"the period for the fulfillment of all prophecy has long ago passed away"

BOOK III.

ON THE WARNINGS GIVEN TO THE CHURCHES OF ASIA.

Sect. I.—On the Author, Writer, Scope, and Period of the fulfilment, of this Revelation.

acceptation of language, imply at no very distant time2. Let us examine the several places, in which the same is in effect said; and hence ascertain whether we can fix the period had in view. In verse 3 we have, " The time is at hand:" which must, as before, signify some period then soon to commence. In verse 19, John is commanded to write, "the things which" (now) " are, and the things which shall be hereafter:" i.e. to take place after those then in being, and, as it should seem, soon to succeed them. The Greek is more specific, and has, the things that shall be after these. Of the things which then were, the account of the seven Churches following, formed an important part: the things which should shortly come to pass, another; which should seem to imply events such as should materially affect these, and soon to happen.

It is said again (chap. iii. 11), " Behold, I come quickly3." We have here, Christ's coming coupled with judgments which should try the whole world (ver. 10). But this was, as we have seen, to take place with power, and to commence within the generation then existing. By Christ's coming quickly therefore, must of necessity be meant, His coming during the period of Daniel's seventieth week, that is, at the time of the End4 generally, when judgment should first be executed upon the Jews, in the fall of their City and Sanctuary, and in their final dispersion; and secondly, upon the Desolator himself, the Persecutor termed the Little Horn, who should make war upon the Saints, and whose body should then be

given to the burning flame. Christ's coming " in the clouds," has already been considered (p. 108, seq. above).

If we now turn to Chap. xxii. 7, 12, we shall find two repetitions of this: viz. " Behold, I come quickly:" which must, of necessity, be understood in the same sense. It is said again (ib. ver. 10), " Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand." But in Daniel (chap. viii. 26) it is said, " Shut thou up the vision: for it shall be for many days." And again (chap. xii. 4), " Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end :" and (ver. 9), " The words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." The reason for not sealing the words of this prophecy is therefore, this: viz. " the time is at hand ;" but in Daniel, the reason for sealing the words, and shutting the book was, because the vision had many days to run: and to a period then distant, viz. that of the end. Now the extreme end of Daniel's period was, as we have seen, the close of his seventieth week, which was to be signalized by the fall of the persecuting Power, named the Little Horn, and the giving of the fifth universal Empire to the Son of Man. This coming quickly therefore, and time then at hand, could not, in the nature of things, be of an extent so great as that had in view in Daniel, as far as the terms used may be relied on; and, from what we have seen, the generation then existing, and even St. John himself, were to witness its commencement at least, as " the beginning of sorrows:" while its termination could not exceed that noted above. And, once more, St. John's " quickly," and " at hand," virtually identify themselves here with Daniel's period of the end. Both the terms used therefore, and the events given for the purpose of limiting this period, conspire in assuring us, that the language used by St. John, is to be taken in its common and usual acceptation, and in no other.

This Chapter (xxii. 20) again, repeats this " Surely I come quickly ,•" which as before, must refer to Christ: and here, the declaration is strengthened by the term " Surely." I will only add, the repetitions of this enouncement must have been given, for the purpose of making it both prominent and important: which, accompanied as they are, and as shewn above, could not have been intended to carry the reader beyond the period so qualified, and so particularly and fre-

quently brought before us. The time had in view therefore, by the Apocalypse, must have long ago passed5.

sect. II.—On the General Scope of the First Three Chapters of the Revelation, and first Vision of St. John.

it must appear from the general declarations of these Chapters, that Christianity had, at the time of their revelation, been generally received; for they extend to the uni-

versal Church, as it also must, that the Church was then implicated in certain corruptions; and likewise, that persecution was inflicted on it to some extent6; not indeed to that which it was doomed eventually to suffer7. And, on both these accounts apparently, these warnings and encouragements were given to it, in its universal character by St. John. We shall presently see, from the terms used, that, under these seven Churches, the whole Christian Church is addressed; for certainly, the Gospel had been preached to every 'creature under heaven in the days of St. Paul8. The mystery of iniquity evidently had, as in his days, begun at least to work; while the fuller tide of this, with its attendant tribulations, was as yet future in the views of the Evangelist John.

It, should seem evident moreover, from these considerations, as also from others to be noticed, that Jerusalem had not yet fallen: and this receives considerable strength from the circumstance, that not so much as a single allusion to it, as a fact, is to be found in the whole Book: while many certainly are, to the predictions of its fall'1. And if this be the case, St. John could not have written it when exiled by Domitian to the Isle of Patmos (chap. i. 9), because this Emperor was not in power till after the fall of the holy City. " / John," says the writer of this Book, " was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus.'1'' Which does not neces-

sarily mean, that he was there on account of persecution for the word of God (much less in the times of Domitian); but it may be, for the purpose of preaching, just as Paul was at this or that place, for the same purpose; and, as Asia seems to have fallen under the charge of St. John, it is not improbable he may, long before he became Bishop of that diocese, have made it the particular object of his care. It is true, tradition makes Patmos the place of John's exile under Domitian; but this seems to have no better authority than that of conjecture.

It should also seem from the expression, " I come quickly" noted above, that our Lord had not yet come in Power, in any case. If he had so come, with reference to Jerusalem, the form would rather have been, Behold, I come again, or a second time; or, as in His prediction10, Behold, after the tribulations, i. e. as already inflicted, I come again. But we have nothing bearing the least resemblance to this: whence, it is but reasonable to conclude, that our Lord had not yet so appeared in Power, in any instance. Jerusalem was therefore, in all probability, still standing; but was soon to fall, and that Wicked one to be revealed. To the same effect, " Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him," &c. which is said of something not yet done. And, alluding to this, our Lord Himself says to the Jews, (Matth. xxvi. 64), " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven:" which is but an echo to what we have (ib. xvi. 28), " Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the

Son of Man coming in his kingdom:'1'' and this, as already noticed, must be limited to the judgment to fall on Jerusalem ; for many then living would see it: while none could survive to the period, in which the fall of the Roman persecuting Power should take place. It is to this last therefore, that we must refer the prediction (in Matth. xxiv. 30), viz. " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes op the earth mourn11," &c., both because it exceeds the limit of time marked in the first case by our Lord, and also that of the space then had in view, which must have been Jewry only ; while we have here, " all the tribes of the earth" But, according to the terms of St. John, this coming in the clouds had not yet taken plaoe in any case. Jerusalem could not therefore have yet fallen: nor could this have been written in the times of Domitian.

The next thing to be observed here, is the dignity of Him who is the Author of this whole Book. Tt is said (chap. i. ver. 5) to be "from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first-begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth:" that is, de jure, not at this period de facto. A little lower down, it is said of Him, that He is " the Alpha and Omega," " the beginning and the ending12," " the Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come:" and (ver. 11) " The first and the last." And again (ver. 17), "I am the first and the last:" " I am He that liveth, and was dead;...and have the keys of hell and of death" In these former expressions, the titles assumed are those of jehovah Himself, besides whom there is no revealed God; in the second, those which refer to Christ,—God and Man, —and can possibly refer to no other person. When we are told that " His hairs were white like wool," we are necessarily brought back to our second Vision of Daniel, where, as then noticed, the Son of Man is brought to the Ancient of days : but here, Christ is made " Him which was, and is, and is to come:" and again, He has " the keys of hell and of death:" that is, the insignia of judgment. " Out of his mouth" too, goes forth (ver. 16) " a two-edged sword :" i. e.

" the Word of God," which is " the sword of the Spirit," wherewith he smites the earth, and destroys by His denunciations (i. e. the breath of his lips) the wicked13. Our Lord is here depicted therefore, in His rightful character, as God-man, i. e. in His humility, and as having suffered death: in His power, as Prince of the kings of the earth, and, as God the Word, enouncing both the eternal blessings and terrors of the Almighty.

I shall not deem it necessary to note every particular mentioned in this Preface, but only such as seem important to the purposes of our inquiry. It is said then, Chap. i. ver. 20, " The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches." It is one admirable feature of this Book, that it occasionally supplies us with its own interpretation of its most difficult parts. These we shall notice as we proceed. We are here accordingly informed, that by the " seven stars'" are meant, the angels, or presiding ministers, of the " seven Churches :" i. e. as stated above, of the whole universal Church: and that, by the Candlesticks, these Churches themselves are meant. When we read therefore, of a Candlestick's being removed, we are to understand the removal of some one such Church.

We should observe in the next place, that every warning here given, involves some condition, with its consequence, e. g. (chap. ii. 5) " Repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick ...except thou repent." Of this character are all the rest. And if so, we have no prophecy here: this is doctrine, and nothing else: it foretells nothing positively: and therefore, it is not prophecy in the strict acceptation of that term. To talk then, of the desolate state of any such Church as

particularly named here, evincing the fulfilment of prophecy, is to talk wide of the mark. And, if by these seven Churches we are to understand the universal Church, then will such interpretation be still worse. But, if we take this as the enouncement of a doctrine,—for which indeed its very terms are sufficient vouchers,—then we shall see, not only in the desolate state of those Churches, but in the removal of those of Africa, Arabia, Persia, and of many other places, the infliction of these very judgments of God. They were all thus warned: they disregarded the warning, and they were accordingly laid aside. Nor need these warnings be confined to those times, as indeed the nature of all doctrine requires. They bear as much on us, as they did on the Churches then : and the truth is, the consequences are now as plainly to be seen, as they are with reference to those Churches, wherever these warnings are, or are not, attended to: while, considered as prophecies, strictly speaking, they have neither meaning in their terms, nor the possibility of correct application in the facts.

" Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes" (ib. ver. 6). From the occurrence of this term again (ver. 15), in the same context with " them that hold the doctrine of Salaam," Vitringa has been induced to believe, that by Nicolaitanes is meant, the same thing as would have been, had the word Balaamites been used15; and hence, that this term is not derived from the name of Nicolas the deacon: his conclusion is, that everything said by the early Fathers of the Church on this subject, is not to be regarded. I must say with Mosheim16,—respecting, as I very highly do, the merits of Vitringa,—I am still inclined to believe, that the tradition of these Fathers is not to be wholly disregarded. Some of them too, lived near enough to these times to have known whence the name originated : and certainly, those who have so spoken of it were no visionaries.

sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication:" no doubt need remain as to what these Nicolaitanes were. The Platonic doctrine of a community of women, had most likely been received among them: and this, as a temptation to embrace their views, was no doubt held out to all: coupled, —for nothing less could be expected,—with "forbidding to marry18,1" and " abstaining from meats," unless these were first offered to idols: for fanatics are commonly rigid in exacting from their followers, every particular distinguishing their party.

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches: To him that overcometh will 1 give to eat of the tree of life" (ver. 7). That this is a general enouncement of doctrine, directed to all Believers, there can be no doubt: nor can there, that what is said here by the Spirit, is also said to all the Churches. The thing promised too, can be nothing either less or more than the great privilege of Christianity as taught to all by the Apostles, by virtue of which alone, men should be restored to the image of Him that created them, and even to higher privileges than those of Eden, and even to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. (See on chap. xxii. 2, 17.) We have here therefore, neither Jewish, nor Gnostic, Millennium. We have the pure enouncements of Christianity only, and those in which believers should be made complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

" The devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried : and ye shall have tribulation ten days" (ver. 10). From this, as also from (chap. iii. 10), viz. " The hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them," it must be evident, that the persecutions and trials foretold, by Daniel and others, must be had in view. In Daniel we have (chap. xi. 35), " Some of them of understanding" (i. e. " some of you," here) " shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make white, even to the time of the end: because," it is added, "it is yet for a time appointed." The " ten days" of John must therefore, be the same with this " appointed time," and " end," of the Prophet; who also

tells us, that they should be given into the hands of the Power who should be the minister of Satan, during the period of a time, times, and the dividing of time: that is, during the latter half of his seventieth week (Chap. vii. 25; xii. 7. See on Rev. xii. 14, &c. below). John's "ten days" therefore, is a mere indefinite manner of speaking, as in Gen. xxiv. 55, Heb. ") some days, or a decade: or, as we would say, some nine days, or a fortnight: our Authorized Version is therefore lax here. But we have a more sure means of determining the " time," or " end appointed," as we have already seen. This therefore, as before, must have been written before the times of Domitian. And again, " the crown of life" promised in this verse, can mean nothing more or less, than the crown which St. Paul, declared was laid up both for himself, and for all believers, having fought the good fight, and perseveringly kept the faith19.

" He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (ver. 11). That is, every one that so overcometh throughout the whole Church, as before. See what is said on this subject, chap. xx. 14, and xxi. 7, 8, below. "Where Satan's seat is" (ver. 13). The Church of Pergamos is here addressed, where it is most likely Satan's service was in high repute; but the particulars we are not told. Nor can it be ascertained who the faithful martyr " Antipas" was. It is evident that he must have suffered before John wrote this; and therefore, considerably before the commencement of the general persecutions. He probably fell,— as Paul very nearly did,—(Acts xiv. 19, &c.) by the malice of the Jews. The seat of Satan however, in this Book generally, is certainly heathen Rome. Still, before the general persecutions, Jerusalem might be so styled with the greatest propriety: and here, both James the brother of John, and Stephen, fell by the atrocity (see chap, xi, 8) of its Rulers.

" To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it" (ver. 17). By " the hidden manna" is probably meant, that which the manna, laid up20, mystically

implied, namely, Christ; and this He Himself seems (John vi, 32, 36, inclus.) to say: i. e. I will feed his soul with the provisions of my Church, so that, in a spiritual sense, he shall neither hunger nor thirst, but shall ever have the greatest abundance. I greatly doubt whether any reference is had in the terms " white stone," to any Grecian or Roman usage, as supposed by the commentators generally, of which a sufficient specimen may be seen here in Vitringa. This " white stone"" was, as it should seem, to contain " a new name," written by the finger of God as in the tables of the Law. Of this Isaiah will give us some account (chap. Lxii. 2), " The Gentiles," he tells us, "shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the lord shall name21."

We have reference again made to this (chap. iii. 12), " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God" (i. e. such as Jachin and Boaz were in that of the Jews22)..."and," it is added, "/ will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name." This new name can be none but Christian; whether we find it on the white stone so given, or, as the name of the believer's God (Christ), or as the name of the New Jerusalem, which is the Christian Church. To have this so written therefore, upon him, and upon his stone, appears to have reference to Deut. vi. 8, seq., where we have, " Thou shalt bind them" (i. e. God's words) "for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes," &c. which the Jews understanding literally, applied in their phylacteries; when the intention is, that they should be written on the table of their hearts. Not unlike this is Num. xvii. 2, 3, where every man is commanded to take a rod, and according to the house of his fathers (i. e. tribes), to write his name upon it. Upon that of the tribe of Levi, Aaron's name was to be written. Here, upon white stone, i. e. pure, and as subject to no decay, is the name Christian to be written.

No tribular distinction now existing, the rod is out of place, for the believer is now to be a pillar in his Redeemer's holy City, and the material of this is to be that of the rock, white, pure, and enduring; and so far is he to be a Cephas, or Peter23, both as to faith and practice.

Again, " A...name...which no man knoweth, saving he who receiveth it:" i. e. involving " the mystery of godliness:'''' the realization of the power of the Spirit, which the world knoweth not, because it seeth him not2. Hence it is said, " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.'" Ps. xxv. 14, &c. See Prov. iii. 32, &c. Where, it is remarkable enough, the Hebrew term signifying also foundation, is always used.

This is not therefore any Greek or Roman tessera, nor is it either a white, or black, calculus used by them in judicial proceedings: it is the insignia of the profession of citizenship, &c., just as the name on the tribular rod, or the text written on the door-posts, or frontlets, with the Jews; marking at once their religious profession, and tribular place and station: while, under the New Covenant, the name Christian includes all this in a, spiritual sense; and its essential properties are, to be written on the heart that has been purified by faith.

"Thou sufferest that woman Jezebel," &c. (ver. 20). Allusion is here evidently made to the wife of Ahab (1 Kings xvi. 31, &c.), who stirred up her husband to every species of spiritual fornication; and, among other things, to seek the life of the prophet Elijah, so that he exceeded in wickedness all that had gone before him. That some such Jezebel, or Balaam, or leader of the Nicolaitanes, was in Thyatira at this time, is very probable, although we have no historical record of the fact. The heresy of Simon Magus had, in one shape or other, evidently taken its stand here: and, as these Churches represented all others, the same was no doubt true of many of them also. The mystery of iniquity had been some time at work, and alas! how rapidly does it usually make its way!

"I gave her space to repent...and she repented not" (ver. 21). "And I will kill her children...and all the

Churches shall know," &c. Here "All the Churches," (ver. 23). It will be observed we are now told, that " she repented not;" and hence, the warnings so given, as well as the judgments so threatened, must have been intended for all the Churches so circumstanced.

"But unto you...and as many as have not this doctrine ...I will put upon you no other bur den... hold fast till I come" (verr. 24, 25). From which it is manifest, that there was a true Church in Thyatira, and that the Apostolic recommendation (Acts xv. 28, seq.) to abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication, is the " none other burden1'' laid upon it here. By " holdfast," &c. seems to be meant, take care that, during the time of sifting and trial, presently to come upon the whole world (chap. iii. 10. Comp. Matth. xxiv. 13), your faith fail not. Then comes the promise :—

" He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end" (i. e. every believer so doing until the end should arrive), " to him will I give power over the nations; and he shall ride them with a rod of iron" „.." even as I received of my Father" (verr. 26, 27). Christ gives to his servants, and "first-fruits'"'' here, the privileges and powers assigned to Himself by the Father. To them it was given, as His ministers, to erect His kingdom. They were to judge the world ; with the sword of the Spirit issuing from His mouth, in His holy word, they were to slay the wicked; and, by the same means, also to give salvation, light, and newness of life, to every one who should receive their testimony. As ministers, these would occupy His place and do His work, not by their own wisdom or might, but by virtue of that which should attend them, as He promised, " Lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world:" and, as this is delivered generally as a doctrine, it need not be restricted to the end intimated in prophecy, properly so called.

"And I will give him the morning-star :" (ver. 28), that is, my own enlightening Spirit and power. In Chap. xxii. 16, Jesus says of Himself, 'I am... the bright and morning-star." He also says, " 1 have sent mine Angel to testify unto you these things in the Churches:" where, be it observed, we have nothing limiting this to the seven Churches of Asia: what is said, is directed to the Churches generally. And

here, the subject-matter is the same as it is in all these addresses. All the Churches are therefore meant in each case; and this "bright and morning-star'"'' is, in like manner, promised to all. The doctrine too, is that of Apostolic Christianity, and of all times.

In 2 Pet. i. 19, this " morning-star" is styled " the day-star" (i. e. lit. light-carrier), and it is given together with the recommendation, to " take heed to the more sure word of prophecy, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until," it is said, " the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:" as if the careful study of Prophecy would necessarily lead to this heavenly light. The Revelation of St. John was evidently given to guide and aid this study, and therein to reveal both to the understanding, and the affections, of the believer the light of life, which is to be found in the face of Christ Jesus alone. " / will give him the morning-star,'1'' is therefore much the same thing as to say, / myself will come to him, and make my abode with him. (Comp. John xiv. 18—24, and Rev. iii. 20, seq.)

The first intimation we have of Christ under the figure of a star, is in Num. xxiv. 17, in these words : "There shall come a star out of Jacob", " and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and He shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." That is, Moab, as an opposer of Israel, shall be utterly destroyed: he shall be overcome by the sword of the Spirit, which is to proceed out of the mouth of this Ruler. The children of Sheth were now all mankind: those of Cain having perished by the flood. These as mere natural men shall, in like manner fall, and be raised to a new life by virtue of the law to be maintained under the Sceptre of Christ (as Shiloh), to whom the gathering of the nations shall be.

We have a manifest allusion to this in St. Luke (chap. i. 78), " Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring" "from on high hath visited us." It is added, by way of comment, " To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Again in the Song of Simeon (ib. ii. 32), "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy" (true) "people Israel." To the same effect Isaiah (chap. ix. I, seq.), " Arise, shine, for thy light is come," &c...

" And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.'1'' And Malachi (chap. iii. 2), "To you that fear my name"" (i. e. the believing Remnant of Israel) " shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings" Where, it will be observed, the figure is changed, while the Person meant is clearly the same.

What might have induced the wise men of the East (Matth. ii. 2) to follow the guiding of a star to Bethlehem, it is impossible to say with certainty. The probability is strong that, as a tradition of the coming of Christ, had certainly made its way far and wide in the world25, some divine intimation was made to these sages, that, if they followed the star then appearing,—in an extraordinary manner of necessity, for this was an extraordinary period as to miraculous appearances and operations,—they would find Him in a state of infancy, and just born. But here, in St. John and St. Peter, this star was, in its enlightening and healing influences, to arise in the hearts, and to shine in the lives of them who should receive it: where, as in other instances noticed above, the natural phenomenon is made to intimate the spiritual privilege.

Chapter iii.

Verr. 1—6, contain the epistle to the Church of Sardis; where, as in our former cases, there appear to be only a few names to live. To this few it is said (ver. 4, seq.), "They shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy." We are taught (chap. xix. 8) that by "fine linen, white and clean" is meant " the righteousness of saints." It is in this place mentioned, as " the wedding garment'''' of the spouse of Christ; i. e. of His Church; and, of necessity, of every real member of it. And, as it is the custom in the East to give the garment to be worn at a feast, to every one who is to partake therein26, so here this garment is necessarily the gift of the Bridegroom, Christ.

I mil also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." If then we take this as prophecy, and apply it to the Church of Philadelphia, it will follow, that this Church should still remain in its integrity; but the fact is, it has, like all the others, fallen ! The " little strength"" which should be so aided as to overcome the temptation to afflict the world, must in fact have disappeared, and judgment have fallen upon it, as in the case of the Churches of Africa, to the uttermost. This can therefore be no prophecy; it is a doctrine, as before, and nothing else.

We then have (ver. 9), judgment denounced on the Jews" who are here, as before (ch. ii. 9), " The synagogue of Satan." It is said, "Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." That this contains no promise of conversion, must be evident from

the context, as well as the threatening manner in which it is given. If however, we turn to the original enouncements of it, no doubt will remain on this point. We have then. (Isai. lx. 14), " The, sons also of them that afflicted thee," (i.e. "people as of Gomorrah,"" who afflicted the true Zion in the days of the Prophet,) "shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet, and they shall" (thus virtually) call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel."1 A Synagogue of Satan, such as we now have before us, could recognize the power of this Zion, in none but a secular sense :—and in this sense the Jews have been compelled to worship it:—which must be intended here. Besides, Zion is nowhere said in a religious sense, to be an object of worship to any people; nor, from the nature of the case, can she be.

We have again (Rev. ver. 8), "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it," that is, of entrance to the Zion of God. " Thy gates," says Isaiah (chap. lx. 11), shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee," (more literally, in unto thee,) " the forces of the Gentiles." So also (Rev. xxi. 25,) "And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day : for there shall be no" (spiritual) " night there." Such is the Zion into 'which this Church of Philadelphia had entered, and was then so found in the estimation of Him "who hath the key of David." The exhortation now is (ver. 12), "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." What this Church had received from the Apostles, was wholly adequate to the securing of this ; it wanted therefore neither the Jewish, nor Heretical, Millennium of that, or any other period. Then follows (ver. 12), the general declaration, already considered, viz. "Him that overcometh,'"1 would Christ "make a pillar in the temple of his God." all are then (ver. 13) called upon to " hear," as before, " what the Spirit saith to the Churches"

The last warning is addressed to the Church of the Laodiceans (verr. 14—22). It commences with, " These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;" all of which is a periphrastic description of Christ, amounting in value to his titles as given in the preceding addresses, though verbally differing from them.

as its Head, and sole Governour. To this, some bring Prov. viii. 22. " The lord possessed me (Heb. 133J3, lit. acquired me, made me his own) in, the beginning of His way." (the beginning, &c. without "in" Heb. i3 which will then mean the Origin, Head, Commencement; and, by a metonymy, Him who was so. We have in Deut. xxxii. 21 a similar use of the word in, So he saw (viewed) a Commencement, or Headship, for him: i. e. a state in which his authority would take its rise. The LXX. give here: the Vulgate principatum, which is better: the Samaritan, " Et fecit prcerogativum swam,"  which the New Testament will throw the best light: e. g. Eph. iii. 9.  (God) who created all things by Jesus Christ.'1'' And (ib. 11.)  "According to the eternal purpose, which he (God) purposed in Christ Jesus." Better perhaps, of the dispensations which He purposed : i. e. not only as to creation, but to all pertaining to Religion. Of the first, Solomon speaks fully in Prov. viii. 27—31: of the last, ib. verr. 32—36, inclus. Comp. Col. j. 15, 16, where should imply primogenitus, as to dignity and pre-eminence, rather than any passive sense, as to birth. See also John i. 1, 2, which brings us to the other titles of divinity ascribed by our Lord to himself, in these three first chapters of the Revelation; and all is consistent.

From ver. 15 down to ver. 19, this Church is severely rebuked, and warned how to avoid the consequences threatened. Its fault was lukewarmness, the most subtle and fatal perhaps, that can attach itself to any Church, and sufficient, as it is declared here, to bring about its utter rejection. Let this never be forgotten. The counsel given (ver. 18) is, " Buy of me gold tried in the fire...and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed...and anoint thine eyes wiih eye-salve, that thou mayest see :" because " In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom, and knowledge" (Col. ii. 2), because He i» " Jehovah our Righteousness " (Jer. xxiii. 6), and because He " is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Cor. i. 30).

Ver. 19. " As many as I love, I rebuke," &c. is now given to assure this lukewarm body, that the severity had

recourse to was in the sincerest love. It is added: " be zealous therefore, and repent.'1'' The Chapter now concludes with a general invitation to all, and intended, no doubt, to apply to the Church of all times and places: not as a prophecy, but as a monition: " Behold, I stand at the door and knock; z/'any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me." That is, if any such (—nay, if any even out of the Church) do this, then will I come in the power of the Spirit, and will sup with him. Which can be understood of nothing short of Almighty power, and ubiquity, in Him who makes the promise. The same is true of the next verse, " To him that over-cometh," sec., where the promise is to bestow eternal life, honour, and glory, on all so opening to the Redeemer, who stands as it were, and knocks at the hearts of all believers, by His word, His preachers, the suggestions of conscience, the unsatisfying things of time and sense, and in the dread anticipatings of eternal damnation. Let then every one, who hath an ear, hear attentively what the Spirit, in so much love and truth, says to the Churches.—

We learn two important things therefore, from this Preface, or Introduction, to the Revelation. I. The truth, that notwithstanding the fact, that Christianity was preached and seconded by the exertion of miraculous powers, it is not to be presumed that it will always be so maintained; but rather, that, if its followers forsake their first works, that is, as received by Apostolical enouncement and exemplification, their candlesticks, although retaining some portion of divine light, will be removed, just as they have been in the case of the Churches here addressed. For, as this involves a question of principle only, no increase of Christianity effected, even by miraculous power—were that possible—can interfere with it : degree being altogether excluded. The Revelation therefore, if it supplies us with the brightest view of Christianity,—as it certainly does—it does at the same time most effectually admonish us, that this can be known and felt, only by the cultivation of a true and lively faith, such as was realized by the Apostles, and Apostolic Believers, of its times. II. That the Author of the things brought here to our notice, is the Son of God, " God revealed in power." These declarations are therefore worthy of all acceptation, as they are

most instructive and edifying. They are the enouncements of Him who was, and is, and is still to come, as our Creator, Redeemer, and Judge. "This prophecy " therefore, and all "prophecy," the spirit of which is " the testimony of Jesus," proceeds from Christ, as the One, and same great Author of it all. The Prophets spake as they were moved by the Spirit of Christ28. St. John here did the same thing; and the amount, as we shall see, of these his visions is, a synopsis of all that they had said, presenting and supplying at the same time, the best means for understanding them.

We learn moreover from this Preface, as we also do from other parts of the New Testament, that, how perfect soever Christianity itself was in the Apostolic times,—and it was ever in principle entirely so,—its professors were in character, as were whole Churches, of a very various sort. And this, supposing no irresistible influence exercised upon them, is what would necessarily be the case, and ever will be. Nevertheless, the Apostle tells us, that, at this very time, Believers were complete in Christ, the head of all principality and power: that they were the very members of His body, and of His flesh and bones; that is, in a spiritual sense: that they were temples of the Holy Ghost; were citizens of the City of the living God, and had come to the true Zion, and actually sat in heavenly places with Christ; and, that this was the case in many, no one need doubt. He adds, that if an Angel from heaven preached anything beyond what had been preached to them, and had been received by them, he was to be considered as accursed, and as a minister of Satan29. It was not therefore, the men, but the thing, to which they were to look, and under which they were to grow up to a meetness even for heaven. Christianity still holds out the same to us; and vain must the expectations of those be, who look for something better ; because, neither here, nor elsewhere, is anything beyond this promised.

There is one consideration more ; it is, That this Book was written at a time when it was especially necessary to warn the Church of the things soon to take place. It had been warned to expect its Lord, who had said He would

come as a thief (Rev. xvi. 15) in the night, and as the waters of the flood30. The expectations of His coming are accordingly insisted upon, by the writers of the New Testament. In the Revelation, John gives—after our Lord and the Prophets generally—the signs and other means whereby believers should know how, and when, this should take place. The highly figurative character of this Book was necessary, on some other accounts. I. For the purpose of bringing the mystical enouncements of the Prophets to bear on the events then to take place; and so to supply the best means of interpreting them. The enouncements of John are, as it will be seen, easily identified with those, to which they were intended to call our attention. Hence, these supply the surest clue to their meaning. II. In order to avoid giving offence to the Powers that then were, so as to make this Book a ground for persecution, this mystical style was likewise necessary. Had it plainly affirmed that the Roman Power, then bearing universal sway, should within a certain time fall for ever, and Christianity prevail; Who does not see, that the body in whose possession it was found, would be proscribed as a mere political party, whose object was to stir up the world to rebellion, and to bring about a new state of things in its own favour? and thus, under the pretence of a purer Religion, to have in view nothing beyond secular power and aggrandisement!

No sort of accusation was left untried during the Persecutions, as the writers of those times inform us: and surely, such an opportunity as this would have afforded, could not have been overlooked. But, as our Revelation presents itself under signs and symbols, and in highly figurative and mystical language, it would be to all but well-read believers in the Scriptures, a perfectly sealed. Book; and such it certainly was. Hence it is said, " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy:" that is, so read and hear, as to understand what they unfold, and thence " keep" (i. e. observe to do) " those things which are written therein ; for the time'''' (i. e. then of experiencing them) " is at hand." I would rather read however, " he that read-

eth, and they that hear the words of prophecy31, and," (i. e. generally) " keep those things which are written therein" (i. e. as revealed in this Book); "for the time is at hand " i. e. when the instructions, encouragements, and great end had in view, should be above all things necessary to the work and warfare of faith. In this point of view, this admonition could not but be important to the Church. The world, but particularly the Church, was now to be tried in a way never before known (Dan. xii. 1, sec.). To the support of the Church this Revelation brought all the testimony of Scripture, both to assure it of victory, and to supply it with encouragement sufficient for all its wants. And, what is best of all, it brought this in strains of the purest piety, and in the fullest exhibition of spiritual consolation. In this particular too, it can never cease to administer the greatest blessedness.

Chapter II.

We have in the next Chapter (v.), a general description of this Judgment; of its execution and consequences. " The Book" i. e. the Holy Scripture, particularly of the Old Testament, the Visions of which were sealed up in Daniel unto the time of the end, is here (i. e. in the time of the end,) opened by the Lamb; that is, by the ministry of Christ

primarily; and then, secondarily, by that of His Preachers. This primary act of opening is here carried on through seven stages; in other words, the seals are made to be seven, and each of these is said to be opened, some time after its immediately preceding one. The number seven is used here, as it should seem, indefinitely: and is perhaps intended to correspond to some extent, to the seven days of Daniel's mystical seventieth week (in its seven days), during which, the Covenant was to be magnified with the many.

This number seven may therefore, involve the events of the period termed the last days, ends of the world, or the like, as noticed above3; and if so, the period implied will, at its close, find all completed: and we have accordingly, (chap. v. 9—14 inclus.) the New song, so often brought before us by the Psalmist4, and repeated at the close of each vision in this Book,—as we shall see,—which commemorates the full reign of Christ on earth, and His saving health made known to all nations. We have here therefore, a general view of the great subject before us, developed in its means, viz. the power of Christ in His word, as opened both theoretically and experimentally by Himself,—for none other can effectually do this;—with its object and end, the redemption and salvation of all men, of every kingdom and nation under heaven : for here, the reign of "the Son of Man" is exhibited as universal and complete.

the sixth Chapter begins with the opening of these sealed Scriptures, and its consequences; with this, the ministry of Christ to both Jew and Gentile. It should be borne in mind, that Jewry has now no covenanted privileges, any more than the unconverted nations. The Jews had rejected and crucified the Saviour, and with more than Gentile hostility persecuted and slain His ministers: on this account they had been broken off as branches to be gathered and burned5. They are mentioned in this Book therefore, as those who

call themselves Jews, but are not; but are the synagogue of Satan6: while Jerusalem itself receives no better a title, than that of a spiritual Sodom and Egypt7. The Apostle Paul, much to the same effect, pronounces Jerusalem that now is, in bondage with her children, and cast out as was Hagar with her eon. He also declares that the Jerusalem,—which was then above,—is the mother of us all8. Circumcision too, he affirms, is a mere cutting or concision; while the true circumcision, that of the heart, is the property of the Church9, and not to be found under the worn-out system of Moses. This then being the case, neither Jerusalem, nor its Jews, had any right whatever to honourable mention in this Book ; and none such have they. They were manifestly obnoxious to the judgments to be poured out; and, we shall presently see, they are not lost sight of in this respect, by St. John.

The first thing presented to us here (ver. 2), is One riding on a white10 horse. A crown was given to him, " and he went forth, conquering and to conquer.'1'' By which we are perhaps to understand, that the first gleam of divine light derived from the opened Scriptures, is the power of Christ going forth to salvation. Here, more particularly, Christ revealed not in weakness, but as crowned for the diffusion of Divine truth throughout the world, for the establishment of His everlasting kingdom, and to recompense the controversy of Zion: and in this, to consign His adversaries to open shame and contempt. And, let it be observed, this is seen by St. John not in the heaven of disembodied spirits, but " in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." See chap. i. 7, seq., where we have Christ speaking from the clouds of heaven, and declaring His dignity and power. This vision,—as indeed every other in this Book,—exhibits the execution of Christ's judgments as issu-

ing from the heavens; i. e. as from the clouds. See p. 107, seq., above.

One prophecy referred to here is, Ps. xlv, where we have (ver. 4, seq.), " And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness."..."Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies ; whereby the people fall under thee." We have then (ver. 6), the Divinity of this conqueror, as cited by St. Paul (Heb. i. 8), "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" &c. And (verr. 10, 11) we have the marriage with His spouse, His Church: and then (ver. 16), the offspring, to be "Princes in all the earth :" i. e. the Son of Man, in his spiritual seed, inheriting as kings and queens the possessions of the whole world, and so fulfilling the promise made to Abraham, as the Father of many nations. (Let the parallel places here be examined.)

If we now turn to Zech. ix. 13, we shall find the same thing foretold more fully, and specifically. "When," it is said, " I have bent Judah" (as a bow) "for me, and filled the bow with Ephraim" (i. e. as with arrows, in the two houses so united), "and raised up thy sons, O Zion" (i. e. the spiritual and true Zion), "against thy sons, O Greece" (i. e. the philosophy of whom shall then, as a religion, be put down), " and made thee as the sword of a mighty man" (i. e. as in Ps. xlv. 3, seq). "And" it is added, " the lord shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning'" (such was His coming to be, Matth. xxiv. 27, &c.)..."77»e Lord of hosts" (ver. 15) "shall defend them"...(ver. 16) "They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land" (i. e. among the Gentiles). These must necessarily be the Escaped of Isai. Lxvi. 18, seq.: " / will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall see my glory ...I will send those that escape of them unto the nations,.. and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." Then follows (ver. 24) the fall of the transgressors, whose " carcases" (for these would be spiritually dead) should be " an abhorring unto all flesh." We have here therefore, Christ going forth in His ministers, conquering and to conquer, with the judgment to be executed by Himself, first upon the Jews, and secondly, upon the unbelieving Gentiles. Comp. Ps. ex. 5—7, where the same gene-

earth sitteth still, and is at rest." These should seem therefore, to be the ministers of the Prince of peace; for in Him only, is real and lasting rest and peace to be found. The restoration is here therefore, not that of Jews to Canaan, but of the true and spiritual Zion, in Jerusalem during its times of course, but after these, throughout the whole earth as to the land of promise, the. spiritual Canaan, according to the terms of the everlasting Covenant. We have here therefore, as before, the ministry of the pious Remnant, or Escaped, symbolized by the outgoings of horses of various colours, the object and end of which is, quietness and rest.

There is a repetition of this given (ib. chap. vi. 1, seq.), " I looked, and behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains... In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot were white horses ; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses." I remark, we have the number four here, as in both the instances noticed above. The explanation given (ver. 5) is this: "These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth:" that is, for the purpose of executing His purposes throughout it. Two of these then go forth towards the north; and two apparently, towards the south, and this in obedience to the command (ver. 7), " Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth :" that is, through the whole earth. We are then told (ver. 8), that " these that go toward the north country have quieted my " (i. e. the Lord's) " spirit in the north country :" implying,—as it should seem, and as in the former cases just noticed,—that all the others succeeded in a similar way.

We next have (ver. 12) the growing up of Him who should be styled " the branch," and who should build the greater Temple of the lord : and this must, from the next verse, mean the coming and rule of Christ, which should affect all nations by the permanent blessing of the New Covenant. Again (in ver. 15), the calling in of the Gentiles is evidently brought before us. These four chariots with horses, or these four spirits, sent out to quiet the Spirit of the Lord, must therefore imply, the reconciling of the world to God, by the ministry of the New Testament; or, as in (ver. IS), "He shall build the temple of the loud; He shall

bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne" (comp. Luke i. SI); "and He shall be a priest upon His throne"1"1 (i. e. for ever, after the order of Melchizedek), " and the counsel of peace shall be between them both:" i. e. this King, and His thus acquired subjects, i. e. between God and man. These four spirits must then, be understood as animating Christ's ministers thus sent forth, apparently into the four quarters of the world, for the purposes just mentioned.

We may now return to Rev. vi. 2, where, as we have seen, Christ is exhibited as going out conquering and to conquer. He is the First here therefore, the Leader, Head, and Principal, in this great work and warfare; just as we shall see Satan is, in that of opposing Him (on Rev. xii. 1, seq., below), "-The testimony of Jesus is" (therefore) " the spirit of prophecy'1'' in principle ; just as the denial of Him is, that of the Father of lies and god of this world. Let this not be forgotten. We have here therefore, the outgoing of Christ in His Apostles, for the purpose of establishing His kingdom, by the instrumentality of His Word, aided by His presence, and by the exertion of miraculous power, as intimated by these Spirits, or Powers.

Sect. II.—On the Second Seal.

we have in the next place, an exhibition similar to those just noticed in Zechariah, in which Christ's ministering servants are sent forth under Him, One, on a "red horse"" (ver. 4); " and power was given...to take peace from the earth." i. e. to be the innocent cause of this, as foretold by our Lord in the words, "Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword" &c. (Matth. x. 34. Comp. Luke xii. 49—58, inclus.). It is added, " And there was given to him a great sword :" that is, the word of God, whereby His ministers should spiritually slay: in other words, " with the breath of His lips" they should slay, i. e. denounce slaughter on, the wicked (Isai. xi. 4). And, as this is here said to take place upon the opening of the second Seal, the time had in view should seem to be, that following the commencement of the Apostolic preaching, and preceding the fall of Jerusalem: for the place referred to in Isaiah, must be applied to the Jews.

The red colour of this horse is sufficiently explained by the sword given, shewing that much blood should be shed,— as indeed was the fact,—in consequence of the preaching of the Gospel at this early period; for we find that Stephen was stoned, James the brother of John was killed with the sword, as probably was Antipas the faithful martyr noticed above. It appears also from Acts xxvi. 10, that, under the persecution carried on by Saul, many of the Saints were shut up in prison and actually put to death, according to his own statement.

Sect. III.—On the Third Seal.

here we are told (ver. 5), that a black horse was seen, and that he who " sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." By the colour black here, is probably implied great affliction: blackness, darkness, gloom, and the like, being generally put in Scripture to represent this; while whiteness, light, brightness, &c. are, to signify prosperity, happiness, and success11. By the balances seems to be meant, that it was the office of this minister, to weigh and determine, according to the everlasting Gospel, the sinful state of the world; and to denounce thereon,—unless they should repent,—tribulation, mourning, and woe. Much to the same purpose John himself (chap. ii. 2), " Thou hast tried " (i. e. thus examined12) "them which say they are Apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." It is added (ib. ver. 5), "Repent, and do the first works; or else I will... come ...and will remove thy candlestick." That is, as thou hast tried these, weighed them, and found them wanting, and hast made known to them the sad consequences ; so have I weighed thy works, and I warn thee, that, unless thou also repent, thy light shall be withdrawn, and the blackness of darkness shall be thy portion.

The consequence of this use of the balances, is thus given in the next verse (C), in the denunciation of a dearth: " A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley

for a penny." If then, we may take the opening of these seals respectively, as intimating the particular day of Daniel's seventieth week corresponding thereto; then must the opening of this third seal, approach the period of the fall of Jerusalem ; and the dearth had in view, may comprehend that foretold by Agabus, as also that which should afflict Jerusalem during its siege, or indeed, any other which should happen within these times. If we now turn to Moses and the Prophets, we shall find it repeatedly foretold, that famine, and pestilence its usual attendant, should fall in all their terrors upon the Jews at this time. For example, Lev. xxvi. 14, seq.: "If ye will not hearken...I will even appoint over you terror...your land shall not yield her increase, neither the trees of the land yield their fruits...I will send the pestilence among you, and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy... And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters, shall ye eat.™ Comp. Deut. xxviii. 22—25, 33, 39, 40, 42, 48—57. Isai. v. 13; xiv. 30, 31 ; u. 19, 20. Jer. v. 15—18; xiv. 13— 3 7, &c. So our blessed Lord Matth. xxiv. 7, " There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." See also the parallel places.

Let us now see what Josephus says of these times, and those shortly preceding them (Antiq. xv. c. ix. 1), " Now on this very year, which was the thirteenth year of the reign of Herod, very great calamities came upon the country; whether they were derived from the anger of God," &c...."for, in the first place, there were perpetual droughts, and for that reason the ground was barren, and did not bring forth... and after this barrenness of the soil, that change of food, which the want of corn occasioned, produced distempers in the bodies of men, and a pestilential disease prevailed," &c. This famine, which lasted for two years, happened, as we are told in a note by Whiston, in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth years before the Christian era. This was therefore, a little before our period: still, it was in accordance with the declarations of Moses and the Prophets, and sent no doubt as a warning judgment.

As to the famine in the times of Claudius Caesar, foretold by Agabus, he says (Antiq. m. c. xv. 3), " When Claudius was Emperor of the Romans...and when so great a

famine was upon us...one tenth-deal13 (of wheat) was sold for four drachmae," &c. See also Book xx. c. ii. 5, ib. c. v. 2. Again (Wars, Book v. c. x. 2), after giving a frightful description of the murderous character of the disaffected, during the siege of Titus, Josephus tells us, that "many there were indeed who sold what they had for one measure : it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort; but of barley, if they were of the poorer. When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmost rooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had gotten," &c. Again (Book vi. c. iv. 4), we have the account of a woman who cooked and ate her own child. (See my Theophania of Euseb. p. 253, seq.) And that all this came upon the Jews, because transgressors had now come to the full, Josephus will bear sufficient testimony (Wars, Book v, c. x. 5. My Theoph. p. 255, seq.). " It is...impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men's iniquity...neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness," &c. The office therefore, of this second Minister so sent out is, to inflict the scourge of famine, pestilence, and the like, as foretold by our Lord, and His Prophets.

"Hurt not the oil and the wine" could hardly be intended to be literally understood, because the terms "Hurt not," imply the contrary. The meaning apparently is, Inflict no evil on those who are planted within my vineyard, the oil and wine of whom is for the healing of the nations. The same thing is perhaps said in " the trees," where it is said (chap. vii. 3), "Hurt not the earth...nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads:" (comp. ix. 4), that is, Inflict no judgment until these, so designated here, are put into a state of safety: and again (ver. 4), the holy Remnant of the Jews is particularly had in view: to these are then added (ver. 9), multitudes innumerable from among the Gentiles. If we now turn to Chap. xiv. 1, seq., we shall find, that this same "hundred and forty-four thousand," sealed from among the Jews, are

said to be " the first-fruits,"—i. e. as of trees, &c. of the earth,—secured, " to God and the Lamb." This must therefore, of necessity, fall within the period of the Apostolic preaching, and the first half of Daniel's seventieth week. That " the end" is not come must be evident from the fact, that we have here four seals still to be opened, and in (chap. xiv. 6) its parallel, an Angel is to publish the everlasting Gospel among the Gentiles. That the sealing and destruction, here had in view, should particularly affect the Jews, we shall further see when we come to consider this latter place.

Sect. IV.—On the Fourth Seal.

under the opening of this seal we have, " a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him." It is added, " 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.'1'' If then, these seven seals correspond to the seven days of Daniel's seventieth week, this fourth seal will answer to his fourth day; that is to say, it will exceed the period assigned to the fall of the Temple and City of Jerusalem: for this was to take place in the midst of this week, after which a time, times, and the dividing of time, should follow: that is, a period mystically designated by 3-|: and which we shall presently see, John makes to signify " three days and a half," also "forty-two months," and again, " twelve hundred and sixty days;" each of the two last being equal to three years and a half, i. e. taking this period as one of seven years. We are now therefore, beyond the line which divides this period, from that of the Apostolic preaching.

Judgment has now therefore, been executed on those Jews who were not planted as trees in the courts of the house of the Lord; i. e. in His spiritual vineyard : they would therefore, be neither the oil nor the wine had in view above, nor had they received the saving mark of redemption in their foreheads'*; and, accordingly, the minister on the black horse, having weighed and found them wanting, had consigned them to famine, mourning, and woe, and with these all those

Sect. V.—On the Fifth Seal.

we have now (ver. 9, seq.) a view of the souls of " them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony'1'' (of Jesus) "which they had holden." Their cry is, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the" (whole) " earth f" The answer given is, that " they should rest yet fob a little

season, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were" (had been), " should be fulfilled." It is said elsewhere, in answer to the question, "How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?"—that is, if we date this from the time of their commencement, in the wrath poured out upon Jerusalem (Dan. xii. 1, 6, 7), to their final termination and close,—" A time, times, and a half." In Rev. xii. 6, this period is measured by " a thousand two hundred and threescore days:" and is (ver. 14) thus identified with Daniel's period, " a time, and times, and half a time." Again (Rev. xiii. 5), power is given to the Persecuting Rule "to continue forty-two months:" i. e. equal, of course, to the 1260 days just mentioned (or 31 years), and identical with Daniel's time, times, and a half, We have moreover, another designation of this period, in the very terms of the answer given to the souls of these martyrs (chap. xx. 3), " After that," i. e. Satan's previous binding, "he must be loosed for a little season." The next verse here (4) informs us, that after this, "judgment is given unto them"" (that is, of necessity, the judgment foretold by Daniel chap. vii. 9, 11, in which the body of the beast is destroyed, by being given to the burning flame. See also verr. 26, 27). This "little season" must here therefore, of necessity, signify what the other periods, so differently designated, also must, that is, the last half of Daniel's seventieth week.

By " the first resurrection" (Ch. xx. 5), should seem to mean, of those who are elsewhere styled, " the first-fruits to God and to the Lamb" (ib. ver. 6). And if so, the thousand years during which they had lived and reigned with Christ (ib. ver. 4), must imply the period termed a thousand years, during which Satan is said to be bound (ib. ver. 2): and must be the period of the Apostolic preaching, during which our Lord assured His disciples, that He had give them authority over every power of the enemy15; and so that the strong man16, now bound, should no longer keep his house and goods in peace.—But, more on this in our next Vision. It must likewise, be that day of the Lord, said by St. Peter to be as a thousand years, and which

should reveal such a judgment of fire, as should " dissolve11" the elementary system then existing, and, after which, new heavens and a new earth should be given to the faithful who should endure.

By the " little season" here therefore, is evidently meant, the time within the latter half of Daniel's seventieth week, during which further persecutions and martyrdoms should take place. .Throughout this, these martyred saints are instructed to wait, and until the full cup of persecution should have been drunk by their brethren, and the destined time of trying and purifying the new Church, or new Jerusalem, should be fulfilled, and " the end of the matter" (Dan. vii. 28) have arrived. We have therefore under this seal, a continuation of the judgments commenced under the last, and to be poured out on the ministers and followers of the Little Horn, which should make war upon the saints, and which will be more particularly described hereafter.

It has already been shewn, that we must not understand by such expressions as " the heaven departed,'" &c. " every mountain and island were moved," &c., any such physical phenomenon as the words literally imply, which indeed, the context here is sufficient to prove : for, if the heavens should

have so departed, and the mountains so moved, &c.; How, it might be asked, could these kings and others have hid themselves within the latter? We must therefore, take such places to imply some great moral or religious revolution, to be brought about by the judgments here denounced. By the sun's becoming black, and the moon as blood, we are probably to understand, that the heavenly bodies formerly worshipped, would now lose all their lustre in this respect; and, that the kings and mighty men of the earth (for the whole earth must here be meant, as before), discovering that their gods were as nothing, would flee to the mountains—their next source of strength—from the face of Him, who should now " arise to shake terribly the earth."

Our Lord has, as we have seen, used the very same imagery, when foretelling the judgments that should be poured out on the Gentiles, when Jerusalem should have fallen. His words are, as quoted also above: " Immediately after the tribulation of those days" (i. e. of the Jews), " shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken." It is not said here, that the heaven shall depart as a scroll; but, apparently as a comment on this, " the powers," i. e. influences believed to reside in these bodies, should so be shaken as to lose their influence. Hence, men hitherto trusting in these, would betake themselves to the caves of the rocks and mountains. " Then," it is added (ib. ver. 30), " shall appear,"1"1 i. e. be made apparent, " the sign of the Son of Man in heaven," i. e. as declared by Daniel, in order to take possession of the kingdom under the whole heavens, and by St. John (chap. i. 7, above), to make His power to be known and felt. And then, we are told, should all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they should see (i. e. perceive) the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. All which, as already remarked, must comprehend the whole habitable world, as consisting of " all the tribes of the earth:" and the power so to be evinced, that which should destroy idolatry as a prevailing system, in the Revelation of Christ.

If we now turn to the Prophet Joel, we shall find the same things foretold, and in the very same order. In the first Chapter, and down to verse 28 of the second, we have

the judgments to fall upon the Jews, and to be inflicted, evidently by the Roman power. It is said (ver. 28, Seq.), " It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" &c. Which, as we have seen, was applied by St. Peter to the Apostolic period, generally termed the last days. We next have (ver. 30), as consequent upon this, " I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.- The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before18 the great and the terrible day of the Lord.'" More literally, at its coming; and here at some time, approaching the end of the period so styled.

After a short recapitulation, as to the redeemed Remnant of Israel (ib. iii. 1), it is said (ver. 2, seq.), " I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will plead with them for my people" See. Then again (ver. 15, seq.), as marking the effects of this pleading and judgment: " The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining... and the heavens and the earth shall shake,'1'' &c. In verse 19, " Egypt," it is said, " and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah" &c. It should be observed here, that, although these judgments are general, Egypt and Edom are particularly mentioned, because they had, in the earliest times, committed violence against God's people. The same is said elsewhere of Babylon ; and hence also, this general judgment it often predicted under the fall of Babylon. Still, it is not to be imagined, that, because " the sun and moon" in these places, clearly refers to the Gentile world, this language never refers to the Jews; for we have (Chap. ii. 10), " The earth'1'' (i. e. land of

Canaan) ''shall quake before them''' (i. e. the Roman-destroying power), " the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shin-ing19" (comp. Isai. v. 26—30 inclus., where we have the same events foretold). It should be observed that, at the end of these judgments in Joel (chap. iii. 18, seq.), we have the blessings of the New Covenant given, as known and felt among the heathen.

If we now turn to Isai. xxxiv., we shall find expressions quite of a piece with those of the Revelation, and which, although denounced particularly against Edom ("Idumea"), must be understood as of general application. This Chapter begins by summoning the whole earth to attend : " Come near ye nations," it is said, " to hear; and hearken ye people" (peoples, Heb.): " let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world" (Heb.), "and all things that come out of it. For the indignation of the lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter." From which it must be obvious, that these denunciations far exceed the confines both of Jewry, and of Edom.

We next have our place in the Revelation worded thus: viz. " All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a fallen fig from the fig-tree.'1'' It is added, " For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse" (i. e. generally) " to judgment." In verse 6 it is said, " It is the day of the lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion:" i. e. generally as before, although Idumea is here named particularly. The truth is, Idumea did literally suffer these judgments, just as Babylon did: while both are made mystically to prefigure a far greater,

more extensive, but spiritual, overthrow. By the everlasting duration of the judgments denounced in each case, we are necessarily to understand, that no restoration (i. e. of this heathen domination) should ever take place. The xxxvth Chapter here, just as it is the case in the third Chapter of Joel, brings us to a description of the new Church and kingdom to be erected in the Wilderness (i. e. of the world). We have in every case here therefore, the fall of heathenism, and this to take place during the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and within the last half of Daniel's seventieth week.

In the next portion of this Chapter (Rev. vi.), from verse 15 to the end, we are referred to other Prophets: let us see what they have said, and in what sense. And, I. Isai. ii. 19, seq.: " And they" i. e. the mighty of the earth, " shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth:" i. e. within this great day, and when He cometh in these judgments so to shake the earth. The two next verses repeat this, with the further assurance, that the Idols should be cast to the moles and to the bats: which must of necessity refer to the Gentiles, as brought in by means of the Apostolic preaching. This Chapter begins moreover, with the declaration, that in the period termed the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house should be established higher than the hills, and that all nations should then flow to it; which we have already shewn elsewhere, refers to these times. At verse 4, God's judgments on the nations are denounced; and from verse 6 to the end of verse 10, the judgment on the Jews, with the cause of this, is particularly dwelt upon as coming, in point of time, before that to be executed upon the Gentiles: and the whole of this, is to take place in the day of the Lord (ver. 12).

The next place alluded to (Rev. vi. 16), is Hosea x. 8, which evidently refers to the Jews. This place therefore, relates generally to the judgments of these times, (ib. 17) "The great day of His wrath is come." This is perhaps intended to remind us, that, what St. John said in the outset of this Book should shortly come to pass, was, at this point of time, in an extensive and long-continued series of judgments, to take effect.

Again in Isai. xiii. 6, here apparently referred to, the ravages and fall both of Jewry, and of the Roman Empire, are evidently had in view. " The day of the Lord," it is said, " is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty:" first to " destroy the sinners" of the Jews out of the land (ver. 9) of Judsea. Then at ver. 10, seq., "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." It is added, by way of explanation, apparently : "And I will punish the" (whole) "world" (Heb. blf)) "for their evil;. ..and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible" (a most pointed description of the Romans). Again (ver. 13), "Therefore I will shake the heavens" (comp. Hag. ii. 6), "and the earth shall remove out of her place" (not physically and locally, this would be absurd here), " in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger." This particular period is therefore, often styled the day of the lord, and here " the day of His fierce anger." The former part of this period is, as we have seen, called by Peter a day, and said to be as a thousand years: so may this latter be mystically said to contain a thousand years likewise. And if so, its first portion will be the period during which Satan is bound, or shut up for a thousand years; the latter, in which he should be let loose "for a little season," as we shall shew hereafter. It should be observed here (Isai. xiii. 17, seq.), that the fall of Babylon is also foretold: and then (Chap. xiv. 1—7), we have the establishment of the Church with " the whole earth at rest" (ver. 7), as we have seen above on Zech. i. 11.

Isaiah (chap, xxiv.) presents us, under similar figures, with matter of precisely the same description : we have here, first, the judgments on the Jews, and then, secondly, those on the Gentiles. In verse 1, seq., it is said, " Behold, the lord maketh the earth" (read, the land) " empty."..." And it shall be, as with the people so with the priest" &c. (see also ver. 5), which is sufficient to shew that this relates to the Jews. It is added, "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth" (land)..." the inhabitants of the earth" (land) "are burned, and few men left,'1'' &c. We then have (ver. 13, seq.), the Remnant, Preserved, or Escaped, of Israel, who should carry

the Gospel to the nations, e. g. " When thus it shall be in the midst of the LAND...£Aere shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaning of grapes, when the vintage is done:" i. e. a few shall be left, a Remnant. (Comp. vi. 12, 13, where we have a similar figure intimating the same holy party.) It is added, " They," i. e. this Remnant, " shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea," (saying), " Wherefore glorify ye the lord in the fires, even the name of the lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea" (comp. Chap. Lxvi. 19). We are next presented with the persecutions to take place among the Gentiles, and the judgments thence to follow. "My leanness, my leanness!" says the Prophet, personating the suffering Church as in chap. viii. 18; "woe unto me ! the treacherous dealers" (i. e. the Jews who should act as apostates, Matth. xxiv. 9) " have dealt treacherously; the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously." It is added, in order to mark the judgment to follow thereupon, " Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth*"..."for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake" (i.e. as at the flood, "as the days of Noe," Matth. xxiv. 37. 1 Pet. iii. 20). "The earth," continues the Prophet, "is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved" (Ps. XLvi. 6, "He uttered His voice, the earth melted"), " the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again:" i. e. not physically and locally, but in the heathenish state and power, in which it then lay. The same is said of mystical Babylon, Rev. xviii. 21, as already remarked. So also St. Peter, 2 Ep. iii. 10, " The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up," &c.: which, according to this Apostle, should take place within " the day of God :" while he, with his brethren, looked for " new hea-

vens and a new earth, wherein" should "dwell righteousness." Not heavens with an earth physically new, or differently located, but mystically new, i. e. a mystical, or spiritual, new creation. And here, Peter has, of necessity, the second and greater judgment upon the Gentiles in view.

The Prophet continues (ver. 21), "The lord shall punish the host of the high ones,...and the kings of the earth upon the earth,'" &c... ."Then," adds he, " the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign" (i. e. the Son of Man, as in Daniel) " in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem'1'' (i. e. the new Jerusalem, and City of the living God, Heb. xii. 22), " and before His ancients gloriously." Whence it should seem that, by the sun being ashamed^ 8zc. the idolatrous honour paid to it, and to the heavenly bodies generally, should, as already remarked, be at an end. The following two Chapters (i. e. Isai. xxv. xxvi.); as is generally the case, celebrate the great victory now obtained. We have here therefore, of necessity, the period and judgment of the Gentiles, as now before us in the Revelation. In the closing member of the last verse (Rev. vi. 17), reference is made to Mal. iii. 2: which see, together with Chap, iv. 1—3, inclusive.

We now proceed to Chap. vii. Rev., throughout which, as remarked above, the events which were to take place under .this sixth seal, are continued: and here we are first referred to Daniel (chap. vii. 2, seq.): " / saw four angels? says John, " standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree" (see ver. 3). That is, apparently, for the purpose of restraining these winds from doing injury to either of them, i. e. until something further were done. We have in Daniel, " Behold, the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea? &c., after which the four beasts, representing the four great Empires of the Prophet, arise out of it. The agitation now said to be created, is also said to precede certain evils. In the Revelation these winds are restrained, until some persons shall have been secured against all this. In verse 10, seq. here, a fiery stream issues from before the Judge, and hence the Body of the Beast, or Roman-persecuting power, is given to its burning flame : but here (Rev. vi. 12, seq.), this judg-

ment is inflicted under our sixth seal. The Son of Man now takes possession of the kingdom ; and (Dan. vii. 28) it is declared that, " Hitherto is the end of the matter.'' So also under our sixth Trumpet.

Another Angel is now made to proclaim (Rev. vii. 3), " Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." This sealing accordingly takes place, and a certain number (12,000) out of every tribe of Israel is sealed, amounting in the whole to "' One hundred and forty-four thousand;" implying an indefinitely large number: and this of the Holy Remnant only, of necessity.

If we now turn to Ezekiel (chap. ix. 4, seq.22), we shall

find the prototype of this, in these words, " Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.'" It is added, " And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity,...and begin at my sanctuary.'''' It must be self-evident here, that by " the men that sigh," must be meant that holy Remnant123, which should be preserved, when judgment to the uttermost should fall upon the Jews. St. Peter, alluding to this place, and expecting this judgment in his days, says (1 Ep. iv. 17), "For the time'1'' (period generally) " is come, that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God ?" i. e. generally, of the Jew first, and then of the Gentile. And more generally (ib. ver. 7), in the very terms of St. John, " The end of all things" (i. e. of the then moral world) "is at hand." Comp. 2 Ep. iii. throughout. St. Peter appears here therefore, to speak of both these judgments in the very words of the Prophet, and to determine that they were in his days about to take place.

It is scarcely possible to look upon this place of Ezekiel, without calling to mind the declaration of the Apostle (Rom. ii. 28), "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly... But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart," &c. Our Prophet comes now more particularly to the final ingathering of this so sealed, or marked, Remnant (ver. 16), " Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary;"—i.e. in which they may take refuge (comp. Ps. xc. 1. xci. 9), — "in the countries where they shall

come." This Sanctuary" is, therefore, to be among these throughout the whole heathen world, so that they need not go to Jerusalem to worship. It is added, "/ will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye,''''—i. e. this holy Remnant,—" have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel:" i, e. as the promised heritage of the true Israel, in the heritage of the Gentiles, as the spiritual heirs of Abraham: .for we are now beyond the confines of Jewry. The Prophet proceeds, " / will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you" i. e. the same Remnant, " and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh," that they may walk in my statutes..." and they shall be my people;"—i. e. not the Jews generally,—" and I will be theie God."- Of the other opposing party it is now said, in order to provide against all possibility of mistake: " But, as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads;" i. e. in all nations also. This holy Remnant is therefore, here to possess their own land, i. e. of Israel, while the sinners are to be among the heathen, with the sword of God pursuing them. Does this look like a return of Jews generally to Palestine ? or even of their better Remnant to that place I—I know not.

shall have been so gathered), " then shall they dwell in their land, that I have given to my servant Jacob."..." Yea," it is added, " they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about," &c. We have here therefore, the true Jacob, as before, scattered among the heathen, and sanctifying God in their hearts in the sight of these. It is then said, "They shall dwell in their land"—i. e. as given to Jacob, in the greater Covenant with Abraham,—"with confidence;'''' and this, when judgments shall have been executed upon all that had despised them: that is, upon both Jew and Gentile. Upon these the preserving mark had been set; they had been thus sealed: these must have been the Jacob scattered into all nations, while the winds of the four corners of the earth were so holden, as above, that they should not blow upon them. And it is remarkable, we have here with them (ver. 9), "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,'''' standing " before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms" (indicating peace and reconciliation with God) "in their hands:" and (ver. 14) these had come out of great tribulation, i. e. grievous persecution among the Gentiles.

St. James again, in the very outset of his Epistle, addresses as his brethren those, who had been so gathered in out of every tribe. His words are, "James, a servant of God, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren," adds he, "count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations" (i. e. trials); " knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience." (ver. 18) "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfrdits of his creatures." In the parallel place in the Hevelation (viz. chap. xiv. 4), where the same 144,000 are spoken of, we have, " These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb." These must therefore, according to St. James, imply the early Church of God on earth. Here, " These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." In chap. vii. 17, "The Lamb which is in the midst of. them shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters" (comp. Ps. xxiii. 2, seq.). Again (James v. 6, seq.),

speaking of the reprobates among the Jews, " Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you" then, to his converted brethren, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord...for the coming of the Lord" (i. e. to destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jews) " draweth nigh.'1'' Which, as addressed to the sinful Jews in the first instance here, must necessarily apply to the period before Jerusalem had fallen.

If we now examine St. Peter, we shall find him addressing his converted brethren from among the Jews, to the same effect (1 Ep. i 1, seq.). He says, "Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers" (Jews, here necessarily) " scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect (so Paul, Rom. xi. 5, 7) " according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (i. e. as predicted above), " unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.'1''..."Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which...hath begotten us again" (St. James, " with the word of truth," &c.) " unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, ivho are kept by the power of God'1'' (i. e. as above, so that no destroying wind blow upon you) " through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time :" in the words of St. John, " shortly" and, " I come quickly.'1''

St. Peter here confines his address to the Elect, or holy Remnant of the Jews, scattered abroad in Asia, &c., because perhaps, these parts may have been assigned to his peculiar care, as the Church of Ephesus was to St. John. Yet it could hardly be supposed that, in either case, these addresses were intended for no other such converts. And if so, the address of Peter will finally be, as general as that of James.

By the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reference is apparently made to Canaan, which had been defiled by the Jews, was of a corruptible character, and intended from the first to be only temporary. The inheritance here had in view must therefore, be that of the New Jerusalem and City of the Living God, to whom the Hebrew converts addressed by St. Paul (Heb. xii. 22) had come. This was incorruptible and undefiled, considered

in itself, and, according to the revealed counsel of God, it should never pass away. By reserved in heaven, is probably meant, what St. Paul had also said to the Galatians (chap, iv. 26), "Jerusalem which is above...is the mother of us all :" where, be it observed, this is also opposed to the Jewish system, and to the Jerusalem which then was, and was in bondage with her children. St. Paul had probably in his mind the prophecies of Isaiah (chap. lxv. J 7; Lxvi. 21), in which new heavens, and a new earth, in other words, A new Jerusalem, and city of the living God, (comp. ib. chap. lxv. 16. Heb. xii. 22), should be given. This John in the Apocalypse saw descending from heaven,—the High Priest of whose Sanctuary is in heaven: hence the connexion is close, and inseparable.—But more on this hereafter.

By "ready to be revealed in the last time" must of necessity be meant, the revelation of Christ as exhibited here in the Apocalypse, to execute His judgments in the period so designated, first on the Jews, and secondly on the Gentiles. St. Peter also mentions the stone of stumbling and rock of offence, touched upon above25 by Ezekiel (vii. 19): by which we must here, as we did there, also understand as affecting the sinners of Israel (chap. ii. 8). Still even here, the Apostle introduces Believers from among the Gentiles, where he says (ver. 10), " Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God," &c. (comp. Rom. ix. 24—27 inclus.), where St. Paul also brings together both the believing Remnant, and the converted from among the Gentiles. And here again (ib. ver. 33), St. Paul adverts to the stumbling-stone and rock of offence of Isaiah (viii. 14), as noticed above. Sts. Peter and Paul therefore, should seem to have before them the same persons; for by both, these are styled a chosen generation (1 Pet. ii. 9), the Elect, or Election, who had all attained by faith to the privileges of the promise. Again (ib. iv. 7), " the end of all things" is said to be " at hand:" in St. James, " the coming of the Lord" (i. e. in power as in the clouds) " draweth nigh:" which (ver. 17) is repeated by St. Peter in " the time is COME26

that judgment must begin at the house of God," &c., as already noticed. Again (2 Ep. ii. iii.) we have, as before noticed, the mystery of iniquity beginning its work, and in the close of the whole (chap, iii.), the expectation of the new heavens and new earth, already adverted to.

From what we have seen, under the opening of the six seals out of the seven, with which the Book, i. e. the Holy Scriptures, had been kept closed ; the victory of the Lamb appears to be complete. We are now therefore brought to contemplate 'this, in the sealed Remnant of the Jews out of every tribe, rejoicing with an innumerable multitude collected out of all nations, kindreds, and people. These are all " clothed with white robes " (i. e. the righteousness of Saints, Chap. iii. 5, 18; xvi. 15 ; xix. 8). They have also "palms in their hands," symbolizing the peace with God and with one another, with which this victory alone could furnish them.

' It might seem extraordinary, that these are found singing praises even under the judgments of this sixth seal, under which—were this the case,—they could not but be sufferers to some extent. But, they are represented in the song, as having " come out of great tribulation.''' We shall presently shew, that this must be understood as taking place on earth, not in heaven. Their having come out of this tribulation must imply, that the time of its infliction was now over. Besides, in each of the following series the sixth infliction of judgment closes them all. It must follow accordingly, that, although the seventh seal is not yet said to be opened, its effects are here given, i. e. by way of anticipation, as noticed on Daniel ix. 26, 27.—What occurs therefore, Chap. viii. 1, I take to mean that, when the seventh seal had been opened and this song sung, a silence of some considerable time took place; the object of which was, to mark the close of this series of events. Not unlike this too, in Daniel ix., the mention of the seven weeks in verse 25, does not occur in verse 26 : where however it must necessarily be understood; and so again in verse 27, the coming of the people of the Prince, both which had been anticipated.

They are now represented (ver. 10) as singing with one mouth and one heart, that " new song" so often brought before us by the Psalmist, in which all the earth should join

when the Lord should reign27. And in this, the Angels are also made to join, saying, " Salvation" (be ascribed) " to our God:" here also shout the Redeemed out of every people, " Amen; Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be" (ascribed) " unto our God for ever and ever. Amen," respond the heavenly host. And this they recommend, by so doing, as the never-ending song of the Redeemed Church of the Lamb.

" What are these,"" it is then asked, " which are arrayed in white robes? and whence come they?" (ver. 13). The answer is (ver. 14), '' These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore" it is added, " are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and lie that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.'" It is added, " They shall hunger no more, neither shall they thirst any more; neither shall the sun light" (fall) " on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

It might be thought, from certain parts of this description, that the scene here presented to us must be in heaven, and among the glorified spirits of that place. There are however, some things occurring in it, clearly implying that nothing beyond the glories of the Church on earth is meant. They are clothed with white robes, and they carry palms in their hands. Clothing in heaven, together with earthly symbols of peace, one would hardly have expected to find in Holy Scripture. Again, they have washed their robes... in the blood of the Lamb, &c. and again, (ver. 15) "He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them .•'' i. e. wherever they may be, would hardly be said of the glorified spirits, who are supposed ever to view and admire His glory: while, what is here said, is given as a promise (comp. chap. xxi. 3) to those dwelling on the earth. (See, on this place).

which is all evidently mystical, and to be spiritually understood, and applied to Christianity. And so our blessed Lord, as already noticed (John vi. 35), " I am the bread of life: lie that cometh to me shall never hunger; and Tie that believeth on me shall never thirst:" that is, shall never suffer under any need of spiritual support. A little lower down too (verr. 50, 51), He tells, us that those who eat of the bread that He will give them shall never die: and, in another place, (Chap. iv. 14) that the water which He will give, shall spring up in its recipient as a well of living water unto eternal life, so that such an one shall never thirst. And these places, St. John must have had here in his eye.

Again, "Neither shall the sun light" (i. e. fall in its stroke) on '' them, nor any heat." The reason rendered is, not because they had been removed into a state of being in which this could not happen, but because " The Lamb... shall, as their shepherd, protect and feed them, and shall lead them to living waters,"" &c. On these waters, see also Ps. xxiii. 1 ; xxxvi. 8, 9. On the sun's not smiting such, nor any other heat, see Ps. cxxi. 6. Besides, to speak of the Lamb's feeding them, and leading them to fountains of waters, in the heaven of glorified spirits, must be out of place; and the same is true of the parallel places at the close of the following Visions, as will be shewn when we come to them. This victory is therefore, the victory of the Church under the sovereignty of the Lamb, as indeed are all the other glories mentioned.

Let us now consider for a moment, the scheme apparently contained under the opening of these six Seals. It has already been observed, that the progress made in opening these keeps pace, to some extent, with the days of Daniel's seventieth week. Under the opening of the sixth, we have seen that judgments are poured out upon the nations, such that by them the whole system of nature seems to be dissolved ; that even the heavens pass away, as does every mountain and island. In other words, the whole old world hag, in its moral and religious character, now disappeared, and all things have become new ; or, in the phraseology of Scripture, new heavens and a new earth have now been created, i. e. in the miraculous establishment of better things. This is here put under the figure of the six days' work of the

was indeed the song of Miriam and her associates, on their deliverance from pursuit in the Red Sea, and such evidently is the New Bong of the Redeemed here. But of this, more hereafter.—Here then ends our first series of events, which should take place in the establishment of the Church.

It has already been remarked, that the first verse here belongs to the last Chapter. Nothing further need now be said of it, except that the half hour's silence here mentioned, seems intended to mark the close of the events of the seven seals, and to afford a space between this and the following series, enounced under the sounding of the seven Trumpets, so that these should not be confounded together. It will be seen presently, that the sounding of these seven Trumpets, and the pouring out of the seven Vials, give nothing beyond a repetition of the events brought before us under the opening of the Seals, just as we find the same events foretold, under the several succeeding Visions of Daniel.

Chapter III.

"I SAW," (chap. viii. 2,) " the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets?' By " the seven angels'"' we are perhaps to understand " the seven Spirits which are before His throne" (chap. i. 4), and " the sewn Spirits of God"1' (chap. iii. 1), which are here said to be had by Christ. Again, (chap. iv. 5) we have " seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."" So (Ps. civ. 4 ; Heb. i. 7). " Who" (i. e. Christ) " maketh His angels spirits, and his ministers a flaming fire.'''' These same Ministers of Christ are apparently, brought again before us (Zech. iii. 9, and iv. 10) in the following manner. In the former place..." Upon one stone shall be seven eyes" &c.; in the latter.. "They shall rejoice and shall see the plummet (i. e. " stone of tin V) " in the hand of Zerubbabel, these seven2" (i. e. eyes) " they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth."1 Whether therefore we term these, the seven Angels, the seven Spirits of God, or the seven Eyes of God, burning like lamps, the same Agents appear to be meant, and these as actuated by the Spirit of Christ. 1 take them therefore, to represent His spiritual Ministers generally, as sent forth to minister at this particular period.

We are next told that, " to them" (these angels) " were given seven trumpets" i.e. to each of them one. But, before they begin to sound, an Angel is seen with a golden censer standing before the altar of incense—which was placed before

the veil,—for the purpose of offering up with incense, the prayers of the Saints, who were necessarily, and would be, during this period " in much tribulation.," We then have— intimating as it should seem, the answer to these prayers— a portion of fire taken from the altar and cast upon the earth : the consequence is, voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake : i. e. the terrors, woes, cries, and the like now generally to follow, i. e. throughout this whole period: which is, as usual, a general anticipation of these.

We come now to the sounding of the Trumpets, which seems intended to suggest warnings put forth by these Angels or Ministers, as in trumpets sounding to battle, or, as in the great feasts of the Jews, loudly to proclaim the great events about to take place. Before the Law was given from Sinai, the voice of the trumpet was also exceeding loud: i.e. to secure attention, (Exod. xix. 16). There are places however, in which the sounding of a trumpet refers exclusively to the times and events now before us : and it was in all probability the intention of St. John, to bring us more particularly, to the consideration of these.

The first of these is, in the seven Priests bearing seven trumpets before the ark of the Lord, and going about Jericho through the space of seven days: and sounding once, on each of the first six days, and seven times on the seventh (Josh, vi. 3, seq.). In these seven Priests, or Ministers, we have an analogy with the seven spirits noticed above, intimating, as it should seem, at once a completeness, and sufficiency in these agents : in the seven days, the seven-days-period of Daniel, and the power to be put forth by God Himself, for the execution of this His great and last purpose, the fulfilment of the promises made to the Fathers; the establishment of the New Covenant, so continually made the subject of prophecy. This Covenant too—let it be borne in mind— was to be established after the manner of the temporary one made with Abraham, or, as the terms of Scripture are, "after the manner of Egypt," (see p. 217, note, &c.) :—of which, more hereafter. It will be observed too that, after the sounding of the seventh, or last trumpet, on the seventh day here, the whole work is done—Jericho falls,—just as it is the case upon the opening of the seventh seal, and, as we shall see hereafter, it is upon the sounding of our seventh

trumpet, and the pouring out of the seventh vial. It has been shewn above, that the observances, &c. under the Law were typical of things to be effected under the Gospel, and particularly in its propagation. It is but reasonable to conclude therefore, that this fall of Jericho was intended to prefigure the fall of our mystical Babylon, as to the means, the ministers, their numbers, and the end had in view.

Again (Isai. xviii. 3) we have, " All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when He lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when He bloweth a trumpet, hear ye." By summoning all thus to see and hear, must imply a message sent forth for this purpose, and this far beyond the confines of Jewry. The " Ensign to be lifted up on the mountains," cannot but forcibly remind us of the many instances, wherein this is made to intimate the calling in of the Gentiles3. The conclusion too, of this Chapter brings us to the period, when " the present should be brought unto the Lord of Hosts of a people scattered and peeled," which must imply the ingathering of the nations by the ministry of that Holy Remnant, who are often termed the Scattered, Outcasts, and the like4. Verses 5 and 6 here, pointedly describe the casting out of the wicked Jews. Compare, chap, xxvii. 9—12 ; xxx. 17, margin; Ezek. xvii. 10 ; xix. 12—14, &c.

If we now proceed to Isai. xxvii. ver. 13, we shall find another instance of this sounding of a trumpet, referring, as it must be evident, to these same events and times. " It shall come to pass in that day," says the Prophet, " that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish (lit. the perishing} in the land of

Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.'1'' That this is addressed to the children of Israel, the preceding verse assures us; and, from the term Outcasts, it is evident, that the better part, i. e. the Remnant, or Election, of these is meant. By " that time,'" and " in that day" is, as already remarked, constantly signified that great day, in which the judgments of Christ should be poured out. St.

John probably intended therefore, to bring these passages to our notice.

We have again (Jer. iv. 5, seq.) a most awful denunciation, which evidently refers to the fall of Jerusalem by the Roman Power..." Blow ye the trumpet in the land:,..set up the standard toward Zion...for I will bring evil from the north, and great destruction"... (1.3). "Behold he shall come up as clouds'1'' (in power), " and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles... (19). " I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, 0 my soul, the sound of the trumpet, tJie alarm of war"... (21). "How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet f... (23) "/ beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light" (comp. Isai. v. 26, 30 ; viii. 21, 22, &c). " I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly."" " / beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled" (see on Rev. vi. 13—17 above). "/ beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the lord (i. e. the Revelation of Christ), and by his fierce anger"

This may be thought to present a predicton of the fall of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, especially as this evil is said (ver. 6) to be brought from the north ; which I should not be disposed to deny, i. e. as to its literal intent: while I should, that it refers to this alone. We have, in the very outset of this denunciation (ver. 2), the lord promised, in whom the nations should bless themselves : which of necessity brings us to the times of the New Covenant. From the great similarity moreover of this Chapter to Joel (chapp. ii. iii.), where we also have this blowing of the trumpet, with an army from the north, consisting of horsemen, chariots, and the like ;—which clearly bring us down to the times of the Gentiles,—it must be evident, that something beyond the fall of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar is meant. And, if indeed this prior fall of Jerusalem be meant at all, it must be for the purpose of making this a theme, under which mystically to foretell a much greater.

" The first angel," it is said, (ver. 7) "sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt up, and

all green grass was burnt up." By "they were cast upon the earth" i. e. these plagues generally, we are reminded of the Angel's casting upon the earth the fire taken from the altar, as just noticed. These plagues are moreover, here described as of a sort with those of Egypt: for, after the manner of Egypt, as we have seen, was this to be (see Exod. ix. 22—25 inclus.) If we now turn to Ezekiel (chap, xxxviii. 2) we shall find a general prediction of these, under the figure of a Power quite of a piece with that of our mystical Babylon. It is said : " Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog5" &c. From this place to verse 8, we are told whence his forces were to come : but these can be no other than those, which were in this latter period to inflict these judgments : i. e. the Roman Power itself, under the figure of this northern army. In ver. 8, " the latter years," are mentioned as the period, when this invasion should take place : and (ib. ver. 16) it is also said, "It shall be in the latter days." Allusion is then made (ver. 17) to former predictions of this, some of which we have examined. From this place down to verse 21, general denunciations of the fire of God's wrath, to fall upon this Invader are given : and here, " / will call for a sword against him throughout all my

mountains, saith the Lord God , every man's sword shall be against his brethren, and" (ver. 22) " / will plead against him with pestilence and with blood f (comp. Ezek. xxv. 17) "and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones," (comp. Josh. x. 11 ; Isai. xxx. 30, with the context), "fire, and brimstone" (comp. Gen. six. 24; and Ps. xi. 6). It is added (ver. 23) " And I will be known" (acknowledged) " in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the lord." Thus were all the tribes of the earth to be made to mourn, when they should, in this way, perceive the Son of man coming (as) in the clouds of heaven with power, and great glory6. These judgments were therefore, to be poured out upon both Jew and Gentile, but particularly on the latter, in these latter days: and we know of no such judgments, and of no latter days, except those to afflict both Jews and Gentiles, in the establishment of the New Covenant.

Again (Jer. vi. 1, seq.).. ."Blow the trumpet,'"1 it is said, " in Tecoa.. for evil appeareth out of the north," (i. e. from Babylon) "and great destruction'' After similar threats it is said (ver. 9), " They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets.'''' That is, to save this Elect and holy portion of Israel, (see also Isai. xvii. 6 ; xxiv. 13 ; with the context in each case). Again (ver. 18, seq.) " Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, 0 congregation,''' (i. e. both the Gentiles and Jews) " what is among them. Hear, 0 earth ; behold, I

will bring evil upon this people," (i. e. the Jews) " even the fruit of their thoughts"... (ver. 22). " Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised up from the sides of the earth.'1'' (Comp. Deut. xxviii. 49, 50, and the parallels). The stumbling-blocks here, too, (Jer. 21) seem to refer to the stumbling-stone of Isai. viii. 14 ; Rom. ix. 32, 33 ; and 1 Pet. ii. 8; which brings us to the times of the New Covenant, as before. The voice of this Destroyer is moreover, to roar like the sea (ver. 23 ; comp. Isai. v. 30: and Luke xxi. 25); (as) " the sea and the waves roaring" should perhaps, have the particle of similitude «5s, as, inserted: (nothing being more common in the Hebrew and the Hellenistic Greek, than the omission of this particle) : and, if so, this must refer to the same period. This place is again, quite of a piece with Joel, Chapp. ii. iii., as observed above. And again, (Jer. vi. 25) " Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way. For the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side" is apparently had in view by our Lord Himself when He said : " Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left,''' &c. (Matth. xxiv. 40; comp. Luke xvii. 36). In verses 26, 27, here, we are brought to view the Holy Remnant, as distinguished from the Rewlters (verr. 28, 30, inclus.) The former is made as a Tower and Fortress, in which the silver should be tried, and purged from its dross (comp. Isai. i. 22, 25), " Reprobate silver" (as opposed to the choice, chosen, or election), it is said, "shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.'1'' Which, of necessity, refers to the Jews, and to their last days.

In Jeremiah, chap. Ii., we have the denunciations against Babylon given at length; which,—from the application of these by the Apocalypse, as we shall presently see, to the fall of Daniel's persecuting Little Horn ; i. e. heathen Rome, —must refer to the judgments generally to be poured out upon the Gentiles, after the fall of Jerusalem. It is said (ver. 27) " Set up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations" (of the north, as in Gog, &c. above),... "cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars." We have already referred to Joel in illustration of contexts similar to this, and evidently referring to the same events and period. So Jeremiah compares these horses to rough caterpillars : Joel

(chap. i. 4) depicts the same destroying power: i. e. mystically had in view here by Jeremiah, and as applied by the Apocalypse, under the figures of " the palmer worm, the locust, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar''." Verse 6 (Joel i.) converts these into a nation, strong and without number, to come up upon God's land, having the teeth of a lion, the cheekteeth of a great lion : figures, as we have seen, applied to the Roman heathen Power8. Again (ib. chap. ii. 20), this is styled the northern army as before, and its fall is foretold : that is, as is evident from the context here, the fall of that Power which should destroy Jerusalem; and which (in Jeremiah,—under the figure of Babylon,—Li. 39, 57) is said should " sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake:" i. e. any more at all, as in the cases occurring in each of the Visions of Daniel.

We next have, (Joel ii. 21, seq.) the renewed glories of the true Zion in its preservation and restoration. " Fear not,'''' it is said, " 0 land; be glad and rejoice"... "Be not afraid, ye leasts of the field-" i. e. those that now pasture in this happy land, "for,'" it is added, " the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit'''' (not as in the judgments above). " Be glad then, ye children of" (the true) " Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God," &c. " And" (ver. 26) "ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied" (comp. Lev. xxvi. 4, seq.; also Zeph. iii. 12—20).. ."And my people shall never be ashamed" The next verse repeats this, and we then have the pouring out of Gods Spirit upon all flesh, cited by St. Peter (Acts ii. 17), as already shewn, which must necessarily comprehend the Apostolical period. The fearful signs spoken of by our Lord, are next predicted (ver. SO, 31), and the Chapter closes by telling us of the salvation to be had. in the Remnant which the Lord should call: and this, the commencement of the next Chapter informs us, should consist in bringing again, and in those days, (i. e. of the Apostles), the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem: that is,

We have again, (Zech. ix. 13, 14) this sounding of the trumpet, evidently relating to the times and events now before us. " When I have lent Judah for me, and filled the bow with Ephraim" (i. e. the Elect or " Election'"1 of both, as arrows to be shot forth), " and raised up thy sons, 0" (thou true) "Zion, against thy sons, 0 Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man:" (comp. Ps. xlv. 3). "And the Lord shall be seen over them" (i. e. every eye shall see Him) " and His arrows" (ib. 5) "shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord God shall'''' (in His Ministers, or Angels) " blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south :" i. e. " in the clouds of heaven'"' dispensing His judgments, " with power and great glory." We have moreover, an echo to all this in Zephaniah i. 7, seq.: " The day o/"the lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice9, he hath bid his guests".. .(ver. 14, seq). "The great day of the lord is near, it is near, and hast-eth greatly, even the voice" (sound) " of the day of the lord. .. that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress.. a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers"..." The whole land shall be devoured by the fire 10 of His jealousy: for He shall make a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." All which evidently relates to the fall of the unbelieving Jews, as the next Chapter (ii.) does to that of the persecuting Gentiles. Both these judgments are therefore, here had in view.

Again, in the New Testament, (Matth. xxiv. 31) we have, " And He shall send His Angels" (messengers) " with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.'"11

It is added (ver. 34) " Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be," : which, of necessity, limits the commencement of all these things to the period of the generation then existing™. In every case here therefore, this sounding of the trumpet must relate to the period of Daniel's seventieth week : in some cases, as we have seen, to the former portion of it, in others to the latter. And, if this be so taken as occupying this whole period, and putting forth, as well the denunciation of judgments, as the announcement of salvation by the Gospel, now to be proclaimed by the Ministers of God under the influences of His Holy Spirit; then may these seven Trumpets have been intended to exhibit, a repetition of all that was given under the Seven Seals, and again to be repeated, as we shall see, under the Seven Vials. Nothing is more common in the usage of Scripture, than this sort of repetition ; of which we have had a good specimen in the Visions of Daniel.

We may now return to Ezekiel (chap, xxxix.), which contains other matter relating both to this Power and Period, and which is also alluded to in the Revelation, as we shall see hereafter. This we may as well notice now. It is said (ver. 1, seq.)..." Prophesy against Gog12, and say,... I am against thee, 0 Gog."..," I will turn thee lack... and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,'"—i. e. as if from Assyria, or Babylon, " and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.""..." Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and thy lands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the leasts of the field, to be devoured'1'' (Rev. xix. 17, seq.). In verse 6, a fire is to be sent upon Magog, and upon them that dwell carelessly even in the Isles. So, it is added, (ver. 7) would God make His holy Name known in the midst of His true Israel.

The next verse (8) tells us that the thing is done™, and that this is the day, or period, generally, of which God has spoken, i. e. for His avenging the controversy of Zion. We

next have (ver. 9) the exploits of the true Israel, as the destroyer of every weapon of war16: and all this to be continued during the space of seven years : i. e. the whole of Daniel's last week, mystically making the days of this equal to as many years. A little lower down (ver. 11) Gog is to find his grave in the land of Israel, which is now necessarily the whole world; for Abraham is, at this period, its spiritual heir; and those descended from him, in a spiritual sense, have it as their heritage. Again (ver. 12) the space of seven months is assigned to this burying: which may perhaps be considered, as equal to that of the warfare, and which is above said to continue seven years. We have therefore apparently, the same mystical period in each case : and this again, that of the seven days of Daniel's seventieth week. The Figure is then changed, and it is assumed that no such burial has taken place, and the birds and beasts are, as before, summoned to feast on the carcases of these enemies (verr. 17—20, inclus.). That is, the same great event is otherwise mystically described, and as given by St. John (chap. xix. 17, seq. below).

We next have the consequences of this warfare, in a full restitution of Zion. It is said (ver. 21), " And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them." In the words of St. John, " Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him," &c. (Rev. i. 7). It is added (ver. 22), " So the"" (true) "house of Israel shall know that Jam the Lord their God from that day forward.'1'' The Prophet continues (23), " And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel" (i. e. the sinful portion of it) "went into captivity for their iniquity... therefore I gave them into the hand of their enemies; so," it is added, "fell they all by the sword." This, I say, the heathen far and wide have seen and known, and still do see and know; the sad testimony is too sure to be mistaken (see also ver. 24). We have here therefore, both these portions of the house of Israel mentioned in the same context, as above (Ezek. xi. 15), but, as in every other case, the context is sufficiently explicit to supply the true distinction.

Again (ib. ver. 25), we have the return of a captivity of one of these parties; let us try to ascertain which of them is meant. The words are : " Now," i. e. in the day whereof God had spoken (ver. 8 above), "will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel," i. e. chap. xi. 15, " all the house of Israel wholly ;" those whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem treated as outcasts16. Of these it is said there (xi. 17), " 1 will gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." While (ib. ver. 21), the recompense of abomination committed, is still to be poured upon the reprobates. And here (xxxix. 27), " When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies'1 lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; then they shall know that I am the lord their God," &c. "For" it is added (ver. 29), " I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God," i. e. in the day of God already mentioned. This party therefore, must be that styled the Remnant, &c., and this return from captivity, be that which the true Israel experienced, when they were made possessors of the heritage of the Gentiles17.

It is said indeed (Ezek. ib. 26), " After they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land,"

" The third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up" (Rev. ver. 7), i. e. the famine, &c.

commencing in the days of Claudius Caesar (Acts xi. 28), noticed under our first Seal20, and followed by the series of general judgments denounced. In this point of view, this first Angel will prepare us for the whole series, by an allusion to these first troubles, and with an outline of the subsequent ones. Daniel ix. 26, prepares us in like manner, for the fall of Judaism, which, verse 27, is more specifically described by the cessation of sacrifice and oblation. We have here therefore, commenced our Second series of Events.

Sect. II.—On the Second Trumpet.

we now come (ver. 8) to our second Angel and trumpet. " And," it is said, " 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 blood21,'''' &c. If we now turn to Jeremiah, chap. Li. 25, we shall find that this is said of Babylon, and alludes, as already remarked, to the mystical Babylon of the Revelation, i. e. heathen Rome as a persecutor. "Behold,''1 it is said, "lam against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the lord, which destroyest all the earth ; (see Dan. vii. 23) "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 35—44.

We have already seen this Power in its horses, coming up as rough caterpillars: i. e. to destroy and devour. We have here an enouncement, by this second Angel, of its fall. But then it is added (ib. ver. 26), " And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation ; but thou shalt be desolate for ever" &c. That is, mystically speaking, as before no part whatsoever of thee shall remain as a ground-work, or corner-stone, of any future mystical Babylon : and, as in the first Vision of Daniel, every portion of it was to be so carried away that not a particle of it should remain, nor its place be found; so here, the same is virtually said, as also noticed above, in the perpetual sleep to which it was there doomed.

We are told (ib.) that " the third part of the sea became

blood," sec. By a multitude of waters, or sea, a multitude of people is often represented in Holy Writ, and particularly in this Book22. We are not therefore, to seek for these things in the sea, but on the land; and, as we shall see, primarily among the multitude of the Jewish nation. Allusion seems here to be made to Ezekiel, chap, v., where the Prophet is commanded to shave off his hair, and to divide it into three equal parts. One third part is then to be burnt in the midst of the city (ver. 2), another third to be smitten about with a knife; and the last is to be scattered to the winds, and a sword drawn out after them. Let it be observed here (ver. 3), a few thereof are to be taken and bound up, and so to be preserved in the skirts of the Prophet himself. Which must necessarily refer to the preserved Remnant of Zion.

At verse 10 (Ezek. ib.), we have the horrors of the siege foretold by Moses (Deut. xxviii. 52. See also chap. vi. 1, 2), in which the parents should eat their children. Again (ver. 12), a third part is to die of the pestilence and famine, and another by the sword, and the last third to be scattered to the winds of heaven, and a sword is to be drawn out after them. That all this took place under the Roman heathen Power, is too certain to admit of a doubt: and it is equally certain, that in this state of dispersion, rebuke, and contempt generally, are the same family of Jews at this present day. In the Revelation here, one third part of the sea becomes blood : in other words, one third part of this Jewish multitude is slain by the sword. Again, one third part of the creatures die (Rev. 9), that is, as it should seem, by famine and pestilence. And again, a third part of the ships (ib.), i. e. as sailing or emigrating far and wide, are destroyed: in other words, that part which so wanders are represented as in a perpetual state of destruction, because the pursuing sword, pestilence, and famine, everywhere follow them.

Let us now see what becomes of that portion, or Remnant, (chap. v. 3) bound up in the skirts of the Prophet, and necessarily of the same party with himself. In Chap. vi. 8, it is said, "Yet will I leave a Remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye

shall be scattered through the countries. And," it is added, " they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives...and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed^..and they shall know that I am the lord," &c. Comp. vii. 16, &c., and it will be seen, that the end of Judaism is too plainly foretold to be mistaken.

Sect. III.—The Third Trumpet.

if we suppose these soundings to keep pace with the several days of Daniel's seventieth week, we shall have under this, the period in which Jerusalem fell, with the commencement of that in which judgments should fall on the Gentiles : for here the sounding of our third Angel, extending to that of the fourth, will exceed the days, at the end of which both the Temple and City of Jerusalem were to fall. We must also bear in mind that, under the mystical language of Scripture, principle, rather than particulars23, is always urged. Under this, the Jews are in principle " no people :" they have rejected their Lord, and He has rejected them. They are consequently to be considered spiritually, as the " Rulers of Sodom," and " People of Gomorrah;" or, as " Sodom and Egypt" (chap. xi. 8), and the children of the Devil (John viii. 44). In this point of view, they are accordingly to be considered as his ministers and agents, and therefore the objects of threat, not of promise, and as subject to the judgments denounced upon all unbelief.

Now under the Theocracy,—and the same is still the case,—the true Church is occasionally called Heaven24: and hence (chap. xii. 10), " the accuser of our brethren is" said

to be " cast down :" but (ver. 9) he is also said to be " cast out into the earth:" i. e. by the power of God in his Angels, or Ministers, he is cast out of the Church.—But more on this when we come to Chap. xii. 9, seq. It is accordingly, with reference to this event, that our Lord says to His disciples (Luke x. 18), " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven:" i. e. when He was told how the " devils were subject to them through His name" throughout Jewry : for this their mission extended no farther. We may therefore, now view the fall of Satan,—as a Principal in persecuting the Church of God,—indirectly foretold in all those places, in which the fall of his Agents is predicted; and this, as affecting the Jew in the first instance, and the Gentile in the second: both having the same work before them, both acting under the same Principal, and both to fall by the same Divine power: and in this general sense, we have only to refer to the predictions already cited, on the character and fall of " the Antichrist" pp. 206—212.

It must not be imagined however, that the several periods in which the enouncement of these judgments is made by the Angels, are to be always identical with that of their infliction: this would be to confine language decidedly mystical, to a precision known only to the pure mathematics. . These enouncements are made time after time, intimating rather the amount and sort of judgments so to be inflicted, during the whole period of Daniel's seventieth mystical week, rather than their precise time ; first, before the fall of Jerusalem, and to be consummated in this: secondly, during the last half of this week, on both Jew and Gentile generally, and to be consummated in the fall of heathenism at its close. But which in each of these series, and its end, is at any time foretold by the Prophets, and brought before us from them by St. John, must be ascertained from their several contexts: and this we shall endeavour to do, as we proceed.

" And the third angel sounded," says St. John (ver. 10), " and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp." The place alluded to here is Isai. chap. xiv. 12, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (i. e. who hast placed thyself there, as prince of the host). " How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Again (ver. 19), "Thou art

cast out of thy grave" &c. Again (ver. 26), giving its application : " This is the purpose purposed upon the whole earth." It extends therefore beyond Babylon, or Assyria, in its mystical bearing, although strictly applying to either in its literal one. On the application of this place to the Antichrist, see page 202, above.

Again (Ezek. xxviii. 2, seq.), Tyre is denounced under the fall of this God-assuming power, and said to be (ver. 14, as) " the anointed cherub...thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire" (here in St. John, " burning as it were a lamp"). It is added, " I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God" (i. e. out of His Church); " I will destroy thee... thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." (See also p. 203, above.) Again (ver. 17), "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness'25." It is added, "/ will cast thee to the ground" (as in Isaiah and John). " / will lay thee before Kings, that they may behold thee" (i. e. as in the fall of the mystical Babylon, Rev. xviii. 9). Again (ver. 18), "I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,...in the sight of all them that behold thee" (Rev. xvii. 16; xviii. 15). That this should take place in connexion with the ingathering of Israel's holy Remnant, is evident from the last three verses of this Chapter. It must therefore, of necessity, have the fall of the Antichrist for its object.

The figure and language used by Ezekiel, has been to some extent adopted by St. Paul, for the purpose perhaps of suggesting, that this place had particular reference to his "Man of sin." He says, e. g. 2 Thess. ii. 4, " Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sittith, or against, the Temple of God" (see above, p. 202, seq.), " shewing himself that he is God26." Isaiah tells us, that this power should

exalt his throne (seat) above the stars of God; Ezekiel,. that he should sit in the seat (or throne) of God: more literally, / sit the seat, or the sitting of God: i. e. as God: which, to my apprehension, is perfectly of a piece with the words of St. Paul. Allusion is perhaps made in Ezekiel to Ps. xxix. 10, in the words "In the midst of the seas." The Psalmist has, "The Lord" (Jehovah) "sitteth upon the flood'''1 (lit. Deluge), Sic. And to this, Daniel (xi. 45) seems to allude when he says of the Antichrist: " He shall plant the tabernacle of His palaces between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain:" not locally, but mystically, to hold dominion over many people (see p. 196).

Again, in the words (ver. 14) " And I have set theew" &c., i. e. have said of thee sometime before this, or the like, we have an allusion apparently to some previous declaration respecting this power. The place is, perhaps, that just now cited from Isaiah, where this Pretender28 is said to have chosen for his throne, " the mount of the congregation;" that is, on which the Temple then stood, and was therefore the mount of holiness; " in the sides of the north :" i. e. in the City of the great King: and, just as in Isaiah (xiv. 15),

" they shall bring thee down to the sides of the pit." " In the midst of the stones of fire" implies perhaps,—for the sense is here wholly mystical,—among those whom God considered as His jewels (comp. Mal. iii. ] 7), or, as " the stones of a crown" (Zech. ix. 16). And so in Daniel (viii. 11), " He magnified himself even to" (his becoming) " the prince of the host." And (ib. 10), "He waxed great even to the host of heaven, and cast down some of the host of the stabs to the ground, and stamped upon them." Where the stars must stand for the same Elect and shining servants of God, whom this Power should destroy in his assumed power of Deity. We have here therefore in Ezekiel, the same Power mystically foretold, that we have in Isaiah as just considered, under the name of Babylon; but here under that of Tyre: and which, the Apostle Paul,—speaking of the same Power,—had in his eye in his man of sin.

Again (Ezek. xxviii. 21, seq.), judgments of a similar sort are denounced against Zidon, although nothing is there said about a claim to Deity. That this extends to the times of the New Covenant, is evident enough from these words (ib. ver. 22), " / will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her." The next verse speaks of the pestilence, blood, and the like, had in view, by the Apocalypse, in the denunciations of our second trumpeting Angel, as also in the opening of our second seal. This third in particular, speaks of the deadly character which the waters of the rivers and fountains should assume, upon the fall of this Star from heaven; which should remind us perhaps, both of the deaths to take place, and of the corruptions of the doctrines of the New Testament to be effected, by the ministers of Satan, during these times.

It is next declared (Ezek. ib. 24), generally, that when this Power shall have fallen, " there shall be no more a pricking brier" (i. e. thorn in the side) " unto the house of" (the true) " Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and" it is added, "they shall know that I am the lord." That is, these, whether Canaanites, Moabites, Edomites, Amalekites, Babylonians, Assyrians, or any other such enemies, shall know, that the declaration here mystically given, includes the spiritual tri-

umph to be obtained over them all, and their entire subjugation to the true and spiritual Zion of God. The latter three verses of this Chapter, as already noticed, fully confirm this. They clearly bring us to the times, when God should gather His true Israel together out of every people; and this again, when He should have so executed His judgments on (all) them that had despised them round about. Then it is said, " They shall dwell safely, and with confidence:" here, in their own final possession, or land, given them by Covenant, i. e. the heritage of the heathen, even to the uttermost parts of the earth. And, be it remembered, this great end,—the testimony of Jesus,-—and necessarily the mystical declarations disclosing it, constitute the spirit of all prophecy. What is said (Rev. viii. 11) of the waters becoming of a deadly bitter (comp. Exod. xv. 23), so as to poison and kill those who drank them, stands in the parallel place (Chap. xvi. 4—7) thus: "And they became blood'1'' (comp. Exod. vii. 17, seq.). " For," it is added, " they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink." Which will refer to the Jews; for they alone had shed the blood of the Prophets. So our blessed Lord, " Upon you''' (shall) " come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel."..." All these things shall come upon this generation'®." From what we have seen here it must be evident, that we now are within the period in which Jerusalem should fall: i. e. should precede this, so far as the enouncement must precede the judgment : and it may be, to continue for some time after this. " The name," it is said, " of this star is called Wormwood.'1'' That this is a designation of Satan, as the author of all bitterness and misery, there can be no doubt, from the following places: viz. Deut. xxix. 18, "Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood:" i, e. an evil heart, labouring under the baneful influences of the devil. See the context. Heb. xii. 15, "Lest any man fail of the grace of God: lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled:" i. e. by this poison of the serpent. Again (Jer. ix. 15, seq.), "Behold, I will feed them'1'' (i. e the Jews), " even this people, with wormwood,

and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them ...I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them." See also Lam. iii. 15, where the better party,— suffering in common with the rest,—view these things as come to pass. Of the transgressors it is also said (Amos v. 7), " Ye.. .turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth." All which, there can be no doubt, St. John had in his mind when he wrote this: and hence, intended to send his reader to it, and so to impress upon him the judgments to be inflicted on the Jews as foretold in these Scriptures. It need now only be remarked, that all this quadrates well with the period assigned to the sounding of our third Angel.

Sect. IV.—The Fourth Trumpet.

we now come to the fourth Angel (ver. 9). " 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." We have already seen (on Matth. xxiv. 29, page 127, seq. above), that the darkening of the sun and moon referred generally to the judgments to be executed upon the heathen. It has been remarked too, that the enemies generally of God's true Zion, are had in view in all the judgments so foretold, whether upon Babylon, Idumea, or any other people. In Ezekiel (chap, xxxii. 2, seq.), the judgments here apparently had in view, are those denounced against Egypt: and, what is most remarkable, the context especially includes those other states, which were then known as the enemies of Zion.

It is said (ib. ver. 2), " Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh King of Egypt."..." Thou art as a whale in the seas" (comp. Isai. xxvii. 12, "The lord shall beat off from the channel of the river" i. e. the Euphrates, " unto the stream of Egypt" &c.). It is added (ver. 7, seq.), "And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon

And it is added, " Pharaoh shall see them." All of which can,—as far as I can see,—be capable of no literal interpretation ; but, if taken mystically, as referring to the victories to be achieved by the sword of the Spirit in the great day of the Lord, when the controversy of Zion should be determined, becomes sufficiently natural and easy.

The next Chapter (xxxiii.) of Ezekiel brings us apparently to our trumpeting, or " trumpet-tongued," Angels generally. " Son of man," it is said (ver. 2), "speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I briny a sword upon a" (i. e. any) " land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman" (i. e. mystically their Preacher, or Apostle): " If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and (so) warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning...his blood shall be upon his own head."..." But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take away any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;. but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee (as) a watchman :" i. e. as in our angels, or, the ministers of Christ, to warn the world of the revealed will of God.

A little farther on (ver. 27, seq.), the utter and final overthrow of unbelieving Israel is particularly foretold. The words are: " Say... Thus saith the Lord god: As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to-be devoured, and they that be in the forts33 and in the caves

shall die of the pestilence. For I will lay the land most desolate™, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none" (i. e. Jew) " shall pass through." That this is not to fall upon the holy Remnant, is evident enough from the context; it is upon those who are made to say (ver. 24, as in chap. xi. 15), " the land is given to us in possession." It is remarkable too, that not so much as mention of Jerusalem occurs here : for these judgments were to fall upon those in the wastes, the forts, and in the mountains. Much warfare of this sort wasted the Jews, after the fall of their City, and during the reigns of Trajan and Adrian, as the historians tell us. Under the latter, they were actually forbidden to set a foot in Jerusalem; and this I take to be implied in the terms most desolate, &c., as used above : which answers well to the place assigned in the series to our fourth Angel, and brings us of necessity, to the latter period of our " latter days," " time of the end," and the like.

But the Jews attended not to the trumpet-sounding, either of Isaiah (chap. Lviii. 1, seq.), of Ezekiel, or of their successors,—in this office of warning,—the Apostles of our Lord; and accordingly, judgment came upon them to the uttermost, and still cleaves to them. And again, what had become a stumbling-block to the Jews, was treated as foolishness by the Greeks, and by the heathen powers generally : they regarded not the sound of the trumpet when God went forth with his ambassadors, although this was in the whirlwinds of the south, in fearful signs and wonders; and the end was, judgment fell upon them also. We then have, as before, the salvation of the Remnant, or Election, i. e. God's true Israel (xxxiv. 20—31), as a general conclusion to this context. We are therefore, now among the judgments which

should be executed both upon the Jews and the heathen: God accompanying His ambassadors, with the sound of his trumpet (Zech. ix. 14, seq.), and with the clearest evidences of His wrath.

If, then, these places are ultimately to be taken in a mystical sense,—without at all interfering with their primary one,—the language of John, which thus indirectly appeals to them, must be taken mystically likewise. When ,we are told therefore, as we are here (Rev. viii. 12), that " the third part of the sun was smitten," &c., we are to understand that, at this period, there would be " great distress of nations,"—including of necessity the Jews,—as foretold also by our blessed Lord: and that these Prophets intended to bring before us these very events.

Sect. V.—The Fifth Trumpet.

The next verse (13) tells us through an Angel, that further distress and woe are to be inflicted on the inhabiters of the earth, i. e. generally; and accordingly, the beginning of the next Chapter (ix.) announces the sounding of " the fifth Angel." "I saw," says John, " a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And," adds he, " 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 smoke of the earth. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth...And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth... neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." It is added, "To them was given that they should not kill them" (i. e. the men just mentioned), " but that they"" (these) "should be tormented five months'" (i. e. by these locust-like ministers). We are told a little lower down (ver. 11), that these have a king, the angel of the bottomless pit, named in the Hebrew Abaddon (destroyer), but in the Greek Apollyon. We have now therefore, not only the actors in this tragedy, but also their Principal, Satan.

By the air's being darkened, we are perhaps to understand the consequence of the sun's being smitten. We now

have therefore, gross darkness suffused over the whole, and this the darkness of hell itself: and under which, good and bad must suffer, physically at least; the Saints being now given into the hands of the Antichrist for a time, times, and a half. Again, these locusts were to hurt nothing except those who had not received " the seal of God in their foreheads,'" i. e. repeating Chap. vii. 3, and meaning that those who had been so sealed, should not be hurt in any spiritual sense ; representing, as they did, spiritual agents under an Almighty spiritual King. These sealed men (taken from chap. vii. 3, above) would, of necessity, suffer much externally in times such as these, and especially as this was allowed, in order to try and to refine them even to the end. Many of them were moreover, to be slain during this period, by the " Little Horn;" their spirits should nevertheless be preserved wholly and without blemish. Of this sort of language we have had many examples; such is (John vi. 49, seq.), " Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread...that a man may eat thereof, and not die...If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever,...(ver. 58), "he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." Where eateth, not dying, and living for ever, must be taken spiritually, of necessity. The same holds good in many of the instances above. Natural armies and plagues, such as horses prepared to battle, locusts, and the like, under a spiritually sinful king, are brought mystically into action, in order to shew by whom the world should be thus plagued, and how the Saints, physically to fall under their weapons, should nevertheless remain wholly unhurt. This sort of distinction is of infinite importance, in our endeavours to interpret Holy Scripture (see pp. 10—15, above).

We may now view the period, during which these agents are allowed fully to act. It is said (ver. 5) to be "five months." How then is this to be understood? Not, one would think, as implying so many calendar months, in mystical language such as this evidently is. It has been remarked above, that the whole period of Daniel's seventieth mystical week, is occasionally styled a year, as it also is a day, &c. Supposing then,—as before,—these seven trumpets to extend through the whole seven days of Daniel's week, and that the fifth of these is now sounding; we shall of

necessity, be within a period beyond its first half, or middle; and, supposing a year to represent this whole period, we shall now be beyond its sixth month: again, if we suppose we are arrived at the end of the seventh, five months will still remain to complete the period. We have seen too, that the Saints were to be given into the hands of this Desolator or Destroyer, for a time, times, and a half, that is, 3^ times at least. We are also told, that this should be for 42 months (Rev. xi. 2; xvi. 5) ; i. e. the whole half of the seven mystical years of Ezekiel, as noticed above : and which again (Rev. xi. 9), is said to be 3 \ days:—but of this more presently. By this five months therefore we are, probably, to understand such smaller part of the latter portion of this seventieth week, during which, Daniel tells us (chap. ix. 27), He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, i. e. to the time of the end. Let us now enquire, whether the particulars adverted to by St. John will suit this period. In Rev. xvi. 10, 11, we have the parallel to this place given under the fifth vial; and again, chap. xvii. 8, 9, a repetition or resumption of it:—of which more hereafter.

When it is said (ver. 5), that " they should not kill them," the meaning probably is, that they were not sent for that purpose: only to injure under Satan, the cause of all the plagues of these times. It should seem from the mention of locusts here, that dearth and scarcity would be implied, as afflicting the whole earth: and this again, both temporally and spiritually, as far as the nature of the case would admit. In the Jews, this would be felt in both these ways. They were now deprived of their divine appointments, privileges, and consolations: and were therefore, just as the heathen had always been, suffering a dearth of the Word of God: in the words of Amos (viii. 12), "They shall wander from sea to sea,...they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the lord, and shall not find it." And (ib. iv. 8, seq.), " Two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water ; but they were not satisfied....I have smitten you with blasting,...when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees increased, the palmerworm" (rather, the locust} "devoured them....I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." That is, by an entire overthrow of their polity. As to the

Gentiles, the famines, earthquakes, wars, and other judgments that fell upon them were many and grievous, as we have seen from Orosius, and shall further see presently. The heretics too must, at this period, have been numerous, and have inflicted, as locusts and scorpions, grievous temporal plagues upon the professing Church. If now we consider for a moment the declarations of Amos (iv. 9. vii. 1—4; viii.; ix. 1—9), we shall find predictions the most fearful of Jerusalem's latter days. In chap. vii. 1, we have the locusts of St. John; for, although our Authorized Version gives grasshoppers, the original really has Locusts35. If we now pass on to chap. ix. 11, seq., we shall come to the establishment of the throne of the spiritual David, and the return of the captivity of Israel's holy Remnant: i. e. when these plagues should have come to their destined end.

The sealing of God's servants, here only referred to, took place at an earlier period than this. See above under chap, vii. 3. We may now come therefore, to those other places in the Prophets which are apparently alluded to here. "In those days," says St. John, " shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.'''' Parallel to this are the judgments of the fifth vial, chap. xvi. 10, 11 : of which more when we come to that place. We also have declarations similar to these in chap. vi. 16, and which are given apparently, to mark the latter part of Daniel's seventieth week, under the opening of the sixth seal. Under that of the fifth seal, we have the prayer of the martyrs; who, as it should seem, should be augmented under our fifth trumpet: and where,—as in this place, —a considerable space of time was yet to run out. (See on that place above.)

We are here, in the first place (ver. 6), referred probably to Isaiah (chap. ii. 19), where it is evident these particular times are had in view. " They shall go," it is said, " into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the lord.. when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth," &c., and when the idols shall have been utterly abolished (ver. 18): which must imply the general fall of heathenism. Again, in Jeremiah (viii. 3), " Death," it is said,

" shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family;" which refers to the Jews, who are now de jure, part and parcel of the nations; their polity having fallen, and they themselves being broken off from their original stock. Jerem. viii. 16, seq., we have the snorting of the horses of the Roman power,—as pictured (ver. 7) by St. John,—and the serpents and cockatrices of Jeremiah (ver. 17), given also under St. John's figure of scorpions. The only difference in St. John is, that he applies this language generally, and so includes both Jews and Gentiles : which suits well the circumstances of this period, as falling upon all.

We are told by St. John (ver. 7), that " The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle,'1'' &c., which will bring us to the army of locusts mentioned by Joel ii. 25, Sic., and noticed above36, and where the fall of the Jews by the Roman power is first described, and then (chap. iii. 2, seq.) that of the Gentiles: Tyre and Zidon are also named, together with all the coasts of Palestine. At verse 9, it is said, " Proclaim ye this'1'' (as with a trumpet) "among the Gentiles,"" (ver. 15), " The sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice" (as with a trumpet, Zech. ix. 14) "from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake^."...(\er. 19), "Egypt shall be a desolation, and JSdom3s shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they shed innocent blood." That is as before, Egypt and Edom should literally fall; but here, more largely and mystically, as the enemies of the Lord. It is then said, "In that day, the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk...and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim." That is, when this spiritual enemy shall be so destroyed, the wilderness of the formerly Gentile world, should be so irrigated by the full flowing rivers of Judah, that it should blossom as the rose. And then also, i. e. " in

these days, and in that'''' (identical period, or) " when I,"" saith the Lord, " shall bring again the captivity of" (the true) " Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations,'1'' &c. Which gives us the warfare under these locusts, and its termination in complete victory, and necessarily brings us to the end of Daniel's seventieth week. Joel's description of this army (chap. ii. 2—12) is graphic and vivid, and well suits the context of St. John in this place. It appears however, as before, to extend over the whole latter half of Daniel's seventieth week, commencing with the fall of Jerusalem.

If we now turn to Nahum (chap, iii.), we shall have some further particulars, apparently adverted to here by St. John. But we must first take a general view of the context of this Prophet. It is evident, from the outset of his book, that God had taken up here, as elsewhere, the controversy of His Zion; and, although Nineveh39 is especially named,—and in all probability actually suffered as here foretold,—yet, from the nature of the language used, a further or mystical application must have been intended. It is said (chap. i. 2, seq.), " God is jealous, and the lord revengeth : the lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies" (i.e. generally). " The lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet*°.n... (ver. 6), " The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt1, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world " (Heb. bini), " and all that dwell therein." Which is a general enouncement of the judgments to be inflicted upon His enemies. In verse 11, a particular individual is singled out, as the object of His wrath on this occasion. "There is one come out of thee" (i. e. Nineveh, ver. 1), " that imagineth evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor." But (chap. iii. 18) it is said, " Thy shepherds slumber, O King of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust." Whatever

back) " in the land of the lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, ivhose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors." Which will admit of none, I think, but a mystical interpretation, declaring that the true Zion should obtain a spiritual victory over these her oppressors42. Again (ver. 25, here), " I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.'"'' Which again, Is capable of none but a mystical, or spiritual, interpretation. Nahum again, presents us with a perfect echo of the place just quoted from Isaiah (chap. i. 12, seq.), "Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet shall they" (i.e. Israel's oppressors) " be cut down, when he shall pass through." It is added, " Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder" Again (ib. ver. 15), " Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!" i.e. generally (saying), " O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows : for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off:" that is, to rise no more: all which must necessarily refer to Zion's ultimate triumph. Compare Isai. ui. 7, seq. Rom. x. 15. Also Isai. xxiv. 13—17.

From Chap. ii. 8, to its end, we have, as in Isai. xiii. 17, seq., the Enemies of this destroyer depicted, whose bows should dash the young men to pieces. Here (Nahum ii. 1), " He that dasheth to pieces is come up before thy face," &c. Again (ver. 10), " She," i. e. Nineveh, " is empty, and void, and waste," &c. In Chap. iii. 1, Nineveh is addressed as a " bloody city, full of lies and robbery;" and (ver. 4) it is said, " Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot"" (a title mystically given, as noticed above, to Tyre, and in the Revelation to Babylon), " the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations" (comp. Rev. xviii. 2, 3) " through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts."..." I am against thee, saith the Lord"" (ver. 5). To the same effect are all these denunciations, and so to be under-

stood, from this place (ver. 5), down to verse 15, where we have the fiery judgments and locusts of Joel and St. John.

"There," it is said (ver. 15), "shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts... the cankerworm spoileth, and fleeth away. Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known,'1'' &c. Where, it is observable, these locusts are said to have their encampment as an army: while neither here, nor in Joel, can locusts be really meant, but armies such as these both in their numerous and destructive character: and, in every case here, the same Power is ultimately meant: viz. that which should take up arms against the Zion of God, although other and different powers are here literally, and primarily, had in view.

Return we now to St. John's account of these locusts (ver. 7, seq.), " And the shapes of the locusts," says St. John, " 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 men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions,"'1 &c. It must be evident enough, that some signal judgment is here had in view, and that this should have for its principal leader and agent, the king of the bottomless pit, Satan himself. His captains, or subordinate agents, must here be the rulers and honourable men of the earth. St. John next says of these locusts, that " on their heads were as it were crowns like gold;" which Nahum's words will sufficiently well explain : viz. " Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the grasshoppers;" i. e. the Kings and Captains in thy service, are thus numerous and destructive : which represents these locusts and grasshoppers in their natural characters as such; but mystically, as invading and destructive armies, led on by the Kings and Princes of the earth.

Again, in Joel (ii. 2, seq.), this army is, as already remarked, spoken of as a great and strong people. In the next verse it is said, " A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth:" the constant attendant on invading armies. In ver. 4, it is said, " The appearance of