, there, of the re- 
 deemed? Are they not fulfilled, rather, in 
 the great events that usher in and attend the 
 millennium? The view of Alford and Car- 
 penter, alike seems to thrust in among the 
 symbolisms of the glowing picture in this 
 chapter realistic fnterpretations quite out of 
 harmony with them. Will there be uncon- 
 verted beings and nations on the new earth 
 "saved by means of the influences of the 
 heavenly city " ? Are not " all things^' made 
 "new"? Will there be earthly pomps and 
 grandeurs brought to the heavenly city by i 
 these "kings" when thus saved, and con- j 
 tributed to the enrichment of the new Jeru- j 
 saleni — the foundation of whose walls are 
 precious stones, whose gates are pearls, and 
 the streets and dwellings pure gold? It is 
 clearly impossible to mix the realistic with 
 the symbolical in this wa3'. There will be 
 saved kings in the heavenly city, without 
 doubt — saved as others were, by belief in 
 Christ. There will be "nations" of the 
 saved, gresit nuiltitudes, gathered out of every 
 people and tongue and tribe under the whole 
 heaven. All that was real and lasting in the 
 glory of either nations or kings will be seen 
 in the heavenly city ; for there are attain- 
 ments and achievements in this world which 
 belong, in their highest nature and results, to 
 eternity as well as to time. All these will 
 enhance the beauty and glory and felicity of 
 the heavenly city. It will not be alone the 
 
 glory of God and the Lamb which shall 
 make heaven and the city of the Lord what 
 they are to be. Every one of the faithful and 
 the saved will "bring" his own tribute; and 
 those "kings" who feared God and wrought 
 righteousness will also bring theirs. And 
 these shall not be marred and dishonored by 
 contact with the "unclean," or with aught 
 that "maketh an abomination and a lie." The 
 jeweled splendors of the city, and its streets 
 and dwellings of translucent gold, symbolize 
 its purity no less than its felicity. For only 
 thus could that gladdening word become true, 
 "The tabernacle of God is with men." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 We observe in the case of the "hoi}' city," 
 described in this chapter, that same alterna- 
 tion of the symbolism of a woman with that 
 of a city, which we noted in the case of Baby- 
 lon. In the early part of the chapter the 
 angel says to John: "I will show thee the 
 Bride, the wife of the Lamb." When this 
 vision comes to be seen by him, it is "the holy 
 city Jerusalem" which he beholds. This 
 al'ternation in the sj^mbolism makes it the 
 more evident that, in neither case, ought any 
 approach to realistic interpretation to be in- 
 dulged. What is really meant, is neither a 
 woman, an actual bride, nor a city, a material 
 Jerusalem; any more than by Bab^'lon was 
 meant an actual, depraved woman, or an 
 actual, wicked, and worldly city. The point 
 is, perhaps, well-nigh self-evident, j'et it is .so 
 important that it needs to be emphasized. 
 What the chapter describes to us is the 
 church of the saved — that "general assembly 
 and church of the first-born, whose names are 
 written in heaven" — in that condition of 
 glory and felicity which has been promised 
 to it, and which will, in "the new heaven and 
 the new earth," become a possession forever. 
 It is represented in the imagery of this 
 chapter, now as "the Bride, the Lamb's 
 wife," and now as a beautiful and glorious 
 city, with foundations of precious .stone, with 
 gates of pearl, and wit!) streets and dwellings 
 of tran.slucent gold. It cannot bt*, literally, 
 bot : a woman and a city ; in fact it is neither, 
 save as seen in a vision. The fact underneath 
 all, is the completely achieved redemption 
 of all those who were given to the Son by 
 the Father, and who, in :he economies and 
 methods of grace, are finally saved. 
 
Ch. XXL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 299 
 
 It is with the symbolism of the city, that we 
 have chiefly to deal in the exposition of our 
 present chapter. It is "the holy city Jerusa- 
 lem." In other words, the basis of the imagery 
 is found in that city of the Lord's chosen, 
 in ancient times, standing on its steep height 
 above the valley of the Kedron, with its 
 walls, and palaces, and temple. As the 
 angel is about to show to John the "new" 
 Jerusalem, he takes him, we are told (ver. lo), 
 "<o a great and high mountain.'^ The great- 
 ness and height of this mount of vision seems 
 to be emphasized, and require us to conceive 
 of the seer as having, in the vision, an out- 
 look over a vast extent, while from his own 
 great elevation, what is said of the height, as 
 well as what is said of the great length and 
 breadth of the city, becomes more possible to 
 our imagination. We are, perhaps, justified 
 in viewing the situation of the seer, as being 
 like that of an observer looking upon the 
 actual Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives; 
 only it is a case where the smallness of the 
 reality on which the imagery rests, is to the 
 grandeur of the imagery itself, almost as the 
 infinitely little to the infinitely vast. 
 
 For we are to" remember that what is before 
 John in the vision, represents the results of 
 redemption, not only in their glory and their 
 beauty ; but also in their vastness. '■'Nations 
 walk in the light of" this city. It is the 
 redeemed "out of every nation and people, 
 and tongue under the whole heaven," whose 
 heavenly state is exhibited to him in the 
 imagery employed. If there be any propor- 
 tions in the imagery to that which the vision 
 represents, earthly conceptions as to the great- 
 ness of cities— even the greatest— must be 
 dismissed, and we must try to bring our idea 
 of the heavenly to some approach, at least, to 
 that which the heavenly must be. An earthly 
 city with dimensions such as are here de- 
 scribed, is, of course, an impossibility; but 
 far more an impossibility is it, to imagine the 
 "nations" of the redeemed all gathered in 
 any city ever yet built or inhabited by men. 
 The chief difficulties in the chapter, in fact, 
 arise out of the tendency to compare heavenly 
 things with earthly, and to insist that the 
 limitations of the earthly shall rule our con- 
 ceptions of the heavenly. There is, in fact, 
 but a single element in the whole description 
 that occasions any serious difficulty. This is 
 in the rei)rcsent:itinii of the luight of the 
 
 city. This difficulty is partly met in the 
 suggestion quoted from Alford and from 
 Luthardt, that we may supi)ose "a city set on 
 a hill" — fulfilling, in an infinite sense, that 
 saying of our Lord in which his peiijile are 
 thus described, even in their earthly state. 
 But the numbers here given are, we must 
 also assume and remember, themselves sym- 
 bolical. They are not representative of exact 
 measurements; they simply present, under 
 the image of such measurements, the great 
 spiritual fact that the redeemed of the Lord 
 are a countless multitude. Whatever city 
 should be their abode, would rccpiire to be 
 of an extent far surpassing any wiiich men 
 have ever imagined. In its compass, it would 
 be like a great emi)ire; in its height, towering 
 upward far above the clouds. The distinc- 
 tion of the heavenly and the earthly seems to 
 become lost in such a conception, and the 
 imagination sees angels and men meeting 
 upon the lofty pinnacles of the city, as if it 
 were but the flight of a moment from the 
 abode of the one to the abode of the other. 
 Clearly, we must dismiss the materialistic 
 from our conception of what this wonderful 
 picture reveals to us, and tr3' to imagine, in 
 some imperfect way, things "which eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
 into the heart of man ; but God hath re- 
 vealed them unto us by his Spirit." 
 
 What we have said applies equally to the 
 representation given of the city, in the foun- 
 dation of its wall, its gates, and the gold of 
 its streets and dwellings. What we must try 
 to reach and grasp, is the truth beneath the 
 imagery. (1) One part of tliat truth is the 
 absolute security of the final heavenl3' state. 
 Of that the wall itself is the symbol. (2) 
 Another is the realization then, of that which 
 here was only type, and promise, and pro- 
 vision. The description given comprehends, 
 we find, both Dispensations. The names of 
 the tribes enrolled on the gates, represent that 
 ancient Israel, in whose history, whose law, 
 and whose worship was provided such a rich 
 array of types of better things to come. In the 
 names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, en- 
 rolled upon the several foundations between 
 the gates, and on which the wall .stood, is 
 represented all that for the sake of which the 
 apostleship itself was in.stituted— the revealed 
 method of redemption on which our .salva- 
 tion stands. The very absence ofthe" temple" 
 
300 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 AND he shewed me »a pure river of water of life, I 1 booli of life. And he shewed ine a river of water of 
 clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
 God and of the Lamb. I of liod and of ' the Lamb, in the midst of the street 
 
 a Ezek. 47 : 1 ; Zeoli. 14: 8. 1 Or, the Lamb. In the midst of the street thereof, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life. 
 
 is indicative of the same thing now noticed. 
 For the temple in ancient times, and as well 
 the organized church and its ordinances and 
 instrumentalities, in a later age, were indic- 
 ative of things which were, in their form, to 
 "vanish away," while their substance should 
 be found again in that of which they were 
 the types. These were things "in part"; 
 "when that which is perfect is come, then 
 that which is in part shall be done away." 
 God's covenant of grace given to ancient 
 Israel, and represented in our vision in the 
 names of the tribes; and that revealed truth, 
 committed to the apostleship for final revela- 
 tion, in which this covenant took form as 
 salvation and a Saviour; — these remain for- 
 ever. In the new earth, they realize to the 
 redeemed all that which in the old earth they 
 had promised. But temples, and altars, and 
 victims, and mediating pinests, and even the 
 ministers and ordinances of the later and truer 
 sanctuary, are needed no more in a state 
 where all that was foreshadowed by these, 
 and provided in them, is realized in the direct 
 communion of the redeemed soul with the 
 redeemhtg God. (3) Another thing set forth 
 in the symbolisms of this chapter, is the per- 
 feetloii of the final heavenly state. The pearl 
 of the gates, the precious stones of the foun- 
 dation, the gold of the dwelling and the 
 streets — if the earth and the world had been 
 ransacked for objects which might supply 
 imageries of an absolute perfection, it is these, 
 and only these, which we can imagine as 
 serving that purpose in the very highest 
 degree. Some writers instance the pearl of 
 the gates as symbolizing how perfect, in itself 
 and alone, is that way of entrance "into the 
 city," which is "by Jesus Christ." This 
 may, perhajjs, not be an overstrained view. 
 Certain it is, that as the pearl is always one, 
 and never mam/, as is the case with the pre- 
 cious .stone, so is there "none other name given 
 under heaven or among men whereby we 
 must be .saved," but this; and as the pearl 
 shines always in its native lustre, and never 
 needs nor is capable of any embellishment 
 at the hands of man, so are we saved, only 
 
 and alone, by faith in the Saviour. (4) Allied 
 to the perfection of the heavenly state is its 
 purity, symbolized al.so in the fine gold, and 
 the undimmed lustre of pearls and stones. It 
 is yet more expressly indicative of this when 
 we are told how all that is unclean and false, 
 even the very shadow and semblance of it, 
 never enters, nor even comes near to this 
 "holy city." These shall "iw no wise enter 
 
 into it." 
 
 Jerusalem, the glorious! 
 The glory of the elect, 
 
 dear and future vision 
 That eager hearts expect; 
 
 Ev'n now by faith I see thee, 
 
 Ev'n here thy walls discern ; 
 To thee my thoughts are kindled, 
 
 And strive, and pant, and yearn ! 
 
 The Cross is all thy splendor, 
 
 The Crucified, thy praise; 
 His laud and benediction 
 
 Thy ransomed people raise. 
 Jerusalem! exulting 
 
 On that securest shore, 
 
 1 hope thee, wish thee, sing thee, 
 And love thee evermore! 
 
 O sweet and blessed Country ! 
 
 Shall I e'er see thy face? 
 O sweet and blessed Country! 
 
 Shall I e'er win thy grace? 
 Exult, O dust and ashes! 
 
 The Lord shall be thy part; 
 His onh', his forever, 
 
 Thou shalt be, and thou art ! — Bernard. 
 
 PARADISE RESTORED. 
 
 1,2. Thk River and the Tree of Life. 
 
 1. And he shewed me a pure river o( 
 water of life, clear as crystal, proceed- 
 ing out of the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb. There is a question of pointing as to 
 this, together with the following verse. Tisch- 
 endorf s pointing is the same as in the text 
 used in our old version, with a period after 
 the word "Lamb." The text of Westcott and 
 Hort makes no pause at this word, but places 
 a colon at (auT^t), "it," connecting with the 
 first verse the opening words of the second. 
 With this punctuation, the first verse will 
 stand thus: And he showed me a river [omit 
 
Ch. XXIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 301 
 
 "pure"] of water of life, clear ["bright," 
 "brightly shining," is better] as crystai,pro- 
 ceeding out of the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb, in the midst of tJie street of it; that is, 
 the street of the city. It will be seen that the 
 pointing of the revisers, above, is the same as 
 tliis, with the exception that where the Greek 
 has a colon, the revision has a period. The gen- 
 eral sense of the passage does not seem to be 
 atfected by the ditferenee in punctuation last 
 mentioned; save that in the text of Westcott 
 and Hort, the meaning is, perhaps, more 
 clear. What John saw '/vas, evidently, a 
 brightly shining river flowing through the 
 midst of the street — the "broad street" 
 {itKoLTela.) of the city. This "broad .street" of 
 the city is in harmony with what is so usual 
 in Oriental cities, and was no less so in ancient 
 ones — the wide street running through the 
 midst, the centre of city life and city traffic. 
 The "river" recalls what is written of the 
 original paradise, man's first home — how "a 
 river went out of Eden to water the garden, 
 and from thence" — from the point where it 
 left the garden, after traversing it from side 
 to side, apparently — "it was parted, and be- 
 came four heads" (Gen.2:io). As we connect 
 what is here said with what is mentioned in 
 21 : 23 of the city there described — "the glory 
 of God did lighten it," — we are reminded of 
 these words in Psalm 36: 7-9: 
 How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God ; 
 And the sons of man may trust in the shadow of thy 
 
 wings. 
 They shall be fully satisfied with the abundance of thy 
 
 house : 
 And thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy 
 
 pleasures. 
 For with ffiee is /he fountain of life : 
 In thy light shall we see light. 
 
 [ConanCs Translation. 
 
 Such experiences, in the measure possible, 
 are granted to the Lord's redeemed p?ople 
 even. now; the fullness of what is implied in 
 this and in our own present text, however, 
 comes only when God has "made all things 
 new." When it is said in our passage that the 
 river of the water of life proceeds "out of 
 the throne of God and of the Lamb," the 
 general meaning '.s the same as in the words 
 of David just quoted: "With thee is the 
 fountain of life." The mention of the 
 "throne" may have some reference to that 
 sovereign good pleasure of God, according to 
 which the grace of salvation, present and 
 
 final, is dispensed ; perhaps, also, to the fact 
 that it is from him whose power and will are 
 supreme in the universe, that the eternal life 
 of the redeemed flows to them. There is 
 special significance in the mention in unison 
 of "God and the Lamb." In the Gospel, by 
 this same apostle, this is a constant feature — 
 the association of Father and Hon, alike in 
 the works of mercy wrought hy the hater in 
 his earthly mi.ssion, and in that infinitely 
 greater work of redeniption. A like asso- 
 ciation is seen here, as also where in the pre- 
 vious chapter it is said that the liiht of the 
 city is the glory of God, and the Lamb its 
 lamp, while the Lord God Almighty and the 
 Lamb are the temple of it. We find it char- 
 acteristic of this apostle that he thus associates 
 these Divine Persons in all that concerns the 
 redeemed people, whether in the eflectua- 
 tion or in the consummation of the redeeming 
 work. That the river is a "river of life," 
 declares its symbolism. In the rich grouping 
 of imagery found in the whole description, 
 the river alike suggests the source, the full- 
 ness, and the exhaustlessness of that eternal 
 "life" which comprehends all the elements 
 of final and perfect blessedness. No more ex- 
 pressive symbol of this could be imagined 
 than that of the flowing river, its limpid 
 waters ever brightly shining, its source 
 exhaustless, and its stream ever full, 
 while along its banks blooms and verdures 
 abound.— And on either side of the river 
 was there the tree of life. "On this side 
 of the river and on that" (imevBev Ka.\ eKcietv). 
 Lange renders the Greek word for "tree" 
 with the German word Geholz, "wood," and 
 adds this comment: "A collection of trees, 
 having the common character of trees of 
 life" ; with the note of Diisterdieck quoted, 
 that the word "generically denotes the entire 
 mass of trees." In English, the word 
 "wood'" is often used in this way. Whether, 
 however, the Greek (fwAor) has this meaning, 
 is more than doubtful. The original meaning 
 of the word is the wood made from a tree ; 
 but in New Testament Greek it seems to be 
 used as a synonym of the ordinary' word for 
 "a tree" (SevSpov). The writers just named 
 were perhaps influenced in this render- 
 ing by a wish to represent, what is evi- 
 dently correct, many trees instead of one; 
 the picture being that of a river bordered 
 with trees on either side Our word "tree," 
 
302 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 2 "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side 
 of the river, was there 'the tree of life, which bare 
 twelve in/iiiiti'r of fruits, and yielded her fruit every 
 month: and the leaves of the tree were "for the healing 
 of the nations. 
 
 2 thereof. And on this side of the river and on that 
 was Mhe tree of life, bearing twelve -manner oj 
 fruits, yielding its fruit every month : and the leaves 
 
 a Ezek. 47: 12; ch. 21 : 21 & Gen. 2: 9; ch. 2: 7 cch. 21: 24. 1 Or. a tret 2 Or. crops of fruit. 
 
 however, is often used in this way, the inten- 
 tion being to indicate, not the fact of a single 
 tree, but t .at the trees, however numerous, are 
 all of one kind — oak, maple, pine, or whatever 
 else. So here ; the trees bordering the river 
 "on this side and that," were trees, or "the 
 tree," of life. — Which bare twelve manner 
 of fruits. The revision toUows the old ver- 
 sion in supplying the words "'manner of," 
 which are not in the Greek. Literally, the 
 rendering is, "bearing twelve fruits. The 
 Speaker's Commentary prefers to translate, 
 " twelve crops of fruit" : it quotes Burger as 
 rendering, "a twelve-fold harvest of fruits," 
 which is rather a paraphrase than a transla- 
 tion. Stuart renders, "producing twelve 
 fruit-harvests" ; giving to the Greek (/capTrou?) 
 this meaning of "fruit-harvests," which is a 
 not unusual one. This seems, at all events, 
 the idea implied, as the following words will 
 show.— And yielded her [its] fruit every 
 month. Thus, there would be, as Stuart 
 argues, twelve fruit-gatherings every year. 
 "It is," he says, "the abundance of the har- 
 vests, not the variety of the fruit, which the 
 writer aims to describe." The passage in 
 Ezekiel (*"!■■ 7,9), may be read with profit in this 
 connection: "Now when I returned, behold, 
 at the banks of the river were very many 
 
 trees, on the one side and on the other 
 
 And it shall come to pass, that everything 
 that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the 
 waters shall come, shall live." In ver. 12 of 
 the same chapter, we read of these trees that 
 their "leaf shall not fade, neither shall the 
 fruit thereof be consumed; it shall bring 
 forth new fruit according to his months, be- 
 cause their waters they issued out of the 
 sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for 
 meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." 
 Like this last, are the words in our present 
 text — and the leaves of the tree were for 
 the healing oi the nations. Stuart seems 
 to hold the same view as Alford with refer- 
 ence to the "nations" here mentioned. "The 
 distant nations," he say.«, "may derive heal- 
 ing and life- preserving virtue from the 
 leaves of the trees, carried abroad and dis- 
 
 tributed among them." He refers to ch. 21: 
 24-26 — Alford's comments upon which we 
 have already noticed — and then adds: "where 
 nations living at a distance are included in 
 the new world." Bengel, in his comments 
 upon the same passage, says: "This might 
 throw some light on the question, how it shall 
 fare in eternity with the heathen, who have 
 not received the gospel." Hengstenberg 
 thinks that this "is to be entirely rejected." 
 He adds: "No intermediate state is to be 
 thought of as possible, where all the circum- 
 .stances are of a fixed character, and no room 
 is left for change. We can the less conceive 
 of a dwelling of the heathen outside of Jeru- 
 salem, since it is without this that the tree 
 of life stands." The note in the Speaker's 
 Commentary is: "The sense is clearly that 
 the healing virtues of the tree of life supply 
 the remedy for that sickness of the soul which 
 troubled the "nations" during their earthly 
 existence, but to which they shall no more be 
 subject in the City of God." Alford's view 
 is shared by De Wette, Ziillig, and Ewald. 
 Kenan's characteristic comment is: "Accord- 
 ing to the author [of the Apocal3'pse, ^ par 
 excellence the book of Jewish pride,' accord- 
 ing to him] the distinction between the Jews 
 and the Pagans will continue in the kingdom 
 of God. While the Twelve Tribes eat of the 
 fruits of the tree of life, the Gentiles must 
 content themselves with a medical decocticm 
 of its leaves." He speaks of the words, " for 
 the healing of the nations," as ^^ trait iron- 
 ique,^^ an ironical turn of the phrase. Re- 
 nan's frequent unintentional reductio ad 
 absurdiim might be a just cause of complaint 
 for advocates of the "higher criticism." 
 There is much of importance in Hengsten- 
 berg's reminder that in what these two la.«t 
 chapters of our book describe, "all the cir- 
 cumstances are of a fixed character, and no 
 room is left for change." The first eight 
 verses of the chapter preceding the present 
 one are pervaded by this idea. " Tlie former 
 things are passed away"; "Behold, I make 
 all things new"; " //e that overcomeih" — 
 overcometh now — "shall inherit all tilings" ; 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 303 
 
 3 And " there shall be no more curse : ' but the throne 
 of (lOd aud of the Lamb shall be in it: and his servants 
 shall serve liiui : 
 
 4 And '■they shall see his face; and ^his name shall be 
 in their foreheads. 
 
 3 of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And 
 there shall be i no curse any more: and the throne 
 of God and of the Lamb shall be therein : and his 
 
 4 servants shall serve him ; and they shall see his 
 
 aZeoh. 14: 11 b Ezek. 48: 35 c Matt. 5: 8; 2 Cnr. 13 : 12 ; 1 John 3 : 2 dch. 3: 12; 14: 1. 1 Or, no mart, any thing accurted. 
 
 " The fearful, and unbelieving, and abomi- 
 nable, and murderers, and fornicator.s, and sor- 
 cerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have 
 their part in the lake that burnetii with fire 
 and brimstone, which is the second death." 
 At the end of chapter twentieth we are told, 
 as the final word in the description of that 
 awful scene, the closing, judgment-scene: "If 
 any was not found written in the book of 
 life, he was cast into the lake of fire." The 
 passage at ver. 11 of this chapter might be 
 quoted to a like effect, did not its connection, 
 as will be shown in the proper place below, 
 assign it diflTerently. Yet where, amidst all 
 that presents itself in those which we quote, 
 can room be found for even the possibility of 
 continued offers of grace in the new heaven 
 and new earth ? We understand by the tree of 
 life simply that which we have implied in the 
 •word "redemption." It is that same tree 
 of whose leaves all now eat who believe in 
 the Lord Jesus, and being "justified by faith," 
 not only "have peace with God," but "re- 
 joice in hope of the glory of God"; that 
 "gloiy of God " of which we are told in this 
 chapter. If it be allowable to make any dis- 
 tinction between "the leaves" and "the 
 fruit" of this tree, we may say that the 
 "leaves" had healed the hurt of sin in all 
 those redeemed ones in that period when the 
 gospel was preached to them and they had 
 believed; while the "fruit" is that heavenly 
 food which gives them immortality of bless- 
 edness. The allusion to the tree of life in the 
 first paradise is evident. 
 
 3-5. Security and Felicity. 
 
 3. And there shall be no more curse. 
 The marginal translation in the revision 
 ("thing accursed") represents more exactly 
 the force of the Greek word {KaT6L9ciJ.a). The 
 clause here seems to present much the same 
 idea as that which we have in ch. 21 : 27 : 
 "And there shall in no wise enter into it [the 
 city] anything unclean, or he that maketh 
 abomination and a lie."— But [and] the 
 throne of God and of the Lamb shall be 
 in it. Hero we have again the same associa- 
 tion of divine Person; as before. Tiic rei)re- 
 
 sentation in all these places appears to be that 
 the personal form of the divine manifestation 
 will be that of the Kedeemer. He reigns 
 amidst his people as their King, in the 
 "glory" of the Father, and in that glory 
 which he had vnth the Father before the 
 world was. — And his servants shall serve 
 him. The "his" and "him," considered 
 with reference to the plural antecedent, im- 
 ply the oneness of God and the Lamb — the 
 Father and the Son (John lO: so). Upon the 
 words, "his servants shall servehim," Lange's 
 translator. Rev. E. R. Craven, has a singular 
 note. He says: "There seems to be a great 
 and blessed truth conveyed by the conjunction 
 of (fioOAoi) servants, and (\aTpev<Tovaiv), shall 
 serve. His slaves shall be elevated to the 
 dignity of temple-servitors. The idea is akin 
 to that presented by our Lord (Joiini5:i5), 
 ' Henceforth I call j'ou not servants (Sovkov^), 
 but friends.' " The Greek word here named 
 is never used in the New Testament, where it 
 applies to the servants of Jesus Ciirist, in the 
 sense of slaves. Shall we translate Paul's 
 phrase, so frequently employed, "the servant 
 of Jesus Christ," "the s/wre of Jesus Christ?" 
 The translation, " his slaves shall serve him" 
 expresses an impossible idea. The words, 
 "his servants shall serve him," mean, simply, 
 that they who have served him here will 
 serve him there. The redeemed life is a life 
 of service, not one of holy idleness, were that 
 even possible. The word XaTpevaovaiv {shall 
 serve), in this place, implies holy service. 
 
 4. And they shall see his face. Ini])ly- 
 ing intimacy of personal conimuninn and in- 
 tercourse.— And his name shall be in their 
 foreheads. On (eVi, with the genitive), their 
 foreheads. In ch. 3 : 12, we have the promise, 
 "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, new Jerusalem." They 
 whose state of final felicity we are now con- 
 sidering realize the fulfillment of this prom- 
 ise. Again in 14: 1, we read of the hundred 
 forty and four thousand with the Lamb on 
 
304 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 5 "And there shall be no night there ; and they need 
 no candle, neither light of the sun ; for *the Lord God 
 t;iveth them light: <^and they shall reign for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 5 face ; and his name shall be on their foreheads. And 
 there shall be night no more ; and they need no 
 light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord 
 (jod shall give them light: and they shall reign 
 1 for ever and ever. 
 
 ach. 21; 23, 25 6 Ps. 36: 9; 84: 11 c Dan. 7: 27; Eom. 5: 17; 2 Tim. 2 : 12 ; ch.3: 21. 1 Gr, unto the ages of the ages. 
 
 Mount Zion, "having his name, and the name 
 of his Father, written on their foreheads." 
 The meaning, in all these places, is for sub- 
 stance the same. In the passage last quoted, 
 it will be seen that the revision, following the 
 text of Westcott and Hort, has "his name," 
 as well as "his Father's name." This appears 
 to be the true reading, and it aifords another 
 instance of the association of Father and Son 
 in all that concerns the salvation of the elect. 
 Our present text has, simply, "his name"; 
 but this is like what we find in ver. 3, "the 
 throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, 
 and Ats servants shall serve him " — where the 
 "his" evidently includes both God and the 
 Lamb, viewing them in the oneness of their 
 essential being. So in the verse now studied, 
 "his name" applies to both God and the 
 Lamb in the same way as "his servants." 
 The " name in the forehead" is a symbolical 
 expression, in contrast with that "mark of the 
 beast" of which we have seen so much in 
 former chapters. It implies how entirely 
 those redeemed ones belong to him who has 
 redeemed them. They are "his own." 
 
 5. And there shall be no night there. 
 " There shall be night no longer," is more 
 exact, and more expressive. Night is to man, 
 in his present state, in some sense a sign of 
 imperfection. It is for him a season of rest 
 and slumber; but the very fact that he needs 
 rest and slumber is a token of that which 
 came upon him when it was said, "In the 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." It 
 is also a season of darkness, in which wild 
 beasts prowl, and wicked men steal abroad to 
 plunder and kill. It is an image of the night 
 of the grave, as sleep is the "brother" and 
 image of death. In the new earth and the 
 holy city, service will bring no fatigue, and 
 they who serve will need no hours for slum- 
 ber and repose. Darkness will never visit 
 them ; for as the city hath no need of the sun, 
 so there will be no experience of either the 
 sun-setting or the sun-rising. Nor among 
 the dwellers in the holy city will there be 
 any to need the cover of darkness for their 
 deeds. How much of this description is to 
 
 be viewed as symbolism, and how much indic- 
 ative of changed physical conditions, it may 
 be impossible to decide. The case is like that 
 of the new heaven and new earth, where 
 under all the spiritual meanings of the picture 
 given, something realistic seems necessarily 
 to be understood. We are to remember, 
 nevertheless, that what John beholds appears 
 to him in vision. It is not in itself reality, 
 but pictorial representations of that reality 
 which is to be. The essential thing to be 
 understood by it all is the fact that whatever 
 in man's present state implies imperfection, 
 will be so changed in that prep.vred world in 
 which the final home of the redeemed i* to 
 be, as that these "former things" will have 
 "passed away." — And they need no can- 
 dle [no light of lamp], neither light of the 
 sun, for the Lord God giveth [shall give] 
 them light. Virtually a representation of 
 21 : 23.— And they shall reign for ever and 
 ever [unto tlic ages of ages]. The same note 
 of eternity is used here as in passages which 
 describe the fate of the condemned. The 
 word for "they shall reign" (iSao-iAeiiaovaif) 
 means, strictly, "they shall be kings.' The 
 same word, only in a past tense, is used at 
 20: 4, "and they lived, and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years." Here, as there, 
 we understand that the redeemed share the 
 kingship of him who has redeemed them. 
 The nature of this kingship we infer from the 
 nature of his kingdom. "He [Christ] shall 
 reign," we are told, "till he hath put all 
 enemies under his feet"; for God "hath put 
 all things under his feet" (i Cor. i5: 25. 26). He 
 is to "abolish all rule, and all authority and 
 power" . . . "that God may be all in all." 
 In Rom. 5: 17, we read how "they that re- 
 ceive the abundance of grace and of the gift 
 of righteousness shall reign in life through 
 Jesus Christ. ' All that is implied in this, we 
 cannot hope even to conjecture now. The 
 word "reign" points to many conditions of 
 the redeemed state with which it is impossible 
 that we should now become acquainted. 
 Enough for us to know, at present, that the 
 "kingdom" won by the suffering Lord, and 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 305 
 
 6 And he said unto me, "These sayings are faithful 
 and true: and the Lord God of the holv prophets 'sent 
 his angei to shew unto his servants the things which 
 must shortly be done. 
 
 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 augel to shew unto his servants 
 
 1 ch. 19: 9; ?1 : 5 b ch. 1: 1. 
 
 in which he now reigns, will, in its consum- 
 mation and final glory, be shared with his 
 "called, and chosen, and faithful." Even 
 now, in some sense, they reign with him. Tn 
 the victories, and conquests, and resulting 
 dominion of that grace of which they are at 
 once the prophets and the dispensers, they 
 even now share — all of which, it may finally 
 appear, are "shadows of the good to come" 
 
 (Heb. 10: l). 
 
 6-20. The Epilogue. 
 6. And he said unto me, These say- 
 ings are faithful and true. In 21 : 5, we 
 
 have the same declaration as to the genuine- 
 ness and trustworthiness of these communica- 
 tions. The Greek words used (ffi<rTol xal aAijen-ot), 
 have sf)ecial significance. " Trustivorthy and 
 genuine^' is a good rendering of them. The 
 connection in this place seems to indicate that 
 they are, as here used, intended to cover all 
 the communications made in the book of these 
 revelatio7is. The words next following show 
 this. — And the Lord God of the holy 
 prophets sent his angel to shew unto his 
 servants the things which must shortly 
 be done. " The Lord God of the spirits of 
 the prophets,'^ is according to the amended 
 reading. The words are equivalent to, "The 
 Lord God by whom all the prophets were in- 
 spired"; a declaration, in effect, that this 
 New Testament prophecy, this Book of the 
 Apocalypse, has its inspiration at the same 
 source as the Old Testament prophecies. The 
 expression, "spirits of the prophets," is pecu- 
 liar. Alford understands, "those spirits 
 of theirs, which, informed by the Holy 
 Spirit, have become the vehicles of pro- 
 phecy"; Carpenter, simply, "the God whose 
 Spirit moved the holy men of old to speak"; 
 Hengstenberg, "the Spirit of prophecy which 
 rested on them." "The Spirit itself," so the 
 Speaker's Commentary interprets here, and 
 correctly, " is the same for all ; but each pro- 
 phet has his own measure of the Spirit's 
 gift." Diisterdieck understands each pro- 
 phet's own spirit, "which God moves and 
 teaches [erregt und ttnterweist] by his Spirit." 
 He does not agree with De Wette in making 
 the allusion the same as in 1 Cor. 14: 32: 
 
 " The spirits of the prophets are subject to the 
 prophets." Hengstenberg' s view appears to 
 be the more correct. According to this, the 
 meaning will be, "The Lord God who be- 
 stowed upon each of the prophets that meas- ' 
 ure of the Spirit's gift which each enjoyed, 
 sent his angel," etc. The words, "sent his 
 angel," recall ch. 1: 1, "He sent and signified 
 it [the Kevelation] by his angel unto his serv- 
 ant John." Alike there and here the impli- 
 cation seems to be of an actual angelic agency 
 employed in these revelations. We should 
 understand by this, if accepting it, that an 
 angel was present with John through all, and 
 that his agency was concerned, more or less, 
 in that condition of John himself, which made 
 such revelations possible for him, and in the 
 various changes of the vision. To him, also, 
 the office would fall of interpreting, so far as 
 this was permitted, the meaning of the suc- 
 cessive appearances on the Apocalyptic scene. 
 We should, in this case, recognize the angelic 
 attendant in ch. 1 : 1, 10; 21 : 5; also here and 
 in ver. 8 and 16, below. The point cannot, 
 perhaps, be fully settled, although what we 
 have suggested seems probable. But who is 
 it that speaks, at the beginning of the verse, 
 where we read, as in other places, "And he 
 said unto me" ? If it is the attendant angel 
 that speaks, he must do so representatively ; 
 for the words in ver. 7 point unmistakably 
 to the Lord himself. — "Must shortly be 
 done," at the close of the present verse, 
 should be, as in the revision, ^^miist shortly 
 come to pass." Here, again, we have the 
 repetition of a phrase in ch. 1 : 1. This re- 
 turn, throughout the verse, to thought and 
 language so identical with what appeared at 
 the opening of the book, shows that "the 
 Revelation" proper has now reached its close. 
 What was announced in those opening verses 
 has been completed; the vast scheme of the 
 future has passed in vision before this "ser- 
 vant" of the Lord, through whom so much 
 of the things that must come to pass "shortly" 
 — beginning with the time then present, and 
 reaching on to the end — as was consistent 
 with divine purpose, were to be made known 
 to his fellow "servants" of each successive 
 
306 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 7 " Behold, I come quickly • ' blessed is he that keepeth 
 the savings of the prophecy of this hook. 
 
 8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And 
 ■when I had heard and seen, <^I fell down to worship be- 
 fore the feet of the angel which shewed me these 
 things. 
 
 9 Then saith he unto me, ''See thori do U not : for I am 
 thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren, the prophets, 
 and of them which keep the sayings of this book: 
 worship tjod. 
 
 7 the things which must shortly come to pass. And 
 behold, 1 come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth 
 the words of the prophecy of this book. 
 
 8 And I John am he that heardand saw these things. 
 And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship 
 before the feet of the angel who shewed me these 
 
 9 things. And he saith unto me. See thou do it not: 
 1 am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy breth- 
 ren the prophets, and with those who keep the 
 words of this book : worship God. 
 
 a ch. 3: 11; ver. 10, 12, 20 b ch. 1: 3 c cb. 19: 10 dch. 19: 10. 
 
 Century down to the time of the end. What 
 follows now in the book, though John re- 
 ceives it while still, as at first, "in the 
 Spirit," is less in the nature of a " Kevela- 
 tion,'" and more in that of a concluding 
 message, summing those lessons of the whole 
 book which every Christian of every age will 
 need to receive and to ponder. As the open- 
 ing verses of the book were styled the Pro- 
 logue, those with which the book ends are, 
 in the same sense, the Epilogue. 
 
 7. Behold, I come quickly. These are, 
 clearly, words of the Lord himself, whether 
 speaking personally, or representatively, 
 through the angel. There is much difficulty 
 in tracing with certainty the personality of 
 the speaker, not only here, but in subsequent 
 verses. It may be that the phraseology re- 
 flects, in some measure, a certain indistinctness 
 of this nature in the vision itself. This is 
 the more likely to be true, if we may suppose 
 that, the "Revelation" proper being con- 
 cluded, the trance-like condition of the seer, 
 described in the phrase "in the Spirit," now 
 gradually changes to a normal one. It is 
 certainly the Lord who is as if speaking in 
 ver. 16 of this chapter, "I Jesus have sent 
 mine angel, "etc. The words now immediately 
 considered must also be understood in a like 
 way. It must be the Lord himself who is to 
 "come quickly." — Blessed is he that 
 keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of 
 this book. This is a reiteration of the value 
 and importance of what the book contains, 
 implying also that its source is divine. It 
 might seem as if the many attempts to dispar- 
 age the book, since made, had been anticipated, 
 while a blessing is pronounced upon those 
 who view and use it aright. It is distinctly 
 termed a "prophecy," and so a place is 
 claimed for it amongst those divine communi- 
 cations whose messages are so momentous, 
 and who.se character and source entitle them 
 to such reverence. 
 
 8. And I John saw these things, and 
 
 heard them. The present participle of the 
 verb is used, in each case, with the article be- 
 fore the "hearing" (oKoutoi')— the order in the 
 Greek text, as amended, differing from that 
 used in the old version. The revisers render 
 more correctly: "And I, John, am he that 
 heard these things, and saw them"; or, per- 
 haps, we might give it literally, " awi the 
 person hearing and seeing these things." — 
 And ^vhen I had heard and seen, I fell 
 down to worship before the feet of the 
 angel which shewed me these things. 
 It will be useful to connect the whole repre- 
 sentation, here, with what we have in ch. 1 : 
 20. Our exposition there, has, we trust, made 
 it seem pretty certain that the attendant angel, 
 and that other glorious Person, "one like 
 unto the Son of man," were doth present in 
 that opening scene of all which this book de- 
 scribes. The "voice like a trumpet" is the 
 voice of the angel; the "voice as the sound 
 of many waters" is the voice of the Lord. 
 In the passage now immediately before us 
 (ver. 616), there is no intimation that if both 
 Jesus and the angel are present, both are seen. 
 The words spoken, however, seem to be in one 
 place words of the angel ; in others, words of 
 tha Lord. 
 
 9. Then saith he unto me. It is evi- 
 dently, from what follows, the angel who 
 "saith," See thou do it not, ['^see not, as in 
 19: 10]. — For I am thy fellow-servant, 
 and of thy brethren the prophets, and 
 of them which keep the sayings of this 
 book : worship God. Clearly, this is not 
 the same being as he at whose feet John 
 "fell" (ch.i:i7) "as dead." He at whose feet 
 John now falls, does not address him in those 
 august words: "I am the first and the last: I 
 am he that liveth and was dead ; and, behold, 
 I am alive forever more, amen, and have the 
 keys of hell and of death." John is now for- 
 bidden to offer any act of worship; the person 
 he sees is an angel, who, as at ch. 19: 10, an- 
 nounces himself as a fellow-servant, alike of 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 307 
 
 10 "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the 
 prophecy of this book : * for the time is at hand. 
 
 11 = He that is unjust, let him he unjust still : and he 
 which is filthj', let him be filthy still: and he that is 
 righteous, let him be righteous still ; and he that is 
 holy, let him be holy still. 
 
 10 And he saith unto me. Seal not up the words of the 
 
 11 prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. He 
 that is unrighteous, let him do iinrighleoiisness i still • 
 and he that is filthy, let him be filthy 'still: and he 
 that is righteous, let him do righteousness 'still: 
 
 a Dan. 8: 26; 12:4,9; ch. 10:4 ich. 1:3 cEzelt. 3: 27; Dan. 12: 10; 2 Tim. 3: 13. 1 Or, get more. 
 
 the apostles, such as John ("thy fellow-ser- 
 vant"), and "of the prophets"; he is one of 
 those to whom " the sayings of this book" are 
 a law and a testimony, as they are to John 
 and to all his "fellow-servants" of every age. 
 At the same time and in this connection, as 
 we shall see directly, that same voice which 
 John at the first heard saying: "I am he that 
 liveth and was dead," is now again heard, 
 saying: "Behold, I come quickly," and, "I, 
 Jesus, have sent mine angel." We will notice 
 this again, further on. 
 
 10. And he saith unto me, Seal not the 
 sayings of the prophecy of this book: for 
 the time is at hand. To Daniel it was said 
 (ch. 12:4): "Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, 
 and seal the book, even to the time of the end; 
 many shall run to and fro, and knowledge 
 shall be increased." The command to John 
 is: ^'Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of 
 this book." The difference is occasioned 
 partly by a difference in the time at which the 
 prophecies of Daniel and of John were re- 
 spectively given, and partly by the fact that 
 they belong to different dispensations. To 
 Daniel it was said (12:9): "The words are 
 closed up and sealed till the time of the end." 
 In the verse before quoted from the same 
 chapter, we are told how at this "time of the 
 end" many "shall run to and fro, and knowl- 
 edge shall be increased." John's mission as 
 a prophet belongs to this "time of the end"; 
 the time in which there should be increase of 
 knowledge, and when a study of the prophet's 
 word, as of all other words of God, should 
 be fruitful and profitable. Daniel's prophecy, 
 also, belongs to the dispensation of type and 
 shadow; John's to that of substance and ful- 
 fillment. Many things were "sealed " under 
 the law which are open under the gospel, to 
 every reverent and prayerful student of the 
 word. The clause, "the time is at hand," is 
 equivalent to "the time of the end has come" 
 —the time of the gospel, and of those final dis- 
 pensations of God, in which alike the pro- 
 phecy and the promise, the types and the 
 emblems of the former Dispensation, shall 
 reach their fulfillment. 
 
 11. He that is unjust, let him be un- 
 just still; and he which is filthy, let him 
 be filthy still; and he that is righteous, 
 let him be righteous still : and he that is 
 holy, let him be holy still. As intimated 
 above, these words, as they often are, might be 
 quoted in direct evidence of the fixity of that 
 final state of misery, or of felicity of which, in 
 the previous chapter, and in the earlier verses of 
 the present one, such indications appear, and 
 in the same express waj', were it not that the 
 connection requires a different general sense. 
 The vision of the judgment, the vision of the 
 new heaven and the new earth, with that of 
 the holy city Jerusalem, are, all alike, now 
 closed. The discourse is, now, not of them ; 
 but of the "book" of whicli the description 
 of these scenes forms a part, with directions to 
 John as to the use he shall make of the reve- 
 lations he has received. It is in this connec- 
 tion that the words: "He that is unjust [un- 
 righteous] let him be unjust [let him do 
 unrighteousness] still " etc., are spoken. They 
 are words which apply in connection with the 
 directions given to John, with reference to 
 these revelations, and the solemn assurances 
 made to him of their genuineness and truthful- 
 ness. We must understand them as defining 
 — as is so often done in the New Testament — 
 the respective attitudes toward these, as toward 
 all other words of God, of the two great 
 classes of mankind, and as laying upon each 
 individual human being the full responsi- 
 bility of his course with reference to them. 
 What they seem to mean is, "He that will 
 persist in unrighteousness, after all of instruc- 
 tion and appeal that may bo addressed to him, 
 let him do so; he that clings to his filthiness, 
 let him have his strange choice; while if any 
 will be righteous and holy, all motive, all 
 opportunity, and all gracious help shall be al- 
 lowed them." The words assume that each 
 human being to whom these messages come, 
 exercises his power and privilege of choice 
 between "the cursing and the blessing" which 
 are set before him as the two great and awful 
 alternatives. There is thii.s, indeed, implied 
 the idea of finality in the results of this 
 
308 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 12 "And, behold, I come quickly ; and ' my reward is 
 with me, "to give every man according as his work 
 shall be. 
 
 i:{ •> I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
 end, the first and the last. 
 
 14 «Ble.ssed are they that do his commandments, that 
 they may have right /to the tree of life,!' and may enter 
 in through the gates into the city. 
 
 1.1 For A without are 'dogs, and sorcerers, and whore- 
 mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever 
 loveth and maketh a lie. 
 
 12 and he that is,holy, let him be made holy i still. Be- 
 hold, I come quickly; and my ^ reward is with me, 
 
 13 to render to each man according as his work is. I 
 am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, 
 
 14 the beginning and the end. Bles.sed are t hey that wash 
 their robes, that they may have ^the right fo come to 
 the tree of life, and may enter in by the *gates into 
 
 15 the city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, 
 and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idola- 
 ters, and every one that loveth and i* maketh a lie. 
 
 over. 7....6I»a.40: 10; 62 : 11. ...c Rom. 2:6; 14: 12; cb. 20 : 12.... d I«a. 41 : 4; 44:6- 48: 12; ch. 1:8, 11; 21:6....e Dun 12: 
 
 12; lJohD3: 24... ./ ver. 2 ; ch. 2: 7....9ch. 21 : 27.... A 1 Cor. 6: 9. 10; G.il. 5: 1». 20, 21; Col. 3: 6; ch. 9; 20, 21; 21:8.... 
 
 i Phil. 3 : 2. 1 Or, yet more 2 Or, wages. . . .3 Or, the authority over 4 Gr. portals 5 Or, doeth. 
 
 choice. What he chooses, while the opportu- 
 nity of choice remains to him, will become 
 destiny, and be changeless forever. This is 
 further implied in what is next said. 
 
 12. And, behold, I come quickly; and 
 my reward is with me, to give every man 
 according as his work shall be. This 
 verse connects itself directly with that which 
 precedes. "To every man," to the "unright- 
 eous" and to the "filthy," to the "right- 
 eous" and the "holy," a "reward," a re- 
 turn, a recompense of glory or perdition, 
 shall be given, "according as his work shall 
 be." In view of the solemnity of these 
 utterances, we cannot think it right, with 
 Lange, De Wette, and others, to imagine 
 "something ironical" in the words: "he that 
 is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still, he 
 that is filthy, let him be filthy still." The 
 tone of the whole passage seems to us too 
 much in keeping with the awful nature of 
 the alternative thus announced among these 
 last of the words of inspiration, to allow of 
 such an interpretation. Upon what is implied 
 in the words: "Behold, I come quicklj%" in 
 this ver.se, and in ver. 7, with the added ones, 
 "my reward is with me," etc., we must take 
 space for more extended comment than is pos- 
 sible here, and refer the reader, according]3% 
 to Excursus F, at the end of this chapter. 
 
 13. I am Alpha and Omega, the begin> 
 ning <ind the end, the first and the last. 
 Almost word for word, what was said by 
 the "one like unto the Son of man," whom 
 John saw at the first. It is the being who has 
 just said: "I will give unto every man ac- 
 cording as his work shall be"; and it re- 
 minds us of those words of our Lord which 
 this same apostle has before recorded in his 
 Gospel (ch.5:22, 27): " For neither doth the 
 Father judge any man ; but he hath given all 
 judgment unto the Son And he 
 
 gave him authority to executa judgment, be- 
 cause he is the Son of man." (Revision). 
 
 14. Blessed are they that do his com- 
 mandments, that they may have right to 
 the tree of life, and may enter in through 
 the gates into the city. These are thought 
 by some, to be words of John himself, as if 
 in a kind of response to those which had just 
 been addressed to him. They should prob- 
 ably be so taken. The change in the revision of 
 "that do his commandments," to "that wash 
 their robes," is warranted by the reading alike 
 in the Sinaitic and the Alexandrine manu- 
 scripts, and is followed by the text of West- 
 cott and Hort. Wordsworth, on exegetical 
 grounds, thinks that the old form should be re- 
 tained. But surely the manuscript authority, 
 in a case like this, should decide. In the 
 changed form of the clause, the doctrine im- 
 plied is more evidently in consistence with that 
 general doctrine of the New Testament, which 
 makes all the benefits of redemption depend- 
 ent upon the application of that "blood of 
 Jesus Christ his Son," which "cleanseth us 
 from all sin." The clause, "have right to the 
 tree of life," points us back to Gen. 3: 34. 
 That "flaming sword" which "kept the way 
 of the tree of life," is sheathed for those who 
 have part in that "redemption," which is "by 
 the blood of the Lamb." In the same work 
 of redemption, the gates of the city are thrown 
 open to them, and they may "enter in." 
 
 15. For without are dogs, and sorcer- 
 ers, and whoremongers, and murderers, 
 and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and 
 maketh [doetli] a lie. The changes in the 
 revision will be noticed. Such as here de- 
 scribed is the company they must keep who 
 have neither sought nor received that "wash- 
 ing of regeneration," nor have ever, through 
 faith in Jesus, obtained the right to enter in 
 through the gates into the city. 
 
Ch. XXIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 309 
 
 16 "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you 
 these thiugs in the churches. 'I am the r(»ot and the 
 otlspring of David, mid 'the hright and morning star. 
 
 17 And the Spirit and ''the bride say, Come. And let 
 him that heareth say, Come. 'Aud" let him that is 
 athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely. 
 
 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to te.stify unto you 
 these things i for the churches. 1 am the root and 
 the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. 
 
 17 2 \,,(i 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. 
 
 ( c)i. 1: 1 b ch. 5 ; 5. 
 
 16. I Jesus have "sent mine angel to 
 testify unto you these things in the 
 churches. '^^For (eirl, with dat. over, or for) 
 the churches"; "over," in the margin of the 
 revision. Like sayings quoted above, this 
 must be by Jesus himself. Even if it be 
 thought that the angel speaks as in the person 
 of the Lord, representatively, his identity in 
 so speaking loses itself in that of him who an- 
 nounces himself as "I, Jesus." For all 
 practical purposes, the nice exegetical point 
 involved need not be insisted upon. Both 
 here and in those places where it is said so 
 repeatedlj", "Behold, I come quickly," we 
 may feel that we hear the words of the Lord 
 himself. The words following in the verse, 
 "have sent mine angel," etc., authenticate 
 the whole book as from the Lord himself 
 At the same time they indicate its purpose. 
 Its mission is "for the churches." As a mes- 
 sage to them, involving prophecies of things 
 to come, warning, encouragement, inspira- 
 tion, hope, it is to serve down to the time of 
 the end itself, as the testimony of him who is 
 "the faithful and true witness."— I am the 
 root and the offspring of David. The sec- 
 ond of these, "offspring," Diisterdieck treats as 
 epexegetical of the first, "root." Christ is 
 the root of David, in the sense of being his 
 offspring. The word for offspring {yivoi), 
 means originally, "race," but is often used 
 of race in the sense of offspring. Our Lord, 
 in the words he uses, refers to his human 
 lineage, an allusion quite in harmony with 
 the use of his name "Jesus," in the connec- 
 tion; the only instance, throughout the book, 
 in which he speaks of hitnself by this name. 
 He is speaking here, therefore, in that nature 
 and office which he a.ssumed in his earthly 
 mission, and in that relation to his people 
 into which he entered, when in his human 
 birth there was fulfilled in him that word of 
 Isaiah (ch. ii:i): "There shall come forth a 
 rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch 
 shall grow out of his roots." Stuart claims 
 for the Greek (piia), the same meaning as at 
 
 ch. 5: 5, "root-shoot," which does, indeed, 
 make the word here harmonize better with 
 that in Lsaiah. — And the bright and the 
 morning star. Better to omit, "and," in 
 both cases, and read: "the bright, the morn- 
 ing star." We may connect with this what 
 we have at ch. 2: 28, "I will give him" (him 
 that overcometh) "the morning star." Stuart . 
 says: "It is the splendor and beauty of the 
 morning star, which makes it here an object 
 of comparison with the splendor of the King 
 in Zion." It is doubtful, however, if this 
 exhausts the symbolism. The morning star 
 is the herald of the day. It is peculiarly the 
 symbcl of pro^nise. We may see in it, by 
 anticipation, all that the day is to bring. 
 Even such is Christ to the .soul. Such was 
 he in the type, and promise, and prophecy of 
 the Old Dispensation; and when in his actual 
 advent he rose amid the dawn of a New Dis- 
 pensation, it was as the harbinger of all that 
 which the gospel has been to men, and which 
 comes to the full in the new heaven and new 
 earth — the "perfect day." 
 
 17. And the Spirit and the Bride say. 
 Come. We notice that nearly all the com- 
 mentators appear to understand the "Come," 
 in this verse, as a call for the coming of the 
 Lord. "In response," says the Speakers 
 Commentary, "to the Lord's announcement 
 in ver. 12, ' Behold, I come quickly,' the 
 universal church, the Bride, inspired by the 
 Holy Ghost, answers, 'Come'." But do the 
 retnaining parts of the verse harmonize with 
 this? — And let him that heareth say. 
 Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
 And whosoever will, let him take the 
 water of life freely. The two last clauses, 
 certainly, cannot be understood as expressing 
 a " wish and prayer" (Stuart) for the coming 
 of the Lord. They are invitations. Can we 
 suppose such an abrupt change from the one 
 thought to the other, with no intimation of 
 change? Besides, the words are words of 
 Jesus, and they come in much closer connec- 
 tion with the sixteenth verse than with the 
 
310 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the 
 words of the prophecy of this book, ■» If any man shall 
 add unto these things, God shall add uuto him the 
 plagues that are written in this book : 
 
 19 And if any man shall take away from the words 
 of the book of this prophecy, '(iod shall take away his 
 part out of the book of life, and out of "the holy city, 
 and from the things which are written in this book. 
 
 18 I testify unto every man that heareth the words of 
 the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add 
 lunto them, (iod shall add lunto him the plagues 
 
 19 which are written in this book: 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, i which are written 
 in this book. 
 
 a Deut. 4:2; 12 : 32 ; Prov. 30 : 6. . 
 
 .6 Ex. 32 : 33 ; Ps. 69 : 28 ; ch. 3 ; 5 ; !.■) : 8. . . .c ch. 21 : 
 tht things which are written. 
 
 -1 Gr. upon 2 Or, even from 
 
 twelfth, as cited by the commentators. It 
 .seems to us that the verse should be under- 
 stood throughout as implying invitation. In 
 ver. 16, Jesus announces himself as sending 
 his angel to "testify these things for the 
 churches." He makes himself known in 
 those characters which cause him to be the 
 hope of the world. And now, in that con- 
 nection, the mission of the Spirit and the 
 church are declared. It is to invite. This is 
 the gospel message, "Come"; and the breadth 
 of the message appears in the great words, 
 " Let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever 
 will, let him take the water of life freely." 
 Thus are the gospel message and the gospel 
 invitation emphasized in these final words of 
 the whole Bible. 
 
 18. For I testify. It is John who now 
 speaks. "For" should be omitted. — Unto 
 every man that heareth the words of the 
 prophecy of this book. "That is," says 
 Lange, "every one who is present at the 
 reading of the book aloud in the church." 
 There seems to be no good reason for such 
 limitation. The warning and the threaten- 
 ening which follow, are set over against the 
 benediction in ch. 1:3: "Blessed is he that 
 readetli, and they that hear the words of this 
 projihecy, and keep those things which are 
 written therein." Surely, neither the bene- 
 diction in the one case, nor the threatening 
 in the other, were exclusively for the reader 
 and the hearer in public services of the apos- 
 tolical churches. Was it by them alone, or 
 even nio.st of all, that such a warning was 
 needed ? We must suppose the language used 
 to take in all who in any manner become ac- 
 quainted witli wliut this book contains. — If 
 any man shall add unto these things. 
 Unless we take the "any man," as meaning 
 any man whatever, in whatever age, we limit 
 the whole lesson of the passage to the age in 
 which it was written ; but if we give the words 
 breadth enough to embrace all men in all 
 times, then the "any man" is really epexeget- 
 
 ical of "every man that heareth." What 
 shall be understood by "add unto these 
 things"? Some (Vitringa, Bleek, etc. ), un- 
 derstand careless transcribers; others (Ewald, 
 De Wette), " oral inaccuracies of repetition "; 
 Diisterdieck understands a falsifying of the 
 revelation. Ebrard regards the words as 
 "the seal which Christ himself impresses 
 upon the Apocalypse." Hengstenberg says: 
 "That such additions and omissions are here 
 referred to, as belong to the proper kernel of 
 the book, such as would substitute for the 
 narrow way presented in it a broad one, or 
 would in some respect extinguish the light of 
 hope that shines in it for Christians, as was 
 done by Hymenseus and Philetus, who said 
 that the resurrection is past already (2 Tim. 2:17); 
 this will not for a moment be doubted by any 
 one who has discerned the spirit of this book." 
 Alford thinks that "the adding and the taking 
 away are in the application and reception in 
 the heart. All," he says, " must be received 
 and realized." And he adds that "this is at 
 least an awful warning both to those who de- 
 spise and neglect this book, and to those who 
 add to it by irrelevant and trifling interpreta- 
 tions." — God shall add unto him the 
 plagues that are written in this book. 
 It cannot be such a light matter as many sup- 
 pose to treat the word of God irreverently, or 
 to make it the foot-ball of critical prejudices 
 and fancies. The judgment denounced is 
 severe; but is not the sin of so perverting the 
 words of divine revelation as to mislead and 
 ruin souls great? The reference cannot be to 
 such mistakes of apprehension or exposition 
 as human infirmity is liable to, but to those 
 purposed corruptions or infidel disputings of 
 the word which hostility to the truth, and to 
 God himself, may jironipt. 
 
 19 And if any man sht^ll take away 
 from the words of the book of this 
 prophecy, God shall take away his part 
 out of the book [tJir frrr] of life, and out 
 of the holy city, and from the things 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 KEVELATION. 
 
 311 
 
 20 He which testifieth these things saith, 'Surely I 
 coime quicklj'. «Amen. "^ Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 
 
 21 "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you 
 alL Amen. 
 
 20 He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come 
 quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. 
 
 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus' be -with the saints. 
 Ameu. 
 
 a ver. 12 b John 21 : 25 e 2 Tim. i: 
 
 dent autboritien add Christ 2 Two 
 
 which are written in this book. Acts 
 such as are here, and in the previous verse, 
 condemned, do not stand alone, in any case. 
 Deliberate and purposed corruption or denial 
 of divine truth, indicates a state of the heart, 
 and is wont to accompany other evidences of 
 that "mind of the flesh" which is "not sub- 
 ject to the law of God, neither indeed can 
 be." The words, "take away his part," 
 must mean the same as "deny him any part." 
 The whole passage, therefore, should be 
 viewed as indicating an entire condition of 
 heart and -life, and the consequences which 
 follow when this is persistent, incorrigible, 
 and unchanged to the last. Such treatment 
 of "the words of this book," as is described 
 and condemned, is only one out of many 
 signs of that condition to which no word of 
 promise, but many a word of warning, is 
 spoken. 
 
 20. He which testifieth these things 
 saith, Surely, I come quickly. "He which 
 
 , testifieth" is Jesus, testifying these things for 
 the churches. He is to "come" again, and 
 "quickly." "For the time is short" — short, 
 measured on the scale of eternity. — Amen : 
 even so, come. Lord Jesus. The response 
 of faith, and hope, and longing. Omitting 
 the "even so," lends much of additional 
 force. The apostolical benediction closes the 
 book. 
 
 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 [of the Lord Jesuii] be with you all. Amen. 
 Thus with the words of ble.ssing the volume 
 of inspiration ends; even as, when our Lord 
 ascended in view of his disciples, "while he 
 blessed them, he was parted from them and 
 carried up into heaven." 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS. 
 
 As far as to the twentieth chapter, we have 
 been able to find, in the history of the past, 
 or in aspects of the present, what might at 
 least illu.strate for us the deep, and often 
 obscure, meanings of the visions we have 
 studied. From the beginning of the twentieth 
 chapter to the close of the book, we are, 
 whatever may be thought in that respect of 
 
 previous ones, certainly dealing with things 
 yet future. And these future things arc of a 
 nature to make any interjiretation of what 
 is written of them so much the more diflScult. 
 It is only to a certain extent that, at the best, 
 we may hope to seize the clue to a safe and 
 right exposition. 
 
 One of the questions which a careful ex- 
 positor finds confronting him, is the question, 
 how far he is to treat all these pictures, espe- 
 cially those in the last three chapters, as 
 strictly symbolical ; and, therefore, to be 
 viewed purely as pictures, with a meaning 
 and a lesson to be sought under each one; and 
 how far, upon the other hand, he must recog- 
 nize the real and actual as intermingling with, 
 or underlying all. Points like these present 
 themselves in our studj' of those passages 
 which relate to the millennium, to the first 
 and second resurrections, the general judg- 
 ment, the new heaven and new earth, the 
 final state of the saved and lost; while, as we 
 shall see in the Excursus below, similar diflS- 
 culties oifer themselves in connection with 
 that coming of the Lord, which is the subject 
 of such frequent and emphatic mention. The 
 view we prefer to take is, that the symbolism 
 of the book is pervasive and constant, from 
 beginning to end. The scenes represented 
 are scenes beheld in vision; the figures that 
 appear in them are symbolical and dramatic; 
 the language used is, to a great extent, the 
 language of allegory and symbol. Great 
 movements, great epochs in history, mighty 
 forces, evil or good, periods of time, some- 
 times indicated by numbers, sometimes not — 
 these are the things dealt with, yet always 
 representatively, in symbol and picture. 
 
 At the same time, we are not to view this 
 symbolism as of such a nature as to leave 
 only a vague and unreal result. There is to 
 be a blessing in knowing and "keeping the 
 sayings of this book." Our Lord appoints 
 a id uses a special angelic ministry to "testify 
 these things for the churches." There is 
 something to be learned from the book, and 
 something to be "kept"; some instruction, 
 help, stimulus, warning, hope, which shall 
 
312 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 prepare the Lord's people — especially his 
 people of the latter day — for the Lord's 
 work. There is a certain renlistic element 
 which must, in a right way, be after all 
 sought; and this, from time to time, shows 
 through the veil of the symbolical and repre- 
 sentative. This realistic element we have 
 endeavored, with due care, to trace, and so to 
 bring out those salient features in each vision, 
 which compose its lesson. Thus we hold to a 
 real millennium, insisting only that its nature 
 shall be rightly understood ; to a real resur- 
 rection, urging, meanwhile, that its true 
 character, and its true place in the great 
 events foreshadowed, be not mistaken; to a 
 real judgment of quick and dead, though 
 declining all attempt to describe it in detail, 
 or to say how much of the dread picture of it 
 that is given us, shall be seen as literal, and 
 how much as imagery ; to a final happy state 
 of the redeemed in a prepared world, and to 
 a final fixed condition of the lost — recogniz- 
 ing the highly pictorial and figurative nature 
 of the descriptions given ; and confessing 
 that as "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard . . . 
 the things which God hath prepared for them 
 that love him," so is it impossible for us to 
 know precisely how his justice will be vindi- 
 cated in the punishment of his enemies. The 
 unrevealed "secret things" involved, espe- 
 cially in the latter, we are glad to leave with 
 him who will "do right." 
 
 The remarkable manner in which the 
 wonderfully rich symbolism of this book 
 rests back upon Old Testament type, and 
 history, and vision, and prophecy, we have 
 often had occasion to notice. The fact comes 
 before us in the concluding portions of the 
 book, in a form peculiarly interesting. Two 
 things in the Old Testament, and in that 
 Dispensation of which it is the record, present 
 themselves to us as in an especial way central 
 and significant. Eden and Jerusalem — the 
 Paradise whicii man lost by his fall, the city 
 to which the ll(;d<!emer came, and where he 
 suflfered in fulfillment of that promise con- 
 cerning "the seed of the woman" — about 
 these how much of the history of man's need 
 and the divine provision in his behalf, gathers 
 and centres! Each is a type, in the substance 
 of which all the types find their fulfillment; 
 the one, of what the divine kindness prepared 
 for man in creating him; the other, of that 
 grace througli which, in such large measure, 
 
 the calamity of the fall is repaired. We are 
 not surprised, therefore, when we find these 
 two great types combining in the symbolism 
 of that picture, in which the final issues and 
 fruits of redemption are revealed to faith. 
 And each is needful to the other, that the 
 picture may be complete. The city must show 
 how safe the garden has become ; the garden 
 must symbolize the beauty and felicity of re- 
 deemed man's final home. It must be there, 
 with its river of life and tree of life, as the 
 city must be there with its engirdling and 
 protecting wall. 
 
 "I am not sure," writes Bossuet, in com- 
 menting upon this part of our book, "if any 
 portion of Scripture can be found in which 
 terrors and consolations are better inter- 
 mingled than they are in the these last two 
 chapters. There is everything to attract in 
 the most blessed city ; all in it is rich and 
 glorious ; but everything is also fitted to in- 
 spire one with dread — for here we perceive 
 still more of purity than of grandeur." We 
 should especially note the truth of the con- 
 cluding observation. The gold of the streets 
 and the dwellings, the clearness "as crystal" 
 of the brightly shining river, the pearl of the 
 gates, the precious stones of the foundation — 
 these all are in harmony with the express 
 statement made that into this city no manner 
 of unclean thing shall ever find admission. 
 It is to be noticed, also, that one conspicuous 
 object in the original paradise is not seen in 
 the city and garden of the redeemed — the tree 
 of the knowledge of good and evil. Not only 
 as the symbol of man's moral trial, his pro- 
 bation, does it have no place where that pro- 
 bation is at an end, but also as significant of 
 temptation and of possibilities of evil to man 
 could it have no place here. Only "the tree 
 of life" is seen bordering the river. Evil, 
 thenceforth, will survive in the universe of 
 God only in its own prison-house — a memorial 
 forever. Eorceful, indeed, is that admonition of 
 an inspired apostle, coming home to us in this 
 connection : " What manner of persons ought 
 we to be," since we look for such things "in 
 all holy living and godliness?" — (Iteinsion.) 
 
 Readers do not need to be reminded how 
 much attention is given, just now, to the 
 question as to possibilities of a probation in 
 nnin's future state. We must emphasize the 
 fact that indications of such a i)robation can- 
 not, as we trust our exposition has shown, be 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 313 
 
 found anywhere in this hook, and, least of all, 
 in the closing chapters, without forced inter- 
 pretations, to which the careful student 
 should give no entertainment. Indeed, the 
 teaching of this book especially enforces the 
 saying of Paul, with its momentous lesson : 
 "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, 
 now is the day of salvation." The conditions 
 of the present life are all adjusted to its pur- 
 pose as a probation. The conditions of that 
 life of which such impressive pictures appear 
 in the pages of this book, are those of a state 
 final and fixed. In that state, whether it be 
 of the saved or of the lost, "the former things 
 are passed away." 
 
 EXCURSUS F.— THE COMING OF THE 
 LORD. 
 
 The exposition of the remarkable writing 
 with which we have in previous pages been oc- 
 cupied, ought not to finally close, without a 
 somewhat more careful study of one import- 
 ant subject, to which attention has repeatedly 
 been incidentally directed. It is not our pur- 
 pose to enter at large, here, into the question 
 of our Lord's second coming. That would re- 
 quire such a treatment of the general doctrine 
 of the New Testament on this subject as must 
 tempt us to transcend our province as ex- 
 positors of one only of these books, and 
 would lead to general discussions lying, more 
 or less, apart from the duty assigned to us 
 here. We shall, accordingly, limit ourselves 
 to a review of the subject so far as it comes 
 before us in the book we are studying. Two 
 main points of inquiry will be kept in view : 
 (1) What does the book teach, or cause us to 
 infer, as to the certainty, and the nature of 
 our Lord's Second Coming? (2) What does it 
 teach, or cause us to infer, as to the time of 
 this coming, with reference to that other 
 great event, the millennium? Will it he pre- 
 millennial or post - milleimial ? We have 
 briefly intimated the view we are led to take 
 upon these subjects, in the Introduction. A 
 more deliberate and extended examination of 
 the teachings of our book with reference to 
 them, must now claim the attention of the 
 reader. 
 
 It may have already been noticed that the 
 express allusions, in the Apocalypse, to the 
 coming of the Lord, as still future, are found 
 only in the opening and closing chapters of 
 
 the book. Three several times in the last 
 chapter (ver.7.i2,2o), we have the words, "Be- 
 hold, I come quickly." As we treat much of 
 that chapter in the light of an Epilogue, that 
 distinct and emphatic utterance becomes, in 
 that view, a re-affirmation of the solemn an- 
 nouncement in ch. 1:7: "Behold, he cometh 
 with 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." {Revision). These words are evi- 
 dently descriptive of that judgment of the 
 great day of which we are many times warned 
 in Scripture, and the coming of the Lord 
 which they announce is manifestly a coming 
 to judge the world. It is a coming that must 
 be actual, personal ; one that shall be visible, 
 majestic, and momentous to "all the tribes of 
 the earth." It seems a fair conclusion that it 
 is of this the Lord himself speaks, when three 
 several times in the closing chai)ter of the 
 book, we find him saying, "Behold, I come 
 quicklj'." 
 
 With a view to see how this conclusion 
 may be sustained by the results of inquiry, 
 we propose here to examine the several pas- 
 sages in the Apocalypse where allusions to 
 the Lord's "coming" occur, arranging them 
 in three classes, as, first, those in which this 
 event is expressly mentioned ; second, those 
 in which it is implied; third, passages in 
 which it is foreshadowed. 
 
 I. PASSAGES IN WHICH THIS EVENT 
 IS EXPRESSLY MENTIONED. 
 
 The words in ch. 1 : 7, and in ch. 22: 7, 12, 
 20, have already been quoted. A like express 
 mention, orat least indication, will be inferred 
 by all who, with Alford, understand in this 
 way the "Come," at the opening of each of 
 the four first .seals. We need not repeat the 
 considerations which led us, in our exposition, 
 to understand the word in that place quite 
 differently from this. In ch. 3: 11, however, 
 we read: "I come quickly; hold fast that 
 which thou hast, that no man take thy 
 crown." The words occur in the epistle, or 
 message, to the Church at Philadelphia. The 
 language is so far identical with the utter- 
 ances quoted from the last chapter of the 
 book, that the passage seems to belong with 
 those, although there may be allusion in them 
 to other forms of the Lord's "coming," be- 
 
314 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 sides that which is to occur at the end of the 
 age, or dispensation. 
 
 These three — some may think that we ought 
 to include in the group those merely in chap- 
 ters first and twenty-second — are the only 
 places in the book in which the second coming 
 of the Lord is mentioned in a manner so ex- 
 press and definite as to leave no occasion for 
 doubt as to the meaning. The fact may appear 
 surprising to one who, in studying the book, 
 seems to see that great event continually in 
 the horizon of the far and dim future, and to 
 perceive a continual movement of human 
 history, in its eras and epochs, its great streams 
 and tributaries, on toward that "final appear- 
 ing." The reason seems to be found in the 
 very nature and theme of the book itself. It 
 is not history, like the Gospels; it is not doc- 
 trinal and experimental teaching, like the 
 Epistles. It is prophecy, and prophecy cast 
 in the form of vision and picture. Its great 
 theme is the Kingdom of God, in its origin 
 under Christian organism and manifestation; 
 its ordeal, amidst conflict, suflering, and 
 many calamitous vicissitudes; its progress 
 under better auspices as the latter day draws 
 on ; and its final glorious victory and beati- 
 tude. Much of the book — all the intermedi- 
 ate chapters — is occupied with the fortunes 
 of this "Church of the Living God" in its 
 militant state. The Apocalyptic stage is 
 crowded with figures and with incidents rep- 
 resentative of that which should become 
 history as the ages and centuries rolled away. 
 From time to time glimpses of the end are 
 seen— foreshadowings, as we shall note pres- 
 ently ; but that end of the Dispensation is not 
 3'et, in these intermediate chapters, distinctly 
 the theme of prediction, and so we find no- 
 where in them any express mention of that 
 which is, beyond all else, to characterize this 
 event — the coming of the Lord. 
 
 Now, if we view the three-fold utterance, 
 "Behold, I come quickly," in the last chap- 
 ter, as a re-affirniiition of what is so solemnly 
 announced in the first, the meaning in the 
 one place must be the same as in the other. 
 The question may arise, how then the com- 
 ing of the Lord could be to John himself an 
 object of such d(!sire as is expressed in the 
 closing words of the book, where, in response 
 to the " I come," we find him eagerly calling, 
 "Come, Lord Jesus!" There are those who 
 think that the words in allusion to Christ's 
 
 appearing in judgment, "all the tribes of the 
 earth shall mourn because of him," imply 
 that even to the redeemed of the Lord, them- 
 selves, that event will be one of awe and of 
 self-humiliation, if not of terror. In any 
 case, it may be urged with force and justice, 
 how can what is in its nature rather terror- 
 striking than joyful, and necessarily charged 
 with awful consequences to great multitudes 
 of mankind, be even to one who has no real 
 reason to fear it an occasion of longing desire? 
 The answer to this would be that the coming 
 of the Lord, even his coming to judge the 
 world, is the central event in a great series of 
 events, the contemplation of which is adapted 
 to inspire the spiritual mind with other emo- 
 tions than those which the contemplation of 
 the judgment alone would awaken. We 
 must suppose that of the things brought to 
 John's attention in these closing visions, it is 
 not alone the great white throne and the 
 judgment of quick and dead that dwells in 
 his memory and fills his thought. Beginning 
 with what the twentieth chapter records, we 
 have a succession of pictures, than which 
 nothing could be more glorious and inspiring. 
 In these, John had revealed to him the end 
 and the consummation of that in whose be- 
 ginning he had himself so largely shared, and 
 whose history during centuries was to be such 
 a scene of vicissitude and ordeal. He sees 
 the Kingdom of God in the splendor of its 
 final triumph, and the nations of the saved 
 in the beatitude of realized redemption. So 
 far from having connection witli the judg- 
 ment alone, and so associated with ideas of 
 awe and terror only, the thought of the 
 Lord's coming is in association with all these 
 glories and felicities of the new heaven and 
 earth, and the holy city in whose fadeless 
 light the redeemed enjoy eternal day. It is 
 that he may "bring with him" all this, that 
 John responds to the promise with the long- 
 ing cry, "Come, Lord Jesus!" It would 
 seen), too, that at some such point of view as 
 this, the "coming" was contemplated by all 
 the apostles. And, indeed, this question 
 whether the Lord's coming will be strictly 
 pre-millennial or post-millennial, does not 
 seem to be a vital one in the way that many 
 appear to suppose. "While the actual per- 
 sonal manifestation of which such frequent 
 mention is nnide, may occur in connec'tion 
 with that final great assize in which judgment 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 81^ 
 
 is pronounced, and every man goes to "his 
 own place," there is a sense in which the 
 ushering in of the millennium itself is a 
 "coming of the Lord." The closing part of 
 the nineteenth chapter, the appearance of the 
 glorious Rider on the white horse, points to 
 events in which, without any personal mani- 
 festation, there may be such a "revelation of 
 Jesus Christ" as will characterize one of the 
 most glorious eras in the whole history of 
 the Kingdom of God. Indeed, the millen- 
 nium itself seems clearly brought on by such 
 a display of divine power in connection with 
 a world-wide preaching of the gospel as must 
 far transcend all that has before been known 
 in the experience of the militant church. 
 This, too, foreshadows that final consumma- 
 tion which comes at the judgment; and so, in 
 a certain way, the beginning and the close of 
 the millennium constitute one "revelation of 
 Jesus Christ," in which he first appears in 
 the wonderful victories of conquering grace, 
 and in the other revealed "from heaven with 
 the angels of his power in flaming fire, ren- 
 dering vengeance to them that know not God, 
 and to them that obey not the gospel of our 
 
 Lord Jesus." (2Thess. 1:8. Revision). 
 
 We have no right to expect that this will 
 meet the views of those who hold to a per- 
 sonal second coming as the ushering event 
 of the millennium. It, however, indicates 
 our own convictions as to the manner in which 
 that "blessed hope and appearing of the glory 
 of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ" (Tit.2:i3. Sevision)^ is exhibited under a 
 more express form in the book we are here 
 studying. 
 
 II. PASSAGES IN AYHICH THIS 
 EA^ENT IS IMPLIED. 
 We group, here, passages such as the fol- 
 lowing: "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 "(ch. 3: 5. Revision); "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" 
 (:!:2i. Revision); "And he that overcometh, and 
 he that keepeth my works unto the end, to 
 him will I give authority over the nations: 
 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as 
 the vessels of the potter are broken in shiv- 
 
 ers" (ch. 2:26, 27. Revision); "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. Hallelujah : for the 
 Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let 
 us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us 
 give glory unto him : for the marriage of the 
 Lamb is come, and his wife hath made her- 
 self ready" (cb. i9;6, 7. Revision); "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. 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 of life: and the dead were 
 judged out of the things which were written 
 
 in the books" (ch. 20:11,12. Revision). 
 
 We copy these passages in full, in order 
 that their mutual and general bearing may be 
 the more readily seen. There is no express 
 mention in them of any coming of the Lord, 
 yet their full meaning cannot be reached 
 without assuming that event as implied. The 
 promises to "him that overcometh" of re- 
 cognition in the presence of the Father and 
 the angels ; of reigning with Christ in the 
 consummation of his kingdom ; the announce- 
 ment of the marriage of the Lamb, indicating 
 that final union of Christ and his church 
 which reaches its fullness only when at last 
 "he shall come to be admired in all them that 
 believe"; and above all, that judgment of the 
 great day in which our Lord is himself the 
 Judge, since "the Father hath committed all 
 judgment unto the Son"— these all iniply, 
 each in its own way, that event of which such 
 more express mention is elsewhere made. It 
 is to be noticed, however, that the only fur- 
 ther implication, as to tiie time of this coming 
 with reference to the millennium, is in the last 
 of the passages mentioned (perhaps, also, in 3: 
 5, where occurs the promise of recognition in 
 the presence of God ajid the angels), and what 
 of implication we find there, certainly favors 
 the view of those who believe that the actual, 
 personal, and visible second coming of Christ 
 will be when he comes to judge the world. 
 
 IIL PASSAGES IN WHICH IT IS 
 FORESHADOWED. 
 
 One of these is ch. 7: 9-17, where we read 
 of the "great multitude that no man could 
 number. • . standing before the throne and 
 
316 
 
 REVELATION, 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and 
 palms in their hands" . . . who had "come 
 up out of great tribulation, and they washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb."' These "serve him day and 
 night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the 
 throne shall spread his tabernacle over them," 
 etc. We speak of this passage a,s foreshadow- 
 ing the event to which we refer, because the 
 whole incident, as it appears to John, is sym- 
 bolical and anticipatory. The sealing of the 
 tribes had just taken place, and this next 
 succeeding picture anticipates and fore- 
 shadows the final result of that sealing, which 
 is to be a "multitude" of saved ones past all 
 po.ssibilities of enumeration, in a condition of 
 holiness and felicity, perfect and eternal. No 
 personal manifestation of the Lord in a 
 second advent is anywhere in the passage 
 announced, nor even distinctly implied; but 
 when we connect the passage with others, we 
 see that it anticipates that whole series of 
 crowning events, as the consummation of 
 human history in this world, in which that 
 second coming of the Lord fills so large a 
 place. 
 
 Another like passage is that which describes 
 the sounding of the seventh trumpet, with 
 what followed upon that. We have tried to 
 show in the exposition that what is written 
 there (on. u: 15, etsc?.) should not be interpreted 
 as primarily and expressly descriptive of 
 events of the last day. The voices in heaven, 
 "The kingdom of the world is become the 
 kingdom of our LOrd, and of his Christ, and 
 he shall reign forever and ever," announce 
 an epoch in the history of the king- 
 dom of God and of his Christ, rather 
 than the closing cha2^ters of it — a new mani- 
 festation and exercise of divine power in the 
 kingdom of grace, thenceforth to become 
 more and more express and victorious, until 
 all opposition shall be subdued, and evil 
 itself shall be swept from the scene, and im- 
 prisoned forever. In the exposition we have 
 preferred to adopt, the age in which we live 
 falls within this jieriod of the advancing and 
 victorious kingdom of God, while at the end 
 of the period will be found in their consum- 
 mation the things foreshadowed in the words, 
 " the time of the dead to be judged, and the 
 time to give their reward unto 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 destroj' the earth." 
 In some sense, these words have a present ful- 
 fillment, but the supreme fulfillment will 
 come at the end ; and connected with it, as 
 parallel Scriptures show, will be the Lord's 
 own personal second coming. 
 
 Of like purport, in their ultimate meaning, 
 the passages seem to be which we find at the 
 end of the fourteenth chapter, descriptive of 
 the harvest and the vintage; and again at the 
 end of the sixteenth, and in the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth, descriptive of the final de- 
 struction of Babylon. These events belong 
 to the closing scenes of the Dispensation, in- 
 cluding the millennium, with the events that 
 bring it on, the last judgment, in which the 
 final visitations of divine justice come upon 
 the world of wicked men, with the devil and 
 his angels, and the ultimate supreme triumph 
 of holiness in the universe of God. These are 
 all foreshadowed, and as belonging with them 
 the "revelation of Jesus Christ" in his second 
 glorious coming. 
 
 KESULT OF THE INQUIRY. 
 
 From what has now been said as to the 
 direct and inferential teachings of our book 
 with reference to the coming of the Lord, we 
 draw these conclusions: (1) That it teaches 
 us to expect, at the end of the age, or Present 
 Dispensation, an actual, personal second com- 
 ing of Christ; (2) That this book does not 
 exj^ressly declare the time of this second ap- 
 pearing of the Lord, with reference to the 
 millennium, that is to saj', whether it shall 
 be pre-millennial, or post-millennial; (3) 
 That inferentially, it connects this advent 
 with the general judgment, and so makes it 
 post-millennial; (4) That the attitude of the 
 book, as a whole, toward the doctrine of the 
 Lord's second coming, is quite in keeping 
 with its attitude toward Christian doctrine in 
 general. Perhaps there is no book of the 
 New Testament that is more thoroughly 
 evangelical in tone, and in its underlying 
 doctrine, than the Apocalypse ; at the same 
 time, it is not, in any sense of the word, 
 didactic. It is a poem, rather than a treatise. 
 And still, it would be diflicult to name any 
 fundamental truth of the gosjiel which does 
 not here find recognition. Scarcely' any 
 book of the Bible so clearly and forcibly sets 
 forth our Lord's divinity. His incarnation 
 and vicarious suffering are often brought to 
 
Ch. XXIL] 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 317 
 
 view in the most vivid terms of pictorial rep- 
 resentation. Redemption by faith in his 
 blood is the theme of repeated heavenly 
 choruses which John, in describing, almost 
 makes his readers, themselves, hear. Per- 
 sonal holiness as a token of applied redemp- 
 tion; and electing and covenant grace as at 
 the head of all — these are not more clearly 
 taught by Paul himself then is done in this 
 book, so thronged with imagery and symbol. 
 And yet, express and formal doctrinal teach- 
 ing is nowhere in it to be found. As with refer- 
 ence to Christian doctrine in general, so of the 
 doctrine of our Lord's coming. The book is 
 nowhere didactic or formal in its teaching 
 upon this subject ; yet in the ways which we 
 have tried to indicate above it treats the 
 event as sure, while giving us some intima- 
 tions of its nature and of its relation to other 
 events belonging, like itself, to the "end of 
 the age." 
 
 The word "quickly," used so repeatedly by 
 our Lord in this book when announcing his 
 second coming, harmonizes perfectly with the 
 general New Testament view of this event, 
 
 and with representations of it by our Lord 
 himself in certain of his parables. The 
 word has no polemical value either for 
 those who hold to a pre-millennial coming, 
 or for those who place the great event a thou- 
 sand years later. If it is to be taken abso- 
 lutely, it is as difficult of explanation, really, 
 for the one of these theories as for the other; 
 since not even can a coming to usher in the 
 millennium be, strictly speaking, a coming 
 " quickly." It seems to have been the Lord's 
 intention that the attitude of his church dur- 
 ing the whole period between his Ascension 
 and his Return, .should be an attitude of 
 expectancy. And in a true sense — although 
 not in a limited, temporal sense — this return 
 "to take account of liis servants" would in 
 each age, even in that of the apostles them- 
 selves, be "near." Measured on the scale of 
 God's great plan, "a thousand years are as 
 one daj'." We have no right to assume that 
 he will estimate his own periods by those 
 intervals of earthly time which, however, 
 they may seem to us, are in truth but as 
 seconds on the dial of eternity. 
 
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