BSZ3Z5 
 
 ,.(175?.. 
 
 Division. 
 Section, 
 No, 
 
"Revelation Explained." 
 
 " Breve et punctatim." 
 "et Multum in Parvo.' 
 ''et Simpliciter." 
 
 V 
 
 BY REV. J. M. CONNELLY. 
 
 E. H. GUSHING. 
 
 1876. 
 
COPYBIOHT BT E. H. CUSHINO, 1876. 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 Some say that no person can nnderstand ^^ Keve- 
 lation," but this is absurd; for if no one can 
 nnderstand it, it is not a revelation at all, bnt a 
 sealed mystery, falsely labeled, and let down from 
 heaven to tantalize the world ; and if any per- 
 son is ever to nnderstand the Apocalypse, it is 
 high time we knew something about it now ; for 
 it was written nearly eighteen hundred years ago. 
 
 As the Apocalypse gives a symbolic history (in 
 the future) of the leading events from the apos- 
 tolic day to the end of time, I have felt excited to 
 try to understand these events in their natural 
 order, with the dates, and meaning of the sym- 
 bols. 
 
 While studying Eevelation, and lecturing on 
 it before a number of congregations, I got an 
 idea of its entire fulfillment, sufficient to put 
 my own mind at rest. I then made out brief 
 notes on it all, for my own benefit ; I then 
 thought I could easily enlarge the notes into a 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 comment and it would be a particular help to 
 students of the Bible. 
 
 I have aimed at clearness, pointedness, and 
 simplicity, omitting superfluous yerbiage, opin- 
 ions, quotations, names, etc., believing that the 
 probable idea would be the best help to the 
 reader to think for himself. 
 
 I have heretofore read ^^ Newton," ^^Faber," 
 "Scott," and "Fleming ;" many of their views 
 satisfied my mind so well that, I have adopted 
 them ; for a truth still remains a truth, no mat- 
 ter who else looks at it. 
 
 As to the more recent writers and speakers on 
 Eevelation, I so strongly suspected them of en- 
 thusiasm (not to say fanaticism), that they soon 
 discouraged me, and I quit them. I believe I 
 have the true meaning of the symbols, and of 
 all the great events, and of most of the dates, 
 or times of the fulfillment of the events, and 
 where there may be an inaccuracy in the dates, 
 they strike in the neighborhood of accuracy, 
 and so our minds can rest here, and time and 
 observation do the rest, for we have no prophets 
 in this age of the world. 
 
 J. M. Connelly. 
 
THE 
 
 Revelation of St. John. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1. The ReYelation of Jesus Christ, which God 
 gave unto him, to show unto his servants things 
 which must shortly come to pass; and he sent 
 and signified it by his angel unto his servant 
 John. 
 
 In old age, after much self-sacrifice, trouble, 
 labor, and persecution, the Apostle John was 
 banished to the Isle of Patmos. This put him 
 in a suitable frame of mind to receive the last 
 part of the revealed will of God to man. The 
 same angel, probably of a very high order, is 
 employed by our Saviour throughout the Apoca- 
 lypse or Revelation. Any and every thing was 
 not revealed to Christ, as ^^that prophet that 
 should come into the world" (Mark, xiii. 32), 
 
6 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 but only those things which pertain to the sal- 
 vation of man. 
 
 This book reveals the leading events from the 
 apostolic day to the end of time, as connected 
 with the Church. 
 
 2. Who bare record of the Word of God, and 
 of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all 
 things that he saw. 
 
 John, the only surviving apostle, carries this 
 last message of Christ to his church, and tes- 
 tifies to the truth of it, and all things else that 
 he saw. 
 
 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that 
 hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those 
 things which are written therein, for the time is 
 at hand. 
 
 The Apostle pronounces a blessing on all who 
 read, hear, and obey this heavenly message ; for 
 that is the way to avail ourselves of its spiritual 
 benefit, and lead others to do the same : for the 
 time was at hand when they would begin to be 
 fulfilled, and their fulfillment would prove the 
 truth of them, as prophecy is a most incontro- 
 
THE BEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 7 
 
 vertible argument against infidelity. As all time, 
 compared with eternity, is as nothing, the whole 
 book will soon be fulfilled. See verse 1. 
 
 4. John to the seven churches which are in 
 Asia : Grace be unto you and peace from him 
 which is, and which was, and from him which is 
 to come ; and from the seven spirits which are 
 before his throne. 
 
 John, as the bearer of this heavenly message, 
 prefixes his name to it ; it is sent to the seven 
 churches in Asia, i. e., Asia Minor, or the west- 
 ern part of the whole division of Asia. The 
 Apostle also opens his message with the apos- 
 tolic benediction, praying for grace and inward 
 peace to these churches ; and these gifts he 
 asks from the self-existent and eternal God, the 
 Father, the first person of the Triune God, who 
 is, was, and is to come ; and from the seven spir- 
 its, i. e., the Holy Ghost. Seven is a round num- 
 ber, as the seven days of the week; hence it 
 denotes perfection. This grace and peace are 
 asked anoo (from) rov (him) 'o ov (who is), 
 Kai (and) 'o sv (who was), icai (and) 'o 
 epxi^ofj-eroa (who is to come). The definite 
 article is here used instead of the pronoun, 
 
8 THE KEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and the particij)le of tlie yerb, in tlie first 
 and last clauses; and Greek scholars can see 
 the full force of this rare sentence, which, per- 
 haps, refers to what the Lord said of himself 
 at the burning bush (Ex. iii. 14, and John, yiii 
 56, 58). 
 
 5. And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful 
 witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and 
 the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him 
 that loved us and washed us from our sins in his 
 own blood. 
 
 The Apostle, next, asks grace and peace from 
 Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, 
 who is also the true and faithful witness of 
 God's eternal truth, and the first begotten (or 
 risen) from the dead to die no more ; he is also 
 the prince of the kings of the earth, because 
 all things, secular as well as spiritual, in this 
 world, are delegated to Christ, until the general 
 judgment is concluded. He will then deliver 
 up the mediatorial kingdom to the Father, that 
 God may be all in all ; but the Saviour's glorified 
 human nature will always remain as the connect- 
 ing link between Deity and the redeemed of 
 mankind. The Saviour loved us all who will 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 9 
 
 e^er taste the joys of heayen, with beneTolence, 
 and gave all the rest a free offer of salvation, 
 and washed us from our sins, by the Holy Spirit 
 applpng the Word of God to our consciences 
 and understandings; and all this by virtue of 
 his atonement on the cross, when he shed his 
 blood for us. 
 
 6. And hath made us kings and priests to God 
 and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion, 
 forever and ever. Amen. 
 
 The Apostle further describes the Saviour by 
 telling us, pious persons, that he, the Saviour, 
 hath made us kings to reign with and under 
 Christ, and priests to offer unto God "thanksgiv- 
 ing and adoration for our salvation by grace, and 
 to God and his (the Saviour's) Father be (divine) 
 glory and dominion, or rule, forever and ever ; 
 this repetition of the word ever adds intensity 
 to the idea of eternity, all of which John seals 
 with his Amen. 
 
 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every 
 eye shall see him, and they also which pierced 
 him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail 
 because of him. Even so. Amen. 
 
10 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The Apostle here looks forward to the second 
 coming of Christ, at the end of time, when he 
 shall haye moved from the mediatorial throne to 
 the throne of his judgment. The intervening 
 time will so soon and imperceptibly pass away, 
 that it is said, '^He cometh," and every eye of 
 both the liying and dead (resurrected) shall see 
 him in his infinite majesty, holiness, and jus- 
 tice ; and all (wicked) kindreds of the earth shall 
 wail because of him, executing justice on his 
 enemies. What will be the appearance of the 
 chief priests, Judas, Herod, Pontius Pilate, etc., 
 etc., when they see the meek and lowly Jesus, 
 whom they insulted and murdered, on the throne 
 of his judgment ? To all of which the Apostle 
 adds, "Even so. Amen." 
 
 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and 
 the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which 
 was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 
 
 The Saviour says he is Alpha and Omega, 
 which are the J&rst and last letters of the Greek 
 alphabet, denoting the eternity of Christ. He is 
 also the beginning and ending of all things, and 
 the author and finisher of our salvation ; also of 
 creation and j^rovidence, as well as redemption ; 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. H 
 
 also the Almighty, saith the Lord, which is, 
 was, and is to come, i. e., from eternity to eter- 
 nity. This is the strongest language that could 
 be used to denote the Divinity of the Son, as 
 one with the Father and Holy Spirit. 
 
 9. I, John, who also am your brother and 
 companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom 
 and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that 
 is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for 
 the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
 
 John here calls himself the brother and com- 
 panion of all Christians, for the other apostles 
 were dead ; and in tribulations and persecutions, 
 for the whole world was opposed to Christians; 
 and in building up the kingdom of Christ, 
 i. e., the Church; and in patience, suffering for 
 Christ's sake; was banished, or imprisoned in 
 Patmos, for preaching the word of God, and 
 testifying to Jesus Christ as the Son of God 
 and Saviour of the world. 
 
 10. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and 
 heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. 
 
 John was in or under the influence of the 
 
12 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 spirit; his senses being locked up as to what 
 was going on in this world, while his attention 
 was drawn out fully to heavenly things ; and on 
 the Lord's day, the day of the week on which 
 the Lord Jesus rose from the dead ; hence, the 
 Christian Sabbath commemorates the new crea- 
 tion, or moral renovation of depraved human 
 nature. The apostle heard behind him a great 
 voice as of a trumpet, which was the Saviour 
 speaking to him. 
 
 11. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
 and the last; and ^^hat thou seest write in a 
 book, and send it unto the seven churches 
 which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto 
 Smyrna, unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, 
 and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and 
 unto Laodicea. 
 
 The Saviour gave John the same information 
 concerning his divine attributes as occurs in 
 several other passages in this book ; and bid 
 him write what he saw, and send it to the 
 seven churches in Asia, mentioning the name 
 of each one. 
 
 12. And I turned to see the voice that spake 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOIIX. 13 
 
 •with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden 
 candlesticks. 
 
 As soon as the apostle turned and looked, he 
 saw seyen golden candlesticks, which were an 
 emblem of the seven churches in Asia Minor. 
 
 13. And in the midst of the seven candle- 
 sticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed 
 with a garment down to the foot, and girt about 
 the paps with a golden girdle. 
 
 In the midst of the emblem of the seven 
 churches, John saw one like unto the meek and 
 lowly Jesus ; but being now glorified, the apostle 
 could barely identify him ; he was clothed with 
 the attire of a priest, and superintending his 
 Church. 
 
 14. His head and his hair were white like 
 wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as 
 a flame of fire. 
 
 His head and hair white like snow denoted 
 his infinite purity and majesty, calling for our 
 utmost veneration; and His eyes like a flame 
 denoted his omniscience detecting everything 
 that was wrong in his Church. 
 
14 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if 
 they burned in a furnace; and bis voice as the 
 sound of many waters. 
 
 His feet like fine brass, denote his divine 
 firmness ; his voice like the sound of many 
 waters, denoted his divine majesty arid effi- 
 ciency in all he said. 
 
 - 16. And had in his right hand seven stars ; 
 and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged 
 sword ; and his countenance was as the sun 
 shineth in his strength. 
 
 The seven stars were an emblem of the pas- 
 tors of the seven churches ; and they being in 
 the Saviour's right hand, denotes his sovereign 
 care over all his ministers ; and the sharp two- 
 edged sword going out of his mouth, denotes 
 the divine efficacy of all his decisions ; and his 
 countenance like the sun, denotes his divine 
 glory in his state of exaltation. 
 
 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet 
 as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, 
 saying unto me, Fear not ; I am the First and 
 the Last. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN^. 15 
 
 The effect of our Saviour's appearance, in liis 
 state of exaltation, on the apostle John, suggests 
 the infinite difference between it and his state 
 of humiliation when John was familiar with 
 him on earth. 
 
 18. I am he that liveth and was dead ; and 
 behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen; and have 
 the keys of hell and of death: 
 
 Our Saviour informs the apostle John that 
 he had risen from the dead, to die no more; 
 and that he had the keys of hell, the state of 
 the dead, and of death, the separation of soul 
 and body ; to all this, John adds his Amen. 
 
 19. Write the things which thou hast seen, 
 and the things which are, and the things which 
 shall be hereafter. 
 
 The Saviour commands the apostle to write 
 the things that he had seen, viz., this vision ; 
 and the things that are, viz. : the moral state of 
 the seven churches, as described in the next 
 chapters ; and the things which shall be here- 
 after, viz., the prophetic part of Eevelation, 
 which begins with the fourth chapter. 
 
16 
 
 THE KBVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 20. Tlie mystery of the seyen stars which 
 thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven 
 golden candlesticks. The seyen stars are the 
 angels of the seyen churches; and the seyen can- 
 dlesticks which thou sawest are the seyen 
 churches. 
 
 The Sayiour himself explains this yerse. 
 
THE BEVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 17 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 1. Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus 
 write : These things saith he that holdeth the 
 seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in 
 the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. 
 
 Unto the angel, i. e., messenger, sent by God's 
 23rovidence and grace to be the pastor, or parish, 
 or parochial bishop of the Church at Ephesus, 
 the Saviour directs the apostle to write ; and the 
 epistle describes the spiritual condition of this 
 church ; and so with all the others. I call the 
 angel of the church a parish bishop, because the 
 whole sevfen churches might be embraced in one 
 see, suitable for a diocesan or prelatic bishop. 
 Bishop is a corruption of the Greek word Epis- 
 copos, and literally means an overseer, i. e., of 
 a spiritual flock ; like a shepherd oversees his 
 flock of sheep. These seven churches lay, some- 
 what, in a circular form, and about a day's ride 
 apart ; hence, I infer, that there were none but 
 parish or parochial bishops in the apostolic day. 
 
18 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 'Next, the Sayiour informs the apostle that he 
 walks in the midst of his churches, as the owner 
 and superintendent ; and holds all his ministers 
 under his control, and accountable to him. 
 
 2. I know thy works, and thy labor, and 
 thy patience, and how thou canst not bear 
 them which are evil ; and thou has tried them 
 which say they are apostles, and are not; and 
 hast found them liars. 
 
 Our Saviour knew the works, or Christian 
 deportment, of his church at Ephesus ; also 
 their labor of love to God and man ; also their 
 patience in enduring, and other troubles ; also 
 their detestation of the character and conduct of 
 the evil, or wicked, among them ; also their 
 fidelity in testing and detecting false apostles. 
 Some human beings have always gotten up a 
 counterfeit wherever there is a genuine. 
 
 3. And hast borne, and hast patience, and for 
 my name's sake hast labored, and hast not 
 fainted. 
 
 The Saviour also gives this Church credit for 
 bearing u]) under trials and troubles ; also for 
 patience in the midst of cares, troubles, and 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 19 
 
 afflictions ; also through love to the Saviour's 
 name, they had labored, or struggled, and not 
 fallen into despondency. 
 
 4. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against 
 thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 
 
 After our Savior had given full credit to this 
 Church for all its virtues, he brings up the 
 debtor, viz., they had left their first love. The 
 first spiritual affections and emotions in the 
 Christian heart are vivid, and ought to be culti- 
 vated and not neglected. 
 
 5. Eemember, therefore, from whence thou 
 art fallen, and repent and do thy first works; 
 or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will 
 remove thy candlestick out of his place, except 
 thou repent. 
 
 The Saviour here mentions the cure for all 
 backslidings : repent, view your past misconduct 
 as odious in the sight of God, as well as ruinous 
 to the transgressor; and turn from your evil 
 ways to God, resigned and determined to obey 
 and love him, as you did when you were con- 
 verted. And unless this church so repented 
 and reformed, the Saviour would come and re- 
 
20 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 move their candlestick, i. e., take away theii 
 church privileges. They did not repent, and 
 soon this threat was executed. 
 
 6. But this thou hast, that hatest the deeds 
 of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 
 
 The Saviour and this church hated the deeds 
 of the Nicolaitanes, who are generally thought 
 to have been Antinomians, from anti, against, 
 and nomus, a law. They pretended that as we 
 are saved by faith, we need not regard the moral 
 law ; hence, they would wallow in sin, under a 
 pretense of salvation by faith : whereas obedience 
 to the moral law, i. e., the Ten Commandments, 
 is the natural effect of faith. The moral lav7 is 
 our rule of action, although it is not the condi- 
 tion on which we are saved ; but faith is. It is 
 not known when, or by whom, the Nicolaitanes 
 commenced ; but their name is derived from 
 nico, to conquer, and laos, the people ; like 
 Balaam, in Hebrew, JVicolas, the deacon, could 
 hardly be suspected. 
 
 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches : To him 
 that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 21 
 
 life, which is in the midst of the paradise of 
 God. 
 
 The Saviour suggests that the most important 
 thing that mortal man could hear and obey is 
 these Gospel messages; and to him that over- 
 comes the world, the flesh, and the devil, by 
 faith, he will give to eat of the tree of life, which 
 is in the midst of the paradise of God, i. el, end- 
 less existence in perfect happiness; like the tree 
 of life sealed to Adam in the earthly paradise, 
 while Adam was obedient to the covenant of 
 works. 
 
 8. And unto the angel of the church in 
 Smyrna, write : These things saith the First 
 and the Last, which was dead and is alive. 
 
 The Saviour sends this letter to the angel, or 
 pastor, of the church in Smyrna, reminding them 
 that he is the eternal Saviour who atoned for 
 sin in human nature. 
 
 9. I Know thy works, and tribulation, and 
 poverty (but thou art rich) ; and I know the 
 blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, 
 and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 
 
22 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The Saviour tells this church he knows their 
 Christian deportment, and trouble, and earthly 
 poverty ; but spiritually they were rich ; and he 
 also knew the blasphemy, against Christ and his 
 Gospel, of those who called themselves Jews, the 
 peculiar people and servants of God, and were 
 not; but were the synagogue, or church of 
 Satan. These Jews still clung to the shadows of 
 the Old Testament, and opposed Christ and the 
 New Testament, which were the substance. 
 
 10. Fear none of those things which thou 
 shalt suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some 
 of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye 
 shall have tribulation ten days : be thou faith- 
 ful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of 
 life. 
 
 Our Saviour here braces up the faith of this 
 church for a persecution which was soon to take 
 place; and tells them that the devil, through 
 his earthly agents and instruments, would cast 
 some of them into prison; but this would be 
 sanctified to their spiritual refinement and fit- 
 ness for a high place in heaven; and this tribu- 
 lation would continue ten (prophetic) days, i. e., 
 ten years, which was just the length of Domi- 
 tian's persecution. 
 
THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 23 
 
 11. He that liatli an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches : He that 
 overcometh shall not be hurt of the second 
 fleath. 
 
 The Saviour again admonishes all, patheti- 
 cally, to attend to him, as the author of eternal 
 felicity ; and if they do this, they shall not be 
 hurt by the second death, i. e., hell. This 
 church has more Christians in it yet, than any 
 church in that part of the world ; so their can- 
 dlestick has not been removed entirely. 
 
 12. And to the angel of the church in Per- 
 gamos, write : These things saith he which hath 
 the sharp sword with two edges. 
 
 This epistle is sent to the pastor of the church 
 at Pergamos, and he is reminded of the Saviour's 
 sharp two-edged sword; which intimates that 
 there were many wicked there fit for Divine dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 13. I know thy works, and where thou 
 dwellest, even where Satan's seat is ; and thou 
 boldest fast my name, and hast not denied my 
 faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was 
 my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, 
 where Satan dwelleth. 
 
34 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The Sayiour tells this church that he is ac- 
 quainted with all their Christian deportment, 
 and that they lived where Satan has his seat, as 
 a capitol or metropolis of sin, and that they had 
 not denied him for fear of being persecuted, 
 even in the days of Antipas — some eminent, 
 pious martjrr who was murdered among them, 
 when all the church was in great danger of the 
 same cruelty. 
 
 14. But I have a few things against thee, be- 
 cause thou hast there them that hold the doc- 
 trine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a 
 stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to 
 eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit 
 fornication. 
 
 The Saviour here shows how bad some of the 
 church-members were, although others were very 
 good. Balaam taught Balak to send the Moab- 
 itish women among the Israelites and entice them 
 to eat their heathen sacrifices, and commit forni- 
 cation with them, and this would bring the curse 
 of God upon the Israelites, and for this service 
 Balaam was to get a great reward ; but he lost 
 his life among the transgressors : and there were 
 some such idolatrous and adulterous members in 
 
THE REYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 25 
 
 this church, and the Saviour required the church 
 to purify itself from them. 
 
 1 5. So hast thou also them that hold the doc- 
 trine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. 
 
 There were Antinomians also in this church. 
 (See V. 6.) Heresy, i-dolatry, fornication and 
 persecution, are four of Satan's main engines to 
 ruin the church, and he had them all at work in 
 Pergamos. 
 
 16. Eepent, or else I will come unto thee 
 quickly, and I will fight against them with the 
 sword of my mouth. 
 
 Unless this church reclaimed its bad member- 
 ship immediately, our Lord said he would pass 
 final sentence on them and execute it ; the church 
 must also renew its vigilance and holy zeal. 
 
 17. He that hath an -ear let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that over- 
 cometh 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 him that receiveth it. 
 
26 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Tlie Lord Jesus admonislies this cliurcli also 
 to listen to this Gospel message, if they are capa- 
 ble of hearing anything,, and to him that over- 
 comes the world by faith he will give to eat hid- 
 den manna, which means salvation, as manna was 
 a type of Christ ; he will also give a white stone, 
 which means justification, as the ancient judges 
 voted over the life of a criminal with white and 
 black stones ; and in the stone a new name, viz.. 
 Christian ; and no person can realize the heav- 
 enly nature of the Christian religion, unless he 
 possesses it. 
 
 18. And unto the angel of the church in Thy- 
 atira write : These things saith the Son of God, 
 who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and 
 his feet are like fine brass. 
 
 In this epistle to the pastor and church at 
 Thayta, our Saviour sirremind them that he is 
 the Son of God and head of the church ; he also 
 suggests his omniscience, holiness, and justice, 
 by the i)hi*ase "His eyes like a flame of fire;" 
 while " his feet like fine brass " denotes his divine 
 firmness in rewarding his faithful servants, while 
 he executes vengeance on the impenitent. 
 
 19. I know thy works, and charit}^, and ser- 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 27 
 
 yice, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, 
 and the last to be more than the first. 
 
 The omniscient, omnipotent, divine Eedeemer 
 was perfectly acquainted with the good works of 
 this church, and their charity or love to Grod and 
 man, and service in honoring Christ and promo- 
 ting his cause on earth ; faith in Jesus as the 
 only Saviour, patience in well-doing and works 
 for Christ's sake, and their last efforts for the 
 prosperity of the church to exceed the first. The 
 Saviour always gives full credit for all our good 
 deeds and then brings up the debtor ; this is an 
 example for us to imitate. 
 
 I 
 
 20. ]N"otwithstanding, I have a few things 
 
 against thee, because thou sufferest that woman 
 Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to 
 teach and seduce my servants to commit forni- 
 cation, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 
 
 After all the good things in this church, the 
 Lord Jesus notices one horrible, wicked circum- 
 stance, viz., that woman Jezebel, which means a 
 class of idolaters, like Jezebel the Zidonian wife 
 of Ahab, which he married contrary to the laws 
 of G-od. When she came to Israel, as queen, she 
 strove to draw all Israel over to the Zidonian 
 
28 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 idolatry, in which the leaders seasoned their 
 idolatry to the carnal palates of depraved human 
 nature, by connecting fornication with it ; and 
 there were just such wretches among the good 
 church-members in Thyatira. 
 
 21. And I gave her space to repent of her for- 
 nication, and she repented not. 
 
 Before our Saviour executes vengeance he 
 gives space for repentance, but the wicked con- 
 strue his mercy and patience into forgetfulness, 
 or something else, and usually go on in sin and 
 perish. 
 
 22. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and 
 them that commit adultery with her into great 
 tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 
 
 Unless these idolaters and adulterers speedily 
 repented, our Saviour would cast their seducers 
 into a bed of loathsome and fatal sickness, and 
 the seduced into great tribulation, some fatal 
 anguish and despair. 
 
 23. And I will kill her children with death, 
 and all the churches shall know that I am he 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 29 
 
 which searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will 
 give unto every one of you according to your 
 works. 
 
 The Saviour would kill her children, i. e. , the 
 proselytes of these idolatrous fornicators, with 
 death, i. e., some dreadful plague, so called in 
 ancient times ; so all the churches should know 
 that the Saviour searches the reins, which the 
 ancients thought were the seat of the affections ; 
 and hearts, in which lie the principle of action. 
 The affections greatly control the will, and the 
 Saviour assures us that he will reward us accord- 
 ing to our works. We all feel and know that 
 we are free agents, hence lost souls will always 
 realize that they are lost by their own fault. 
 
 24. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in 
 Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and 
 which have not known the depths of Satan, as 
 they speak ; I will put upon you none other burden 
 
 Our Saviour would put no other burden on 
 any who had not stained their moral character 
 with this idolatry and impurity, which these 
 wretches called the depths of Satan. The idea 
 of depth is mysterious and marvelous, and has a 
 wonderful winning influence on giddy, empty 
 
30 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 heads ; and there has always been, in all coun- 
 tries, classes, and societies that manipulated this 
 soft spot. 
 
 25. But that which ye have already, hold fast 
 till I come. 
 
 The Saviour tells them, that piety and gospel 
 which they have, hold fast till he comes, at 
 death, to release them. 
 
 26. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my 
 works unto the end, to him will I give power 
 over the nations. 
 
 Our Saviour will give power and privilege to 
 him that overcomes the world, and keeps his 
 works of rigltteousness unto the end of life, to 
 reign with him as his assessor and concur in his 
 final sentence on all the wicked, and justification 
 on the righteous. 
 
 27. (And he shall rule them with a rod of 
 iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be bro- 
 ken to shivers :) even as I received of my Father. 
 
 The wicked shall be finally ruined, at the last 
 day, as a potter's vessel may be ruined with a 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 31 
 
 rod of iron; and to this end lie received his dele- 
 gated authority from the Father, using his 
 saints as his officers. 
 
 28. And I will give him the morning star. 
 
 As the morning star introduces day, so does 
 grace introduce heaven. 
 
 29. He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 This momentous injunction is so emphatic, 
 that it needs no explanation. 
 
32 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1. And unto the angel of the church in Sar- 
 dis, write : These things saith he that hath the 
 seven spirits of God, and the seven stars ; I know 
 thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou 
 livest and art dead. 
 
 This letter is directed to the pastor of the 
 church in Sardis, by him who hath the seven 
 spirits of God ; for, when our Saviour ascended, 
 he sent back the Holy Ghost, and the Holy 
 Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. 
 The Lord Jesus also ^^hath the seven stars," not 
 only the ministers of these seven churches, but 
 all others. The Saviour tells them that he 
 knows their Christian character and perform- 
 ance, and sees all their inward and outward 
 deficiency; and that they had a name to live, 
 or, be spiritually alive to Christ and Christianity, 
 but were morally dead, i. e., many destitute of 
 piety and nearly all the rest cold and formal. 
 
 2. Be watchful and strengthen the things 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 33 
 
 whicli remain, that are ready to die, for I have 
 not found thy works perfect before God. 
 
 Be watchful against hypocrites and cold- 
 hearted formality, and strengthen the energies 
 and fervor of the few pious members that re- 
 main; for the Saviour had not found their faith 
 and works such as they ought to be before God. 
 
 . 3. Kemember therefore how thou hast re- 
 ceived and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If, 
 therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on 
 thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what 
 hour I will come upon thee. 
 
 Our Saviour commands the only remedy for 
 this dwindling church, viz., a proper use of the 
 grace, knowledge and providential opportunities 
 which God had bestowed on them; they must 
 cleave to these and repent of their past delin- 
 quency, and, unless they did this, the Saviour 
 would come upon them by some disaster, in a 
 way and at a time least expected. They did not 
 rightly use the warning, and now there is nei- 
 ther pastor nor congregation there, and scarcely 
 the name of a Christian. 
 
 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which 
 
34 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 have not defiled their garments, and they shall 
 walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 
 
 Bad as this church was, there were a few de- 
 voted Christians there; and they should walk 
 with Christ in white, which was the emblem of 
 Christ's righteousness, for they were worthy of 
 this reward. 
 
 5. He that overcometh, the same shall be 
 clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out 
 his name out of the book of life ; but I will con- 
 fess his name before my Father, and before his 
 angels. 
 
 He that overcomes the world by faith shall be 
 clothed in the white raiment of Christ's right- 
 eousness ; and the Saviour will not blot out his 
 name from the book of life; but confess his 
 name before his Father and the angels. 
 
 6. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 This most solemn and general warning applies 
 to all mankind. 
 
 7. And to the angel of the church in Phila- 
 delphia, write : Tliese things saith he tliat is 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 35 
 
 holy, lie that is true, lie that hath the key of 
 David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; 
 and shutteth, and no man openeth. 
 
 This letter is directed to the pastor, or bishop, 
 of the church in Philadelphia; by the Lord 
 Jesus, who is holy and true ; and has the key of 
 David, i. e., born of David's descendants; and 
 the antit}^De of David; and king over all the 
 spiritual Israel of God; like David was over 
 natural and literal Israel ; and opens the door of 
 mercy, and no man can shut it ; and shuts the 
 door of mercy, and no man can open it. 
 
 8. I know thy works ; behold, I have set be- 
 fore thee an open door, and no man can shut it ; 
 for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept 
 my word, and hast not denied my name. 
 
 The Saviour informs the church at Philadel- 
 phia that he knows their works of piety, and 
 that he has set before them an open door of 
 acceptance ; and no man could shut it, for they 
 had a little spiritual strength, and had kept his 
 word, and had not denied his name. 
 
 9. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue 
 of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, 
 
36 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 but do lie ; behold, I will make tliem to come 
 and worsliip before tliy feet, and to know tliat I 
 have loved thee. 
 
 The Jews in Philadelphia opposed Christ and 
 his Church, and still clung to the dead letter 
 of the law of Moses, and yet claimed to be the 
 peculiar people of God ; but our Saviour said he 
 would make them of the synagogue of Satan, by 
 his authoritative decision ; and make them come 
 humbly, and seek the favor of the Christians, 
 as evidently loved by Christ ; this might easily 
 take place, as the Eomans often slaughtered vast 
 multitudes of the Jews in those days. 
 
 10. Because thou hast kept the word of my 
 patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of 
 temptation, which shall come upon all the world, 
 to try them that dwell upon the earth. 
 
 The church at Philadelphia had patiently kept 
 the word of Christ, and as a reward he would 
 keep them from the hour of temptation, which 
 was coming on all the world, or Roman empire, 
 to try their faith ; this might have some fulfill- 
 ment in Trajan's large persecution ; but mainly 
 fulfilled under the ^lohammedan invasion, after 
 the Ottomans or Turks had supplanted the 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 37 
 
 Saracens or Arabs, and nearly ruined all the 
 clinrclies in Asia. Philadelphia fared best. 
 
 1 1 . Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast 
 which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 
 
 Our Saviour warned the church at Philadel- 
 phia that he would come quickly, by the awful 
 calamity mentioned in verse 10, to prove the 
 fidelity of all who professed Christianity; and in 
 view of that disaster, his professed people ought 
 to hold fast to the faith and practice of Chris- 
 tianity, in order that no man might take away 
 their crown of eternal life. 
 
 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar 
 in the temple of my God, and he shall go no 
 more out ; and I will write upon him the name 
 >f my God, and the name of the city of my God, 
 which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down 
 Dut of heaven from God ; and I will write upon 
 aim my new name. 
 
 As a reward to the conquerers, in such trials 
 as are alluded to in verse 10, our Saviour j^rom- 
 ised to make them pillars in the temple of his 
 God, as a part of it, and to go out no more to 
 endure conflicts ; and to write upon them the 
 
38 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 name of liis God, and tlie name of tlie city of 
 his God, even new Jerusalem, wliicli comes 
 down from God in heaven ; and upon them his 
 new name, ImmanueL These expressions are 
 all taken from the ancient conquerors, writing 
 their names, exploits, etc., on pillars, monu- 
 ments, etc. These promises would greatly en- 
 courage the Christians to faithfulness ; and we 
 are as much interested in them as they were. 
 
 13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 We are as much concerned in this solemn 
 warning as the ancients were. 
 
 14. And unto the angel of the church of the 
 Laodiceans, write : These things saith the Amen, 
 the faithful and true witness, the beginning of 
 the creation of God, 
 
 Our Saviour sends this message to the pastor 
 and flock at Laodicea as the Amen, who seals all 
 things according to his sovereign will; and is 
 also the faithful and true witness concerning all 
 things; and is also the beginning, author, and 
 ruler of the universe, as one with the Father 
 and the Holy Spirit. 
 
THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 39 
 
 15. I know tliy works, that tliou art neither 
 cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. 
 
 The omniscient Saviour saw that this church 
 at Laodicea was so lifeless and formal, in what 
 little it did, that it put a moral chill on the 
 spectators and discouraged them ; this the Lord 
 hated. 
 
 16. So, then, because thou art lukewarm, and 
 neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my 
 mouth. 
 
 Unless the Laodiceans became more alive to 
 Christ and the salvation of souls, he would re- 
 ject them, as a man's stomach rejects warm 
 water. 
 
 17. Because thou sayest, I am rich and in- 
 creased with goods, and have need of nothing ; 
 and knowest not that thou art wretched, and 
 miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. 
 
 The church at Laodicea boasted, like the 
 Pharisees, that they were rich, spiritually, and 
 increased with goods as a reward for their merit, 
 and had need of nothing more to make them 
 fully acceptable to God; but the Lord Jesus 
 decided that they were the wretched, miserable. 
 
40 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 poor, blind, and naked, when compared with 
 any and all the other churches. See how people 
 over-estimate themselves ! 
 
 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in 
 the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white 
 raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that 
 the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and 
 anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou may- 
 est see. 
 
 Our Saviour counsels this frozen, Pharisaical 
 church at Laodicea to buy, i. e., part with their 
 sins, in order to obtain gold tried in the fire, 
 i. e., faith which will endure fiery trials, such 
 as temptations and persecutions, that they might 
 be rich toward God; and white raiment, i. e., 
 the righteousness of Christ; that thou mayest 
 be clothed with heavenly apparel ; and the shame 
 of thy nakedness, i. e., the disgrace of sin, may 
 not appear, to keep you out of heaven, and 
 torment you in hell ; and anoint thine eyes 
 with eye-salve, i. e., the influences of the Holy 
 Spirit on your understandings and consciences, 
 enabling you to make correct estimates of 
 your merits before God. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 41 
 
 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: 
 be zealous, therefore, and repent. 
 
 The Lord Jesus chastises his servants, that 
 he may purify them from sin, and so save 
 them; and he requires them to be zealous in 
 his vineyard, and repent of sin, and live new 
 and holy lives. 
 
 20. Behold, I stand at the door and knock ; if 
 any man hear my voice and open the door, I 
 will come in to him, and will sup with him, and 
 he with me. 
 
 Our Saviour stands at the door of our hearts ; 
 and knocks, by his word and Spirit operating 
 upon our understandings and consciences ; and 
 if any will hear, open, and receive him, he will 
 come in and hold spiritual communion with 
 them, as we hold social communion with each 
 other, on earth. 
 
 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to 
 sit with me in my throne, even as I also over- 
 came, and am set down with my Father in his 
 throne. 
 
 Our Saviour promises to every one that over- 
 comes the world by faith, to sit with him on his 
 
43 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 throne, in the mansions of rest, as his official, 
 like he oyercame the world by his atonement, 
 word, and holy spirit, and sat down with his 
 Father in his throne. 
 
 22. He that hath an ear let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 The Saviour closes this last epistle with the 
 same momentous warning to all mankind. 
 
THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1. ^^After this I looked, and behold, a door 
 was opened in heaven: and the first voice which 
 I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with 
 me ; which said, Come np hither, and I will 
 shew thee things which must be hereafter." 
 
 After this, viz., the seven epistles or letters 
 sent to the seven angels or pastors of the seven 
 churches of Asia Minor — in which is described 
 the spiritual condition and destiny of each 
 church — the apostle discovered a door opened 
 in heaven ; intimating that much more and im- 
 portant knowledge was to be revealed. 
 
 The apostle heard a supernatural voice, like a 
 trumpet, the Saviour speaking to John of things 
 which must be hereafter ; which things constitute 
 trains upon trains of events, reaching from the 
 apostolic day to the end of time, and the begin- 
 ning of the eternal state ; and these events are 
 described by symbols, figures, types, shadows, etc., 
 the apostle's bodily senses being locked up as to 
 
44 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 temporal affairs, by the power of tlie Holy Spirit, 
 and the eyes of his understanding being opened 
 to see these great future events. 
 
 2. *^And immediately I was in the Spirit ; and 
 behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat 
 on the throne." 
 
 The Spirit threw the apostle's mind into an 
 ecstasy and he saw a throne in heaven, and one 
 surpassing description, even the Eternal God, sat 
 on it. 
 
 3. ^^And he that sat was to look upon like a 
 jasper and a sardine-stone ; and there w^as a 
 rain])0W round about the throne, in sight like 
 unto an emerald." 
 
 The resplendent '^jasper" faintly intimated 
 the divine excellence of the one on the throne ; 
 and tlie red ^^ sardine," his divine justice; and 
 the ^"^ rainbow," his grace; audits green color 
 denoted rest to the e3^e of faith, as green rests 
 the natural eyes of the body. 
 
 4. "And round about the throne were four- 
 and-twenty seats ; and upon the seats I saw f our- 
 and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white rai- 
 
THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 45 
 
 ment ; and they had on their heads crowns of 
 gold." 
 
 The four-and-twenty elders, composed of the 
 twelve patriarchs and twelve apostles, emblema- 
 tize the whole church under both dispensations. 
 Clothed in white denotes sj)iritual purity, by 
 faith in Christ. Crowns of gold denote their 
 royal priesthood, while they sat on inferior 
 thrones or seats at some distance from Grod the 
 Father. 
 
 5. ^^And out of the throne proceeded light- 
 nings, and thunderings, and voices, and there 
 were seven lamps of fire burning before the 
 throne, which are the seven spirits of God." 
 
 The lightnings, thunderings, and voices, de-. 
 note God's vengeance against sinners, as at the 
 giving of the law at Sinai. The seven lamps, 
 and the seven spirits of God denote the Holy 
 Spirit, the third person of the Trinity ; seven is 
 a round number denoting j)erf ection, as the seven 
 days in a week, the jubilee, etc., hence we are 
 reminded of the infinite perfections of the heart- 
 searching Holy Spirit. 
 
 6. "And before the throne there was a sea of 
 
46 THE KEYELATIOiJ- OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 glass like unto crystal : and in the midst of the 
 ^hrone, and round about the throne, were four 
 beasts full of eyes before and behind." 
 
 Many expressions in Eevelation are borrowed 
 from the temple of Solomon, and its imple- 
 ments, and services; hence the "sea of glass" 
 like unto crystal ; alluding to the molten sea of 
 brass in the court of the temple, and denotes 
 the fountain opened through Christ for sin and 
 uncleanness, in which all his sj)iritual priest- 
 hood purify themselves: "Four beasts," living 
 creatures, from zoe, life, not tliiriron, a wild 
 beast. These were an emblem of the whole 
 ministry of God's church on earth ; two of them 
 for the Old Testament dispensation, and two for 
 the New ; because two or three witnesses under 
 the law of Moses were sufficient to establish any 
 fact. " Full of eyes before and behind, " de- 
 notes vigilance in regard to the future and the 
 past. " In the midst of the throne and round 
 about it," denotes that the ministers are between 
 God and the people. 
 
 7. "And the first beast was like a lion, and 
 the second beast like a calf, and the third beast 
 had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was 
 like a flying eagle." 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN". 4V 
 
 The first zoe, like a lion, denotes boldness ; 
 the second like a calf, denotes endurance ; the 
 third with a face as a man, denotes intelligence ; 
 and the fourth like an eagle, denotes swiftness ; 
 and all these qualities combined are necessary to 
 make good ministers. The cherubim elsewhere 
 had the four faces combined in each, but here 
 each has but one ; this may denote the superi- 
 ority of angels to men, while here on earth. 
 
 The cherubim at the entrance of the garden 
 of Eden were an angelic guard ; in Ezekiel, they 
 meant the ministry of angels, and oyer the 
 mercy-seat, they denoted the Trinity in council 
 to redeem man. 
 
 8. ^^ And the four beasts had each of them six 
 wings about him ; and they were full of eyes 
 within ; and they rest not day and night, say- 
 ing. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which 
 was, and is, and is to come." 
 
 Each zoon, six wings, like the seraphim, i. e., 
 burning ones, in Isaiah, yi. The front two cov- 
 ering the face intimated humility, the middle 
 pair swiftness, and the hinder pair, covering the 
 feet, modesty. "Full of eyes within," denoted 
 self-examination. They rest not day nor night, 
 showing that the world of spirits is always in 
 
48 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 motion and never tire. Eepetition is one of the 
 ways in wliicli the Hebrew hinguage forms the 
 superlative degree; hence "Holy, liolj^ lioly," 
 means most holy ; and this shows most intense 
 emotions toward G-od. "Was, is, and is to 
 come," mean from eternity to eternity, time be- 
 ing an intermediate speck. 
 
 9. "And when those beasts give glory, and 
 honor, and thanks to him that sat on the throne, 
 who liveth forever and ever." 
 
 10. "The four-and- twenty elders fall down 
 before him that sat on the throne, and worship 
 him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their 
 crowns before the throne, saying, ^Thou art 
 worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and 
 power, for thou hast created all things, and for 
 thy pleasure they are and were created.'" 
 
 When the beasts, or zoa, the emblems of the 
 ministry, give glory to God, the elders or pres- 
 byters, the emblems of the great body of the 
 church, worship the eternal God, and, in confes- 
 sion of salvation by grace, cast down their crowns 
 before the throne. All confessing that God cre- 
 ated all things for himself, and was worthy of 
 all things. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 49 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 1. "Ai^D I saw in the right hand of him that 
 sat on the throne^ a book written within and on 
 the back side, sealed with seven seals." 
 
 The apostle, next, sees a book, such as were 
 made in ancient times, viz., parchments written 
 on both sides ; the first rolled up and sealed, the 
 next rolled on it and sealed, and so on through- 
 out the whole seven ; and this book was in the 
 hand of God the Father, sitting on the throne 
 of the Universe. This book, with the addition 
 of the little book (chap, x.), contains a symbolic 
 prediction of all the great events, respecting the 
 church, from the apostolic days to the end of 
 time and the beginning of the eternal state. 
 
 2. *^And I saw a strong angel proclaiming, 
 with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the 
 book, and to loose the seals thereof ? " 
 
 A strong angel, as God's herald, inquired who, 
 anywhere in the universe, was worthy before 
 
50 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 God to loose the seals^ and reveal the contents 
 of the book. 
 
 3. '^And no man in heaven, nor in earth, 
 neither under the earth, was able to open the 
 book, neither to look thereon." 
 
 And no man in heaven, nor on earth or nnder 
 the earth, as to his body buried, while his soul 
 was in the world of spirits, was able to reveal 
 the contents of the book, or even open it or read 
 it himself. 
 
 4. ^^And I wept much, because no man was 
 found worthy to open, and to read the book, 
 neither to look thereon." 
 
 The apostle's anxiety to know the contents of 
 the book was exceedingly great, hence he wept 
 much, when he seemed to be disappointed. 
 
 5. ^' And one of the elders saith unto me, "Weep 
 not : behold, the lion of the tribe of Juda, the 
 root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, 
 and to loose the seven seals thereof." 
 
 One of the elders comforted him, by telling 
 him that the lion of the tribe of Juda, vi^.. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 51 
 
 Christ, had prevailed, by his atonement for sin_, 
 to loose the seals. 
 
 6. ^' And I beheld, and lo ! in the midst of the 
 throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst 
 of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, 
 having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are 
 the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the 
 earth." 
 
 The apostle saw inside of the circle, and near 
 the throne a lamb, viz., Christ: for the pascal 
 lamb was the type of Christ until he came ; and 
 the Jews were accustomed to put the type for 
 the antitype, and the antitype for the type, and 
 sometimes they mentioned both in conjunc- 
 tion. 
 
 7. ''And he came and took the book out of 
 the right hand of him that sat upon the 
 throne." 
 
 The Son now received the book from the 
 Father. 
 
 8. ''And when he had taken the book, the 
 four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down 
 before the lamb, having every one of them harps 
 
52 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and golden vials full of odors, wliicli are the 
 prayers of saints." 
 
 On the receipt of the book, the emblems of 
 the ministry and of the laity paid divine hom- 
 age to the Son ; and with harps, alluding to the 
 temj)le music, and showing the fact, that the 
 prayers of the saints are as acceptable to God 
 through Christ, as odors or incense in golden 
 vials or censors, were in the temple. 
 
 9. ^^ And they sung a new song, saying. Thou 
 art worthy to take the book, and to open the 
 seals thereof ; for thou wast slain, and hast 
 redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every 
 kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation. " 
 
 Now the Ha' ing creatures and the elders sung 
 a new song, viz., redeeming love to Jesus, the 
 ISTazarene, who, by his atonement on the cross 
 for our sins, had prevailed to open the book; 
 and this heavenly host were not all Jews, nor all 
 Gentiles, but composed of every kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, and nation. 
 
 10. ^^ And hast made us unto our God kings 
 and priests ; and we shall reign on the earth." 
 
 The saints united to Christ, by faith, as their 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOUlk. 53 
 
 head, will yet reign spiritually with him over all 
 his enemies on earth and forever in heaven. 
 
 11. *' And I beheld, and I heard the voice of 
 many angels round about the throne, and the 
 beasts, and the elders ; and the number of them 
 was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou- 
 sands of thousands." 
 
 The number of angels, living creatures, and 
 elders, is said to be myriads of myriads, and 
 thousands of thousands. 
 
 12. '' Saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the 
 lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, 
 and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
 and blessing." 
 
 Xow all the heavenly host sing all manner of 
 worthiness, honor, and glory, to the Lamb, 
 Christ. 
 
 13. "And every creature which is in heaven, 
 and on the earth, and under the earth, and such 
 as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard 
 I saying. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
 power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 and unto the Lamb, forever and ever." 
 
54 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHIS". 
 
 The apostle now heard every creature in 
 heaven, on earth, in the grave, and in the sea, 
 pay divine worship to him, namely, the Father 
 and the Lamb, Christ; if Christ was not the 
 eternal God as well as man, this would be idola- 
 try. 
 
 14. '^And the four beasts said. Amen. And 
 the four and twenty elders fell down and wor- 
 shiped him that liveth forever and ever. " 
 
 The four emblems of the ministry said. Amen : 
 and the emblems of the whole church wor- 
 shiped him that liveth to infinity. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 55 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. *^Ai!^D I saw when the Lamb opened one 
 of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of 
 thunder, one of the four beasts, saying. Come 
 and see." 
 
 The apostle saw the Lamb, the Saviour, open 
 one of the seven seals, and heard from him, the 
 Saviour, a noise like thunder, and at the same 
 instant one of the zoa, living creatures, bid the 
 apostle come and see. 
 
 2. ^^And I saw and behold a white horse: 
 and he that sat on him had a bow ; and a crown 
 was given unto him : and he went forth conquer- 
 ing and to conquer." 
 
 The white horse is an emblem of the charac- 
 ter of the conquests of the Gospel during the 
 apostolic day, and soon after. The bow, the 
 great weapon of warfare among the Jews, is an 
 emblem of the word and Spirit of Christ, by 
 which he conquers the carnal minds of men. 
 
56 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 changing tliem from sinners into saints. The 
 rider denotes Christ, and the crown his regal 
 authority; for he reigns in the hearts, and rules 
 over the consciences, of all his followers; and 
 will continue to rule by providence and justice 
 till the last enemy is put under his feet. Con- 
 quering and to conquer denotes the tremendous 
 conquests of the Gospel during the first century, 
 A. P. 100. 
 
 3. " And when he had opened the second seal, 
 I heard the second beast say. Come and see." 
 
 At the opening of the second seal, the second 
 living creature called John's attention to the 
 next train of events : for the seven seals denote 
 seven trains of events ; and the seven trumpets, 
 seven more trains of events under the seventh 
 seal ; and seven vials mean seven other trains of 
 events under the seventh trumpet, making 
 twenty-one trains in all : and these intimate the 
 great events on earth, from the apostolic day un- 
 til the end of all things. In looking back through 
 history, and forward through prediction, we 
 have a miniature view of earth and man from 
 first to last. 
 
 4. '^And there went out another horse, that 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 57 
 
 was red ; and power was given to him that sat 
 thereon to take peace from the earth, and that 
 they should kill one another; and there was 
 given unto him a great sword." 
 
 The red horse is an emblem of the bloody 
 effects of wars; the rider intimates the provi- 
 dences of Christ, by which he gave up inimical 
 Jews, and idolatrous Greeks and Eomans, to 
 slaughter each other ; the great sword denotes 
 the great destruction of human life by such 
 weapons. It is allowed that five hundred and 
 eighty thousand Jews, and yet more of the 
 Greeks and Eomans, were slain by insurrections; 
 hence, the expression, "Kill one another and 
 take peace from the earth." This was continued 
 from about A. D. 100 to A.D. 138. 
 
 5. "And when he had opened the third seal, I 
 heard the third beast say. Come and see. And 
 I beheld, and lo, a black horse ; and he that 
 sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand." 
 
 6. "And I heard a voice in the midst of the 
 four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, 
 and three measures of barley for a penny; and 
 see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." 
 
 Famine is always a consequence of war, for 
 
58 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the ciiltiyators of the earth are taken to the bat- 
 tle field and killed up. The black horse denotes 
 the mourning on account of famine. " A meas- 
 ure, or chocnix," was about one quart and a 
 twelfth, for a penny or denarius, which was 
 equal to fourteen cents of our money, and was 
 the price of a day's labor in those times and 
 places ; this would do but little towards sustain- 
 ing a man and his family. The barley was 
 cheaper, but less nourishing. The balances in 
 the hand of the rider intimated such scarcity, 
 that the little there was would be weighed with 
 exactness. ^^ Hurt not the oil and the wine " in- 
 timates that some of these would be left. We 
 may consider the Saviour's providence as the 
 rider punishing his enemies ; and the voice as 
 coming first from him, and then the living creat- 
 ures, to the Apostle John. This seal is allowed to 
 reach from about A. D. 138 to A. D. 193. 
 
 7. '' And when he had opened the fourth seal, 
 I heard the voice of the fourth beast say. Come 
 and see." 
 
 At the opening of the fourth seal, the fourth 
 living creature called the attention of the Apostle 
 John, as usual. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 59 
 
 8. ^^And I looked and beliold, a pale liorse: 
 and his name that sat on him was death, and hell 
 followed with him. And power was given unto 
 them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill 
 with sword, and with hunger, and with death, 
 and with the beasts of the earth." 
 
 The apostle saw a pale horse, the emblem of 
 hosts of pale corpses that would be made by pes- 
 tilence, war, and wild beasts ; the rider was 
 death, the name of the plague in ancient times; 
 hell or hades (literally the unseen, i. e., the state 
 of the dead, which is unseen by our bodily eyes) 
 followed death; the most awful plague known in 
 history raged for about fifteen years; the sword 
 and famine brought the pestilence, and all these 
 calamities thinned the men, until the wild beasts 
 broke in on the remainder. During this period 
 more than twenty Eoman emperors ruled with 
 great cruelty, and more than thirty insurgents 
 and their adherents perished. These events ex- 
 tend from about A. D. 193 to A. D. 270. 
 
 9. '' And when he had opened the fifth seal, I 
 saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
 slain for the word of God, and for the testimony 
 which they held." 
 
60 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The filth seal discloses the souls of the martyrs 
 under the altar, just offered to God ; this seal in- 
 cludes the ten years of Diocletian's persecution, 
 called the era of martyrs. Heathenism was the 
 established religion of the Eoman Empire, and 
 they wished to crush Christianity that they might 
 keep their own religion, for they saw that Chris- 
 tianity was overturning all their heathenish insti- 
 tutions, and they feared that the Christians 
 would become so numerous as to get possession 
 of the government. 
 
 10. " And they cried with a loud voice, saying. 
 How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not 
 judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell 
 on the earth. ". 
 
 The souls of the martyrs called on God to vin- 
 dicate his sovereign justice by destroying their 
 murderers. 
 
 11. ''^ And white robes were given unto every 
 one of them, and it was said unto them, that they 
 should rest yet for a little season, until their fel- 
 low-serva,nts also and their brethren, that should 
 be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." 
 
 These martyrs were presented with robes of 
 
THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 61 
 
 Christ's righteousness, received by faith ; and 
 they were comforted by telling them that, in 
 God's economy, it was necessary for them to wait 
 until more of their brethren on earth should at- 
 test the truth of the Gospel, by giving up their 
 lives rather than part with Christ. These events 
 reach from A. D. 270 to about A. D. 304. 
 Writers agree that it is difficult to make out ex- 
 act dates at this late day. 
 
 12. '^ And I beheld when he had opened the 
 sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; 
 and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, 
 and the moon became as blood." 
 
 The opening of the sixth seal was the precur- 
 sor of a most tremendous political earthquake; 
 the first Christian emperor, Constantine, now 
 mounted the throne ; this is what the heathen 
 rulers dreaded ; the sun, the heathen imperial 
 power, was totally eclipsed, and the moon, the 
 secondary power of heathen Eome, came to a 
 bloody end. 
 
 13. ^^And the stars of heaven fell unto the 
 earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely 
 figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind." 
 
 And the stars, the minor officers, civil and 
 
62 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 religious, in heathen Eome, lost their places like 
 green figs falling by a hurricane. 
 
 14. " And the heaven departed as a scroll 
 when it is rolled together ; and eyery mountain 
 and island were moved out of their places." 
 
 And the heaven, ^. e., the whole heathen poli- 
 cy, and domination in religion and politics, de- 
 parted as a scroll, rolled up and laid aside ; and 
 every mountain and island was moved out of its 
 place, as to heathen rule and superstition, that 
 Christianity might rest and reign in all places, 
 even the most distant. 
 
 15. *^ And the kings of the earth, and the 
 great men, and the rich men, and the chief cap- 
 tains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, 
 and every free man, hid themselves in the dens, 
 and in the rocks of the mountains." 
 
 And all the officers, mighty men, free men 
 and bond men of heathen Rome, fled and hid 
 themselves in any den or covert that they could 
 find. 
 
 16. ^^ And said to the mountains and rocks, 
 Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 63 
 
 sittetli on the throne, and from the wrath of the 
 Lamb." 
 
 This tremendous host of murderous heathen, 
 as a type of all the wicked at the last day, call 
 on the mountains and the rocks to hide them 
 from the face of Constantine, as the agent and 
 type of Christ, the Lamb, whose wrath they 
 seemed to recognize as a judgment for murder- 
 ing the Christians. 
 
 17. '^ For the great day of his wrath is come ; 
 and who shall be able to stand ? " 
 
 These monsters of sin confess God's wrath on 
 them now, and ask who shall be able to stand. 
 These events bring us down from A. D. 304 to 
 A. D. 338, the time of Constantine's 'death, but 
 the sealing and withholding the winds lasted 
 from A. D. 338 to near A. D. 395, when Theo- 
 dosius, the great prince, died — the end of the 
 sixth seal. 
 
64 THE EEVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1. ''And after tliese things I saw four angels 
 standing on the fonr corners of the earth, hold- 
 ing the four winds of the earth, that the wind 
 should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, 
 nor on any tree." 
 
 After the overthrow of heathen tyranny in the 
 Eoman Empire, and the establishment of a Chris- 
 tian emperor, the apostle sees four angels, the 
 emblem o£ God's providences in the four quar- 
 ters of the world, withholding the four winds of 
 persecution and any other disaster that might 
 injure the tranquility of the Church, like hurri- 
 canes injure vessels and men on sea, and 
 vegetation, etc., on land. After long disasters 
 to the Church, Providence secures peace to it, 
 until its professed members corrupt the Chris- 
 tian religion, and so bring down the judgments 
 of God upon them. If Constantino had stopped 
 when he released the Christians from persecu- 
 tion, he would have been one of the greatest 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 65 
 
 benefactors of the Churcli; but he kept on and 
 established the Christian religion, and made 
 everything in the Church dazzle with wealth and 
 revenue. This tainted the good and baited the 
 bad to hurry in and get a divide of the loaves 
 and fishes ; hence the church soon run into 
 Eoman Catholicism. They yet claim the name 
 and respect of Christianity, although they have 
 lost the soul out of it and mutilated the body. 
 The reformation of the sixteenth century goes 
 back to the primitive purity of the Church, and 
 picks up the soul, and puts it with the body 
 and name of Christianity ; hence the Catholics 
 and Protestants oppose each other. Civil gov- 
 ernment ought never to do more for any set of 
 religious tenets, than to protect them against 
 persecution and let them stand on their own 
 merits. 
 
 2. '^ And I saw another angel ascending from 
 the east, having the seal of the living God : and 
 he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to 
 whom it was given to hurt the earth and the 
 sea." 
 
 The apostle sees next another angel, even the 
 Lord Jesus, the angel of the covenant, ascending 
 from the east, namely Calvary, where our Sav- 
 
66 THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 iour made the atonement for sin ; and he com- 
 manded all the agents of his providence, here 
 called four angels, not to interrupt the peace of 
 the Church jet, like tempests injure on sea and 
 land. 
 
 3. "Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the 
 sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the ser- 
 vants of our God in their foreheads." 
 
 These agents of Providence must not inter- 
 rupt the comfort of God's people, like heavy 
 winds injure on sea and land, till the Saviour 
 sealed with his word and spirit the servants 
 of God, by regeneration and sanctification, 
 and so publicly designating them as his, like 
 certain fraternities and devotees to certain idols 
 were marked or tattooed in ancient times. 
 
 4. " And I heard the number of them which 
 were sealed, and there were sealed an hundred 
 and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of 
 the children of Israel." 
 
 5. '^'^ Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve 
 thousand ; of the tribe of Eeuben were sealed 
 twelve thousand ; of the tribe of Gad were 
 sealed twelve thousand." 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 67 
 
 6. ^' Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelye 
 tliousand ; of the tribe of Nephthalim were 
 sealed twelve thousand ; of the tribe of Manasses 
 were sealed twelve thousand." 
 
 7. "Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 
 twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi were 
 sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar 
 were sealed twelve thousand." 
 
 8. "Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed 
 twelve thousand ; of the tribe of Joseph were 
 sealed twelve thousand ; of the tribe of Benja- 
 min were seaied twelve thousand." 
 
 Twelve patriarchs, multiplied by twelve apos- 
 tles, make one hundred and forty-four, and this 
 product multiplied by a thousand makes one 
 hundred and forty-four thousand, intimating that 
 each patriarch and apostle is the captain of 
 many thousands. This is the Church under the 
 Xew Testament dispensation, up to the days of 
 Constantine, and yet increasing rapidly, and is 
 only t3'pical, because there would hardly be the 
 same number saved out of each tribe. When 
 the Church, under the Old Testament dispensa- 
 tion, was brought out of Egypt, and incorpo- 
 rated as God's people, they were numbered. 
 
68 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 And now as the Jews and Gentiles, are united 
 in one Ohurcli, under the New Testament dis- 
 pensation, having succeeded the Old, and over- 
 thrown heathenism, and become established in 
 its place, they are numbered as Israel was 
 anciently. The twelve tribes are here enume- 
 rated somewhat differently from the numbering 
 in other places. This may denote a difference 
 in their spiritual and temporal condition, and 
 relation to God since ancient times. 
 
 9. ^^ After this I beheld, and lo, a great multi- 
 tude, which no man could number, of all na- 
 tions, and kindred, and people, and tongues, 
 stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
 clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
 hands." 
 
 This innumerable multitude suggests the hosts 
 saved from among all nations during the last 
 three centuries of persecutions and other trou- 
 bles. This suggests that many were saved who 
 were scarcely noticed. They were before the 
 throne and the Lamb, clothed in robes of 
 Christ's righteousness, and palms of victory 
 over sin in their hands. 
 
 10. ^'And cried with a loud voice, saying, 
 
 f 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 6*9 
 
 Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb." 
 
 All this host of redeemed, with a loud voice, 
 ascribe their salvation to God and to the Lamb. 
 
 11. **And all the angels stood round about 
 the throne, and about the elders, and the four 
 beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, 
 and worshipped God." 
 
 All the angels stood on the outside of the 
 circle, and fell down, and cordially joined the 
 redeemed in their worship. This shows that 
 there is no envy nor rivalry in heaven. 
 
 12. '^ Saying, Amen : blessing, and glory, and 
 wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and 
 power, and might, be unto our God, forever and 
 ever. Amen. " 
 
 The angels, living creatures, and elders pay 
 all manner of worship to God, and seal it with 
 Amen. 
 
 13. " And one of the elders answered, saying 
 unto me. What are these which are arrayed 
 in white robes, and whence came they ? " 
 
 One of the elders asked John, who are these 
 
70 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? 
 This would lead the apostle's mind to the pe- 
 culiar means by which saints are prepared for 
 heaven. The apostle refers the question back 
 to the elder. Tribulation, for Christ's sake in 
 this world, gives zest to the enjoyment of 
 heaven in the next. 
 
 14. " And I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. 
 And he said to me. These are they which came 
 out of great tribulation, and have washed their 
 robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb." 
 
 The apostle is informed by the elder, that 
 saints get to heaven through great tribulation; 
 this prepares them to apj)reciate it, when they 
 do get there. J^one need expect to bask in the 
 sunshine of pleasure to heaven. '^ Washed 
 their robes " is equivalent to regeneration by the 
 Spirit and the Word. ^^ And in the blood of the 
 Lamb" is equivalent to faith in the atonement 
 of Christ. 
 
 1.5. ^^ Therefore are they before the throne 
 of God, and serve him day and night in his 
 temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
 dwell among them. " 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 71 
 
 In consequence of God's people being spirit- 
 ually cleansed by the spirit and word of God, 
 through faith in the blood of Christ, they are 
 admitted before the throne, and with an endless 
 and untiring fervor serve God in his temple, and 
 God in condescending love dwells among them. 
 
 16. "They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on 
 them, nor any heat." 
 
 Hunger, thirst, and heat of the sun make up 
 a large portion of our uncomfortable feelings 
 here, but nothing shall interrupt the celestial 
 consolations of the redeemed hereafter. 
 
 17. '^ 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." 
 
 Christ, the Lamb, in the midst of the throne, 
 will feed the redeemed with spiritual food, and 
 lead them to heavenly fountains of living waters, 
 and God, for Christ's sake, will wipe away all 
 their tears, filling their souls with heavenly 
 pleasures. This peace of the Church and Eoman 
 Empire lasted till about A. D. 395. 
 
72 THE KEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. "An"D when he had opened the seventh 
 seal, there was silence in heaven about the space 
 of half an hour." 
 
 When the Lamb, Christ, opened the seventh 
 seal, about A. D. 395, there was silence in 
 heaven, through solemn expectation of the 
 momentous events that were to come, and for 
 half an hour allowing the Church a little 
 longer peace. 
 
 2. ''^ And I saw the seven angels which stood 
 before God, and to them were given seven trum- 
 pets." 
 
 The seven trumpets all fall under the seventh 
 seal, and each one of them sounds an alarm to 
 the people of the Roman Empire, of fearful events 
 just at hand. 
 
 3. ^' And another angel came and stood at the 
 altar, having a golden censer, and there was given 
 unto him much incense, that he should offer it 
 
THE REVELATIONS- OF ST. JOHN. 7'6 
 
 with the prayers of all saints upon the golden 
 altar which was before the throne." 
 
 Another angel, even Christ, our great high- 
 I)riest, stood at the altar of incense in heaven, 
 with a golden censer, filled with the incense of 
 his own intercession, and the prayers of the 
 saints, that God would deliver his people, and 
 vindicate his justice against the enemies of di- 
 vine truth, for corrupting the Christian religion 
 and perverting civil government. 
 
 4. '' And the smoke of the incense, which 
 came with the prayers of the saints, ascended 
 up before God out of the angel's hand. 
 
 The incense and prayers of the saints were 
 accepted. 
 
 5. " And the angel took the censer, and filled 
 it with fire off the altar, and cast it into the 
 earth : and there were voices, and thunderings, 
 and lightnings, and an earthquake." 
 
 The throwing away of the censer intimated that 
 no more incense and prayers were needed for this 
 purpose. The voices intimated God's decision 
 against the wicked, and the thunderings and 
 lightnings his vengeance against the wicked, and 
 
74 THE KEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 tlie earthquake intimated awful political inter- 
 ruptions and clianges. 
 
 6. *^And the seven angels which had the 
 seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." 
 
 The preparatory work being ended, next 
 comes the seven alarms from the seven trumpets. 
 
 7. ' ^ The first angel 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." 
 
 The first trumpet gives notice of the awful 
 invasion, robbery, murder, etc., of x^laric, with 
 his fearful hordes of Goths, coming down from 
 the northern regions, about the Baltic sea, into 
 the Eoman Empire, into the beautiful fields of 
 Beotea, Phocis, etc., having crossed the Danube 
 in winter, in the midst of hail, snow, etc. , and 
 with fire burned towns, cities, etc. , and with the 
 sword shed the blood of all classes of citizens, 
 driving off hordes of cattle, with the young 
 women and spoils ; they also took Eome and 
 plundered it, slaying 2:)rinces, people, etc., as 
 here emblematized. The third part denotes the 
 vastness of the slaughter ; the trees and grass, 
 
THE KEVELATION- OF ST. JOHN". 75 
 
 the adults and infants. The death of the great 
 prince Theodosius, left the way open for this 
 invasion, which lasted till A. D. 410. If all the 
 particulars of this invasion could be collect- 
 ed, no doubt it would make a large volume, yet 
 they are here symbolized in one verse. This 
 chapter pictures the downfall of the Western 
 Empire, and the next, the Eastern. 
 
 8. ^*And the second angel sounded, and as 
 it were a great mountain burning with fire was 
 cast into the sea : and the third part of the sea 
 became blood. 
 
 A great burning mountain. Adz., the awful 
 barbarous invader, Attila, calling himself ^^The 
 Scourge of God," '^was cast into the sea," viz., 
 the Eoman Empire, which extended far and wide, 
 like a mighty ocean. "The third part," allud- 
 ing to the Eoman Empire, which covered one- 
 third part of the then known world, "became 
 blood," by the wholesale slaughter and rapacity 
 of Attila with the Hunns, for about fourteen 
 years, and accompanied with other calamities, 
 till about A. D. 450. 
 
 9. ^' And the third part of the creatures which 
 
76 THE EEVELATTON OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 were m the sea, and had life, died ; and the 
 third part of the ships were destroyed." 
 
 Human life, business, and interest on sea and 
 land, suffered wofully ; and as the Eastern Em- 
 pire lay beside the Western, it suffered much, 
 while the Western was ruined. This second trum- 
 pet is considered as extending down to A. D. 
 450. 
 
 10. ^^ And the third angel sounded, and there 
 fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were 
 a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the 
 rivers, and upon the fountains of waters." 
 
 11. ^^And the name of the star is called 
 Wormwood : and the third part of the waters 
 became wormwood, and many men died of the 
 waters, because they were made bitter." 
 
 The third trumpet ushered in a great (but 
 dreadful) star, viz., Genseric, with three hund- 
 red thousand Vandals and Moors from Africa, 
 who came immediately after Attila, and took 
 Rome and ravaged everything in it, and left it 
 to the barbarous avarice of his licentious troops. 
 
 Genseric, like a hateful, ruinous meteor, fell 
 upon the third part, viz., the .Eoman empire. 
 
THE REVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 77 
 
 completing the ravages of liis predecessors, 
 Alaric and Attila, '^on the rivers and foun- 
 tains of waters," viz., the wealth and resources 
 of the Eoman Empire. Genseric is called Worm- 
 wood, on account of his bitter Arian doctrines 
 and persecution of the orthodox, thus destroy- 
 ing souls as well as life and property. These 
 horrors continued about six years, and bring us 
 down to A. D. 456. 
 
 12. ^^And the fourth angel sounded, and the 
 third part of the sun was smitten, and the third 
 part of the moon, and the third part of the 
 stars ; so as the third part of them was darkened, 
 and the day shone not for a third part of it, and 
 the night likewise." 
 
 The fourth trumpet heralded the gradual 
 sinking of the Eoman Empire, which is again 
 called the third part. The sun, moon, and stars, 
 i. e., the emperor, senate, and magistrates, lost 
 much of their control over the empire, during 
 eight miserable reigns, embracing twenty years. 
 When the empire expired under Momyllus, A. D. 
 476, the senate and consuls still existed, dwindl- 
 ing until A. D. 566 ; the last fragment of the 
 empire was lostj and Eome became a dukedom 
 
78 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 to the Exarcli of RaYeniia. One of the seven 
 heads, i. e., forms of government, viz., imperial, 
 in Eome, was now wounded to death, and after- 
 ward healed, A. D. 800, hy Charlemagne as- 
 suming the title of Emperor of Eome ; and tha 
 "Western Empire became divided into the ten 
 kingdoms of Europe, prophetically called ten 
 horns, with ten crowns on their heads. Although 
 the Romans had great possessions in the East, 
 where the Eastern Empire afterwards sprung up, 
 yet the body, head, and horns of the Roman Em- 
 pire were in the West, at Rome. This trumpet 
 may be considered as extending down to near 
 A. D. 606. 
 
 13. '^ And I beheld, and heard an angel flying 
 through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud 
 voice. Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the 
 earth, by reason of the other voices of the trum- 
 pets of the three angels, which are yet to sound." 
 
 The angelic herald proclaiming the three-fold 
 woe intimates more fearful scourges in the other 
 three trumpets, usually called woe trumpets. 
 
THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 79 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 1. '^ AiTD the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a 
 star fall from heaven unto the earth : and to him 
 was given the key of the bottomless pit." 
 
 At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, a star 
 fell from heaven to the earth ; this star was the 
 Bishop of Eome, including all his coadjutors; the 
 heaven from which the star fell was the purity, 
 sublimity and spirituality of the Christian 
 Church, previous to j^opish corruptions ; and the 
 earth to which the star fell means all the am- 
 bition, covetousness, impurity, heathen mum- 
 meries, and heaven-daring arrogance of the Pope, 
 his agents, emissaries, etc. , etc. As a key opens 
 a door, so that some one may enter and do what 
 he likes, so the shocking declension of Chris- 
 tianity, at Eome, gave Mohammed a pretext to 
 begin his imposture, under a pretence of reform- 
 ing Christianity and completing and carrying 
 out the religion of Moses and Jesus ; for he pre- 
 tended that both of these persons had foretold 
 his coming, and that these predictions had been 
 
so THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 concealed or misunderstood. Some think that 
 Mohammed mistook ^' Paracletes/' the comforter, 
 for ^' Periclntos," very illustrious. If you should 
 fall into a bottomless pit, you would be always 
 in the horrors of falling, and never reach the 
 bottom ; so lost souls are always under the wrath 
 of God, writhing in their guilt and shame, and 
 no more offer of a day of grace, 
 
 2. '^And he opened the bottomless ^\t, 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 joit." 
 
 The apostasy of the Bishop of Eome, which 
 was completed A. D. 606, obscured Christ the 
 Son of Eighteousness and the ^^air of his Gos- 
 pel " from the common people, by the popish 
 errors and corruptions that have flooded nominal 
 Christendom ever since. 
 
 3. ^^And there came out of the smoke locusts 
 upon the earth : and unto them was giren 
 power, as the scorpions of the earth have 
 power. " 
 
 Arabia is the country for locusts, and Moham- 
 med and his Saracene followers came from that 
 place. Scorpions inflict a painful wound, and is 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 81 
 
 sometimes fatal ; and in like manner Mohammed 
 and liis followers inflicted pain and death, tem- 
 poral and spiritual, on many nations, by the 
 sword and by the Koran, the Mohammedan 
 creed. 
 
 4. "And it was commanded them that they 
 should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither 
 any green thing, neither any tree, but only 
 those men which haye not the seal of God in 
 their foreheads. " 
 
 The rulers commanded the army not to injure 
 the stock, fruits or vegetation, but God left 
 them to act themselves out; injuring the cor- 
 rupters of the Christian religion, i. e., those who 
 were not sealed by the word and spirit of God. 
 So the Mohammedans only used the products of 
 the earth, and Providence preserved the better 
 class of professing Christians. 
 
 5. "And to them it was given that they 
 should not kill them, but that they should be 
 tormented five months : and their torment 
 was as the torment of a scorpion, when he 
 striketh a man." 
 
 While these Saracene Moahmmedans killed 
 hosts of individuals in the Greek and Latin 
 
82 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 cliurches, they were not permitted to kill tlieni 
 as nations or bodies politic, "but to torment 
 them five months/' the length of the life of the 
 locust. Prophetically, each day in these five 
 months is a year, making one hundred and fifty 
 years. This period dates from A. D. 612, when 
 Mohammed began to propagate his imposture 
 publicly, and ends A. D. 762, when the Saracenes 
 stopped their ravages, built Bagdad on the 
 Euphrates, and became a settled people, and 
 remained so till A. D. 1281, which may be con- 
 sidered the end of the fifth trumpet ; and during 
 this period they were supplanted by the Turks. 
 The Saracenes were still compared to the pain- 
 ful and deadly scorpion of the Eastern Hemi- 
 sphere. 
 
 6. "And in those days shall men seek death, 
 and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, 
 and death shall flee from them." 
 
 The sufferings of many under this dreadful 
 Saracene invasion were such that death would 
 have been a welcome messenger. 
 
 7. "And the shapes of the locusts were like 
 unto horses prepared unto battle ; and on their 
 
THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 83 
 
 heads were crowns like gold, and their faces 
 were as the faces of men." 
 
 The head of a locust resembles that of a 
 horse, and the figurative locust, i.e., Saracenes, 
 used a vast deal of cavalry. ^'^The crowns like 
 gold " denote the turbans which they wore 
 while enriching themselves, by adding kingdoms 
 to their dominions ; as to their faces, they resem- 
 bled the rest of mankind. 
 
 8t ^^ And they had hair as the hair of women, 
 and their teeth were as the teeth of lions." 
 
 The Arabs are remarkable for long hair and 
 conspicuous teeth. 
 
 9. ^^And they had breast-plates, as it were 
 breast-plates of iron ; and the sound of their 
 wings was as the sound of chariots of many 
 horses running to battle." 
 
 The Saracenes wore breast-plates for protec- 
 tion, and made much noise in their swift marches 
 and fierce assaults. 
 
 10, ^^And they had tails like unto scorpions, 
 and there were stings in their tails : and their 
 power was to hurt men five montlis." 
 
84 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The stings in tlieir tails denote the Koran, 
 which the conquered had to receive or die. 
 
 11. *^ And they had a king over them, which 
 is the angel of the bottomless ^Dit, whose name 
 in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the 
 Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." 
 
 The king over these mystic locusts was the 
 caliphs, i. e., successors of Mohammed, who 
 were also the priests, commanders, and rulers of 
 their religion ; at the same time an emissary of 
 Satan, the ruler of the infernal pit, and a 
 murderer from the beginning ; and in the 
 Hebrew and Greek their king is called a de- 
 stroeyr, for he destroys both body and soul. 
 
 12. '^ One woe is past ; and behold, there come 
 two woes more hereafter." 
 
 The sejoarate events and the separate times of • 
 the events, and also their awful importance, are 
 intimated in this announcement. 
 
 13. ''And the sixth angel sounded, and I 
 heard a voice from the four horns of the golden 
 altar which is before God." 
 
 At the sound of the sixth trumpet a voice from 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 85 
 
 fclie four horns of the golden altar, i. e., the pure 
 service of God, intimated vengeance to the cor- 
 rni3ters of Christianity, and by the instrumentali- 
 ty of the Turkish Mohammedans, who had now 
 supplanted the Saracenes, and now picked uj) 
 the conquests in their place. 
 
 14. "" Saying to the sixth angel which had the 
 trumpet. Loose the four angels which are bound 
 in the river Euphrates. " 
 
 Loose the four angels, i. e., four Sultanies, 
 which the Turkish Mohammedans had previ- 
 ously established on the Euphrates, but were 
 restrained by the crusades until now ; they also 
 disregarded their Sultan at Babylon. 
 
 15. *^ And the four angels were loosed, which 
 were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a 
 month, and a year, for to slay the third part of 
 men. " 
 
 The four angels, or Turkish Sultanies, were 
 prepared for a projDhetic hour, fifteen days, 
 and a prophetic month, 30 years, and a 
 prophetic year, 360 years ; making in all 391 
 years and 15 days. This period began with the 
 first conquests of the Turks, A. D. 1281, and 
 
86 THE REV^ELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 ended with their last conquest, A. D. 1672. The 
 Turks had now ruined the whole Eastern Empire, 
 having taken the capital in A. D. 1453 ; the 
 Goths, Hunns and Vandals haying previously 
 ruined the whole Western Empire ; so the whole 
 old Koman Empire was destroyed as wickedly 
 as it had been built up. 
 
 16. "And the number of the army of the 
 horsemen were two hundred thousand thousands ; 
 and I heard the number of them." 
 
 The Turkish cavalry numbered two myriads 
 of myriads, which may include all the cavalry 
 from first to last, and be hyperbolical at that. 
 
 17. "And thus I saw the horses in the vision, 
 and them that sat thereon, having breast-plates 
 of fire, and of jacinth and brimstone : and 
 the heads of the horses were as the heads of 
 lions ; and out of their mouths issued fire, and 
 smoke and brimstone." 
 
 The apostle saw with the eyes of his mind, 
 under the influence of the Sj^irit, the horses and 
 riders, with breast-plates of fire, hyacinth and 
 brimstone, i. e., red, blue, and yellow, in which 
 colors the Turks prided ; and the heads of their 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 87 
 
 horses^ like lions, denoted strength and firmness. 
 The fire, smoke, and brimstone, issuing out of 
 their mouths, denoted the free use of gun- 
 powder ; for it is said that the Turks fired 
 stones of three hundred pounds weight out of 
 their cannon at the walls of Constantinople, while 
 taking that city 
 
 18. ^^ By these three was the third part of 
 men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and 
 by the brimstone, which issued out of their 
 mouths." 
 
 By these three, viz., fire, smoke, and brim- 
 stone, the third part, a tremendous per cent, of 
 men in the Eoman Empire, the third of the then 
 known Avorld, were slain. 
 
 19. ^^For their power is in their mouth, and 
 in their tails ; for their tails were like unto ser- 
 pents, and had heads, and with them they do 
 hurt." 
 
 The power of the Turkish army was in their 
 mouths, i. e., artillery, of which they had 
 ordnance of very large calibre; the tails, like 
 serpents, with heads on them, denote the Koran, 
 
88 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 which contained the S23iritual venom of Moham- 
 medanism. 
 
 20. ^' And the rest of the men which were not 
 killed by these plagues yet repented not of the 
 works of their hands, that they should not wor- 
 ship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and 
 brass, and stone, and of wood, which neither 
 can see, nor hear, nor walk." 
 
 The rest of the men, i. e., Roman Catholic 
 idolaters, repented not, even after these awful 
 scourges, for corrupting the Christian religion ; 
 but kept on worshiping devils and dumb idols of 
 various description ; and, indeed, to pay divine 
 homage to any being in heaven, earth, or hell, 
 except the true God, is idolatry; Peter, Mary, 
 angels and saints, are no exceptions. 
 
 21. *^ Neither repented they of their murders, 
 nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, 
 nor of their thefts." 
 
 The mention of murder, fornication, and theft 
 shows how God views the pretended innocence, 
 miracles, celibacy, and honesty of the Romish 
 hierarchy ; and yet they cling to it. The first 
 of the three woe trumpets brought the Saracones, 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 89 
 
 the second, the Turks, and the third will make a 
 clean sweep of all false religions from the earth ; 
 yet the seven particular trains of events under it 
 are called seven vials, then the millennium will 
 open. 
 
90 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1. ^'AjN^d I saw anotlier miglity angel come 
 down from heaven, clothed with a cloud : and a 
 rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as 
 it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." 
 
 The apostle, next, sees a mighty angel, even 
 Christ, the angel of the covenant of grace, come 
 down from heaven to attend to his mediatorial 
 affairs on earth, ''^clothed with a cloud," some- 
 what veiling his divine resplendency ; the rain- 
 bow upon his head denoted that the covenant of 
 grace was his great concern ; his face, as the sun, 
 denoted his divine glory and majesty, and his 
 feet, as j^iHars of fire, denoted his divine firmness. 
 
 2. ^*And he had in his hand a little book 
 open : and he set his right foot upon the sea, and 
 his left foot on the earth. " 
 
 The little book is an appendix to the book 
 with seven seals, and comes in beside the latter 
 part of the second woe trumpet; it also was 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 91 
 
 opened by Christ, tlie lion of the tribe of Judah, 
 who set one foot on the sea, and the other on the 
 earth, showing that he was Lord of sea and land. 
 
 3. ^^ And cried with a loud Yoice, as when a 
 lion roareth : and when he had cried, seven 
 thunders uttered their voices." 
 
 The loud voice of the lion of the tribe of 
 Judah was responded to by seven thunders, 
 uttering words and ideas which were necessary 
 for the Apostle John to know, but not for us. 
 
 4. ^' And when the seven thunders had uttered 
 their voices, I was about to write : and I 
 heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal 
 up those things which the seven thunders 
 uttered, and write them not." 
 
 John thought to write what the seven thunders 
 uttered, but was commanded to seal them up. 
 
 5. ^^And the angel which I saw stand upon 
 the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to 
 heaven." 
 
 The angel lifted up his hand to heaven, in- 
 timating that he called God to witness the truth 
 of what he was going to say. This is the proper 
 
92 THE REVELATlOiT OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 way to take an oatli, human customs to tlie con- 
 trary notwitlistanding. 
 
 6. '^ And sware by him that liveth forever and 
 ever, who created heaven, and the things that 
 therein are, and the sea, and the things which 
 are therein, that there should be time no 
 longer." 
 
 The angel swore by the self-existent Governor 
 of the universe that, chronos (the time) ouh 
 (not) es ai (should be) eti (yet), i. e., when all 
 false religions should be done away, and the true 
 religion prevail through the whole earth. 
 
 7. *^But in the days of the voice of the seventh 
 angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery 
 of God should be finished, as he hath declared 
 to his servants the prophets." 
 
 But, under the seventh trumpet, the mystery 
 of the salvation of the righteous and condemna- 
 tion of the wicked should be finished; accord- 
 ingly, the seventh trumpet glances clear to the 
 end of all things, and the seven vials point out 
 seven trains of events under it, which destroy 
 all false religions. This mystery of salvation 
 through Christ was foretold by all the prophets. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 93 
 
 8 ^^ And the Yoice wliicli I heard from heaven 
 spake unto me again, and said. Go, and take 
 the little book which is open in the hand of the 
 angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the 
 earth.'' 
 
 John was now commanded to take the little 
 book, which was, of course, designed for him, 
 that he might reveal its contents. 
 
 9. '^And I went unto the angel, and said 
 unto him, Give me the little book. And he 
 said unto me. Take it, and eat it up ; and it 
 shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in 
 thy mouth sweet as honey." 
 
 The angel gave John the little book, bidding 
 him eat it up, i. e., be inspired with its con- 
 tents ; reminding him that it would make his 
 belly bitter, but be sweet in his mouth — i. e., 
 it is bitter to reflect on the sins and miseries of 
 mankind, while it is sweet to get a peej) into 
 the future. 
 
 10. ''And I took the little book out of the 
 angel's hand, and ate it up, and it was in my 
 mouth sweet as honey : and as soon as I had 
 eaten it, my belly was bitter." ' 
 
 The apostle realized what the angel told him. 
 
94 THE REVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 11. '^ And lie said unto me, Thou must prophe- 
 sy again before many peoples, and nations, and 
 tongues, and kings." 
 
 The apostle was now inspired to preach the 
 contents of the little book in such a way, that 
 nations will read it till the end of time. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 1. ^^ AxD there was giyen me a reed like unto 
 a rod : and the angel stood, saying, rise, and 
 measure the temple of God, and the altar, and 
 them that worship therein." 
 
 The first fourteen verses of this chapter ex- 
 hibit the contents of the little book, and show 
 that there was some true piety yet in nominal 
 Christendom. 
 
 2. ^^But the court which is without the tem- 
 ple, leave out, and measure it not, for it is 
 given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall 
 they tread under foot forty and two months." 
 
 The court outside of the temple means nom- 
 inal Christendom, destitute of piety, and full of 
 idolatry, superstition, and all manner of popish 
 vices. This court is given to the Gentiles, i. e., 
 such professors of religion as have none of the 
 faith or holiness of father Abraham and his 
 spiritual children ; and these popish fanatics 
 
96 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 would tread the holy city under foot, i. e., mur- 
 der true Christians, forty and two (prophetic) 
 months, which is twelve hundred and sixty 
 prophetic days, i. e., years. This shows that the 
 persecuting papal hierarchy is to exist twelve 
 hundred and sixty days, proiDhetically, which is 
 twelve hundred and forty-two Julian years. It 
 is essential here to notice that the Romish hie- 
 rarchy had a ^Dlurality of beginnings, and must 
 have a plurality of endings, like the Babylon- 
 ish captivity had. Popery began A. D. 606, 
 when Pliocas decreed the Bishop of Rome 
 ■universal bishop and supreme head of the 
 Church. Now, add to this date the twelve hun- 
 dred and sixty days, i. e., years, the duration of 
 Popery, and the time seems out, A. D. 1866 ; 
 now take five days and a quarter out of each 
 prophetic 3'ear, to bring them into Julian years, 
 and the time seems out, A. D. 1848. Now that 
 very year the Pope runs off from his pretended 
 chair of Saint Peter, and was held on it by 
 French bayonets until A. D. 1870, when Louis 
 Napoleon withdrew his soldiers to fight the King 
 of Prussia, who is now the Emperor of Ger- 
 many ; then the Pope's subjects rose up, and 
 transferred all his dominions to Victor Eman- 
 uel, King of Italy ; and he moved his capital 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 97 
 
 into Eome. This Avas the first ending of Popery. 
 The second beginning of Poj^ery was in A. D. 
 756, when Pipin made the Pope a temporal 
 prince ; now add to this date the twelve hundred 
 and sixty prophetic days, i. e., years, that 
 Popery is to exist, and the time runs out in A. 
 1"). 2016 ; now bring these years to Julian years, 
 I. e., take five and one-quarter days from each 
 year, and the time runs out in 1998, and this 
 will be the final ending of Popery. 
 
 3. ^^ And I will give power unto my two wit- 
 nesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two 
 hundred and three score days, clothed in sack- 
 cloth." 
 
 Under the law of Moses, two or three witness- 
 es established any matter of fact ; hence, two 
 witnesses here means a sufficient number of 
 true Christians to testify to the spirituality and 
 truth of the Gospel during all the dark ages of 
 Popery ; yet they would prophesy in sackcloth, 
 i. e., mourning on account of persecution, 
 etc. 
 
 4. ^^ These are the two olive-trees and the 
 two candlesticks standing before the God of 
 the earth." 
 
98 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 The two olive-trees, furnishing oil, emblem- 
 atize the Holy Spirit anointing and sanctifying 
 the souls of God's people ; and the two candle- 
 sticks, the Gospel, illuminating their understand- 
 ings and consciences ; before the God of this 
 world, indicates that God provided and takes 
 care of these means of grace and salvation. 
 
 5. ^'And if any man will hurt them, fire 
 proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth 
 their enemies : and if any man will hurt them, 
 he must in this manner be killed." 
 
 If any persons should be angry at the pure 
 doctrines of these two witnesses, and persecute 
 them, God would rise in his majesty and avenge 
 the wrongs done to them. 
 
 6. ^^ These have power to shut heaven, that 
 it rain not in the days of their prophecy : and 
 have power over waters to turn them to blood, 
 and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often 
 as they will." 
 
 If any enemy of divine truth should injure 
 these witnesses, God would hear their prayers, 
 and take vengeance on their persecutors, as he 
 did concerning his j)rophets in ancient times. 
 
THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. J0H:N'. 99 
 
 7. ^'And when they shall have finished their 
 testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the 
 bottomless pit shall make war against them, and 
 shall oyercome them, and kill them." 
 
 I think the awful, diabolical tragedy, described 
 in this verse, was acted out in France on St. 
 Bartholomew's night, A. D. 1572, when over ten 
 thousand Huguenots in Paris, in the space of 
 three days, were slaughtered, and over one 
 hundred thousand in all France, in the space of 
 thirty days, were murdered in all horrible ways. 
 The King of France posted sentinels all around 
 France to keep the Huguenots from escaping ; 
 in this he exceeded the wickedness of Nero, the 
 heathen persecutor and Emperor of Eome. 
 Charles the IX invited the Protestants to Paris 
 under promise and oath of safety, on the 
 occasion of the marriage of his sister to the 
 King of Navarre, and then perpetrated this 
 fiendish treachery. Soon afterwards, Charles 
 the IX died of a slow fever, sweating blood. 
 The Pope's Legate in France sent him an account 
 of all these things, and the whole Eoman Cath- 
 olic world rose in extasies of joy, celebrating, 
 giving thanks, etc., and the Pope had a medal 
 struck to commemorate the occasion. Remem- 
 ber the two witnesses here martyrized, but do 
 
100 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 not cease to prophesy, for all the pious were 
 not killed; for them the gates of hell would 
 have prevailed against the Church of Christ. 
 A few pious were left and they soon increased, 
 and will prophesy till all "false religions come to 
 an end ; the beast, or Eomish hierarchy, which 
 originated in hell, brought about tliis awful 
 slaughter. 
 
 8. *^And their dead bodies shall lie in the 
 streets of the great city, which spiritually is 
 called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord 
 was crucified." 
 
 ''Their dead bodies shall lie," i. e., the fierce, 
 fiendish murderers and persecutors of these 
 martyrs would show, in a most conspicuous man- 
 ner, all manner of contempt for them, terrify- 
 ing into silence any pious persons that might 
 remain '^ in the streets of the great city," ^. 6., 
 Anti-christian city, which here refers to the 
 Western Empire, and particularly to France, as 
 a part of it, as that country has been Satan's 
 arena for murdering God's people. This Anti- 
 christian city is called Sodom, for its impurity, 
 and Egypt, for its unrelenting cruelty to the 
 helpless, and ''^where our Lord was crucified," 
 for enmity to the holy character of Christ. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 101 
 
 9. *' And they of the people, and kindreds, 
 and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead 
 bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer 
 their dead bodies to be put in graves." 
 
 The whole popish fraternity retained the 
 memory of these two witnesses, only to insult 
 over them, three prophetic days and a half, i. e.j 
 three years and a half, until changes took place 
 favorable to piety. 
 
 10. '^ And they that dwell upon the earth shail 
 rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall 
 send gifts one to another, because these two 
 prophets tormented them that dwelt on the 
 earth." 
 
 The Eomish hierarchy complimented each 
 other while exulting over the murder of the two 
 witnesses — ^^ tormented them;" ^. e., the pure, 
 humble, and spiritual truths of the Gospel are 
 always torment to fanatics, impostors, etc. 
 
 11. ^^And after three days and a half the 
 spirit of life from God entered into them, and 
 they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell 
 upon them which saw them." 
 
 In a short time, the grace, of God raised up 
 
102 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 other witnesses to fill the place of these that 
 had been murdered, while their murderers 
 were terrified to see that God had prevented 
 them of exterminating the true Gospel, and 
 establishing their own bigotry. 
 
 12. "And they heard a great voice from 
 heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. And 
 they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and 
 their enemies beheld them." 
 
 Charles the IX and Louis the XIV, with their 
 coadjutors, tried hard to exterminate true piety, 
 but they beheld, with anguish, that they had 
 only sent these martyrs home, to heaven, sooner, 
 and grace had raised up multitudes like them, 
 and Providence had hedged them in on every 
 side, so that they could not get at them to 
 slay them. 
 
 13. "And the same hour there was a great 
 earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, 
 and in the earthquake were slain of men seven 
 thousand, and the remnant were frightened and 
 gave glory to the God of heaven." 
 
 "And the same hour," i. e,, about the same 
 time of the slaying of the witnesses, there was 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. J0H2^. 103 
 
 a great (religious and political) earthquake. 
 " The tenth part of the city fell/' viz., England, 
 which was one of the ten kingdoms into which 
 the Western Empire was divided, having left the 
 Pope, now became permanently settled on other 
 religious basis, and in the earthquake were slain 
 of names of men seven thousand, ^. e., so many 
 popish offices, etc., vacated, and popish posses- 
 sions and revenues otherwise disposed of, '^^and 
 the remnant were affrighted " at the sinking of 
 the papal authority, ^' and gave glory to the God 
 of heaven," by falling in with the Protestants. 
 I think that all these things took place during 
 the sixteenth century. 
 
 14. "The second woe is past, and behold the 
 third woe cometh quickly." 
 
 The last three of the seven trumpets are called 
 woe trumpets ; now the second one of the three 
 is past, also the little book, and now the third 
 and last woe trumpet comes quickly. We have 
 clear traces of the second woe trumpet down to 
 A. D. 1672. 
 
 15. "And the seventh angel sounded, and 
 there were great voices in heaven, saying. The 
 kingdoms of this world are become the king- 
 
104 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 doms of our Lord and of his Olirist, and he shall 
 reign forever and ever." 
 
 The seventh trumpet, of course, begins where 
 the sixth ends, and as the sixth could not have 
 ended sooner than A. D. 1672, and as new and 
 great events began in A. D. 1685, I think the 
 seventh trumpet must have sounded betAveen 
 these two dates. The seventh trumpet glances 
 at the leading events until the end of all things, 
 and the seven vials are the emblems of seven 
 trains of vengeance on the enemies of true re- 
 ligion, until the millennium. In 1685 the edict 
 of Nantes was repealed. This edict tolerated 
 Protestants, and was promulgated by Henry IV 
 of France, in A. D. 1598, and was repealed by 
 Louis the XIV, at the instance of the Jesuits. 
 Peace and liberty of conscience were torments 
 to the Eomish hierarchy. The Romish adages 
 were terrible, e. g., ^' There is no fidelity with a 
 heretic," i. e., you may break your covenant, oath, 
 or anything else Avith a Protestant, with impu- 
 nity, provided you are promoting Popery. And 
 again, ^^ The end justifies the means," t. e., you may 
 get up wars, blow up parliaments, overturn king- 
 doms, etc., etc., if by so doing you can retard 
 Protestantism or promote Popery. Tlie Jesuits 
 
THE KEYELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 105 
 
 now went prowling into all parts of the world to 
 plant popery, and uproot everything else, being 
 irritated at their loss of territory during the 
 Reformation. But at the sound of the seventh 
 trumpet, voices from heaven proclaimed the over- 
 throw of all false religions, and the reign of 
 Christ in the hearts of all his people forever 
 and ever. 
 
 16. ^^ And the four and twenty elders, w^hicli 
 sat before God on their seats, fell upon their 
 faces and worshipped God. " 
 
 J!^ow the four and twenty elders, as emblems 
 of the whole Church, under both dispensations, 
 fall upon their faces and worship God, who. has 
 turned the thoughts and hearts of our race 
 from false worship. 
 
 17. '' Saying, we give thee thanks, Lord 
 God Almighty, which art, and w^ast, and art 
 to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy 
 great power and hast reigned." 
 
 The human family, now converted, thank God 
 for resuming his place in the hearts of mankind 
 universally. 
 
 18. '^ And the nations were angry, and thy 
 wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that 
 
106 THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 they should be judged, and that thou shouldest 
 giye reward unto thy servants, the prophets, 
 and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, 
 small and great, and shouldest destroy them 
 which destroy the earth." 
 
 This Terse alludes mainly to the opposition of 
 the Avicked after the millennium, and just before 
 the end of time, when Satan is to be loosed a 
 little season. Then follows the resurrection, 
 the genei'al judgment, and the eternal reward 
 of both good and bad, according to their works. 
 
 19. '^ And the temple of God was opened in 
 heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark 
 of his testament, and there were lightnings, 
 and voices, and thunderings, and an earth- 
 quake, and great hail." 
 
 The apostle is here turned back to the early 
 ages of the New Testament dispensation. John 
 now saw the ark in the temple, which intimated 
 that he was now to have a particular view of the 
 inside of the Church since the apostolic day. 
 The lightning, voices, tliunderings, earthquake 
 and hail denote God's judgments on the corrupt- 
 ors of Christianity, and the religious and po- 
 litical changes which follow. This verse should 
 have been the first verse of the next chapter. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN 107 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1. ^^And there appeared a great wonder in 
 heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the 
 moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown 
 of twelve stars." 
 
 The apostle is here carried back to the primi- 
 tive ages of the Church, under the New Testa- 
 ment dispensation, to review and examine the 
 interior of the Church in the times of heathen, 
 imperial, persecuting Eome. The apostle sees a 
 great wonder or sign in heaven, viz., a woman 
 raising a family, as an emblem of the spiritual 
 Church of Christ raising up spiritual children to 
 Abraham. This figurative woman was clothed 
 with the sun, as a type of the Church clothed 
 with the Sun of Righteousness, for, as the natural 
 sun cherishes life in this world, so Christ cher- 
 ishes life in all his redeemed. The moon under 
 the feet of this figurative woman denotes that 
 the heart and treasure of the Church are in 
 heaven, and all things below are of secondary 
 
108 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 consideration witli God's people ; also as the 
 moon reflects the light of the sun, so the law of 
 Moses reflected the heavenly light of Christ and 
 his Gospel about to come. On the head of this 
 symbolical woman was a crown of twelve stars, 
 denoting the doctrines of the twelve apostles, as 
 the head ornament of the Church. 
 
 2. '^And she being with child, cried, travail- 
 ing in birth, and pained to be delivered." 
 
 The anguish of this typical mother bearing 
 her children was a type of the persecutions, 
 etc., under which the Church of Clirist bore her 
 spiritual children under heathen, imperial Eome. 
 
 3. ^^And there appeared another wonder in 
 heaven ; and behold, a great red dragon, having 
 seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns 
 upon his head." 
 
 The apostle next saw another wonder in 
 heaven, of an opposite character, viz., ^^a great 
 red dragon," denoting heathen, imperial Rome, 
 which was a tremendous tyrannical power, and 
 its rulers have always prided in red ; and heathen 
 Rome was the medium through which Satan 
 •opposed the Church of Christ at that time; like 
 
THE KEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 109 
 
 the serpent in Paradise was the medium through 
 which the 'tempter introduced sin into the 
 world. This dragon had seven heads, and these 
 heads had a two-fold meaning : first, the seven 
 hills on which Eome stands ; secondly, the seven 
 forms of government through which the Roman 
 Empire passed, viz., kings, consuls, dictators, 
 decemvirs, military tribunes, emperors, and 
 exarchs. The ten horns denoted the ten king- 
 doms of Europe, into which the Western Em^oire 
 was divided when it was broken up. The 
 crowns being on the heads, and not on the ten 
 horns, shows pointedly that heathen, imperial 
 Eome is meant here, and not Papal Eome, as 
 we shall find hereafter. 
 
 4. ^^And his tail drew the third part of the 
 stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth : 
 and the dragon stood before the woman which 
 was ready to be delivered, for to devour her 
 child as soon as it was born." 
 
 This dragon's tail, drawing the third part of 
 the stars, and casting them to the earth, denoted 
 the Eoman Empire, embracing the third part of 
 the then known world, and tyrannizing over it. 
 ^'The dragon stood before the woman," ^. e., 
 heathen Eome watched the growth of the 
 
110 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 Christian Clinrcli, and tried to keep the Chris- 
 tians killed off, lest they should get possession 
 of the empire, and heathenism cease to he the 
 established religion. Their policy was like 
 Pharao's with the Hebrews in Egypt. 
 
 5. ^^And she brought forth a man-child, 
 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: 
 and her child was caught up unto God, and 
 to his throne." 
 
 '^ And she," viz., the Church, brought forth a 
 man-child, viz., Constantine, the first Christian 
 emperor ; and he, as Christ's vice-gerent, was to 
 rule all nations, for the Roman Empire had all 
 nations in it, or nations of all kinds. ^''With a 
 rod of iron," viz., crush all opposition, ''"Her 
 child was caught up," etc., i. e., God in his 
 providence preserved and sustained Constan- 
 tine, that he might deliver the Church from 
 persecutions. 
 
 6. ^^ And the woman fled into the wilderness, 
 where she hath a place prepared of God, that 
 they should feed her there a thousand two 
 hundred and three score days." 
 
 This verse anticipates that period when the 
 great body of the Christian Church would 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. Ill 
 
 degX'iierate, lose the soul out of Cliristianity, run 
 into Roman Catholicism, and persecute the rem- 
 nant of true Christians, as heathen Rome had 
 previously done. The remnant of true Christians 
 is still called the Woman. '^And fled into the 
 wilderness," viz., into obscure places to escape 
 popish persecutions. "That they," viz., God's 
 23rovidences, ''should feed her a thousand two 
 hundred and three-score days," i. e,, years. See 
 notes on Chap. 11: 2. The true Church existed 
 under the names of the Waldenses, Albigenses, 
 etc., during all the dark ages of Popery. 
 
 7. ''And there was war in heaven: Michael 
 and his angels fought against the dragon ; and 
 the dragon fought and his angels. " 
 
 In this verse the struggle between Constantino 
 and the heathen powers in the Roman empire, 
 for the imperial authority, is compared to the 
 war in heaven between Michael and Satan, 
 when many of the angels fell and became devils. 
 Michael means, who is like God, and is here an 
 emblem of Christ ; and the dragon is an emblem 
 of Satan, the leader of the fallen angels, the 
 tempter in Paradise. 
 
 8. "And prevailed not; neither was their 
 place found any more in heaven." 
 
112 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 As the fallen angels lost tlieir places in 
 heaven, so did the heathen emperors in Eome. 
 
 9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that 
 old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which 
 deceiveth the whole world : he was cast out into 
 the earth, and his angels were cast out with 
 him." 
 
 When some of the angels in heaven revolted, 
 they were utterly rejected ; in a similar manner 
 the heathen rulers were utterly rejected. 
 
 10. "And I heard a loud voice saying in 
 heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, 
 and the kingdom of our God and the power of 
 his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is 
 cast down which accused them before our God 
 day and night. " 
 
 The joy in heaven, when the rebellious angels 
 were cast out, is here used to illustrate the joy 
 in the Church when heathen, imperial Eome 
 fell. The heathen emperors were false accusers, 
 like Satan, e. g. , Nero fired Rome, and played the 
 harp while it was burning, that he might enjoy 
 a likeness of Troy burning, and then pretended 
 that the Christians burnt Rome, in order to 
 have a pretext for raising a persecution against 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 113 
 
 the Christians. A dreadful plague prevailed in 
 heathen Eome, at a certain time, and the em- 
 peror pretended that the Christians made the 
 plague, and so raised a persecution against them. 
 Jezebel directed her subjects to proclaim a fast 
 and set Naboth on high, as if he had committed 
 some dreadful sin, and then stone him to death 
 and seize his vineyard. The wicked like to have 
 character ; hence they make a pretence of wrong 
 on the part of others, and behind this pretence 
 carry on their own hellish wickedness. 
 
 11, ^^And they overcame him by the blood of 
 the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; 
 and they loved not their lives unto the death." 
 
 The Christians overcame heathen Eome by 
 faith in the blood of the Lamb, and adhesion to 
 the word of their testimony, i. e., the Gospel, 
 ''and loved not their lives unto death," i. e., 
 sealed their testimony to the truth of the Gospel 
 with their blood. 
 
 12. ''Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye 
 that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of 
 the earth, and of the sea ! for the Devil is come 
 down unto you, having great wrath, because he 
 knoweth that he hath but a short time. " 
 
114 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The heavens are called upon to rejoice at the 
 downfall of heathen, persecuting Eome ; the in- 
 habiters of the earth and of the sea are called 
 on to be aware of the arch fiend ; for he would 
 have great wrath, looking for another medium 
 through which he might counteract the Church, 
 and at the same time knowing that he has but a 
 short time, i. e., in which he can do mischief. 
 Even all time, compared with eternity, is as 
 nothinof. 
 
 'O' 
 
 13. "And when the dragon saw that he was 
 cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman 
 which brought forth the man-child." 
 
 The dragon, i. e., Satan, through the rem- 
 nants of heathenism in Eome, persecuted the 
 woman, i. e. , the Church, by preventing them 
 of becoming educated, and sowing heterodoxical 
 opinions among them, and persecuting the or- 
 thodox, etc., etc. 
 
 14. "And to the woman were given two wings 
 of a great eagle, that she might fly into the 
 wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished 
 for a time, and times, and half a time, from the 
 face of the serpent." 
 
 The woman here means true Christians, and 
 
THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 115 
 
 the wings of a great eagle mean the Eastern and 
 Western Empires, into which the old great 
 Koman Empire was divided in the family of 
 Constantine, the eagle being the ensign of the 
 old Eoman Empire. When the Papacy arose, the 
 true Church existed in obscure places in these 
 two empires, dreading popish persecutions, 
 ^^for a time, times, and half a time," which is 
 three years and a half, or forty-two months, or 
 twelve hundred and sixty days, i. e., years. (See 
 Chap. xi. 2.) So the gates of hell have never 
 been permitted to exterminate the Church, 
 though they have reduced it very low several 
 times since sin entered the world. 
 
 15. "And the serpent cast ont of his mouth 
 water as a flood, after the woman, that he might 
 cause her to be carried away of the flood." 
 
 The flood of waters which the serpent cast out 
 of his mouth means the invasions of the Goths, 
 Huns and Vandals, under Alaric, Attila and 
 Genseric ; by these Satan aimed to kill off the 
 rest of the true Christians in the Eoman Em- 
 pire. 
 
 16. " And the earth helped the woman ; and 
 the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up 
 
11<^ THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 the flood which the dragon cast out of his 
 mouth." 
 
 '^ The earth helped the woman," by multi- 
 tudes of these awful invaders falling in love with 
 the climate and soil of Italy and its surround- 
 ings, and either remaining or returning, and be- 
 coming assimilated to them, and at least nomi- 
 nal Christians to a considerable extent. The 
 woman still means here the true Church, and 
 the dragon, the medium through which Satan 
 operates. 
 
 17. '^ And the dragon was wroth with the 
 woman, and went to make war with the rem- 
 nant of her seed, which keep the command- 
 ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 When Satan is foiled in one attempt, he 
 wheels like an artful, active general, and tries 
 another. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 117 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, 
 and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having 
 seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns 
 ten crowns, and upon his head the name of blas- 
 phemy. " 
 
 The ten crowns upon the ten horns of this 
 beast demonstrate that Papal Rome is here 
 meant, and that the idolatrous persecuting pow- 
 er at Rome now operates through the ten king- 
 doms of Europe, into which the Western Empire 
 was divided when imperial Rome ceased ; for 
 then Satan's medium and vicegerent was the 
 beast with seven crowns upon seven heads. 
 Chap. xii. 3 ; but now ten crowns upon ten 
 horns. Now Papal Rome still retains the name 
 of blasphemy, such as My Lord the Pope, 
 Vice-God, The Vicar of the Son of God, etc.; 
 while under imperial, heathen Rome the jDeople 
 called Rome the Eternal City, the Goddess of 
 the earth, etc.; and altars, temples, etc., were 
 
118 THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 assigned to it. Papal Eome and heathen, im- 
 perial Eome both agree with Daniel's vision, or 
 dream: Daniel, yii. 7. 
 
 2. ^' And the beast which I saw was like nnto 
 a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, 
 and his mouth as the month of a lion: and the 
 dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and 
 great authority." 
 
 This Romish tyrannical power has always been 
 such a monster of sin that no one wild beast was 
 bad enough to be a symbol of it. In this verse 
 Satan transfers his power from heathen Eome to 
 Papal Eome. 
 
 3. '' And I saw one of his heads as it were 
 wounded to death, and his deadly wound was 
 healed : and all the world wondered after the 
 beast." 
 
 The apostle saw one of the heads of the beast 
 as it were wounded to death, L e., one of the 
 seven forms of government of Eome, viz., em- 
 perors ; for the imperial power of Eome expired 
 with Momyllus, contemptuously called Augustus- 
 lus, i. e., little Augustus, A. D. 476, and Eome 
 became a dukedom to the Exarch of Eavenna ; 
 but in the year A. D. 800 the imperial title was 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 119 
 
 renewed in Charlemagne, i. e., Charles the Great; 
 hence ''the deadly wound was healed." After- 
 wards, the title of Emperor of Rome passed to the 
 emperor of Austria, and then was usurped by 
 Napoleon Bonaparte; and afterwards the papal 
 potentates worked to the Pope's hand to get his in- 
 fluence, and the Popes worked to their hand to get 
 their influence, and hence all the world wondered 
 after the beast. Tlierion, a wild beast of prey 
 here, not zoon, a domestic animal, as in Chap, 
 iv. 6. Under Papal Rome they worship saints, 
 angels, images, relics, etc.; and under Pagan 
 Rome they worshipped gods of wood, stone, 
 metal, etc., but both are the same persecuting 
 idolatrous power, though under different names. 
 
 4. ''And they worshipped the dragon which 
 gave power unto the beast : and they worshipped 
 tlie beast, sa3dng, who is like unto the beast ? 
 who is able to make war with him ? " 
 
 *' They worshipped the dragon which gave 
 power unto the beast," i. e., they pay a blind 
 veneration now to Papal Rome, like they used to 
 pay to Pagan Rome ; both of which are Satan's 
 mediums, like the serpent in Paradise was ; and 
 Papal Rome has been so powerful, that its blind 
 devotees worshipped the beast, and said, who is 
 
120 THE KEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 like unto the beast ? who is able to make war 
 with him ? Look at the influence of papal idol- 
 atry and superstition, couched under the name 
 of Christianity. If Christianity was not the 
 brightest jewel from heaven to earth, it could 
 not be counterfeited to carry on such oceans of 
 wickedness. (See the history of Koman Catholic 
 persecutions.) 
 
 5. '^ And there was given unto him a mouth 
 speaking great things and blasphemies ; and 
 power was given unto him to continue forty and 
 two months." 
 
 The Eomish hierarchy was the beast, and the 
 Pope the image of the beast; which image's 
 mouth spoke blasphemies, etc., eg., ^' His Holi- 
 ness, Infallibility, etc. ; " and this monster of sin 
 was to continue forty and two months, or twelve 
 hundred and sixty days, ^. e., years. (See Chap, 
 xi. 2.) 
 
 6. ^^ And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
 against God, to blaspheme his name, and his 
 tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." 
 
 This man of sin (2 Thess. ii. 3) carries on 
 with all implacable malice at the truly godly, 
 and under the highest pretences to holiness- and 
 delegated authority from God. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 121 
 
 7. " And it was given unto liim to make war 
 with the saints, and to overcome them: and 
 power was given him over all kindreds, and 
 tongues, and nations." 
 
 Millions of the very " salt of the earth" have 
 been martyrized by popish bigotry ; this is a full 
 comment on this verse. God leaves haters of 
 divine truth to themselves (2 Thess. ii. 10 and 
 Eomans i. 28), and Satan takes possession of 
 them, and human depravity eagerly yields and 
 complies; hence arises imposture, fanaticism, etc. 
 
 8. " And all that dwell upon the earth shall 
 worship him, whose names are not written in 
 the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foun- 
 dation of the world." 
 
 A multitude of nations and tribes run after 
 this Eomish fanaticism, but a remnant, accord- 
 ing to the '* election of grace" in Christ, the 
 Lamb, are preserved. Christ always was cruci- 
 fied in the purposes of God, to redeem man, 
 even before the world was made. 
 
 9. ^^ If any man have an ear let him hear." 
 
 The evils here predicted are so gigantic and 
 momentous as to time and eternity both, that 
 
122 TUE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 all are called upon to hear, who are capable of 
 hearing. 
 
 10. '' He that leadeth into captivity shall go 
 into captivity : he that killeth with the sword, 
 must be killed with the sword. Here is the 
 patience and the faith of the saints." 
 
 When fanatics and impostors get up false re- 
 ligions, or impose them on others, their sin in 
 so doing is the measure of God's wrath, when 
 he metes out justice to all such transgressors. 
 Those awful times were, and always are, great 
 trials of the faith and patience of the saints. 
 
 11. ''And I beheld another beast coming up 
 out of the earth, and he had two horns like a 
 lamb, and he sj^ake as a dragon." 
 
 The second beast came up out of the earth 
 silently and imperceptibly, like vegetation grows 
 up; for the great body of Christendom degen- 
 erated gradually from the fourth century until 
 the first part of the seventh, A. D. 60G, when 
 the emperor Phocus decreed the bishop of Kome 
 universal bishop and supreme hea(J of the 
 Church. This beast has two horns, viz., the 
 regular clergy, i. e., those under monastic vows, 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 123 
 
 and the secular clergy, i. e., those not under 
 monastic yows; the horns are like a lamb, i. e., 
 pretendedly derived from Christ, the Lamb of 
 God; so this beast is an emblem of the Romish 
 hierarchy from its beginning, while the other 
 beast (v. 1) was an emblem of the temporal and 
 spiritual authority exercised by the beast in the 
 ten j)apal kingdoms of Europe. This beast an- 
 swers to the little horn full of eyes (Dan. vii. 8,) 
 also the false prophet (Eev. xiii. 16, xix. 20). 
 This beast also speaks as a dragon, viz., with all 
 the arrogance and tyranny of Pagan Rome. 
 
 12. ^^And he exerciseth all the power of the 
 first beast before him and causeth the earth and 
 them which dwell therein to worship the first 
 beast, whose deadly wound was healed." 
 
 This two horned beast exerciseth all the pow- 
 er of the first beast before him; the Roman hier- 
 archy has always exercised a tremendous influ- 
 ence over the civil goyernments in its commu- 
 nions, by its artful fanatical agents and emisar- 
 ies. Temporal rulers have executed the hellish 
 purposes of the Romish hierarchy, and it, in re- 
 turn, has caused the people to pay a blind hom- 
 age to them; 'Hhence worship the first beast, 
 whose deadly wound was healed." 
 
124 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 13. " And he doeth great wonders, so that he 
 maketh fire come down from heaven on the 
 earth in the sight of men." 
 
 This tAVO horned beast sustains his claims by 
 doing wonders in the sight of men, i. e., by 
 falsehoods, tricks, jugglery, and perhaps a Sa- 
 tanical influence. 
 
 14. " And deceiveth them that dwell on the 
 earth by the means of those miracles which he 
 had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying 
 to them that dwell on the earth that they should 
 make an image to the beast, which had a wound 
 by a sword, and did live." 
 
 The Pope, as a temporal king, is the image of 
 the beast, pagan Eome under pagan emperors, 
 or rather the pagan emperors themselves ; and 
 by pretended miracles the Pope influences the 
 people to sustain him. 
 
 15. " And he had power to give life unto the 
 image of the beast, that the image of the beast 
 should both speak, and cause that as many as 
 would not worship the image of the beast should 
 be killed." 
 
 The Pope, as the visible head or image of the 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 125 
 
 two horned beast, by the agency of cardinals, and 
 with the concurrence of the rest of the frater- 
 nity, makes a new Pope when the old one dies, 
 and so clothes him with all the hellish arrogance 
 and pretensions of the old one. This is giving 
 ^^life to the image of the beast." Then they go 
 on with the former persecutions as far as they 
 can. 
 
 16. " And he causeth all, both small and 
 great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a 
 mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." 
 
 The two horned beast causeth all persons of 
 all classes, devoted to his service, to receive a 
 mark, i. e., any distinction, showing that they 
 belong to the Popish fraternity, such as a par- 
 ticular kind of dress, or an idolatrous use of the 
 cross, instead of faith in Christ, who was cruci- 
 fied on it, and obedience to his Gospel; in such 
 behavior they do like the Hebrews, who made 
 an idol of the ark, instead of depending on God 
 and obeying him (1 Sam. iv. 3). In ancient 
 times slaves were marked or numbered to show 
 who was their masters, and so idolators, to show 
 to what idol they were devoted; hence ^^a mark 
 in their right hand or in their foreheads. " 
 
126 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 17. '' And that no man might buy or sell, save 
 he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, 
 or the number of his name." 
 
 None are privileged in the Romish hierarchy, 
 but those who have the mark, or number of the 
 beast; this number is the amount of the num- 
 bers, designated by the numerical letters in 
 spelling his name. 
 
 48. '^ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath 
 understanding count the number of the beast : 
 for it is the number of a man, and his number 
 is six hundred three score and six." 
 
 The Lord here offers, by the apostle, a trial of 
 the wisdom of him that has understanding, viz., 
 in deciphering the name of the two horned beast, 
 by the amount of the numbers denoted by the 
 numerical letters in spelling his name, for it is 
 the number of a man, i. e., such a number as 
 men use, and denotes a man of some partic- 
 ular name, title, characteristics, etc., and his 
 number is six hundred and sixty-six. The New 
 Testament was written in tlie Greek language, 
 and in that language Lateinos means the Latin 
 man, Latin church, Latin language, Latin 
 government, or rulers, etc. Now the Greek 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 127 
 
 letters, answering to our alphabet, wliicli spell 
 Lateinos, are numerical, and the amount of 
 the numbers denoted by them, added together, 
 makes just six hundred and sixty-six. Now, 
 the Eomish hierarchy must be the Lateinos per- 
 son, for they have always Latinized everything, 
 with an idolatrous veneration for Latin. The 
 Eomans emigrated from Latium, a country in 
 Italy, and their language took its name from 
 that country. 
 
 The same calculation can be made out from 
 the Hebrew word Romiith, which means Ro- 
 mish or Latin rulers, people, or Romish any- 
 thing else. Irenaeus, in the second century, 
 viewed the above in the same light. 
 
128 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1, '* And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on 
 tlie Mount Sion, and with him an hundred 
 forty and four thousand, having His Father's 
 name written in their foreheads." 
 
 The apostle is here called to look at an emblem 
 of the true Church during all the dark ages, 
 viz., from the rise of Antichrist to the dawn of 
 the Reformation, and he sees a lamb, the em- 
 blem of Christ, on Mount Sion, the emblem of 
 the Church, and the significant number of a 
 hundred and fortj^-four thousand with him, 
 which is the product of the twelve patriarchs, 
 multiplied by the twelve apostles, and that pro- 
 duct multiplied by a thousand, intimating the 
 strength and honor of the true church in the 
 wilderness during those times of dreadful per- 
 secutions and distresses ; they had their Father's 
 name written in their foreheads, denoting that 
 they were God's peculiar possession. The wor- 
 shippers of the beast, and of idols, and the 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 129 
 
 slaves, were all marked, showing whose posses- 
 sion they were. 
 
 2. ^' And I heard a voice from heaven, as the 
 voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great 
 thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harp- 
 ing with their harps." 
 
 The apostle next hears their celestial devo- 
 tions, for though the Church is sorrowful, it is 
 always rejoicing, and glories in tribulation. 
 
 3. "And they sung as it were a new song 
 before the throne, and before the four beasts, 
 and the elders, and no man could learn that 
 song, but the hundred and forty and four 
 thousand which were redeemed from the earth." 
 
 The new song that they sung was redeeming 
 love. They were before the throne of God, 
 and before the beasts, or living creatures, the 
 emblems of the ministry, and before the elders, 
 the emblem of the Church. The impenitent 
 cannot sing this, for they have refused redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 4. "These are they which were not defiled 
 with women, for they are virgins ; these are they 
 which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
 
130 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 These were redeemed from among men, being 
 the first fruits unto Grod and unto the Lamb." 
 
 These holy souls were virgins, and not defiled 
 with women, for all their relations to women 
 had been according to law and Gospel. They 
 had not professed celebacy, and, behind that 
 profession, lived lives of impurity. These re- 
 deemed take up their crosses and follow Christ, 
 the Lamb, and are acceptable to God, like the 
 first fruits, which, as an offering, brought a 
 blessing on the harvest. — Exod. xxii. 29. 
 
 5. " And in their mouth was found no guile, 
 for they are without fault before the throne of 
 God." 
 
 This holy multitude had no guile or fault, 
 for saints fully sanctified are as holy as the 
 angels that never sinned. 
 
 6. '^ And I saw another angel fly in the midst 
 of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 
 preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and 
 to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
 people." 
 
 7. '^ Saying with a loud voice. Fear God, and 
 ipve glory to him, for the hour of hiQ judgment 
 
THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 131 
 
 is come, and worship liim that made heaven and 
 earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." 
 
 This angel seems to be an emblem of the 
 Waldenses and Albigenses, who retained the Gos- 
 pel in its purity during the dark ages, and, 
 when fleeing from papal persecutions, carried it 
 with them, and so were the germ out of 
 which the Reformation afterwards sprung up. 
 
 8. " And there followed another angel, say- 
 ing, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that groat city, 
 because she made all nations drink of the wine 
 of the wrath of her fornication." 
 
 We may consider this second angel as an em- 
 blem of the Bohemians and others of their day, 
 with such leaders as John Huss and Jerome of 
 Prague, in the fifteenth century. This angel 
 not only clings to Gospel truth, and proclaims it, 
 but announces the downfall of Babylon, i. e., 
 Eome, which was like Babylon in wickedness, 
 wealth and tyranny, and hence the Romish hier- 
 archy is frequently called Babylon in this book. 
 It is to fall fatally, because it made all nations 
 drink of the wine of the wrath of its fornica- 
 tions. Here fornication means idolatry, and 
 wrath, papal tyranny, and wine, papal fanaticism, 
 
132 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 intoxicating the soul like wine does the body, 
 and so shedding blood, which is the color of wine. 
 
 9-11. ^^ And the third angel followed them, 
 saying with a lond voice, If any man worship 
 the beast and his image, and receive his mark in 
 his forehead, or in his hand, — 
 
 *^ The same shall drink of the wine of the 
 wrath of God, which is poured out without mix- 
 ture into the cup of his indignation ; and ho 
 shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in 
 the presence of the holy angels, and in the pres- 
 ence of the Lamb." 
 
 ''And the smoke of their torment ascendeth 
 up forever and ever ; and they have no rest 
 day nor night, who worship the beast and his 
 image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his 
 name." 
 
 AVe may consider this third angel an emblem 
 of Luther, Calvin, Zwingle, Melancthon, and all 
 their coadjutors of the Reformation of the 
 sixteenth century. These reformers came out 
 in clear and pointed language, denouncing 
 Popery as Antichrist, and proclaiming eternal 
 punishment, at the hand of a just God, as the 
 doom of all who participated in it, and these 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 133 
 
 tliroes of endless anguisli in the presence of the 
 holy angels, and the Lamb, Christ. Here is a 
 daguerreotype of God's views of false religion, 
 and of his final disposal of all the devotees of 
 such religions. 
 
 12. ^^Here is the patience of the saints ; here 
 are they that keep the commandments ot God, 
 and the faith of Jesus." 
 
 The dangers and sufferings that God's people 
 had to undergo under the reign of the papal 
 beasts were a sore trial on their faith and obe- 
 dience. 
 
 13. ^^And I heard a voice from heaven, say- 
 ing unto me, write, blessed are the dead which 
 die in the Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith the 
 spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and 
 their works do follow them." 
 
 This verse seems to be styled against the 
 Papal doctrine of a Purgatory, and teaches that 
 at death the souls of the righteous go imme- 
 diately into glory, and their bodies rest in the 
 grave, both being free from the miseries of a 
 sinful world ; and all this implies that, at 
 death, the wicked go immediately into their 
 doleful and endless abode. 
 
134 THE KEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 14-16. ^'Andl looked, and behold, a white 
 cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the 
 Son of man, having on his head a golden 
 crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." 
 
 ''And another angel came out of the temj)le, 
 crying with a loud Toice to him that sat on 
 the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap ; for 
 the time is come for thee to reap ; for the 
 harvest of the earth is ripe. 
 
 ''And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his 
 sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped." 
 
 " Like unto the Son of man " means Christ, 
 in his glorified human nature, clothed with in- 
 finite majesty, about to execute vengeance on 
 Antichrist ; and the sharp sickle is an emblem 
 of the wrath of the Lamb against the enemies 
 of his cause. The angel coming out of the 
 temple is an emblem of the Saviour's minis- 
 try, giving the alarm. I think the fulfill- 
 ment of these symbols will be an awful 
 attempt made by the combined Roman Cath- 
 olic powers to regain Rome and the Papal 
 States, but they will be foiled. Papal fanat- 
 ics are here compared to a harvest about to 
 be cat down ; the vintage will soon follow. 
 T think these two events may be expected 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 135 
 
 before long, and certainly inside of the next 
 two-thirds of a century. I think they will 
 also he near the junction of the fifth and 
 sixth vials. 
 
 17-20. ^^And another angel came out of 
 the temple which is in heaven, he also having 
 a sharp sickle. 
 
 " And another angel came out from the altar, 
 which had power over fire, and cried with a 
 loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, 
 saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather 
 the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her 
 grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the 
 earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and 
 cast it into the great winepress of the wrath 
 of God. 
 
 " And the winepress was trodden without the 
 city, and blood came out of the winepress, even 
 unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thou- 
 sand and six hundred furlongs. " 
 
 The angel coming out of the temple with a 
 sharp sickle is an emblem of the Saviour's ex- 
 ecutioners equipped for their work ; and the 
 angel from the altar which had power over fire 
 
136 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN". 
 
 is an emblem of the Saviour's lieralds, showing 
 tliat the fire of the wrath of the Lamb requires 
 the sacrifice of the anti-christian vintage on the 
 altar of divine justice, the vintage being an 
 emblem of the enemies of the Saviour's Gospel. 
 The blood of Antichrist will then flow like wine 
 from the winepress, "without the city," i. e., 
 outside of the true Church. To denote the fearful 
 effusion of human blood, a hyperbolical exj^res- 
 sion is here used, viz., unto the horse bridles, 
 by the space of a thousand and six hundred fur- 
 longs, i. e., two hundred miles ; this distance 
 being just the length of the Papal States in Italy, 
 shows that they are to be the battle field. 
 This will be the second fearful struggle of the 
 combined Eoman Catholic Powers to regain 
 Eome and the Papal States, but they will fail 
 again. From these places the blood of the martyrs 
 cries to the majesty of God, like the blood of 
 righteous Abel. Eome and its appendages are 
 the idols of the anti-christian hierarchy, and 
 when a man loses his God, he is next to in- 
 sane. The reaping of the harvest and vintage 
 may be expected shortly, and certain before 
 very long ; the state of affairs in and about 
 Eome also indicate it, for the old Pope and his 
 adherents are like a bear robbed of her whelps. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 137 
 
 CHAPTER Xy. 
 
 1, "And I saw another sign in heaven 
 great and marvellous, seven angels having the 
 seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the 
 wrath of God." 
 
 The apostle here sees another sign, wonder- 
 ful, and prognosticating great future events, 
 viz., seven trains of awful future events, which 
 symbolize the fatal and final destruction of the 
 beast and his image, i. e., the Eomish hierarchy 
 and the Pope. These seven trains of events, 
 intimated by the seven vials of wrath, all fall 
 under the seventh trumpet ; like the seven 
 trumpets, all fall under the seventh seal. The 
 seven vials emblematize particularly the 
 vengeance of God on the papal inijposture, 
 which utterly exterminates it. 
 
 2. " And I saw as it were a sea of glass 
 mingled with fire, and them that had gotten 
 the victory over the beast, and over his image. 
 
138 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 and over his mark^ and over tlie nnmber of 
 his name, stand on the sea of glass, having 
 the harps of God." 
 
 Before the apostle gives the emblems of the 
 final downfall of all false religions, he delays 
 a little, in order to describe the heavenly emo- 
 tion of the righteous during the same time. 
 The sea of glass intimates the slippery places, 
 etc., through which these holy people had to 
 pass during those times, and the fire, mingled 
 with, or in the glass, denotes the fiery trials 
 through which they had to pass while gaining 
 the victory over the Eomish Church, the Pope, 
 the peculiar distinctions of the Romish impos- 
 ture, and the number of his name or government 
 which sustained the persecuting power at Rome. 
 Finally they obtained the harps of God. 
 
 3. " And they sing the song of Moses, the 
 servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, say- 
 ing. Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord 
 God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, 
 thou King of Saints." 
 
 "When the true Christians finally escaped papal 
 imposture, and saw its utter destruction, they 
 sung glory to God and to the Lamb, like Moses 
 
THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOIIX. 139 
 
 did on the bank of the Red Sea, while beholding 
 the destruction of Pharao and his hosts. They 
 wonder at God's marvellous works, and proclaim 
 him true and righteous, and address him as 
 King of Saints. 
 
 4. ^^Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and 
 glorify thy name, for thou only art holy, for 
 all nations shall come and worship before thee, 
 for thy judgments are made manifest." 
 
 The apostle inquires who shall not fear and 
 glorify God, for he only is holy, and all nations 
 shall come and worship before him, because his 
 judgments on the wicked were obvious. 
 
 5. '^'^ And after that I looked, and behold, the 
 temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in 
 heaven was opened." 
 
 The apostle alludes to the temple, the taber- 
 nacle, the holy of holies, with its appendages, 
 and the services carried on there, as types of 
 Christ and our salvation in heaven, while per- 
 ceiving the heavens opened, and preparations 
 for great coming events. 
 
 6. ^^And the seven angels came out of the 
 temples, having the seven plagues, clothed in 
 
140 THE EEYELATIOX OF ST. JOIIX. 
 
 pure and wliite linen, and having their breasts 
 girded with golden girdles. " 
 
 The seven angels, with the seven j^lagues, de- 
 note the last seven trains of momentous events, 
 which are to exterminate all false religions and 
 purify the true Church. The white linen and 
 golden girdles denote their holy exaltation, as 
 God's messengers. 
 
 7. " And one of the four beasts gave unto the 
 seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath 
 of God, who liveth forever and ever. " 
 
 One of the four zoe (living creatures), giving 
 the vials to the angels, denotes that the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel would be used as the means of 
 destroying imposture and fanaticism from the 
 earth, as the zoe were the emblems of the min- 
 istry of the Church on earth. 
 
 8. ^^And the temple was filled with smoke 
 from the glory of God, and from his power, 
 and no man was able to enter into the temple 
 till the seven plagues of the seven angels were 
 fulfilled." 
 
 The temple filled with smoke denotes the 
 whole church, to some extent deficient and im- 
 pure. The same events that destroy false re- 
 ligions will also purify the true Church. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 141 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 1. *'And I heard a great voice out of the 
 temple, saying to the seven angels, go your Avays, 
 and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon 
 the earth." 
 
 The great voice from the temple is either 
 from the Saviour himself, or some special agent 
 of his, and commands the seven angels to pour 
 out the seven symbolic vials of God's wrath on 
 the earth, for the destruction of the anti-chris- 
 tian power at Eome. 
 
 2. " And the first went and poured out his 
 vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and 
 grevious sore upon the men which had the mark 
 of the beast, and upon them which worshipped 
 his image." 
 
 The first angel pouring out his vial upon the 
 earth denotes the Eomish hierarchy losing con- 
 trol over important parts of the earth's surface, 
 by the Eeformation of the sixteenth century 
 
142 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 and the first part of the seventeenth. The 
 papal imposture lost all of England, some of 
 the German States, and other points of less 
 note. The effect of this vial was that the wor- 
 shippers of the (Eomish) beast and his image 
 (the Pope) endured a grievous sore, particularly 
 on their minds, to think that their pretended 
 Vicar of the Son of God, etc., should be mus- 
 tered out of service, as a nuisance to soul and 
 body, in these important countries. I only give 
 the date of this vial, and the leading events 
 which fulfill it, but in this little volume I must 
 refer the reader to the history of those times for 
 the rest. 
 
 3. ^^ And the second angel poured out his vial 
 upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a 
 dead man, and every living soul died in the 
 sea." 
 
 The second angel, pouring out his vial upon 
 the sea and its effects, denote the fierce effects 
 whicli the papal imposture made to gain new 
 territory, to make up for its loss by the Eefor- 
 mation, during nearly all the seventeenth cen- 
 tury and tlie major part of the eighteenth, but 
 with disastrous and bloody effects. Antichrist 
 sent out the Jesuits into all parts of the earth, 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN 143 
 
 like emissaries of Satan, in tlie garb of lawyers, 
 painters, teachers, missionaries, etc., and these 
 wretches insinuated themselves into all high 
 places, and their continual effort was to allure 
 and press governments and peoples over to Po- 
 pery. Every country that tolerated them came 
 to nothing, or sunk into degradation. They 
 considered war, treachery, murder, etc., all 
 right, so it promoted the Papacy. As soon as 
 the Japanese and Chinese saw what they were 
 after, they killed off all that did not make their 
 escape, and closed their ports for a long time 
 against all foreigners. These Jesuits also strove 
 hard in Africa and South America, but it is 
 doubtful whether they made the people any bet- 
 ter in these places than they were before. The 
 inquisitions, mummeries, monkeries, etc. , played 
 their part, with the outsides painted and var- 
 nished, like white sepulchres, but the inside full 
 of murder, impurity and carnal indulgence. For 
 further knowledge read the history of the wars, 
 inquisition, etc., in those times. 
 
 4. ''And the third angel poured out his, vial 
 upon the rivers and fountains of water, and 
 they became blood." 
 
 The third angel, pouring out his vial upon the 
 
144 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 rivers and fountains of water, points out the 
 drjdng up of the popish revenues, also the mur- 
 ders and wars during the last of the eighteenth 
 and the first part of the nineteenth centuries, 
 viz., the seventy days of the reign of terror in 
 France and the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
 They molded papal images into coin, and their 
 bells, etc. , into cannon, and turned their churches 
 into barracks for soldiers, and killed whomso- 
 ever dared to demur. Bonaparte also imprisoned 
 the Pope, and blew the inquisition in Spain 
 into atoms. Eead the history of those times 
 and events, for the object of this little volume 
 is to give the dates and leading events in their 
 natural order, w^hich the prophetic part of 
 Eevelations foretells. 
 
 5. ^^ And I heard the angel of the waters say, 
 thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and wast, 
 and shall be, because thou hast judged thus." 
 
 The angel that presided over the waters give 
 glory to the eternal God, because he judged 
 thus. 
 
 0. ^^ For they have shed the blood of saints 
 and prophets, and thou hast given them blood 
 to drink, for they are worthy." 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 145 
 
 Tlie same angel of the waters, or people, 
 recognize the justice of God, in giving blood to 
 drink. To this anti-christian power France has 
 always been the especial slaughter pen of God's 
 people, and now He repays them. 
 
 7. " And I heard another out of the altar say, 
 even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous 
 are Thy judgments." 
 
 Another angel from the altar joins the decision 
 of the former angel, praising God for His 
 fidelity to His church, in punishing its persecu- 
 tors. 
 
 8. ^^ And the fourth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the sun, and power was given unto him to 
 scorch men with fire." 
 
 The fourth angel, pouring out his vial upon 
 the (papal) sun, with its effect, denotes the 
 wide and bold spreading of the gospel, by home 
 and foreign missionaries, during the last two- 
 thirds of the first half of the nineteenth century, 
 and all this scorched the fanatical feelings of 
 popish bigots. 
 
 9. " And men were scorched with great heat, 
 and blaspliemed the name of God, which hath 
 
146 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 power over these plagues, and tliey repented not 
 to give liim glory." 
 
 The great spread of the pure gospel in the 
 above mentioned period tortured the mind of 
 the papal beast, like great heat tortures the body. 
 But they only blasphemed the name of God, by 
 their fanatical means and pretensions, instead 
 of repenting and reforming. 
 
 10. ^^ And the fifth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was 
 full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues 
 for pain." 
 
 The fifth angel jDOured out his vial upon the 
 seat of the beast, even the city of Rome itself 
 and the Papal States. This vial began to be 
 very visibly poured out in 1848, when the Pope 
 run off from his seat, and Louis l^apoleon 
 placed 40,000 French soldiers, under 40 gener- 
 als, at Rome, in order to brace up the old Pope 
 on his pretended chair of St. Peter; and the 
 same vial was more tremendously poured out in 
 1870, when Louis Napoleon withdrew his sol- 
 diers from Rome, to fight the King of Prussia 
 and Germany, and all the Pope's subjects rose 
 up and transferred his dominions to Victor 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 14? 
 
 Immannel, King of Italy, and lie moved his 
 capital into Rome. The Popish hierarchy was 
 now full of (mental) darkness, they knew not 
 what to do, and they gnawed their tongues for 
 (mental) pain, i. e., inward anguish of mind, 
 to see their pretended yice-god turned out of 
 the door. 
 
 11. '^And blasphemed the God of Heaven, 
 because of their pains and their sores, and re- 
 pented not of their deeds." 
 
 The old monster of sin, and his adherents, 
 blasphemed the God of Heaven, viz., they called 
 an Ecumenical Council, and passed the degree of 
 infallibility on the old papal image of the beast. 
 Their (mental) pains and sores tormented them, 
 but they clung to their old wicked ways. 
 
 12. "And the sixth angel poured out his vial 
 upon the great Eiver Euphrates, and the water 
 thereof was dried up, that the way of the Kings 
 of the East might be prepared. " 
 
 The sixth vial may be expected sometime during 
 the first half of the twentieth century, or perhaps 
 a little earlier. Some mishap will befall the 
 Turkish Empire, perhaps the Czar of Russia and 
 the King of Prussia (now the Emperor of Ger- 
 
148 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 many) will get up some farce for the world to 
 look at and jump on, and divide the Turk- 
 ish Empire between them, and this and other 
 circumstances will jar the Turkish faith in 
 Mohammedanism. The way will thea be open 
 for the Eomish hierarchy to deceiye and entice 
 them, and the nations around and east of them 
 to get them to join papal hosts, and go up to 
 Jerusalem to rob the Jews, who will then have 
 acknowlegded Christ as the Messiah, and return 
 to Jerusalem with vast quantities of most valu- 
 able portable wealth, but God will give the 
 invading hosts a fearful overthrow. Tor a nice 
 description of this battle read carefully the 38th 
 and 39th chapters of Ezekiel, also Joel 3 and 17. 
 The prophet Joel says this battle will be fought in 
 the Valley of Jehoshaphat. This name does not 
 necessarily locate the battle, but intimates that 
 Jehovah will preside as sovereign over it, for the 
 first two syllables of the name Jehoshaphat are a 
 modification of the name Jehovah, and the last 
 two is a Hebrew word, signifying to judge. 
 This mode of expression is common in the He- 
 brew language. 
 
 13. '^And I saw three unclean spirits, like 
 frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 149 
 
 and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of 
 the mouth of the false prophet." 
 
 The dragon, the beast and the false prophet 
 are significant titles of the papal hierarchy, 
 which will send out three classes of wicked em- 
 issaries, such as the Jesuits, and here called 
 three frogs, sent out of the mouth of the beast 
 in order to deceive the Eastern nations, and get 
 them to join the Popish invasion of Jerusalem 
 and Canaan, when the Jews return to their own 
 land. 
 
 14. '^For they are the spirits of devils, work- 
 ing miracles, which go forth unto the kings 
 of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather 
 them to the battle of that great day of God 
 Almighty." 
 
 These frog emissaries of the Eomish Church 
 will use legerdemain, magic arts, tricks, etc., in. 
 order to beguile the nations to join them in 
 their hellish enterprises, but the day will be 
 God's, and he will give the invaders an awful 
 overthrow. 
 
 15. "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is 
 ne that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest 
 he walk naked, and they see his shame." 
 
150 THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 Jehovah intimates to all his people that the 
 approach of his vengeance will be unexpected, 
 and that they must be always at the post of 
 duty^ in order to avoid the disgrace of sin. 
 
 16. ^' And he gathered them together into a 
 place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." 
 
 The Pope, with his hellish coadjutors and ma- 
 rauders, will assemble the whole host to a place 
 called Armageddon, which is a contraction of 
 Auranu, to elevate, and megeddo, the name of a 
 stream of water in the northwest of Canaan, 
 where Debora and Bareck defeated Jabin and 
 Sisera, and where Pharaonecho defeated and 
 mortally wounded King Josiah, so th*at the name 
 Armageddon does not necessarily locate the 
 battle ground, but rather describes the great 
 destruction of human life in the battle ; yet 
 this battle will be somewhere in the Land of Ca- 
 naan, and probably near Jerusalem. 
 
 17. '^ And the seventh angel poured out his 
 vial into the air, and there came a great voice 
 out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, 
 saying, it is done." 
 
 The seventh vial poured into the air denotes 
 the destruction of all false religions, even to the 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 151 
 
 last remnants. The battle of Armageddon will 
 give, the fatal blow to Popery, Mohammedanism 
 and Heathenism, and the Jews will have believed 
 in Christ ; hence the four great obstacles, in the 
 way of the millennium, will be removed, and 
 the seventh vial will thus purify the human 
 mind of all remaining false faiths, like the air 
 may be purified from malaria; hence a voice 
 from the throne says, it is done. As Satan is 
 said to be the prince of the power of the air, 
 this vial is poured into his seat, and may be ex- 
 pected during the last half of the 20th century. 
 
 18. "And there were voices, and thunders 
 and lightnings, and there was a great earth- 
 quake, such as was not since men were upon the 
 earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." 
 
 The voices, thunders and lightnings are em- 
 blems of God's displeasure, directed against the 
 anti-christian powers, and the great earthquake 
 is especially religious, overthrowing all godless 
 views, efforts, etc. 
 
 19. "And the great city was divided into 
 three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : 
 and great Babylon came in remembrance before 
 God to give unto her tlie cup of the wine of the 
 fierceness of his wrath." 
 
152 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 The great anti-christian city was divided into 
 three parts, i. e., by intestine feuds between the 
 three elements comjoosing the invading army, 
 viz., Popery, Mohammedanism and Heathen- 
 ism — like the feuds among the Jews when the 
 Eomans besieged Jerusalem and fatally ruined 
 it, and the (godless) cities of the (wicked) na- 
 tions fell, and great Babylon, i. e., the Romish 
 persecuting power, came into remembrance 
 before God, to give unto her (as a punishment) 
 the cup of the wine, i. e., the measure of pun- 
 ishment for her sins. Blood is here compared 
 to wine, because they are both red. The fierce- 
 ness of God's wrath against Antichrist brings 
 these thino's about. 
 
 'O" 
 
 20. '^'^x^nd every island fled away, and the 
 mountains were not found." 
 
 And every island (as to false religions) fled 
 away, and the mountains (of opposition to 
 the pure gospel) were not found. 
 
 21. '^^And there fell upon men a great hail 
 out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a 
 talent : and men blasphemed God because of the 
 plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was 
 3xceedingly great. " 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 153 
 
 And tnere fell upon (wicked) men a great hail 
 (of God's wrath), but they blasphemed, instead 
 of repentance and reformation. Punishment 
 only reclaims when it is especially sanctified to 
 the transgressoi. 
 
154 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIL 
 
 1, "And there came one of the seven angels, 
 which had the seven vials, and talked with me, 
 saying unto me, come hither ; I will show unto 
 thee the judgment of the great whore that sit- 
 teth upon many waters." 
 
 Before leaving the final destruction of the 
 anti-christian power, the apostle gives further 
 particulars of that monster of sin, and still uses 
 symbolic language. The Eomish Church ex- 
 plains all these awful wicked things of heathen 
 Rome; but this is absurd, for heathen Rome 
 only lasted twelve hundred and twenty-eight 
 years — from the first of Romulus to the last of 
 Augustulus, i. e., little Augustus, whose right 
 name was Momillus, and the last potentate of 
 heathen Rome; but this anti-christian Rome 
 lasts twelve hundred and sixty years. In this 
 verse, papal Rome is compared to a tremendous 
 woman of ill-fame, faithless to marriage vows, 
 detestable in her character and habits, and de- 
 structive to all that suffer themselves to be 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 155 
 
 allured by her. She sits on many waters, which 
 are an emblem of many nations and millions of 
 people, allured and tyrannized over by popish 
 impostures. 
 
 2, '^With whom the kings of the earth have 
 committed fornication, and the inhabitants of 
 the earth have been made drunk with the wine 
 of her fornication." 
 
 The kings of the earth committed (spiritual) 
 fornication, i. e., idolatry, with this horrid wo- 
 man, in lending their power and influence to 
 support popish fanaticism, with all its shocking 
 concomitants ; and the inhabitants of the 
 earth have been made (morally) drunken in sin, 
 by supporting papal idolatry, etc., like an intem- 
 perate man gets drunk on wine, etc. 
 
 3, ^^So he carried me away in the spirit in 
 the wilderness : and I saw a woman sit upon a 
 scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, 
 having seven heads and ten horns." 
 
 The angel appeared to carry the apostle away, 
 under the extraordinary influence of the Spirit, 
 into tlie (anti-christian) wilderness, into which 
 the Eomish Church had changed nearly all 
 Christendom, and there John saw, with the 
 
156 THE EEYELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 eyes of his mind, or soul, a woman, i. e., the 
 Romish Church, sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, 
 i. e., the temporal power of Eome, and such 
 others as support the Romish hierarchy. Scarlet 
 color has always been the special taste of all the 
 leading men in the State and Church at Rome. 
 The names of blasphemy denote the Heayen-dar- 
 ing arrogance and pretensions of the Papacy. 
 (See chap. 12 & 13.) The seven heads still refer 
 to the seven hills on which Rome stands, and the 
 seven forms of government (aside from the gov- 
 ernments of Popes) which have existed at Rome, 
 the government of Popes being the eighth, and 
 is of the seven, i. e., if po^^ish tyranny is so like 
 the tyranny of heathen em23erors that it is no 
 use to call them two forms of government, then 
 popish tyranny is the eighth, and is of the seven. 
 (See V. 11.) The ten horns still refer to the ten 
 kingdoms of Europe, into which the Western 
 empire was divided when it was broken up. 
 
 4. ^'And the woman was arrayed in purple 
 and scarlet color, and decked with gold and 
 precious stones and .pearls, having a golden cup 
 in her hand full of abominations and filthiness 
 of her fornication." 
 
 This emblematic woman, papal fanaticism, 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 157 
 
 was clothed in regal apparel, and decked or 
 gilded with gold and gems, silver being consid- 
 ered too coarse and cheap. As women of ill- 
 fame give love-drinks to their paramours, so 
 this popish woman has a golden cup in her hand, 
 full of abominations and filthiness of her forni- 
 cations, referring to papal allurements, idolatry, 
 impurity, blind bigotry, etc. 
 
 5. *^ And upon her forehead was a name writ- 
 ten. Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of 
 harlots and abominations of the earth." 
 
 In ancient times harlots labeled their fore- 
 heads, that men of impurity might recognize 
 them, and, in accordance with this custom, the 
 emblem of the Eoman Catholic Church is 
 labeled on the forehead. Eespectable writers 
 say that, before the Eeformation, the Pope had 
 the word Mystery inscribed in letters of gold on 
 the front of his mitre ; and the Eomish Church 
 is the mystery of iniquity, and would have 
 arisen in the days of the apostle Paul, only 
 the persecutions of heathen Imperial Eome kept 
 the Church pure (see 2 Thes. 2, 3 : 11), for the 
 Eomish Church answers the description in every 
 way. The same woman is called Babylon the 
 Great, for the Pope, with his mitre and coadju- 
 
158 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 tors, exceed literal Babylon in idolatry, tyranny, 
 luxury, wealth, etc. Literal Babylon wor- 
 shipped images,, but mystic Babylon, i. e., the 
 Eomish Church, worships Mary, Peter, saints, 
 angels, relics, popes, as well as images — all of 
 which is idolatry. (See Exod. 20: 3-7.) The 
 same typical woman is called the mother of har- 
 lots and abominations of the earth, as exceeding 
 them all in wickedness. The great mass of the 
 people see the (varnished) outside of the Eoman 
 Catholic Church, but do not get to see the inner 
 recesses of the inquisition, nunneries, monker- 
 ies, etc., etc., and their eyes are dazzled with 
 the former, but blind to the latter. ^ 
 
 6. ^^ And I saw the woman drunken with the 
 blood of the saints, and with the blood of the 
 martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I won- 
 dered with great admiration." 
 
 The apostle was amazed to see this woman, the 
 popish imi3osture, spiritually drunken on sin, by 
 murdering the saints and martyrs of Jesus, and 
 yet pretending to be the Church, mother Church, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 7. '^And the angel said unto me, wherefore 
 didst thou marvel ? I will tell thee the mystery 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 159 
 
 of tlie woman, and of the beast that carrieth 
 her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns." 
 
 The angel explains the woman, the beast, the 
 seven heads and ten horns, as already frequently 
 explained. 
 
 8, '^ The beast that thou sawest, was, and is 
 not ; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, 
 and go into perdition ; and they that dwell on 
 the earth shall wonder (whose names were not 
 written in the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world) when they behold the beast that 
 was, and is not, and yet is." 
 
 The beast, i. e., the persecuting power at 
 Eome, '^ was " when heathen Eome persecuted 
 the Christians, (and is not) when heathen Eome 
 became Christian, in the days of Oonstantine, 
 ''and ascended out of the bottomless pit," when 
 christian Eome run into the papacy, and perdi- 
 tion is its destiny. Those, whose names are not 
 recorded in heaven from eternity, wondered with 
 veneration at the outside glare of this anti-chris- 
 tian power. Hell is compared to a bottomless 
 pit, into which, if you fall, you are always sink- 
 ing in the terrors of death, and never stop or 
 reach the bottom. 
 
160 THE EEVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 9. "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. 
 The seven heads are seven mountains, on which 
 the woman sitteth." 
 
 The angel suggests that it is wisdom to under- 
 stand correctly the figurative seven headed beast, 
 on which the mystic woman sits, viz., the tem- 
 poral power sustaining papal imposture. 
 
 10. " And there are seven kings : five are 
 fallen and one is, and the other is not yet come ; 
 and when he cometh, he must continue a short 
 space." 
 
 ** And there are seven kings," i. e., seven forms 
 of government in the Roman empire, viz., kings, 
 consuls, dictators, decemvirs, military tribunes, 
 emperors and exarchs ; five are fallen, viz : 
 kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs and military 
 tribunes. These five forms of government had 
 passed away before the days of the apostle John; 
 and one is, viz., emperors in apostolic times; and 
 the other is not yet come, viz., exarchs, Avhich did 
 not take place till the seventh century, when Eome 
 became a dukedom to the exarch of Eavenna; 
 and he (exarchs) must continue a short space, 
 viz., till the year 800, when the imperial title 
 was revived in Charlemagne, i. e., Charles the 
 Great. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 161 
 
 11. And the best that was and is not, even he 
 IS the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into 
 perdition. " 
 
 " Is the eighth, and is of the seven," i. e., if 
 the tyranny of Popes is so exactly like the tyranny 
 of heathen emperors of Eome, that you need not 
 call them two different forms of government, 
 then Eome will have only seven forms of govern- 
 ment in all. Notice the destiny (jDerdition) of 
 this persecuting power at Rome. The tyranny 
 of Popes is called the beast itself in this pas- 
 sage, because it is the last form of government. 
 
 12. "And the ten horns which thou sawest 
 are ten kings, which have received no kingdom 
 as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with 
 the beast." 
 
 " And the ten horns which thou saAvest are ten 
 kings," i. e., dynasties of monarchical govern- 
 ment, which have received no kingdom as yet, 
 because the western empire was not divided into 
 the ten kingdoms of Europe in the apostle's days; 
 but receive power as kings, i. e., the people who 
 lived in those regions (where the ten kingdoms 
 existed afterward) give themselves up, as tools 
 of wickedness, to sustain the persecuting power 
 
162 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 at Eome. *^ One hour with, the beast," i. e., at 
 the same instant and for the same purpose. 
 
 13. " These have one mind, and shall give 
 their power and strength unto the beast." 
 
 These (the ten kingdoms) have one mind, 
 viz.., to support the persecuting power at Rome, 
 however they might war among themselves, and 
 give their power and strength unto the beast, i. 
 e., popish tyi-anny, which is the last head, or form 
 of government in Eome, and hence called liere 
 the beast itself. Any one who is willing to see, can 
 see that papal Eome is here described, for the ten 
 kingdoms of Europe did not exist, as such, dur- 
 ing Imperial Eome. 
 
 14. ^'^ These shall make war with the Lamb, 
 and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is 
 Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that 
 are with him are called, and chosen, and faith- 
 ful." 
 
 These (ten papal kingdoms of Europe) shall 
 make war with the Lamb (Christ), by opposing 
 Christ, his cause and servants; and the Lamb 
 shall overcome them by his word, spirit and 
 providence, for he (the Saviour) is Lord of lords 
 and King of kings, i. e., all things in time are 
 
THE REVELATION OP ST. JOH^. 163 
 
 delegated to Christ, until the last judgment is 
 concluded ; then he will deliver up the mediato- 
 rial kingdom, that God may be all in all; but the 
 glorified human nature of Christ will always re- 
 main as the connecting link between Deity and 
 the redee^ied. ^^And they that are with him," 
 even all the Saviour's true servants, are called, 
 and chosen, and faithful ; hence all enemies to 
 Christ must fall fatally and finally. 
 
 15. " And he saith unto me, the waters 
 which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are 
 peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and 
 tongues." 
 
 The angel next explained to John that the 
 waters where the whore (the Eomish hierarchy) 
 sat were an emblem of people, multitudes, na- 
 tions and tongues. Heathen Eome tyrannized 
 over nearly all the known world, and papal 
 Eome has exceeded heathen Eome, for the 
 Pope claims to be the disposer of all earthly 
 kingdoms, as well as the infallible head of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 16. *'And the ten horns which thou sawest 
 upon the beast, these shall hate the whore^ and 
 shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat 
 her flesh, and burn her with fire." 
 
164 THE KEVELATION" OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 These ten horns, viz., the ten kingdoms of 
 Europe, when conyerted to true Christianity, 
 shall hate the whore, i. e., the papal imposture, 
 and shall make her desolate, by forsaking her ; 
 and naked, by exposing her enormous wicked- 
 ness ; and eat her flesh, by withdrawing all 
 BU2:)23ort from her ; and burn her with fire, which 
 was the sentence of an adulterous daughter of a 
 priest. Lev. 21 : 9. 
 
 17. **^Ejor God hath put it in their hearts to 
 fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their king- 
 dom unto the beast, until the words of God shall 
 be fulfilled." 
 
 God, in his providence, give up these ten king- 
 doms to support the (papal beast), until the 
 words of God should be fulfilled. 
 
 18. ^^And the woman which thou sawest is 
 that great city, which reigneth over the kings of 
 the earth." 
 
 The angel next explained to John that the 
 woman (the popish imposture) was or meant 
 that great (anti-christian) city (Rome) which 
 reigneth over the kings of the earth. Popes have 
 made emperors hold their stirrups while they 
 got on horse-back to ride, and sometimes de- 
 graded and insulted emperors and kings even 
 worse than this. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 165 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 1. " And after these things I saw another angel 
 come down from heaven, having great power ; 
 and the earth was lightened with his glory." 
 
 The apostle here sees another angel^ different 
 from the one that explained the symbols in the 
 last chapter ; as the herald announcing the final 
 downfall of anti-christian Eome, he may be 
 considered, in his glorious appearance, as an 
 emblem of Christ coming to judgment, to pass 
 final sentence on all his enemies. 
 
 2. *' And he cried mightily with a strong voice 
 saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 
 and is become the habitation of devils, and the 
 hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every 
 unclean and hateful bird." 
 
 This herald cried with a voice worthy of an 
 angel, and proclaimed (mystic) Babylon the 
 great i. e. , papal imposture, is fallen, is fallen, is 
 most certainly fallen, in God's immutable pur- 
 
166 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 poses, and become the habitation, &c., of all that 
 is hellish and detestable. "When popish impos- 
 ture comes to a final end, and all its secrets are 
 told, and the doleful relics of all its monsters in 
 wickedness are exhumed, the world will get a 
 stench of sin, which admits of no comparison. 
 The bigoted devotees of papal imposture are 
 unwilling to look into these things now. 
 
 3. '^ For all nations have drunk of the wine of 
 the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of 
 the earth have committed fornication with her, 
 and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich 
 through the abundance of her delicacies. " 
 
 All nations have had a hand, more or less, in 
 popish imposture, which is here called drunken- 
 ness and fornication ; and the kings of the earth 
 have committed (spiritual) fornication with the 
 Eomish Church, in pandering to it, in order to 
 get its influence to help them : and the mer- 
 chants of the earth waxed rich, by carrying the 
 dainties and gems of the world to it. 
 
 4, *' And I heard another voice from heaven, 
 saying, come out of her, my people that ye be 
 Qot partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not 
 of her plagues.^' 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 167 
 
 The apostle next hears the Yoice of the Saviour 
 from heaven, calling his people out of the Rom- 
 ish Church before its final destruction ; like Lot 
 called his friends, '^ Up get ye, for the Lord will 
 destroy this place." 
 
 5. ^' For her sins have reached unto heaven, and 
 God hath remembered her iniquities." 
 
 The sins of this papal, anti-christian power, 
 have reached, like dark mountains, unto heaven, 
 and God remembers them, although presumptu- 
 ous fanatics construe God's long forbearance into 
 forgetfulness. 
 
 6. ^^Eeward her even as she rewarded you, and 
 double unto her double according to her works ; 
 in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her 
 double." 
 
 The nations injured by papal imposture are 
 here called on to return double punishment 
 for the extraordinary wickedness and injury 
 which Eome had done to them. The size of 
 sin is the measure of its punishment. 
 
 7. ^' How much she hath glorified herself, and 
 lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow 
 given her, for she saith in heart, I sit a queen 
 and am no widow and shall see no sorrow." 
 
168 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Tlie self-exaltation, luxury and regal indepen- 
 dence of the Eomisli hierarchy will be the 
 measure of God's vengeance on it, when he 
 rises up in His majesty to reckon with it finally. 
 
 8. '' Therefore her plagues shall come in one 
 day, death and mourning and famine, and she 
 shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the 
 Lord God who judgeth her." 
 
 The end of the Romish Church will be sud- 
 den at last, viz., death, mourning, famine and 
 burning. 
 
 Rome is to be treated like the unchaste daugh- 
 ter of a priest. Lev. 21 : 9. 
 
 9. " And the kings of the earth who have com- 
 mitted fornication and lived deliciously with her 
 shall l)ewail her, and lament for her when they 
 see the smoke of her burning." 
 
 Such potentates as remain unconverted and 
 leagued with Rome will bewail her burning. 
 
 10. " Standing afar off for the fear of her tor- 
 ment, saying, Alas, alas ! that great city Babylon, 
 that mighty city ! for in one hour is tliy judg- 
 ment come." 
 
 The remaining beneficiaries of Romish impos- 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, 169 
 
 ture will stand back as well as they can, and 
 howl over her destruction ; amazed at the final 
 ruin of such wealth, grandeur and arrogance. 
 Eome is still compared to Babylon. 
 
 11. ^^ And the merchants of the earth shall 
 weep and mourn oyer her ; for no man buyetli 
 their merchandise any more." 
 
 The merchants mourn over her, because the 
 market of their commerce is extinct. Acts, 16: 19. 
 
 12. '' The merchandise of gold and silver and 
 precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and 
 purple, and silk and scarlet, and all thyme 
 wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all 
 manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of 
 brass, and iron, and marble." 
 
 Fourteen articles of most tasty merchandise 
 are here enumerated, among which is thyme, or 
 sweet wood. Merchants accumulated great wealth 
 by carr3ring these luxuries to papal Rome, and so 
 feeding her carnal ambition. 
 
 13. ^'Ajidi cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, 
 and fraakincense, and wine, and oil, and fine 
 flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and 
 horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of 
 men." 
 
170 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Fourteen more most costly articles of com- 
 merce are here specified — among wliich are 
 slaves, or bodies and souls of men ; these refer 
 to the spiritual traffic, by which the leaders and 
 retainers in the Eomisli church enrich them- 
 selves at the expense of the ignorant and bigoted 
 masses of the people. See mass, indulgence, 
 &c., -(fee. 
 
 14. '^ And the fruits that thy soul lusted after 
 are departed from thee, and all things which are 
 dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and 
 thou shalt find them no more at all." 
 
 This verse describes the doleful end of all 
 comfort to papal Rome. 
 
 15. ^^ The merchants of these things which 
 were made rich by her shall stand afar off, for 
 the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing." 
 
 The merchants will stand afar off, through 
 fear, and weep and wail, because the market for 
 their commerce is gone. Whatever a man views 
 as his chief good, is his God — whether it be the 
 Creator or the creature. 
 
 16. '^ And saying, alas, alas ! that great city, 
 that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 171 
 
 scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious 
 stones, and pearls." 
 
 The merchants will be utterly amazed as well 
 as grieved to see the end of the wealth and gran- 
 deur of pa^aal Rome. 
 
 17. " For in one hour so great riches is come to 
 nought. And every ship-master, and all the 
 company in ships, and sailors, and as many as 
 trade by sea, stood afar off." 
 
 The suddenness of the end of papal Rome will 
 especially astonish the merchants. 
 
 18. ^^ And cried when they saw the smoke of 
 herburning, saying, what city is like unto this 
 great city?" 
 
 The howling of the merchants over the loss of 
 their trafic with papal Rome shows that Mammon 
 is their God. 
 
 19. '' And they cast dust on their heads, and 
 cried, weeping and wailing, saying, alas, alas ! 
 that great city, wherein were made rich all that 
 had ships in the sea, by reason of her costliness; 
 for in one hour is she made desolate." 
 
 The merchants cast dust on their heads to 
 
172 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 emphasize their wailings over the loss of their 
 false God Mammon ; they appear to be even worse 
 than Esau, Micah, or those who made shrines 
 for Diana ; the religion of Christ cannot be 
 where there is so much love of the world 
 
 20. '^Eejoice over her, thou heaven, ana ye 
 noly apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged 
 you on her." 
 
 The heaven and saints are called on to rejoice, 
 because God has avenged them on the anti-chris- 
 tian imposture at Eome. 
 
 21 . ^' And a mighty angel took up a stone like a 
 great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 
 thus with violence shall that great city Babylon 
 be thrown down, and shall be found no more at 
 all." 
 
 To illustrate the fatal and final fall of that 
 great city (mystic) Babylon, i. e., papal Rome, 
 a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great mill- 
 stone, and cast it into the sea, in imitation of 
 the prediction of the fatal fall of literal Babylon. 
 Jer. 51 : 60-63. 
 
 22. '^ And the voice of harpers, and musicians, 
 and of pipers, and trumjDcters, shall be heard no 
 
THE REYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 173 
 
 more at all in thee ; and no craftsman, of what- 
 soever craft he be, shall be found any more in 
 thee ; and the sound of a mill-stone shall be 
 heard no more at all in thee." 
 
 The musician, craftsman and mill-stone will 
 be heard no more in papal Eome. 
 
 23. ^^ And the light of a candle shall shine no 
 more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bride- 
 groom and of the bride shall be heard no more 
 at all in thee ; for thy merchants were the great 
 men of the earth ; for by thy sorceries were all 
 nations deceived." 
 
 The light of a candle and the voice of the 
 bride-groom and of the bride are to be heard in 
 anti-christian Eome no more, when these judg- 
 ments take place. This will also be a punish- 
 ment on her merchants, as the great ones of the 
 earth : also destruction to papal Eome, for 
 seducing all nations by her sorceries, tricks, 
 juggleries and lying wonders, etc. 
 
 24. ^' And in her was found the blood of proph- 
 ets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon 
 the earth." 
 
 In the skirts of papal Eome will be found the 
 blood of prophets, saints and martyrs, to a mon- 
 
174 THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOHT^. 
 
 strous extent far — more than is known of yet — ■ 
 as all secrets will be told wlien Antichrist is 
 consumed. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1. " And after these things I heard a great 
 voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia : 
 salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, 
 unto the Lord our God." 
 
 After these things, viz., the description of the 
 wickedness, ambition, luxury, arrogance, de- 
 struction, etc., of the Romish imposture, the 
 apostle heard a great voice of much peoj^le in 
 heaven, sa3dng. Alleluia. This word is derived 
 from haulal, to praise, and the last syllable of 
 Jehovah's, and the church triumphant ascribe 
 their own salvation, glory, honor and power to 
 their God, because he had destroyed this pre- 
 tended mother church and vicar of the Son of 
 God. 
 
 2. " For true and righteous are his judgments : 
 for he hath judged the great whore, which did 
 corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath 
 avenged the bloo^.^ of his servants at her hand. " 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 175 
 
 Grlorified saints ascribe trtitli and rigliteous- 
 ness to God, and, as an example of it, they refer 
 to God's vengeance on the great (spiritual) whore, 
 the papal imposture, which had corrupted the 
 Christian religion — ^like a brothel corrupts the 
 morals of a community. 
 
 The blood of the martyrs cry to God against 
 these fanatics and inipostors, like the blood of 
 righteous Abel, and God w^ill assuredly hear, as 
 He is just. 
 
 3. "And again they said. Alleluia. And her 
 smoke rose up forever and ever." 
 
 The saints repeat Alleluia, praise Jehovah, 
 and her smoke rose up forever and ever, i. e., 
 eternal punishment. 
 
 4. " And the four and twenty elders and the 
 four beasts fell down and worshipped God that 
 sat on the throne, saying. Amen ; Alleluia." 
 
 The four and twenty emblems of the whole 
 Church, and the four emblems of the Ministry, 
 worship God, and say. Amen, so let it be ; Alle- 
 luia, praise Jehovah. 
 
 5. "And a voice came out of the throne, say- 
 
176 THE EEYEJ.ATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 ing, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye 
 that fear him, both small and great." 
 
 The Yoice of some leading saint or angel near 
 the throne called on all classes to j^raise God. 
 
 6. ^^And I heard, as it were, the voice of a 
 great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, 
 and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. 
 Alleluia : for the Lord God omnipotent reign- 
 eth." 
 
 The heavenly hosts, by way of a response to 
 the call, in the preceding verse, and with the 
 voice of a great multitude, and of many waters, 
 and of mighty thunderings, said, Alleluia, praise 
 Jehovah ; for the Lord God omnipotent reign - 
 eth, i. e., crushed all opposition to his universal 
 empire ; hence, the conversion of the world is 
 alluded to. 
 
 7. '' Let us be glad and rejoice, and give 
 honor to him : for the marriage of the Lamb is 
 come, and his wife hath made herself ready." 
 
 Saints and angels 2:)ropose to be glad and re- 
 joice, and honor the omnipotent God reigning, 
 for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his 
 wife hath made herself ready. Here we may con- 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 177 
 
 sider the marriage faitli with its effects, and the 
 Lamb, Christ, and the wife, the whole Church. 
 
 8. '^ And to her was granted that she should 
 be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for 
 the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." 
 
 The Church is arrayed in fine linen, which is 
 an emblem of Christ's righteousness, and clean, 
 viz. , pure from sin ; and white, or bright, i. e. , re- 
 flecting the excellencies of Christ's righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 9. *^ And he saith unto me, write, Blessed are 
 they which are called unto the marriage supper 
 of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are 
 the true sayings of God." 
 
 The angel which communicated unto John, 
 in this vision, bid him wa-ite : Blessed are they 
 which are called (by the Word and Spirit) unto 
 the marriage supper of the Lamb, i. e., joys of 
 heaven, which we gain by being united to 
 Christ, by faith; like marriage unites husband 
 and wife. 
 
 This angel further announces that these 
 (revelations) are the true sayings of God. The 
 millennium will be a bright type of this marriage 
 BujDper of the Lamb. 
 
178 THE REYELATIOX OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 10. ''And I fell at liis feet to worship liim. 
 And lie said unto me : See thou do it not ; I am 
 thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have 
 the testimony of Jesus : worship God : for the 
 testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 
 
 This angel was neither a Pope nor a Papist, 
 for he forbid John of worshipping him, or any 
 other creature, and bid him worship God, as the 
 only proper object of worship. The angel fur- 
 ther informs John that he (the angel) was his 
 (John's) fellow-servant and co-laborer in the 
 work of Christ for the Church. The testi- 
 mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy ; in other 
 words, the spirit dictates prophecy, and pro- 
 phecy revealed Christ, as the door, the way, the 
 truth and the life, etc., of our future enjoyment 
 in heaven. 
 
 Angels, as well as saints, are employed in the 
 salvation of man. Heb. 1 : 14. 
 
 11. ''And I saw heaven opened, and behold; 
 a white horse ; and he that sat upon him was 
 called faithful and true, and in righteousness he 
 doth judge, and make war." 
 
 The apostle next sees in a new scene a wiiite 
 horse, as an emblem of justice and purity, and 
 
THE HEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 179 
 
 the rider, as an emblem of Clirist, whose titles are 
 faithful and true, and he judges and makes war 
 in righteousness, and not for ill-gotten gain, like 
 depraved man. 
 
 12. '^ His eyes were as aflame of fire, and on 
 his head were many crowns, and he had a name 
 written, that no man knew but he himself. " 
 
 The Saviour's eyes are as a flame of fire, de- 
 notes his omniscience to detect enemies, and his 
 many crowns denote his sovereignty as Creator, 
 Eedeemer, Head of the Church, and conqueror of 
 all his enemies. " Name unknown to all but 
 himself" denotes his eternal, incomprehensible 
 Lordship. 
 
 13. *^ And he was clothed with a vesture dipped 
 m blood ; and his name is called The Word of 
 God." 
 
 The Saviour was clothed with a vesture dipped 
 in or baptized with blood. See the same angel 
 Isa. 63 : 1. This was the blood of his enemies ; 
 and his name is called the Word, as the medium 
 of all communication between heaven and earth ; 
 like words are the mediums of communication be- 
 tween human beings. 
 
 14. ''And the armies which were in heaven 
 
180 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine 
 linen, white and clean." 
 
 The Saviour's armies of the redeemed in heaven 
 followed, by obedience and white horses, de- 
 notes that they acquiesced in his justice and pur- 
 ity ; clothed in linen, w^hite and clean, denoting 
 Christ's righteousness, which they had received 
 by faith. 
 
 15. ^^And out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword, that with it he should smite the nations : 
 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron : and 
 he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and 
 wrath of Almighty God." 
 
 The sharp sword going out of the Saviour's 
 mouth denotes the execution of his sentence on 
 his enemies, and the rod of iron denotes destruc- 
 tion to all who will not have this man to reign 
 over them. Ps. 1, and Luke 19 : 14-27. ''And 
 he treadeth the winepress," i. e., he does the 
 work of a servant, redeeming the faithful, and 
 destroying the implacable, causing their blood to 
 flow red, like wine, in accordance with God's 
 wrath against the wicked. 
 
 16. ^' And he hath on his vesture, and on his 
 thigh, a name written, King of Kings, and Lord 
 of Lords." 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 181 
 
 The Sayiour lias a label or badge upon liis ves- 
 ture and on his thigh, where the sword hangs, 
 King of Kings and Lord of Lords, denoting his 
 universal emjoire. 
 
 17. '^ And I saw an angel standing in the sun, 
 and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the 
 fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and 
 gather yourselves together unto the supper of the 
 great God." 
 
 The battle of Armageddon is again referred to 
 here ; and I will give in order my ideas of the 
 great events between us now, 1873, and the open- 
 ing of the millennium. The combined papal 
 forces will make two dreadful but unsuccessful 
 attempts to regain Rome and the Papal States, 
 viz., the reaping of the harvest and the vintage. 
 Chap. 14. Next, the Jews will return to Canaan 
 with great wealth, and about the same time Mo- 
 hammedanism will give way, perhaps, by the 
 Czar of Eussia and King of Prussia (now Empe- 
 ror of Germany) dividing Turkey between them- 
 selves. The Pope, with his adherents, will then 
 send out three classes of emissaries, called frogs, 
 and induce the Mohammedans and other kings 
 of the East to join them in robbing the Jews, 
 but God will give them a fearful overthrow. This 
 
182 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 is the sixth vial. The great obstacles to the 
 speedy conversion of the world will then be re- 
 moved. Then comes the seventh vial. And as 
 the Jews will have gone home Christians, they 
 will make the best of missionaries, under the 
 seventh vial, to bring in the millennium, they 
 being acquainted with all languages. In view of 
 the battle of Armageddon, John sees an angel as 
 a herald standing in the sun for publicity, and 
 calling all the fowls of the heaven to come and 
 feast on the dead bodies of Antichrist and his 
 hosts, who had assembled to rob the penitent 
 Jews, returned to Canaan, the land given to 
 Father Abraham and his offspring for a posses- 
 sion forever and ever. 
 
 18. '^That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and 
 the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, 
 and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on 
 them, and the flesh of all men, both free and 
 jond, both small and great." 
 
 The supper which God will give to the fowls con- 
 sists in the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, 
 horses and their riders, and all men, free and 
 bond, small and great ; their destruction is tlie 
 measure of their presumption and godless sin. 
 
 19. '^ And I saw the beasts, and the kings of 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN". 183 
 
 tlie eartli and their armies, gathered together to 
 make war against him that sat on the horse, and 
 against his army." 
 
 The Papal Antichrist, with all his regal allies, 
 waged war against him (the Saviour) that sat on 
 the horse and against his army ; this will be a 
 fearful undertaking and will have a fearful 
 ending. 
 
 20. ^^And the beast was taken, and with him 
 tlie false prophet that wrought miracles before 
 him, with which he deceived them that had re- 
 ceived the mark of the beast, and them that 
 worshipped his image. These both were cast 
 alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." 
 
 The beast, the secular power that sustains the 
 Papal Anti christ, and the false prophet, Anti- 
 christ himself, with all his devotees, will be cap- 
 tured and cast alive into a lake of fire burning 
 with brimstone, an emblem of hell. 
 
 21. "And the remnant were slain with the 
 sword of him that sat upon the horse, which 
 sword proceeded out of his mouth : and all the 
 fowls were filled with their flesh." 
 
 The remnant of the anti-christian hosts will 
 
184 THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHlSr. 
 
 be slain by tlie sentence of the Saviour, "the 
 fowls feasted on their flesh." This is the close of 
 the battle of Armageddon and the end of Anti- 
 christ, with his Mohammedan and heathen allies. 
 The conversion of the world will follow easily 
 when these great obstacles are taken out of the 
 way. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1. "And I saw an angel come down from 
 heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and 
 a great chain in his hand." 
 
 In the natural order of events the millennium 
 comes next, and, preparatory to its introduction, 
 the apostle sees an angel come down from heaven 
 — like the sheriff is sent out by the civil govern- 
 ment to catch culprits — having the key, i.e., the 
 control of the bottomless pit, i. e., endless hell — 
 like the sheriff has control of the prison — " and 
 a great chain in his hand," denoting the restraints 
 laid on the leader of the fallen angels during the 
 millennium — like the sheriff binds criminals to 
 restrain them. 
 
 2. " And he laid hold on the dragon, that old 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 185 
 
 serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound 
 him a thousand years." 
 
 The tempter in Paradise is here called the 
 dragon, that old serpent the devil, and Satan, 
 and is bound, i. e., restrained during the millen- 
 nium; otherwise the world would never be con- 
 verted. Dragon and serpent, refer to the medi- 
 um which the tempter used in Paradise, which 
 is a subtle, degraded, vicious, venomous reptile, 
 and is now the emblem of the devil. Devil, or its 
 root diabolus, means a traducer, and Satan means 
 an adversary. 
 
 3. " And cast him into the bottomless pit, 
 and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that 
 he should deceive the nations no more, till the 
 thousand years should be fulfilled : and after that 
 he must be loosed a little season. " 
 
 In this verse Satan is imprisoned to restrain 
 him, and sealed for the sake of certainty, that 
 the human race may enjoy the religion of Christ 
 in peace for a thousand years. After that, and 
 just before the end of time, Satan must (in God's 
 economy) be loosed a little season . If anyone says, 
 why not keep him imprisoned, the answer is, you 
 see from your standpoint and God sees from his ; 
 if anything that God does, does not seem best to 
 
186 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, 
 
 you, that fact proves that you are ignorant — for 
 God is infinitely wise. 
 
 4. ''And I saw thrones, and they sat upon 
 them, and judgment was given unto them; and 
 I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for 
 the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, 
 which had not worshipped the beast, neither his 
 image, neither had received his mark upon their 
 foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and 
 reigned with Christ a thousand years." 
 
 Next, the apostle saw thrones, denoting the 
 happy and exalted state of tlie converted world 
 during the millennium, Dan. 7 : 14 ; and they 
 (the righteous) sat upon them, as kings and 
 priests to God, Eev. 1 : 4-6 ; for in the hearts 
 of the human family at large, during the millen- 
 nium, the saints will reign in spirit . As to the 
 moral state of their hearts in those times, and as 
 priests oifer the sacrifice of praise and thanks- 
 giving to God, Eev. 5 : 10, these things will be 
 a type and foretaste of heaven ; And judgment 
 was given unto them,- viz., the righteous^ as 
 Christ's assessors, who had judged the beast, and 
 will, by his saints as his assessors, judge the 
 world at the last day. Christ came into the 
 world personally when, he atoned for sin on 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 187 
 
 the cross, and lie will come personally a second 
 time to judge the world, Heb. 9 : 27, 28, and end 
 all things here below. Next the apostle saw the 
 souls (but not the bodies) of the pious martyrs of 
 past ages, i. e., successive generations of pious 
 persons like the martyrs, and they lived and 
 reigned with Christ a thousand years, just as 
 John the Baptist was promised under the name 
 of Elijah, because they were very much alike, 
 Matt. 4 : 5, compared with Mark 9 : 11-13. I 
 have not bothered the mind of the reader with 
 the vain and conceity notions of those who be- 
 come intoxicated with one idea, and fly off in a 
 contrary direction, like an arrow shot into the 
 air without a spike in it to balance its course. 
 
 5. ^'But the rest of the dead lived not again 
 until the thousand years were finished. This is 
 the first resurrection." 
 
 '^ But the rest of the dead," i. e., such wicked 
 people, as hosts of the past generations, lived not 
 again until the thousand years were finished ; 
 hence we can see that the earth will be inhabited 
 entirely by j)ious people during the millennium, 
 and something like a universal revival of religion 
 will prevail all over, the earth. 
 
 If the thousand years are a prophetic thousand. 
 
188 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 they will be three hundred and sixty thousand 
 years, according to our usual computation of 
 years ; ar^d I lean towards this opinion, for our 
 Saviour must '' see of the travail of his soul and 
 be satisfied." Isa. 53 : 11. 
 
 This (rising into a state of grace and prepara- 
 tion for heaven) is the first resurrection ; the 
 second will be at the last day. 
 
 6. '^ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
 the first resurrection ; on such the second death 
 hath no power, but they shall be priests of God 
 and of Christ and shall reign with him a thou- 
 sand years." 
 
 '^ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the 
 first (spiritual resurrection," viz., the new birth, 
 John 3.: 3, and full sanctification, which is the 
 carrying out of the new birth ; on (all) such the 
 second death (hell) hath no power; but they 
 shall be priests of God (spiritually and to offer 
 praise and thanksgiving) and reign (in their holy 
 affections and emotions) with him, i. e., the 
 Saviour during the millennium. 
 
 7. " And when the thousand years are ex- 
 pired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." 
 
 At the end of the millennium, and just before 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 189 
 
 fclie end of time, Satan shall be loosed out of his 
 prison — probably to show that the millennium 
 was of grace and not works. 
 
 8. " And shall go out to deceive the nations 
 which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog 
 and Magog, to gather them to battle, the num- 
 ber of whom is as the sand of the sea." 
 
 Every human being is born into the world 
 with a depraved moral nature ; and when Satan 
 is loosed from his prison, he will prevent hosts 
 in the four quarters of the earth of becoming 
 pious, and excite them to persecute, like Gog 
 and Magog did before the millennium. Ezek, 
 38 and 39, and Eev. 16 : 16. 
 
 9. " And they went up on the breadth of the 
 earth and compassed the camp of the saints 
 about and the beloved city ; and fire came down 
 from God out of heaven and devoured them." 
 
 When these last and most awful anti-christian 
 hosts are in the height of their hellish career, 
 and persecuting the remnant of the pious, the 
 fire of God's wrath from heaven will consume 
 them. The habitation of the pious is compared 
 to the ' ' beloved city " Jerusalem in its best days. 
 
190 THE EEYELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 10. ^^ And the devil that deceived tliem was 
 cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where 
 the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be 
 tormented day and night forever and ever." 
 
 After this last anti-christian struggle, Satan 
 will be cast into "the lake of fire and brim- 
 stone " (an emblem of hell), with all his agents, 
 impostors, etc. 
 
 11. "And I saw a great white throne, and him 
 that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the 
 heaven fled away, and there was found no place 
 for them." 
 
 The next event in order is the coming of 
 Christ to judgment, in infinite majesty. The 
 heavens and the earth fleeing away before the 
 judge, denote the dissolution of the visible crea- 
 tion before the Saviour, at his second coming. 
 
 12. "And I saw the dead, small and great, 
 stand before God ; and the books were opened, 
 and another book was opened, which is the book 
 of life, and the dead were judged out of those 
 things which were written in the books, accord- 
 ing to their works." 
 
 The next thing in order is the resurrection, for 
 the dead, small and great, stand before God (the 
 
THE KEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 191 
 
 Son), and the books (tlie records of the charac- 
 ters and conduct of the human race) were opened, 
 that the assembled universe might see the justice 
 of the Judge. I think ^^the books " are the rec- 
 ords of conscience compared with revelation. 
 The influence of the infinite majesty of the Judge 
 will bring fresh to memory all the thoughts, 
 words, deeds and desires of men and angels, 
 both good and bad. ^' Another book was opened," 
 containing the names of the redeemed. We will 
 be judged according to our works — as the effect 
 of our faith and moral state of heart. 
 
 13. '^ And the sea gave up the dead which were 
 in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead 
 which were in them, and they were judged, every 
 man according to their works." 
 
 The sea, death and hades, or the grave, gave up 
 their dead, and they were judged in like manner. 
 
 14. ^' And death and hell were cast into the 
 lake of fire. This is the second death." 
 
 And death and hell, or hades, or the state of 
 separation between soul and body, were cast into 
 the lake of fire, i. e., hell. Our first death is the 
 separation of soul and body, and the second, 
 hell. 
 
192 THE EEYELATiON OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 15. ^^And whosoever was not found written 
 in tlie book of life was cast into the lake of 
 fire." 
 
 The names of all the redeemed are recorded 
 in heaven, the rest are lost. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1. '^ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, 
 for the first heaven and the first earth were 
 passed away, and there was no more sea." 
 
 The next thing in order is an emblem of the 
 heavenly state of the righteous in eternity. To 
 understand the Apocalypse, always ■ remember 
 the order of events, dates, etc. The new heaven 
 and new earth succeed the old. " And there is 
 no more sea to cause danger or trouble, or sepa- 
 rate brethren. The apostle Peter also speaks of 
 the heavenly state, 2 Peter, 3 : 10-13 ; because 
 he is speaking of the state of all things after the 
 day of judgment. But the prophet Isaiah s^^eaks 
 of the millennium, Isa. 65, 17-19, and QQ \ 19- 
 23, because he is treating of the conversion of 
 the whole world and the intense piety that will 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 193 
 
 tlien prevail; yet all three witnesses use tlie 
 term ^^ New Creation." 
 
 2. *'And I, John, saw the holy city, new Je- 
 rusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. " 
 
 As the land of Canaan, a type of heaven, had 
 its central point of worship, Jerusalem, so the 
 heavenly state had its new Jerusalem, adorned 
 most exquisitely by and for Christ, as a bride is 
 adorned for the bridegroom, and coming down 
 from God out of heaven near by, so that John 
 might contemplate it as an emblem of the abode 
 of all the redeemed to infinity. 
 
 3. ^^ And I heard a great voice out of heaven, 
 saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people, and God himself shall be 
 with them, and be their God." 
 
 ^^ A great voice out of heaven," probably from 
 the angel that gave this revelation to John, pro- 
 claimed that God now condescends to tabernacle 
 with the redeemed and be their God, and they 
 his people. 
 
 4. ^' And God shall wipe away all tears from 
 their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
 
194 THE EEVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 
 
 neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
 any more pain ; for the former things are passed 
 away. " 
 
 God as a tender parent, in heaven, will free all 
 the redeemed, by Christ, of tears, death, sorrow, 
 crying and pain — all of which are the effects of 
 sin — for the former (sinful) things are passed 
 away. 
 
 5. ^^And he that sat npon the throne said. 
 Behold I make all things new. And he said unto 
 me, write, for these words are true and faithful. " 
 
 In this verse the Mediator has moved to the 
 throne of his judgment, and proclaims to the 
 uniA^erse, " Behold I make all things new," with 
 regard to the redeemed ; and bids the apostle 
 write his true and faithful words for the benefit 
 of our race. 
 
 6. ^^ And he said unto me, it is done. I am 
 Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I 
 will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain 
 of the water of life freely." 
 
 In view of the conclusion of the general judg- 
 ment and beginning of the eternal state, the 
 Judge of all the earth said, ^^ It is done," i. e., the 
 righteous are saved and the wicked lost, and 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 195 
 
 the conflict between Christ and Satan over — the 
 final destiny of man is fixed. Our Saviour il- 
 lustrates his existence from eternity to eternity, 
 by calling hirdself Alpha, the first letter of the 
 Greek alphabet, and Omega, the last letter of the 
 same ; he also calls himself ''the beginning and 
 the end," as having created all things and dis- 
 posed of all things. Creation is ascribed to the 
 Son and Spirit, as vs^ell as to the Father ; and 
 they are called the Trinne God, or Trinity, which 
 means three in one, viz., three persons and only 
 one divine nature. To every one who thirsts for 
 the salvation of God our Saviour will give of the 
 fountain of the water of life freely, i. e., he 
 shall not merely have little foretastes of heavenly 
 happiness, like good people have in this world, 
 but go to the fountain head and drink freely." 
 
 7. ''He that overcometh shall inherit all 
 things, and I will be his God, and he shall be 
 my son." 
 
 The Saviour says, he that overcometh sin by 
 faith in the Redeemer shall possess things 
 heavenly ; for each glorified saint and holy 
 angel possesses and enjoys heaven as much as if 
 it was his own, and he is a spiritual son of God, 
 and God is his Father. 
 
196 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 8. '^^Biit the fearful and imbelieying, and tlie 
 abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, 
 and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall 
 have their part in the lake which burneth with 
 fire and brimstone : which is the second death." 
 
 The misery of all the wicked will be as great 
 in hell as the happiness of the righteous in 
 heaven. For our instruction and warning, the 
 various classes of the wicked are here enumer- 
 ated, viz., the fearful, who would not venture 
 to forsake all for Christ ; and the unbelieving, 
 who would not trust the Lord Jesus with their 
 soul's concerns ; and the abominable, in deeds 
 of unnatural wickedness ; and murderers, who 
 hate their brother and the sixth commandment ; 
 and whoremongers, who hate the seventh com- 
 mandment and devote themselves to the worst 
 class of women; and sorcerers, all manner of 
 conjurers and diviners, for they apply to other 
 sources for knowledge than to God ; and idola- 
 ters, who pay their homage to the creature in- 
 stead of the Creator ; and all liars, who of course 
 hate the ninth commandment and the God of 
 truth. All such characters as the above shall 
 have their part in the lake which burneth with 
 fire and brimstone, an emblem of hell, which is 
 the second death. 
 
THE REVELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 197 
 
 0. ^^ And there came unto me one of the seven 
 angels, which had the seven vials full of the seven 
 last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come 
 hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife." 
 
 The glories of the heavenly abode of the right- 
 eous is here described emblematically, at length, 
 and the New Jerusalem may, for the sake of 
 clearness of idea, be compared to the small like- 
 ness of an invention, which the patentee makes 
 out and carries to the Patent Office, in order to 
 secure his patent ; the likeness is a miniature 
 view of the invention, and the New Jerusalem 
 is a miniature view of heaven. 
 
 One of the seven angels now invited John to 
 come and see the bride, the Lamb's wife. The 
 figurative expression, the bride, is now changed 
 from the redeemed to the abode of the re- 
 deemed ; which intimates that we are to receive 
 general ideas, and not particularize. 
 
 10. ^^ And he carried me aw^ay in the spirit to 
 a great and high mountain, and shewed me that 
 great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out 
 of heaven from God." 
 
 John's bodily senses were now locked up from 
 the world, under the influence of the Holy 
 
198 THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Spirit, and in liis mind lie was carried to a great 
 and high mountain, and he saw, with the eyes 
 of his mind, the holy Jerusalem descending out 
 of heaven from God, as bestowed on man 
 through the atonement of Christ. 
 
 11. ^* Having the glory of God; and her 
 light was like unto a stone most precious, even 
 like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." 
 
 The glory of God illuminated the JSTew Jeru- 
 salem, and was like a jasper, clear as crystal ; 
 hence the qualities of one gem are not sufficient 
 to emblematize the excellencies of heavenly 
 things. 
 
 12. ^'^ And had a wall great and high, and had 
 twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and 
 natoies written thereon, which are the names of 
 the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. " 
 
 The twelve gates of the wall, kept by twelve 
 angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve 
 tribes of Israel written, all denote the Church 
 of Christ, under the Old Testament dispensation 
 emanating from the twelve patriarchs. 
 
 13. ^^On the east, three gates, and on the 
 north, three gates; on the south, three gates, 
 and on the west, three gates." 
 
THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN. 199 
 
 The twelve gates, equally distributed on the 
 four sides of the city, denote the perfect sym- 
 metry of everything in heaven. 
 
 14. ^'And the wall of the city had twelve 
 foundations, and in them the names of the 
 twelve apostles of the Lamb." 
 
 The twelve foundations of the wall of the 
 city, corresponding to the twelve apostles of the 
 Lamb, Christ, denote that the doctrines of 
 Christ alone lead into this city. 
 
 15. "And he that talked with me had a 
 golden reed to measure the city and the gates 
 thereof, and the wall thereof." 
 
 The angel brought a golden reed to measure 
 the city, gates and wall, shewing that everything 
 in heaven is adapted to every other thing in that 
 holy place. 
 
 16. "And the city lieth four square, and the 
 length is as large as the breadth : and he meas- 
 ured the city with the reed, twelve thousand 
 furlongs. The length, and the breadth, and the 
 height of it are equal." 
 
 The four square and cubical form of the city 
 deno'e the supernatural and exquisite perfec- 
 
200 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 tions of ever}i:liing in the mansions of rest. The 
 twelve thousand furlongs are fifteen hundred 
 miles; if the length, breadth and height be 
 multiplied together, the contents will appear 
 amazing. As to the city being as high as it is 
 long or wide, remember it is only a faint em- 
 blem of things which we have not yet seen. 
 
 17. ^'And he measured the wall thereof, an 
 hundred and forty and four cubits, according to 
 the measure of a man, that is, of the angel." 
 
 The angel measured (perhaps the thickness 
 of) the wall, one hundred and forty and four 
 cubits, i. e., a hundred and forty-four times the 
 distance from the elbow (of the angel) to the 
 end of the longest finger, like men measured in 
 ancient times. 
 
 18. "And the building of the wall of it was 
 of jasper : and the city was pure gold, like unto 
 clear glass." 
 
 The wall was made of jasper, a gem which ad- 
 mits of a high polish. The city being of pure 
 gold, like unto clear glass, intimates that no 
 mineral on earth is fine enough by itself to be 
 an emblem of heaven; also, in heaven our 
 knowledge and communion will be clear and 
 pure, suited to the place. 
 
THE FvEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 201 
 
 19. "And the foundations of the wall of the 
 city "were garnished with all manner of precious 
 stones. The first foundation was jasper; the 
 second sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the 
 fourth an emerald ; 
 
 20. "The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; 
 the seyenth, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the 
 ninth, a topaz ; the tenth, a chrysoprasus ; the 
 eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst." 
 
 The foundations of the wall, garnished with 
 twelve of the most beautiful, precious and valu- 
 able gems, are a nice emblem of the doctrines 
 of Christ, taught by the twelve apostles, which 
 doctrines lead all the followers of Christ to the 
 place which he has prepared for them. 
 
 21. "And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; 
 every several gate was of one pearl, and the 
 street of the city was of pure gold, as it were 
 transparent glass." 
 
 The twelve gates, each of the same kind of 
 pearl, may denote that the same doctrines of 
 Christ leads every one into that holy place, who- 
 ever goes there ; as the Saviour chose twelve 
 apostles, at the beginning of his ministry, to 
 plant the New Testament dispensation of his 
 Church. 
 
203 THE EEVELATIOJ^- OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 22. "And I saw no temple therein: for the 
 Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the tem- 
 ple of it." 
 
 The apostle saw no temple in the New Jeru- 
 salem, for the temple, with all its services, was 
 a type of Christ with his mediation; hence, 
 when all the redeemed get to heaven, they will 
 enjoy Christ in his glorified state, and have no 
 more use for the type. In the Saviour's glorified 
 human nature dwells all the fullness of the God- 
 head bodily ; and his followers will enjoy it to 
 the full, without any type or medium of any 
 kind between them. 
 
 23. " And the city had no need of the sun, 
 neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the 
 glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the 
 light thereof." 
 
 The New Jerusalem has neither snn, nor moon, 
 in it ; because glorified saints enjoy the light of 
 the immediate presence of God and the Lamb, 
 who creates the sun and moon to give us light in 
 this distant world ; while we are in the flesh. 
 Our Saviour's glorified human nature will always 
 remain as the connecting link between the 
 redeemed and Deity. 
 
THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 203 
 
 24. "And the nations of tliem which are 
 sayed shall walk in the light of it ; and the 
 kings of the earth do bring their glory and 
 honor into it." 
 
 The nations, or hosts that are saved, shall 
 walk or live in the light of God's presence ; and 
 as holiness of heart is the true honor and glory 
 of kings, such of them as are saved will bring 
 that into the New Jerusalem with them. 
 
 25. '" And the gates of it shall not be shut at 
 all by day : for there shall be no night there." 
 
 As the New Jerusalem will enjoy one eternal 
 day, there will be no need of shutting the gates. 
 
 26. ''And they shall bring the glory and 
 honor of the nations into it." 
 
 Piety is the real glory and honor of the na- 
 tions, and the saved will carry it to the New 
 Jerusalem with them. 
 
 27. ''And there shall in no wise enter into it, 
 anything that defileth, neither whatsoever work- 
 eth abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they 
 which are written in the Lamb's book of life." 
 
 All the righteous have their names written in 
 the Lamb's book of life, they shall enter the New 
 
204 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 Jerusalem ; but all the ungodly of every descrip- 
 tion shall be shut out. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1. ''And he showed me a pure river of water 
 of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the 
 throne of God and of the Lamb." 
 
 A pure river of the water of life, clear as crys- 
 tal, denotes the life giving power, the consol- 
 ing, sustaining and enlightening influence of the 
 Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and 
 the Son, or God and the Lamb ; John 14 : 16, 
 18. This endless outgoing of life and suste- 
 nance, from God, to all his creatures, is essential 
 to their preservation and happiness. 
 
 2. ''In the midst of the street of it, and on 
 either side of the river, was there the tree of life, 
 which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 
 her fruit every month ; and the leaves of the 
 tree were for the healing of the nations." 
 
 In the midst of the street of the New Jerusa- 
 lem, and on each side of the river, there were 
 
THE REYELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 205 
 
 many trees of a kind called the Tree of Life, which 
 was an emblem of the seed of life, or heaven 
 sealed to its inhabitants ; without any more pro- 
 bation, or temptation, these trees bore twelve 
 manner of fruits, intimating that the doctrines 
 of the twelve apostles suited all the necessities of 
 the redeemed to bring them into this holy place ; 
 yielding fruit every month, denotes an incessant 
 supply for all use. '^ The leaves for the healing 
 of the nations," denote the forestalling of any 
 and all evil. The tree of life in Paradise on 
 earth, sealed life and happiness to Adam and 
 Eve, while they were faithful to their Maker, 
 in their state of trial or probation, as to their 
 fidelity to God's commands ; but when they vio- 
 lated the covenant of works, they forfeited their 
 privileges of the tree of life and were prohibited 
 from it. But in heaven there will be no tempter, 
 nor test of obedience. 
 
 3. "^ And there shall be no more curse, but 
 the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in 
 it; and his servants shall serve him." 
 
 There will be no more curse in heaven, because 
 there will be no more sin. But God and the 
 Lamb, as one Deity, shall reign, and saints and 
 holy angels, shall serve him. 
 
206 THE RETELATIOX OF ST. JOHX. 
 
 There may be a jjeriod in eternity, wlien we 
 will know infinitely more about the Trinity 
 than we do in this world. 
 
 4. ^^And they shall see his face, and his name 
 shall be in their foreheads." 
 
 Saints shall enjoy the presence of God in 
 heaven, and be as well known as his, as if they 
 were labeled in the forehead. 
 
 5. *'And there shall be no night there, and 
 they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; 
 for the Lord God givetli them light, and they 
 shall reign forever and ever." 
 
 There shall be no night there, in heaven ; for 
 God's presence makes eternal day, and saints and 
 angels need no rest, nor sleep ; neither will there 
 be a candle, or light of the sun ; for these would 
 be as unnecessary there as stars here in day time, 
 and the redeemed shall reign, as kings in the 
 universal empire of Jehovah for ever and ever. 
 
 6. "And he said unto me, these sayings are 
 faithful and true. And the Lord God of the 
 holy prophets, sent his angel to shew unto his 
 servants the things which must shortly be done." 
 
 And he (the angel) said unto me (the apostle), 
 these sayings (the x\pocalypse) are faithful and 
 
TFIE REYELATIOX OF ST. JOHN. 207 
 
 true, although they far exceed the conception 
 of man. ^'And the Lord God of the holy- 
 prophets, sent (me) his angel to shew unto his 
 servants the things which must shortly (com- 
 paring time with eternity) be done; even the 
 execution of the Apocalypse. 
 
 7. '^ Behold, I come quickly : blessed is he that 
 keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book." 
 
 Behold, I (the Saviour) come quickly to ac- 
 complish all that is said in Eevelations ; blessed 
 is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy 
 of this book ; in his faith and practice through 
 life, in this present world. 
 
 8. ^^x\nd I John saw these things, and heard 
 them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell 
 down to worshi|) before the feet of the angel 
 which shewed me these things. 
 
 9. " Then saitli he unto me, see thou do it 
 not ; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy 
 brethren the prophets and of them which keep 
 the sa3dngs of this book ; worship God. " 
 
 John attests that he saw and heard these 
 things ; and was so overcome by the glorious 
 appearance of the revealing angel, that he mis- 
 
208 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 took liim for the Saviour ; and fell down to wor- 
 ship him, the angel immediately corrected his 
 mistake, and bid him worship God. If the 
 worshijDping of any being in the universe, except 
 God, was lawful and right, John would have 
 been indulged in this mistake. When the con- 
 clave of cardinals, elect and install a new Pope, 
 their adage is quern (whom) crevant (they create) 
 adorant (they adore). This book is mainly 
 leveled at papal idolatries and other enormities, 
 peculiar to the papacy.. 
 
 10. ^^And he saith unto me, seal not the say- 
 ings of the prophecy of this book ; for the time 
 is at hand." 
 
 The angel bid John not seal the prophecy of 
 this book ; hence it must be published for the 
 good of mankind, for the time is at hand, when 
 its contents will be fulfilled. 
 
 11. ^^He that is unjust, let him be unjust 
 still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy 
 still ; and he that is righteous, let him be right- 
 eous still ; and he that is hol}^, let him be holy 
 still." 
 
 This verse most pointedly teaches, that at 
 death our state is fixed forever ; the righteous. 
 
THE EEVELATIOX OF ST. JOIIX. 209 
 
 remain so to infinity, and the wicked remain so 
 to infinity, and there is not the least hint, in the 
 whole revelation of a middle-place, or purga- 
 tory ; i.e., a place of purification ; the word is 
 deriyed tvompurgOj to purify. 
 
 12. '*And behold, I come quickly ; and my 
 reward is with me, to give every man according 
 as his work shall be." 
 
 Our Saviour warns us that he comes quickly, 
 to make an end of all things here, and settle the 
 destiny of all people hereafter ; and his reward, 
 for both good and bad, is with him, to give hap- 
 piness or misery to each, according to his works, 
 as the eifect of his faith. The faith and the 
 works will be of the same character ; like the 
 fountain and the stream will be the same kind of 
 water. 
 
 13. ^^ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
 and the end, the first and the last." 
 
 Our Saviour again calls himself Alpha and 
 Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek 
 alphabet, intimating his eternal self-existence. 
 
 14. '' Blessed are they that do his comfnand- 
 ments, that they may have right to the tree of life, 
 and may enter in through the gates into the city." 
 
210 THE EEYELATION OF ST. JOHN'. 
 
 Those who love Christ, keep his (Command- 
 ments; and by virtue of an interest in his atone- 
 ment, have a right to the tree of life and an 
 entrance into the city of New Jerusalem. 
 
 15. " For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and 
 whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, 
 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. " 
 
 Outside of the holy city in the skies, is every 
 character and grade of ungodly human beings. 
 
 16. "I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify 
 unto you these things in the churches. I am the 
 root and the offspring of David, and the bright 
 and morning star." 
 
 The Saviour here speaks, and says that he used 
 the ministry of an angel, to reveal this book to 
 the churches, by his servant John; and that He, 
 as to His divine nature, is the root or Creator of 
 David, while, as to his human nature. He is the 
 offspring of David, born unto the world, in 
 David's genealogy ; and also the bright and morn- 
 ing star in traducing the day of grace, and the 
 eternal day of glory; like the morning star ushers 
 in the natural day in the world. 
 
 17. '^^ And the spirit and the bride say, come. 
 And let him that heareth say, come. And let 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 211 
 
 him that athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
 him take the water of life freely." 
 
 The spirit and the bride, or Church say, to all 
 the impenitent, " Come to Christ," by faith and 
 obedience. And the Saviour says, '^ Let him that 
 heareth, with his understanding and conscience, 
 say to all mankind. Come to Christ for salva- 
 tion. " And let him that is athirst, for salvation. 
 Come to Christ." And whosoever will, or is 
 willing to comply with the requisitions of the 
 Gospel, take the water of life, salvation, freely. 
 None stay away only at their own option, and 
 their own risk, and purely on their own respon- 
 sibility. 
 
 18. 19. "For I testify unto every man that 
 heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, 
 If any man shall add unto these things, God 
 shall add unto him the plagues that are written 
 in this book. 
 
 "And if any one shall take away from the 
 words of the book of this prophecy, God shall 
 take his part out of the book of life, and out of 
 the holy city, and from the things which are 
 written in this book." 
 
 Our Saviour here fences this book, with the 
 most awful penalty, against any heaven daring 
 
212 THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 wretch, wlio steals anything out of it, or forges 
 anything into it. The framers of the Dowy 
 Bible, stole the second commandment out of it, 
 and divided the tenth into two, to keep up the 
 number. And the framers of the Eemes Testa- 
 ment stole repentance out of it, and forged pen- 
 ance in place of it. But the above verse tells 
 the future destiny of all who dare to add to, or 
 subtract from the word of God. 
 
 20. *^He which testifieth these things saith, 
 surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so come, 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 He, the Saviour, who testifies these things in 
 this revelation, saith surely I, as the Mediator 
 now, and the Judge at the last day, come 
 quickly, to dispose of all things here below. 
 And the apostle, as the speaker for himself and 
 the churches, added: Amen, even so, come 
 Lord Jesus, and do as you have said. 
 
 21. '^ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
 with you all. Amen." 
 
 John closes with the apostolic benediction, as 
 usual. If any person desires supernatural evi- 
 dence of the truth of the Bible, let him look 
 
THE EEVELATION OF ST. JOHJT. 213 
 
 at the vast hosts of prophesies in it fulfilled 
 and fulfilling, and to be fulfilled, and he will 
 liaA'e better j)roof of the truth of the christian 
 religion than the raising of a corpse to life 
 would be. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 THE SEVEN SEALS.' 
 
 1. Chapter vi : 1. Revivals. 
 
 2. Chapter vi : 3. War. 
 
 3. Chapter vi : 5. Famine. " 
 
 4. Chapter vi: 7. Pestilence. . " 
 
 5. Chapter vi : 9. Martyrs' cry to God " 
 
 6. Chapter vi : 12. Heathen Imperial 
 
 Rome falls. ** 
 
 7. Chapter viii : 1. The Seven Trum- 
 
 pets introduced. ** 
 
 "THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.' 
 
 1. Chapter viii: 7. Alaric with the 
 
 Goths invade the Roman Empire " 
 
 2. Chapter viii: 8. Attila with the 
 
 Huns. 
 
 3. Chapter viii: 10. Genseric with the 
 
 Vandals and Moors. '* 
 
 4. Chapter viii : 12. Imperial Rome 
 
 falls entirely. " 
 
 5. Chapter ix : 1. Mohammed rises 
 
 with the Saracens, and their " 
 conquests continue until *' 
 
 Extend to A. D. 
 
 100 
 138 
 193 
 270 
 304 
 
 324 
 
 395 
 
 410 
 
 450 
 
 456 
 
 566 
 
 606 
 1381 
 
216 IKDEX. 
 
 6. Chapter ix : 13. TurkisliMoliamme- 
 
 dans take Constantinople, etc. 
 
 Continue their conquests to A. D. 1672 
 
 7. Chapter xi : 15. Sounded somewhere between 1672 
 
 and 1685, and glances at great events until the 
 millennium and the end of time. And the seven 
 vials point out seven particular trains of events 
 under it. 
 
 "THE SEVEN YIALS." 
 
 1. Chapter xvi: 2. Popery loses territory by the Refor- 
 
 mation ; during the 16th and part of the 17th centu- 
 ries. 
 
 2. Chapter xvi: 3. Popery loses by wars, during the 
 
 latter part of the 17th and first part of the 18th 
 centuries. 
 
 3. Chapter xvi : 4. Popery loses revenue and influence 
 
 and blood, during the latter part of the 18th, and 
 former part of the 19th centuries. 
 
 4. Chapter xvi : 8. The Popish sun eclipsed or shamed, 
 
 during tlie last two-thirds of the first half of the 
 19th century. 
 
 5. Chapter xvi : 10. Popery loses Rome and the Papal 
 
 States during the last half of the 19tli century. 
 
 6. Chapter xvi : 12. Popery invades the Jews, returned 
 
 to their own land, during the first half of the 20th 
 century ; the Romish powers having seduced the 
 Mohammedans and Kings of the East to join them 
 in the invasion. 
 
 7. Chapter xvi : 17. The last remains of false religions 
 
 exterminated and the millennium introduced, dur- 
 ing the latter part of the 20th century. 
 
IITDEX. 217 
 
 THE LITTLE BOOK OPENED. 
 
 Chapter x : 2. The slaying of the two witnesses, 
 xi : 7, means the slaughter of the Huguenots in 
 France, A. D. 1572. 
 
 The reaping of the harvest, Chapter xiv : 15, and the 
 vintage, xiv : 18. These denote two dreadful 
 attempts of the combined Roman Catholic powers 
 to regain Rome and the Papal States ; these may 
 be expected now at any time. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
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